MEATLOAF

 1 1/2 pounds of ground beef ( you can use turkey if you like and sometimes I use a half pound of ground pork with a pound of beef)

1 egg

1/4 tbsp of worcestershire

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup chopped green pepper

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp cumin

3/4 cup bread crumbs

1/2 cup tomato catsup

Mix well and form into a loaf shape add more catsup on top and place on rack on roasting pan

Bake @ 350 for 45 minutes to 1 hour

You can also bake in muffin tins or small individual loaves

CHICKEN POT PIE CHOWDER

 1/2 cup dry white wine (optional)

4 cups water (I use 3)

2 tbsp low sodium chicken broth  

12 oz chicken  in bite size pieces

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated

1 med onion, chopped

1/2 cup of half and half

2 tbsp cornstarch

4 oz cream cheese, cut in cubes

1 1/2 cup of frozen peas and carrots

1 cup of corn kernels

1 lg russet potato cut into bite size pieces

salt and pepper plus 1 tbsp thyme

some chopped bacon and parsley for serving

In a slow cooker, whisk together wine, water and chicken stock

add chicken, potatoes, garlic, onion, thyme, s & p toss to combine

cook covered until chicken is cooked through

in a bowl whisk together half & half, corn starch, stir into chowder with cream cheese and veggies, let thicken and serve

(you can use an instant pot if desired, just refer to settings)

I served sage and black pepper to my dish made with Bisquick

CARAMEL APPLE PIE

 You can make your own pie crust if you desire and peel and chop all your apples and measure your ingredients which I can do and have done but I am kind of like Sandra Lee who used to have a show on Food Network called, Semi Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee, you can make it easy if desired with same results so here is the last one I made.

Pillsbury pie crusts from refrigerated section

1 can of apple pie filling

1 can of Lucky Leaf caramel apple pie filling

1 egg (for egg wash)

1 tbsp of cinnamon and 1 tbsp of apple pie spice

Thaw pie crusts and preheat oven to 400 degrees

Arrange pie crust in deep pie dish, bring crust all the way up sides

Mix both cans of filling in a bowl, add spices and stir.

Pour into crusts smoothing evenly, add top crust and tuck around top or flute, brush with egg wash and cover edges with foil to prevent burning. Bake 35 minutes and remove foil for another 10

(Old fashioned way will follow at a later time)

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Ingredients:

1 8oz block of cream cheese, softened

1 stick of unsalted butter, softened

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 18 oz box 0f chocolate cake mix (I used Duncan Hines Triple)

powdered sugar for rolling and dusting.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a bowl with electric mixer cream cheese and butter until creamy, add egg and vanilla till mixed well, then add the cake mix (batter will be stiff)

refrigerate for 2 hours then use a tablespoon to scoop out mix and roll into a ball, then roll in powdered sugar and place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 9 to 11 minutes depending on the size of the ball and your oven

when done you nay dust again with powdered sugar if desired, cakes will stay soft and gooey for days. ( I add a piece of bread in with mine)

Enjoy!

  

Pork Chop Casserole

 4 boneless chops( if you like your chops brown, pan fry slightly first)

1 lg russet potato (microwave for 4 minutes, let cool and chop in bite size pieces

1/2 of a lg onion sliced

2 cups of canned ,& drained sauerkraut

Place all items in a casserole dish, sprinkle /w/ s&p,garlic powder and oregano. Add 1/4 cup water, cover and bake 30 minutes @350 degrees. Remove lid for last 5 minutes

Helpful Hints

These are some helpful hints that I use and wanted to share with you:

1. When cooking with wine; buy something good enough to drink and you can use to cook as well.
2. If you don't like to chop shallots and garlic; buy it in the jars and keep in the fridge, it tastes the same and you don't get bits of garlic when you bite down.
3. Using canned beans in soups and chilis; it's great to want to make your own dried beans and use them but trust me the canned ones work just as well and are just as inexpensive if you add in time and energy to cook the dried.
4. Buying 3 bunches of Romaine in a bag is a much better deal than the mixed greens (which I love) so I chop up 1 bunch of romaine and I add broccoli or red cabbage or raddicio and save money.
5. Take stale bread or bread that is taking up room in your freezer or fridge and put it in the food processor to make your own bread crumbs and you can add you dried seasongs as needed. (Make sure if the bread is frozen that it is completely thawed and dry before processing).

I hope you can use some of these tips and Happy Cooking!

The Lobster Story

Food is food and pets are pets; when my two sons and i lived in Wilmington, we were at the coffee shop one day when a FedEx package arrive for me from Maine. Marc being the cynical one wanted to know what I had purchased and I explained nothing that I could remember. We  it turns out a friend of the three of us had gone to visit family in Maine and decided to send us two huge live maine Lobsters!
marc asked every customer that came in the shop, "how do we keep them from screaming when we cook them?" Many different ways were the answers that he received so he tried to find a tank that we could keep them in as pets but upon finding the expense; we decided to take them to my house on Sunday and cook them. We had kept them in the dry ice but but them in the freezer in a brown paper bag while we made the preparations to cook them.
I, in the meantime made fresh coleslaw, hushpuppies and potatoes to go with and some ice tea.

Time to cook the Lobsters!

I only had a certain size pot with a lid but figured it would be big enoug so I placed the water, a little oil and some butter in the pot with a dash of salt, the Lobsters were removed and with tongs I placed the first one in the water; only a small sound and then the second one would not go all the way in the pot so it was "screaming"; my son Marc took the lid of the pot and the tongs and proceeded to "get that thing " in the pot! My other son, Tim was laughing and trying to help all at the same time but it was hilarious! Well, the Lobsters cooked, we took them out got the "nut crackers" to get out the meat and we had a fantastic meal of Lobster from Maine! Need I say that Marc ate more Lobster than anyone! It was delicious!