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Category: Recipes

Comfort Food: Chicken Spaghetti

Blog365 Recipes 4 Comments

How about a recipe for today? I’d been craving the chicken spaghetti my husband’s late grandmother made for us one time in Oklahoma.

Craving it enough that I sent a text to my sister in law to see if she had the recipe. I have many recipes from his late grandmother including the “treasure” of clippings and handwritten ones I found while we were cleaning out the house. Unfortunately, this one was not among them.

Thankfully, my sister in law had it and sent it over to me. Finally, yesterday I made it.

Looks like the start of something healthy:

It’s veggies sautéing  in butter and the start of pure comfort food.

Chicken broth coming to a boil

I had to buy a few ingredients I don’t usually buy for this recipe. When exactly did Velveeta cheese become as valuable as gold?! Yikes. Suffice it to say, I was really craving this chicken spaghetti to go through with that purchase.

The Recipe

As I said, my sister in law was kind enough to take pictures of her recipe cards and send them to me. I’m sharing this recipe in part so I can find it again and not have to look at a tiny text photo when I make it again.

My own recipe notes:

  • I used rotisserie chicken, removed the most the meat and set it aside, then boiled it for the broth.
  • Also, added in a couple of chicken bouillon cubes to give it a bit more flavor since I did make the following day after boiling the chicken.
  • I used regular butter instead of oleo/margarine and used the stovetop not the microwave
  • Left out the English peas
  • Recipe didn’t say when to add in chicken, I just added it in first
  • Found it easiest to just mix everything together with clean hands
  • Probably easier to cube Velveeta cheese if it’s cold (I didn’t think to put it in the fridge)
  • Cover with foil when baking until last few minutes to avoid drying out spaghetti

Finished Chicken Spaghetti:

This is a picture of our reheated lunch portions with chives added. I forgot both the chives and to take a photo last night.

Additional Notes:

  • I made 3 small pans as my husband hates yellow cheese and so left the Velveeta off his portion. Added in the rotel liquid to give it a bit more flavor. And apparently, a bit too much pepper. Oops. He still said it was good.
  • Completely forgot to top the casseroles with the chives. None of us noticed.
  • Use a bit less Velveeta if dividing among 3 dishes and doing one without cheese. Oldest son said too cheesy. Still liked it though.
  • Youngest son liked it enough to want to eat the leftovers for lunch today. And also, I might add said what’s the point without the cheese?
  • It’s very filling, I have an entire 8×8 pan in the freezer for a meal on another day.

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day 14/365

Dinner, Dessert, and TV Show Talk

Chitchat Recipes 4 Comments

Felt like yesterday’s Thankful Thursday post maybe ended on a bit of a down note. And since I mostly try to keep it positive around here, how about a peace offering. Recipes for a simple dinner and a dessert. Plus some chit chat about the TV shows I’ve been watching. Normally, I guess it would be dinner, dessert, and a movie. However, I’ve not had the attention span for a movie lately. Maybe later this weekend.

To start, an easy dinner recipe for you. I found this recipe in the oddest of places. Back in the spring, my hairdresser was running just a bit late (very rare) and I was glancing at the magazines. For some reason, they had a food magazine in the collection. I wish I could recall which one.

Broccolini, Chicken Sausage, and Orzo Skillet

Aside from a little sausage and vegetable chopping (oh, and garlic mincing), this is one of the easiest recipes to make. As an added bonus, every single person in my picky family likes this! In the picture above, I also used turkey sausage to double the meat. While it works with turkey sausage as well, it’s much better with the chicken sausage. 

We use regular orzo, broccoli in place of broccolini, and skip the cheese and lemon zest. It’s a good filling, one dish kind of meal.

And now for a simple dessert…

Scotcheroos

Sometimes people give my husband desserts when he’s working and this is one he brought home and then, the next day had the person text the recipe. I’d forgotten about them until recently when I spotted the grocery store bakery selling them in a clamshell. So, I decided to dig out the recipe and make a batch. They’ve been a hit! Super easy to make, we’ve been just storing them in the fridge. Funny I’d always thought they were made with Cornflakes but this recipe used Rice Krispies.   

And Now For Some TV Show Talk

What’ve you been watching lately? For me, I binged right through Only Murders in the Building on Hulu. So good, I highly recommend it.  Started back catching up with The Walking Dead yesterday. It’s a scary show I can watch only in the daytime. For whatever reason, I don’t find zombies all that scary. Plus, anyone that’s seen more than an episode or two knows the zombies aren’t nearly as scary as some of the people in that show.

Last night, I was searching for something light to watch and saw the Steve Martin and Martin Short comedy special. Enjoyed that very much (if you don’t know, they are the two stars along with Selena Gomez in Only Murders in the Building).

Then, still searching for something that didn’t take too much effort to watch (like watching tv takes so much effort, ha!), I clicked on Kim’s Convenience. I’d read about in Simu Liu’s autobiography (he’s the star of Shang Chi, a great Marvel movie if you have Disney +) and mentioned getting his role it it. It was funny though I confess to falling asleep watching it (past my bedtime). Might be a good laundry folding show.

