Lima Beans with Ham

I love lima beans with ham. It's just one of those comfort foods for me. So many people don't like beans and I didn't either for the longest time. However I've developed a taste for beans and now I love them. Not only are they a cheap food source but there are so many ways to prepare beans. Your not limited to burritos or soups which is how most I know eat beans. This is a simple and very cheap meal. All together this dish probably cost around $5 and it fed us for 3 meals. Your cost will vary depending on what you have on hand and what you add to it.


Lima Beans with Ham

1 lb baby or regular dried lima beans (I prefer baby cause the flavor is not as strong but go with what you have on hand or can find), soaked over night, drained, and rinsed
ham hock, ham steak cut into bite size pieces, or leftover holiday ham cut into pieces (amount depends on you and your tastes, we like to have about 1 cup of ham in our beans)
2 carrots, diced
3 celery stalks, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced

Cook onion, carrots, and celery in 1 tablespoon oil or butter until they softened, about 5-10 minutes. Add garlic and cook about 30 seconds. Add lima beans and ham hock or ham. Cover with water. Bring to a boil, lower temperature and simmer until beans are tender (between one hour to three hours). You want to simmer off most of the water if you want a thick lima bean dish or add more water as needed to make it the consistency you want. If using a ham hock, remove and pull meat off and add back to dish.

Season the dish to your liking. I like to salt with garlic salt to my taste about 1/2 teaspoon. I also add coarse ground black pepper, about 2 teaspoons. I also like using hot sauce. I'd say anywhere between 1/2 teaspoon to one teaspoon. As I said flavorings are where you can make this dish your own. Add whatever flavorings your family likes. Taste often as its easy to over season.

Dilled Chicken Salad

This was a hit with everyone in the house. The flavors blended together nicely and it was fairly quick to make. Great for using up leftover rotisserie chicken or other chicken in the house. This salad makes a quite a bit of food. If your a small family, don't eat big portions, or don't like eating leftovers for days on end I recommend cutting the recipe in half. I served this pasta salad on a bed of spinach to give it more color and flavor.

Dilled Chicken Salad
WorldWide Ward Christmas Cookbook

1 16 oz pkg. spiral pasta, cooked and drained
2 cups chicken, cooked and cubed
1 cup celery, chopped
1/3 cup onion, chopped
1 10 oz pkg. frozen peas, thawed
1 1oz env. Ranch salad dressing mix
2 cups sour cream (I used plain yogurt)
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup milk
3 Tbsp fresh dill, minced or 1 Tbsp dill weed
1/2 tsp garlic sauce

In a large bowl, combine pasta, chicken, celery, onion, and peas. In a small bowl, combine dressing mix, sour cream, mayonnaise, milk, dill, and garlic salt. Whisk until smooth. Pour over salad, toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Makes 10-12 servings.

Easy Pork Chops with Mustard Sage Sauce

A quick and easy to make dish for those busy nights. These pork chops had loads of flavor even without the sauce and can be made without the sauce. The sauce though is a nice touch and really dresses up the pork. Starting time to finishing time on these was about 25 minutes.

Easy Pork Chops with Mustard Sage Sauce
The New Best Recipe cookbook

4 bone-in or center cut pork chops, 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thick, patted dry with paper towels and scored on outer layer of fat
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
salt and ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sugar

If using an electric stove, turn the burner to medium heat, if using a gas stove you can wait until you prepped the meat. Rub both sides of each chop with 1/8 teaspoon of the oil and sprinkle salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle the meat portion on one side of each chop evenly with 1/8 teaspoon of the sugar, avoiding the bone.

Place the chops sugared side down in a non-stick 12 inch skillet, positioning the chops so that the ribs point to the center of the pan. Using your hands, press the meat on each chop into the pan. Set the skillet over medium heat; cook until lightly browned 4 to 9 minutes (the pork chops should be sizzling after 2 minutes). Using tongs, flip the chops, positioning them in the same manner, with the ribs pointing to the center of the skillet. Cover the skillet, reduce the heat to low, and cook until the center of each chop registers 140 to 145 degrees on an instant read thermometer, 3 to 6 minutes; the chops will barely brown on the second side. Transfer the chops to a platter, tent loosely with foil, and let rest for 5 minutes. If you don't want the mustard sage sauce end here.

