Week 4: Red Pepper Polenta with Gorgonzola

Recipe: Red Pepper Polenta with Gorgonzola

From:  Betty Crocker's Cookbook for Women (Dr. Rita F. Redberg)

Category: Side Dish

Rating:  Good

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup coarsely chopped red bell pepper
2 cups roasted vegetable stock or chicken broth
1 cup fat-free milk
1 cup uncooked corn grits or cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese

Directions:

1. In a 2-quart saucepan, heat oil over medium heat.  Cook garlic and bell pepper in oil about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until bell pepper is crisp-tender.
2. Stir in vegetable stock and milk; heat to boiling.  Gradually stir in grits and salt; reduce heat to low.  Simmer uncovered about 30 minutes, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened.
3. Spray 10-inch pie plate with cooking spray.  Pour polenta into pie plate.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Let stand about 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and polenta is firm enough to cut.  Cut into 8 wedges.

I put it in a 9-inch pie plate.  Also, I used blue cheese.  If you are using blue cheese, you don't need near as much cheese.  It was almost a little much for me, and I really like blue cheese.  The Gorgonzola is a milder cheese.

Here's the polenta with the rest of my supper.  Yes, that is Spam, turkey Spam, if you must know.  The kids really like it, so I thought it would go well with the "weird" side dish I was preparing! :-)

Week 3: Baked Hamburgers in Cheese Sauce

Recipe: Baked Hamburgers in Cheese Sauce

From:  America's Dairyland Cookbok: 28th National Square-Dance Convention; submitted by: Marguerite K.

Category:  Supper

Rating: "This is the best recipe you've tried."  And, all the kids ate it!  It was really good.
WW PointsPlus: 8; serves 6

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beed
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. salt
1 can cream of celery soup
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/4 cup chili sauce
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
6 onion slices
3 buns

Directions:

1. Mix ground beef, pepper and salt.  Make into six patties and place in a 9 x 13 inch pan with a slice of onion on each.
2. Then mix the remaining ingredients, except buns, over medium heat in a saucepan until the cheese is mostly melted; pour over the hamburgers.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.
4. Toast 6 halves of buns.  Serve hamburgers on buns, spooning sauce on top.

The hamburgers right out of the oven.

A single serving.  Doesn't it look yummy?

The meal is complete!

Week 2: Turkey Rice Casserole

Recipe:  Turkey Rice Casserole

From: Let's Cook: Healthy Meals for Independent Living (Elizabeth D. Riesz, Ph.D. and Anne Kissack, M.P.H., R.D.)

Category:  Supper

Rating: Pretty Good!
WW PointsPlus: 6; serves 6  (made with spinach)

Ingredients:
1 cup instant brown rice, cooked
1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms or frozen peas
1 pound lean ground turkey
1 10.5 ounce can reduced-sodium cream of mushroom soup
2 tablespoons dry onion soup mix

Directions:

1. Prepare instant brown rice, according to directions.  Set aside.
2. Brown turkey.  Turn heat to low.
3. Add soup, mushrooms, rice and dry onion soup mix.
4. Cover and cook for 15 minutes.

Note:  I rarely follow directions! ;-)  I didn't have or like mushrooms.  I actually doubled the recipe and added a box of thawed and drained chopped spinach.  I then topped our portion with some mozzarella cheese and baked it for about 25 minutes at 350 degrees when we were ready to eat.  I also probably doubled the riced, and the texture/consistency was just fine.  Oh, and I used a whole packet of onion soup mix for the doubled recipe, because what was I going to do with half a packet?  That's just silly!

Week 1 (Bonus): Pull-Apart Carmel Rolls

Here's a bonus recipe for the week!  You won't always get one, but this week, you do!


Recipe: Pull-Apart Carmel Rolls

From: Blessings:  In the Kitchen with Central Baptist MOPS, submitted by Amy A.

