Cabbage Rolls

Cabbage Rolls are made with cabbage leaves filled with ground beef and rice, with tomato sauce.

Ingredients:

• 12 cabbage leaves
• .
• Filling:
• 1 pound ground beef
• 3/4 cup cooked rice
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 cup milk
• .
• Sauce:
• 1 cans (8 ounces ) tomato sauce
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup cold water

Preparation:

Drop cabbage leaves into boiling salted water; cover and cook for 3 minutes. Drain well. For filling, combine ground beef, rice, onion, egg, and salt, pepper, and milk. Mix well and divide into 12 portions. Place a portion into the center of each cabbage leaf. Roll leaf around filling; fasten with toothpick. Place in a baking dish. For sauce, combine tomato sauce, tomatoes, sugar, vinegar, and 1/2 cup of water and pour over cabbage rolls. Bake covered in a preheated 350° oven 40 to 45 minutes. Remove rolls and discard toothpicks. Place pan with juices over medium heat or transfer the juices to a saucepan and place over heat; stir cornstarch and water mixture into the sauce; bring to a boil and cook until thickened.
Recipe for cabbage rolls serves 6.

Shrimp Fettuccine

1 bag (1 lb) frozen peas, carrots, peapods and corn (or other mixture)

9 ounces fettuccine

½ lb shrimp, cleaned

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup half-and-half

1 container (5 ounce) garlic and herb spreadable cheese

1 clove garlic, minced

¼ teaspoon salt

1. Thaw and drain vegetables. Set aside.

2. Get a good sized pot depending on how much pasta you are cooking. Make sure it is big enough so the water doesn't spill when it's boiling. Fill the pot up with water.

3. Set the stove to high.

4. When the water starts boiling, dump the container of pasta into the pot. Agitate it slightly with a long serving spoon.

5. Keep your eye on it as it continues to boil and stir it just enough to prevent the pasta from sticking to the bottom every 1-2 minutes.

6. When it's been boiling for about 7 minutes, take a piece of the pasta out and taste it.

7. If it's too hard to bite, tastes funny when you bite it, or if you see white in the center, it needs to cook a little longer. When it's chewy but firm in the center, it's ready. This is referred to as al dente in Italian.

8. Empty the entire pot of pasta into a strainer. Shake out the excess water and then pour back into the pot.

Meanwhile:

9. Clean shrimp. Remove any peel and veins. Cut each shrimp in half.

10. Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add cleaned shrimp and garlic. Cook until shrimp begins to turn pink. Remove from pan and set aside. Keep warm.

11. In same skillet, stir in vegetables. Cook about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender.

12. In a small microwave-safe bowl, mix the half-and-half, cheese spread, and salt until smooth. Heat in microwave until mixture is warmed, checking every 30 seconds so you do not overheat the milk proteins and milk sugars. Add this creamed mixture to the vegetables and stir to coat the vegetables.

13. Gently add the cooked shrimp and the fettuccine. Heat through and serve.

Stir-Fry Asian Beef and Noodles

1 lb. beef boneless sirloin or round steak, cut into 2x1/4 inch strips

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon soy sauce

7 ounces thin spaghetti noodles

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon finely grated gingerroot

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 bag (16 ounce) frozen mixed vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, carrot works well)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

¾ cup beef broth

1/4 cup rice vinegar

¼ cup honey

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon sesame oil

4 medium green onions, sliced (use the green and white parts)

1. In a large zip-loc bag, combine beef, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, cornstarch and 1 teaspoon soy sauce.

2. Seal bag and refrigerate 20 minutes.

3. Bring pot of water to boil. Add spaghetti noodles and cook for 6 minutes or until tender (al dente). Drain.

4. Heat skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil.

5. Add gingerroot and garlic. Cook 30 seconds.

6. Add vegetables. Cook until tender-crisp.

7. Remove vegetables from skillet.

Add another tablespoon oil to skillet or wok.

