Hot & Hearty "Pantry" Meal

Our dinner last night was a blessing. I didn’t know what I would fix until I threw this together! I know many prefer cooking this way because it can keep things from being boring but I am a planner… big time. I like knowing ahead of time what we’ll be eating with few exceptions. I mean, there are many times when I’ll decide to bake something out of the blue or make something new but my meals are not by the seat of my pants. Smile.

Anyway, our food budget has been pretty tight and the last time I purchased groceries was October 3rd from Sam’s. They’ve held out very well but we were getting low enough to get creative and I was just… not there.

Well, I pulled the left over spaghetti and sauce from our fridge. Did I already mention finding some mozzarella in the freezer I had forgotten I stashed? I grabbed a bag of that and greased a 9 X 13 baking dish. I emptied the bag of spaghetti, sprinkled some cheese, and covered with sauce. The sauce was too thick and there wasn’t enough to cover so I borrowed an idea I grew up watching my mom use and added some hot water. Perfect consistency and it covered the pasta completely. I covered all with the rest of the cheese and baked at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. It looked really delicious and tasted it and I served it with a Romaine salad. I found the lettuce in the fridge and it looked too plain by itself so I grabbed the last bit of Feta cheese from our container and sprinkled it on. We topped it with Ranch Lauren made the day before (added a bit of water to this as well) and some balsamic vinegar. Very satisfying meal!

I like the part of the following quote speaking of using "every wholesome article of food" but am certainly not implying anyone who might chance upon reading this is ignorant if they don't. Just a note so you know :)

“It may be safely averred that good cookery is the best and truest economy, turning to full account every wholesome article of food, and converting into palatable meals what the ignorant either render uneatable or throw away in disdain.”Eliza Acton, Modern Cookery for Private Families (1845)

Tuesday With Laura

I got to see my new D-I-Love’s (and my son’s but he isn’t there yet) apartment and it was really nice. Just the right size and lots of safety considerations made so I feel better after being there.

I was given a delicious new lip gloss from Mary Kay purchased at a makeover I was supposed to be present for! I ended up coming later with little man.

We had a lovely visit with Braxton and Lily (the new family member… a Lhasa Apso puppy) played. Laura and I visited while getting a delicious lunch prepared. Laura’s mother made homemade macaroni and cheese the night before along with some pork loin and rice.
SO GOOD!

Laura made a very delicious treat and it was special to her. Her grandmother (no longer with her) made it for her mom after school and her mom made it for her. I wanted a picture but didn’t have a camera with me so I’ll take one the next time I make them.

I don’t know what they are called and these sound weird but they are really good!

Spread whipped peanut butter on a saltine cracker and top with a marshmallow. Broil until the marshmallows are browned and flatten with a spoon after taking them out of the oven.

A variation I just told my daughter we should try is spreading the same peanut butter on a graham cracker, sprinkled some chocolate chips over that and adding a marshmallow. Broil the same way. Worth a try!

We got to talk to my son while we were there and it made me so desperately wish he was there right then!

The visit was wonderful. We cleaned up the kitchen and headed out (all of us, including LilyJ) to drive to our house.

We heated up some Maple Pecan bread we brought from Laura’s kitchen … a gift from a family friend. It put one in mind of how Autumn air would taste.

Lauren was home from high school so we all piled back into the suburban and went across town to spend time with my sister and niece. My niece’s husband just left for Basic Training in the Air Force and she was really missing him.

The Lord really blessed us with a beautiful day…

Chocolate Cobbler ~ 2 Recipes

Chocolate Cobbler
Yields: 8 servings

INGREDIENTS:
6 tablespoons butter
1 cup self-rising flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons
unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup milk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
powder
1 1/2 cups boiling water

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Melt butter in an 8x8 inch baking dish while the oven preheats.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, 3/4 cup sugar, and 1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa. Stir in milk and vanilla until smooth. Spoon this batter over the melted butter in the baking dish.
3. Stir together the remaining cup of sugar and 1/4 cup cocoa powder. Sprinkle over the batter. Slowly pour boiling water over the top of the mixture.
4. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until set. Serve slightly warm with ice cream.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2008 Allrecipes.com Printed from Allrecipes.com 10/29/2008

Chocolate Cobbler

Melt 2 sticks of margarine in a 9x13x2" pan. In a bowl, mix 1 1/2 cups of sugar, 1 1/2 cups of self-rising flour, 3/4 cup milk, and 2 teaspoons vanilla flavoring.(I used Kay's Watkins vanilla). Drizzle this over the melted margarine. Mix 6 tablespoons cocoa and 1 cup sugar. Sprinkle this over mixture in pan. Pour 1 3/4 cups of water over the top slowly. Make sure all is wet. I use a spoon and press lightly. Don't stir.

Bake at 350*F oven for 20-25 minutes (I cooked about 30 minutes). The mixture should be moist.
Barbara Hudson

*This was the first recipe I used and I followed the lead of my dear friend, Barbara:) She used the dark cocoa powder so I tried it on this and it was really GOOD! I'll post pictures the next time I make it. We topped this recipe with whipped topping.

Fast Lunch & Simple Dinner

Our Dinner "Menu" ~

Blake was working out of town and didn't get home until dark so I put his dinner in a container in the fridge. The rest of us didn't eat together at the table and I don't want this to become a habit!

Fried Deer Tenderloin

Tossed Salad

French Bread

Nana, Papa, and Sherry (my youngest sister) came for a visit today. They brought the twins, Summer & Seth and 2 year old, Konnor. My niece and nephews!

