Another Version of Party Potatoes--Easy

Here is another version of easy party potatoes.

Note: The dish below contains approximate values. I rarely measure when I cook.

Ingredients
32 oz cubed frozen potatoes (or hash-browns), thawed
1 can cream of celery soup (the healthy version), or cream of mushroom
1/4 soup can water
3/4 soup can fat free milk
1/2 jar (about 1/2-3/4 cup?) Cheez Whiz
1 cup (approximately) light sour cream (I only use Light Daisy)
1 package of cubed ham--I think my package was 12 oz

Spray a casserole dish with oil. In a large bowl mix everything together except for potatoes, and mix well. Then, add potatoes and place in a 9x13 inch pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes, or until done. Then add topping if you wish.

Topping:
1 TBSP butter, melted
crispy rice cereal, or crushed corn flakes (add until course crumbs)

Mix topping together until coarse crumbs form, then place on top of potatoes. Place casserole back into over for at least 10 minutes.

Verdict: They were loved!

Veggie Platter

I made this for the Fourth of July get-together at my house (please ignore all of the clutter in the background). I was dumb and bought heads of broccoli and cauliflower and cleaned it myself. True, it was cheaper, but it took A LOT longer than I wanted to spend on it. Also, there was supposed to be celery, but the celery I bought was a little, well, rank. It was still good, but very smelly. 

Anyway, I attached the olives with skewers to a head of iceberg lettuce,which is cut in half, and both halves are set next to each other. The rest are attached with toothpicks to the head of lettuce.   

For the radishes, I cleaned and made them into rosettes. Cut off the top and bottom of each radish then crisscross cut into the sides. 


Last, but not least, I want to add that I found this idea from a book I have about fruit and veggie platters. I took the idea and ran with it, because I don't have a basket I wanted to use.

Ingredients
Veggies of your choice
skewers
toothpicks
head of lettuce, cut in half (for the base)

Calico Beans

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Originally uploaded by IowaSunshine

Some days I just throw things together from recipes I've seen and hope that it tastes okay. This is one of those dishes.

Calico Beans Ingredients
About 1 cup frozen Lima beans
1 can pork and beans, drain the fat and most of the sauce
1 can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
2 TBSP brown sugar
1 TBSP apple cider vinegar
1 TBSP yellow mustard
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 an onion, diced
10 strips of center cut bacon, cooked and crumbled

Mix together and bake in a 425 degree over for 45 minutes, or until done.


VERDICT: We liked this! I couldn't believe it, but we did like it. I will make this again, because it very hearty.

Squash Bowls and Pumpkin Mousse

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Originally uploaded by IowaSunshine

There are some oldies, but goodies from my not-so-secret recipe files.

Squash Bowls
Ingredients
1 acorn squash
butter spray
2 TBSP brown sugar

Cut acorn squash in half, length-ways, and scoop out the seeds. Spray each half with butter spray and place 1 TBSP of brown sugar in each hole.

Place squash halves in a 400 degree oven and roast until soft. You may also make this in the microwave.

Take out of oven when tender and let sit for about 5 minutes, or easy to touch. Carefully cut the squash from the shell, creating a "bowl."

Serve hot.


Pumpkin Mousse
Ingredients
1 can pumpkin
1 container fat free whipped topping
1 box sugar free vanilla pudding
ground cinnamon
ground ginger
ground nutmeg

Mix pumpkin, topping and pudding. Add seasonings to taste. Let rest for 1 hour before serving. NOTE: You can add 1/4 c. Splenda to the mix, but I don't, because it tastes too sweet to us.


VERDICT: The squash bowls are cool, because you can take squash off the sides and dip it in the brown sugar. And, the pumpkin mousse tastes like pie without all of the calories!

Quick Slow Cooker Ham and Taters

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Originally uploaded by IowaSunshine

I am usually not a proponent of meals that come from a box, but I was in a hurry today. So, I threw together what I had on hand, and we thought it made a good meal.

Ingredients
1 box of au gratin potatoes
2 diced tomatoes, take the peel off
5 servings of ham (I used leftover lunch meat)
4 cups water
2 oz 2% cheese, shredded
1/2 c. crushed cornflakes

Place boxed potatoes and the cheese mix that comes with it in a greased slow cooker. Add ham, tomatoes and water, then stir. Sprinkle cheese over that layer and lastly add cornflakes. Add pepper to taste.

