Layered Casserole

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 lb. sausage
6 wieners (optional)
3 or 4 potatoes sliced thin
4 carrots sliced thin
1 onion
1 stick celery
1 pepper any color ( optional)
1 cup peas (optional)
gravy:
2 cups milk
1 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. flour
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
2 Tbsp. parsley
Brown up ground beef, put into bottom of casserole dish, add sliced sausage & wieners ( i do wieners as little girl picks eats just that for "meat")

slice up onion thinly ( i had a red onion on hand so i used it up but typically i use a white onion) and layer on top of meat, then layer on spuds sliced thin, carrot, celery & pepper, in any order. i would add mushrooms too if my family liked them.



Then in fry pan where you browned ground beef, put butter, flour, salt & pepper, add milk & parsley, cook till starting to thicken, pour over casserole and bake for 1- 1 1/2 hrs depending on how thin you slice your veggies.

Little girl's snack

little girl made me a night lunch snack last night, it was actually really good, but not that i needed it at all. she made sure i had to take a pic of it and post it so....

1 banana
3 scoups ice cream
1 cup popcorn popped
1 cracker broken into bits

place banana in bottom of plate, scoup ice cream around banana, top with broken bits of crackers ( she used Breton crackers) then put popped popcorn around. enjoy

Crispy Baked Chicken

6 pieces chicken
4 cups cereal ( i used crispex)
2 tsp. season salt
1 tsp. pepper

Put cereal into blender and grind till very fine, ( i used cripex as it was a cereal no one wanted to eat in our house) add salt & pepper, roll your chicken pieces in mixture and place on baking sheet and bake @ 350 for 40 min. till juices come out clear & chicken is golden. As good as shake n' bake

Beef with Ramen Noodles

Beef with Ramen Noodles

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 cup beef broth, divided
• 1 package (3 ounces) beef ramen noodles
• 1/2 pound boneless beef sirloin steak, cut into thin strips
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 can (14 oz) whole baby corn, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup fresh broccoli florets
• 1/2 cup diced sweet red pepper
• 1/2 cup grated carrot
• 2 green onions, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1/4 cup peanuts

In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and 2 tablespoons broth until smooth; set aside. Set aside seasoning packet from noodles. Cook noodles according to package directions.

In a skillet, stir-fry beef in oil. Add soy sauce; cook for 3-4 minutes or until liquid has evaporated. Drain noodles; add to beef. Stir in the corn, broccoli, red pepper, carrot, onions and remaining broth. Sprinkle contents of seasoning packet over all.

Cook for 4-6 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Stir reserved cornstarch mixture and add to skillet. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Sprinkle with peanuts. Yield: 2 servings

* I've only made this once but I think the next time I do I will only use half of the seasoning packet as I found it a bit salty. Darren didn't, but I did so who knows, maybe its just me! I also didn't add the peanuts, I could only imagine what Darren would think of peanuts in this kind of dish :)

Fergasa Bread Loaf

this is what we used to make in the bakery when i worked there, and it is so simple and tasty especially with any pasta dishes or even pizza, fresh hot out of the oven, spread with butter, hm...
Fergasa Loaf
1 portion of your home made bread dough or you can buy the frozen bread doughs and thaw
1 egg
1 cup marble or mild cheese
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 cup onion chives or onion greens

Chop up your raw bread dough into bite type size chunks, add one egg,

onion chives, ( it may look like a lot but once it comes out of the oven it doesn't seem that way) garlic powder and cheese and chop up together a bit more till nicely blended,

dump everything (it is quite messy) into a well greased bread pan and let rise for 50 min t0 an hr.

Bake 350 for 20 - 25 min. till nicely golden.

Dog Ears

This is a family favorite of ours. Dog ears are like an empty perogie and they go by various other names as well. As a newlywed I made this for my new husband and brought them out to the field for him to enjoy. He took one look at the dog ears and started laughing. I couldn't understand what was so funny. He said I had made them waaaaay thicker than they were supposed to be. I'd never made them before, nor had I even eaten them. Thankfully they still tasted pretty good and I didn't let his laughing stop me from making them again...just a little thinner next time. ;)



Dog Ears

• 5 cups of flour


• 1 tsp salt


• 1 tsp baking powder


• 4 tbsp margarine


• 2 eggs, slightly beaten


• 1 3/4 cups milk

Combine the flour, salt and baking powder. Cut in margarine as for pastry. Add eggs and milk, forming a stiff ball of dough. Roll out 1/4 of dough at a time, on floured surface. Cut into 2 1/2 inch triangles.

