Butternut Squash & Sage Lasagna

• 3 1/2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 pound whole-milk ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1/2 pound fresh mozzarella cheese, coarsely grated (2 cups)
• Freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup loosely packed fresh sage leaves, coarsely chopped
• 1 1/4 cups homemade or store-bought low-sodium chicken stock
• Fresh Lasagna Noodles, (you will need only 1/2 of the batch), cut into 4-by-13-inch strips and cooked, or store-bought dried noodles, cooked
• 4 ounces finely grated Parmesan cheese (1 1/4 cups)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Toss squash, oil, and 1 teaspoon salt on a baking sheet. Season with pepper. Bake until light gold and tender, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool.
2. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees. Combine ricotta, cream, yolks, mozzarella, and a pinch of nutmeg in a medium bowl. Season with salt.
3. Melt butter in a small saute pan over medium-high heat. As soon as it starts to sizzle, add sage, and cook until light gold and slightly crisp at edges, 3 to 4 minutes.
4. Place squash in a medium bowl, and mash 1/2 of it with the back of a wooden spoon, leaving the other 1/2 in whole pieces. Gently stir in sage-butter mixture and stock. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Spread 3/4 cup of ricotta mixture in a 9-cup baking dish. Top with a layer of noodles. Spread 1/2 of the butternut squash mixture over noodles. Top with a layer of noodles. Spread 1 cup of ricotta mixture over noodles. Repeat layering once more (noodles, squash, noodles, ricotta). Sprinkle Parmesan over ricotta mixture.
6. Place baking dish on a rimmed baking sheet, and bake until cheese is golden and bubbling, 30 to 35 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

Courtesy Martha Stewart

Spinach Bread & Butter Casserole

14 oz fresh leaf spinach
1 ciabatta loaf, thinly sliced
4 tbsp softened butter, olive oil or 4 tbsp low fat spread
1 red onion, thinly sliced
4 oz mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
salt and ground pepper
4 oz Gruyere or Gouda cheese, grated
3 eggs
2 1/4 cups milk
fresh nutmeg, grated [I just used ground]

1. Rinse the spinach well and blanch it in the tiniest amount of water for 2 minutes. Drain well, pressing out any excess water, and chop roughly.

2. Spread the bread slices thinly with the butter. Grease a large shallow baking dish and line the base and sides with bread.

3. fry the onion and mushrooms lightly in the oil for 5 minutes then add the cumin seeds and spinach. season well.

4. Layer the spinach mixture with the remaining bread and half the cheese. For the top, mix everything together and sprinkle over the remaining cheese.

5. Beat the eggs with the milk, adding seasoning and nutmeg to taste. Pour slowly over the whole dish and set aside for a good hour to allow the custard to be absorbed into the bread.

6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Stand the dish in a roasting pan and pour around some boiling water for a bain marie. Bake for 40-50 minutes until risen, golden brown and crispy on top.

Courtesy The New Vegetarian Cookbook, 61.

Brazilian Chicken

Ok, this is one of those recipes that by adjusting the spices you can really change things up a bit, especially the 'hotness' level. We serve this over rice or with naan or...whatever you want.

Brazilian Chicken
1 teas cumin
1 teas cayenne pepper (may I suggest you put in 1/4 to start and when it's ALL done then taste it and see if you want more)
1 teas turmeric
1 teas coriander
4 chicken breasts (this is negotiable - I only used 2, but I think about 3 is perfect and 4 is the max if you're feeding a lot or want a lot of leftovers)
2 tab oil
1 chopped onion, medium (preferably white, but yellow is ok - NO red)
1 tab fresh ginger grated, OR about 1 heaping teas ground ginger
2 jalapeno peppers (I left these out completely)
2 cloves garlic or the equivalent in powder/minced/etc.
3 tomatoes, chopped, or 1 can diced tomatoes, not drained
1 can coconut milk (low-fat is fine, but after having used it I'd bet the full fat would taste much better)
salt and pepper to taste (may I suggest about 2 teaspoons to start for salt and then taste it and add as you like it)

I precooked my chicken and had it in shreds or cubes, or whatever. Even leftover turkey would be fine. Heat the oil and add the chopped onion and all of the spices - everything through the garlic. Cook a bit until the onions are tender but not limp (ugh). Add the chicken and tomatoes. Heat for a couple minutes. Add the coconut milk and salt and pepper and then simmer stirring occasionally for about 5 - 10 minutes. I covered my pan (I used a wok) while it simmered.
Serve over rice.

