Great Green Beans!

A super simple way to really enjoy fresh green beans....get tender ones (Haricot Vert)...and steam (or microwave) just a few minutes until just tender...they should still be bright green. I usually cook in a steamer basket about 5 minutes, then cover and turn off heat and let sit another 5 minutes. Dump into a dish, sprinkle with lemon or lime juice (one of either), a little nutmeg, a few(2 t?) dried red onions(I got these at Safeway, but regular dried onions would probably be fine)
...they are good like this, but for added flavor drizzle with about 1/3 C-1/2C of the salad dressing from our raspberry, walnut green salad)...leftovers are great cold or as part of a regular green salad...but I usually eat them all!

Mexican Rice-Lime and Cilantro

This is from Mel's Kitchen Cafe...it is so easy and way better than "typical" Spanish Rice...Kaity, you can leave out the cilantro!

1 C rice (I use Hunan which is stickier)

2 C chicken broth (Better than Bouillon or low sodium "boxed")

1 T olive oil

1 small yellow onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 C tomato paste

1 T lime juice (l lime)

2 t cumin

1/2 C chopped cilantro

Cook rice in chicken broth. While it's cooking, sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil. Stir in the tomato paste and cumin and continue cooking for a couple of minutes. When the rice is done, stir in the tomato/onion mixture and the lime juice and cilantro. I might add a little rotisserie chicken and cheese to the leftovers and roll in a tortilla...add some avocado...yummm...

Cheesy Potatoes (Funeral Potatoes)

32 oz pkg hash brown potatoes

1/2 C butter (or 1/2 C milk)

2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup

1 pint sour cream

1/2 t salt

3/4 C chopped onions sauted in 1 T butter

(or 1/3 C dry onions)

2 C grated cheese

crushed soda crackers or corn flakes mixed with 3-4 T melted butter

Mix all except crumbs and put in 9x13 pan

Sprinkle with crumb mixture.

Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes until heated and bubbly.

***Unfortunately, this is incredibly high in fat! I eliminate most butter, use low fat soups and sour cream. You can also use low fat cheese.

Aunt Val's Apple-Raisin Stuffing...yum!

Apple Raisin Stuffing

(quantities are variable, depending on what you have available)

2 pkg. cubed/seasoned stuffing mix

1 onion, diced
3 stalks of celery, diced
2-3 red apples, cored & diced
2 cubes butter, melted
1 cup (more or less) plumped raisins
apple cider or juice
a bit of cream

Place stuffing mix in large bowl.

Saute onion, celery, and apples in 1 cube butter until soft.

Add to bowl of bread cubes along with "plumped" raisins*.

Mix in the other cube of butter, melted along with the apple juice and cream until mixture is damp but not wet...you should be able to hold a tablespoon in your hand and have it form a ball that will stick together, but not be mushy.

Pack into greased casserole dish and cover with foil.

Bake at 350 (or whatever temp you're baking the turkey) for 45-60 minutes.

Plumped Raisins???

Sometimes a recipe calls for "plumped" raisins (as in Val's stuffing recipe)...

Evidently raisins used to be "drier" than most we get today, so if you are using a fresh package you may be able to skip this step.

But it's easy to "plump" your raisins...just soak them in some warm liquid, water or the apple juice for the stuffing. You could heat in the microwave a bit, let them sit for 15 minutes or so, then drain them. They are more tender and yummy!

4th of July Baked Beans

Better than Bush's Baked Beans



4 or 5 small cans baked beans (or 2 large ones)...any brand is OK...they had Bush's at Costco in an 8 pack...
Open beans and drain in a colandar to get rid of most of the juice.

Put in a saucepan and add:
(I really don't measure this...just sort of glug it in)


1/2-3/4 C brown sugar
3/4 C catsup
1/4 C regular mustard
1/4 C dried onions
1 t cloves



Stir together; simmer a bit and you're good to go...or put them in a cassarole, cover and bake at 300 for an hour or so...they get a little drier.

***We used to make baked bean sandwiches...just leftover cold beans and catsup on white bread...yummmm!

Roasted Veggies

I was looking to get more veggies into our diet...this was a yummy way. This was a recipe from one of Kathy B's friends:

Roasted Veggies

Preheat oven to 450.
Combine:
2 pears (Bosc, D'Anjou), peeled, cored and cut in 8ths
2 lbs butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 2" chunks(it would also be good with sweet potatoes)
2 medium tomatoes, cored and cut into eighths
1 large leek (I think I'd just use a large onion, chunked)
8-10 cloves garlic, sliced (the recipe called for 2...but we like garlic)
2 T olive oil
1/2 t salt
fresh ground black pepper

Toss to coat well with the oil. Spread on large jelly roll pan. Roast, stirring occasionally, until veggies are tender, about 40-45 minutes

A Colorful Meal...Gma Dorothy's Rice-a-Roni

This meal is so easy and looks pretty too...it's good in the summer with corn on the cob. It's just the salmon from Costco...bake in the oven for 25 minutes while you make Gma Dorothy's rice-a-roni...Grandma gave me this recipe years ago when I was first married...I usually double it...

1 pkg. Lipton's Chicken Noodle Soup (I think they just call it Noodle Soup now)
1 C rice
2 or 3 green onions, chopped, or some dried minced onion(about 1 T)
1/2 dried sage
2 C hot water

Melt a little butter or olive oil in a fry pan that has a cover. Dump in the dry soup mix and the rice, onions and sage; saute about 5 minutes until a little browned...don't burn it! Add the hot water and cover; turn down the heat and let simmer for 20 minutes.

To finish the meal above...cook broccoli in the microwave with a little water for about 3 minutes.

Zucchini and Carrots

It used to be that summer meant an overwhelming amount of zucchini from the garden....this was Grandma Della's recipe and the ONLY way we ever ate it

This is a very flexible recipe...amounts are not exact:

Saute a large sliced onion (brown, white, Maui) in a little oil in a frying pan.

Slice "some" zucchini...I used about 8 small (6") ones for the dish in the picture.

Peel a large carrot...then continue "peeling" the carrot into the pan with the zucchini and onions. Season with lemon pepper and stir fry for a few minutes. Cover pan and lower heat to steam veggies until tender...abt 10 more minutes.

Here's everyone with Grandma and Grandpa Eck (Della and Lou)...like mom's 80's hair?...remember the "potato van"? This was the trip we took before Karl went on his mission. We had to go to the LA temple because Oakland was being rennovated...and we went to Disneyland.