Tortellini salad

20 oz Cooked cheese tortellini
1 cup cubed motzarella
1 cup chopped pepperoni
1 cup cherry tomatoes cut in half
1/3 cup fresh basil chopped
2/3 cup Cesar Dressing

Cook tortellini according to package directions rinse and drain.  Add all other ingredients and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Commentary:

I tried to use the mushroom tortellini from Aldi with this and while it was good it wasn't great like the cheese tortellini was!  USE THE CHEESE!  Also I refrigerated this and then added a bit more dressing right before serving as the pasta sucks the dressing in.  My family loved this and so did our friends!

Garlic Noodles

My friend introduced us to these garlic noodles and they instantly became a family favorite.  We make them all the time.  Sometimes they are a main dish, sometimes they are a side dish.  My kids like them cold or hot.  (I prefer hot)

Garlic Noodles:

8oz cooked pasta (I use spaghetti noodles but you can really use any)
4 cloves minced or sliced garlic
1/2 bunch green onions chopped small
4  tbl spns butter
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tbl spns brown sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tbl spns oyster sauce.

While pasta is cooking, melt butter in a skillet and saute onions and garlic.  Mix all other ingredients together in a small bowl.  Once pasta is done, drain and return to pot.  Mix pasta with all other ingredients including sauteed onions and garlic.  Serve immediately.  Seriously YUMMY!

Fried Green Tomatoes...the food not the movie!

Fried Green Tomatoes:

I used the reicpe from Christy Jordan's Southern Plate for this recipe they were stinkin' good!

Flour

Cornmeal

Season all

Milk

and of course green tomatoes!

Syndy's commentary:

First of all let me say there was nothing "green" about these tomatoes. I only had blue cornmeal so the batter was blue. Then everyone knows there is no such thing as actual green tomatoes in the grocery stores in the Midwest. We only get the not ripe, gassed to be red, green when you cut them open kind. So really these are Blue Fried Not Ripe Tomatoes!! wink!

Potatoes for Dead People

Potatoes for Dead People (totally stole this title from my friend Jen!!)

aka: Funeral Potatoes

aka: Relief Society Potatoes

aka: Cheesy Potato Casserole

2 lbs of frozen hash browns

1 can cream of whatever soup (mushroom, chicken, potato)

16 oz sour cream

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

butter

Parmesan cheese

Mix together hash browns, soup, sour cream, and 1/2 cheddar cheese in a 9x13 dish. Top with the rest of the cheese, Parm, and pat with butter. Bake for 1 hour at 350.

Syndy's Commentary:

OK when I started out with this recipe I took basically 4-5 different recipes and combined them in one. I ended up using the cubed hash browns that already had onions and peppers in them. Next time I will try harder to find the shredded ones (they cook faster). I also added onion before I realized that the HB already had it, and I added French fried onions as a topping, let's just say it was onion overkill! I also used cream of chicken soup, cuz that's what I had on hand, next time I will use cream of mushroom. I will also try something different on the top, maybe Corn Flakes, we needed more crisp. By the time I was cooking the potatoes I was starving and didn't cook them long enough so they were a little crunchy, next time stick to the hour NO MATTER WHAT!!!

All in all a good recipe and pretty fool proof, let's face it, if you add enough sour cream, cheese, and butter to anything it will taste good!

Potato Salad

I'm not one for exact measurements on most things so here goes my attempt to write down this recipe.

6-8 potato's boiled until tender

mayonnaise

chopped onion

chopped dill pickles

pickle juice

chicken bullion

Boil potato's until tender.  Add mayo until moist about 1/2 cup I guess.  Add chopped onion and pickles to taste.  I use about 1/2 cup of pickle juice, pour into salad.  Chicken bullion granules works the best add about 1 tspn more or less, it does make things salty.  You can use bullion cubes just dissolve in the pickle juice before putting in the salad.

Syndy's French Fried Onions

French Fried Onions:

1 onion cut into small strips

1 /2 c. flour

2 c. milk

1/4 c. Parmesan cheese (I was cheap and used the canned sprinkle kind)

salt and pepper to taste

oil for frying

Put cut onions in milk and let sit for about 5 minutes.  

Mix flour and Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.  Dredge onions in flour mixture and put into hot frying oil.  (only do a few at a time they need room to move around.).  Fry until crispy. 

I used these instead of the canned ones for a green bean casserole and they were great.  I'll never spend $2.99 on a can of onions again!

