Easy Eggplant Parmesan

350° - 20 minutes. Serves 6

Ingredients:


1 large eggplant, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch slices
3 eggs, beaten

1 1/2 cups seasoned dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup olive oil
3 cups spaghetti sauce
1/2 lb shredded mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

Arrange a layer of eggplant slices in a colander. Sprinkle generously with salt. Continue layering and salting all eggplant slices. Let stand 30 minutes. Rinse and pat dry.

Dip the eggplant in the egg the drag through the breadcrumbs.

Gently pan fry the eggplant over medium heat until golden brown on both sides: just a few minutes.  Remove to paper towel to drain.

Layer the fried eggplant in a casserole dish and alternate with spaghetti sauce, mozzarella cheese, and parmesan cheese.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cheese is browned and sauce is bubbly.


Notes:

While this is an easy recipe, it is time consuming to prepare.  My last go at making this recipe took more than 1 hr to prepare, including eggplant salting wait.

source: Food.com

Old Fashioned Rice Krispies Bars

Stovetop. Prep: 10 minutes.  Serves 24  

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter
1 10 oz package large marshmallows or 3 cups mini
6 cups rice krispies
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Melt butter then add marshmallows.  Cook until gooey.  Remove from heat and splash in vanilla.  Combine with krispies, stir, and spread in well greased pan.

Notes:

Easy recipe to add anything: chocolate chips, sprinkles, fancy bits of whatever.

source: Kelloggs

Perfect Turkey

How To Cook The Perfect Turkey

The turkey is the central element of any good Thanksgiving meal. An otherwise perfect meal can be ruined by a dry, overcooked turkey. Since this isn’t something we cook on a weekly basis, it’s not easy to pull off the perfect turkey… unless you follow these tips and the recipe below. 

Notes:

Read the entire article at the source: The Frustrated Moms

Start with a quality turkey.

Thaw the turkey slowly in the fridge

When you are ready to cook your turkey, remove the neck, giblets and anything else that may be stuffed in the chest cavity of your bird.

Set it in a large roasting pan.

Cut up vegetables just for flavor. Stick them in the body cavity. They will infuse the bird with flavor as it cooks. 

Melt a cup of butter in the microwave.

Cook the turkey in a 325 degree oven. Baste it every 30 – 45 minutes with the juices that collect in the bottom of the roasting pan. 

Here are some general guidelines for how long your bird should cook:

8 to 12 lbs. 2 ¾ to 3 hrs.
12 to 14 lbs. 3 to 3 ¾ hrs.
14 to 18 lbs. 3 ¾ to 4 ¼ hrs.
18 to 20 lbs. 4 ¼ to 4 ½ hrs.
20 to 24 lbs. 4 ½ to 5 hrs.

A whole turkey is safe when cooked to a minimum internal temperature of 165 °F as measured with a food thermometer.  Don't overcook or it will be dry, but do make sure it is done.

 
My Notes:


I like to salt my turkey and then slice up butter and place under the skin before roasting.  I also make a foil tent or use a large roaster with lid to keep the moisture in with the bird.  I remove the foil/lid from the pan at the end of cooking just to brown up the skin for a great crunchy taste.


source: The Frustrated Moms

Tuna Noodles

350° - 20-30 minutes. Serves 5

Ingredients:

2 cups of uncooked elbow macaroni
□ 12 ounces of tuna in spring water
□ 2 small cans of concentrated cream of chicken soup
□ 1 small can of sweet green peas
□ 1/2 cup of milk
□ shredded mozzarella cheese


Directions:

In a medium pot, bring 6 cups of water to a boil. Once boiling, add noodles. Let cook until noodles are tender.

Flake tuna in a casserole dish. Then add in soup, peas, and milk. Mix all ingredients till they are blended well. Then add an even layer of cheese across the top.

Bake for 20-30 minutes. Serve hot and enjoy.

