On Tonight's Menu

 On Tonight's Menu

Chicken Nugget Casserole

I made this this other night using leftover chicken nuggets.  Really good!

Chicken Nugget Casserole from tasteofhome.com: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Chicken-Nugget-Casserole

Beef Barley Soup

Today was cold and dreary, which is horrible weather to be having in June when I want to be out in the garden, but what can you do?

This is simply a variation on Beef Barley Soup.  I don’t usually add tomato paste but it was an interesting change of pace.

Here is the "recipe":

- About 2 cups of diced BBQ’s steak

- Two large baked potatoes, the pulp scooped out, and the peeling saved

- One Corn on the cob kernelled

- ¾ cup of BBQ’d mushroom and onion medley

- One 156mL/5.5 Fl oz can on Tomato Paste

- 6 Cups of beef broth

- ½ Cup of Pot Barley

- 2 Tbsp each of Fresh Parsley and fresh thyme

- Black Pepper to taste

All the above ingredients were placed in a slowcooker and turned on high for 30 minutes and then tuned to low for 6 or more hours.  I served it with freshly baked bread, of course!

*Bonus: Remember those empty potato skins I saved?  Sprinkled with bacon, green onions and cheese, then broiled for a couple of minutes = YUMMMMMY!


Shepherd’s Pie

I still had two ears of corn and one steak to do something with.  I could have froze them and created something with them later, but I had the time today to do something with them.  So that’s what I did, then I froze the Shepherd’s Pie to use at a later date.

I had used all of my potatoes in the soup, so I had to boil and mash some more.  I also used all of the BBQ’s mushroom and onion medley in the soup, so I slice an onion as well.

I diced the last large BBQ’d steak and mixed it and the sliced onion with a package of mushroom gravy mix.  I layered the kernelled corn on top of the meat mixture and then the freshly boiled and mashed potatoes on top of the corn.

I let everything cool in the fridge and then packaged it with saran wrap and tin foil.  I marked clearly what it was, when it was assembled, when it should be used by, and in the freezer it went.  Ready for a hectic day in the future!

Until next time ... eat your leftovers!

A Long Hiatus

I am back from a horribly long hiatus!  No excuse for it except LIFE!

Today I will make up for my absence by making two dishes out of our leftovers.

What is leftover?  Baked potatoes, corn on the cob, BBQ’d steak, and BBQ’d mushrooms and onions.

Shepherd’s Pie

What was leftover? Meatloaf, peas, gravy and mashed potatoes.

I chopped up the meatloaf which equalled to about 1 ½ cups, then I mixed it in a casserole dish with the peas (1 cup), gravy (1 cup), and some additional chopped onions and sliced mushrooms. I topped the concoction with the mashed potatoes and placed it in a 400⁰F oven until it was heated through, about 30 minutes.

Shepherd’s Pie is so yummy (not to mention EASY), and this version was no exception.

Until next time ... eat your leftovers!

Cheesy Macaroni Pie

What was leftover? About six cups of “Mac and Tomat”.

I didn’t want to just heat it up and I really didn’t want to add meat to it, simply because once a week we go meatless.

To the bowl with the leftover “Mac and Tomat” I added:

1 tsp of dried oregano

1 minced garlic clove

2 Tbsp of Sundried Tomato Paste

Then in a medium sized sauce pan I melted 1/3 cup of unsalted butter, to which I whisked in 1/3 cup of flour, and a sprinkle each of salt and pepper, and cooked for one minute. I whisked into it 4 cups of milk and added a Bay Leaf. I simmered this white sauce mixture for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In a medium bowl, I whisked 3 eggs and once the white sauce was complete, I slowly added it, whisking all the time. (Be sure to remove the Bay Leaf from the white sauce.)

I greased a 9” glass pie plate and then proceeded to layer the leftover “Mac and Tomat”, white sauce/egg mixture and grated marble cheese, ending with cheese.

I baked at 400⁰F for about 30 minutes, until the cheese was nice and bubbly.

So great! So good!

Note: I only used about 4 cups of the “Mac and Tomat” and only about 2 cups of the white sauce/egg mixture. I froze these leftovers to use in soups or other casserole type dishes at a later date.

Until next time ... eat your leftovers!

PS:  I forgot to take a picture.  It was so good, it was gone before I even thought of it!  :-)

I adapted this recipe from another recipe found at KraftCanada.com.

Leftover "Mac and Tomat"

We love macaroni and tomatoes mixed together with a bit of margarine, salt and pepper. It is divine when you’re real hungry and don’t feel like cooking! But, we always make way too much (you’d think we’d learn!).

What do you do with leftover “mac and tomat”?

Check back soon...

Lasagna Soup How To

Super-duper easy, super-duper yummy!

The best type of lasagna recipe to use for this soup is one with ricotta/cottage cheese and spinach, though if that’s not what you have, you can always add some frozen or fresh spinach to it.

