What to do with leftover peas and Ritz crackers...

Andy loves meatloaf.  It is a childhood favorite of his.  However, it is not one of mine, so I always forget to make it for him.  He has been so sweet lately that I wanted to surprise him with a meal he'd love, so I made meatloaf with an Italian twist.  The fun thing about it is that I made it in the shape of a giant meatball which the kids loved!


Italian Meatloaf or Giant Baked Meatball
Serving Size: 8
Weight Watchers Points: 5
Ingredients:
1 lb Ground Beef
2 Eggs
1/3 Cup Sliced Black Olives
1/3 Cup Parmesan Cheese
2/3 Cup Smashed Ritz Crackers
1 Cup Cooked Peas
1 Tsp Italian Seasoning
1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 Tsp Onion Powder
1/8 Pinch of Salt
1/3 + 1 Cup Spaghetti Sauce

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl mix together ground beef, eggs, black olives, parmesan cheese ritz crackers, and peas.  Add Italian seasoning, garlic powder, onion, salt and 1/3 cup of the spaghetti sauce.  Mix thouroughly.
2. Form meat into a meatloaf or giant meatball.  Bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.  After 30 minutes, pour 1 cup of spaghetti sauce on top and sprinkle parmesan cheese on top of the sauce.  Bake for another 30 minutes.

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.

What to do with a little bit of sour cream?

When I was in college, my friend Christy used to make this great dip.  She would bring it to all our sorority get-togethers and it was known as Christy's dip.  When I looked in the fridge tonight, I realized I had a whole bunch of little bits in there: a little bit of mayo, a little bit of cheese and a little bit of sour cream.  I tried to recreate Christy's dip with it.  It didn't turn out exactly the same, but it was still yummy!  Serve it with salsa and tortilla chips and it's an instant party.


Christy's Dip
Ingredients:
3/4 Cup Cream Cheese
1/3 Cup Sour Cream
1/4 Cup Mayonnaise
1 Pack Taco or Burrito Seasoning
1/2 TBSP Onion Soup Mix
1 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1/2 Cup Chopped Black Olives
1 Cup Thick Salsa

Mix together cream cheese, sour cream and mayo until smooth.  Add taco seasoning and onion soup mix.  Stir until mixed in.  Finally mix in cheddar cheese, black olives, and salsa.  Serve with tortilla chips and salsa.

What to do with leftover ground turkey and steak?

Hi all!  I am so blessed to get to stay home with Celia and Charlie two days during the week.  Even on the craziest days, I love it.  Today was one of those days!  So when Andy walked in the door tonight, I was happy to turn our two little hoodlums over to him to start cooking.  My brother gave me a filet mignon that he had leftover from the other night when he bar-b-qued and I had some ground turkey leftover from our pizza pie.  I made these into Fajita Style Nachos.  They were delicious and would be great for a Super Bowl Party!  Comer con gusto!

Fajita Style Nachos

Ingredients:
1/2 Large Onion- Chopped
1 Large Green Pepper- Chopped
1/2 Packet Taco Seasoning
2 Cups Cooked Chopped Meat (I used 1 cup filet mignon and 1 cup ground turkey)
1 Can Beans- Drained (I used small white beans)
1 TBSP Dried Cilantro
1 TBSP Minced, Refrigerated Garlic
Tortilla Chips
1 Cup Shredded Cheese
Sliced Black Olives
Sour Cream
Salsa
Jalapenos (optional)

Spray a large frying pan with no stick cooking spray.  Add onions and green peppers to the pan.  Add 3/4 cup of water to the pan.  Next add taco seasoning and saute until peppers start to turn bright green and onions are becoming translucent.  Add meat, beans, cilantro and garlic to the pan.  Cook until very little liquid remains.  Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a large baking sheet with a rim (so the beans and meat won't fall all over your counter).  Spread out a heavy layer of tortilla chips onto the baking sheet.  Spoon meat and bean mixture all over the chips.  Sprinkle shredded cheese on top of the meat and beans.  Cook in the oven until cheese is completely melted.  Add black olives, sour cream, jalapenos and salsa when serving. 

What to do with stale hot dog buns?

Last week I asked Andy to pick up some hotdog buns at the bread store on his way home from work.  When there, he was overcome by the cheap prices and bought a giant loaf of white bread, a 16 pack of hotdog buns, and a box of powdered sugar doughnuts.  The doughnuts were gone within 24 hours, but the bread and hotdog buns lingered longer.  I have had to think of all kinds of creative ways to cook with bread over the past week.  Tonight I made Pizza Burger Pie in memory of my grade school days.  I loved when we had pizza burgers at lunch.  In fact all the kids loved them.  They were basically a bun topped with spaghetti sauce, hamburger, and cheese.  I took that basic recipe, made it into a large dish and fancied it up.  After it was finished cooking and I placed it on the table, Charlie proclaimed, "That's my favorite- Yummy pizza!"  And sure enough, everyone in our family had two helpings.  I hope your family enjoys it as much as mine did.


ReRe


Pizza Burger Pie


Ingredients:
5 Hotdog Buns
Olive Oil
Garlic Powder


1 Cup Ground Turkey
1 1/4 Cup Spaghetti Sauce
18 Black Olives Sliced
1/2 Cup Red Onions Diced
1/2 Large Green Pepper
1/2 TBSP Dried Basil
2 1/2 Cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
Parmesean Cheese


Spray a round 10" to 11" baking dish with Pam.  Tear up hotdog buns and spread out over bottom of dish.  Drizzle olive oil over torn up buns and then sprinkle garlic powder on top.  Bake in the oven  at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes until toasty.  Brown ground turkey while buns are toasting in the oven.


Take the buns out of the oven.  Spread tomato sauce over toasted buns.  Next spread the browned ground turkey on top of the sauce.  Add the onions, peppers, and black olives to the top of the pie.  Sprinkle dried basil and parmesean cheese on top of veggies.  Finally top Pizza Burger Pie with shredded mozzarella.  Bake for 20 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees until cheese is melted and starting to brown around the edges.  Let cool and enjoy!