Cook on high for 3-4 hours, or low for 4-6.

Makes 5 servings.

Verdict: This was a good meal, even if it came from a box!

Beef Roast with Carrots and Potatoes

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Originally uploaded by IowaSunshine

My mom makes a mean beef roast. Needless to say, it's one of my favorites and I'm happy to say that Jeff loves it too, so we eat it a lot. I made this last night, but it still tastes great today!

2-4 pound beef roast
1 lb carrots (I used baby carrots)
4-5 medium sized potatoes
4 cups beef broth (or enough to cover the roast)
black pepper

Place roast in slow cooker (it does not need to be seared) and season with black pepper. Arrange carrots and potatoes on top of roast and pour beef broth over the ingredients. Cook on high for 4-5 hours...or longer. The longer this cooks the more tender it is.

Once it is finished, raise the carrots, potatoes and roast out of the liquid and let sit for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, you may add flour to the beef broth to make a gravy.

Eat the roast with ketchup!


Of course we both love this recipe! My mom still makes this roast for holidays, or whenever she has a houseful of guests. The best part, though, is that you can make a ton of different recipes with the leftovers. Not only have I made shredded bbq beef, but I'll make shredded tacos, too. Look forward to those recipes in future posts!

Steak Tacos and Corn Salad

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Originally uploaded by IowaSunshine

Have you ever had one of those days where you just wanted to clean out the freezer? I had not idea what I wanted to make for supper tonight, but upon scrounging around our freezer I found some stew meat (steak cubes) that I froze back in February. Well, I figured I had better use it now, before it gets nasty. The corn salad was also part of the "let's clean out the freezer" movement. The salad is based on the cornbread one we made for my wedding, but is just a little different. It's still super tasty.

Steak Tacos
1/2 onion cut into 1/2 moons
1/4 c. combo of red and green peppers, diced
2 tsp olive oil
1 lb Steak Cubes
black pepper
2-3 cups water
1 bouillon cube
1 TBSP tomato paste
1 package of taco seasoning
taco shells
2% mild cheddar cheese, shredded
fat free sour cream

Add 1 tsp olive oil to frying pan and heat over medium, add onion and green pepper, carmelize then let rest on a plate while you cook the meat. After removing the veggies add 1 tsp olive oil and cook meat until browned, then drain and rinse the fat from the meat (if you have any). Return the meat to the pan, and add black pepper while frying for a mement. Then, simmer in beef broth until tender (which will depend on the cut you get, mine was tough). You may need to add more water to make sure the beef is tender! Once you have tenderized the meat add the tomato paste, taco seasoning and cooked veggies to the pan. Let cook until thick. Add meat and veggies to taco shell and top with cheese and sour cream if you wish. (I would say lettuce, but I DETEST WARM LETTUCE.)

Corn Salad
1 package frozen corn, cooked, cooled and drained well (I used the steam fresh pacakge)
2 TBSP white onion
2 TBSP red pepper
2 TBSP green pepper
1 can drained pinto beans
1 can drained diced tomatoes (or you can use fresh)
1/2 cup 2% mild cheddar cheese, shredded (USE A BLOCK AND SHRED IT YOURSELF!)
3 TBSP (or 1 package) Hidden Valley Ranch powder
1/2 c Light Miracle Whip
1/2 c fat free sour cream

Mix well and let sit for 1 hour so that flavors may meld.



The judgement: Jeff loved the tacos, while I thought they were ok. I loved the corn salad while Jeff thought it was ok. If I were to do it again, I would add more onions and peppers to the tacos, because they're my favorite part of a taco. As for the salad, instead of 1/2 c f Light Miracle Whip and fat free sour cream I might cut back to 1/3 c each, because it was a bit moist, but man did I enjoy it! If I hd had a bun to wipe the juice up with I would have been in heaven!

Ranch Cucumber Mushroom Salad

I swear I don't live on ranch dressing! It's funny, actually, because I used to HATE ranch, well, until I was probably 25. Now, I love Hidden Valley Light dressing and use it all the time. I happened to be at Wh0le F00ds this weekend and picked up the organic mini-cucumbers and mushrooms on sale.

2 cups romaine and/or iceberg lettuce, chopped
2 mini-cucumbers, sliced
3 large mushrooms, sliced

Toss together in a bowl and add approximately 1/4 c. light ranch dressing and coat well. Let sit for 30 minutes.

