Broccoli Ham Casserole

A few days ago frozen grape juice was on sale at the store. So, I bought 5 of them. The problem with this was that there wasn't really any room for them in the freezer because it was absolutely stuffed. Lets just say that I tried to make them fit anyway. Squeezing them into any little spot I could find. Then, when Tyrone and I came home later that evening, the freezer had opened while we were gone. Thanks to Tyrone, we took everything out and organized it. I have a lot of frozen meat that is oddly shaped and doesn't stack very well so it drives me crazy. But he did a great job and now I can see what I have. In the process of organizing though, we came across two big bags of frozen ham. Tyrone wanted to throw it out because he said we were never going to eat it. But it was good ham. I had cooked a honey baked ham and I cut up the leftovers, which was a lot, and froze it because I knew we couldn't eat it all before it went bad. So, to prove to him that we would eat it, I got the ham out and put it in this casserole. It was really yummy. I loved the rice in it. We had it again last night for dinner and he said, this tastes really good. You should make this again. I love when I get that response. That's when I know it is REALLY, REALLY, GOOD! Hope you enjoy it. It is great for that leftover Easter ham.

I got this recipe from Taste of home

Ingredients:
2 packages (10oz) frozen cut broccoli
2 cups cooked rice ( I used 3)
6 tablespoons butter
2 cups fresh bread crumbs (about 2.5 slices)
1 medium onion, chopped
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 cups milk
1.5 pounds fully cooked ham, cubed
shredded cheddar cheese (I used mild)

Directions:
Cook broccoli according to package, drain. Spoon rice into 9x13 baking dish. Place cooked broccoli on rice.

Melt butter in a large skillet. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of melted butter over the bread crumbs and set aside. In remaining butter, saute onion until soft. Add the flour, salt and pepper, stirring constantly until blended; stir in milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Add ham.

Pour over rice and broccoli. Sprinkle with crumbs. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with cheese; let stand 5 minutes before serving. Yield: 8 servings.

Polska Kilbasa Tin Foil Dinner

On Saturday we celebrated my friend Christi's birthday. We had a big bon fire at the beach where we had tin foil dinners and banana boats. Both were delicious. For our tin foil dinner I thought we would do something a little bit different than usual. I usually put hamburger meat in tin foil dinners but polish sausage was on sale at the store and I thought it would be fun to try that instead. So we did!

 

Here is Christi the birthday girl!!

This is what we put in our tin foil dinners:
polska kilbasa
potatoes
green peppers
onions
bacon
olives
carrots
and for seasoning we put 1/2 can of cream of mushroom soup in each of ours and then we put 1/2 a packet of Lipton onion mushroom soup on each.

With tin foil dinners you can add as much or as little stuff as you want. It's just personal preference. Tyrone put a lot more carrots in his than mine. I put a lot more potatoes and onions in mine. It just depends what you want. We cooked it in the fire pit on the hot coals for about 30 minutes and we both devoured our tin foil dinners. They looked huge when we made them but we ate every last bite.

These can also be made on the grill if you aren't camping or at a bon fire. They make really easy meals. 

 

Tyrone loved his!

And so did I!

Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps

On Sundays when I get home from church all I can think about is a nap. But all Tyrone can think about is food. So, I try and throw together something really quick for him so that I can get a long nap in. I tried this recipe and it turned out great! It was quick to prepare and really yummy. Plus, the ingredients don't have to be exact! I just used what I had. If you try this recipe let me know what you think. I got the recipe from Mel's kitchen cafe.

Ingredients: 

1 cup cooked rice, warm or at room temperature
1 cup cooked, shredded chicken (or other leftover meat, like shredded pork or beef)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 green onion, finely sliced (white and green parts) I didn''t have any of these
1/2 red or green pepper, diced I used a full green pepper
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped I didn't have cilantro either
juice of 1 lime I didn't have any
1/2 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
2 cups shredded cheese (I use a combination of Monterey jack and sharp cheddar)
Sour cream (optional)

I added in onions-make sure you saute them first though

                                                            6 burrito-sized flour tortillas

 

Directions:

Mix rice together with chili powder, cumin and garlic salt. Add remaining ingredients except for cheese and sour cream. Sprinkle cheese over tortillas, leaving 1/2-inch border around edges, then arrange chicken and rice mixture down the center of each tortilla. (Optional: I like to dollop little bits of sour cream over the cheese before arranging chicken and rice mixture down the center. It makes it taste creamy and delicious.) Roll stuffed tortillas, leaving edges open and slightly flatten the wraps with the palm of your hand. Spray seam-side of the wrap lightly with cooking spray.

Heat a large non-stick skillet (or griddle) over medium heat for 1 minute. Arrange wraps, seam-side down, in pan or griddle and cook until golden brown and crisp, about 2-3 minutes per side. Cooking them seam-side down first helps seal the long edge so they don’t fall apart. Transfer to a plate and repeat with remaining wraps. Serve warm.

