Linguine with Ham

Yay for leftover frozen ham from Easter. Split pea soup is on the menu this weekend.  But for today I made this. It has no known author, just a printed paper.

Linguine with Ham

1/2 on leftover diced ham

2 red, ripe tomatoes, optional

1/2 lb mushrooms

1.5 c peas

1/4 c olive oil

1 T minced garlic

Salt and pepper

1/2 c heavy cream or evaporated milk

12 leaves fresh basil, or dried

3/4 lb egg type noodles

Grated parmesan cheese for serving

1 beaten egg, optional

Chop ham into small pieces. Peel and core tomatoes and chop. Thinly slice mushrooms. Frozen peas should be rinsed under hot water and drained. Put water on to boil for pasta. Now you're ready to begin: heat oil in skillet and add mushrooms. Cook, stirring often, two minutes. Add peas, salt and pepper to taste. Add cream, tomatoes, and basil; stir. Bring to a boil. Meanwhile, cook pasta. Drain well. ( If you prefer, at this point you may out in the egg.) Add noodles to sauce and toss. Serve with grated parmesan cheese and garlic bread. A tossed green salad completes this meal. 4 to 6 servings.

We loved it. I didn't add mushrooms and we thought the tomatoes were unnecessary. We all loved it, even the little crazy.

This is a favorite. I'm glad, because good dinner recipes are kind of rare on this blog.

Healthy Oatmeal Chewies

This recipe is was written on an old recipe card, possibly from one of Mom's siblings. It was not Mom's handwriting, but it was similar. I find it interesting to see what was considered healthy 30ish years ago.

Healthy Oatmeal Chewies
2 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup oil (soy, if desired)
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 c coconut or wheat germ (I {whoever wrote the recipe} used both)

Combine oats and sugar with oil and let stand at room temp 1 hr. Add beaten egg, salt, vanilla, wheat germ or coconut or both. Place by tablespoons on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 325 degrees for 12-15 minutes. 2 1/2 dozen.

These are probably the ugliest cookie I have ever made, but they were uniquely good. They are kind of like a mix between a cookie and a granola bar. I used both coconut and wheat germ, and I enjoyed the taste they each gave. I also added a second egg because it seemed too dry (maybe because I added both coconut and wheat germ?). I didn't think they would end up resembling anything near a cookie, but they were okay. I guess they aren't cookies anyway; they are chewies.

Helpful hint: Grease the cookie sheet well, even if you think a nonstick pan is good enough.

Julia's Hot Cross Buns

I made these Easter morning. Jacob has never heard of them before, except the song.

Julia's Hot Cross Buns

From allrecipes

INGREDIENTS:

3/8 cup milk 3/8 cup water 1 egg 1 teaspoon salt 1/3 cup white sugar 4 tablespoons margarine 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon orange zest 3 cups bread flour 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast 1/2 cup raisins (optional) 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar 1 tablespoon water

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Place milk, 3/8 cup water, egg, salt, white sugar, butter or margarine, cinnamon, nutmeg, peel, bread flour, yeast, and raisins in the pan of the bread machine. Select the Dough setting, and Start.
2.	Form into 15 rolls. Place into a greased 13 x 9 inch pan. Let rise for one hour.
3.	Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool.
4.	Make icing with confectioners' sugar and 1 tablespoon water. Drizzle over buns in the shape of cross.

We liked them okay. They smelled like cinnamon rolls, but were less exciting.  Jacob needed frosting on the whole bun, and I don't blame him, I liked the more frosted ones better as well. I'd rather have some other sweet roll, but these were festive.

Bunny Rolls

To be honest with everyone who reads the blog, this Cupboard Recipe is kind of a cheat because Big Chubb and I added it to Mom's cupboard last year while we were there for Easter Weekend. It originally is from Big Chubb's mom and is the traditional Easter morning breakfast.

Bunny Rolls

With Easter approaching, I thought everyone might want to have this recipe.

3/4 c water (around 110 degrees)
1/4 c sugar
1 Tbs active dry yeast OR 2 1/2 tsp fast rise yeast
In large bowl soak yeast in warm water and sugar for several minutes, until dissolved and starting to grow.

Add
2 eggs
1/2 c soft butter or margarine
1/4 c dry milk.
2 tsp salt (1 tsp.)
1/4 tsp mace
grated peel from one large orange
Mix well.

