Brown Rice Pasta with Apples

3 large Granny Smith apples, peeled & cubed
1/2 cup Ideal brown sugar
1/2 stick butter
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1 tsp. spice (your choice. I used apple pie spice)
1 cup uncooked brown rice pasta
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

In a medium size pan cook apples, Ideal brown sugar, butter, pecans and spice until apples are tender. Cook pasta according to package. Drain and rinse pasta. Pour into apple mixture and toss gently. Sprinkle with cheese. Serves 6.

This idea came to me after a friend told me about a dessert recipe made with pasta. I've never had "sweet" pasta and the idea didn't really appeal to me. I had 3 Granny Smith apples that needed to be used or they would go to waste and when I started thinking of ways to cook them I decided stewing would be the best. Then I spotted a box of brown rice penne that was staring at me from it's shelf in the cabinet. What did I have to loose? That's how I came up with the above recipe. I simply decided to "Think With My Taste Buds."

After making this dish I did what I always do which is serve it to some of my food testers. It was sampled by 5 testers. Four gave it a 10 with one of them actually eating 3 servings. Only one didn't like the dish but as she said, it's the concept of eating "sweet" pasta. All in all, this turned out to be a really good dish and a healthy one too.

Sauteed Mushroom Caps

Sautéed Mushroom Caps

8-12 extra large button mushrooms

2 Tbsp. olive oil

3-4 Tbsp. dry vermouth or chicken stock

Fresh ground white pepper

Fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Lightly clean mushrooms and remove stems. Place oil in sauté pan over medium high heat and add mushrooms. Sauté for 2-3 minutes per side. You could add some freshly chopped herbs after turning mushrooms. Add the vermouth or chicken stock, cover and cook for 2 minutes longer. Remove mushrooms to serving platter and sprinkle with pepper and parmesan cheese. Makes 4 servings.

Nutritional Info:

Calories 86; total fat 8 grams; saturated fat 1 gram; % calories from fat 77%; cholesterol 2 mg; carbohydrate 3 grams; protein 3 grams; fiber .6 grams

Angel Hair Shrimp

1/2 lb. Angel Hair Pasta
1 lb. shrimp, shelled, cleaned & cooked
1 stick butter, cut into chunks
1 Tbl. Minced garlic
1 tsp. fresh basil, chopped
1 1/2 Tbl. flour
1 cup half & half
1 tsp. lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to package. In a large frying pan melt butter. Add garlic. On medium high heat saute until lightly browned. Add flour. Stirring constantly, cook for about 1 minute. Stir in half & half and basil. Heat until sauce starts to thicken. Add shrimp, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Cook on medium heat until bubbly hot. Serve over pasta. Serves 4-6

Changes - I originally found two recipes for shrimp with sauce. One was served over Angel Hair, the other was served on it's own. I didn't like some of the ingredients in the Angel Hair recipe and I didn't like some of the recipes in the other recipe. So I decided to Think With My Taste Buds and pulled the ingredients I liked in each and combined them coming up with the above recipe. I did use store bought, pre-cooked and cleaned shrimp which cut the time for making this dish down to just a few minutes. I used fresh basil from my window garden but you can use dried but cut the amount in half. The half & half made the sauce so rich and creamy. I think the only change I would make to this would be to pour everything into a baking dish, top with a few panko bread crumbs and bake until hot. You could add a little cheese but this is really good as it is.

Crab Toast

1 can (8 oz.) crabmeat, well drained (can use fresh)
¼ tsp. garlic powder or ½ tsp. minced
1 jar Old English cheddar cheese
1 ½ tsp. mayonnaise
6 English muffins

Mix together crabmeat, garlic, cheese and mayonnaise. Spread on English muffin halves and place on a cookie sheet. Place under broiler until cheese is bubbly. Serve with cocktail sauce.

Think With Your Taste Buds - Use 1( 3 oz.) block of cream cheese, softened and ¼ cup of room temperature shredded cheddar cheese or cheese of your choice instead of Old English. Use 1 container of soft serve cream cheese flavored with chives or add your own seasonings to soft serve cream cheese. Change the bread to rye or use bagel thins. This makes a great appetizer or brunch item. You can also use tuna, salmon or even chicken in place of the crab.