Betteraves en salade - Red beets salad

This was another of our veggie dinners. It was done in no time, very light, yet surprisingly satisfying. I was having a fight with my little monster to have him eat vegetables, this salad cured him (he's had it for 3 meals in row without complaint). Plus it was made so quickly I had time to bake some cinnamon rolls for dessert. Needless to say, this dinner was a winner.

Red Beets Salad :

Two large red beets roots

1 small shallot

~2 spoons mayonnaise

~1 spoon dijon mustard

~1 spoon red wine vinegar

Salt and Pepper

Cook the beets roots without peeling them ( 30 minutes in a pressure cooker, maybe 1 hour in boiling water ). Let them cool 10-15 min, peel them by rubbing them gently with your hands under a stream of water (the skin will come off very easily if they're cooked enough). Dice them and set aside.

Salad Dressing :

Dice the shallot. Combine mayonnaise, dijon mustard, vinegar, salt, pepper and shallot.

Mix beets and dressing together... and you're done ! Serve with eggs and whole wheat bread for a more complete meal.

Only one concern : if your children are messy eaters, protect your floor, table cloth etc... and don't let them eat this in their Sunday cloths (red beets stain REALLY bad). By the way don't go to the ER if you or your kids have purple-pink colored urine the next day...

Tortellini with Alfredo Sauce

Tonight we had tortellini with alfredo sauce and a green salad on the side. I thought I'd post my recipe for alfredo sauce in case you guys needed one.

Alfredo Sauce

Pull out the following ingredients:
a half stick of margarine or butter
about a fourth cup of flour
Parmesan cheese - either grated or from the can, but you need about a half cup
milk, half and half, etc - I use Eli's whole milk but I've used skim in a pinch.
spices - salt, pepper (I use white, but black is fine), and garlic

Make a roux. Melt the butter in a pan on medium heat and when it's bubbling, add the flour and stir until it makes a runny looking dough. Stir frequently, letting it brown just a little, although it's not necessary. Add....well, roughly about a half to a whole cup of milk and stir quickly mixing the roux in. It'll thicken quickly. Add more milk, and continue stirring waiting for it to thicken before you add more milk. I end up adding roughly about a cup of milk each time to make about 3 cups? It varies - I'm sorry, but there it is. When it's reached a thickness you want then add some spices. I can't honestly say an amount because I'm an eyeballer when it comes to spices, but alfredo sauce takes more than you'd think since it mutes everything in it, so it will take a bit more salt than you'd think, etc. When in doubt, taste it. Remove from heat and stir in parmesan cheese.
I got my tortellini from Costco in those big bags, and it's the dried stuff. If using dried pasta I've found that when you put the pan of water on to boil, stick the pasta in before it boils to help since the tortellini can have some rough spots to cook.

Tomato pie and crudites

This was the first vegetarian dinner I made after watching the movie Food Inc. We decided as a family to try to cut off meat from our diet, or at least reduce our consumption to once or twice a week. Tomato pie is one of my husband's favorite.

The crudites include shredded carrots with vinaigrette, shredded celeri (called Celeri Remoulade in France) and green salad.

Tomato pie

Crust : You can either buy it or make it yourself

Here's how I make mine

Combine 150g of flour (~1cup and 1/5) with 1/2 tsp salt and 75g (6Tbsp) melted butter. Mix it with your fingers until it looks like yellow sand. It is not supposed to stick to your hands, if it does add more flour. Don't try to make a ball out of it yet. Add 1/4 cup water, and quickly form a ball by gathering all the flour together. Try not to handle it too much, the more you knead it the harder it will get (not good). It is supposed to stay a bit heterogeneous.

Spread it with a rolling pin, place in pie pan.

Spread about 2 Tbsp of Dijon mustard over the crust and cover with sliced tomatoes and pieces of mozzarella. Add salt, pepper and italien herbs, you can add a tiny bit of olive oil and parmesan cheese if you like it.

