Southern Stewed Squash Plus a Low Fat Version

You will need:

• Small yellow onion sliced
• 1-2 slices bacon
• 1 cup water
• salt and pepper
• 3 Tablespoons veg. oil
• 3 Large Yellow Squash

In a large skillet add veg. oil, bacon, onion, sliced squash, and water. Sprinkle with Salt and Pepper generously. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat cover with lid and stew on low-med heat until tender, stirring occasionally. Once they are tender in about twenty minutes, uncover and cook about thirty minutes more or until a lot of the juice has cooked out. Serve with fried cornbread or serve as a side dish.
Serves 4

Enjoy!

For A Low Fat Version of This Recipe:

Add 2 tsp. canola oil to the skillet, omit bacon, add onion slices, stir in oil and cook on medium heat for several minutes until the onion starts to soften and browns slightly, add sliced squash to skillet, sprinkle with salt and pepper, 1/2 tsp. sugar and 2 cups of water, stir together, cover and bring to a boil on medium- high heat, stir again, and then cook on low-medium heat (slow boil),until tender. I usually cook it about 30-45 minutes or so. Once tender, leave on low until ready to serve. Season to taste with more salt and pepper before serving. The longer it simmers the better it tastes.  

Mexican Enchilada In a Skillet

You will need:

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 cup Water
• 1/2 cup of your favorite Salsa (I've used both Chi Chi's brand and Pace brand before)
• 1 can tomatoe soup
• small chopped onion
• 4-6 oz. grated cheddar cheese for the topping
• 10 Mission Brand soft yellow corn tortillas (6" size) cut into 1-2 inch pieces
• Salt, pepper, garlic powder sprinkled
• can of Old El Paso Enchilada Sauce

Brown the ground beef in a skillet with chopped onion, sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder, drain fat and return to skillet. Add the water, salsa, tomatoe soup and cut up corn tortillas bring to a boil and stir, then cover and reduce heat to low for about 5-8 minutes stirring occasionally. Top with grated cheese and cover until melted. Put on serving plates and drizzle the skillet enchilada with heated enchilada sauce on each individual plate. Serve with chips and salsa, chips and guacamole dip (click HERE for my recipe for guacamole dip), refried beans or rice.
Serves 5
This recipe is about as easy as it gets, when you need something quick! This was a Campbell's Kitchen Recipe I found in a magazine....I changed a few things to suit my taste...like adding the enchilada sauce, onion, salt, pepper and garlic salt.
Enjoy!

Ground Beef Vegetable Soup

You will need:

• 1 Pound ground chuck 
• 1 Cup chopped yellow onion 
• 1 Cup chopped celery
• 1/2 Cup green bell pepper
• 1/2 tsp. Salt

Cook above in a small amount of cooking oil in skillet until vegetables are tender and meat is done. About 10 minutes, stir frequently. If there seems to be a lot excess grease, spoon some of it out with a large spoon.
Next you will need:

• 1 Can beef broth 15 oz.
• 2- Cans tomatoes 15 oz.
• 1-Can Kernel corn  (undrained)
• 1/2 tsp. Black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. Garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon Seasoned Salt and more to taste
• 4 Peeled cut up potatoes 
• 1 Can green beans 15oz.  (drained)
• 1/2 a bag of family size frozen lima beans or small pkg. of frozen lima beans 

Put the above in a soup pot and add meat and vegetables. Bring to a boil and simmer for about and hour. The longer it simmers the more flavorful it will be. Soup will thicken like a chowder.
Serve with garlic bread
Enjoy! 

Recipes For Fudge and Divinity....These Are Christmas Traditions At Our Home!!

Fudge

• 3 cups sugar
• 3/4 c. butter or margarine
• 2/3 c. evaporated milk
• 1 jar 7 oz marshmallow cream
• 1 pkg. 12 oz semi-sweet morsels
• 1/2 c. chopped nuts
• 1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring

Stir together butter, sugar, and milk in a medium size heavy pot, bring to a boil, stir constantly. Boil 5 minutes, (be sure to set a timer) and cook over medium heat. Remember to stir constantly. Remove from heat, gradually stir in remaining ingredients. Pour into a 13 by 9 inch pan that has been foil lined all the way over the sides and sprayed lightly with cooking spray. Cool at room temp. When cooled lift from the pan and cut into bite size pieces. This recipe makes 3 pounds, plenty to share.
Enjoy!