Taco Pasta Salad

2 cups rotini pasta, uncooked
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 cup water
1 pkg (1.5 oz.) taco seasoning mix
1/2 green pepper, diced
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded cheese
1/2 cup crumbled Tortillas

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Boil pasta according to package. In a medium size frying pan, brown ground beef. Drain. Add water, taco seasoning, green peppers and onions. Simmer until the sauce thickens, stirring occasionally. Fold in sour cream and pasta. Pour into a 2 qt. casserole dish sprayed with non-stick spray. Top with cheese and crumbled tortillas. Bake about 15 minutes or until cheese melts. Serves 6.

Last weekend I met 2 ladies who would be new neighbors in my condo building. They moved in this weekend and even though I bought my condo 6 years ago, I still remember how hard and tiring moving can be. So I decided to make dinner for them and hopefully add them to my "food tester" group and invite them to my Sunday morning coffee group. This dish took about 30 minutes to make, I added a salad and a pitcher of tea and ended up with a really great meal.

Changes - when serving top with a little extra sour cream and maybe some salsa. You can also make this with ground turkey or chicken. I used mild taco seasoning but you can heat it up with hot. You might even want to try adding a can of chili beans. This is a really simple yet tasty dish.

Grits & Sausage Casserole

2 cups water
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup uncooked quick grits
4 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
1/8 tsp. garlic salt
2 lb. sausage, cooked, crumbled and drained

Bring water and salt to a boil. Slowly stir in grits. Reduce heat to med., cook about 4 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. Combine hot grits and cheese, stir until cheese is melted. In a bowl, combine eggs, milk and garlic. Add a small amount of hot grits mixture to egg mixture, stirring to blend well. Stir remaining grits into egg mixture. Add cooked sausage. Pour into a 8 x 12 baking dish sprayed with non-stick spray. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Remove from refrigerator 20 minutes before baking. Bake at 350 for 50 - 55 minutes. Serves 8

Changes - make with bacon or ham instead of sausage.

Broccoli, Cheese & Rice Casserole

Broccoli, Cheese & Rice Casserole

2 cups instant rice - uncooked
2 cups water
1 stick butter, cut into small chunks
3/4 cup chopped onion
2 small packages frozen broccoli, thawed
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 jar (10 oz.) cheese whiz

In a large bowl mix rice and water. Add butter, onion, broccoli and mushroom soup. Mix well. Stir in cheese. Pour into a 2 qt. casserole dish sprayed with non-stick spray. Cover and bake 30 minutes or until rice has absorbed water and is tender. (The deeper the dish, the longer the cooking time). Serves 6-8.

Changes - I like this with or without the onions. I also like to add extra mushrooms now and then or change the soup to cream of chicken instead of mushroom. And if you don't have cheese whiz, use 3/4 cup of shredded cheese. You can make a full meal dish from this by adding chopped chicken.

Cauliflower Soup

1 large head cauliflower
2 Tbl. onion, minced
2 Tbl. butter, melted
2 Tbl. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
3 cups milk
2 cups cheddar cheese, grated

Break cauliflower into small pieces. Cook covered in salt water until tender. Drain. Sauté onion in butter until tender. Blend in flour, salt and pepper. Gradually stir in broth and milk. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until mixture reaches boiling point. Add cheese and stir until melted. Add cauliflower. Heat to serve. Makes about 2 quarts.

Changes - Use broccoli instead of cauliflower. When serving, add sour cream to each dish and sprinkle with more cheese and/or bacon bits. You might want to sprinkle with chopped chives for taste and appearance. This makes a really pretty soup that is so tasty.

Potato & Sausage Casserole

1 lb. lean sausage
1 can cream of mushroom soup
4 med. potatoes sliced (I do circle cuts)
1/2 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups grated cheese (reserve 1/2 cup for top)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown sausage and onions. Drain. Mix soup, milk, salt & pepper. In a large casserole dish sprayed with non-stick spray, layer 1/2 of the potatoes, soup mix, cheese, sausage. Repeat ending with sausage. Bake covered for 1 1/2 hours. Remove from oven. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheese. Put back into oven until cheese melts. Serves 6-8

Changes - use ground beef or sweet sausage. Add mushrooms. This works great with turkey or chicken sausage.

Crab Pesto

1 envelope dried Pesto mix
8 oz. pasta
1/4 cup sliced black olives
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 pkg (1 lb.) imitation crab meat, cut into bite size pieces
1/2 cup shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix Pesto according to package. Cook pasta until tender. In a large bowl toss pasta, Pesto, olives, mayonnaise and imitation crab meat. Transfer to a baking dish sprayed with non-stick spray. Top with cheese. Bake until cheese melts.

