Whats For Dinner?

Meatballs are a great, versatile food to always have on hand. They can be the main dish, with some gravy. They can go in sauce for pasta. They can be used as an appetizer or snack. My favorite is to heat them in the crock pot with grape jelly and chili sauce (the one in the bottle).

To make basic meatballs, take 2 pounds of ground beef, 1 egg and 2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs. Form them into whatever size meatballs you want. Most recipes call for cooking them on the stovetop in oil. They can also be cooked in the oven.

If you want to make some to freeze, it works great. Place cooled meatballs on a sheet tray, not touching each other. Place in the freezer for 2 to 3 hours. Then you can remove from the tray and place into ziplock bags for easier storage. The meatballs won’t stick together and you can remove as much or as little as you need.

I used to do this when the kids were little and 1 or 2 would make a meal for them. It worked out great.

Enjoy!

Now, this is the kind of recipe that I love but sadly, the rest of my family would not. I always say that if I lived alone I would probably eat a small piece of meat with peppers, onions and other good stuff just about every night.

This recipe can be served over rice, noodles or even mashed potatoes (hey, I’m trying to give Thanksgiving leftover recipes already).

Directions:

. In a medium-sized saucepan combine brown sugar, chicken broth, ReaLemon, soy sauce and cornstarch; cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.

. Serve with rice. Sprinkle with remaining green onions. Sprinkle with peanuts. Store leftovers
covered in refrigerator; reheat to serve.

I got several emails asking about the overnight french toast recipe that I mentioned in the Breakfast for Dinner post. Here it is:

Overnight French Toast

2 tablespoons corn syrup
1/2 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 (1 pound) loaf French bread, sliced
5 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt

1. Combine the corn syrup, butter and brown sugar in a small sauce pan and simmer until the sugar has melted. Pour this mixture over the bottom of a greased 9×13 casserole dish

2. Place bread slices over the butter-sugar mixture in the dish. In a bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, vanilla and salt. Pour this mixture over the bread. Cover the dish and let it stand in the fridge overnight.

3. The next morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees.

4. Uncover the pan and bake for 45 minutes. Serve while hot or warm or it will harden in the pan. It can be reheated.

I’ve made this several times and it is as easy as it is good. Makes me want some french toast right now.

Enjoy!

I just ran across this recipe and thought they looked so good. I haven’t tried them but they look like a winner.

• 4 turkey breast cutlets, pounded to an 1/4-inch thickness
• salt
• fresh ground black pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon dry basil
• 8 slices ham (thin slices)
• 4 slices provolone cheese
• 8 slices bacon (thin slices)

So simple and no clean up either. My favorite combination. I’m going to have to keep my eyes open for a deal on turkey and try this.

Enjoy!

I think some of my favorite dinners is when we have breakfast for dinner. Especially this week. I kind of have a cold and breakfast foods really hit the spot.

There is also more time to make things like pancakes that are best eaten hot and take so long to make. Who doesn’t love maple syrup at dinner.

I also like to make the french toast that you usually make the night before and cook in the morning. I’ll make it in the morning and it ‘marinates’ all day and cook it for dinner. It cooks in the oven so it’s real simple.

Of course, you can expand on breakfast and have ham or bacon that makes it feel more like a meal. Of course, anything is better with bacon. I was watching a Food Network show and they made chocolate covered bacon and the people said it was real good.

If this cold of mine gets any worse I’ll be eating the old stand by for dinner, Lucky Charms. Nothing better my friend, nothing better.

I am making this tomorrow but I’m posting it today. Chourico is a Portuguese sausage that’s spicy. I’ve been eating it as long as I can remember. I would have made this today but I forgot to take it out of the freezer. Since it needs all day in the crock pot, I’ll have to do it tomorrow.

2 pounds of chourico, casing removed and crumbled

2 green peppers, diced

2 onions, diced

1 (6 0unce) can of tomato paste

1 cup red wine

1 cup water

2 cloves of crushed garlic

Add all ingredients to a crock pot and stir to mix. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. Remove the cover and cook for 2 more hours to evaporate the liquid.

Serve on rolls, as a sandwich or over rice.

Enjoy!

Today I did my grocery shopping and they had all the roasts 1/2 price. I can’t pass that up seeing how we’re a meat and potatoes family.

Tonight we’ll be having a nice roast beef, real mashed potatoes, gravy and possible green beans. I actually have to put the roast in soon because the family likes it cooked all the way through and not pink inside.

The little people will complain about the real mashed potatoes and how they like the box kind better. If I’m going to all this trouble, I need to make real mashed potatoes. The big person will like me for that.

Oh, yeah, I’m making an apple pie for dessert too. Well, I bought the crust, one of those roll out ones but the rest I’ll be making from the apples that we picked on Sunday. I even bought whipped cream in the can. I can guarantee that will be gone by tonight and not much of it will end up on the pie.

I can’t wait already.

Enjoy!

Calzones are a great, versatile food. They can be a snack or a meal. You can put in them whatever you like. You can make them individual sized so everyone gets what they like.

The one I make most often is the pepperoni calzone. I start with one pizza dough that’s been thawed. I stretch it out trying to make a rectangle shape. Eyeballing the dough into thirds, I place the pepperoni down the middle third, overlapping considerably. I usually get 4 or 5 slices across. I leave about a half inch on the top and the bottom.

Once the pepperoni is down I cover it with parmesan and mozzarella cheeses. The more the merrier when it comes to cheese. Then fold over one side to the far edge of the pepperoni. Then fold the other side to the other far edge. You should have a little cheese sticking out each end but not too much because it’ll burn.

Brush the top with oil and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until the top is a golden brown. Let cool for a few minutes before slicing.

If you are using the greasy meats, you’ll need to pre-cook the meat so the bread doesn’t get soggy.

For individual size, cut the dough in the size you want and place meat and cheese on one half and fold the other half over and pinch the edges shut. These can be eaten more like a sandwich.

Use your imagination and create some wild combinations.

Enjoy!

No, this isn’t the Brady Bunch episode where Peter wants “porkchops and applesauce”. We went apple picking today and this is my favorite dinner with apples in it.

Peel and slice 3 to 4 apples. Place in single layer  on the bottom of a glass baking dish. Cover with cinnamon and sugar.

Pork chops should be coated with a type of dry rub. For this dinner I like Shake ‘n Bake barbeque. You don’t want a wet sauce for this.

Place the pork chops on top of the apples. Cook at 375 degrees until the pork chops are done and the apples are tender.

Serve the apples on the side of the pork chops. This is definitely one of my favorites and I will be making it now that I have a ton of fresh apples. There’s nothing like eating an apple right off the tree. It doesn’t get any fresher than that.

Enjoy!

I like to cook a lot with chicken. It’s so versatile and can take on so many flavors. Here’s a great dish that I threw together. It makes a big dish and leftovers are great.

I take about a pound or so of chicken breast and cut it into 1″ cubes. I take potatoes, any kind will do, and I scrub them and cut them into similar size cubes as the chicken. With this dish, I leave the skin on the potatoes but feel free to take it off.

I put these into a large baking dish and mix in 1 bag of baby carrots. The carrots add great color and a well needed vegetable to this dish. I mix in some olive oil so every piece is lightly coated. You don’t want to add to much oil because the chicken will give off juices too.

I add salt and pepper (sometimes I add garlic salt for a little extra flavor). I bake at 350 degrees until the potatoes are cooked (you can check it with a fork).

If you want to add a little more color, you can add your favorite green herb at the end. The best part, only 1 dish to clean up after.

Enjoy!