Place in the oven and cook at 450F for about 20min, cover with alumium foil to prevent the crust from burning and cook for 20 more minutes.

Celeri Remoulade

Wash and peel a celeri root, then shred it. Add a little bit of lemon juice to prevent oxidation. Prepare the dressing by mixing about 3 Tbsp of mayonnaise with 1 tsp of dijon mustard and 1-2 tsp of red wine vinegar. Taste it and add anything else you want (salt, pepper, parsley or diced pickles if you like). Mix it with the shredded celeri root.

Cake aux Olives - Olive bread

So, I started taking pictures of our dinners about a week ago... but I only asked Marisa if I could contribute to the blog yesterday. So, I have a few recipes to add to the blog today.

I tend to make this bread/salty cake the same week I make Tartiflette because it helps use up the white wine you need for the tartiflette recipe.

Ingredients :

250 g (~2 cups) flour

4 eggs

2/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup white wine

200 g (~7 oz) green olives or half black/half green

200 g (~7 oz) ham

150 g (~5.5 oz) shredded cheese (the best would be gruyere, but Walmart's shredded Italian cheese mix works fine)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

Pepper

Mix all the ingredients, place in buttered bread pan. Cook at 350F for 50 minutes.

I served it with a tuna-grapefruit salad, which was a weird combination. I recommend a green salad or something like that.

By the way if someone knows where to get canned diced green olives, I'd like to know... I've been looking everywhere. And why do they always come with some kind of a filling (almond, garlic, red pepper...) ?

Tartiflette Savoyarde - Cheese and potato casserole

This was a real treat for our family, a bit pricy due to the price of French cheese in America, but way worth it if you want my opinion !

For about 4 servings :

5-6 russet potatoes

5 slices of bacon

1 medium onion

Black pepper

1/3 cup of white wine (I have left over white wine that I don't know how to use now, if anyone wants to try the recipe, come and get my wine !)

1 or 2 lbs "Delice du Jura" depending on your budget (the authentic recipe calls for Reblochon, but you can't find Reblochon in the US, "Delice du Jura" is the closest you can get, and you'll find it at Cheese Importers and Whole Foods)

• Precook the potatoes (12-15 min in a pressure cooker, I'd say quite a bit longer if you cook them in water), peal them (you can leave the skin on if you really like it that way I guess), and slice them (~1/4 in. wide)
• Cut the bacon into 1-in slices and take off as much fat as possible
• Cut the onion in small pieces

Then procede as you would for lasagnas : start with one layer of potatoes, sprinkle with bacon, onion and black pepper, add a second layer of potatoes, bacon, onion and black pepper, and so forth until you're about 1.5 in. from the top of the dish. Pour white wine over the potatoes, separate the cheese into two halves (length-wise) and lay it on the potatoes with the crust on top and the creamy part below. If you only got 1 lbs of cheese (that's what we did... and I think it was ~$10/lbs), add about half a cup of heavy cream over the potatoes before covering with cheese. Otherwise lucky you, it's gonna be even tastier !

Put in the oven at 350F for about 30 min. (wait until the cheese crust turns golden and crispy)

Serve with a green salad.

Pesto & Roasted Acorn Squash

For the pesto we used a mix from the store which was tasty, and used whole wheat penne pasta. And.... I now know I do not like whole wheat pasta. That was disappointing.
For the squash, I just cut up 2 acorn squashes and put small pats of butter, coarse salt & freshly ground pepper, and roasted them in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes or so. The squash was excellent.

Chili

Tonight we had chili, which was admittedly out of a can. It's called Cattle Drive, and it's the best stuff you can get in a can, and better than many people can make. Very good, 2 cans makes dinner for us 3 plus enough leftover for Ryan's lunch the next day. We served it with cheese and tortilla chips and cara cara oranges on the side.
I realize I didn't actually MAKE this, but it's super cheap at Costco (9 bucks for 8 cans) and a really quick dinner.

