Cheesy Potatoes

2 lbs frozen has browns, thawed
1/2 c. melted butter
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 pint sour cream
2 c. grated cheddar cheese

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Place in a greased 9 x 13 pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Yum.

Orzo with Tomatoes, Feta and Green Onions

I must be on a real carb kick lately, because I'm posting another pasta recipe.

This recipe For orzo pasta with tomatoes, feta cheese and green onion is so good that I thought that it was probably an old, secret family recipe of a friend of our family. When I boldly asked him for the recipe, he sent me... a link to a webpage. NOT a family recipe, but still incredible. It also mixes up well with other food: I serve it over spinach, or add chicken sausage. After I make this, I stand by the bowl stealing big spoonfuls of it and thanking the gods of the kitchen for sending something so tasty. The full recipe serves eight, but I won't tell you how many servings we get from it at our house: It's too embarrassing.

Click here for the recipe.

Pasta, sauce and sauteed vegetables

Last year, over Memorial Day weekend, I visited a dear friend and her husband in Boston. The two of them engage in all sorts of food preparing endeavors upon which I've yet to embark, grilling pizzas and brewing beer being among the more exciting of them. I did, however, manage to pick up a couple tricks from them during my visit, which have now become staples 'round the Sanchez house. One of the tasty meals that my friend prepared for me was nothing more than sauteed veggies and homemade pasta sauce over spaghetti, but it was so good and so easy that it now finds itself regularly employed in my menu rotation. Thank you, dear friend.

While spaghetti or any pasta you prefer works fine, we've recently discovered (at Trader Joe's) and grown to love the bucati noodle. It's a long, thin and hollow tube. I've read it described as "toothy", which somehow perfectly captures the texture.

Sauce:

Pour two 15-ounce cans of diced tomatoes into a small sauce pan, season as desired, and simmer for 30 or so minutes, or however long it takes to prepare the rest of your dinner. I use a Cuisinart Smart Stick hand blender to puree the sauce to a less chunky consistency, but this step depends on personal preference.

In my sauce, I like to: heat some olive oil in the pan and cook minced garlic in it for a minute before adding the tomatoes; add some oregano, basil and ground black pepper; and, if I'm feeling really ambitious, I add cooked carrots to the sauce before pureeing it. (These are the only sneaked vegetables I foist upon my children!)

Vegetables:

Heat 2 Tbs. olive oil in a large pan, and add vegetables. For this dinner, I like zucchini and broccoli and sometimes yellow pepper. Saute until tender-crisp, about 7 minutes, adding more oil if necessary. Add fresh minced garlic during the last minute of cooking, if desired. Spoon sauce on pasta; serve vegetables on the sauce. Enjoy!

Vanilla applesauce

(Vanilla applesauce is from the Oct 2007 issue of Wondertime, an amazing parenting magazine. I've posted the link below. Eat, then subscribe!)

If you find the time to make your own applesauce, this recipe for Vanilla Applesauce is heavenly. I received an apple corer-and-peeler for my birthday last year (yes, it was something that I actually asked for), which has reduced the time I spend making this by at least half. If you have one of those gadgets that clamps onto the counter and cores, thin-slices and peels your apples for you, you could make this with very little effort.

My own modifications: I use far less sugar than the recipe calls for: perhaps 2-3 Tbs. where it calls for 2/3 cup. I made it with the recommended amount of sugar once and found it so sweet that I couldn't finish my bowl (though my children and husband did, happily). Also, I cook the apples over low heat for closer to 30 or 40 minutes for them to be soft enough to mash.

Once you taste this, you won't go back.

Great-Grandma's Butter Cookies & Frosting

1 1/2 sticks (12 Tbs) butter, room temperature

1/4 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. white sugar

1 egg yolk (save egg white for frosting)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Beat above ingredients together, then stir in 1 3/4 c. flour. Form a ball and chill about 1 hour. Place chilled dough on lightly floured surface, then roll to desired thickness (I like mine at about 1/4 inch thickness or so) and cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Re-gather scraps, re-roll and cut. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes.

Frosting:

1/2 (4 Tbs.) stick butter, room temperature

2 1/2 c. confectioner's sugar

1 egg white

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Beat ingredients together until well combined. When frosting, be sure that frosting is at room temperature.

Vegan Chocolate Cake

(I found this recipe on a print-out a church while I was cleaning. I’m not sure who it’s from, but I appreciate their generosity in sharing it.)

“Vegan chocolate cake! If it’s vegan, it must be good for me, right?”

Oh, how I wish that were the case. Please ignore all the refined carbs and empty calories in this cake and just enjoy it.

Cake:
3 c. all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
6 Tbsp. cocoa
1 tsp. salt
2 c. sugar
3 Tbsp. vinegar (I used white balsamic, as that’s all I had)
2 tsp. vanilla
¾ c. oil (I used vegetable)
2 c. cold water

Measure flour, soda, cocoa, salt and sugar into large mixing bowl. Add vinegar, vanilla, oil and water and mix well. Pour batter into greased 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. After removing cake, let cool, then drizzle with icing.

Icing:
1 c. powdered sugar
3-4 Tbsp. cocoa
½ tsp. vegetable oil
1/3 c. water (add more if needed)

Lentils & Rice

(This recipe comes from Gentry, a friend of a friend.)

This is almost vegan, almost. Perhaps one could try soy cheese with this, though I’m not sure how that cooks up. This was a good recipe, and quite easy. I would add more spice (my husband tells me that I say that about all foods), and I would probably double the recipe to fill a 9 x 13. Our 8 x 8 dish was consumed in no time flat! Even Jonah ate and said he liked it. Lentils! Who knew?

2 2/3 c. chicken broth
¾ c. dry lentils
¾ c. chopped onion
½ c. brown rice
¼ c. water (or dry white wine)
½ tsp. basil
½ tsp. thyme
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. oregano
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. pepper
4 oz. Swiss cheese: 2 oz. shredded, 2 oz. sliced thin (set slices aside)

Stir everything together including the shredded cheese. Pour into greased 1 1/2 quart casserole dish. [8 x 8 baking square]
Cover and bake at 350 1 1/2 -2 hours or until rice and lentils are done, stirring twice (every 30-45 minutes) while baking.
Remove from oven, uncover casserole and lay remaining cheese on top. Put back in the oven and bake for 2 more minutes.