After transferring the chops to a platter pour the pan juices in the skillet into a small bowl and reserve. While the chops rest, add 1 teaspoon vegetable oil and 1 medium garlic clove, minced, to the now empty skillet; set the skillet over medium high heat and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add 1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth; increase the heat to high and simmer until reduced to about 2 tablespoons, about 3 minutes. Add the pork chop juices to the skillet. Off the heat, whisk in 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard and 3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter until melted and combined. Stir in 1 teaspoon fresh sage leaves and adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper to taste. Spoon the sauce over the chops and serve immediately.

Pasta and Fresh Tomato Sauce with Garlic and Basil

I needed a quick tomato sauce recipe the other night and this recipe fit the bill. An added bonus was it helped use some of the fresh tomatoes I have scattered around the house. Start to finish I'd say this dish took me about 20 minutes to make and it had great taste. I'd recommend using a tube type pasta since the sauce is chunky but if you'd rather use spaghetti noodles run the sauce through the food processor.

Pasta and Fresh Tomato Sauce with Garlic and Basil
The New Best Recipe cookbook

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press
2 pounds ripe tomatoes, cored, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
salt
1 pound pasta

Bring 4 quarts of water to a rolling boil in a large pot.

Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons oil and the garlic in a medium skillet over medium heat until the garlic is fragrant but not browned, about 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes; increase the heat to medium-high and cook until any liquid given off by the tomatoes evaporates and the tomato pieces lose their shape to form a chunky sauce, about 10 minutes. Stir in the basil and salt to taste; cover to keep warm.

Add 1 tablespoon salt and the pasta to the boiling water and stir to separate the noodles. Cook until the pasta is al dente. Reserve 1/4 cup pasta cooking water and drain the pasta. Transfer the drained pasta to the cooking pot. Add the reserved pasta cooking water, tomato sauce, and remaining 1 tablespoon oil; toss well to combine. Serve immediately.

Green Bean Soup II

We love soup in our house. I love finding a gem of a soup recipe from a source but I usually just make up soup recipes as I go. This is one of those made up recipes. I had just over a pound of fresh green beans from my csa pickup that needed to be used. This turned out to be a pretty tasty soup. My husband did not want to try it and told me he wanted something else for dinner. Well after smelling the soup cooking he changed his mind. Overall this was a simple recipe but it did involve a little bit of time to cook the beans. I'd say it took about one hour from start to finish. A huge bonus being it was much better tasting than a can of soup.

Green Bean Soup II

1 pound fresh green beans, ends cut off and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2-3 strips bacon, I used peppered bacon, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced (use less if your not a huge fan of garlic)
2 1/2 teaspoons chicken bouillon
3 cups water
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
4-5 drops of hot sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Cook bacon until almost crisp in a dutch oven. Drain the grease from the bacon and reserved about 1-2 tablespoons. Place the grease in the pot add the cooked bacon and onion. Cook until onions are soft about 4-5 minutes. Add garlic, cook 30-45 seconds. Add water and green beans. Bring to a boil and then add all the rest of the ingredients. Simmer until beans are soft, anywhere from 20-40 minutes. You may need to adjust seasonings to your taste and you may need to add water to the pot.

Quick and Easy Hamburger Steak

This is another of those go to recipes for busy days. It's quick and simple to make and requires just a handful of ingredients. We prefer having the mushrooms and onions with the gravy but its easy to leave those out of your family does not like them. You can cook the hamburger any way you want. Sometimes we grill it, broil it, or fry it in the pan. You can also use packaged gravy mix if desired but I make my own.

Quick and Easy Hamburger steaks

4-6 hamburger patties
salt
pepper
Cook hamburger anyway you'd prefer and season to your taste. While cooking the burgers:

melt 2 tablespoons butter in pan over medium high heat
add one can of mushrooms
one onion, sliced
Cook, stirring occasionally until onions start to brown.

