Baked Ham and Cheese Pasta with Broccoli

I threw this meal together the other night because I needed a quick meal that used up the left over ham I had in the fridge. It's just a basic macaroni and cheese dish with added ham and broccoli, but it's my HEALTHIER version that is also baked in the oven. This made a lot so you can cut the recipe in half if you want to. Hope you enjoy this as much as we did!


Baked Ham and Cheese Pasta with Broccoli

1- 13.25 oz pkg whole wheat rotini pasta, cooked al-dente
2 full cups cooked diced ham
1- 12 oz pkg frozen broccoli, cooked
6 T unsalted butter
1 small onion, diced
1/3 cup flour (plus more, if needed)
3 1/2 cups 1% milk
6 oz 2% milk reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup grated reduced fat parmesan cheese (plus more for sprinkling)
1/2 tsp dried parsley
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook pasta to package directions to "al-dente", drain. Cook broccoli until done, whatever method is preferred by you (microwave or stove top), drain. Melt butter in a 3 quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook 4-5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, add flour, mix well and cook for 1 minute to create roux. Gradually add milk to roux to form a thickened sauce (add more flour if needed to desired thickness), also add the parsley and salt/pepper, to taste, to roux (I started with a 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper and then added more if I desired). Remove from heat. Add cheddar cheese and parmesan to roux and mix well until all melted.

Add pasta, ham and broccoli back to pot used to boil pasta in. Add the cheese mixture and stir gently until well combined. Pour pasta mixture into a 9x13 pan, sprayed with cooking spray. Sprinkle with more parmesan cheese on top.




Bake, uncovered for 20-25 minutes until hot and bubbling. Let sit for a few minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Jen's Beef Stew with Biscuits

Who doesn't love a big bowl of hearty beef stew with homemade biscuits on a cold winter day?! Well, that somebody USED to be my husband. That's right, I finally broke his hatred for beef stew and it only took me 12 years! Yay!
My version of beef stew is very simple and quick to throw together. I hope you enjoy it!

Jen's Beef Stew

2 lbs beef chuck stew meat (cut into small, bite sized pieces)

3 T flour seasoned with seasoned salt or kosher salt and black pepper, to taste

1 large onion, diced

6 cloves fresh garlic, chopped

1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, drained

2 tsp dried thyme

1 bay leaf

1 tsp garlic powder

4-6 cups beef broth (I use low sodium)

1 to 1 1/2 cups peeled and sliced carrots

3/4 cup sliced celery

2 to 3 cups red potatoes (skin on), cut into chunks

Kosher salt, to taste

Combine seasoned flour with stew meat and place into slow cooker (I always use slow cooker liners so clean up is minimal). Add remaining ingredients to slow cooker, stir, cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, stirring occasionally. Check seasonings and then serve with homemade buttermilk biscuits (recipe below). Enjoy!

*Note: if desired, during last 30 minutes or so of cooking time if stew is too thin, turn slower to high setting and add a few Tablespoons of flour mixed with enough water to make a thin paste and stir into stew. Cook on high until stew is to desired thickness, adding more flour/water as needed.

Southern Biscuits

(recipe by Alton Brown)

2 cups flour

4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

2 T butter

2 T shortening (chilled is better)

1 cup buttermilk (if you don't have any, mix 1 T white vinegar with enough milk to make 1 cup)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix all dry ingredients together using a wire whisk. Cut in butter and shortening into flour mixture using a pastry cutter, forks or your hands until mixture looks like crumbs. Make a well in center of flour/butter mixture and add buttermilk. Stir until the dough just comes together. The dough will be very sticky

Turn dough onto a floured surface. Dust top of dough with flour and gently fold over onto itself 5-6 times. Press in 1 inch thick round disk. Cut out biscuits using a 2 inch round cutter and place onto a parchment lined baking sheet so they just touch. Reform scrap dough and continue cutting. Makes about 12 biscuits. Bake biscuits until tall and light gold on top, about 15-20 minutes.

