Dress Up Vegetables With This Simple Cheese Sauce

Serving cheese sauce with vegetables gives an ordinary vegetable a lift and a wonderful new taste and, it may even help you to get your family to eat some of those green good-for-you foods. I know that in my family growing up, not one of my three brothers liked anything green. Vegetables sometimes are an acquired taste that can take years and adding a sauce may just help that along. Generally, a cheese sauce is made by making a white sauce and adding cheese to it. This sauce takes minutes compared to the from-scratch version of a white sauce.

I adapted this recipe from a recipe I found in Family Circle Magazine many years ago that was way too high in fat and very weak in flavor for our taste. This recipe goes very well with steamed broccoli, asparagus and Brussels Sprouts. The  casserole pictured with the broccoli is Chicken and Green Bean Bake posted on 4/9/2013. I haven't posted the yam casserole yet; it's on it's way. Blessings...

Recipe:

1/2 cup light mayonnaise
1/2 cup fat-free half-and-half or milk
1/2 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, packed measuring cup
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper or to taste

Whisk together all ingredients in a small saucepan over low heat until cheese is melted and smooth.

Yield: 1 cup
Note: Recipe can easily be cut in half.

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Slow Cooker Teriyaki Pork Roast

This is a very flavorful way to prepare a pork roast. The juices and sauce that the pork cooks in all day are then thickened and served with the meat to further enhance the flavor of the meat. Rice goes beautifully alongside the pork for this Asian-style meal. Blessings...

Recipe:

3/4 cup unsweetened apple juice (pineapple juice would also work well)
2 tbsps. brown sugar or honey
2 tbsps. soy sauce
1 tbsp. vinegar
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 boneless pork loin roast (about 3 lbs.), halved, unless you have a large enough slow cooker
8 tsps. cornstarch
3 tbsps. cold water
cooked rice

1. Combine the first seven ingredients in slow cooker. Add roast and turn to coat. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or until a thermometer inserted into the roast reads 160 degrees.
2. Remove roast and keep warm.
3. In a saucepan, combine cornstarch and cold water until smooth; stir in cooking juices. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Serve sauce over pork and rice.

Yield: 8 servings

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Gooey Butter Cake

A few years ago when a friend asked me if I had a recipe for Gooey Butter Cake, I responded that I had seen a recipe for it in a church cookbook but, that I had never made it or tasted it. With that, and the fact that her birthday was coming, I thought it would be fun to surprise her so I did further investigation of the recipe. The recipe sounded good. My husband and I decided that we would invite these friends for a birthday dinner in her honor and I made this cake. She was so blessed, and I added a new favorite to our list of desserts. She shared with me that Gooey Butter Cake is a favorite tradition in the mid-west where she grew up, something I did not know. It was such a blessing to bring a little of her childhood traditions to her while they were here in Idaho. Blessings...

Recipe:  

1 pkg. yellow cake mix
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened (low-fat is fine)
2 eggs
1 lb. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

1. Mix together cake mix, butter and 1 egg; pat into 9 x 13-inch pan.
2. Mix and beat together cream cheese, 2 eggs, powdered sugar and vanilla. Pour onto cake crust.
3. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 45 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
4. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve. Yummy!!

Yield: 12 servings

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Snowy Mashed Potato Casserole

This rich and delicious potato casserole might be likened to a baked potato for a crowd. The texture of the potatoes is smooth and creamy and goes well alongside any kind of meat, chicken or fish. This is another of those recipes from a treasured church cookbook of my past that brings with it many fond memories. I love cooking food that brings back wonderful memories of times with family and friends. One of the most important reasons for cooking is to bring the family together to connect, build relationships, share and encourage. I believe the dinner hour is the most important hour of the day for a family and there is more and more evidence in support of this thinking. The dinner hour should be a kid-friendly time with mom and dad. Blessings...

Recipe:

4 lbs. potatoes (12 medium)
1 (8 oz.) pkg. light cream cheese, softened
1 cup light sour cream
2 tsps. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 cup chopped chives (green onion tops can be substituted if you like)
1/2 tsp. paprika
1 tbsp. butter

1. Cook potatoes until tender in boiling water.
2. Mash with cream cheese, sour cream, salt, pepper and garlic. Beat at high speed on mixer until smooth and light. Stir in chives.
3. Spoon into lightly greased 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with paprika and dot with butter.
4. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Yield: 10 servings

Cream of Broccoli Soup

One day this week when I went online to check our bank account, I had a heart-stopping moment, and a full day of dealing with the banks' fraud dept. and the manager of our local branch office. There had been fraudulent activity that cleaned out our account. I'm sure you can imagine the sense of panic and the feelings of violation that were the focus of the day. Of course, everything is moving along and the bank manager is doing a wonderful job of covering all the charges. But, there is a very large issue when something like this happens, and that is, you no longer have access to your bank account. All is put on hold until the fraud dept. can get the funds back into the bank account. We don't use charge cards, so this was not an option, either.