Now either use a brown gravy packet, added to the mushrooms and onions, and add water according to the packet. Or follow this recipe for gravy:

3 tbsp. flour
2 c. water
2 tbsp. catsup
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp. black pepper

Stir flour into the mushrooms and onions. Stir until brown. Add water, catsup, black pepper. When gravy thickens, pour over meat

Bacon Mac

Surprisingly this turned out pretty good. Given the fact it came from Cooking Light I was worried it would be not like macaroni and cheese. I was wrong. However next time I make it I think I'll leave the green onions out they did not do much for me in the dish. The bacon was an interesting addition. The one thing I thought it was missing was maybe some crushed corn flakes or crackers. That would have probably put the recipe over the goal of the Cooking Light magazine but I think it would have added to the dish.

Bacon Mac
Cooking Light Magazine Sept. 2009

3 1/4 teaspoon salt, divided
12 ounces strossapreti or penne pasta (I used elbow)
4 teaspoons all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups skim milk (I used 1%), divided
2 cups finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 slices center cut bacon, cooked and crumbled
cooking spray

Preheat broiler.
Bring 6 quarts water and 1 tablespoon salt to a boil. Add pasta; cook 8 minutes or until al dente; drain.
Combine flour and 1/2 cup milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Gradually add 1 cup milk; bring to a boil. Cook one minute stirring constantly. Remove from heat; let stand 4 minutes or until it cools to 155 degrees. Stir in 1 1/2 cups cheese. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, onions, hot sauce, bacon, and pepper; stir. Add pasta; toss. Spoon into a 2 quart broiler safe dish coated with cooking spray; top with 1/2 cup cheese. Broil 7 minutes.
6 servings.

Cabbage Rolls

One of my all time favorite meals from my childhood is cabbage rolls and comes from my mother's side of the family. When I mention these to friends they always turn up their nose at them. Heck even my own husband won't touch these. However they are so good.

1 head of cabbage
Drop in boiling water and slowly remove the leaves. As you remove the leaves let them drain until cook to touch. If you want, and they roll better if you do but you can skip this if you want, remove part of the thick part of the rib on the cabbage.

Meat mixture
1-2 lbs ground beef, depending on how big your head of cabbage is
1-2 cups rice, white or brown whatever your preference and the amount depends on how much ground beef you use and your personal preference
1-2 onions, chopped
3-4 garlic cloves minced, I like garlic if you don't use less
2-3 8 ounce cans tomato sauce
salt and pepper to your taste
Mix all together.

Grab a cabbage leaf and fill with meat mixture. Roll the leaf up and remember to tuck in the sides halfway through the rolling up. I usually put about 4 ounces of tomato sauce on the bottom of the crockpot or pan. Fill the bottom of the pan and cover the rolls with tomato sauce and sauerkraut. Add another row of cabbage rolls and continue until all the cabbage leaves are used.

Cook in oven for 3-4 hours at 350 degrees or in a crockpot on low for 8 hours.

I usually fill a tomato sauce can twice with water and add that to the pot. If cooking in the oven keep an eye on the liquid and add more if needed. I usually don't add more when cooking in the crockpot. Cook on low in the crockpot for 6-8 hours.

Toasted Pita Salad

Another great way to use all your garden fresh vegetables. This was a very quick salad to make and the flavors were really good together. Next time I will cut back on the amount of pita bread and double the recipe for the dressing. Otherwise this was a pretty tasty salad and one we will make again.