Spicy Tilapia

My husband, Michael, went to New Orleans early last year on a business trip. He had a great time and got to do a lot of sight-seeing (I was so jealous!). One evening, he attended a business dinner at "K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen" a fabulous restaurant in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Michael and I love Cajun/spicy food so Michael was in heaven while eating at that restaurant. Chef Paul Prudhomme gave my husband a signed copy of his cookbook and a big collection of his famous Magic Seasoning Blends. We have been in love with Chef Paul's seasonings ever since! We use them on steaks, burgers, chicken, fish, vegetables and even meatloaf! The flavors are wonderful and have a great kick to them.

Tilapia is kind of a bland fish, but we love it spiced up with Seafood Magic seasoning. I'm just happy to get my husband to eat NON-batter-fried fish so I don't really care what type of fish it is.

So, here is my quick and easy version of Spicy Tilapia. If you don't have Seafood Magic Seasoning, don't worry, you can easily substitute your own spicy seasoning blend or other Cajun seasonings. Just make sure to adjust the salt content to your liking if the seasoning blend doesn't contain any.

Spicy Tilapia

1 lbs fresh Tilapia fillets, rinsed well and patted dry

1 T extra virgin olive oil

1 T "light" margarine (or use 2 T total olive oil instead)

2 tsp lemon juice

2 T (or more) Chef Paul Prudhomme's Seafood Magic seasoning or other Cajun seasoning or choice spicy seasoning blend

Heat oil and margarine in a large skillet. On one side of fish fillets, sprinkle with half of the lemon juice. Then generously sprinkle and rub with half of the spicy seasoning. Add fish to hot oil/margarine, seasoned side down. Cook for 3-4 minutes.

Meanwhile, sprinkle other side of fish with remaining lemon juice and spicy seasoning. Flip fish and continue cooking for another 3-4 minutes or until the fish is opaque in color and easily flakes when cut.

Serve fish with lemon scented white rice (recipe below) and a salad or vegetable of choice. Enjoy!

Lemon Scented White Rice

2 1/2 cups cooked white Rice (or other white rice, cooked. Basmati is good)

2 T "light" margarine

1 tsp kosher salt

2 T lemon juice

Pepper, to taste

Cook rice to package directions. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Keep warm until ready to serve.

Old Fashioned Sour Cream Cookies

These cookies are wonderful. My mom used to make them all the time when my sister and I were younger. They are light, slightly sweet and "melt in your mouth" according to an elderly neighbor that used to live across the street from us a long time ago. Our neighbor, John, used to love it when my sister and I would bring him these cookies. We would visit with him and his wife, Ruth, for hours, listening to stories and eating cookies. Such good memories :)
I'm thrilled to be making these cookies for my family now. Everyone loves them!

Old Fashioned Sour Cream Cookies

(a.k.a Melt-in-your-mouth cookies--a recipe from my mom)

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup margarine, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 tsp vanilla

Topping:

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl; set aside. In a bowl of a mixer, combine margarine, sugar and eggs until light and fluffy. Add sour cream and vanilla and mix well. Gradually beat in flour mixture until well mixed. Refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Using a 1 Tablespoon cookie scoop or spoons, drop batter onto parchment lined cookies sheets 2 inches apart. Sprinkle unbaked cookies with a good coating of cinnamon/sugar topping. Bake for 10-12 minutes until slightly golden brown on the bottom edges. Makes about 4 dozen cookies. Let cool and enjoy!

Turkey Scallopini

Here is one of MY favorite meals. I absolutely love this. It's definitely not diet food, but eating it once in a while can't hurt, right?

I first made this dish when my daughter was just a few months old (which makes me sad because she's 6 1/2 years old now) and it took me a little while to perfect it. I would like to mention that I have made this using pork cutlets and boneless chicken breasts. We all like the turkey best, but the pork is also pretty good. We weren't big fans of it made with the chicken though. It just didn't seem to have the same flavor. Try this recipe sometime, it's wonderful!