I love Pesto and I love pasta salads but have never tried combining the two. The idea came to me in steps as I started making up my Pesto to go over some spaghetti. I first decided to add the black olives and then added a little mayonnaise to thicken and allow the pesto to stick a little better to the pasta. Then I spotted a package of imitation crab meat. It sounded pretty good so why not? Then I thought about adding the cheese and allowing it to melt. I have a best friend, Dusty, who loves any seafood and any pasta dish so she and her husband were perfect to test this one on. She called me later to tell me that it was perfect just the way it was but her husband Richard decided to spice it up by adding a little garlic and onion powder to his. The only other thing I might try adding would be some French fried onions on top of the cheese while melting. You can also use real crab or shrimp.

Crock Pot Steak Strips with Dumplins

3/4 lb. boneless round steak cut into 1/2" strips
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 tsp. oil
1 can cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1/2 cup beef broth
4 large mushrooms sliced
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped green peppers
1/4 cup celery

Dumplins
1/2 cup self rising flour
1 egg beaten
3 Tbl. milk
1/4 tsp. parsley

Sprinkle steak with pepper. In a large skillet brown steak in oil over medium high heat. Transfer to crock pot. Combine soup, broth and veggies. Pour over steak. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours.

For dumplins, in a small bowl combine flour, egg and milk until blended. Drop by Tablespoons onto meat mixture. Sprinkle with parsley. Cover and cook on high for 1 hour. Do not lift the cover while cooking. Serves 2

This is another dish for those of you who wanted meals for 2. And of course, you can double the recipe to feed more. Changes can be in the soup using cream of mushroom or cream of celery instead of chicken. You can also use any lean cut of beef for this dish.

Broccoli & Bacon Quiche

1/2 cup fresh broccoli florets
1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1-2 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
2 eggs
1/2 cup half and half cream
pinch of garlic powder
pinch of lemon-pepper seasoning
salt to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using 5" pie plates sprayed with non-stick spray, place half of the broccoli, cheese and bacon into each. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, cream, garlic powder, pepper and salt. Pour over broccoli. Bake uncovered 15-20 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Serves 2.

I've had several people ask that I post some recipes that feed one or two and this is a great one. Now of course, if you double the recipe you can easily make 4 individual quiches or use a full size pie pan. This quiche is different due to it not having a crust. If you want yours with a crust, simply add the ingredients listed above in order and increase the cooking time to 30-35 minutes. I've found that mine comes out better if I bake the crust for about 10 minutes before adding the ingredients. If you don't want to cook up the bacon, use the pre-cooked or you can even use real bacon bits. I also like to add a little sautéed onions and/or green peppers to mine.

Roasted Herb Potatoes

2 lbs. potatoes, washed, peeled and cut into 1 1/2" chunks
1 Tbl. your favorite herb salt free herb mixture
4 Tbl. vegetable oil
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 15 x 10 baking sheet with non-stick spray. Arrange potatoes in a single layer. Season with herbs, salt and pepper. Pour oil evenly over potatoes. Bake 1 hour turning after 30 minutes. Potatoes should be golden brown. Serves 4-6

Changes - use just one herb such as rosemary or chives. Add onion wedges for more flavor treating them the same as you do the potatoes. If your potatoes are browning quicker than they need to, lay a sheet of foil over them to slow down the browning.

Sweet Potato Casserole

6 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into small chunks
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup chopped nuts
1/2 tsp. allspice

Boil sweet potatoes until tender. Drain and place in a mixing bowl. With a fork mix butter, brown sugar, nuts and allspice until crumbly. Gently toss into potatoes (don't mash potatoes). Pour into a baking dish sprayed with non-stick spray. Top with miniature marshmallows. Bake in a 350 degree oven until hot and marshmallows are slightly browned.

You can change the flavor by changing the spice. Nutmeg is good but ground cloves gives this a really great taste. You can also use cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice.

Shrimp Casserole

3/4 cups uncooked white rice
3/4 lb. medium size raw shrimp
1/4 cup butter
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 celery rib, chopped
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook rice according to package. Peel and devein shrimp. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add bell pepper, onions, celery and garlic. Sauté 10-12 minutes or until tender. Stir in soup, shrimp, salt and pepper. Cook 3 minutes or until shrimp turns pink. Combine shrimp mix and rice. Pour into a 8 x 8 baking dish sprayed with non-stick spray. Sprinkle evenly with cheese and bread crumbs. Bake 20 minutes or until cheese melts. Serves 4 - 6

Changes - Use cream of celery or cream of shrimp soup instead of mushroom. Use 1 1/2 cups of cooked chopped chicken instead of shrimp. When using chicken, you might want to use cream of chicken soup. You can also make this dish using imitation crab meat or tuna.

