Starches

Spinach and Feta Cheese Pasta Dish

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THis is from All Recipes and it is so simple and so delicious. Not many ingredients so most of the items are probaly on your kitchen shelf. Great Sunday night dinner with crusted bread and salad.

Ingredients
1 (8 ounce) package penne pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
3 cups chopped tomatoes
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
2 cups spinach leaves, packed
salt and pepper to taste
1 pinch red pepper flakes
8 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
Directions
1.Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente; drain.
2.Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add onion and garlic, and cook until golden brown. Mix in tomatoes, mushrooms, and spinach. Season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Cook 2 minutes more, until tomatoes are heated through and spinach is wilted. Reduce heat to medium, stir in pasta and feta cheese, and cook until heated through.

Daily Thoughts

Friendship Friday

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No recipes today. Actually we went out last night to try a new mexican food restaurant. Was pretty good, but still just a little shy of being our greasy Tex Mex we love so well, but since I had to go get cholestrol checked this morning, I guess skipping on a little grease was a good thing. It has been a very emotional week. My dad had a stroke and I will be leaving to go to Corpus to see about our next step in caring for he and my mom. This has shown me just how much Christs makes a difference in my life. The outpouring of friendship has been overwhelming to both Randy and I. Old friends have called us, emailed us, had prayer for my mom and dad, and texts began to come in at 4:45 a.m. a couple of days ago just to let me know they were praying for him and us. An added blessing has been the kindness and love being shown to us from people here in our new church; people who have only known us for about a month. Some have already said that they will be having Randy over for dinner or did I need a ride to the airport? What could they do to help? Others have called everyday to check on me and how I was handling this situation. This has truly touched my heart to see how the Holy Spirit reaches out to us, through precious people who open their hearts during times like these. Thanks to each of you who have prayed, called, emailed. It has made me realize how I need to be better at reaching out to others when they are going through tough times. This has been a real learning time for both Randy and I. We have learned that not only were we so blessed in Texas, but God did go before us and sought out “those whom would answer His call” to encourage us and to bless us. We love and appreciate each of you and thank you for the love you are showing us. Today, Friday, I have given praises and thanks to the Lord for precious friendships, old and new….Trudy

Vegetables

Brussel Sprouts

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These cute little sprouts have never been a favorite of mine, BUT…after last night, my mind is changed. Randy and I went to a Farmer’s Market on Saturday and bought a little basket of them since I knew that they were healthy, and I thought since we are living in California, I should really try to expand my “liking’s” beyond mashed potatoes and green beans. So last night, we had the beef/mushroom over noodles, fresh sweet potatoes and cute and healthy brussel l sprouts. They really were delicious and even Randy woke up this morning and said, “that was a great dinner last night, even the brussel sprouts were so good.” (now it might have something to do with the fact that he has had about 5 frozen dinners in a row this week that any home made meal would have been good, but I don’t want to think that) ha.

2 cups fresh brussel sprouts, cleaned with the little stem cut off

Place in a baking dish which you have sprayed with Pam. Preheat oven to 400. Cut the sprouts in half. Spray the “I Can’t Believe it’s Not Butter” over them. Sprinkle Lawry’s Seasoning salt, pepper, 1 teas dried dill and 1 teas garlic powder over the sprouts. Drizzel about 4 tables olive oil over them and then bake them for about 30 to 35 min in oven, uncovered. They get a little black around the edges and taste amazing………tender and such a great flavor.

Chicken · Meats

Beef Tenderloin with Mushroom Sauce

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1/2 lb of sliced beef tenderloin or round steak, cubed *See below
1/2 cup onion, chopped
3 tables flour
2 tables olive oil
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 teas garlic powder or 2 cloves of fresh garlic
1 large can cream of mushroom soup
1 (8oz) sour cream
1 (8oz) package mushrooms, cleaned and rinsed

1 package of noodles (12 oz) cooked
*If you are not a beef eater, you can substitute chicken for the beef.
After cubing meat, dredge in flour. Heat oil in skillet and add chopped onions, stirring until clean and brown. Add meat and brown all pieces. (about 5 min). Add the mushrooms, the soup and the seasoning. Cook over medium heat for about 1 hour, or bake in oven for one hour at 350. Take off heat or out of oven and add sour cream. Stir and just heat for about 2 min over top of stove. Cook noodles according to directions on package. Drain and place 2 cups of noodles on each plate. Spoon meat/mushroom mixture over noodles. Serve with slice sweet potatoes and green beans and hot rolls. Makes a very pretty place. This is an easy recipe to fix quickly when you walk in the door at 5:30, being able to eat by 7:00 (includes bake or cook time)

Chocolate · Desserts

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Haystacks

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Went to Bible study this morning and a lady, JoAnn, brought these delicious cookies. They are addictive, but thought I would share them with you. Thanks JoAnn for sharing this recipe with us……

Ingredients
4 egg whites
1 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 14 ounce packages of shredded coconut
1 10 ounce package white chocolate chips
1 cup salted macadamia nuts, chopped

Directions
Preheat oven to 375°F.

Whip the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Fold in the sweetened condensed milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. Add coconut and stir until thoroughly moistened. Fold in white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a cookie scoop, measure out small mounds of the cookie mixture onto the baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until the tops of the coconut flakes just begin to toast. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before removing from the parchment paper.