**********************************************


Divinity

• 2 cups sugar
• 1/3 c. white karo syrup
• 1/2 c. hot water
• pinch of salt
• 2 egg whites, well beaten
• 1/2 c. chopped pecans

Beat the egg whites in a large bowl until they are foamy, set aside, leaving the mixer handy. In a small saucepan Mix and boil sugar, syrup, hot water and salt on about medium to medium high heat. Hold a candy thermometer in the pot while you stir with a spoon...there are candy thermometers with hooks to hook on the side of your pot, but I don't hang mine on the pot, I hold on to mine and keep it lifted in the liquid, making sure that it doesn't touch the bottom of the pot. If you hang it on the side of the pot and it touches the bottom of the pot and that is not good. You don't want to be taking the temp of the bottom of the pot, you want to take the temp of the liquid itself. Just thought I'd throw that little tip in there for you. Trial and error, learned tip from experience. Cook this mixture until it reaches the hard ball stage on a candy thermometer. This is very important. Stir it the whole time that it boils. This will take quite a while, I'd say longer than 15 minutes usually, it will start to feel like it's taking forever, but keep watching the thermometer while you stir and just keep stirring. When it reaches the hard ball stage quickly but carefully remove it from the heat, and carefully pour it slowly into the beaten eggs as you mix it with the mixer. This mixture is extremely hot, so be very careful. You will now mix it with the mixer on medium for a while, it will seem like it's not going to hold it's shape, but just keep mixing it until it holds it's shape . When it begins to hold shape, then quickly drop by teaspoon onto wax paper and let them cool.
Extra Tip: I've heard people say not to make divinity on rainy days, but I have made at in all kinds of weather and it turns out beautifully as long as your candy thermometer is working right.
Enjoy!

Sour Cream and Chives Bite Sized Baked Chicken....Wonderful Party Appetizer

You will need:

• Boneless chicken breasts or strips ( I buy 1 and 1/2 pounds of boneless chicken breast to feed our family of 4, we eat this chicken served as a meal, and I serve 2 veggies and bread with it.) You can adjust the amount of chicken and other ingredients based on the size of people you are feeding. I'd say for appetizers this amount here would feed probably 6-8 people if you are serving other goodies to go with them.
• Bag of sour cream and chives potatoes chips and a gallon size zipoc bag for crushing the chips
• 2 eggs
• 2 Tablespoons Milk
• 1/2 stick of butter
• nonstick cooking spray

1. Line a cookie sheet with foil and spray it with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Rinse chicken breast and cut them into bite size pieces, (if you'd like to save yourself the trouble of doing this step, you can buy boneless breasts that have been sliced into chicken strips.
3. Mix the egg and milk in a bowl, and add chicken and stir
4. Open bag of chips and put them inside of a ziploc bag and crush them with your hands until they are in tiny pieces. This is your breading for your chicken.
5. Now add your chicken to the bag to coat the chiken well, then them on the prepared pan one by one.
6. Melt butter and drizzle over the top of the chicken
7. Cook in a 350 degree preheated oven for about 35 -45 min. until golden brown. The size that you cut your chicken into will determine the cooking time. Be sure the inside is no longer pink.

Enjoy with your favorite dipping sauce, honey mustard tastes great!
Tips: You can use whatever kind of chips you like, for a different variation on this recipe, I also love to use crushed cornflake crumbs sometimes too.

Mashed Potatoes, and Broccoli, with Stew Beef and Gravy ~ Beefy Moutain

You will need:

• 1 pound of stew beef 
• 1 package McCormick's Stew Beef Seasoning, (found in the gravy and seasoning packet section at the grocery store).
• 16 oz. package of frozen broccoli and cauliflower mix
• enough all purpose flour to coat stew beef in
• 2-3 Tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 1/2 of a chopped onion
• salt, pepper and garlic powder
• homemade mashed potatoes (if you don't have your own favorite mashed potato recipe mine is HERE  you'll have to scroll to the end of the post to find it

Wash the stew beef, put it in a large bowl. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, coat with flour. Put the grease in a dutch oven or large pot, add the floured stew beef to the grease and brown on all sides. Then add the stew beef seasoning package and 3 cups of water, and the chopped onion, bring to a boil and then let it simmer until meat is tender usually for about 3 hours. Stir occasionally and then add more water as needed so that it does not become too thick. You want this to be the consistency of gravy when it's done. While this is cooking make your Homemade Mashed Potatoes, and set aside and cook the frozen broccoli cauliflower according to directions and until tender and drain.

When the meat has cooked long enough to become tender, you are ready to layer your meal. Put the mashed potatoes on the plate first, then the broccoli/cauliflower, then the stew beef and gravy.
This is a delicious combination of foods and so easy too. My husband's mother used to make a variation of this.  My family loves it. My oldest son came up with the name of this recipe "Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli Beef Mountain" I thought it was a great name! It feeds about 5-6 people. Now enjoy!