Country Omelet

2 cups potatoes, diced
1/2 cup onion, diced
8 - 10 strips bacon
8 eggs
2 Tbl. milk
Salt & Pepper to taste

In a large skillet fry bacon until crispy. Remove and pour grease from pan but don't wipe clean. Fry potatoes and onions in bacon pan until done and browned. (Add just a little bacon grease if needed for cooking potatoes.) Add bacon and mix with potatoes. Remove skillet from heat. In a bowl beat eggs, milk and salt & pepper until blended. Pour over mixture in skillet and cover. Place over med. heat burner. Tilt pan to let egg mixture run down onto the hot skillet. Remove cover occasionally and fold egg mixture over around edges to allow more of the liquid to run onto the hot skillet. When omelet becomes puffy around the edges and center is set, gently slide onto plates. Serves 6-8.

Changes - Use ham or sausage instead of bacon. If using ham you will have to add a little cooking oil for cooking the potatoes. And of course, you can add cheese. When I do this, I add during the last 5 minutes of cooking to allow the cheese to melt and run into the omelet.

Simple Swedish Meatballs

1 1/2 lb. lean ground beef
1 pkg (6 1/4 oz.) boxed chicken stuffing mix
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 1/4 cups water
1 jar (12 oz.) beef gravy
1 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix meat, stuffing, eggs, onions and water. Shape into meatballs about 1" in diameter (about 32). Place in 2 foil lined 13 x 9 baking pan. Bake 20 minutes. Mix gravy and sour cream in a large sauce pan. Add meatballs. Mix lightly and cook on low for 5 minutes. Serves 8 (4 meatballs each)

With the holidays coming up, this is a simple and delicious way to make meatballs. You can make the meatballs ahead and freeze by placing them in single layers on a baking dish, place into freezer until frozen and then transfer to a zip top bag.

Changes - use ground turkey or chicken. The boxed stuffing comes in several flavors so you can easily change your flavor by changing your stuffing.

Ham & Egg Breakfast Cups

16 slices deli ham
4 Tbl. shredded cheese
8 eggs
pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat 8 muffin tins with non-stick spray. Place 2 slices of ham in each muffin tin creating a "cup." Make sure there are no tears in your ham so there will be no leakage. Add 1/2 Tbl. of cheese. Break one egg into each tin. Sprinkle with pepper. Bake 15 minutes or until desired degree of doneness. Carefully remove using the ham to lift.

Changes - Serve over English Muffins with Hollandaise Sauce. Add a little salsa over your cooked egg along with a little sour cream. Use deli sliced turkey, chicken or beef instead of the ham. Get creative and think with your taste buds.

Garlic Salad Dressing

2 cups mayonnaise
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 Tbl. grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp. black pepper
2 tsp. dehydrated onions
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. garlic powder

In a small bowl, whisk all ingredients until blended. Cover and chill at least 1 hour. Store in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Makes 2 1/2 cups.

Changes - add a few dried herbs. The best way to tell if your choice of herbs will compliment your dressing is to make it according to the recipe, scoop up 1 tsp. and sprinkle just a FEW herbs, mix and taste. I like to use just a little fresh dill in this. It gives it a fresh taste.

Black Bean Patties

Black Bean Patties

1 can (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/8 tsp. salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup Pepper Jack cheese, shredded
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/4 cup cornmeal

Place 1/2 cups beans, garlic, cumin and salt in a bowl. Partially mash with a fork. Place remaining beans and egg egg into a food process. process 30 seconds or until well combined. add to mashed beans in bowl and stir until combined. Add cheese and onions, stir until combined. Divide into 4 patties. Place cornmeal in shallow dish. Dredge both sides with cornmeal. Heat frying pan sprayed with non-stick spray over medium high heat. Add patties. Cook 3 minutes on each side or until browned.

Changes - this can actually be made with any type of shelled bean. It's great using black eyed peas. I have a recipe in my cookbook Stir, Laugh, Repeat that's called "Georgia Pea Patties." This is a really a spiced up version of that recipe. You can also change the cheese if pepper jack is too hot for your taste. But, if you want it hotter, add a finely chopped hot pepper.