Makes 2 dozen macaroons.

Daily Thoughts

Pasadena Praises

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Feel led today to just update you on what the Lord has been doing in our lives. As you know, we have moved to Pasadena, Ca because my husband took a job here in November. We have been here for two months which on some days, have felt like 2 years and some days, has felt like 2 weeks. We came, knowing that we had spent many hours in prayer about this. We knew that just because we were leaving under God’s direction, that there would be times that we would experience lonliness, sadness for friends and family not being close by, sadness for not knowing anyone and no one knowing us. There would be days when we just wanted to see a familiar face, or having someone know who we were, really. At our age, that process of building history and memories is harder than when you are younger and have children to bond you to other couples or events that bring you close to other people. Knowing this, it was only in trusting in God and knowing that He truly was leading us to a new place, that we are now, in California. We have experienced all of the above, but not only that, we have experienced God in a whole new way. We prayed that He would lead us to a Sunday school class where we would feel loved and welcomed, and that’s exactly what happened. The first Sunday we walked in to the Disciples class, everyone, not just a couple, but everyone came over to us and some hugged on us and then took us around and introduced us to everyone there. They immediately told us about the class party that was going to be held last Sat night and we went. We had a great time and in so doing, meet a lady who was not at class that week. She has since invited me to a ladies Bible study on Thurs mornings and is meeting me there to introduce me to the teacher. We are living in a place where we have meet all 5 of our neighbors and have already been invited in to two of their homes for a little get together. Today, I have been invited to a new friends house for dessert and to play Mexican Dominoes with 3 other ladies. All of this has been such a blessing. That God, in His infinte wisdom knew exactly what we needed. We are adjusting well to California and although we miss everyone so very much, we also are excited to see how God is going to use us here. We might not know many people and people might not “really” know us, but God does and that is what we give praise for today!

Daily Thoughts

Stuffed Porkchops

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Is this the best comfort sounding food or what? We did not get to cook these last night, as we had to leave the house early for a Bible study, so am making them later on in the week. Will be sure to post the recipe when I do…

Fruit

Strawberry Tiramisu

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Just received this recipe from Allrecipes.com and it sounds wonderful. The strawberries look so delicious right now so this is a perfect month to try this. If you are like me and aren’t just in love with the taste of coffee, elimanate the espresso and use the same amount of milk and just substitute 2 teas almond extract in place of the liquer. You will then have an almond-flavored tiramisu with the strawberries.

Ingredients
1 pint fresh strawberries
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 cup mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons coffee-flavored liqueur
18 ladyfingers
1/3 cup chilled espresso
1/2 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
Directions
1.Cut off the tops of the strawberries and slice the berries. Reserve 2 large whole berries for garnish.
2.In a blender, place 2 cups of strawberries and 2 tablespoons confectioners sugar; blend to puree and set aside.
3.In a medium bowl, combine mascarpone cheese, 1/4 cup cream, 1/4 cup sugar, and liqueur; beat with an electric mixer on medium-high speed for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes until thickened.
4.Place 6 ladyfingers on a serving plate and brush each with approximately 1 teaspoon cold espresso coffee. Spread or pipe out 1/2 of the cheese mixture over the ladyfingers, and layer with half of the sliced strawberries.
5.Repeat with the next 6 ladyfingers, espresso, remaining cheese mixture, and sliced strawberries; top with remaining 6 ladyfingers.
6.In a small mixing bowl, combine 1/4 cup heavy cream with 2 tablespoons sugar; beat with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until just whipped, approximately 1 minute. Spread cream evenly over top layer of ladyfingers.
7.Dust cocoa over whipped cream, and garnish with 2 reserved strawberries. Pour strawberry puree onto two serving plates. Cut tiramisu in half, and place onto puree.

Breads · Desserts · Fruit

Apple Cobbler

Chocolate Castles1 Comment

Crust: 1 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup milk, 1/3 cup shortening, 1 teas baking powder and 1/4 teas salt.
Combine the flour, shortening, baking powder and salt. Using a pastry blender, mix until shortening is all cut in and the flour resembles crumbs. Add the milk and mix.
Roll out onto floured wax paper to about 1/2″ thick. Set aside
Melt 1 stick butter in a 8x12x2 in baking pan.
Mix 2 1/2 cups apples or peaches if you prefer, 1 teas nutmeg and 1 teas cinnamon.
Place the fruit over the dough, spreading till it covers the dough within about 1″ from the edge. Roll up beginning with the long side, jelly roll side. Cut into 3/4″ slices and place each slice in the baking pan which you have melted the butter. Bring 2 cups water with 2 cups sugar to a boil. Pour boiling mixture over rolls and bake at 350 for almost an hour, or until golden brown and bubbly.

Daily Thoughts

Stuffed Porkchops and Butter Fried Chicken

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Last night, watching Diner, Dives and Drivein’s we watched a restaurant owner cook stuffed pork chops. They looked amazing. So am going to try to make them. If they turn out, I will post the recipe I use. They didn’t of course give out the exact recipe, but told us the ingredients, so am headed to the store to buy the necessary items to make them.
Also, on this same show, they showed a lady who fried her chicken in a mixture of oil and butter, after marinating the chicken for 24 hours, so I have to try that also. Will post this tomorrow after cooking it tonight.