Corn Salsa

Last night we took it easy and had corn salsa with nachos and peaches on the side:


Corn Salsa:
1 Can of black beans
1 can of corn
about 1 1/2 - 2 roma tomatoes or 1 medium sized tomato
1 small onion, or about 1/3 of a normal sized one
1/4 C lemon or lime juice
1 teaspoon cumin

Drain and rinse the beans, drain the corn. Put together in a bowl with the tomato and onion chopped up. Add the juice and cumin and mix.

Squash Casserole

Cheesy Zucchini Casserole (a la Marisa's Dad) :-) It is very good.

cook time: 30ish minutes.

1. Peel large zucchini (and/or yellow crook neck summer squash) squash(es) and cut into quarters length-wise (removing all large seeds as needed) and then cut into small cubes (or you can shred some of the squash if desired for a finer texture). Use more squash for larger casseroles and just one or a few large squash for smaller casseroles. Remember: when cooked the squash reduces in volume. Boil until tender, then drain and gently squeeze out the remaining liquid as it cools (or your casserole will be watery). Add a little butter for flavor (but be careful not to make the mixture watery).

2. Combine cooked squash with shredded cheddar and/or shredded mozerella cheese (as desired) and add sour cream (as desired)--then season to taste with onion powder and garlic salt and some salt and pepper (but not too much as it's better to under-season this dish--especially since the cheese is probably salty).

3. Single layer the squash mixture in shallow casserole baking dish leaving a little space at the top. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees in the oven until the mixture is bubbling (maybe 30 minutes for a small caserole and 45 minutes or so for a large casserole--just keep an eye on it and you'll learn your time for your size dish and location).

4. Just before serving (i.e., for about a minute or two in the oven being careful not to allow the casserole topping to burn) top with your favorite crouton type fresh toppings (e.g., fresh Old London Toastettes (Parmesan Cheese & Garlic) flavor is very good--or fresh French's dried French Fried Onions in various flavors works quite well, etc.).

Pasta Caprese

Tonight Brian made us a version of pasta caprese a la Giada de Laurentiis. It doesn't look that great in this photo, but believe me. It is going to be a repeater on our dinner rotation. Y'all.
Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 cups cherry tomatoes, quartered (about 1 1/2 pints)
• 1 teaspoon salt
  
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves, torn
• 8 ounces fresh mozzarella, diced (about 1 1/4 cups)
• 1 pound pasta

These are directions from the foodnetwork's website. We did not save any water like it says you should in the recipe. The pasta and tomato mixture has always been wet enough that we didn't need it. We also didn't have enough fresh tomatoes (I only bought 4 romas), so Brian added a can of diced tomatoes (he drained a little bit of the juice first). It worked out great.

Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta into a large bowl and reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid.

In a medium skillet heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, salt, and pepper. As the tomatoes cook and soften, smash them with a fork. Continue to cook until the tomatoes make a chunky style sauce, about 4 minutes. Transfer the tomato sauce to the bowl with the pasta. Toss to combine. Add the basil leaves and mozzarella. Stir to combine. Add the reserved pasta water, 1/4 cup at a time, until the pasta is moist. Serve.

Pizza w/ Whole Wheat

I ran out of white flour so I added about a cup of whole wheat flour. Happily, it made the crust taste better! I just add a lot of mushrooms and green peppers with the pizza sauce and mozz cheese. It smelled wonderful coming out of the oven!

Fajitas

I confess we didn't have anything with the fajitas, although it's one of those meals where everything is kind of in it anyways:

It took a little prep time - chopping, and stuff, but in the end wasn't too bad. I'd say about 30 minutes.

Fajitas:

Fajita Spice:
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon red pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon onion powder

Mix together in small bowl. This is enough for one batch of fajitas, but feel free to make a lot of it, because the measurements are in the recipe, and that way you wouldn't have to make this up every time.

Meat:
Trim off fat from beef or steak, or you can even use chicken or turkey if desired. We used shoulder steak and it was incredible. Cut along the grain into bite-size strips. Place in bowl and sprinkle with 2 teaspoons of fajita seasoning. Stir a little and then cover and chill 30 minutes. If in a rush, it won't hurt to just let it sit in the bowl on the counter until just before you need it.

Meanwhile, cut into slices 1 medium red or green bell pepper. I had a bunch of frozen ones, so I cut up orange, red, and green. Cut up one medium onion into thin slices, separated into rings. Also cut up about two roma tomatoes, or roughly 3/4 cup tomatoes, any kind.

