MushBurger Soup

Two boxes of sliced mushrooms, a half stick butter, a pound of hamburger, a bag of onion soup mix, a cup of rice, a can of beef broth, and two cans of water. Saute mushrooms in butter, set aside, cook hamburger with as many herbs and spices as you like. Add the rest and bring to a boil, then simmer 20 minutes. Everybody loved it.

Vote for Pasta Puttanesce

In a large, deep frying pan, saute about 4-5 fresh chopped cloves of garlic in plenty of olive oil, so it covers the bottom of the pot and the garlic. Cook till tender. Add 1 can flat anchovies (the whole can), 3-4 T capers and 1 tsp or less of red chili pepper flakes. Continue cooking and stir until anchovies are dissolved.
Add 1 can pitted black olives, drained, and olives cut in two lengthwise. Add a 28 oz. can of Italian style chopped tomatoes. I sloshed in some red wine, shiraz, but any kind will do. It just adds to the richness of the dish. The juicier the better, because you'll want to sop up the broth with bread. Then go for seconds!
Let all this simmer while you make a pasta. Any kind is fine, I used bow-ties.
Serve in bowls over pasta with crusy Italian bread and tossed salad. Oh yum.

I ran into a friend that was campaigning with McCain signs at the corner and I brought her and her friends a big bowl. I waved one of their signs while they fell in.

Boring Burger

Browned hamburger patties in the frying pan, a can of green beans, corn, and yellow rice. Snore.

Oink Oink a big pork roast

It was early in the morning when I pulled out the big guns - a giant crock pot! In went a huge pork roast and a bag of dry onion soup mix sprinkled on top. On went the lid and I let it rip at high temp until an hour before dinner, then I put in four washed but dry sweet potatoes. Snapped beans and a box of instant pork stuffing mix was all I had to fix to go with this good dinner. The biggest job was cleaning the crock pot afterwards.

Bok bok bok bowk, It's Super Chicken!

I drizzled some Italian dressing over a pyrex baking dish chock full of huge chicken breasts (big sale at Albertsons!) and baked that, covered with foil, for about an hour. Served with that was cooked carrots, Italian green beans, and boiled new potatoes. Dessert was a 2-box truckload of 'Nanner Puddin'. It's richer if you replace some of the milk with a can of sweetened condensed milk, then fold in a small tub of Cool Whip.

I had planned on making chicken pot pie or chicken salad with the extra chicken I cooked, but -oos- Rob had it for lunch the next day instead.

Sausage Meatball Spaghetti

I cooked a bag of frozen grocery store meatballs and a package of five sweet Italian sausages in the crockpot on high most of the day, then around 3 PM I sliced up the sausages and added a big jar of spaghetti sauce. When it was dinner time I cooked some corkscrew noodles. It was Halloween night and my neighbor and I both enjoyed a bowlful as we sat at the ends of our (long) driveways giving out candy.

Hamburger is defrosted, now what?

Haven't decided yet.......

Baked Chicken, Brocolli, Mac N Cheese

Baked chicken, boneless, skinless breast, with Grillmates Garlic and Onion seasoning powder, homemade macaroni and cheese, made with Velveeta cheese and regular cheddar baked on top, fresh cooked brocolli. yum yum

Bratwurst and Chicken Legs, Peach Cobbler

Because Audrey isn't fond of sausages, I decided to throw some chicken in the pot and the outcome was so yummy!

Brown six bratwurst and six skinless chicken legs in a pot in a double swirl of olive oil and brown slowly. Throw in a cut up onion, a few carrots - peeled and cut large, one-half of a medium head of cabbage, cubed, and a few peeled and largely cubed potatoes. Once the onions smell cooked, add a can of chicken broth, salt, pepper, a couple of tablespoons of butter, and a half teaspoon of caraway seeds and 1/8 tsp of celery seed (both chopped up tiny), a tablespoon of parsley flakes. Rearrange the pot so the meat is on top and add enough water to just cover the veggies. Cook for about a half hour, or until the carrots are tender and potatoes are soft. Everybody enjoyed everything and liked both the chicken and the sausages.

I looked in cooks.com for a good Peach Cobbler recipe, made with Bisquick and canned raggedy peaches. It was so good with some cinnamon and allspice sprinkled in. Topped with whipped cream.

