Perfect Tuna Sandwiches

I know you don't like tuna, but I thought since I already posted the beef stroganoff I might as well keep it up and post another meal you don't like.

So, this might seem crazy, but I do have a recipe for a tuna sandwich. If you ate tuna sandwiches you would know that this recipe makes them taste so much better than the regular tuna/mayo mixture. I love this recipe so much it's written on a post-it note and stays on the back of my cupboard door.


Tuna sandwich (for two)
1 can tuna
2 T. mayo
1 T. dill relish
2 T. minced onion
2 T. minced celery
1/2 t. mustard
1/4 t. garlic salt
1/4 t. dill weed
1/8 t. pepper

Mix ingredients and place on bread. Cut in triangles or squares (optional). :)

Beef Stroganoff

IT'S ME! Do you believe it!? Now that I'm well established in my new home (and have been for a few months) I don't have any excuses to not post recipes on this here blog. I've been making this recipe for awhile now, but tonight I got extra excited while making it because it is food storage friendly. I know you told me once you don't like beef stroganoff, and I'm wondering, is that because of how it tastes or because it kind of looks like a baby diaper? I will admit it's not pretty, but I think it tastes wonderful, and as an added bonus my boys think this is the best dinner ever. So I'm sorry if you don't like this recipe--you can just ignore it.

Beef Stroganoff (I think this came from the Lion House cookbook)

8 ounces egg noodles (I use whole wheat because I think they taste better)
1 lb. ground beef (I used ground turkey)
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
*I add a few tsp. of Worcestershire sauce, but that is optional
3 Tbsp. flour
1 beef bouillon cube crushed
3/4 t. salt
1/4 t. ground pepper
1 cup water
1 (4 oz) can sliced mushrooms (I use fresh mushrooms, but it would be cheaper to use canned)
8 oz. sour cream

1. Prepare noodles; keep warm.

2. In large skillet combine ground beef, onion, and garlic. Cook, stirring until meat is brown, drain.

3. Mix flour, bouillon, salt and pepper. Stir in flour mixture, water and mushrooms, continue to stir, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for ten minutes. Stir in sour cream and heat until just hot, do not boil.

Linda's Lasagna

This is my old stand-by dish for when I have company over. It feeds large crowds, it's good, and it's fool proof. I don't think I've ever messed it up, it probably can happen, and will happen, but if you follow the directions exactly it will turn out perfect.

It's also a great dinner for any old time because there is usually left overs for lunch or dinner the next day.

(Find the recipe here.)


Ingredients:

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 
  
• 12 ounces cottage cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 egg
• 
  
• 9 lasagna noodles
• 1 pound shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook beef until brown. Drain. In another skillet over medium heat, cook onion until translucent. Combine beef and onion in a large saucepan with tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, water, oregano, garlic powder, salt, pepper and sugar. Cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 1 hour.
2. While sauce is simmering, blend cottage cheese, Parmesan and egg until smooth. Set aside.
3. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
5. Spread 1 cup of sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Cover sauce with 3 noodles. Cover noodles with one-third of remaining sauce. Top with half the mozzarella. Place another layer of noodles and one of sauce over the mozzarella; top that with the cottage cheese mixture. Top with remaining 3 noodles and remaining sauce.
6. Bake in preheated oven 30 minutes. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella on top and bake 15 minutes more, until golden and bubbly.

Homemade shake and bake

Ingredients:

4 cups dry bread crumbs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon celery salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon minced onion
1 pinch dried basil leaves
1 pinch dried parsley
1 pinch dried oregano

1. Combine ingredients in a large resealable plastic bag and shake.
2. Add chicken and shake.
3. Just for fun you can shake it some more, but don't forget to dance while you do so.
4. Bake the chicken at 350 for 30-40 minutes. (Sorry I don't remember exactly how long I cooked it.)

**I've only tried this recipe with chicken, but it would probably be good with pork chops as well. I've only had real shake-and-bake once and I think this tasted the same.

Chicken-Rice skillet

This one is super-duper easy, it's cheap, and it tastes good.

