Baked Ziti

Ingredients

1 lb ziti pasta
2 cups spaghetti sauce (Homemade or store bought.)
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (Divided into 2 portions - 1 1/2 cups and 1/2 cup.)
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper

Directions 

1. Preheat the oven to 350* F.
2. Boil ziti pasta until tender. Meanwhile, lightly oil a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
3. Drain pasta.
4. Mix together pasta, spaghetti sauce, ricotta cheese, 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, and spices. Stir well to combine.
5. Spread the mixture into the pre-greased baking dish.
6. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese across the top of the dish.
7. Bake for 30 minutes. Serve hot.

Tips

I used store bought spaghetti sauce for this - a four cheese blend.

Pecan Pie

Ingredients

8 oz pecan halves
1/4 tsp salt
4 tbsp butter
1 c dark Karo (corn) syrup
1 c dark brown sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 deep dish pie crust

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350* F.
2. Melt 2 tbsp butter.
3. Toss pecans with 2 tbsp melted butter and salt. Spread out across a baking sheet.
4. Roast for 5 minutes.
5. Remove pecans from oven.
6. Melt remaining 2 tbsp butter.
7. Mix together Karo, sugar, vanilla, eggs, and melted butter. Stir in pecans.
8. Pour mix into pie crust. Bake for 45 minutes until crust and pecans have browned.
9. Let cool on counter top until room temperature. Refrigerate before serving to fully chill.

Potato Soup

Ingredients

3 tbsp butter
1/3 c diced onions
1/4 c diced celery
1/4 c diced green bell pepper
1 medium carrot, cleaned/peeled and finely diced
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp ground mustard
1/2 tsp dried oregano
5 c potatoes, diced
1 quart chicken stock
2 cups water

Directions

1. Melt butter in a pan over medium heat.
2. Saute onions, celery, bell pepper, garlic, and carrots in butter until they begin to soften.
3. Add seasonings and stir to combine. Add potatoes.
4. Add stock and water. Bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat and let simmer until potatoes soften.
6. Serve hot. Reheats well.

Tips
For a creamy version, use milk or cream instead of water.
For a vegetarian version, use vegetable stock instead of chicken.
For a vegan version, use 1-2 tsp olive oil instead of butter and substitute vegetable stock for chicken.

Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients

3 cups black bean and corn salsa

1 pound ground turkey meat

1 cup rice

6 bell peppers

2 cloves garlic, minced

¼ cup diced bell pepper

¼ cup diced onion

1 can mixed diced tomatoes and green chilies

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

3 tsp olive oil

shredded cheddar cheese, if desired

salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1.   Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Cut the tops off of the bell peppers. Remove the ribs and seeds from inside. 
3. Rub the insides of the peppers with 1-2 spoons of olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt. Put in a baking dish in the oven for 10-15 minutes.
4. Heat the remaining olive oil in a skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Saute the onions, garlic, and diced bell pepper. I get the diced bell pepper for this from the tops I cut off of the 6 peppers.
5. Add the turkey to the pan and brown.
6. Add salsa and canned tomatoes and chilies to turkey mixture. Stir to combine. Let simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
7. Add cooked rice and Greek yogurt to turkey mixture. Stir to combine.
8. Divide the mixture evenly between the 6 empty bell peppers. Bake for 20 minutes.
9. Remove peppers from oven. Top, if desired, with cheddar cheese. Return to oven for 10 minutes.
10. Serve hot with sides of additional salsa or Greek yogurt, if you want. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Tips

The 6 bell peppers I made were really full - overflowing, in fact. There is probably enough here to decently fill 7-8 bell peppers if you so choose. 

You can use sour cream instead of plain Greek yogurt, any color bell peppers, and beef or sausage instead of turkey, if you want.. You can also use store bought or homemade salsa. Leave out the meat entirely for a vegetarian version. You can also substitute black beans for the meat. Leave the cheese and yogurt out for a non-dairy or vegan version.

Kale Chips

Ingredients

10 cups of chopped kale, stems removed

4 tsp olive oil

½ to 1 tsp salt

½ to 1 tsp Tony Cachere’s Creole seasoning, optional

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Remove stems from kale.
3. Combine olive oil and seasonings.
4. Toss kale with olive oil and seasoning mixture to coat. Make sure the seasoning is evenly distributed. You can do this in a bowl or in two large Ziploc bags.
5. Bake leaves in a baking dish for 20-30 minutes or until they darken and get crunchy, stirring every 5 minutes or so.

Tips
1.       Store in an airtight container.
2.       The kale shrinks a lot during the cooking process. You will get around 2-3 cups.

3.    You can use more or less salt, to taste.

Recipe Review: Todd Wilbur's Red Lobster Cheddar Garlic Biscuits

Good Morning America has Todd Wilbur's version of the Red Lobster Cheddar Garlic Biscuit recipe on on their website. Mine ended up looking pretty much nothing like their picture, but they taste pretty close to the Red Lobster version and are delicious. I did tweak the ingredients. I preheated the oven to and baked the biscuits at 375 degrees instead of 400 degrees. Here's what I used:

Biscuit Ingredients
2 1/4 c Krusteaz Buttermilk Pancake Mix
1/4 c unbleached AP flour
3/4 c skim milk
4 tbsp cold butter
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 c fat-free Kraft shredded cheddar

Biscuit Topping Ingredients

2 tbsp butter
1 tsp finely chopped fresh parsley
1/4 tsp garlic powder

I mixed the ingredients largely as per the original directions, but I used a fork instead of doing it by hand. I baked them for about 15-20 minutes. Keep an eye on them - they burn quickly!

Once you pull them out of the oven, melt 2 tbsp of butter (I just did this in the microwave). Then stir in the parsley and garlic. Stir it well or the garlic will end up in a big clump at the bottom. Drizzle or brush it over the biscuits.

Daube Spaghetti

My own attempt on a family favorite. This makes a big batch. Plenty for eating and plenty for freezing.

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 c diced onion
1 c diced green bell pepper
1 c diced celery
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 1/2 lb beef roast
4 c crushed tomatoes
4 c diced tomatoes
2 c tomato paste
2 c beef broth
4 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tsp Tony Chachere's seasoning
1 1/2 tsp dried parsley
1 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1 1/2 tsp dried basil
1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

cooked pasta or rice

Directions

1. Pre-heat your crock-pot to high. It sounds weird, I know, but I find that pre-heating the crock-pot helps my dishes.
2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic to oil and saute until soft, stirring occasionally to prevent burning.
3. Put onion mix into crock pot. Add tomato paste, beef broth, and crushed and diced tomatoes. Stir to combine. You can add up to 4 more cups of crushed tomatoes if you want a thinner sauce.
4. Slice roast into smaller chunks. Brown outside of roast pieces in olive oil left in heated skillet. Transfer to crock-pot.
5. In a small bowl or Tupperware container, mix together seasonings (sugar, salt, black pepper, Tony Chachere's, parsley, rosemary, basil, thyme, nutmeg, and cinnamon). Stir seasoning mix into sauce in crock-pot. Make sure the pieces of roast are covered by the tomato mixture.
6. Cover and let the mixture cook on high for 7-8 hours.
7. Remove roast pieces from mixture and shred or chop. If you're shredding it, you can put the pieces into a Kitchen Aid mixer and run it with the paddle attachment (the one you would use to mix cookie dough) for about a minute. This will shred the mixture easily. Return beef to tomato mixture and stir to combine.
8. Serve hot over cooked pasta or, if preferred, rice.