This weekend I’ll probably watch a bit more of the new Walking Dead episodes and maybe a Halloween movie. Any not too scary suggestions for me?

 

Recipe Repost: Cucumber Salad

Recipes So Not Organized Archives 4 Comments

Since I’ve had to go back to my So Not Organized blog twice now for the recipe, I decided to just add it over here. Hindsight is 20/20 and all that but if I could go back, I’d have stayed on my path to slowly just repost my favorite blog posts here instead of trying to transfer it over to the free word press version in one swoop. The content is still there but all my photos from many years of blogging: gone. SIGH.

Wait, did I say something about a recipe? Yes. It’s a simple one, too. I think everyone has a version of cucumber salad. This is mine. Actually, it’s my late mother-in-law’s recipe as it was usually on the table at any summer family dinner. I loved it and still do. G likes it as well and actually requested it again.

So, once again here is (with brand new updated photos!):

Cucumber Salad

Just four ingredients needed: cucumbers, fresh from the garden if you have some! Thinly sliced red onion. Rice vinegar. And sugar.

I was chatting with an older gentleman in the store a few weeks ago and he said they made their cucumber salad with apple cider vinegar. I’m not so sure about that. Might be because it makes me think of fruit fly traps. Rice vinegar is our go to here.

The basic steps:

Thinly slice cucumbers. I peel mine though sometimes if I feel fancy I leave stripes of the peel.

I bought this last year and I love it! All the tools (mandoline, two different size graters, and the guard) store inside it. And it’s dishwasher safe. OXO Good Grips Mini Complete Grate and Slice Kit.

(Note: I’m not an Amazon affiliate and get no sort of credit for sharing this, just something I like and thought you might as well.)

Place the sliced cucumbers in the a shallow container.

Layer with the thinly sliced red onion (mine is a bit too thick here but we pick around it anyway).

Mix together rice vinegar and sugar. One cup of each. Pour over layered cucumber and red onion slices.

It’s okay if some onion slices are poking up above the liquid but the cucumbers should be covered. Finally, the hard part. Wait several hours to let flavors set in and mingle.

No judgement here if you find yourself getting a fork and eating this straight out of the container when nobody is looking. Do you have a version of cucumber salad?

Apple Chip Cake

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My mom made this cake often in the fall when I was younger. It was one of my favorites. And now J likes it a lot as well. My husband and G aren’t as big of fans but that’s okay. They’re just missing out.

I finally made it for myself and J last year when the craving for comfort food was strong.

It’s a handy recipe to use up those apples on the counter that aren’t quite mush but are no longer in the prime for just eating.    apple chip cake

My mother used to make it using Jonathon apples. Probably picked from the local orchard (or picked up from their farm store, a restaurant also attached). A CVS sits on the corner (or maybe a QT as I can’t quite recall which side of the road) where the farm/orchard/restaurant used to stand.

While I’d been cutting the recipe in half, this last time I made it using the full 13×9 pan recipe. Thought it tasted so much better. However, last night it occurred to me. I used Jonathon apples in it this time as well. Note, any type of apple works. Pick an apple you like because the apples are the star flavor in this cake.

Apple Chip Cake  (Recipe as typed. See my notes at the end.)  apple chip cake

(Recipe card credited to Doris Jean Wyss)

2 cups sugar

1/4 pound oleo

Cream together.

Add:

2 eggs

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Mix thoroughly. Add:

4 cups diced raw apples

1 cup chopped pecans (black walnuts) 1/2 cup

Butter long pan. Bake 325 degrees for 1 hour. Eat hot with topping. Can make 3 layers. Can glaze or ice or dust with powdered sugar.

My Recipe Notes

1/4 pound oleo is equal to 1 stick of butter.

You can use whatever apples you have on hand. As I mentioned, my mom usually used Jonathon apples. This time that’s what I used along with a one gala and one golden delicious to round out the 4 cups (my Jonathon apples were small).

I usually leave out the nuts but I do remember my mom adding pecans, very finely chopped. I think the idea is to only add 1/2 cup if you use walnuts.

Long pan is 13 x 9. I think it’s just as good cold as hot. We usually don’t do anything to it but add a dab of whipped cream to a serving (and personally, I prefer it plain).  apple chip cake

I hope you enjoy the cake if you give this recipe a try!

 

 

Oatmeal Cookies

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I’ll confess to not being an overly huge fan of oatmeal cookies. Unless it’s this recipe. With chocolate chips. Or butterscotch chips. Something about fall requires oatmeal butterscotch cookies in my mind. Be warned this recipe makes a lot of cookies.