 Enjoy!

 

Lemon Rosemary Salmon

It was one of those weeks that I didn't really get to cook at all because there was something going on every night and one of us didn't get home until really late. So finally on Thursday I decided to make a huge meal. I made lemon rosemary salmon. My roommate Margo in college cooked this for me one time and now this is the recipe I always use when I'm cooking salmon. It is so easy. The only thing I usually need to buy is the salmon and the lemons. I usually have everything else.

Ingredients:
Rosemary (I usually don't use fresh because I never have it. But either works fine.)
2-3 lemons (cut in thin slices)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 salmon fillet ( with or without skin. It doesn't matter. Depends on your preference.)
sea salt

Directions. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Place tin foil down on baking sheet if desired. Then place lemon slices down. Place the salmon fillet on top of the lemon slices. Then sprinkle the salmon with rosemary and sea salt. Use as much as desired. Then place the rest of the lemon slices on top. Lastly, pour a little bit of olive oil over the top. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the fish is easily flaked with a fork.

Edamame

 

I had no idea what edamame was until about a year ago. Tyrone and I went to a sushi restaurant called Ra. I don't particularly like sushi but I figured for his birthday I would suck it up. I do like tempura but I just don't like the raw fish stuff.  But, one amazing thing came out of this dinner. Their edamame! It was delicious. Tyrone wanted to order it and I was somewhat opposed to it. But he ordered it and I pretty much ate the whole thing myself. It was amazing. 

Then, last weekend  Tyrone and I went out to sushi again with some friends and they ordered edamame. I have been craving it ever since. So, on Monday, I went to the store and bought some. It was so easy to make and so delicious. Edamame has enough flavor by itself that I tried one right out of the strainer in the kitchen sink and then I kept eating them. I had to stop myself. I was going to eat them all without even seasoning them. Any way, onto the recipe. It is so simple. 

Ingredients: 

1 16oz package frozen edamame

sea salt

3 cloves garlic

2 tbsp olive oil

Directions: 

Boil edamame according to package. Then drain and set aside. Heat oil in large skillet. Smash 3 cloves of garlic and take off the outer layer but make sure to leave them in one piece. Place them in the pan along with the edamame. Cook until the edamame starts to brown. Then sprinkle with sea salt and serve. Estimated eating time is about 5 minutes. They are gone in a flash!

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Baked Shrimp

I had one pound of shrimp left from our Mexico vacation. I was planning on making shrimp fettuccine Alfredo but, I didn't have time. I came across this recipe on pinterest and it was really quick and only required a few ingredients, which I had. It turned out really yummy and it only took 20 minutes to prepare and cook. I love meals like that!

After this meal though, I think I'm going to be tired of seafood for a while. I've eaten it almost everyday for the past week. I would not do well to live on an island I guess. 

Ingredients:
1 pound of shrimp
1 stick of butter
2-3 lemons (sliced)
1 packet Italian seasoning

Directions: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheet with tin foil (optional). Put 1 stick of melted butter on the cookie sheet. Cover butter with lemon slices. Place shrimp on top of lemon slices. Sprinkle Italian seasoning on top.  Place in oven for 15 minutes. It's that easy! Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Clam Chowder

 

I made homemade clam chowder. I thought it was going to be really difficult but it was the exact opposite. It only took about 30 minutes to make and it was so delicious! It was nice to use up the rest of our clams too. With this recipe, I substituted one can of clams for a handful of cut up clams that we had cooked on the grill the night before. This is going to be one of my new favorites!

I got the recipe from Grumpy's

Just F.Y.I. The canned clams and clam juice can be found next to the tuna fish at the grocery store. I always have a hard time finding ingredients I've never used before. Hopefully that helps.

Ingredients: 

4 slices bacon, diced

1 small onion, chopped
1 stalks celery, chopped
Old Bay Seasoning (1 tsp. or to taste)

(There is a picture of Old Bay Seasoning below. I had a hard time finding it. Maybe this will help.)

2 cups diced potatoes
1 bottle (8 ounces) clam juice
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cans (approximately 7 ounces each) minced clams

(I used 1 can of minced clams and one handful of chopped cooked clams)

3 tablespoons flour
2 cups half-and-half
1 cup milk

Directions:

Cook bacon until crisp in a Dutch oven or large, heavy saucepan. Remove bacon to paper towels; drain. Remove most of the bacon grease from pan. Add onion and celery to bacon drippings; saute until softened. Add Old Bay Seasoning and cook and stir another minute. Add potatoes and clam juice, salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Remove from heat. Add minced clams with their liquid. Whisk flour into milk; add to chowder with half-and-half. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until clam chowder thickens and bubbles, or about 3 minutes.Sprinkle with crumbled bacon and enjoy!