When ready to serve add 1-2 TBSP fresh Parmesan cheese and fresh cracked black pepper.

This makes 2 servings and was a perfect complement to our cream cheese chicken and pasta. The cucumbers taste great, and Jeff and I loved the crispness they added to the salad. I will be making this again.

Fried Corn

I made this on a whim one night when I was craving some fried corn.

1/2 cup diced onion
1 TBSP butter
1-2 Cups fresh or frozen corn kernels, defrosted
6 strips of center-cut bacon
Dry, powdered ranch dressing mix to taste

Fry bacon, drain and crumble. Set aside.

Clean out the fry pan and add 1/2 of the TBSP of butter. Fry onion in butter (and green or red pepper if desired). Once onions are translucent, add corn kernels and fry until lightly browned. Add crumbled bacon and the rest of the butter. Then, add the powdered ranch mix and black pepper to taste.

I really liked this! Jeff tolerated it only because it had corn in it. When I make this again I'll add 1/2 cup of diced green or red pepper.

Potato-Veg Casserole

1/2 package frozen California Blend vegetables
1 C frozen corn
4 servings mashed potato flakes
1 can (14 oz) fat free chicken broth
1/2 C shredded cheddar cheese
1 TBSP dry ranch seasoning
1 tsp paprika


Thaw vegetables and break apart. Place in greased casserole dish. Spoon mashed potato flakes over veggies. Then add chicken broth, but DO NOT STIR. Sprinkle cheese over this mixture and then sprinkle seasonings over the casserole. Bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes.

This was created when I didn't feel like running to the store and had extra veggies to use up. It was good!

New-Style Corn on the Cob

Light Miracle Whip (about 1/2 cup)
Parmesan cheese (the pizza topping kind)
4 slices bacon
4 ears of corn shucked
4 pieces of foil

Mix LMW with as much parmesan cheese as desired. Place on corn cobs and spread around. Wrap bacon around corn cob and LMW spread. Place on foil and roll up. Bake in 350 oven for 35 minutes or grill (turning every 5 minutes or so) for about 35 minutes.


This has fantastic flavor and I will be making this again!

UPDATE Jan. 2009: I like how I can take this off the grill or out of the oven and cut the corn off with a knife and it still has great flavor. Due to dental issues I am no longer able to eat corn straight off the cob.

Pork and Taters

Please forgive me for the hiatus--I was quite busy! I'll try and update when I can.

I just made this for a dinner party at my place in Vermillion for my friends! You can easily substitute the meat (such as adding ham instead of pork chops) and creamed soups!

sliced raw potatoes (probably about 6-8, or just enough to fill up an 11x13 pan 2/3 full)
celery --about 2 stalks, chopped
1/2 chopped onion

Cut into bite-sized wedges. Mix and put in a greased 11x13 inch pan.


In a separate bowl mix:

1 can cream of celery soup
milk (about 1/2-3/4 of a cup)
cheese (about 4-6 oz)--Velveeta Light works best!

Pour over top of food in pan and mix well.

Put pork chops on top (don't forget to season with salt and pepper) and bake in a 350 degree oven for an hour or until all food is done. Can also make in crockpot. Just mix meat and potatoes (cut the meat into chunks) then pour liquid over.

I absolutely love this recipe. My mom used to make this after church on Saturday nights.

Creamed Peas

My mom would make something like this when I was a kid. I tried to redo that same recipe. I think I may have achieved it.

Bag of frozen peas, cooked and drained
A couple TBSP of butter
Some flour
milk
pepper

In a small saucepan melt butter and bring to a bubble. Add enough flour to make a very thick paste, almost ball like. Brown this mixture for a minute or so. Add milk and begin to thin out the butter mixture. Thin out to the consistency that you want. Add pepper to season, then add peas.

I really like these, but Jeff DOES NOT. So, I make them when he's having something I hate.

Easy Taters

This is easier than snapping your fingers.

Potoatoes that have been washed, but not peeled
non-stick butter cooking spray (ie: Pam)
grill seasoning and Lawry's
foil

Cut potatoes into quarters then cut in half again, so that you have 8 wedges. Lay out some foil and spray with butter spray. Place potatoes on foil. Add seasoning. Season to your liking. Either grill or put in oven until done.

I like how easy these are to make, and how little mess they are to clean up. I eat these a lot during the summer.