Making these cookies is an item on my small fall bucket list. Time to bake some oatmeal butterscotch cookies and cross an item of the list.

oatmeal cookies

Also, it’s an older recipe from my late aunt’s cookbook. I make her chocolate pie from this cookbook and these cookies. oatmeal cookies

These cookies are one of only 3 recipes I make that take the evil substance of shortening (I have no idea what would happen if you replaced the shortening with something else. However, here’s some information regarding the switch. I’ll stick with the shortening as I can’t bring myself to change up this recipe outside of adding the chips and adjusting the oatmeal a bit (see notes at end of recipe). Note if you are one of those weirdos who likes raisins in cookies, the recipe does say mix them in to heart’s content! I do like raisins, just generally not in my cookies.)

Famous Oatmeal Cookies

This is as written in my aunt’s cookbook. See my notes at end of recipe.  oatmeal cookies

3/4 cup shortening

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3 cups oats, uncooked

Beat shortening, sugar, egg, water, and vanilla together until creamy. Sift together flour, salt, and baking soda. Add to creamed mixture. Blend well. Stir in oats. Drop by spoonful on to greased cookie sheet.

Bake in preheated oven, 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. Add chopped nuts, raisins, chocolate chips.

Makes 5 dozen. oatmeal cookies

Recipe Notes:
  • Just in case you don’t know, add the chopped nuts, raisins, or chocolate/butterscotch chips after adding the oats. Not after you’ve baked the cookies!
  • I use grocery store brand oats and find it takes closer to 4 cups of oats to get the dough the consistency I prefer as those oats are a bit smaller.
  • I use a mini muffin scoop for my cookie dough balls.
  • do NOT skip the step where you grease the cookie sheet. They will stick if you do not.
  • I bake my cookies for 11 minutes, know your oven, these aren’t very good burnt.

Final step, enjoy! They go good with a big glass of milk. And hey, if you eat them in the morning and call it breakfast (oatmeal, right?), I am not going to judge. Probably no worse than some of the cereal on the grocery store shelves.  Let’s keep the raisins in the Raisin bran though. (It’s actually the current cereal of choice around these parts.)

Are you an oatmeal cookie fan? Do prefer them plain or with mix-ins like raisins, chocolate chips, or butterscotch chips?

 

Almost Lemon Pie

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Meant to share this recipe last week but life happened. However, since it’s almost spring (Saturday), today might be a better day to share this.

This recipe is from the first cookbook I ever bought as an adult out on my own.

I can remember wowing some friends with it at my little apartment because I could make meringue. Fancy!  While it’s not a hard recipe, I’d probably put it maybe a tiny step above absolute beginner.

This recipe hails from my falling apart, missing the cover cookbook titled The Absolute Beginner’s Cookbook, Volume 2.

Later, I acquired the first book. Doing things out of order, my style.

Both are still in print and available on Amazon (where I linked them). I’ve had these books so long I bought them before Amazon was even a thing! Worth noting, I used the second volume book a lot more often than the first though my crunchy coleslaw recipe hails from the first book.

On to the recipe so you can wow friends with your “fancy” meringue.

Almost Lemon Pie

Two parts to this recipe.

The Base:

1 cup flour

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 cup butter (one stick)

Combine flour, sugar, and butter in small bowl of mixer. When crumbly, pack in bottom of 8×8 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until it starts to turn golden. Remove from oven and cool.

My note:

I don’t get my mixer dirty for this. I combine with a fork/pastry blender. Works better if butter is chilled and cut into small pieces.

The Filling: 

This is the wrong mix!

At some point, I guess I’ll be making instant lemon pudding. Make sure to get cook and serve pudding and pie filling. And of course, you could always just make your own. However, I prefer the ease of a mix.

1 package Jell-O lemon pie filling

2 eggs

Prepare pie filling according to directions. Save egg whites for meringue. Pour filling over top of cooked and cooled base. Make meringue, according to directions on pie filling package, and spread over top of pie filling. Bake as directed.

Serves 6. Best eaten day it is baked. Can also reduce liquid called for in pie filling instructions by 1/4 cup and add 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice if you want the filling very tart.

My notes:

My base wasn’t super cooled and it didn’t make a difference. I also didn’t see meringue instructions on the cooked pudding and pie filling box. Maybe they used to print meringue directions on the box?  I just used my standard meringue recipe: whip egg whites until stiff, add 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar plus 6 tablespoons sugar (add gradually). Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until browned.)

It’s not the prettiest dessert (or at least this time it didn’t turn out very pretty). However, almost all of us enjoyed it. And yes, I forgot to get a picture of a single slice of the dessert.

Ironically, G, who usually loves all things lemon, didn’t care for this. Said he didn’t like how it was sort of a pudding and then sort of a pie. However, J and my husband both really enjoyed it. If I’d bet on which family members would be fans, I’d have lost!  I also liked the dessert though I also think you can’t really beat a true slice of lemon meringue pie.

Final Notes:

The recipe also states this dessert is best eaten the day it is baked. However, with only 3 of us eating it, we did eat it on more than just the first day. And actually, thought it was fine and even a bit better once it chilled overnight though the meringue suffered a bit for it. If I’d been thinking, I’d have added an extra egg white for the meringue. Usually, I do.

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Are you excited that it’s almost spring? I know I am!

 

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