I share this to bring up the very important issue of being able to feed your family if you can not go to the grocery store on a daily basis, or even for a week. Thankfully, I've had to learn this lesson well over the years and my pantry and freezer are very well stocked. There are no guarantees that we are going to be able  to run to the store; things can happen and, happen very quickly. I would really encourage you to invest the time into checking how long your family could eat in the event of a crises in your home. Your family may need to eat canned or frozen fruit and vegetables for a few days, and to have a supply of meat in the freezer is very wise. Make sure you have plenty of pasta, beans and cereals, as well.

This recipe is an example of what I mean. With a 16-ounce package of frozen broccoli in the freezer, and chicken broth and potatoes in the pantry, dinner was easy to get on the table in spite of the stress-filled day. I served some leftover dinner rolls alongside the soup, and dessert. All was well, and the menus are planned for the next week as the bank gets everything taken care of for us.  Blessings...

Recipe:

1 bunch fresh broccoli (about 1-1/2 lbs.)- See Note

1/2 cup chopped green onion (yellow onion can be used)

2 tbsps. butter

1 cup diced potato or leftover mashed potatoes

2 cans (14-1/2 oz. each) chicken broth

1/4 - 3/4 tsp. seasoned salt (add salt in 1/4 tsp. increments to desired taste)

dash cayenne pepper

1 cup fat-free half-and-half or milk of choice

1. Trim outer leaves and tough ends from broccoli. Cut into small pieces and parboil in boiling salted water in a large saucepan for 5 minutes; drain well. 

2. Saute onion in butter in saucepan until soft but not brown, about 5 minutes. Add potato, chicken broth, seasoned salt and cayenne pepper. Heat to boiling; lower heat; simmer 15 minutes. Add broccoli; simmer 5 minutes longer or until vegetables are tender. 

3. Cool soup a bit. Pour mixture half at a time into blender; cover; puree until smooth. Return mixture to saucepan. Add cream and heat through. If the soup is too thick for your taste, add more cream to thin to desired consistency. Add more salt and pepper, if needed.

Yield: 8 cups
Note: You may use a thawed 16 ounce pkg. of frozen broccoli pieces in place of the fresh. Add the thawed broccoli pieces to the pot after the potatoes are tender, just as you would the fresh cooked broccoli, and cook another 5 minutes or until the broccoli is tender. Continue the recipe as written. I can usually get frozen broccoli much cheaper than fresh, so this keeps this meal very inexpensive.

Cherry Gelatin Salad

Recently for my birthday, we invited friends to dinner to help us celebrate and I prepared some of my favorite recipes. Our guests generously brought a fresh vegetable salad, not the salad you see pictured here, and some dinner rolls. My husband bought me a beautiful and delicious birthday cake to end our meal on a very festive note.

The Cherry Gelatin Salad that I made is a favorite from my childhood that comes with very fond memories of wonderful family times together. This recipe comes from my great-aunt via a church cookbook from Iowa. I really do not know how old this recipe might be but, I do know that I have never seen this recipe printed anywhere other than in our families recipe files. The salad is beautiful on the plate, delicious and simple to prepare; perfect for potlucks and special occasions, very kid-friendly.

I served Baked Orange Chicken, recipe posted on 3/31/2010, and Party Rice and Noodles, recipe posted on 4/11/2014 for this dinner. Blessings...

Recipe:

1 6-oz. pkg. cherry gelatin
3 cups boiling water
1 can cherry pie filling
1 3-oz. pkg. cream cheese
20 large marshmallows
1 pkg. Dream Whip (from a 2-pkg. box)
chopped pecans, if desired, for topping

1. In a 9 x 13-inch baking pan, dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Add the cherry pie filling and stir, or whisk, until pie filling is thoroughly combined with gelatin.
Refrigerate until set.
2. Melt the cream cheese and marshmallows together in double boiler over simmering water until thoroughly blended; remove from over the water and set aside to cool completely. Do not cool in the refrigerator.
3. Whip the pkg. of Dream Whip according to pkg. directions. Using the electric mixer, blend in half of the cooled cream cheese mixture and then repeat with remaining cream cheese mixture until thoroughly combined.
4. Spread the topping over the set gelatin and sprinkle with chopped pecans. Refrigerate until serving time.

