Maple Butternut Squash

My mom gave me this recipe when I told her I was having trouble coming up w/ side dish options. It is really good! I tweaked it a bit, so the proportions vary each time I make it.

1 butternut squash

2-3 tbs olive oil

1/4 cup maple syrup

craisins (I like enough so there's craisin in every bite)

chopped walnuts (toasted)

salt and pepper

Pre-heat oven to 400. Peel the outer skin off the butternut squash, and then cut it into 1/2 inch chunks. Put squash on baking pan--jelly roll style w/ the edges. Drizzle with olive oil and maple syrup. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper. Bake for 15 minutes. Add craisins and bake for 5 more minutes. While this is baking, I toast the walnuts in our toaster oven. You can toast them in the oven while the squash is baking though. Remove squash from oven and stir in walnuts. (I usually drizzle just a little bit more maple syrup on it b/c I like the flavor that adds.) I think it's really good reheated the next day too--which is good since this recipe makes a lot.

Chicken Bog

I have been meaning to post this recipe for a while now. This is one of those things I remember having as a kid but hadn't eaten in years. And then one day a lady at my church had us over for dinner, and this is what she served. Mmmm...good! It's really easy too if you buy a rotisserie chicken and pull the chicken meat from that.

1 rotisserie chicken

1 kielbasa (I sometimes use the low fat version)

2 1/2 cups rice (I use brown rice--extra fiber)

5 3/4 cups chicken broth

pepper

Cook the rice in the chicken broth (instead of using water). Follow the directions on the rice package. (I added a 1/4 cup extra chicken broth above the amt of water the rice directions call for because this is supposed to be really moist rice--hence the name "bog".) While the rice is cooking, I slice the kielbasa into circles and then cut those in half (I hope that makes sense). Then brown the kielbasa in a saute pan. After browning the kielbasa and adding it to the finished rice, I pour about a tbs or two of chicken broth into the pan to get the kielbasa drippings to add to the rice. Pull the chicken off the bone and add to the rice mixture. Season with pepper to taste and serve.

Warning: This makes A LOT of food, so be prepared to have leftovers or share. This is a meal I make when I need to take a meal to someone b/c there's plenty for us and to take as well.

chocolate blender pie

I've made this pie for girls' night before. It's super easy, and it's a favorite around our house. Oh, wait--do I say that about every dessert I post? Probably. Well, on the night I make it, it tends to be the current favorite.

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.

1 small can evaporated milk
3 1/2 tbs cocoa
1/2 stick butter, melted
2 eggs
1 1/4 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 pie crust
Cool Whip

Put first 6 ingredients in the blender and mix until ingredients are combined. Pour mixture in pie crust and bake for 40 minutes or until center doesn't jiggle. Serve warm and top with Cool Whip.
I've made this with the light evaporated milk and light butter, and you can't tell.

peanut butter pie

I got this recipe from a girl in my class. She made this one night when we all brought stuff for dinner, and her pies were the talk of the class. Everyone was raving about the peanut butter pies. And the best part is, they're so easy to make. I've made them w/ low fat peanut butter and light Cool Whip, and they still turn out great.

1 1/2 c powdered sugar

8 oz cream cheese

1 c peanut butter

16 oz tub Cool Whip

2 graham cracker crusts

Mix cream cheese and peanut butter with a mixer. Gradually add powdered sugar. Then gradually mix in Cool Whip and beat on high until mixture reaches a moosy consistency. Add to crusts. Her recipe says to freeze them over night, but I've found they're actually better just chilled an not frozen.

I've also made them with a chocolate crust and drizzled melted chocolate chips on the crust before adding the peanut butter mixture, and it's really good that way too (as I'm sure you can imagine).

becker barbequed shrimp

This is the recipe I mentioned in the post I did about shrimp being on sale. The recipe says that you should use 16-20 medium-to-large shrimp, but I used 2 lbs, and I didn't double any of the other ingredients. There was still plenty of sauce/broth for the shrimp.