Notes:


source: Cooks.com

Turkey Supreme

Stove - 50 minutes. Serves 6

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup milk
1 cup cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
dash pepper
3 cups turkey, cut into cubes
1/4 cup slivered almonds
2/3 cup frozen green peas
steamed rice

Directions:

1. Melt the butter over low heat in a saucepan. Add the flour and stir until the butter and flour make a smooth paste.
2. Heat the broth, milk, and cream in a microwave safe bowl until hot. Add a little of the liquid to pan and stir with a whisk until smooth. Slowly pour the rest of the liquid into the pan, stirring with the whisk as you go. Add salt and pepper.
3. Cook the white sauce until it is bubbly and thickened, stirring often. Add the turkey, green peas, and almonds. Serve over the steamed rice.
   

Notes:

This is a traditional turkey dish, turkey in a white sauce served over rice. We added slivered almonds and peas. Consider adding carrot slices or pimentos for a touch of color.

source: The Prepared Pantry

Deviled Eggs

Stove Top. Serves 12

Ingredients:

6 hard boiled eggs, cooled
1 tablespoon pickle juice
1 ½ tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon mustard
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon dill weed, plus enough to sprinkle
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon paprika, plus enough to sprinkle
1 small pickle, or 4 pickle chips, chopped fine
Salt


Directions:

1.Gently peel and rinse eggs. Cut in half lengthwise. Gently scrape yolk into a bowl and set whites on a plate. When all eggs have been cut and separated, lightly sprinkle whites with salt and dill weed. Cover, and refrigerate whites.
2.Using a fork, mash and mix egg yolks until you have a very fine crumbly powder. Add pickle juice, mix, and pack against side of the bowl. Mixture should just barely stick together. If not, add a bit more pickle juice (but don’t add so much that the yolk mixture is muddy).
3.Add mayonnaise and mustard, mix well. Add garlic powder, dill weed, onion powder and paprika, mix well. Add chopped pickle and mix again.
4.Pull egg whites from the refrigerator and uncover. Using a tablespoon and your (clean, not licked) finger, fill the holes in the whites with yolk mixture. After all the whites are filled, the remaining mixture between the eggs by gently mounding each hole.
5.Sprinkle eggs with paprika, re-cover, and refrigerate.


Notes:

Make it pretty – use a decorating bag and tips to add the yolk mixture instead of a spoon. Layer the serving dish with leaf lettuce, and add a tiny sprig of parsley to each egg.

Use your favorite pickles and juice….or mix it up. Mrs. Gardner uses dill pickle juice with bread and butter pickles (But don’t tell her husband!)

Try using Dijon mustard, spicy brown mustard, Chinese hot mustard, or Wasabi mayonnaise for an extra kick.

Speaking of kicks, add cayenne pepper instead of paprika, or a dash of hot sauce with the pickle juice.

And for all the ranch-heads (like Mrs. Gardner’s family) try using ranch dressing instead of mayonnaise.


source: Cherie Gardners' Catholic Gramma

Funeral Potatoes

Someone asked me, a Catholic woman, to provide a favorite Mormon side dish for the Halloween Party we attended on Friday. After a short internet search, I'm proud to exhibit this result - funny and commented as the best ever! I added some onion and garlic powders to the mix with great results.

I’ve had some requests for my funeral potato recipe, because my funeral potatoes rock! Just be warned, this is a traditional Utah Mormon dish, thus it is a difficult process requiring great skill and patience, only the freshest of ingredients, and yielding a highly nutritious and aesthetically pleasing result.

It is essential that you follow each of these complex steps to the letter!

First, lock your twelve kids in the backyard with a hose and some nerf balls.

Use a mixer to beat together a big tub of sour cream, two cans of cream of mushroom soup, and a brick of cream cheese.

Stir in several big hand-fulls of grated cheddar cheese and two bags of O’Brian Diced (not shredded–too mushy) Hashbrowns.

Dump into a large cake pan.

Sprinkle some more cheese then a bunch of crushed Corn Flakes for the top. (Special K will work in a pinch, it’s a proven fact.)

Bake at 350 until it starts to smell really good and the middle is hot.

Serve with watery ham, fluffy white rolls, green jello, and a big sack of salad with ranch dressing.

source: Feminist Mormon Housewives