Yield: 20 servings
Note: I can no longer get the 3-oz. pkg. of cream cheese in my grocery store, so I have to buy the 8-oz. size and I then use the remaining cream cheese for bagel topping or in other recipes.

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Ham and Cheese Puff Pastry Pies

Puff pastry is delicious and it is worth the time and effort to prepare, especially with the packaged frozen sheets readily available in most grocery stores. This recipe takes some time to prepare because the ham has to be chopped and combined with the other ingredients and then chilled until cold but, oh my goodness, is it ever good stuff for dinner. When working with puff pastry, all the ingredients must be cold, so plan ahead. This recipe comes from Family Circle Magazine, 5/13/80.

I served this dish to guests back in March with Pineapple-Orange Cranberry Relish posted on 3/7/13 and our guests brought a Caesar Salad. The salad pictured here is called Apple Citrus Salad and was posted on 3/6/13.

If your kids like ham and cheese, these pies are definitely kid-friendly. Blessings...

Recipe: 

3 tbsps. mayonnaise
2 tsps. Dijon-style mustard
1 egg yolk
   dash red hot pepper sauce
1/2 pound lean baked or boiled ham, chopped small
3/4 pound mild Cheddar cheese, shredded into large shreds
1 pkg. (17-1/4 ounces) pre-rolled frozen puff pastry
1 egg white, lightly beaten

1. Combine mayonnaise, mustard, egg yolk and pepper sauce in a large mixing bowl; blend well. Stir in ham and cheese. Refrigerate until cold.
2. Thaw frozen Pastry sheets 20 minutes at room temperature or until pliable, but still very cold. There are pkg. instructions for this, as well, if you have concerns about what "very cold" feels like. Roll out a sheet on a lightly floured surface to a 13-inch square; divide into 4 equal quarters.
3. Place some of the filling on half of each triangle, leaving a 1-inch border along the edge. Brush the borders generously with some of the beaten egg white. Fold squares diagonally in half to form triangles. Press edges firmly together, then press with tines of fork to seal securely.
4. Brush tops with egg white. Pierce each top in center with small paring knife to allow steam to escape. Arrange pies 1-inch apart on cookie sheet. Put in freezer  and repeat with remaining sheet of pastry to make 4 more pies. Place these on cookie sheets and put in the freezer while oven heats.
5. Heat oven to very hot (450 degrees). Immediately lower temperature to hot (400 degrees). Transfer solidly frozen pies to new cookie sheets (cold metal will retard crisping of the pastry); place pies in oven.
6. Bake for 20 minutes or until pies are well puffed and deep golden brown.

Yield: 8 pies
Note: Pies can be frozen firmly on cookie sheets, then removed and wrapped individually in plastic freezer wrap. (Three weeks maximum storage.)
To bake: Preheat oven to 450 degrees; lower heat to 400 degrees. Bake pies on cookie sheet for 30 minutes or until puffed and deep golden brown.

Big Soft Ginger Cookies

During the Christmas season my niece encouraged our recipe group to try these cookies. I don't know if this is the same recipe she used because I couldn't find her post; it simply seemed to disappear from the groups file list but, I came across this recipe in one of my Better Homes and Gardens cookbooks this month and decided to give it a try. This wonderful cookie is nothing more than a large, soft gingersnap. This particular recipe was a reader-contributed recipe for a Better Homes and Gardens holiday baking story back in 1989. Who knows, it may be the same recipe my niece found online and made for her family for Christmas. It is worthy of making anytime of the year; they are delicious. Blessings...

Recipe:

2-1/4 cups unbleached flour
2 tsps. ground ginger
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
3/4 cup butter or shortening (I prefer butter)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 tbsp. sugar

1. In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon and cloves. Set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl beat butter or shortening with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Gradually add the 1 cup sugar; beat until fluffy. This will take a few minutes. Add the egg and molasses; beat well. Stir dry mixture into egg mixture on low speed until thoroughly mixed in.
3. Shape dough into 11/2-inch balls (1 heaping tbsp. dough each). Roll balls in the 2 tbsp. sugar and place on ungreased cookie sheets about 2-1/2 inches apart.
4. Bake in a 350 degree oven about 10 minutes or until light brown but still puffed. (Do not overbake.) Let stand on cookie sheets for 2 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cook completely.

Yield: 2 dozen
138 calories each, and worth every one!

