Greek Pasta Salad

I have miserable pregnancies.  When I got to the last trimester of my most recent one, my second daughter, Emmy (13), decided she could help me out by taking over the cooking - and boy did she take over.  She planned the menus, helped me with the shopping (which I did from one of those electric scooters), and cooked for all eight of us - every day for three months!  This kid was awesome!  She even made her dad's lunches for work and (along with her older sister) helped me get the younger kids to do their chores.  I would not have survived this last pregnancy without my two teenage girls.

Anyway, that really has nothing to do with the recipe this week, except to explain why I haven't gotten it up sooner.  Since I wasn't cooking, it was a little hard to blog my recipes - Emmy cooked things that I've already blogged or are so simple that there really seemed no point in sharing the recipes.

On to the recipe... 

My mom always made her macaroni salad the same way.  You know, mayo, relish, olives, tuna fish, etc.  A few years into our marriage, Rock and I discovered a pasta salad mix at the local Sam's Club (or was it Costco?)  and fell in love.  Unfortunately, they only carried it for a few months.  I had to come up with a substitute and this is it.  I call it Greek Pasta Salad as opposed to the American Pasta Salad from my mom (which I make as often as this one).  

Greek Pasta Salad

-1 lb pasta, cooked (I usually use the colored veggie pasta)

-1 can black olives, coarsely chopped

-4-6 oz feta cheese, crumbled

-Sun-dried tomatoes, coarsely chopped

-Balsamic Vinaigrette salad dressing

Toss the pasta, olives, cheese and tomatoes together in a bowl.  Add a cup or so of the dressing and toss again.  Add more dressing if needed.

(My family can eat the entire batch in one sitting.)

Enjoy!

Korrina

Macaroni and Cheese

It's that time of the week again!  Recipe day!  This is one of my family's favorite recipes.  My 14-year-old doesn't usually care too much what she puts in her mouth but she had seconds and thirds the last time I made this.  It tastes absolutely nothing like any of the boxed varieties (and that's a good thing).

This recipe is a really basic one for me.  I wanted homemade mac and cheese one day so I just started making it.  I really don't have it written down anywhere (until now).  You can also eliminate the macaroni and use the sauce for fondue- it's wonderful on cubed bread or toast and fresh veggies!

It's not the healthiest recipe but at least when you make something from scratch, you can substitute healthier ingredients- and you know you're not getting all of those chemicals.  Use whole-wheat pasta (I used the rainbow kind here), skim milk, lowfat mozzarella (for the cheddar), and, well, there's not a lot of substituting you can do for the butter but you can use a lower-fat margarine (don't try to brown it like the recipe says-just melt it).  I'm more worried about avoiding chemicals than fat and sugar (for right now, anyway) so I just use the butter.

Macaroni and Cheese

Sorry for the lousy picture- I had to use my cell phone...

12 oz bag macaroni
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
3 cups milk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded fresh parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
Boil the macaroni in lots of water until it's done, drain it and set aside. Melt the butter over fairly high heat, stirring often, until it starts to brown. Add the flour all at once and whisk until smooth. Lower the heat to medium and slowly add the milk, whisking constantly.  Continue stirring until mixture has started to thicken. When it's about the consistency of a nice, thick cream gravy, take it off the heat and let it sit for 5-10 minutes to cool a little. Put the sauce back on the heat (low this time) and add the cheeses and salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, over low heat until the cheese has melted and the sauce is nice and creamy. Add the sauce mixture to the macaroni and serve.

I usually serve it as a side dish with pork chops or salmon.  It's also great with a baked ham!

Enjoy!
Korrina

P.S.  If you ever try one of my recipes, come back and comment.  I'd love to know what you think!

Stuffed Shells

I've only made this a couple of times 'cause stuffing the shells takes a little more work than usual but my kids really prefer it to spaghetti and meatballs.  The ingredients are almost exactly the same as for lasagne.

Stuffed Shells

15-20 meatballs, quartered
1/2 box of jumbo shells or manicotti
1 jar spaghetti sauce
3 c. Ricotta cheese
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
1 egg
2 tbsp Parsley
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
16 oz. Shredded Mozzarella cheese
Cook shells according to package directions. Mix ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, egg, salt, and pepper. Stuff shells or manicotti with cheese mixture and place in a 13" x 9" baking dish coated with non-stick spray. Scatter meatball quarters over shells.  Spoon spaghetti sauce over each shell and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake for 20-30 minutes at 350°F.

Enjoy!
Korrina

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

My husband spent two years in South Africa before we were married and this was one of his favorite recipes.  I rather suspect the dish is more English than African, but then again, most of the food he ate there was...

Anyway, while he was there, he bought a South African cookbook in the hopes that his mom could replicate some of his new favorite foods.  It never happened and not long after we were married, I discovered the book and found some really great stuff inside.

This is almost straight from that cookbook.  Of course, all of the measurements are metric so I had to do some converting and, over the years, I've tweaked it to fit our family's tastes better.

So, here it is:

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

My 12 year old daughter made this.

1 lb macaroni
6 eggs
1 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1 t mustard
4 c milk
3/4 lbs shredded sharp cheddar
2 T butter
1 tomato cut into wedges
Preheat oven to 325.  Cook the macaroni until done.  Drain.  Beat eggs, add seasonings and milk.  Add the macaroni and the cheese and spoon into a large greased oven dish.  Dot with butter.  Garnish with tomato wedges.  Bake for 60-90 min until middle of casserole is set.

Although I have cut this recipe in half, it still makes quite a lot.  Feel free to halve it again...

Enjoy!
Korrina

Beef Stroganoff

This is my own personal version of beef stroganoff.  It's one of my favorites, but then again, I'm a huge fan of mushrooms.

Beef Stroganoff

1 lb beef stew meat
2 cans mushroom soup
½ can milk
½ onion, sautéed
½ lb sliced fresh mushrooms
2 T flour
2 t salt
2 T beef bouillon granules
dash pepper
1 c sour cream
1 bag egg noodles, cooked
 Brown meat; drain.  Add onion, salt and pepper.  Add soup and milk and sprinkle with flour.  Add mushrooms, bouillon and pepper.  Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer on low 30-60 minutes until meat is tender.  Stir in sour cream and serve over egg noodles.

Enjoy!
Korrina

Linguine a la Anne

Linguine a la Anne

1/2 pound linguine
3 cups cooked diced ham (1 lb)
1/4 cup margarine
1 can mushrooms
1/8 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup water
6 fluid ounces evaporated milk
1 chicken boullion cube
1/4 cup grated romano cheese
1 green pepper, sliced
1 cup croutons
Cook linguine and drain. Melt 2 T. butter in saucepan. Blend in flour and salt, liquid from mushrooms, water, milk and boullion. Bring to boil and stir till it thickens. Toss half of sauce with linguine till mixed. Put in 8x8 casserole, pushing up sides. Toss ham with remaining sauce and spoon into hollow. Sprinkle with cheese and bake 20 min at 400. Saute peppers in butter til soft. (I skipped cooking the peppers 'cause my family likes 'em better raw.) Garnish casserole with peppers and croutons.

Enjoy!
Korrina