Sunday, August 29, 2010

What to do with eggplant...

Ohhh, I had forgotten how busy the start of the school year is!  After a crazy month of August, I finally get to sit down and post a recipe.  Hooray!  This is a recipe I made a couple of weeks ago.  I loved it!  It was a fabulous mixture of tastes that you wouldn't necessarily put together regularly.  We bought our Sicilian Eggplant and all the peppers from our local farmer's market.  If you can't find a Sicilian one, just use a small regular one.  Happy cooking!

Tortellini with Eggplant and Peppers
Ingredients:
1 Small Sicilian Eggplant, peeled and diced
1/2 TBSP Salt
1 Fresh Banana Pepper, diced 
1 Poblano Pepper, diced
1 Small Onion, Diced
1 TSP Minced Garlic
1/2 Cup Olive Oil
1 Can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/3 Cup French Onion Dip
1/2 Can of Milk (use cream of can)
2 Bags of Meat Tortellini

1. Pour olive oil and eggplant into a large skillet.  Sprinkle salt on eggplant.  Saute on high.  When skillet is hot, add peppers, onion, and garlic.  Stir frequently.  Saute until eggplant softens.
2. Add cream of mushroom, French onion dip and milk to skillet.  Lower heat to medium, continue stirring frequently.  Cook until bubbly and thicker (about 15 minutes).
3. While finishing sauce, cook meat tortellini in a separate pot following directions on package.  Mix sauce and cooked tortellini together and serve.  Serves 4 to 6 people.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

What to do with leftover hamburgers and dip...

Last weekend we had friends over for a fantastic, end of the summer bbq.  (It's only the end of the summer because our school is back in session.)  As always, we had way too much food.  When I was little, we used to eat a dish called pizza burgers at school.  I remember I loved them.  This gave me the idea to turn our hamburgers into breakfast burgers.  These were easy to make and only need a couple ingredients.  Enjoy!


Breakfast Burgers:
Ingredients:
2- 1/4 Hamburgers, crumbled
2 Eggs
1/3 Cup Dip (I used spinach artichoke, but any will work.)
3 Hamburger or Hotdog Buns
Shredded Cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix together hamburger meat, eggs, and dip.  Spread out over hamburger or hotdog buns.  Top with shredded cheese.
3. Bake for 10 minutes.  Makes 6 Breakfast Burgers.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

What to do with leftover rice salad?


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I love to make rice salad.  It's so easy, a little of this, a little of that, some cheese and Italian dressing and voila, ready to eat.  Unfortunately, I'm the only one in our family who really loves rice salad, so I either need to be making it for a party or be prepared to eat it every night for a week.  Last week I got tired of eating leftover rice salad, so I snuck it into a dish for dinner.  Wouldn't you know, my family loved the dish, so I now know what I can do with leftover rice salad.  Enjoy!

Chicken Vino
Ingredients:
6 Chicken Breast or Thighs, thawed 
1 Can Cream of Mushroom
1 & 1/2 to 2 Cups of Rice Salad
1/2 Can Black Olives, Sliced
1/2 Green Pepper, Chopped
1/2 Onion, Chopped
1/4 Cup Cream Cheese
1/2 Cup Red Wine
(*My rice salad had peas and tomatoes in it, if yours doesn't you can also add these to your dish.)

Put your chicken into a large slow cooker.  Pour all other ingredients on top.  Cook on High for 1 &1/2 to 2 hours until chicken is done.  Check periodically and stir, add a little water or milk if sauce starts to dry up.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

What to do with hamburger buns?

We had a bbq last night and amazingly enough, we ended up with more food leftover than when we started.  It was totally loaves and fishes :)  We have such great friends!  This morning when I was figuring out breakfast, I realized that I should probably use some of the myriad of hamburger buns sitting on my counter, but I was tired of making the same old breakfast regulars.  Here's a twist on French toast and peanut butter and jelly that was a huge hit!  We ate them as a finger food.  They are great for kids and husbands with very little clean up!

PB Jammerwiches
Ingredients:
4 to 6 Hamburger Buns
2 Eggs
1/4 Cup Milk
1 Tsp Cinnamon Sugar
Peanut Butter
Jelly or Jam
Powdered Sugar

1.  In a shallow bowl, mix together milk, cinnamon sugar, and eggs.
2. Spray your griddle with non-stick spray and heat it up. 
3. Spread a thin layer of peanut butter and jellly on the "wrong" sides of the bun.  Put together like a sandwich and smash flat.  Dip both sides of sandwich in egg mixture.  Place on griddle and cook until both sides are golden brown.  Sprinkle powdered sugar on top.  Makes 4 to 6 PB Jammerwiches.