Drop into boiling water; cook for 5-7 minutes in batches, according to the size of pot.

Scoop one batch out of boiling water with slotted spoon; drain in colander.

Add margarine to keep dog ears from sticking together. I keep them warm by putting them in the oven in a roaster.

We like them best with gravy made from ham drippings and cream. Fried onions and ketchup are the perfect finishing touch. Mmmm...

*This is an extremly large recipe. For our family of 3 I do half a recipe and still have lots of left overs - which of course are welcome!

Brocoli/Cauliflower Salad

1/2 head brocoli (flowerettes cut into tiny pieces)
1/2 head cauliflower- (flowerettes cut into tiny pieces)
1/2 red onion chopped fine
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
6 pieces bacon - fried crisp
1/2 cup miracle whip
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. apple cider vinegar

Cut your brocoli and cauliflower into tiny pieces and put into large bowl, chop up red onion fine, toss in sunflower seed ( if you like more of a nutty taste - put them into a hot fry pan for a few min to toast up) Fry up bacon slices and when cool crumble them and save for last min. addition. Mix together miracle whip, sugar & cider vinegar, pour over veggies mix together then sprinkle with crisp bacon pieces.

Pizza

Pizza Dough
3 3/4 cups white flour
2 Tbsp. margarine
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. fast rising yeast
1 cup warm water

Mix flour & margarine, salt & sugar till crumbly, made a well in centre of bowl and put in the yeast and warm water and mix until you have nice and soft dough to work with. Let rise about 30 min. then roll out to size of pizza pan ( i have a large pizza pan) or cookie sheet. Make sure to spray pam or greese sheet. Let rise for another 10 - 15 min.

4 cups marble cheese or your fav. cheese
1 jar catelli pizza sauce or your fav. sauce
1 stick of peperoni sliced thin
1/2 cup parmasan cheese

spread on your favorite pizza sauce, i used Catelli and add your fav. toppings, i used peperoni & sprinkle generously with your fav. cheese, i used marble & parmasan cheese. Bake in hot oven 400 degrees for 10 -15 min. till golden brown

Best Cole Slaw Ever

1 small head cabbage finely shredded
1 medium size carrot, shredded or cut into thin strips
1/8th. of a red cabbage (optional)
1 cup miracle whip
2 tsp. celery seeds
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp white sugar
2 Tbsp white vinegar


shred up cabbages & carrot either with a sharp knife or by using a food chopper/shredder, place in large bowl, whip together miracle whip dressing, celery seeds, pepper, salt, sugar, vinegar, pour over mixed veggies and stir till coated, is great with fish or any other meat meals. Sometimes if cole slaw mixes are on sale i'll just pick those up instead of choppin' my own, esp. if your lookin' for a quick salad, that's the way to go.

Puffed Wheat Cake

I'm sure just about everyone knows how to make puffed wheat cake, but sometimes it can turn out to be rock hard. This is a recipe that I've had luck with. And it's a quick and easy (and delicious) thing to make when you need something to put in a lunch. A little different from the norm, with a bit of honey and peanut butter in it.

• 1/3 cup margarine
• 1/2 cup corn syrup
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 tbsp peanut butter
• 2 tbsp cocoa
• 8 cups wheat puffs

Melt butter in saucepan, add sugar, syrup, peanut butter, honey, vanilla and cocoa. Mix. When the mixture begins to bubble, remove from heat and add wheat puffs. Mix well. Put in greased 9 x 13 inch pan and press down firmly. Cut into squares once cooled and enjoy.

Elvis Cupcakes

The first time I ever had these, my sister-in-law Christine made them. Oooooh are they good. Banana muffin, with a chocolate kiss hidden inside, topped off with peanut butter icing. Mmmm...

• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 1/3 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 18 milk chocolate kisses

Peanut Butter Frosting:

• 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
• 2 cups icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3-4 tbsp milk
• milk chocolate chips (optional)

In large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, combine the mayo, bananas and vanilla; stir into dry ingredients until just combined. Spoon one tbsp full of batter into each paper-lined muffin cup. Top each with a chocolate kiss, pointed side down. Fill cups 2/3rds full with remaining batter. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to cool completely. In a large bowl, combine peanut butter, icing sugar, vanilla and enough milk to achieve a spreadable consistency. Frost cupcakes. Garnish with chocolate chips if desired.

Yield: 1 1/2 dozen

Turkey Cheese Ball

Turkey Cheese Ball

• 2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese
• 6 oz deli smoked turkey, finely chopped
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

DECORATIONS:

• 3 packages (3 oz each) cream cheese, softened
• 2 tablespoons milk
• brown, orange and yellow paste food coloring
• 6 large oval crackers
• 1 large sweet red pepper
• 1 small yellow summer squash (i used a carrot for this decoration)
• 1 cup pecan halves
• assorted crackers

In a small bowl, beat the first six ingredients until combined. Shape into a ball; wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm.

In another bowl, beat cream cheese and milk until smooth. Divide among four small bowls. With food coloring, tint one bowl brown, one dark orange, and one light orange (using yellow and orange); leave one bowl plain.

Transfer each mixture to a heavy-duty resealable plastic bag; cut a small hole in a corner of each bag. For turkey tail feathers, decorate the top halves of large oval crackers with tinted cream cheese.

Using the red pepper, form the turkey head and neck. For beak, cut a small triangle from summer squash (carrot); attach with cream cheese. Add eyes, using brown and plain cream cheese. Insert pecan halves and decorated crackers into cheese ball. Serve with assorted crackers.

Yield: 1 cheese ball (3 cups)

Editor's Note: This recipe was tested with Townhouse Oval Bistro crackers

*The editor is not me! I had an extremely difficult time finding oval crackers but did manage to find a small box of cracked pepper crackers at Sobeys. I made this for a Thanksgiving gathering and everyone absolutely loved it! It was a lot of fun to make too!

Pistachio Dessert

A favorite at our house!

Pistachio Dessert

Base:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup margarine
• 2 tsbp sugar
• 1/4 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Bake for 12-15 minutes at 350. Let cool.

On base spread mixture of:

• 2/3 cup icing sugar
• 8 oz pkg cream cheese
• 1/2 large tub cool whip

Mix:

• 2 pkgs pistachio pudding
• 2 1/2 cups cold milk

Spread on cream cheese layer. Cover with remaining 1/2 tub cool whip. Can be sprinkled with shaved chocolate. Delicious!!

Cheesy Potatoes

A great side dish with steak or chicken breasts

Cheesy Potatoes

• 4 large potatoes, boiled
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar
• 1/4 cup miracle whip
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• dash pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions
• 4 crispy cooked bacon slices (crumbled) or bacon bits

Mash potatoes and add all ingredients. Beat until fluffy and spread into a casserole dish. Top with a little cheddar cheese and green onions. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Anna's Squares

Anna's Squares - Quick and easy to make.

• 1 1/2 cups graham wafer crumbs
• 1/2 cup melted butter

Press into 9 x 13 pan. Add remaining ingredients in layers.

• 6 ounces butterscotch chips
• 6 ounces chocolate chips
• 1 cup coconut
• 6 ounces nuts (optional)

Pour over 1 can of sweetened condensed milk. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Chef's Salad

1 head romaine lettuce

1 bunch of radishes sliced

1 pkg. cherry tomatoes sliced in half or you can use about 4 Roma

1 carrot sliced

1 cucumber sliced

1 red and or green onion sliced

1 stick of celery sliced

1 red pepper or your fav. color or a combination of peppers

cheese sliced or cut into cubes

a couple slices of ham sliced into slivers or cubes or use turkey breast

Dressing - Thousand Island or your fav.

tradionally it is served with Thousand Island Dressing, but you can use your favorite salad dressing for it. This salad makes a huge punch bowl full. This is one of my all time fav' salad's. This is what i brought for one of our Easter gatherings, and it all disapeared