Category: Breakfast

Rating: Oh-so-gooey and yummy!  A little high in the WW pointsplus category (3 points for each piece), but worth it.  I'll eat a salad for lunch!
WW PointsPlus: 3 for each piece; makes 40 pieces

Ingredients:
2 packages grand homestyle biscuits
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup butter
1 cup vanilla ice cream
cinnamon and sugar

Directions:

1. Grease 9 x 13-inch pan.  
2. Break biscuits in half.  Roll each half in cinnamon and sugar.  Place side by side in pan.
3. Melt sugars, butter and ice cream.  Pour hot caramel mix over biscuits.
4. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.  
5. Flip over onto cookie sheet.
   

Fresh out of the oven.

Ready to be pulled apart and eaten!

Note:  I made half the recipe in an 8 x 8-inch pan, and I used regular biscuits, not "Grand" ones.  For your information, half of 3/4 cup is 6 tablespoons.  I served it with some fruit salad.  The rolls and salad were all devoured this morning. 

Week 1: Chicken Pie

Recipe: Chicken Pie

From: Georgia Cooking win an Oklahoma Kitchen:  Recipes from My Family to Yours (Trisha Yearwood)

Category: Main Dishes

Rating:  Pretty good!  The adults enjoyed it more than the kids.  Miss P liked the filling, but not the topping ... I could have eaten a whole pan of just the topping.

Ingredients:

3 cups cooked, shredded chicken**

2 cups chicken broth

1 10-oz. can cream of chicken

1 cup self-rising flour

½ teaspoon pepper

½ cup butter (1 stick), melted

1 cup buttermilk, well shaken

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Put the chicken in a 2-quart casserole dish. Combine the broth and soup in a medium saucepan and bring the mixture to a boil. Pour the broth mixture over the chicken.

3. In a separate medium bowl, mix the flour with the pepper. Stir in the melted butter and the buttermilk. Pour this mixture over the casserole and smooth the top; do not stir. Bake the casserole for 45 minutes or until the crust is brown and the filling beneath is hot and bubbly.

**Note:  I used leftover pork roast instead of chicken.  And, I didn't measure it out, but it looked to be about three cups or so!  Leftovers of the filling were good over a piece of toast for lunch today!

Chicken (Pork) Pie right out of the oven.

On the plate with some broccoli and cheese.

Sneak Peak: Mini Kisses Butter Pecan Bars

As the new year doesn't officially start until tomorrow, here's a bonus recipe, and a sneak peak at the format I plan to use.  Any comments are, as always, appreciated!

Recipe: Mini Kisses Butter Pecan Bars

From: Hershey's Recipe Collection

Category: Dessert

Rating:  Yummy!  Everyone seemed to like it tonight.  It is rich, but that may come from my use of semi-sweet chocolate instead of milk chocolate.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 3/4 cups (10-oz. package) Hershey's Mini Kisses Milk Chocolates, divided**

3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans, divided

Directions:

1.  Heat oven to 350 degrees (F).  Grease 8-inch square baking pan.

2.  Beat butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla in small bowl; blend in flour.  Stir in 3/4 cup chocolates and 1/4 cup pecans; spread evenly in prepared pan.

3.  Bake 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned; remove from oven.  Immediately sprinkle with remaining 1 cup chocolates.  Let stand 5 minutes or until chocolate softens; with knife, spread evenly.  Immediately sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup pecans over top; press gently.  Cool bars completely in pan on wire rack.  Cut into bars.

Here are the bars still in the pan.  Notice that I have used finely chopped pecans, as the kids are not huge fans of nuts.

Served with a little whipped cream while still warm.  Yum!

**Note:  I didn't have mini kisses on hand, so I used mini semi-sweet chocolate chips in the batter and regular-sized ones on top!  Use what you have, I say!

New Goal!

Yes, I will continue on my weight-loss journey, and will likely continue to update here on this blog.  However, just to make things more interesting, I have a new goal:  A new recipe each week.  Ideally each week I will also feature a different cookbook, as I have at least 52 of them, I'm quite sure. :-)  Feel free to leave comments or suggestions, but do keep in mind that I cook for my husband, a six-year-old and two three-year-olds.

Let the adventure begin ...