TuscMoms.com

I don't know about you, but I get tired of eating the same stuff. Let's share recipes here and give each other ideas for dinner.

I'll start. I just sent this to a friend. It's so easy and yummy and great as leftovers.

Broccoli and Macaroni:
Cut up 4-5 cloves of garlic and brown in EVOO
Add 2 cans chicken broth
Cut up 2 bunches of broccoli
Simmer until soft (add mushrooms if you'd like)
Mix it all together
Voila!

Anyone have any good Super Bowl dishes for this weekend?
I want to put out some yummy munchies.
TIA

Maybe this site isn't appropriate for Super Bowl Sunday, but it's awesome for those of us in a hurry and broke:

http://www.betterbudgeting.com/frugalrecipelist.htm

Some of the recipes are hysterical - there are a few ramen noodle inspired ones - I have to laugh!

it may be rednecky but I think there's nothing better for a football game than velveeta & rotel dip.

This is great. Easy egg suppers for when you don't know what to cook. I don't know about you guys, but I love eggs and could eat them for any meal. My DH thinks I'm crazy. He thinks eggs are for breakfast. So I'll make one of these babies when he's working late. LOL

http://www.parenting.com/Common/photo_gallery.jsp?galle...93&genID=120&index=1

This is probably my kids' favorite meal. I even cook it in the summertime.

Easy Chili & Pasta

We love chili, but sometimes straight chili just seems too "heavy". We serve it over pasta or lettuce.

Saute one onion, add 1 lb ground chuck and brown. Add one can seasoned chili beans (Bush's), one can crushed tomatoes and a packet of chili seasoning mix (I prefer French's, but haven't found that anywhere lately) and up to one can of water--if you like thinner, "soupier" chili. Simmer a few minutes and you're done!

Serve over cooked seashell pasta. (Cheese optional)

To make it lighter for summertime, we serve it over lettuce. I like topping it with chopped tomatoes and onions.

My DH recently found out he has high cholesterol, and um..well, we have been forced to go on a low sodium, no cholesterol, low fat diet (we should have been doing it anyway LOL!). That in turn, has forced us to get creative on what to cook, when you have to cook dinner in 30 minutes to feed our son by 6. This weekend I made a luch pizza (I LOVE PIZZA!), and it turned out much better than I had hoped. I just had an idea and threw it all together, it was easy, and turned out delicious. So I thought I would share with all of you...

You will need:
1 small zuchinni
1 small squash
100% whole wheat totillias (non-hydrogenated-trans fat free)
shredded Kraft Cheddar-Monterey Jack cheese (the 2% kind-lower in fat)
shredded Kraft Fat Free Motzerella
One regular size can diced tomatoes-low sodium (I used Hunts with the peppers and onions in it, but low sodium of course)
Italian Seasoning

You could substitute a fresh tomato, bell pepper and onion for the canned version to do away with the salt altogether, but I didn't have that much time to cut up veggies. I bought the cheese pre-shredded from Publix. They had a great selection.

I lightly sprayed a cookie sheet with canola oil. Then I placed two tortillias on it. I spread a good amount of the diced tomatoes (enough to almost completly cover) the tortillias. Then I cut up the squash and zuchinni like they were pepperoni slices and spread 7 or 8 (3 to 4 of each) slices on top of the tomatoes. Next, I sprinkled a little of the Cheddar-Jack, then with a little more of motzerella. I used enough cheese to pretty well cover the squash and zuchinni (so nothing would slip off when I ate it LOL!), maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of a cup combined for each pizza. I sprinkled with the Italian seasoning and popped them into a 350 preheated oven until the cheese just started to brown.

MMMMM Delicious!! Hope you like it too!

Ronaldsmom,that sounds good... I'll have to try it.

My daughter and I like to take pita bread and make a Margherita Pizza--simple Italian pizza.

Sprinkle the pita with a small amount of olive oil. Top with some mozzarella, thinly sliced tomato, and some fresh basil. Put in a very hot oven until cheese melts. Simple and delicious.

I'm making a banana bread today. I thought I'd share the recipe. I've made it many times and it's a good one...

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?acti...ipe&recipe_id=549764

Kristi, that banana bread recipe sounds good. I have a family recipe, but it has a lot more butter in it. I will definitely try this one.

Here's a couple of recipes that I have gotten compliments on lately (Hi neighbor! LOL):

Potato Salad

I get complimented on this every time I share it. I don't have exact measurements, but it's the way we have made it in my family forever. I remember making it almost every Sunday at my Grandmother's house as a kid:

Potatoes-- about three pounds of red potatoes, peeled, cut into cubes and boiled in salted water until they are fork tender.

3-4 boiled eggs, chopped You can boil them with the potatoes

2-3 tablespoons of sweet pickles, chopped (or sweet pickle relish) And a spoonful or two of the sweet pickle juice.

Mayonaise--I can't say how much. I'd guess about 3/4 cup. You can tell if it needs more. Just don't put in too much to begin with.

Mustard (yellow)--about 1-2 teaspoons.
One small-med onion, chopped
Salt
Pepper

My mother adds a little sugar, but I leave that out. The pickles make it sweet enough.

Add all ingredients together and stir! The less stirring you can do, the better, since the potatoes will break up if you stir too much.

*****

Pasta Salmon Salad

I made this with some leftover salmon 'steaks' that I had cooked on the griddle the night before. Grown-ups like it. Kids don't.

Salmon--leftover, about 1 cup, flaked
Pasta--about 1 1/2 cups after cooked. I used ditalini
Onion--about half of a small onion, chopped
Dill pickles--about 1/4 cup, chopped
Mustard--one good 'squirt'
Salt
Pepper
Mayo--enough to bring it all together to a salad texture you like.


Sorry I can't be more specific with measurements, but these are very forgiving recipes. You'd have to be WAY off to screw them up.

I have to say FunnyMummy makes the best potato salad I've ever had. And the salmon pasta salad was terrific, too. I'm working on getting her to cook for me every night!

TT, you are too kind!

I thought it was the other way around. You're the great cook... I thought I'd get you to cook for ME!

I love salmon. Ever get the salmon salad at Panera? Yum yum. I will have to try this one. Thanks!
I tried a great recipe the other night. It's out of my "The Bride & Groom's First Cookbook" that I got for my wedding. I love this cookbook.

It's called Penne Pasta, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Arugula, and Black Olives.

Just cook up some penne pasta and toss it with the following sauce:

boil some water and then turn off the heat and soak 3 oz of sun-dried tomatoes in it for 5 min. Then put the tomatoes and 3/4 cup pitted black olives in a food processor for 20 seconds. set aside.

chop up a large bunch of basil and arugula.

heat olive oil in a saute pan. toss in 3 cloves minced garlic and 10 oz mushroom slices. Saute 1 min. Add basil, arugula and sun-dried tomatoes and olive mixture. toss in some pepper.

mix it all together and voila!
oh, and i added some cooked shrimp to the sauce in the saute pan until it was hot.
YUMMY!

99 Cent Gourmet Meals! What a bargain!

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Consumer/story?id=4641100&page=1

3 Envelope chicken and or roast

1 envelope dry ranch dressing mix
1 envelope dry italian dressing mix
1 envelope dry chicken gravy mix
1 cup water
boneless, skinless chicken breasts

put the chicken in the crok, then the dry ingredients and water. cook on low 7-8 hours. or high 4-5 hours.

also...if you want to use a roast, follow the same recipe except substitute dry brown gravy mix for the dry chicken gravy mix.