Heat a tablespoon or two in a skillet (I used my wok), on med-high. Cook the peppers and onions with the rest of the spices (1 teaspoon) for about 3 or 4 minutes until crisp-tender, then remove from skillet and put in a bowl. Add a little more oil and cook the meat in the skillet. I turned the heat down to medium. Cook for a few minutes or until desired doneness. Drain well.

Return onion and pepper to skillet with the meat and then stir in tomatoes. Cook and stir a minute or so or until heated through, then adding about 1 Tablespoon lemon juice (lime is better).

To serve:
Warm your tortillas, and fill with meat mixture. I served mine with lettuce and salsa, but sour cream and guacamole go well too.

Makes: About 4 servings.

Salmon & Roasted Rosemary Potatoes

So we are not counting fish with our weekday vegetarian diet. It has been super easy to cut out the meat! And it's been easier on the grocery bill. What a pleasant surprise. Especially since I recently learned more about the food (especially meat) industry, I'm feeling very good about this choice.

So onto the making of this dinner: Probably took 45 minutes. I am slow and scatter-brained when I make dinner. So it probably wouldn't take that long for someone else.

Roasted Rosemary Potatoes (a favorite!)
2 russet potatoes
1 big yam/sweet potato (the orange ones)
2 cloves garlic
about 1 tsp. rosemary (crushed)
butter
Directions: cut up the potatoes and put into a baking dish. mince garlic and sprinkle over potatoes. put about 1 to 1 1/2 tsp. rosemary into your hand and crush it up. I do this because those poky rosemary needles don't really add to a nice texture in your mouth. But it's such a nice flavor; I really like it! Then add some cut up butter--just enough to give a little flavor, keep the potatoes from sticking and to make them crispy. Put into a 400 degree oven for about 45 minutes. Check potatoes periodically and turn them to get them crispy and evenly buttered.

Salmon
I'll tell you right now I'm not that good at cooking fish. My Dad is an expert and Brian definitely does better than I. But I was all I had last night. ;-) I added a little butter to the pan, sprinkle the salmon with lemon pepper and cook on medium-low heat until the flesh turns pink (vs. the orangey-red is starts out as). We love salmon! And since we're not eating much meat anymore, it's been fine on the wallet.

Chickpea & Vegetable Curry

Got this one from a co-worker.

Chickpea & Vegetable Curry

Ingredients
3 cups cauliflower florets
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 cup loose-pack frozen cut green beans
1 cup sliced carrots
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 14-ounce can vegetable broth
2-3 teaspoons curry powder
1 14-ounce can light coconut milk
1/4 cup shredded fresh basil leaves
Cooked brown rice (optional)

Directions
1. In a 3-1/2- or 4-quart slow cooker, combine cauliflower, chickpeas, green beans, carrots, and onion. Stir in broth and curry powder.
2. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 5 to 6 hours or on high-heat setting for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
3. Stir in coconut milk and shredded basil leaves. Spoon rice, if using, into bowls, and ladle curry over the top.

Nutrition facts per serving: 219 calories, 8g protein, 32g carbohydrate, 7g fat (4g saturated), 9g fiber

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Ham chowder

Sorry no picture. My new camera makes the food look so unappetizing.

6 c. chicken broth OR

4 chicken boullion cubes and 6 c. water.

4 potatoes

2 c. chopped ham

1/2 c. whipping cream

1 can corn OR green beans

Bring broth to a boil, add potatoes. Cook potatoes for about 20 minutes or until soft. Add ham, cream and veggie. Heat through.

I used to add cheese, but realized it was not necessary and had less fat, too. Also, we didn't want to use corn last night and I experimented with the green beans. They taste fine, but are a weird size. We do prefer corn. I serve it with rolls and milk.

Homemade Macaroni & Cheese

It takes about 20 minutes to prep this meal and 15-20 minutes to bake.

1 pkg 8 oz elbow macaroni (or roughly 3 cups)
1/4 c butter
1/4 c flour
2 c milk
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Cook and drain macaroni. In a shallow 1 1/2 quart pan (my 8x8 works too) layer macaroni and 1 1/2 cups cheese and white sauce.

