Tuna Casserole

For some reason Mom can't post and I can, even though she set it up. So, she asked me to post this for Miranda. I'm sure it would take all of us down memory lane. Straight from Mom's email:

Tuna Casserole

1 c dry macaroni
1/2 c. chopped onion
1/4c chopped green pepper
3 Tb fat (I always used marg, but I'll write it as it was given to me:)
2 Tb flour
1 1/4 c. milk
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/4 c. chopped pimiento
1 7oz can tuna, flaked

Cook macaroni and drain. Cook onions and green pepper in hot fat until tender.
Add flour and blend. Add milk and cook over low heat until thick, stirring constantly.
Stir in chicken soup. Add remaining ingredients. Pour into greased 1 1/2 quart
casserole. Bake at 350 for 30 min.

I think it was supposed to have chopped almonds or bread crumbs or something on top,
but I never wrote it down.

There you go! Mmmm. Bet you can't wait!

BBQ Chicken Pizza Calzones

I've been cooking a lot more consistently since we've been married, (and unfortunately starting to see those results on the scale. eh hem.) And I thought I'd try to resurrect or maybe surrect(?)--you know what I mean, get this going for the first time--this recipe blog.

We had some friends over, and these were a big hit!

BBQ Chicken Calzones

Ingredients

• 4 slices bacon
• 1/2 small onion, chopped
• 3 cups shredded, cooked chicken breast meat
• 2/3 cup barbeque sauce
• 1 (10 ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust dough
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Fry bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove from the pan to drain on paper towels; crumble. Add the onion and shredded chicken to the hot bacon grease in the pan. Fry over medium heat until onion is tender. Stir in 1/3 cup of barbeque sauce, and remove from the heat. Mix in the cooked bacon.
3. Roll the pizza crust dough out onto a greased cookie sheet. Press out to an even thickness, and then cut in half. Divide the chicken mixture between the two pieces of dough, spreading on only half of each piece to within 1/2 inch of the edge. Drizzle the remaining sauce over the filling. Sprinkle the cheese and cilantro over the top. Fold the uncovered portion of dough over the filling, and press the edges together with a fork to seal.
4. Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until browned to your liking. Cool for a few minutes, then cut each calzone in half. Each serving is half of a calzone. These can be served with additional barbeque sauce if you like.

Here's how they turned out:


This was the whole meal. It was fun to have our own little place and be kind of fancy. :)

OK, who's next?

Spicy Baked Sweet Potato "Fries"

2 med. sweet potatoes, washed and cut into strips
1 1/2 Tb olive oil
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp onion powder

Spray cookie sheet with Pam. Preheat oven to 450.
In large mixing bowl, combine spices. Add potatoes and stir to coat.
Bake 20-25 min., until crispy. Turn once or twice during baking.
Serves 4.
Note: I usually use more spices to add more flavor.

fat: 5.5g; carbs: 16.4g; cal:117.6; protein: 1/2g

No-Bake Chocolate Browns

2c sugar
1/2 c. cocoa
1/2 c. canned milk
1 stick margarine
1/4 tsp salt

3 c. oatmeal
1 c. coconut
1/2 c. nuts
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. peanut butter

Mix first column in a saucepan and bring to rolling boil. Boil 2-3 minutes, remove from heat and add 2nd column; mix well. Drop by tsp onto waxed paper and let cool. Makes about 3 dz cookies.

If necessary, you may leave out the coconut and nuts; can substitute any kind of milk for canned milk.

The only trick is the cooking time: if they cook too long, they'll be dry and won't stick together; if they are undercooked, they'll be syrup-y and won't set up. Keep an eye on the time.

Silly note: this recipe came from a friend who was running for a student government office at BYU wen I was a freshman. Don't remember the first name, but his last name was "Brown!"

Oliebollen

Here's our traditional Dutch New Years' treat, a good way to start off a new project. (Copied directly from Grandma Giles' version -- spelling quirks included!)

4 cups of flour
2 cups of luke warm milk
2 yeast cakes [= 2Tb or 2oz]
1/4 cup of sugar
1 cup of raizins
1 cup of currants
2 sliced apples
1 1/2 tsp. of salt

Disolve yeast in 1/4 cup of warm water (not hot) Sift flour, mix in sugar, raizins, currants and sliced apples. Mix disolved yeast with milk and mix well with flour mixture, untill you have a thin bread dough. Cover bowl with greased pie tin. Let rise in warm place to double its size, about an hour.
Heat oil in deep-fry pan or electric frying pan, as for doughnuts. Form small balls from dough, with 2 spoons and deep fry till done, about 3 min. Balls will turn themselves, when done on one side.