2 tsp dried rosemary (I only use 1 b/c I'm not big on rosemary)
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp sweet paprika (I used regular--not sure if it was sweet)
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
shrimp (however much you want to make)
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup beer
2 tbs minced parsley (I didn't add this)
2 tbs fresh lemon juice

Grind the first 6 ingredients in a spice mill or coffee grinder. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add spice mixture and garlic. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add shrimp and cook for 4-5 minutes. Remove shrimp from pan and add chicken broth and beer. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and return the shrimp to the pan to heat through. Season with parsley and lemon juice. Serve. (Be forewarned that this recipe packs a bit of heat. We don't like really spicy foods, and we don't think it's too bad though. It just might make your nose run just a bit.)
Now I'm off to make Erin's Mexican Polenta Pie. Mmm....

grilled bananas

This recipe is a new-found personal favorite of mine. I'm not sure when this started, but I now have this very bad habit of needing something sweet after dinner. I have found that I often end up making a dessert when I'm home to cook, especially during the school year since homemade meals were somewhat rare, and I wanted to go all out. So I've been on a hunt for healthy-ish dessert options. My work friend Yvonne introduced me to this little gem. So good, so easy, and not too bad for you....

4 bananas (or however many you want to make)
1 tbs veggie oil
1 tbs butter
3 tbs honey (the recipe calls for molasses, but I'm just not a fan)

Slice bananas length-wise in the peel. Brush both sides w/ oil to prevent them from sticking to the grill. Place on grill banana-side-down first for 3-4 minutes. Turn over and grill for another 4-5 minutes. (My grill said the heat was about 350 degrees.) Melt butter and honey together in the microwave. Remove bananas from the grill and drizzle honey mixture over them. I served them in the peel, and we just scooped them out as we went. This will sound weird, but they were so juicy!

quick pan-fried catfish

I got this recipe back in the day when I used to get Southern Living magazine. It's one of Ken's favorites. I usually get my catfish from Walmart, and I think we've decided that we like the nuggets better than the fillets (probably b/c they are smaller pieces and there's more breading).

3/4 cup Bisquick
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 tbs Old Bay seasoning
1 to 1 1/2 lb catfish fillets or nuggets
1/2 cup Ranch dressing (I use light)
3 tbs veggie oil (I use 1/2 olive oil and 1/2 Enova)

Combine Bisquick, cornmeal, and Old Bay in a shallow bowl. Pat catfish dry with paper towels; brush both sides of each piece evenly with Ranch dressing. Dredge in cornmeal mixture; lightly press cornmeal mixture onto catfish pieces.
Cook catfish in hot oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat 3-5 minutes on each side or until fish just flakes with a fork. Serve immediately.

Peanut Butter Pie

I got this recipe from a girl in my class. She made it one night when we all brought stuff to have dinner together. And then I made it a couple weekends ago for the sweetheart dinner at church only to find out that the email requesting desserts meant to bring them for the next weekend's lady's retreat--it just didn't specify which event was needing desserts donated. So I ended up sending those pies w/ Ken to work and making another two for the lady's retreat the next weekend. I'm sure you can imagine that the guys at the station weren't too upset about my mistake. : )

This recipe is really good and so easy to make. I've made it w/ low fat cream cheese and light Cool Whip a few times, and it still tastes good. I have to say though that of course, the full-fat version is best. The light version has a little different taste--I can't figure out if it's the cream cheese or the Cool Whip though. Oh, and FYI--this recipe makes 2 pies.