Edited: As a variation in flavor for the recipe, you can use 2 packages of McCormick's Mushroom Gravy instead of the Stew Beef Seasoning Package and use the amount of water stated on the gravy package directions, you can add more water as needed as it cooks, and if it gets too thick. Add water as needed for desired gravy thickness.

Delicious Spinach Manicotti

You will need:

• 1/2 Onion chopped
• 3 Garlic cloves chopped
• 1 T. Vegetable oil
• 1-1/2 cups Ricotta cheese
• 1 cup (4 oz. Grated Mozarella cheese, divided)
• 4 oz. Cream cheese, softened
• 6 Tablespoons Grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon Black pepper
• 1 Package (10 oz.) Frozen Chopped Spinach, thawed squeezed dry. Then put in a food processor or a blender to chop it finer, (you don't have to do this step, but I do because I like my spinach chopped up finer)
• 8 Manicotti shells, cooked according to package directions, and drained
• 1 Jar 26 oz. Great Value Traditional Spaghetti Sauce, (or your favorite brand spaghetti sauce)

In a small skillet add oil, onion, and garlic, saute this for several minutes. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl, mix ricotta cheese, 4 Tablespoons parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup mozarella cheese, Italian seasoning, and pepper. Beat smooth. Stir in the onion mixture, and spinach. Spoon this cheese mixture into a large gallon size freezer bag, and seal the bag, squeeze the mixture to one corner of the bag and then cut a small hole at the corner edge of the bag. Pipe the cheese mixture into the manicotti shells. Set aside. Grease a 13 inch by 9 inch casserole dish, and pour half of the spaghetti sauce in the bottom of the dish. Lay the stuffed manicotti shells on top, then pour the rest of the spaghetti sauce over the manicotti. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with remainder of the mozarella and parmesan chese. Bake 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Makes 4-5 servings.
Serve with salad and texas toast
Enjoy!

Blackberry Pudding Tarts~ A Summer Favorite Dessert at Our Home

These delicious treats have been a summertime tradition since the year 2000. It's hard to believe that for 9 years we have made these....but we have.

Here's what you will need to make these:

• 2 (10 oz. pkg. frozen tart shells, there is 8 shells in each package)
• 2 quarts fresh blackberries (2 ~16 oz packages of frozen thawed can be substituted) but I always use the fresh, because we can pick them ourselves and they are available in our area
• 1 cup water
• 1 3/4 cups sugar divided
• 1/2 cup self-rising flour
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine
• 2 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract, divided
• 1 cup whipping cream
• for garnish fresh blackberries, mint sprigs if desired

1. Bake tart shells according to package directions; cool completely.
Bring Blackberries and 1 cup water to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or until blackberries are soft.
2. Mash blackberries with a fork; pour through a wire-mesh strainer into a 4-cup liquid measuring cup, using back of spoon to squeeze out 2 cups juice, discard the pulp and seeds. (Boil the juice to reduce to 2 cups if necessary.)
3. Combine 1 1/2 cups of sugar and the flour in a saucepan; gradually add blackberry juice, whisking constantly until smooth. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and simmer 3 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat. Stir in butter and 2 teaspoons of vanilla.
4. Spoon filling into prepared tart shells. Cool Completely.
5. Beat whipping cream at high speed with an electric mixer until foamy; gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. Fold in remaining vanilla. Important Note: Do not beat in the vanilla, it will make the whipping cream break down and fall apart. I've done it before and had to run back to the store for more whipping cream.
Place a dollop of whipping cream on each pudding tart, then put in the fridge, until chilled.

Makes 16 servings

Enjoy!

Summer Treat...Orange, Banana, Strawberry Smoothie

You will need:

• 1 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup strawberry yogurt
• 1/2 banana
• 5 ice cubes

Mix this all together in a blender
This makes 2 delicious summer treats. You can change it around to suite your own taste and add fresh fruit to the mix, if you'd like to. (I just used what I happened to have on hand in the fridge).
Now enjoy!

Easy Strawberry Cheesecake Parfaits

You will need:

• 1 pkg. (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) Jello vanilla instant pudding
• 1 1/2 cups thawed cool whip divided (save 1/2 cup of cool whip for finishing touch on top of parfait)
• 24 vanilla wafers coarsely crumbled
• 1 1/2 cups strawberries

Beat cream cheese with mixer until creamy. Gradually beat in milk. Add dry pudding mix; mix well. Mix in 1 cup cool whip.
Layer half each of wafers, strawberries and pudding mixture in 4oz. parfait glasses. Repeat Layers. Garnish tops of parfaits with the remaining 1/2 cup of cool whip and chopped strawberry.
This will yeild about 10 (4 oz.) parfaits
Chill, serve and enjoy!