Refrigerate the lasagna until it is firm, then cut into ½ inch squares. Plop it in a slowcooker and add enough broth to cover by about 4 to 5 inches. You can use either chicken or beef broth.

This soup only needs 5 hours at low in the slowcooker, but you can let it simmer away all day if you wish.

Lasagna Soup is super-duper yummy, especially when served with homemade bread straight from the bread-maker.

Until next time ... eat your leftovers!

For more tips and tricks, please visit: http://www.moms-stay-at-home.com/

Lasagna Soup

I don't make big 9x13" lasagnes unless we're having company, but we do like lasagne. So I assemble and freeze several 5x9" loaf lasagnes, then it is just a matter of thawing and baking!

We had one of these loaf lasagnes yesterday and there was some leftovers with which I'm going to prepare Slowcooker Lasagne Soup.

Prepare to be amazed!

Until next time ... eat your leftovers!

For more tips and tricks, please visit: http://www.moms-stay-at-home.com/

Mozza Chicken Casserole

What was leftover?  2 cups of pasta sauce, 3 cups of tri-coloured rotini, 1 cup boiled peas and carrots, and 1 ½ cups bite sized/diced chicken breast.

I sliced and sautéed another small amount of onions and mushrooms. In a buttered casserole dish I mixed together the pasta, the sauce, the onions and mushrooms, and the peas and carrots. I diced the remaining* chicken breast into bite-sized pieces and mixed that in too. Then I topped the dish with mozzarella cheese and baked it in the oven at 350⁰F for 35 minutes, until it was heated through and the cheese was bubbly and golden.

Everyone loved it!

Until next time ... eat your leftovers!

*There was still some more chicken left over after removing the breast, so I froze it for another day to make chicken soup or the like.

For more tips and tricks, please visit: http://www.moms-stay-at-home.com/

A Safeway Rotisserie Chicken and Store-Bought Pasta Sauce - how can they be recreated?

I didn’t feel like cooking last night, so we had a rotisserie chicken from Safeway. GASP! I know... How horrible of me, not cooking. There you have it, it happens.

We had the chicken and I also made tri-coloured rotini and heated some bottled pasta sauce (again, GASP!) to which I added sautéed onions and mushrooms, with garlic cheese buns on the side.

There were leftovers: pasta, pasta sauce, chicken; there were also some peas and carrots from the previous night’s supper.

How will the leftovers be twisted and turned?  Stay tuned...

For more tips and tricks, please visit: http://www.moms-stay-at-home.com/

Dumplings

I have never tried to make dumplings before, because my memory of dumplings are of my mother's pasty bits of glue. 

The Simplest Dumpling

My husband, though always asks for dumplings.  So, I decided to try my hand at them.  You know what?  They're yummy!

I went with the simplest recipe I could find:

Dumplings
1 Cup      50/50 flour*
1 T          baking powder
1 t           white sugar
1/2 t        salt
1 T          margarine
1/2 C       milk

In a bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.  Cut margarine into this mixture until it is crumbly, then stir in milk to make a soft dough.

Drop by the teaspoonful into the simmering chowder (or stew, or soup, etc.) until the dumplings are barely touching (or you've run out of dough). 

Cover the pot and simmer for 15 minutes without lifting the lid of the pot.

Since my experiment into dumplings went well this first time, I'm going to now experiment with other delectable varieties!

* I mix our flour using equal parts whole wheat and non-bleached white to make what I call 50/50 flour.

Until next time ... eat your leftovers!

For more tips and tricks, please visit: http://www.moms-stay-at-home.com/

Creamy Chicken Chowder

With two chicken thighs, about two cups of mashed potatoes, the same amount of boiled carrots and peas, and mushroom sauce, and four cups of cooking water from the potatoes, carrots and peas - I created a Creamy Chicken Chowder to die for!

And not only that, but it had dumplings in it too!

I chopped the chicken thighs into small bite-sized pieces, and cut the slices of carrots into quarters, just to make them easier to scoop up into our spoons.

In a large pot I placed the potatoes and the cooking water, and turned it on medium heat. While it heated, I re-mashed the potatoes - again, just to make it easier to scoop up with our spoons.

The rest of the ingredients, along with a tablespoon of dried parsley, then went in the pot as well to heat through and simmer until dumpling*-dropping time.

I didn't feel the need to add any other flavourings than the ones that were already in the mushroom sauce, which were - onion, sage, garlic, salt, and pepper.  I did add an extra pinch of salt while it was simmering

Until next time ... eat your leftovers!

*I'll post the recipe for dumplings in a separate post.  Watch for it!

For more tips and tricks, please visit: http://www.moms-stay-at-home.com/

What Will This Become?

Tonight for supper we had chicken thighs in a mushroom sauce, mashed potatoes, and boiled peas and carrots.

We have some leftovers...what will they become?

For more tips and tricks, please visit: http://www.moms-stay-at-home.com/