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 1/2 lb. boneless chicken breast cubed
2 cups water
1 Tablespoon butter
1 bag (1 lb.) frozen broccoli, red peppers, onions and mushrooms (or other combination) thawed and drained
2 cups uncooked instant rice
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions:

1. heat oil and cook chicken 3-4 minutes, until no longer pink in center.
2. Add water and butter, heat to boiling. Stir in veggies, rice, salt and pepper. Sprinkle with cheese. Remove from heat.
3. Cover and let stand about 5 minutes, or until the water is absorbed.


**I made this the other night with fresh veggies instead of frozen and it turned out good. Just make sure you saute them before or they will be crisp. I added broccoli, peppers, corn, peas, cauliflower. I also like to make sure everything boils before I remove it from the heat and cover it because then the cheese will melt for sure. Also, don't forget the salt like I did.

Mandarin Chicken Pasta Salad

I loved this meal and Benji hated it. So maybe don't waste your time, or make the salad and use a different dressing.

Mandarin Chicken Pasta Salad

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon finely chopped, peeled fresh ginger
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix
• 2 teaspoons white sugar
• 1 clove garlic, pressed
• 1 (8 ounce) package bow tie (farfalle) pasta
• 1/2 cucumber - scored, halved lengthwise, seeded, and sliced
• 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped red onion
• 2 diced Roma tomatoes
• 1 carrot, shredded
• 1 (6 ounce) bag fresh spinach
• 1 (11 ounce) can mandarin orange segments, drained
• 2 cups diced cooked chicken
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Directions

1. To make the dressing, whisk together the ginger root, rice vinegar, orange juice, vegetable oil, sesame oil, soup mix, sugar, and garlic until well blended. Cover, and refrigerate until needed.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the bowtie pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain, and rinse under cold water. Place pasta in a large bowl.
3. To make the salad, toss the cucumber, bell pepper, onion, tomatoes, carrot, spinach, mandarin oranges, chicken, and almonds with the pasta. Pour the dressing over the salad mixture, and toss again to coat evenly. Serve immediately.

Chicken garlic pizza

Mmmmm....this pizza is so good. It has a lot of flavor and it's a nice change from normal red sauce pizza. It's also fast and easy and that doesn't hurt at all.

Ingredients

• 1 skinless, boneless chicken breast half
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons chopped green onion
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 (10 ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust dough
• 2 roma (plum) tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Place the chicken breast in a saucepan with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, and cook until no longer pink, about 20 minutes. Drain and cool slightly, then cut into strips.
2. Meanwhile, in a small skillet over medium heat, melt the butter with garlic, onion and basil. Pour into a chilled dish to cool, and refrigerate until set.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
4. Roll out the pizza dough, place onto a pizza pan or other baking sheet, and spread the herb butter over the surface using the back of a spoon. Arrange chicken on top, then dot with ricotta cheese. Top with tomato slices, cilantro and Parmesan cheese.
5. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until crust is browned and center is cooked through.

What I did:

I actually doubled the garlic sauce which happened to be a BAD idea--way too much garlic. I did add a whole teaspoon of basil and even added some oregano, but next time I won't add so much garlic.

I had four mushrooms that I needed to get rid of and since one of my New Year's resolution is to not waste so much food, I added them to the pizza, but because of the extra topping I only used one tomato.


My fancy grocery store in Brigham City (Walmart) didn't have any shredded Romano cheese, so I found this blend from Kraft and it worked well since the recipe calls for both Romano and Parmesan cheese

I cooked my cubed chicken in some basil, oregano, and a little onion powder. Then I put it on top of the sauce, then covered that with some of that Parmesan, Romano, Asiago cheese. (I probably used about 1/3 cup, but you can use more if you like it, I wasn't sure if Jordan would like the strong flavors of those cheeses)

I then added the rest of the ingredients and then I topped it with mozzarella cheese. I think you could just use mozzarella instead of both kinds of cheese and it would still taste wonderful, I was just experimenting and trying to make it a little more kid friendly. One more bit of advice, next time I will add the cilantro before the tomatoes, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese, it dried out quite a bit in the oven. Any piece of cilantro that had something on top of it was safe though, so next time it's going on the bottom of the veggies.