Dinner for Fourteen

We have family in town from Alabama and Wisconsin to see A dance in The Nutcracker, so everyone is coming over tonight for dinner and to decorate cookies.

Here's what we're having:

Taco Soup (I doubled this recipe)
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 onion, diced
1 can RoTel tomatoes
1 can kidney beans, rinsed
1/2 can corn, rinsed
1 can diced green chiles
1 package taco mix
1 package ranch dressing mix

Brown ground beef and saute onion along with it.

Add remaining ingredients and heat through or until you are ready to eat!

Top with sour cream, tortilla chips and cheese.

Chicken & Dumplings (I doubled this, too)
4 bone-in chicken breasts
4-8 cups of water
1 onion, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped

Boil chicken in water with onion and celery until cooked through. Remove chicken from bone and put back into broth.

Dumplings (I used one batch of dumplings to go with double broth & chicken)
2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
3 Tbsp butter, softened
3/4 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten together with milk

Mix dry ingredients & cut butter in.

Add egg & milk and stir with fork.

Put in gently boiling chicken broth by teaspoon quickly.

Cover immediately and turn to low.

Do NOT lift lid for 30 minutes.

Lemon Whippersnappers

We joined family for dinner tonight and my only responsibility was to bring dessert. I made J's favorite cookies to go with the pasta and salad that was served.

1 box lemon cake mix
1 egg
2 cups cool whip
confectioner's sugar

Sift cake mix into large bowl.

Add egg and cool whip, stirring as you go. This will yield a very stiff batter.

Roll spoon-sized balls of the batter in confectioner's sugar and placed on greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 for 12 minutes.

Yields about 3 dozen cookies.

Pot Roast

I'll start by saying that Pot Roast is really J's Specialty, not mine. When we married 12 1/2 years ago, he told me one of his favorite meals was pot roast. I pretty quickly told him that he needed to learn how to make it because I don't like pot roast. Growing up, I can't remember eating roast that didn't have carrots in it. I hate cooked carrots and, to me, the entire thing tasted like carrots - the meat, the potatoes, all of it. Yuck. J took my experience to heart and started making not only carrot-free roast, but added zucchini part way through the cooking to have a veggie I like in there. He has changed my opinion of pot roast. One of our guest tonight doesn't eat zucchini, so it's absent from my effort for tonight (you'll note that carrots are also conspicuously absent!).

2 pot roasts, totally about 5 lbs.
5 stalks celery, chopped
2 onions, chopped
2 cartons mushrooms, halved
8 large red potatoes, cut into large chunks
1 packet onion soup mix
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp yellow mustard
Basil
Parsley
Salt
Pepper
1/2 Red Bell Pepper, cut into chunks
1/2 Yellow Bell Pepper, cut into chunks

We're having 5 family members over for dinner tonight, in addition to our family of 5, so I decided a double batch of pot roast would get every fed and happy.

I mixed the onion soup mix, worcestershire sauce, water and parsley and poured enough to cover the bottom of a large roasting pan.

Then I put the two roasts in side by side and coated both sides of each with mustard.

After chopping all of the veggies, I put them around the sides and put a layer of potatoes underneath the roasts.

I topped with basil, salt and pepper and put it in the oven at 300. We don't eat for another 8 hours and my theory on beef is that long, slow cooking at a lower temp yields a better tasting end product.

About 1 hour before removing the roast, I'll put the bell pepper in. I like for it to retain some of its texture so that everything isn't entirely soft.

I'll pull the roast out about 45 minutes before we eat and put in yeast rolls and green beans to have with the roast.

Veggie Bread Soup

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 celery stalks, chopped
2 carrots, shredded with potato peeler
8-9 roma tomatoes, diced
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 tsp. basil
1 bay leaf
4-6 cups of water
left-over hard rolls

Saute onion & celery in olive oil until soft.
Add water, carrots, tomatoes and spices.
Simmer for 30 minutes (or several hours as I did).
Cut hard rolls into cubes.
Serve soup over bread cubes.
Top with parmesan cheese.

J was out tonight, so the girls and I had this after A's performance in the Greek Mythology play at school. If I had red or white wine on hand, I would have added it. It might also benefit from a bit of tomato sauce - it felt a bit thin. In spite of that, I think this was a good use of day old hard rolls. I'll probably doctor it up a bit tomorrow with one of the aforementioned ideas or a bit of beef bullion for tomorrow night's dinner.

Wraps

Ham
Turkey
Salami
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Sliced Pepper Jack Cheese
Cream Cheese
Tortillas

Spread <1 Tbsp cream cheese on tortilla, layer ham, turkey, salami in any combination. Top with shredded cheddar and bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and tortilla is crispy on the edges.

