Fresh Berry Tart

As a food’s teacher I spend a great deal of my time in the grocery store.  At one time in my teaching career I had to do my shopping at Wal-Mart.  I don’t have anything against Wal-Mart, but when you have over $300 worth of groceries to put in the cart, check out, and put away on your own time Wal-Mart is not the place to make the fastest getaway!   Now I do all my shopping for school at Publix.  It’s more costly, but easier for me to get in and out.  They will  open a checkout line just for me and have even brought items to my classroom that were out of stock at the time.  So I love Publix!  They make my life easier.  I also enjoy Publix Apron’s Simple Meals.  They have great ideas for quick meals!  This Fresh Berry Tart was featured last week and is perfect for July the 4th.  There’s no baking just really the easiest dessert you’ve ever made.  When you take a bite you are going to say no way!!!!

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Fettuccine with Sausage and Kale

I have been enjoying kale for about four years now.  It seems that every food magazine and food show recently is using this nutrient rich green.  Just this morning I saw in my new Bon Appetit Magazine a grilled kale and apricot salad that I must try.  But, now here is another wonderful recipe from Gourmet Quick Kitchen  for kale that I have enjoyed at least six times and I love it!  It is so easy and with the super nutritious kale you can’t go wrong.  I made this dish again last Friday night with kale that this young actress brought me from her parents’ garden.  It was wonderful with  spicy sausage topped with shaved Pecorino Romano.   Oh my gosh!  By the way check out Ashley in this movie that’s just been released on HBO.  What could be better – pasta, kale, and a good movie?

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Meatloaf with Sundried Tomatoes

Are you a lover of meatloaf?  I’ve found that you either love it or hate it.  There is no in between. Here is recipe that you are going to love.  It screams out with so much flavor.   I’m a lover of meatloaf especially my mother’s meatloaf.  Her recipe has eluded me for as long as I have been cooking.  She used just ground beef with an egg, a few bread crumbs, onion, and bell pepper.  The loaf was placed in a corningware loaf dish.  To make a wonderful tomato gravy to go with the meatloaf she poured tomato juice over the meatloaf then baked it.  It was heavenly with rice.  I’m not going to give up, but in the mean time this fantastic recipe certainly does fit the bill!

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Banana Nut Muffins with Bran

Look no further for I have found the perfect breakfast muffin!  It is healthy and taste fabulous. Yes,  I would put it right up there with the best banana nut bread I have ever made.  It is just that good!

When bananas start to go bad I peel them and place in a freezer bag.  The freezer does some kind of magic to the bananas.  It’s almost like the best banana liqueur that exists.  In other words freezing really develops their flavor.  Frozen bananas that were calling out to me, “Use Me, Use Me!” started this whole search for a recipe using bananas, buttermilk, and bran buds.  This is what I found.

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The Best Hash Brown Casserole Ever!

This is one of my most favorite side dishes.  Yes, I am a lover of potatoes cooked anyway, but especially with cheese.  It’s been a hit for about fifty teens after the prom.  It has shown its face at several brunches and of course with most any grilled meat.

You’ll be glad to know that I have reduced the amount of fat from the original recipe without damaging its wonderful flavor.  It’s just plain delicious.

I can guarantee that this recipe will get you rave reviews no matter what you serve it with and it is simple to make.  One trick that will really cut down on cooking time and will eliminate serving some crunchy potatoes is thawing the potatoes for a couple of hours.  Mixing solidly frozen potatoes will result in freezing the melted butter  making  it hard to mix and frozen potatoes take a longer time to cook.   So enjoy this all summer long when you have a crowd for your next barbecue.  Don’t worry if you don’t have a crowd the leftovers are great!

Here it is right before baking:

Hash Brown Potato Casserole from Gracious Goodness

Yield – 10– 12 servings

Ingredients:

  • 2 pounds frozen hash brown potatoes
  • 1/4 cup melted butter
  • 2 cups Cheddar cheese, grated
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped onion ( I used my small food processor)
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 can cream of chicken soup
  • 1 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

  1. Allow frozen potatoes to partially thaw.  About 1-2 hours.
  2. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.
  3. Place in a buttered 9 x 13 inch casserole dish.
  4. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.

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Soft Tacos

This year  of cooking in a 45 minute class period has been quite trying at times.  Some recipes I have found will work very well and others are just not worth the trouble.  It is the same way with busy families.  It can be very difficult to put together a home cooked meal and deal with everyone’s schedule.  Here is a make it in 10 minute meal that you might have forgotten about.  Tacos!  Kids love them as well as adults.  You cannot go wrong.  Another plus is that everything can be made ahead of time and reheated when you are ready to eat.

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Spinach and Cheese Quesadillas

This is what my classes did for their last lab.  Simple, quick, and somewhat healthy.  I was pleasantly surprised at the number of students who really loved spinach.  Spinach is one of the mega foods that is packed with nutrients.  A plate of spinach might not be so appealing, but put it in a tortilla with cheese and it will win hearts every time!

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Bacon-and-Egg Rice

The Friday we cooked Fried Rice in my class I left school and ran errands.  I wonder what went through the minds of those that passed me in the aisle at Publix.  I’m sure they thought that I worked at some local Chinese restaurant or that I was too cheap to buy real perfume and just dabbed a lot of soy sauce behind my ear.  I am not kidding you when I say that I had to roll the windows down in my car on the way home because the odor permeated every pore of my body.  Just imagine 24 kitchens using sesame oil with a clove of garlic, ginger, onions, and soy sauce.  The entire school smelled like a Chinese Wok by noon and we have a large school.  This was a first, I had students checking out to go home and change clothes.  The odor lingered in my room for weeks!  Was the food good?  Yes, it was, but I do need a much better ventilation system.  Two large windows just does not cut it.

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Strawberry Buttermilk Sherbet (Ice Cream)

I made my first ice cream of the year this weekend to reduce the number of strawberries that were overflowing in my refrigerator and wouldn’t you know that the temperature would drop to the low 4o’s.  March was a record high 80’s.  What’s up with this ridiculous range of tempts?  But, no matter what the weather is outside the strawberries are coming in like crazy and there are just so many that I can eat before they go bad.  Southern Living came to my rescue with their winning recipe for ice cream, sherbet, or frozen yogurt.  Whatever you want to name it make sure that you put the word scrumptious in front of it.  It is the easiest ice cream you’ll ever make and what is even better is that it is low in calories.  You might want to hide any straws.  The mixture is so good you’ll want to drink it like a milkshake.  It is that good!

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Bacon Tomato Cups

Don’t hate me for this recipe that you are going to love!  It’s fantastic, easy, but not healthy.  Invite at least 18 of your friends over when you decide to make it that way everyone gets two and you have no guilt.  Or just have them as a main dish with a big salad.  Anyway, you’ll  have to balance out the calories  some way to keep it all away from your hips if you know what I mean.

Here’s how I got the recipe.  After Easter, Madison in my fourth period class told me that his mother had made the best biscuits with Rotel tomatoes and that was all it took.  I had to have the recipe.  It is really good and you can change it up for whatever meat that you might have.  I think that Canadian Bacon, ham, sausage, and even chicken would work perfectly.

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