Fantastic Food

We went to my in-law's home a year ago or so (no I don't hate them, they just live a 10 hour drive from me!) and my MIL made sausage pot pie.  I'd only ever had chicken pot pie, which, most of the time, I thought was just "okay".  The sausage pot pie was yummy.  My kids thought it was a gift sent from God from His own table.  My son loved it so much he requested it for his birthday dinner (a good 10 months from then).  And then every month he would bring it up again that he still wanted that for his birthday.  Well the pie was  really good, so I asked my MIL for the recipe.  I'll give you the bad news first:  It had canned EVERYTHING, the worst being a can of mushroom soup.  And store-bought pie crusts. First of all, store-bought crust tastes like cardboard.  It just does, so no thank you.  Also, I sorta have a thing against cooking with canned soups.  I'm not 100% sure why, but I think it is a "must cook from scratch" ...

I just went looking for a good clam chowder recipe because I was craving it, and I found this one that was really easy and yummy.  I added 2 ribs of chopped celery in at the same time as the onion, but that was the only change from the original recipe.  It was a big hit with the family! Recipe from damndelicious.net INGREDIENTS: 4 slices bacon, diced 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 onion, diced 2 ribs celery, chopped* 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 cup milk 1 cup vegetable stock 2 (6.5-ounce) cans chopped clams, juices reserved 1 bay leaf 2 russet potatoes, peeled and diced 1 cup half and half Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves *Optional DIRECTIONS: Heat a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook until brown and crispy, about 6-8 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate, reserving 1 tablespoon ex...

Total time: 30 min. INGREDIENTS: 1 Tbs. Olive oil 2 Tbs. fresh ginger, chopped or grated 2 cloves garlic, chopped 8 scallions sliced, green parts separated from white parts 1 Tbs. sweet curry powder 1/2 tsp. hot curry powder 5 medium carrots, peeled and sliced 1 russet potato, peeled & cubed into bite-size pieces 1 cup red lentils (or any color is fine) 1 chicken breast, cooked and shredded (or cubed into small pieces) 4 cups vegetable or chicken broth 2/3 cup pumpkin (canned is fine) 1/3 cup tomato sauce 2 tsp. soy sauce Salt & pepper naan bread, peanuts, & lime wedges for serving coconut milk (optional) DIRECTIONS: Heat oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add garlic, ginger, and scallion whites, and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until softened. Stir in curry powders. Add carrots, potatoes, lentils, chicken broth, 1 tsp. salt & 1/4 tsp. pepper, pumpkin, soy sauce, & tomato sauce. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer...

Ingredients: For Fish: Vegetable oil, for deep frying 2 cups rice flour (if you don't have this, regular all-purpose flour will work fine) 1 Tbs. baking powder 3 tsp. salt, plus more for seasoning 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning 1 (12 oz.) can soda water (we've used Sprite in a crunch, and it was fine) 1 large egg, lightly beaten 2 (8 oz.) cod or haddock fillets, cut in 1/2 on an angle                *We have used halibut and tilapia instead, and it was great.  We also cut the fish into strips instead of just in half. 1/2 cup rice flour, for dredging (or all-purpose flour) Malt vinegar, for serving For Chips: 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled 2 Tbs. olive oil 1 Tbs. light brown sugar 1/2 tsp. salt, plus extra for sprinkling 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper Directions: For Chips: Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.  Halve the sweet potatoes lengthwise and cut each half into long spears. ...

2 lbs frozen hash browns 1/3 c chopped onions 1/4 c butter or marg. chopped ham 2 c shredded cheddar cheese 1 c shredded swiss cheese or cheese slices 8 eggs Press potatoes into greased 9x12 pan. Melt 1/4 c butter or marg, saute 1/3 c chopped onion (to taste) Pour over the potatoes Stir to break up 8 eggs, pour over the potatoes Cover with chopped ham Sprinkle cheese over the top of the casserole. Garnish with paprika is desired Bake uncovered for 45 min or until eggs are set.

I haven't had this for a while, but I made it for a friend the other day and remembered how delicious it is.  It's a recipe my Mom made for us growing up; to me it's a wonderfully homey, feel-good meal.  Here is what you'll need: 1 2lb. bag broccoli cuts 1lb. regular ground sausage 1 1/2 cans cream of mushroom soup 1 1/2 cups white rice 1. Cook rice on stove or in rice cooker according to package directions. 2.  Brown sausage. 3.  Cook broccoli according to package directions, and then drain all but about an 1/8 cup water. 4.  Combine broccoli, sausage, and soup together in the pot you cooked the broccoli in, and heat through on stove. 5.  Serve on or beside fluffed rice. You can serve this with baked potatoes instead of rice as well.   I've also put it with pasta and topped the mixture w/ cheese and baked it for 15 minutes.  It's a very versatile concoction, try something at let me know how it goes!  

So, I made this up a few nights ago when I wanted to make tinfoil dinners, only to discover I was out of tinfoil after I had cut up the ingredients. Kevin suggested I just make it like a casserole, and now I really like it! 1 lb. ground hamburger Whatever type of hamburger seasonings you normally use Brown sugar 3 potatoes, sliced 1 package sliced frozen carrots (obviously, you can use freshly diced carrots) 1/2 onion, diced frozen peas (as much as you want) 1 can mushroom soup grated cheese basil (or other regular seasonings you like to use) Place hamburger evenly across bottom of 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle hamburger seasonings over top. Sprinkle hamburger with brown sugar. (Brown sugar sounds a little strange, but I love the sweet taste it gives to the hamburger. But the second time we're eating this, Kevin informs me he likes it better without the brown sugar. So you'll have to try it half & half the first time to decide if you like it.) Then place potatoes, carrots...