We had diced apple and dried mango on the side.

This was truly a thrown-together meal using our left-overs from yesterday because I thought I was going out with friends and found out at the last minute that I actually had to eat with my family!

Down Home Day

J and I had some friends over for lunch after church today and it was down home day for J. I frequently attach emotion to food, especially food surrounding the holidays and steeped in memories. Unlike me, J doesn't have a favorite Christmas menu or many foods that really resonate with him. Except for ham and hard rolls. This was a frequent Sunday meal for his family, so he recreated it faithfully yesterday.

Ham & Hard Rolls
12 hard rolls
sliced Italian bread
1 lb. ham
1 1/2 lb. turkey
3/4 lb. salami
mustard
medium cheddar cheese
pepper jack cheese

Everyone assembled their sandwich as desired.

Sides included:
Cottage cheese
Pasta salad (from a friend)
Vegetable soup (from a friend)
Potato chips
Chip Dip (recipe below)

Chip Dip
8 oz. sour cream
8 oz. cream cheese
1-2 tsp. dill
1/2-1 tsp. onion powder (if available)
1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Mix all together and eat with a substantial potato chip like Ruffles. As a friend who was here said, this dip is "sin on a chip." I'm thankful J only makes it about twice per year because it's as addictive as it is caloric.

Good to Share Granola

8 cups old fashioned oats
2 cups pecans, chopped
1 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
1 cup peanuts, chopped
1 cup slivered almonds
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup honey
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 cups cried cranberries

Mix oats and nuts in large bowl. (I used a bowl that hold 24 cups.)
Heat oil, sugar, honey, syrup and spices over medium heat until melted through.
Pour over oats & nuts and stir thoroughly.
Spread onto 2-3 cookie sheets and bake at 325 for 20 minutes, stirring half-way through.
Let cool on cookie sheet for 10-15 minutes.
Stir in cranberries.

We packaged this granola in bags with ribbon and are using it for teacher gifts and others who bless us throughout the year like our mail carrier, Sunday School teachers, etc.

A said to be sure and include in this post that my children love this granola and think it is yummy! They are thrilled that we ran out of bags before using up the 3 batches of this granola that we made.

Two Way Pasta

Cooked spinach and ricotta tortellini
Cooked macaroni noodles
Leftover pasta sauce from baked ziti (regular spaghetti sauce with ground beef, peppers and onions, mixed with sour cream)
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp garlic
1 Tbsp olive oil

Heat olive oil, garlic and basil over medium heat. Slice cherry tomatoes in half and add to pan. Heat through until just before tomatoes begin to burst.

Each family member got to choose one type of pasta and one type of sauce. This easy meal was a big hit because everyone enjoyed actually having a choice (not something I generally offer at the dinner table). All but one child tried a different combination for their second servings and B actually ate four bowls(!)

Birthday Dinner

Scrambled Eggs
Hashbrowns
Pepper Bacon
Biscuits with Nutella
Blueberry Scones for dessert

J prepared the above for me for a birthday dinner tonight. We had originally planned to go out to eat, but we went to a concert on Monday (The Muckrakers) and had dinner at Park Cafe beforehand. That more than covered the cost of a birthday meal, so we opted for this on the actual birthday night!

Sloppy Joes

1 lb. ground beef (left over from 2 lb. package defrosted for baked ziti)
1 can sloppy joe mix
baby carrots
cherry tomatoes
ranch

OK - this was a really easy meal, which was nice because I went grocery shopping after school and didn't arrive home with A, B and K until after 5:30. Since the meat was defrosted, this came together really quickly and made for an easier night since J was out playing basketball.

Baked Ziti

I used the same recipe as the one posted previously, except that I couldn't find sliced provolone, so I used swiss instead. I also forgot to buy sliced mozzarella, so I used shredded instead.

While I made a double batch (one to freeze, one to take to a friend), I didn't eat any because J and I went out to dinner. There was enough left after freezing one and sharing one to make a small casserole dish. Our sitter and girls ate every bite of it, leaving me to think it was a successful meal!

Meatball Soup

16 oz. frozen turkey meatballs
28 oz. crushed tomatoes
2 1/2 cups water
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 - 1 tsp garlic powder
salt
pepper

Put all ingredients in crockpot and cook on high for 2-3 hours until meatballs are cooked through. Turn down to low or warm until ready to serve. Top with parmesan cheese and serve with cheese toast.

NOTE: My girls loved this last night! Even K, who rarely finishes dinner, ate every bite. The other two girls each had seconds and B asked for thirds. Since this soup uses pantry and freezer ingredients, I think it will become a fall back quick and easy dinner for cool weather.

When I served it last night, A asked, "When are you going to make Pumpkin Soup?" So I guess that will have to make an appearance soon...