My sister went to the store while the kids and Braxton played and Papa read some of the paper and watched some news. Nana and I talked, went through some pictures of the other grandkids from the computer and she got to see my blogs. Smiles.

The store trip yielded French bread, turkey lunch meat, cheese, pecan rolls and sugar for chocolate cobbler.

Nana split the whole loaf in half and placed turkey on one open face and cheese on the other. She broiled in the oven until the cheese melted. She put the loaf back together when it was still hot from the oven and I rubbed some butter and a fresh, cut garlic clove all over it.

Nana sliced the loaf in four sections and we grabbed wax paper squares for plates. The kids didn't want anything to do with these so they had mayonnaise sandwiches with no crusts and slice of meat.

We had ours with hot coffee, fresh water and green olives.

The chocolate cobbler I've made countless times was a waste of ingredients. I forgot to make the all-purpose flour into self rising!

That was our day in the kitchen and around it!

A Different Dinner

My teen daughter believes this to be the strangest dinner we’ve ever had. I was just working with what we had and what was on sale because I didn’t want to spend my entire weekend over the stove. Smiles;)

Anyway, here it is:



Venison Steaks with Pan Gravy
Alfredo Egg Noodles topped with Parmesan Cheese
French Bread

Yes. That was it. Yes, we had something like venison steak with alfredo noodles and not fettuccini.
There were Alfredo sauce jars on sale at the grocery I got when we made a trip for milk so that is why I found a use for those.

I am attempting to have a place where as many of our meals are recorded in one place as possible. Actually, three places bec/ I’m making Word documents and sharing with the original email list for each one as well. This means, sharing things I wouldn’t normally share … like this meal.

Through the years, I cannot tell you the hundreds of times people have asked for specific recipes or dish names I have been asked for. I almost never had them to give because I cook so much and don’t keep records. SO… I decided to make this blog a record and I or the one searching can go to the archives and easily click to the desired meal or recipe!
We did enjoy the meal! Our oldest son and his family came and we ate, drank some delicious coffee and watched SNL reruns and laughed together.
Love,
Sandy

Toffee Brownies

It was cold today (for us) and my sun streamed in kitchen waited for us to bring it to life :)

The fire in the oven was aroused and a pan of the richest brownies was slid into the heat. We weren't disappointed.

When I saw Paula Deen make these brownies on a recent show, I knew we'd be trying them here the minute funds allowed. These cost less than $10 to make (approximately 7.50 depending on where one shops) and that isn't bad compared to purchasing premade baked goods. It is high compared to other made at home options. Either way, even if you are like me and not a huge brownie fan... these are worth their weight in chocolate toffee!

Toffee Brownies

Prep Time: 8 min

Cook Time: 25 min

Level: Easy

Serves: 24 large/48 small brownies

1 (17.6-ounce) package brownie mix with walnuts
Vegetable oil cooking spray
3 (6-ounce) candy bars with almonds and toffee chips (recommended: Symphony brand)

Prepare the brownie mix according to package directions.

Line a 13 by 9-inch cake pan with aluminum foil and spray with vegetable oil cooking spray. Spoon in half of the brownie batter and smooth with a spatula or the back of a spoon. Place the candy bars side by side on top of the batter. Cover with the remaining batter.

Bake according to package directions. Let cool completely, then lift from the pan using the edges of the foil. This makes it easy to cut the brownies into squares.

Printed from FoodNetwork.com on 10/21/2008
© 2008 Scripps Networks, LLC. All Rights Reserved

Mother/Daughter-In-Love & Nandy Day

Mother/Daughter-In-Love & Nandy Day

My darling D-I-Love, Brandy, came over for our Wednesday with the littles. Emily was wearing one of her favorite dresses and looked so girly;) Caden’s outfit didn’t matter because he was quickly covered in food! He is at that hand grabbing, hand feeding frenzy stage and it is so funny to watch.
His mama might not agree on it being funny to clean though. Smiles.
We were preparing our lunch from the pantry this week and God allowed us to come up with a nice lunch.
We had a pasta dish and I made the pumpkin casserole I wrote about making before. It is on the right hand side. This link might take you right to it but I don’t know how to hyperlink yet so I’m not sure:

http://nutmegnotes08.blogspot.com/2008/10/last-night-of-fall-break-dinner.html


For the pasta, I threw a few chicken bouillon cubes into the boiling water with two garlic cloves. While a pack of angel hair pasta was boiling, I sizzled some olive oil and butter into a skillet and added cayenne red pepper, parsley, salt , pepper, and three cloves of chopped garlic.
This was tossed with the pasta along with a couple of cups of grated sharp cheddar cheese, Cajun seasoning and more salt. It tasted very bland originally so we kept adding seasonings.

Here is the original recipe:
Pasta e Olio
Submitted by: MARBALET
Rated: 4 out of 5 by 79 members Yields: 4 servings

"In just a matter of minutes you can whip up this simply splendid dish of pasta and olive oil, heady with garlic and seasoned with parsley and red pepper flakes. Finish with a generous coating of melted butter and serve warm."

INGREDIENTS:
1 pound spaghetti
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
1/4 cup chopped parsley 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup melted butter

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a large pot with boiling salted water cook spaghetti pasta until al dente. Drain.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet over low heat saute garlic, parsley, and red pepper flakes with olive oil . Cook until garlic turns golden in color, about 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Toss pasta with garlic mixture and butter or margarine. Serve warm.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2008 Allrecipes.com Printed from Allrecipes.com 10/23/2008