White sauce: in a saucepan melt butter, flour, salt, pepper, and milk. Bring to a boil for 1 minute. Pour sauce over mac and cheese layers.

Bake 375 degrees 15-20 minutes until cheese is melted and slightly golden brown.

Corn Quesadillas

No, I didn't take that picture. But this is what we had on Monday. It is one of those quicky meals and it's pretty darn tasty. I would also mention that we are not eating meat on weekdays. (We are trying to "eat meat sparingly.") So I'll be trying out a lot of vegetarian dishes. Here's the first:

Prep & Cook Time: 10 minutes!
Ingredients:
- Flour tortillas
- Whole kernel canned corn
- cheese
- cilantro
- salsa

Basically all you do is put the tortilla in the pan, add a little cheese, some corn, a little cilantro, a little more cheese, salsa if you want it, and fold it. Turn it over when it's gotten warm on one side.

"Anna's Burritos" aka Black Bean Chicken Burritos

We first had these at my good friend Anna's house. So now we call them "Anna's burritos." Also a regular in our dinner rotation. The leftovers for this one always get eaten. :)Takes probably 20 minutes to make this.
Ingredients:
1/2 onion
2 cloves garlic
1/4- 1/2 c. honey
1 bunch cilantro
2 cans black beans (or about 8 oz of the dried beans if you want to use those.)
1 lb. cooked chicken
cheese
lime

Directions:
Saute 1/2 onion, 2 cloves garlic in pan. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup honey depending on how sweet you want it. (Sometimes I add more later after it's all done and it's not quite sweet enough.) Add 1 bunch chopped cilantro. Cook honey and cilantro for about 2 or 3 minutes. Add about 2 cans black beans and 1 lb. cooked and chopped (or shredded) chicken. Heat until boiling and most of liquid is evaporated. Serve in warm tortillas with lime and cheese.

* Make SURE you rinse those canned black beans or it'll be mushy and soggy! We actually like it better when we make it with the dried beans we've soaked and cooked ourselves. But, sometimes you just don't have the motivation/foresight/time for that!

Chicken Corn Chowder a la (Marisa's) Mom & Dad

oh yes. Our family loves this chowder. It is delightful. It probably takes about 30 minutes to make. And that is a Great Harvest wheat roll there. Boy, do they know bread!

Ingredients:
- 2 chicken breasts
- chicken bullion
- 1/2 medium onion
- 3 medium potatoes
- 1 can cream of chicken soup
- 1 can creamed corn
- 1 can whole kernel corn (drained)
- 1/4 green pepper
- 1 small package of frozen mixed vegetables
- 1 pint half & half

- Boil 2 (or more) chicken breasts.
-Add about 4 tsp. chicken bullion granules
- chop up 1/2 medium onion
Boil together for 20 minutes or until chicken is tender. Do not overboil.
Take out chicken breasts and chop up or shred. Set aside.

Chop up 3 medium potatoes into smallish chunks. Add to chicken water. Allow to cook. Add 1 can creamed corn, 1 can whole kernel corn (drained), 1 can cream of chicken soup. Chop up 1/4 green pepper and add to the pot. Add small package of frozen mixed vegetables. Add about a pint of half & half. Let simmer until all vegetables are done. Make sure you taste it before serving it out. It may very well need more chicken bullion.

I assure you this is a DELICIOUS chowder. A family classic.


...And yeah, I know I said I planned on blogging our meals. I lied. Sorry. Somehow I think you'll all probably forgive me. Doubtless all you followers/readers were busy enough the past few weeks anyway!

Breakfast Burritos

Sorry. No picture. But it's pretty cut and dried.

package of tortillas
scrambled eggs
cooked sausage, crumbled
cheese - mozzarella, pepper jack, etc.
salsa
garlic potatoes (I think I posted that recipe before, but if not, it's included below.)

Put however much of everything you want into a tortilla. Heat up in the microwave. Voila.

Garlic Potatoes:
cook however many potatoes you want to in the microwave, then cut up into bite size chunks and put into a skillet with a few tablespoons of oil. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and parsley if you have it. Cook on medium heat, flipping every few minutes until starting to get crispy.