3 to 6 pound brisket or large roast, trimmed

1 can rotel tomatoes

1 qt plus 2 cups water

1 pound pinto beans

1 large onion, sliced

1 large tomato sauce (16 oz)

Wash beans and drain. Put in bottom of large roaster. Season the brisket or roast to your liking and lay on top of beans. Then onion, rotel and tomato sauce. Pour inthe water. Cover and cook at 250 degrees for 12 hours.

6 chicken breasts

1 cup Pepperidge Farm Stuffing mix

3/4 cup parmeasan cheese

1 1/2 cloves of Garlic -crushed (but you can use 1 teas of garlic powder, not garlic salt)

3/4 c slivered blanch almonds

2 sticks melted butter

1/4 teas pepper

Combine stuffing mix, parmesan cheese, garlic, pepper and almonds. Mix well, then add 2/3 cup melted butter and stir. Dip breasts in the remaining melted butter then roll in stuffing mix. Place pieces in uncovered oblong dish which you have sprayed with Pam. Top with any left over crumbs and then any remaining butter over each piece. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until chicken is done.

I serve this with fresh spinach with cheese sauce and scolloped potatoes and individual black forest cakes. Makes a beautiful dinner for guests.

Do you not just love this weather? It is certainly a day for thinking about what you are going to fix for company during the holidays when families come “a-knockin”. I cut out a recipe from Southern Living a few years ago and it is a favorite. Wanted to share it with you. This is something that is a little different, but oh so good and very easy. Your guests will think you have gone to a cooking school for sure!

Lemon-Spinach Chicken

1 10 oz bag of fresh spinach

1/2 cup flour

1/2 teas garlic powder

3/4 teas salt

1/2 teas pepper

4  (6oz) skinless, boneless chicken breasts, thawed

2 Tables butter

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup white wine (optional, you can just add the 1/4 cup more broth)

1 teas lemon zest

2 tables fresh lemon juice

Garnish with grape tomatoes

Cook spinach in a lightly greased skillet over medium heat, stirring for 2 minutes.Transfer spinach to a bowl. Combine flour, salt and pepper and garlic powder in a shallow dish (I usually use waxed paper so I can just toss it when finished and gives me 1 less pan to wash). Coat chicken on both sides with flour mixture. Melt butter in skillet. (If you add about 1/4 cup of oil to the butter it will not burn while browning the chicken). Cook chicken breasts 4 to 5 min on each side until they appear golden. Remove chicken and reserve the drippings in skillet. Add chicken broth and next 4 ingredients to skillet (with the drippings). Bring to a boil, stirring to loosen the drippings from skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally until mixture is cooked down to about half of what it was. Stir in spinach and heat for about 1 min. Pour spinach mixuture over mashed potatoes or rice and top with the chicken. Sprinkle a few grape tomatoes which have been cut in half over this. It makes a great presentation. Serve with hot Sister Schberts Rolls, and hot cobbler with ice cream for dessert. What a beautiful meal this makes……go to “desserts” for the recipe for the cobbler.

Ingredients

2 tables olive oil

1. 2 lbs Honeysuckle White 93/7 Lean ground turkey

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon  chilli powder

2 cans (15 oz ea can) great northern beans

3 cups chicken broth

1 4 oz can diced green chiles (I use mild)

1 14.5 oz can fire roasted adobo seasoned petite-diced tomatoes

1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro

Salt and pepper and garlic to taste

In a large soup pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add turkey, salt and pepper. Cook about 5 minutes or until no longer pink, stirring occasionally to break up turkey.

Add onion, flour and chili powder. Cook about 5 minutes.

Add beans, chicken broth, chiles and tomatoes. bring to a simmer and cook, covered about 30 minutes. Stir in cilantro

Serve with warm corn or flour tortillas and sour cream.

I just had to write and put this recipe on the page. I made meatloaf for Randy tonight, which is one of his favs, but I changed it up a little. I had a pound of ground round and added 1/2 lb of mild breakfast sausage (I used the Kroger brand, $1.99 instead of $4.00 for Owens or Jimmy Dean).

Add 1/4 cup catsup, 2/3 cup seasoning veggies (I buy the frozen mixture of onion, celery and bell pepper) 1 Tablespoon Worchester sauce,Lawry’s seasoning salt and pepper. I crushed 8 small crackers and added to this and finally 1 egg. Mix altogether and bake in a 8×8 casserole dish for about an hour at 350 degrees. It was GREAT. The sausage gave it such a great flavor and he said that it was the best ever……..just thought I would pass it on. Ate it with pinto beans, cornbread and fried new potatoes with onions…..YUM. He was so happy, he is actully in the attic bringing down all my pumpkins and fall trees for the entryway. I’m telling you, make the hubby his favorite and you can ask him anything…wonder what I will fix to get him to bring the Christmas decorations down…….whew, that will have to be a chicken fried dinner with chocolate cream pie, I’m afraid! But it will be worth it! Talk to you tomorrow!

1 swiss or round steak cut into pieces

1 can of cream of mushroom soup

1 can of french onion soup

Brown steak which has been dredged in flour, in about 1/4 cup hot oil until brown on both sides. I sprinkle on garlic powder, salt and pepper when browning. When browned, add both soups, about 1 can of water. Cover and cook in 300 degree preheated oven for a couple of hours.