Zenful Expressions

Every week I sit down and peruse several different websites, my cookbooks, and my handwritten tried and true recipes to make healthy meals for my family of five. I tend to use what I find as a base and add my own twist to each recipe, hoping to come up with my own tasty concoction to use over and over again.

Here is this weeks menu:

Monday – Beef Stroganoff

Tuesday – Chicken Parmesan

Wednesday – Baked Potato Soup

Thursday – Pinto Beans N Greens

Friday – Mexican Shepherd’s Pie

Saturday – Leftovers

Sunday – Smothered Pork Chops

You can find all the recipes, and photos for my meals here on my blog, and you can see my full menu plan here on this calendar.

2 heads of cauliflower
2 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 Tbs. garlic powder, unlevel (a little more than TBS is better)
1 Tbs. salt
1 tsp. pepper
2 Tbs. butter
2 onion, chopped
1/4 C. all-purpose flour, , unlevel (a little more than C is better)
2 cans chicken broth
2 cups milk
2 Tbs. red cooking wine

Preheat oven to 450. Cut the cauliflower into small florets and put in a large bowl. Add oil and seasonings, and toss to coat. Place coated cauliflower on a cookie sheet or roasting pan and roast in the oven for about 30 minutes, turning every 10 minutes so as not to burn. Cook until golden and tender. Remove from the oven and set aside. In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and add onion. Cook until the onion is translucent in color. Add flour to onion and stir. Add the chicken broth and milk to the pan gradually stirring constantly until it thickens, then reduce heat. Add cauliflower and wine. Take half the soup, and blend in food processor, then recombine.

2 pounds of starchy potatoes
1  egg, slightly beaten
1 C.  all-purpose flour
salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake potatoes until easily pierced with a fork. Let the potatoes cool slightly, then peel. Pass the potatoes through a ricer or grate them into a large bowl.  Add the egg to the potatoes. Mix well. Add the flour to potatoes a little at a time, mixing well. Add just enough flour so that the dough doesn’t stick to your hands. Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a slightly floured surface. Knead for about 5 minutes.

Form the dough into a ball and then divide it into 5 or 6 smaller balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a rope using your fingertips, about 3/4 inch thick.  Cut the dough into 1 inch pieces. Press each piece of dough against the tines of a fork to create ridges. Place the gnocchi in a single layer on a lightly floured dish.

To cook the gnocchi, place the dough into a pot of boiling water. After a few minutes the gnocchi will float to the top. Continue to cook for one minute then remove and top with your favorite sauce.

I triple this recipe and freeze a large portion. To freeze, line a cookie sheet with wax paper, and dust with flour and arrange the gnocchi in a single layer. Put the cookie sheet in the freezer to ‘flash freeze’ the gnocchi, about 30 minutes. Place in freezer bag to cook later. Cooking instructions are the same as above. No need to thaw.

Every week I sit down and peruse several different websites, my cookbooks, and my handwritten tried and true recipes to make healthy meals for my family of five. I tend to use what I find as a base and add my own twist to each recipe, hoping to come up with my own tasty concoction to use over and over again.

Here is this weeks menu:

Monday – Leftovers

Tuesday – Gnocchi – Salad – Italian Bread

Wednesday – Creamy Chicken and Rigatoni – Italian Bread – Birthday Cake

Thursday – Tacos

Friday – Spinach Quiche – Roasted Garlic Cauliflower Soup

Saturday – Leftovers

Sunday – Orange-Spice Pot Roast – Superbowl Snacks

You can find all the recipes, and photos for my meals here on my blog, and you can see my full menu plan here on this calendar.

Every week I sit down and peruse several different websites, my cookbooks, and my handwritten tried and true recipes to make healthy meals for my family of five. I tend to use what I find as a base and add my own twist to each recipe, hoping to come up with my own tasty concoction to use over and over again.

Here is this weeks menu:

Monday – Spaghetti N Meatballs

Tuesday – Polish Sausage and Cabbage Soup

Wednesday – Heavenly Chicken Lasagna

Thursday – Mexican Shepherd’s Pie Leftovers

Friday – French Bread Pizza

Saturday – Leftovers

Sunday – Leftovers

You can find all the recipes, and photos for my meals here on my blog, and you can see my full menu plan here on this calendar.