Carefully stir in 3 (2 5/8) cups flour, one cup at a time. If dough is fairly stiff, turn out onto kneading area that has one cup flour sprinkled on it. (If not, add a little more flour until dough is stiff.) Knead for about 8 to 10 minutes, adding more flour if necessary, until dough is smooth and elastic. Grease bowl and put dough back in it. Cover with plastic wrap and a towel. Let sit in warm place until doubled in bulk and when you stick 2 fingers in it the holes start to disappear quickly when you remove your fingers. Knead again for a couple of minutes and then divide dough into small balls, about 24. Roll balls, one at a time, into snakes, pinch off a little bit from one end then twist the rest twice to form bunny shape, roll the saved piece into a ball and place on bunny for tail. Place bunnies on lightly greased pan, cover with towel and let raise again, about 1/2 hour. Heat oven to 375 degrees, bake bunnies, one pan at a time, for about 20 (15) minutes or until golden brown. Let cool only a couple of minutes then frost with glaze made from powdered sugar, vanilla, and water (sorry, I don't measure this stuff, I just mix until I have enough for all the rolls). Let glaze set, then cover with foil until time to eat them! Makes about 24 bunnies.

The picture is from last year, too.

We don't make them quite the same as the recipe says. Our changes are in red beside the original. We also mix the dough in the bread maker.

We LOVE these!!! We suggest you all try them because they are really good. And don't think you have to wait until next Easter. We made a second batch after Easter last year because we had to share the original batch with J&T and family and Mom and Dad, so we didn't get to eat as many as we wanted. If you end up having a couple that get a little stale, they make great French toast. Just slice it in half and proceed like normal French toast.

Asparagus Potato Soup

I don't love asparagus, but Brian does. I buy it once or twice a year when it is on sale for his sake. This was a pretty good use of it.

Asparagus Potato Soup

Ingredients

2 cups diced peeled potatoes

  1/2 pound fresh asparagus, chopped

  1/2 cup chopped onion

  2 celery ribs, chopped

  1 tablespoon chicken bouillon granules

  4 cups water

  1/4 cup butter, cubed

  1/2 cup all-purpose flour

  1 cup heavy whipping cream

  1/2 cup milk

  1/2 teaspoon salt

  Dash pepper

  12 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled

  3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

In a large saucepan or soup kettle, combine the potatoes, asparagus, onion, celery, bouillon and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in the butter.

In a bowl, combine flour, cream, milk, salt and pepper until smooth; add to the vegetable mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Garnish with bacon and cheese. Yield: 6-7 servings.

It did not yield 6-7 servings. I can only assume that like many recipes, the yield is for light eaters during a multi-course meal. Or we are just pigs.

The soup was good. It was very thick. I wanted to thin it out a little more, but Brian likes thick soups because he thinks they are more substantial. C and the little girl I babysit were forced to eat a few bites. It is an adult soup. I added a tiny bit of cheese and no bacon, and it was just fine. Yes, bacon is delicious, but I'm not in the habit of adding bacon (or meat in general) to dishes where it really isn't needed. The soup was plenty rich without it.

Quiche Lorraine

Albertsons put out a pamphlet Mom picked up called "the incredible Edible Egg". I like recipes that are meatless, so I tried one out. Turns out this one still had meat in it.

Quiche Lorraine

9 in our shell, chilled

1 T butter

12 slices of bacon

6 large eggs

1.5 c heavy cream

3/4 t salt

Pinch of nutmeg

Pinch of sugar

Pinch of cayenne

1/8 t pepper

1/4 lb grated Swiss cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.  Sprinkle butter over surface of our shell.  Try bacon until crisp; crumble into small pieces. Combine eggs, cream, salt, nutmeg, sugar, cayenne, and pepper with egg beater just long enough to mix thoroughly. Sprinkle bacon and Swiss cheese into bottom of pie shell; pour in egg mixture. Arrange six slices asparagus onto mixture (optional) . Bake 1% minutes at 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees, bake 40 minutes longer. Makes six servings.

We liked it, but both had the same comments.  We thought there was a ton of bacon in it and it didn't need cream, they both just added calories. We did think it was tasty, though. 

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Monday was not a fun day for us. It started out with a very hopeful interview near Indy and ended with the car being towed all the way back to Muncie many hours after it broke down.  We got back at 5:00 and I needed to make dinner still.  Luckily, this recipe was so easy I could still whip it up with the little energy I had left. And I knew it would be good, because it comes from Mary Murray.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Mary Murray

I did not use macaroni, just rotini I had hanging around

Serves 5-6
8 oz Macaroni, cooked
1 lb. Container cottage cheese
3/4 c sour cream
8 oz pkg. Shredded cheddar cheese
1 egg, beaten
1 t salt
1/8 t pepper

Combine all ingredients in a 1.5 quart casserole dish.  Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Yeah, we liked it. It's not your traditional macaroni and cheese with lots of cheddar cheese, but is more like a delicious pasta casserole.  Um, yum. It's not healthy by any means, but still good every once in a while.

This random picture shows the little kid's personality. After many trips to Wal-Mart where she carried this ball around the entire store, we spent a whopping $2 to buy it for her. She wouldn't even let it go to drive home.