Turkey Scallopini

2 lbs turkey cutlets, pounded thin

6 T flour (or more)

1 tsp Kosher salt

1/2 tsp ground sage (optional)

Black pepper to taste

2 T extra virgin olive oil (I sometimes use a little more)

1/2 cup white wine or chicken broth (I've made it both ways and can't taste too much of a difference)
1/2 cup water

2 T margarine or butter

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp dried rubbed sage leaves

1 tsp chicken bouillon granules

Place flour in a shallow bowl, add the salt, ground sage and pepper; mix. Set aside. Rinse and pat dry turkey cutlets. I like to cut the turkey cutlets in half because they are usually pretty big. Using a rolling pin or meat pounder, pound the cutlets to a 1/4 inch thickness or so.

Heat the oil in a large heavy skillet. Dredge the turkey in the flour and cook in batches for 3-4 minutes on each side until cooked through, removing to a paper towel lined plate as you go.

When all the turkey is cooked, add the water, wine, margarine, garlic, sage leaves, and bouillon to the same skillet (do not rinse all the turkey bits/oil from the pan, that is where all the flavor is!). Stir and bring to a boil over medium-low heat. Let simmer for 2 minutes and then add turkey back to the skillet.

Continue to simmer, turning the cutlets in the sauce for another 3-5 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Serve with (or over) hot cooked Basmati rice and a vegetable or salad on the side. Enjoy!

Waffles

My husband was sooo happy yesterday when I told him I was going to make waffles for dinner. Sure, he loves waffles, but to him that meant I was also going to cook bacon, his most favorite food in the whole world. He's been on a little diet since Christmas (enforced by me, of course) so he was pretty excited. He actually cleaned up the whole kitchen after dinner to show his appreciation. Ah, the power of bacon :)
Here's how my husband eats his waffles....




Looks pretty good, huh? He wished he had patented his "Bacon Waffle Sandwich" before Dunkin Donuts came out with their version. Men and their dreams....




Here's the waffle recipe I used last night. It comes from the little Cuisinart recipe booklet that came with my waffle maker. The waffles are pretty good and this makes a TON. I freeze the leftovers and then reheat in my toaster oven to make them crispy again.

Basic Waffles
(from Cuisinart)
4 cups all-purpose flour (I like to use 2 cups all-purpose and 2 cups white whole wheat flour)
4 T sugar
2 T baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 1/2 cups lowfat milk (I use 1% or skim)
3/4 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs

Combine all ingredients until well blended and smooth. Let batter rest for 5 minutes or so before using. Cook in waffle iron until desired crispness is achieved. Enjoy!

Mom's Maple Nut Squares

I'm on a diet, which means I am baking a lot more then usual to make up for what I am not allowing myself to have. Which means the stuff I'm baking is oh, SO, good. Which also means, my body is no where near bathing suit ready! Thank God it's still January!

This recipe comes from my mom. It reminds me of winter aromas and flavors. Where she got the recipe from remains a mystery, but WOW, these are fantastic and one of my absolute favorites! My mom was a passionate baker who was also a type 1 diabetic for most of her life. She would bake all the things she wished she could, "legally eat," in her words.

These bars were something she started making within the last 8 years of her life, and they are, without a doubt, a little piece of heaven.

I am a little embarrassed to share this recipe though, because it uses an imitation form of a speciality product that is produced right here in my home state and neighboring state, Vermont.....maple syrup.

This recipe actually calls for "imitation maple flavoring", and I will admit that I have not experimented enough to have the alternate "real maple syrup" recipe for all of you, but I hope to someday accomplish this because these bars are amazing. Frankly though, what's more amazing is living in an area where REAL maple syrup is abundant and required :)


Maple Nut Squares
(a recipe from my mom)
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2/3 cup oil (I use vegetable)
2 tsp imitation maple flavoring
1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven 350 degrees. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in small bowl. Beat sugar, eggs, oil and maple flavor in large bowl. Add flour mixture to egg/sugar/oil and mix well. Stir in walnuts. Spray a 9x9 baking pan with cooking spray with flour added. Pour batter into pan and make level. Bake for 20-30 minutes until light golden brown and/or when a tooth pick is inserted in middle of bars comes out clean. Enjoy!!

(Note: I could not find my 9x9 pan so I used an 8x8 in the pictures. I do recommend using a 9x9 if you have one because the bars won't come out so thick and will serve more)