Stuffed Mushrooms & Sloppy Joes

So, my family has been blessed lately with some free food resources lately.  With money growing tight throughout the winter, I have taken steps to resolve that!  I go (as often as I can) to a church that has a food ministry on Saturday mornings.  It helps off-set the growing grocery bill.  Here, they have fruits, veggies, breads, and desserts that will be going out-of-date from some of the local grocery store.  Also, my husband's parents and grandparents have some cows that occasionally will be sent away and come back as meat for the family.  This past month, for one reason or another, 3 cows have had to be sent off, which means now there is a MAJOR overflow in meat!  Perfect for my family!  So, all of that to say, I have 2 AWESOME recipes that I have used recently to use some of my resources!

 Marvelous Stuffed Mushrooms (No kidding, that's the name of the recipe)
Taken from Allrecipes.com
Tested by DH and YCGP

Ingredients

• 1 pound large fresh mushrooms
• 1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 4 1/2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 dash ground nutmeg
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions

1. Remove stems from mushrooms; set caps aside. Finely chop stems. In a small mixing bowl, combine the butter, flour, onion, parsley, mustard, salt, cayenne, nutmeg and chopped stems. Fill mushroom caps. Place in a greased shallow 2-qt. baking dish. Pour cream over mushrooms. Bake, uncovered, at 375 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until mushrooms are tender, basting twice.

 Guinea Pig Rating:  ***** (5/5)


What I did:  I used regular mustard instead of the Dijon and milk instead of heavy whipping cream.

What will I do differently next time:  Cook them a tad longer and baste them a few more times.  They were AWESOME!

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Sloppy Joes II
Taken from Allrecipes.com
Tested by: DH, BILs, BIL F, DC, & YCGP 

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard
• 3/4 cup ketchup
• 3 teaspoons brown sugar
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a medium skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef, onion, and green pepper; drain off liquids.
2. Stir in the garlic powder, mustard, ketchup, and brown sugar; mix thoroughly. Reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

 Guinea Pig rating:  ***** (5/5)


What I did:  I put everything in, except for the onion.  I have some BILs that do not like onions.  I think I added in onion powder instead.

What will I do next time:  Next time, I am going to put it over rice, instead of between hamburger buns!  :)

  

Potato wedges

Potato Wedges

Tested by DH, DC, and YCGP

Ingredients:

3 medium potatoes

olive oil

sea salt

Italian seasoning

garlic powder

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 425* (or just use the same oven as the above recipe)

2.  Grease baking pan with olive oil.

3.  Wash potatoes and proceed to cut potatoes in to quarters, and then into slices.

4.  Lay slices onto pan, trying to keep skin in contact with the pan.

5.  Spray slices with olive oil and sprinkle them lightly with:  sea salt, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder.

6.  Cook them for 30 minutes or more (depending on how thick you cut your slices).  Keep checking them until they are cooked all the way through.

Guinea Pig rating:  ***** (5/5)

What I did:  Followed this recipe to the letter!  Wonderful! No ketchup for these potato wedges!

What will I do differently next time:   My daughters didn't care for the spices, so next time I will make some spiced ones for Mommy & Daddy and plain ones for the girls.  My DH did ask me to not put as much sea salt on next time.

Sausage-Potato Casserole

**Warning:  Very greasy made this way!  Working on trying to lessen the grease.  Some suggestions are to use lowfat cheese and sweet potatoes instead of the regular cheese and white potatoes called for.**



Sausage-Potato Casserole
Taken from Allrecipes.com
Tested by DC, BIL, DH, and YCGP

Ingredients

• 3 large baking potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
• ground black pepper to taste
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 pound Polish kielbasa
• 1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
• 1/4 teaspoon caraway seed
• 2/3 cup milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375*.  Using two long sheets of aluminum foil on top of each other, fold one long edge together and open out to make a large sheet of foil.  Line a 13x9 pan with the foil, allowing edges to hang outside pan
2. Arrange the sliced potatoes, overlapping slightly, in bottom of pan.  Pepper to taste.  Top with half of the cheese.  Cut sausage in half crosswise and lengthwise and place, cut side down on top.  Top with remaining cheese, the dill weed, caraway seed and milk.  Seal edges of foil tightly.
3. Bake at 375* for 1 hour.

Guinea Pig rating:  ***** (5/5)

What I did:  I added more potatoes to it and it was WONDERFUL!
What will I do next time:  Use more potatoes, lowfat cheese, maybe I will try the sweet potatoes.  :)  Enjoy!

Chicken & Rice Casserole

Chicken & Rice Casserole
Taken from Hillbillyhousewife.com
Tested by DH, DC, and YCGP.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup of margarine (1/2 a stick)
1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup of strong chicken broth (make with 2 bouillon cubes)
1 1/2 cup milk
2 cups cooked rice (leftovers are great)
2 cups cooked, cubed chicken or turkey
4 oz can mushrooms, drained
1 cup frozen peas
2 oz jar pimiento (optional)
1/4 cup slivered almonds (optional)

Directions:

First you need to make a white sauce. Use a 3-quart saucepan to make it because you will use the sauce pan to combine all of the ingredients later. So, melt the margarine in the saucepan over medium heat. When it is melted, stir in the flour. Whisk it until it is smooth and bubbly. Gradually add the chicken broth and the milk. I use real chicken broth if I have it, other wise I just add a cup of water, and a couple of bouillon cubes. Stir this as you cook it over medium heat. A whisk works really good for preventing any lumps. When the sauce is thick and boiling, allow it to boil for a full minute. Remove it from the heat. Add the rice, chicken, mushrooms, peas and pimiento, if you are using it. Stir it all up really good. Turn the mixture into a well oiled 2-1/2 quart casserole. Sprinkle the almonds or other nuts on top. Bake at 350° for about 40 minutes. It should be hot and bubbly throughout. If desired, sprinkle with chopped parsley, fresh or dried, right before serving. Makes about 6 servings.

