Ham & Broccoli Bundles

The filling for this meal can be made ahead and bundles assembled just before baking.

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg. refrigerated crescent rolls
• 1 cup cooked ham, finely chopped
• 3/4 cup cooked broccoli, chopped
• 1/4 cup red pepper, chopped
• 1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
• 5 TBS mayonnaise
• dash salt
• dash garlic powder

In a medium bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, salt, garlic powder and cheese.  Add ham, broccoli and red pepper and mix together. 

Unroll and separate the crescent rolls, stretching the triangles a bit to accommodate the filling.

Divide the ham mixture amongst the triangles, then fold corners over to overlap in the center.  (It is fine if the filling to be is exposed at the seams.)

Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes 4 servings of 2 bundles each.

 

* I prepared this using reduced-fat rolls, lean ham, and light mayo to trim some of the fat content from this recipe.

Peach Raspberry Cobbler

A few years ago, our friends Jay and Patty gave us some red raspberry starts.  The canes grew very healthy and have produced a little more fruit each year.  But this year!  My, I have a bumper crop of red raspberries.  I’ve been eating them in cereal or just by themselves.  Or my favorite way is over pancakes with maple syrup and whipped cream.  (Not at all healthy, but oh, so yummy!)

I picked a pint on Sunday, and already there was another pint to pick today.  Now Megan loves to help pick, but she doesn’t really care for the berries by themselves or with cereal.  Ethan loves his pancakes like I do, so he helped me eat some of them on Monday.  But I needed to find something else to do with these berries before they spoil.

At the same time, I started thinking about all the peaches in the fridge that only I am eating.  (My kids prefer canned peaches!)  So now I’ve got two fruits I need to do something with, and I started to think “I’m pretty sure I’ve seen recipes for ‘peach-raspberry pie.””  So I Google-d it and combined a couple of recipes to come up with this dessert because my kids prefer cobbler over pie.

 

Ingredients:

      4 cups sliced fresh peaches
1-1/2 cups fresh raspberries (you can use frozen, just thaw them first)
   1/2 cup granulated sugar
      1 Tablespoon cornstarch
      1 teaspoon cinnamon
      2 cups baking mix  (I used Bisquick)
   1/2 cup milk   
     3 Tablespoons butter, melted
     2 Tablespoons packed brown sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°  F.  Lightly grease bottom and sides of a deep-dish pie plate  or 2-qt. casserole.

2.  Mix the peaches, berries, granulated sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon together in a large bowl.  Let stand for 10 minutes to thicken.  Pour into pie plate.

3.  Using the same bowl, stir together the baking mix, milk, melted butter, and brown sugar until a soft dough forms.  Drop spoonfuls of dough onto fruit mixture.  Bake 25-30 minutes or until fruit is bubbly and the top is golden-brown.

To serve:
Spoon into serving bowls and top with whipped cream as shown or serve with vanilla ice cream.  Garnish with fresh red raspberries.  Enjoy!

Saucy Parmesan Chicken recipe at Kraftfoods.com

Photo from Kraftfoods.com
Saucy Parmesan Chicken recipe at Kraftfoods.com

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Lasagna

Our family loves lasagna.  It’s warm and cheese-y goodness in every layer.  I used to make it from scratch—you know: boil the noodles, simmer my own sauce, etc.  I made it that way for years which meant is was a once-in-awhile treat because it was labor-intensive.

Well, last winter, I received a copy of Kraft’s Food & Family magazine with an easy-to-prepare version of this comfort food classic.  I can’t actually type out the recipe because that’s a violation of their website’s terms of use.  But you can click the link above for a video and full instructions.

To compensate for not boiling the noodles first, the recipe calls for water added to the sauce.  Don’t be alarmed that your sauce seems thinner than your traditional recipe.  In addition to saving time by not boiling the noodles, this recipe also calls for a jar of spaghetti sauce, so there’s no need to prep and simmer your own.

Lasagna freezes very nicely, so all you need to do on your make-ahead cooking day is assemble it, label it and pop it into the freezer.  When you are ready to use the casserole, simply thaw in the fridge overnight then bake according to recipe directions.  (I’ve tried baking directly from the freezer with less than satisfactory results.  The center never gets warm enough before the edges start to get too done, so I recommend thawing first.)

Honestly, my family cannot tell the difference between this new recipe and my own, so why would I ever go back to making it the old way? 

Steak & Rice Casserole

Sometimes, all you need to do to make meal-time easier is freeze the prepared components.  This application works very well for me because we buy our meat in bulk from the local locker service, and so I just place the meal components next to the package of meat and then take them out together when it’s time to fix dinner.

If you are purchasing your meat at the same time as the rest of the ingredients, you could easily put this casserole together and freeze it in a pan, too.