Melody's Cauliflower Bake

Melody's Cauliflower Bake

1 Head Cauliflower cut up into florets

1/2 Stick Butter

2 Cups of Heavy Cream

1-2 Cups of cheddar cheese (to taste)

In 2 Quart baking dish place cauliflower florets, put pats of butter in cauliflower and pour cream over. Top with cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Put a baking sheet under in case of overflow.

Hush Puppies

Hush Puppies (better than Long John Silver)

2 quarts vegetable oil for frying
1 (15 ounce) can creamed corn or whole kernel that you have pureed in the blender
2 eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon minced onion
2 cups self-rising flour again I made my own
1 teaspoon seasoning salt
2 tsp sugar

DIRECTIONS



In a deep fryer, heat 1 inch of fat or oil to 365 degrees F (185 degrees C).
In a medium mixing bowl combine all other ingredients, blend well and let stand for 10 minutes.
Use a serving spoon to scoop up tablespoon size pieces of batter and gently drop them into the oil. Rise the spoon as needed to keep the batter from sticking.
Cook the hush puppies, 8 or 10 at a time, until brown. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and roll on paper towels to briefly drain. Serve hot.

Refried Beans

Refried Beans:



1 lb bag of pinto beans
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
taco seasoning


Cook beans until done with onion and garlic. I use my pressure cooker and it only takes 25 minutes for the whole process. When beans are done add taco seasoning to taste and also salt. Use potato masher, or immersion blender to blend up beans until consistency of refried beans. I usually have tons of leftovers and freeze the remainder in 2 cup bags. 2 cups of beans is about equal to a small can from the store.

Spanish Rice

Spanish Rice:


2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons chopped onion
1 1/2 cups uncooked white rice
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup chunky salsa

DIRECTIONS
Heat oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Stir in onion, and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.
Mix rice into skillet, stirring often. When rice begins to brown, stir in chicken broth and salsa. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes, until liquid has been absorbed. I use my rice cooker and just put all of the ingredients in and turn it on.

Update:  I used a can of diced tomatoes with green chilies and that worked a lot better.  It gave it a bit of spice too.  also just used enough broth to fill the skillet to the top and it worked very well.

Easy Rolls

Easy Rolls (Paula Deen)

1 cup self rising flour
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp sugar
2tbl mayonnaise

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together flour and milk. Add sugar and mayo. Pour into slightly greased muffin tins and bake for 12-15 minutes. I substitute ranch dressing for mayo, and you can make your own self rising flour too!

Mom's twice baked potato's

Mom's twice baked potato's

10 potato's
8 oz cream cheese
cube butter
whipping cream about 1 pint
salt and pepper to taste

bake potato's until crispy done, cut in 1/2. Scoop out insides and mix with the above ingredients put back into skins top with cheddar cheese if you like and bake again at 350 for 20-30 minutes.

Veggie Squares

Veggie Squares

3/4 c mayo
2 packages 8oz cream cheese
1/2 c. sour cream
1 env ranch dressing mix
2 cans crescent rolls

flatten crescent rolls into baking sheet bake 7-8 minutes. Mix above ingredients together spread over rolls and sprinkle with copped veggies. Chop veggies very small, could be carrots, broccoli, green onions cauliflower, water chestnuts, tomato's mushrooms whatever you like.

Poor Man's Garlic Bread

Poor Man's Garlic Bread

Hot dog buns
butter softened
seasoning (herb garlic from Sam's Club) or just garlic powder, basil, pepper, whatever you like
Parmesan cheese

combine softened butter, and herbs, spread on open buns, top with cheese, and broil til golden brown

These are yummy!

Sweet Potato Fluff

Sweet Potato Fluff



1 1/2 c sweet potato's
1/2 c sugar
1 egg beaten
1/4 c melted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 c evaporated milk

Mix all together put in 8 inch pan

Topping:

1/2 c brown sugar
1/4 c. flour
2 1/2 tbsp melted butter
1/4 c pecans chopped (optional)

mix together and sprinkle over sweet potato mixture. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes. for a 9x13 pan double recipe.

Tortillas

3tbl shortening
1 tsp salt
2c flour
3/4 c. water

combine, roll into rounds, cook on greased griddle about 20 seconds each side.

Penny's Rolls

Penny's Rolls

1/2 C. milk
4 tbl sugar
2 tsp salt )get all this warm in microwave
4 tbl butter

1 1/2 C. warm water
2 pkg yeast sprinkle in warm water

combine all ingredients add 4 1/2 cups flour mix may need more flour 5-51/2 cups total.

let rise 1 hour, punch down make rolls let rise again

bake at 400 for 30 ,minutes butter tops