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Easy Beans and Rice

This simple skillet recipe is very flavorful and goes together in a few minutes. Serve it alongside south-of-the-border favorites like tacos and burritos, or try Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas Verdes posted on 4/3/13, or Slow Cooker Chicken Quesadillas posted on 2/7/13, both yummy dishes. Blessings...

Recipe: 

1 can (15-oz.) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14.5-oz.) diced tomatoes and green chilies, undrained
1 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup water
1 medium jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped or 1/2 tsp. - 1 tsp. minced pickled jalapeno pepper
1 tsp. salt
1 cup uncooked instant white or brown rice

In a skillet, combine the beans, tomatoes, corn, water, jalapeno and salt. Bring to a boil; stir in rice. Cover and remove from the heat. Let stand for 5 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.

Yield: 6 servings

Chicken and Green Bean Casserole

I posted the microwave version of this casserole on 11/4/08 and while making it yesterday for our dinner, I decided to get a picture of it and post the traditional version of preparation for those cooks like myself who prefer traditional cooking methods. I love my microwave but, I would much rather cook using the stove or the oven. So, here's an update of one of our favorite casseroles, served here with broccoli and cheese sauce and a new yam recipe. I'll post the easy cheese sauce and yam recipes at a later date. Blessings...

Recipe:

1 (10-3/4 oz.) can 98% fat-free cream of mushroom soup (see note)
1/2 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (1-3/4 oz)
1/3 cup chicken broth, 99% fat-free
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1-1/2 cups cubed cooked chicken or turkey
1 (14.5 oz. can cut green beans, drained (1-3/4 cups, if you would like to use fresh that have been cooked.)
6 servings instant mashed potatoes prepared according to pkg. directions or 3 cups mashed potatoes made with 1 tbsp. butter and low-fat milk. Salt to taste.
1/2 cup french fried onion rings

1. In a saucepan, combine soup, cheese, chicken broth and Worcestershire sauce. Heat and stir over low heat until cheese is melted.
2. Stir in chicken and green beans; pour into 2 qt. casserole. Top with mashed potatoes.
3. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until heated through.
4. Top with french fried onions and return to oven for about 5 minutes to brown the onions.

Yield: 7-1/2 cups
Note: Cream of Mushroom Soup with Roasted Garlic is also good.

Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas Verde

This wonderfully easy and delicious recipe comes from campbellskitchen.com. I love this site for easy, tasty and fast recipes that use food products from their family of quality products, and no, I don't have stock in the company! This is one of the best "fast" recipes for enchiladas I've ever made, and I will surely make it again. Blessings...

Recipe: 

1 jar (16 ounces) Pace Garlic and Lime Verde Restaurant Style Salsa
1-1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken (I used 2 cups chopped turkey that I had in the freezer)
1/2 cup sour cream (lite worked just fine)
1-1/2 cups shredded Cheddar Jack cheese (I used Mexican Four Cheese Blend that  I had in the freezer)
8 corn or flour tortillas (6-inch) (I used 8 8-inch flour tortillas that I had which worked great with the extra 1/2 cup of turkey)

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Spread 1/2 cup salsa in an 11 x 8 x 2-inch baking dish. (If you use larger tortillas, use a 9 x 13 pan)
2. Stir 1/4 cup salsa, chicken, sour cream and 1/2 cup cheese in a medium bowl. Spoon about 3 tbsps. chicken mixture down the center of each tortilla. Roll up the tortillas around the filling and place seam-side down in the baking dish. Top with the remaining salsa.
3. Bake for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
4. Bake for 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Yield: 8 enchiladas, 4 - 8 servings
Note: With the adjustments that I made to ingredients I had on hand, I added a bit more sauce to the larger pan and a bit more sauce to the meat-cheese mixture to ensure moistness. There was still plenty of sauce for the top of the enchiladas.

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Egg Salad for Sandwiches

If you dyed Easter eggs with the kids and have bunches to use up, this recipe might just fill your needs for lunches this week. The addition of cumin makes this egg salad very different, and delicious. This recipe comes from Lee Bailey's City Food. Blessings...

Recipe:

6 eggs, hard-boiled, peeled and smashed with a fork
3 generous tablespoons mayonnaise
1/4 tsp. salt, or to taste
1 tsp. ground cumin, or to taste
Grind of black pepper (I omit)
2-3 drops of Tabasco sauce, optional

Mix all ingredients thoroughly and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.
Serve as a sandwich filling with lettuce or with crackers.

Yield: 6 servings