Toasted Pita Salad
adapted from Cooking Light Magazine August 2009

2 (6 inch) pitas split in half horizontally
3 cups chopped tomato (about 4)
1 1/2 cups chopped English cucumber
1/4 finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh oregano
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
2 tablespoons lime juice
4 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon honey

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place pitas on a baking sheet for 10 minutes or until crisp. Cool completely; break into small pieces.
Combine tomato and the next 4 ingredients (through parsley) in a large bowl. Combine lime juice and remaining ingredients in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Pour juice mixture over tomato mixture; toss gently. Add pita pieces to bowl; toss gently. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Porcupine Meatballs

This is a dish from my childhood. I love these meatballs. You can make these in the oven or in the crockpot but I prefer them in the pressure cooker. As I mentioned before I much prefer the pressure cooker to the crock pot these days, especially during the heat that has hit our state. I've adapted these meatballs over the years and I finally have them to what I call perfection. You may want to adjust them to fit your families tastes.

1.5 lbs ground chuck
1 cup white rice, I use regular but you can use minute rice
1 medium onion, chopped small
2 garlic cloves, minced
5 shakes of hot sauce
2 shakes of Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste
1 14oz can diced tomatoes, do not drain
1 8 oz can tomato sauce

Combine everything but the tomato sauce together. Shape into meatballs and place in pressure cooker, it's okay to stack meatballs on top of each other. Pour the tomato sauce over the top of the meatballs and close the lid. Bring the pressure cooker to pressure over medium heat. Maintain pressure and cook about 15 minutes. Allow to cool 5 minutes before removing lid. Serve.

Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos

These were so good. I am still thinking about these appetizers. Not only were they good but they were simple and easy to make. Another huge bonus only three ingredients needed to make this dish. I used jalapenos from the store but I think this would be really good with some jalapenos from a local farmer's market. As another testimony as to how good these are my father ate several and asked the next day if I had anymore.

Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos
from The Pioneer Woman Cooks

about 10 jalapenos, cut in half with seeds and membranes removed
8oz package of cream cheese
one package of bacon, you won't need it all, with slices cut into thirds

Fill jalapenos with cream cheese then wrap with bacon. Stick a toothpick through on the side to keep the bacon attached. Place on a wire rack under a baking sheet. Cook at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.

Mexican BLT Wraps

I was flipping through a cooking magazine and stumbled across a recipe called Zippy BLT's. I was interested in the theory but not in the actual recipe. So I played around with the recipe until this came to mind. Its a nice twist on a BLT and was perfect for our picnic at the park. This will be a recipe we make often. The flavors mingled together perfectly and it was another quick and simple dish to make.

For one wrap:
Warm one flour tortilla. Mix together 1 tablespoon mayo with 1 tablespoon taco sauce and spread on tortilla. Next add about 1/2 cup shredded lettuce, some chopped tomato, thin slices of red onion, and three slices of cooked bacon broken into smaller pieces (do not crumble the bacon). Chop 1/2 of an avocado and add to the wrap. Add about 2 tablespoons shredded cheese and add some salsa or taco sauce if desired. Roll up and tuck in the ends of the tortilla. Wrap in foil and cut in half.

Blast Off Burritos

Out of the blue one day I decided to buy the Disney Kids Cookbook just for fun. The kids have loved looking through the cookbook selecting foods that they normally would not eat but wanted to try them cause their favorite characters told them this dish was good. Well this one comes from Buzz Lightyear and for those who know my kids know that Buzz is their hero. Don and I really enjoyed this dish too. Fun idea for a really quick lunch and overall it was pretty simple to make. Nathan ate one half of the burrito, which for those who know him is a big deal. The twins just sampled it and then tore it apart to eat only the pieces they like.

Blast Off Burritos
adapted from The Disney Kids Cookbook

6 8 inch flour tortillas
6 breaded chicken tenders, cooked and still warm
1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 1/2 cups torn salad greens
1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
about 1/4 cup mild taco sauce (salsa would work too)

Heat tortillas in 350 degree oven for ten minutes. Cut chicken into thin slices. Place chicken, corn, cheese, and taco sauce in bowl. Mix. Place a tortilla on a piece of foil place the chicken mixture on one side and top with some of the salad greens. Roll the tortilla up. Wrap the foil around the tortilla and cut in half. The foil helps to keep the burrito together so it does not fall apart while eating. I had to help the kids unwrapped the foil as needed.