Guinea Pig rating:  ***** (5/5)

What did I do:  I used my wheat/white flour combination for this recipe.  I also added broccoli to the recipe, because I thought it didn't have enough vegetables.  As I was putting the casserole into the oven, I realized I forgot to add the mushrooms!  Oh, well!  It was wonderful with peas and broccoli.  **Side note:  I have never added the almonds and pimientoes to the casserole and it tastes wonderful.**

What will I do differently next time:  Nothing...at least not intentionally!  :)

Pumpkin Muffins

Pumpkin Muffins
Taken from...ME!
Tested by DC, DH, and YCGP.

Ingredients:

2 cups of pumpkin butter
2 1/4 cups of flour
1 cup of quick cooking oats
3/4 cup of sugar
2 teaspoons of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
2/3 cup of applesauce
3 eggs

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350*.  Grease muffin tins (makes 24 muffins).
2.  In a large bowl, stir together flour, oats, sugar, baking soda, and baking powder.  In a separate bowl, beat together pumpkin butter, applesauce, and eggs.  Stir pumpkin mixture into flour mixture until smooth.  Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups.
3.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, until toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Guinea Pig rating:  **** (4/5)

What I did:  For the applesauce, I used some cinnamon flavored applesauce.  I ran out of my regular applesauce!
What will I do differently next time:  Add raisins next time!  YUM!

Happy Labor Day!

I am visiting my parents for Labor Day, but I just finished making pizza for all of us.  So I decided that I should share the pizza dough recipe!

Pizza Dough Recipe
Taken from my mom
Tested by so many people I can't name them all!

Ingredients:

1 packet of yeast (1 Tbsp)
3/4 cup of warm water
1/4 cup of sugar
2 Tbsp of oil
2 cups of flour

Directions:

1.  Stir yeast into water and let it sit for about 5 minutes.
2.  Mix sugar and oil in large bowl.  Add water mixture and stir.
3.  Add flour and stir until flour is mixed in.
4.  Sprinkle extra flour onto counter and dump dough out.  Knead dough until dough no longer sticks to the counter.  Place into greased bowl and cover with damp towel.  Let rise until dough has doubled in size.
5.  Preheat oven to 425*.  Place dough in greased pizza pan and top with favorite toppings.  Bake for 15-20 minutes.  Cool slightly; cut and serve.

Guinea Pig rating:  *****  (5/5)

What I do:  I use my Kitchen Aid dough hook and let that knead the dough for me.  If I want to make more than 1 pizza, I double all the ingredients, except the yeast!  When you bake the 2 pizzas, switch their postitions halfway through cook time to ensure both pizzas get cooked evenly.

What would I do differently next time:  I love trying new toppings and changing thngs up a bit.  Right now I am on a sauceless trend with veggies and feta on it.  When doing a sauceless pizza, spread garlic and oil in place of sauce, before putting on other toppings!  YUM!

Quick and Easy Alfredo Sauce

Quick and Easy Alfredo Sauce
Taken from Allrecipes.com
Tested on DH, DC, and YCGP.

Total Cook and Prep Time:  10 minutes

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
2 teaspoons garlic powder 2 cups milk
6 ounces grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a medium, non-stick saucepan over medium heat. Add cream cheese and garlic powder, stirring with wire whisk until smooth. Add milk, a little at a time, whisking to smooth out lumps. Stir in Parmesan and pepper. Remove from heat when sauce reaches desired consistency. Sauce will thicken rapidly, thin with milk if cooked too long. Toss with hot pasta to serve.

FYI- Makes a lot, so I freeze my leftover.

Guinea Pig Rating: ***** (5/5)


What I did: I added chicken and broccoli to my sauce.  Had over angel hair pasta.

What I will do differently next time:  Nothing!

Slow Cooker Chicken Stroganoff

Slow Cooker Chicken Stroganoff
Taken from Allrecipes.com
Tested on August 19th, 2010 by DH, BILs, YCGP, and DC

Total Cook Time:  5 1/2 to 6 1/2 hours

Ingredients:
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed
1/8 cup margarine
1 (.7 ounce) package dry Italian-style salad dressing mix
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup

Directions:
1. Put chicken, margarine and dressing mix in slow cooker; mix together and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours.
2. Add cream cheese and soup, mix together and cook on high for another 1/2 hour or until heated through and warm.

Guinea Pig Rating:  ***** (5/5)

What I did:  I followed the recipe and had it over Minute brown rice.
What I will do differently next time:  Either add in mushrooms or use cream of mushroom soup instead.