8. Add beef. Stir-fry about 5 minutes, or until brown.

9. Remove meat from skillet.

10. Add broth, vinegar, honey, 2 tablespoons soy sauce and sesame oil to skillet.

11. Stir in noodles and heat to boiling.

12. Cook over medium heat, about 2 minutes, stirring frequently until noodles are tender.

13. Stir in beef, vegetables and green onions. Cook and stir about 2 minutes.

Tuna Melt Sandwiches

1 (6 oz.) can tuna, drained 2 oz. cheddar cheese, in 1/4" cubes

1/4 cup mayonnaise 1/4 C. sweet pickle relish

1 hard cooked egg, diced 12 slices bread

1. To prepare egg: Place room temperature egg (if egg is from refrigerator, you can run warm water over egg to warm it) in a pan with enough cold water to cover egg completely (approximately by 1 1/2 inches). Bring the water to a boil, remove from heat, cover tightly with a lid, and allow to remain in the water approximately 15 to 20 minutes.

2. Combine filling ingredients. Mix well.

3. Spread equally on 6 slices of bread. Top with remaining bread.

4. Spread a small amount of butter on the outside of the bread. Cook in a sandwich maker or an electric skillet, turning, until both sides are golden brown and cheese is melted.

Pressure Cooking Chili

3 lbs stew meat (beef, pork, lamb)

2 t peanut oil

1 1/2 t kosher salt

1 can beef broth

1 (16 ounce) container salsa

30 tortilla chips

2 chipotle chiles in adobo, chopped

1 T adobo sauce (from the chipotle peppers in adobo)

1 T tomato paste

1 T chili powder

1 t ground cumin

Directions:

- Place the meat in a large mixing bowl and toss with the peanut oil and salt. Set aside.

- Heat a 6-quart heavy-bottomed pressure cooker over high heat until hot. Add the meat in 3 or 4 batches and brown on all sides, approximately 2 minutes per batch. Once each batch is browned, place the meat in a clean large bowl.

- Once all of the meat is browned, add the beef broth to the cooker to deglaze the pot.

- Scrape the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Add the meat back to the pressure cooker along with the salsa, tortilla chips. chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, tomato paste, chili powder, and ground cumin and stir to combine. Lock the lid in place according to the manufacturer's instructions. When the steam begins to hiss out of the cooker, reduce the heat to low, just enough to maintain a very weak whistle. Cook for 25 minutes. Remove from the heat and carefully release the steam. Serve immediately.

Stuffing

2 c margarine (melt)

2 cans mushroom soup

*Mix together

1 heaping T poultry seasoning

1 scant T sage

2 t salt

1/2 t pepper

* Cook in saucepan on stove

In a big bowl:

bread crumbs + celery + onions

Pour in the bowl the mixture in the sauce pan

After all mixed, add enough water to make it stick

Bake in cake pan for about one hour @ 350-375

This stuffing is one of my most favorite foods in the entire world! I have so many memories of stuffing while growing up. All I ever wanted was stuffing. For one of my birthdays all I wanted was a turkey dinner so that I could have stuffing. So my mom invited all my family over and made a turkey dinner for everyone (little did I know how much work that was for her...)

Another memory I have is that I would always fight over the stuffing with my cousin Booker. He loves stuffing ALMOST as much as I do. So finally grandma just would make us our own bowls when we had stuffing.

Blue Plate Diner - Mac and Cheese

1 16 oz pkg of large elbow macaroni

Cook in boiling salted water until al dente

Meanwhile:
Saute the ingredients below in olive oil until onions are transparent.

1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup chopped bacon
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 tsp salt
1 clove of minced garlic
2 tsp Italian Seasoning

Add to the sauteed mixture:
1 cup of fresh sliced mushrooms
Steams with lid on pan for about 10 minutes until soft.

Sauce:
1/4 cup chopped onions
1 minced garlic
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup flour

Saute onions and garlic in butter until soft. Add flour

When flour is coated with the mixture add:
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 1/2 cup cream

Bring to a boil (You can add more flour if you like your sauce thicker)

Remove from the heat and add:
1 cup shredded Pepper Jack Cheese
Stir until it melts. Add cooked noodles to this mixture.

Sprinkle with 1/4 cup breadcrumbs and place under the broiler until the top crisps and browns.

SERVE

Shepard's Pie

Bottom Layer:

- hamburger (leftover roast), onions, celery, salt, pepper --> brown in frying pan

- add leftover gravy or 1 can of mushroom soup & 1/4 can of milk

2nd Layer:

- 1-1 1/2 cups of warmed up vegetables

3rd Layer:

- instant or leftover mashed potatoes

4th Layer:

- grated cheddar cheese

** Bake in oven @ 350 until warmed through and cheese melts