8 oz pkg cream cheese
1 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
16 oz tub Cool Whip (that's the large one)
2 graham cracker crusts

Mix cream cheese and peanut butter w/ a mixer until combined. Gradually add powdered sugar. Mix in Cool Whip one large spoonful at a time beating on high until mixture reaches a moosy consistency. Add to crusts. Chill until served.

fruit salsa

This is a recipe I got from Erin back when she lived in Chattanooga. It is so good! It's rather labor intensive b/c of all the chopping, but it's well worth it. She may have the exact proportions, but it's one of those recipes that I end up just doing a little of this, and a little of that. So Erin, feel free to correct the measurements if I'm way off base. The recipe below is typically what I do when I make it just for me:

Fruit Salsa:
1/2-3/4 pkg of strawberries
1 small apple, pealed--I usually use Rome or Gala
1-2 kiwis
spoonful of jelly--I think the recipe calls for apple, but I use whatever's in my fridge
spoonful of honey

Chop fruit in very, very small pieces. Stir in jelly and honey. (When I visited Erin in Hawaii, we made this a few times. As it turns out, the recipe calls for brown sugar instead of honey, but for some reason when I got the recipe from Erin the first time, I had it in my head that it was made w/ honey. It seems like it might be a little heathier w/ honey, so that how I've kept making it.)

Cinnamon/sugar chips:
3-4 medium sized flour tortillas
Pam cooking spray
cinnamon/sugar mix

Preheat oven to 425-degrees. Spray tortilla with Pam. Sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar mixture. I usually go back and spray the areas where the cinnamon/sugar is not wet so it will stick to the chip better once it's cooked. Use a pizza cutter to cut the tortilla into wedges before cooking. Bake in oven for 8-10 minutes. Ken likes them a little chewy, so I put his in for less time than mine. When it's for me, I usually cook them the whole time, but you may want to check after 8 minutes to see if they look done.

And then just use the chips to scoop up the salsa, and enjoy!

salmon souffle

This is a recipe I got from my mom. She made it for Ken and me when she came to visit one time, and we loved it. It's also not low-fat, but we use the light ingredients to try to make it a little better than the full-fat version. I actually made it at Ken's parent's house one time, and had to use regular mayo, and it was way too rich. I'd recommend using the light mayo and light sour cream if possible. It's really easy to make!

1/3 cup light mayo
1/3 cup light sour cream
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp onion powder
salmon filets

Mix first 4 ingredients in a bowl. Spread over top of salmon in a layer about 1/4 inch thick (give or take a little). Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes (little longer if salmon pieces are really thick). Broil on high for 2-3 minutes (watch closely b/c broilers can work their magic really quickly) or until topping begins to bubble and peaks begin to turn golden brown.

(I know I'm supposed to be working on my assignment, but I needed a break, and this was way more fun!)

easy, easy taco soup

Joc, you requested this one....and I'm happy to help! I guess this will be my first recipe post. Which is funny since I have pictures of two other things at home waiting to be added. Just haven't had a second while I'm home to download the pics.
As for this recipe, I got it from this older lady in a church in Mississippi when Ken and I went down w/ a group of Covenant students to help w/ Katrina recovery and rebuilding. There were a group of older women who were fixing all our meals, and everything they made was wonderful! One of the appeals of this recipe is that it makes a huge amount (and I'm sure you can guess why I'd like that)! There's usually enough for both Ken and me for dinner and then leftovers for each of us for lunch/dinner the next day.

1 lb. ground beef
1 med onion chopped fine
1 can pinto beans (don't make the mistake of getting the kind w/ pork--gross!)
1 can light red kidney beans
1 can whole kernel yellow corn
1 can white hominy
2 cans Rotel (I use mild)
1 pkg Ranch dressing seasoning
1 pkg taco seasoning (I use low sodium)
1/2 to 3/4 cup water
Fritos
Shredded cheese--Mex blend, mont. jack, cheddar, or whatever you like

Brown beef in large pot and add onion when beef is almost done. (Karen--I've left the onoin out many times b/c I forget that part when I make it from memory, and it's still great!) Add all 6 cans and 2 pkgs of seasoning and water and stir all ingredients together. Let simmer for 15-20 minutes stirring occasionally. Serve w/ Fritos and cheese on top. So easy and so good!

Little side note--you may want to try to find low sodium cans of the corn and beans to add if possible.