Zucchini bread is not only delicious, but very easy to make. Below is the base recipe for two loaves, but I always at least double this and freeze my loaves to eat later or share with friends. I have step by step photos to add to this post… I just have to find them FOUND – LOL!

2 C. grated zucchini
3 C. all purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
3 tsp. ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1 C. vegetable oil
2 1/4 cups white sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325. Grease and flour two loaf pans. Grate zucchini into a bowl and set aside. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a second large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.

This was a request from a close friend that knew I had an abundance of mushrooms that needed to be cooked, and I have never made this before – nor will I eat it, as I do not like mushrooms. I did taste test the sauce and it was very tasty with a “kick”. Those who love mushrooms would really love this accompaniment to a meat dish or with chips.

I made alot since I had lots of mushrooms to work with, so here was my recipe – you can adjust for less.

3 six oz pkg baby bell mushrooms, chopped
3 six oz pkg white mushrooms, chopped
1 cup yellow pepper, chopped
1 white onion, chopped
2 jalapeno pepper, chopped
1 to 2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. salt
2 limes, squeezed
2 tablespoon olive oil

Saute mushrooms in large skillet over medium heat, about 6 minutes. Set aside. Saute onion, yellow pepper and garlic until onion is translucent. Add mushrooms back to onion mixture and saute for about 5 more minutes – do NOT remove juices, and add a bit of white wine or water if it seems dry. Mix in spices. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes. Add juice from lime, and olive oil. Let cool completely and transfer to jar.

I did not use cilantro in this because I had none, but it would be best to add that in too; 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro added with the lime juice and oil.

I ended up with two jars of salsa with the above amounts. You can leave one in the refrigerator for use with dinners, and put the other in the freezer (less a bit for expansion – also, I used plastic jars – mayonnaise containers is what I put mine in) for later use.

I have an abundance of yellow squash, and I want none of it to go to waste, so I have several recipes that I am going to use to cook it all. The first one that I have made is based on this recipe, however, as I do with all base recipes, I have added other things, and made it my own. I doubled the base recipe to make two pies and here is how I made mine:

Summer Squash Pie Recipe

2 unbaked pastry shell (9 inches)
2 egg, lightly beaten
10 C. sliced yellow summer squash (1/4 inch slices)
1 onion, chopped
2 tsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. pepper
3 large tomato, sliced
2 C. (4 ounces) shredded cheddar
1 1/2 C. mayonnaise

Line unpricked pastry shell with a double thickness of heavy-duty foil. Bake at 450° for 5 minutes. Remove foil; brush lightly with egg. Bake 5 minutes longer. Remove to a wire rack; reduce heat to 350°

In a large nonstick skillet, saute onion and yellow squash in oil for 10 minutes or until very tender. Sprinkle with seasonings; spoon into pastry shell. Top with tomatoes. Combine the cheese and mayonnaise; spread over the top.

Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

I froze both of my pies for reheating at a later time.

Every week I sit down and peruse several different websites, my cookbooks, and my handwritten tried and true recipes to make healthy meals for my family of five. I tend to use what I find as a base and add my own twist to each recipe, hoping to come up with my own tasty concoction to use over and over again.

Here is this weeks menu:

Monday – Leftovers

Tuesday – Parmesan-Dijon Chicken – Stewed Summer Squash and Onions

Wednesday – CrockPot Teriyaki Steak

Thursday – Creamy Chicken and Rigatoni

Friday – French Bread Pizza

Saturday – Leftovers

Sunday – Spaghetti N Meatballs Leftovers

You can find all the recipes, and photos for my meals here on my blog, and you can see my full menu plan here on this calendar.

1  lb ground beef
2 Tbs. flour
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/2 C. Whipping cream or milk
1/2 C. chopped onion
1/4 C. butter or margarine
1 (10 1/2 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup sour cream

Combine meat, flour, salt, pepper and paprika. In a large skillet, cook onion in butter until golden. Add meat and brown while stirring. Add cream of mushroom soup and cook 5 minutes.  Add sour cream and heat thoroughly. Serve on elbow macaroni, egg noodles or rice.