Pot Roast

I made pot roast in my big cast iron pot. I started off browning the floured pot roast in a little oil, then I threw in carrots, onion, celery, mushrooms, and topped it all with peeled and quartered (the long way) potatoes. I poured some beef broth, water, and seasonings on top and let it cook for a couple of hours on the stove top. I always include a little nutmeg with my spices, which makes the pot roast so ultra-yummy. Once it was cooked, I ladles off most of the broth, added a glass of water with a few tablespoons of flour mixed in, and made gravy. Once thick, I poured it back into the roasting pot with the meat and veggies. It was so so so so so so so so good. Served some crusty bread with this. Oh MAYUN!

Spaghetti

Spaghetti, made with ground beef and whole small portobello mushrooms. Served with iceburg lettuce wedge, garlic bread. Same ole same ole. They all like it.

BBQ Country Pork Ribs

I boiled some country pork ribs (boneless, meaty) for about an hour, then put them on the grill. Once "striped", I put some bottled barbeque sauce on, turned them over, then took them off the grill before the sugar in the sauce burned. I went to the mushroom farm today and picked up four packs of sliced big portobello mushrooms for dinner tonight. I mixed balsamic vinigar, olive oil, and some spices together, poured this all over the mushrooms and then cooked them on the grill. Oh delish! There were no leftovers.

Breakfast at Bubba Lou's

Oh my gosh! Mark and I went to have breakfast at the local barbeque joint on Saturday and I got something called The Florida Waffle. It had bananas, blueberries, and strawberries on it, and whipped cream too. Delicious! Mark had a boring omlette with sausage and cheese with grits on the side. He helped me finish my waffle. Mark thinks I'm crazy to take a picture of my food, but it was just so pretty!

Uncle RP's Special London Broil

To celebrate school starting, we had a wonderful dinner with steaks marinated in Uncle RP's special recipe. It is everyone's favorite. We had cheesy noodles with brocolli and baby carrots and fresh corn off the cob. Dinner was totally yummy.

Uncle RP’s Famous LONDON BROIL Use flank steak - 1/3 pound per person - unless you are really hungry or like leftovers. Sprinkle a little garlic salt on meat. Make a Marinade: ½-cup Worcestershire, ½-cup soy sauce, ½-cup vegetable or olive oil, ½-cup wine (red or white), 2 dashes Tabasco. Mix marinade, put marinade and meat in covered dish or gallon storage bag in refrigerator. Marinate steak for at least two hours, turning occasionally. Remove from refrigerator one hour before cooking. Cook on grill about 4 or 5 minutes (no longer) on each side. Brush marinate on meat while grilling. Let meat rest for a minute or two before slicing in thin slices across the grain (at an angle). Meat will be rare. Boil rest of marinade and pour over sliced meat. Serve immediately. Uncle RP always used flank steak. London broil is more expensive and flank is just as tasty.

Giant Meatballs

After spending a fun surprise overnight getaway with Mark at the beach Sunday night, we got home around noon and I had to be at work shortly after. On the way home from work I stopped at Petty's Meat Market and bought six fist-sized meatballs, already cooked and soaking in spaghetti sauce. A pot of noodles, a jar of sauce, some garlic bread in the oven, and we had dinner! Yumm-o!
Present were David, Audrey, Mark and me. Nothing left over.

Chicken Kiev

After hurrying off to a doctor's appointment this morning, followed by work, I didn't have anything for dinner, so I stopped by Petty's Meat Market in Longwood on my way home. Only David and Audrey and Mark would be eating (I'm eating diet food) and I got two ready to bake chicken kievs (chicken breast with herb butter inside, then rolled in breading). They cooked in 40 minutes and smelled wonderful. They LOVED it. Served with salad and leftover corn.

Mexico Night

I bought some beef strips, with some tasty red seasoning, onion and bell pepper from a local Mexican grocery store, run by folks that don't speak English. My high school language skills are weak, but I knew enough to recognize the word for beef and "fajita". Quatro pounds of this went into the crock pot this morning, and once cooked, the size reduced quite a bit, which I expected. Served with yellow rice, canned seasoned black beans, and frozen yellow and white corn. Fresh mango for dessert.

Chicken Fettucini Alfredo

Chicken fettucini alfredo from Costco, a meal ready dish that just begs to be baked. The regular crew is David, Audrey, Robert, Mark and me. Not a noodle left over. Good shopping, Mark!

Grilled Sausage

Grilled sweet Italian sausages
Ziti noodles, coated with basil pesto sauce
Spinach
Present were Mark, Robert and me.
Leftovers saved for Audrey and David.
Nearly burned the sausage, it cooks really fast on the grill.
It was real good.