2 green peppers, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
4 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 lbs. round steak, cut into strips
1/2 c. skim milk
1 can cream of celery soup (reduced fat or regular)
1 can cream of onion soup
1/2 cup long grain rice

1. I place my chopped veggies in separate zipper sandwich bags.
2. The rice also goes in its own sandwich bag.
3. Mix the soups and milk together and pour into a quart-size freezer bag. 
4. Place all the bagged components into a gallon-size freezer bag.
5. Label and freeze.

To cook:

1. Thaw all ingredients in the refrigerator (overnight).
2. Lightly grease or spray a 9 x 13 pan. 
3. Mix rice, veggies and soup mixture together and spread in bottom of pan.
4. Arrange meat (slice into strips first if you didn't freeze it that way) in single layer over the veggie/soup mixture. 
5. Season to taste with pepper and salt, if desired.
6. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes.

Makes 6-8 servings.

*Slow-cooker variation:

1. Arrange meat strips and veggies in bottom of slow-cooker.
2. Add thawed soup mixture.
3. Heat on low for 6 hours.
4. Prepare rice according to package directions. 
5. Add to slow cooker and turn setting to high for one hour.  (you may need to add a little milk or water if it appears to be drying out.)

Chicken & Noodles

This is my most favorite of all the comfort foods that Jeff’s mom makes. I’ll never forget the first time she came over to fill my fridge and freezer with meals.  I had just given birth to Megan, our first-born, and I think she knew I’d be so overwhelmed and tired that cooking wouldn’t be high on the priority list.  In fact, if it weren’t for her and a couple sweet friends from church who stopped by with meals, we probably would have survived on sandwiches.  Homemade Chicken & Noodles was one of the meals she prepared, and I tell you, every time that I am feeling sick or overwhelmed, I want her chicken & noodles.  It’s like a hug from Mom in a bowl—there’s just no better way to describe it! 

Of course, when you are feeling sick or stressed, you don’t necessarily feel much like banging around in the kitchen.  This recipe is a perfect application for make-ahead meals.  If you can’t resist the aroma, go ahead and serve some and freeze the rest.  It makes plenty!

Homemade Chicken & Noodles

1 3-4 lb. whole chicken
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. sage
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. onion salt
2 bay leaves
dash poultry seasoning

2 12-oz pkgs. frozen egg noodles (Or you can use dried Amish noodles)

1. Place chicken in 12-qt. stock pot and add enough water to cover the chicken.
2. Add seasonings, stir and bring just to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for about an hour.
3. Remove chicken from broth and Shred meat, discarding the skin and bones.  Set aside.
4. Remove bay leaves and skim fat from broth.  Return to a boil.
5. Add noodles and cook according to package directions. (Do NOT overcook--you don't want your noodles so soft that they fall apart when you reheat them later.)
6. Return chicken to pot, stir and heat through.
7. Divide between two 9.5 cup Ziploc containers, leaving at least 1/2' headspace to allow for expansion as it freezes.  Label and freeze.

Each container holds 9 servings which around here means everyone gets seconds. :)

To serve, simply thaw in the refrigerator overnight.  Place contents of the container into a large sauce pot, and heat through, stirring occasionally to keep noodles from sticking.  Adding between 1/4 and 1/2 cup water will also help to keep the mixture from drying out as you re-heat.

I like to serve this with fresh fruit and blueberry muffins.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie for a Crowd

I am one of those people who think chocolate and peanut butter make the perfect combination.  I just made this for the first time for a church pot-luck on Sunday, and it is one of my new favorites.

3 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 Tbs. sugar
2/3 c. melted margarine

1 c. peanut butter
1 c. powdered sugar
1 lg. container reduced-fat whipped topping, thawed and divided

2 3-oz. boxes instant chocolate pudding
3 c. cold skim milk

1. Mix together crumbs, sugar and margarine.
2. Press into bottom and up sides of 9 x 13 pan. Set aside.
3. Cream together peanut butter and powdered sugar.
4. Fold in 1 cup of the whipped topping, then spread mixture over crumb crust.
5. In med. bowl, mix cold milk into pudding mixes.  Pour evenly over peanut butter mixture. 
6. Spread remaining whipped topping over the top. 
7. Cover with foil, label and freeze.  (Or place in fridge to chill for at least an hour before serving.)

Thaw in refrigerator then cut into squares to serve. (Makes 20 2-inch squares.)  Keep leftovers refrigerated. 

*You could easily halve this recipe or divide the whole recipe between two 8x8 pans or 9-inch pie tins.

Recipe note:  I used reduced fat peanut butter.  It doesn’t mix as well as regular peanut butter, so I had to add more cool whip to get a spreadable consistency.