Banana Cake

There were three nearly black bananas on the counter just begging to be revived into something yummy. I went online and found this easy banana cake recipe. I only had two teaspoons of sour cream, so I added a slosh of milk and a little squirt of lemon juice. Instead of cooking the cake in a loaf pan, I used a pretty bundt pan. It had to cook for a total of 45 minutes instead of the recommended 35 because of the pan. There was some long-forgotten chocolate icing I made and tossed in the back of the fridge for future snacking reference, which I microwaved for thirty seconds to make it runny and I poured it over the still-warm cake. FYI...It looks small here, but the cake is sitting on a large dinner plate.

Cake Update: One day later and the cake is GONE! I tasted one bite, it tasted terrific, Robert isn't much of a sweet eater, but between David, Audrey, and Mark, they couldn't get enough!

Ewwwwww...Leftovers

The fridge was full and I needed room for the watermelon we just bought, so it was Choose It and Nuke It night. I put all the containers in a row on the container and my spoiled family turned their noses up. I am on a diet, and I had special food from a box with a big salad. Robert ate at home - a leftover hamburger patty and a salad. David and Audrey went to Taco Bell, and Mark met his friend Alan for dinner at Scampi's Italian Restaurant. I feel bad throwing good food away, but I can't seem to get them to eat yesterday's meals.

Pork Roast

I put a 3-pound pork roast in the crock pot with a packet of dry onion soup mix and let it cook on low all day.
Couscous with pine nuts and some of the pork drippings stirred in
French cut green beans from a can
Pina coladas for dessert
The whole crew was here and there were only enough leftovers for Robert's lunch.

I started NutriSystem diet today. Big Lots has a huge supply of NutriSystem meals for cheap. Yes, I ate this yummy dinner, but a small portion and the rest of the day I had the special diet food.

All-American Grill Day

Hamburgers and Hotdogs on the grill with buns and all the fixings, including lettuce, tomato, pickles, and for the doggies - saurkraut.
Potato salad
Fresh chocolate chip cookies for dessert
Present were - the whole gang!

Cheesy Brocolli Soup

Brocolli cheese soup in the crockpot. (Check out the recipes in that website link. She's terrific!) The cheeses I used were sharp cheddar, brick (tastes like nutty swiss cheese to me), and monterey jack. I threw in a handful of mozzerella, because I had it, but it didn't melt well and I wish I hadn't.
Baked chicken breasts, soaked in Mojo marinade. I cheat and buy the bottled marinade in the store.
Present was the whole gang, all six of us. Yum Yum.

Dinner at Perkin's

Mark and I had to run errands yesterday evening, so we stopped for dinner at the new Perkin's restaurant in Apopka. Mark and I chose to eat from the senior menu, for over age 55, although we're both 51. It's a smaller portion and we weren't terribly hungry.
Mark had turkey with mashed potatoes and gravy, a little cranberry sauce (a tablespoon maybe), and a salad. For dessert Mark chose a warm blueberry muffin.
I had thinly sliced roast beef with mashed potatoes and gravy and cooked carrots. I had a slice of lemon meringue pie for dessert.
Perkins isn't that wonderful of a restaurant, open from early morning till late at night. They're more of a breakfast place. I chose it because they're new, clean, and fast.

Steak

Sirloin steak, marinated in Uncle RP's sauce and cooked on the grill.
Baked sweet potatoes
Steamed mixed vegetables- brocolli, cauliflour, & carrots.
Pina Colada's for dessert.
Present were David, Robert, Mark and me, plus my friend and her little girl.

Smoked Beef Sausages

I put smoked beef sausages in the crock pot on low all day, and they got so plump and stayed soooo juicy.
Cabbage, cooked with onion, salt, pepper, water, and butter on the stove top.
Boiled red new potatoes.
Present were David, Robert, Mark and me, plus a friend and her little girl.

Chicken Pot Pie

Mark went to Costco today and bought a huge 3-pound chicken pot pie. I asked picky David if he was planning to eat dinner at home tonight and I got his usual answer: "Depends on what's for dinner!" I told him Chicken Pot Pie and he said, "Yes! I LOVE your chicken pot pie!" Then I pulled the huge pie from the fridge to pop in the oven and he told me he doesn't like that pie as much as mine. Top compliment from David. I made banana pudding - homemade - for dessert. He loves that too. David was right, the Costco Chicken Pot Pie was really salty and lacking...something.

Del Frisco's Dinner Out

We went to a friend's birthday party at Del Frisco's in Winter Park, FL.
Mark had a beer, a salad, and a ribeye steak.
I had water, a glass of red wine, and petite sirloin tips with grilled bell peppers (I got one tiny strip) and thin spaghetti noodles with butter and way too much garlic. I gave the noodles to Mark and another table mate.

Pot Roast, Delicious!

I seared a five pound pot roast in a cast iron dutch oven, then added in onion soup mix, a quartered a large onion, several carrots, a few stalks of celery, and four peeled and quartered baking potatoes. I added celery seed, some crushed garlic, oregano, parsley, pepper, and a mix of dried herbs. With enough water to cover the meat, I popped the lidded pot in the oven for an hour. Once it was cooked, I drained the juice into a frying pan and made gravy, ladled all the vegetables into the gravy and sliced the meat. I pushed the meat to the sides of the pot, then poured all the gravy and vegetables into the center. It looked and smelled so good!

In a large skillet I put slender asparagus spears, butter, olive oil, crushed garlic and a slosh of white wine. Let that cook for a bit, then got to show off my special "toss in air" frying pan skill as I flipped the asparagus over and over until it was yummy-tender.

Served with big pop-open "buttery" refrigerator biscuits from the paper can.

Chicken

Boneless chicken thighs, baked in the oven with a bunch of spices and herbs shaken on it.
Steamed white rice
Large yellow lima beans, spooned over the rice with some hot sauce.
Green beans
Biscuits

NutriSystem

I am spending this week alone at my mountain house and so I decided to go on the NutriSystem diet. I shopped at Big Lots and got all the NutriSystem food, supplemented with dairy, fruits and vegetables. You don't want to know about this. Tonight I had a teeny pizza about the size of a postage stamp, a huge romaine salad with fat free dressing, and a chocolate cake mix that I doctored up. If you buy the NutriSystem chocolate cake, try adding some leftover coffee in it instead of water, some cocoa powder, and some salt and Splenda. It's much better this way.

Soup

Tired from a full day away from home, we opened 2 cans of Campbell's soup:
chicken noodle
vegetable soup with beef and alphabet letters
leftover pork sandwiches

Pork Roast

Our first full day in the mountains, we cooked:
Pork Roast
boiled new potatoes
brocolli
stewed apples

Ribs and Steak

Mark's Father's Day request was for a barbeque.
Sirloin Steaks and Barbequed Pork Ribs, cooked on the grill
Baked potatoes
Salad
Strawberry cake

Grilled Sausages

Sweet Italian sausages, cooked on the grill
Yukon gold potatoes, boiled, with sour cream
Canned corn
Fluffly romaine salad with celery, carrots, tomato, spring onions, & choice of dressing
Garlic bread
- - Present were me, Mark, Robert, David, David's friend Nick, and family friend Norman.

Mexican Meatloaf

Meatloaf cooked with salsa topping
Yellow rice
Frozen cooked bean variety with carrots
Breyer's Red Velvet Cake ice cream
- - Present were me, Mark, David, Audrey. Robert got leftovers for lunch the next day.

Spaghetti

Spaghetti, made with jarred sauce and browned hamburger
Whole wheat spaghetti noodles
Salad
Garlic bread sticks
- - Present were me, Mark, Robert, David, and Audrey.

Chicken on Noodles

Leftover roasted chicken, removed from the bone and warmed with a can of herbed chicken soup, thinned with chicken broth and water, served over curly wide noodles
Can of peas
Large can of spinach
Carrots and ranch dip
Coffee Ice Cream
- - Present were me, Mark, Robert, David and Audrey.

Roasted Chicken

Three roasted chickens, purchased pre-cooked (and hot) from the grocery store
Salad
Yukon gold potatoes, boiled in chicken broth and garlic
- - Present were me, Mark, David, Audrey, and Shuntika and Thomas (hired to peel the wallpaper from our master bathroom)

Hot Doggies!

Hot dogs on buns
Cole slaw
Grape soda
Neopolitan ice cream
- - Present were me, Mark, David, and Audrey.

BBQ Pork

Country pork ribs, cooked in the crock pot and coated with barbeque sauce
Buttered noodles
Canned green beans
- - Present were me, Mark, David and Audrey.

Chinee Takee Outee

Mark picked up some food at the Oriental Restaurant nearby.
David and I shared an order of sweet and sour chicken, white rice, and wonton soup.
Mark had General Tsao's Chicken, white rice, and an egg roll.