Recipe: Green Beans Al a Jen

I have no name for this recipe, other than I know it came from my aunt Jennifer. It is my favorite way to make green beans, and it is really a treat. It’s a little putsy to make, but not bad. It’s certainly easy. With the over-abundance of green beans right now, I’d welcome your recipes and ideas for cooking green beans too.

Recipe: Green Beans Al a Jen

Fresh, washed/trimmed green beans

Raw strips of bacon cut in half

Brown sugar

Butter

Take about 5 green beans and bunch them together, wrap with bacon and attach with a tooth pick. Lay in a cake pan. When you are done rolling all the green beans and bacon, mix some brown sugar and butter together for a thicker paste. (Maybe about 1/4 cup brown sugar and 5 TBLS sugar) and brush across the bundles. Let them sit until you are ready to grill. Then simply grill the bundles over hot, but indirect heat so you don’t burn the beans before the bacon cooks. Enjoy!

*Don’t eat the tooth picks.

photo credit: OliBac

Recipe: Fancy Shrimp Appetizers on a Budget

I get to attend a ladies night out at a friend’s house tonight. We were told to bring some “nibbles”, which makes me laugh. I love that word; “Nibbles”. There, I said it one more time. Anyway, I decided to make something fun and special for the other moms whom I know don’t get this opportunity very frequently either. However, I decided to use my creativity to make fancy shrimp appetizers that taste divine, but cost little. Furthermore, they were really easy to make.

First, locate your cheapest loaf of bread, a mini muffin pan, your rolling pin, and some margarine or butter. Trim the four edges of the bread off (I saved the trimmings and made stuffing for supper). Next, use your rolling pin to roll each piece of bread as thin as you can. Lightly butter one side and place it butter-side-down into the muffin tin. You have to squish it in and make sure the bottom is flat. Repeat this for all dozen pieces, and place in the oven at 350 for about 10 minutes, then reduce to a low temp for about another 10 minutes. Watch very closely though, as every oven is different, and you don’t want them to burn. You do want them to dry out and be light and flaky. You’ve now made your own, very simple (and cheap) pastries.

I happened to have spinach leaves for color and garnish, but you could you bits of lemon, orange, lime, green onions,chives, parsley, etc.

On the bottom is a layer of cream cheese that I mixed with a little grated onion, mayo, salt, pepper, sugar, and wasabi powder. You could leave the cream cheese plain too.

The next layer is a couple shrimp, followed by a dab of cocktail sauce, the spinach leaf, and a couple more shrimp. I opted for a small frozen bag of shrimp that were about $3 which isn’t bad. There was just enough for this recipe.

Recipe: Loaded Sandwich for the Grill

I still do once a month cooking with friends, and now that we’re entering grilling season, we are switching from oven items to grilling items. I found a good recipe for a giant grilled sandwich, made some modifications, and came out with a winning recipe I thought I would share. The best part of this recipe is that it can be made and frozen a head of time. Take it out when you’re in a hurry or have a busy night at softball or at the lake.

Grilled (Loaded) Sandwich Recipe

Long loaf of French bread

Mix 2 TBLS of butter, 2 TBLS cream cheese, 1 TBLS mayo, dash of black pepper, 1 tsp parsley, and one finely chopped green onion. Set aside to flavor.

9 oz sliced ham (turkey would work too)

3 slices provolone cheese

Fresh mushrooms washed and sliced

Fresh spinach washed and dried

Cut the loaf of bread the long way. Spread the butter mixture evenly over the top and bottom of the bread. Layer ham, cheese, spinach, and mushrooms over the bread. Wrap tightly in foil and grill until hot. Otherwise, freeze until needed.

Do you have a great grilling recipe you’d be willing to share?

photo credit: eppha

Delicious Baked Hawaiian Ham Sandwiches

A friend once made the most delicious baked ham sandwiches. I remember asking her what was in them, but never made them until this week.

I had a buy one-get one free coupon for Hawaiian Finger Rolls, but wasn’t sure what to do with them.

Then, I remembered the baked sandwiches, gave it a whirl, and the kids LOVED them.

Recipe for Baked Hawaiian Ham Sandwiches

1 dozen Hawaiian dinner rolls

1 pound shaved deli ham

1 bag of shredded swiss cheese

5 TBLS butter or margarine

1/2 tsp dried mustard

1 tsp honey

1 tsp poppy seeds

1 TBLS vinegar

1/4 cup brown sugar

dash of pepper

Slice the buns, add ham and cheese and place in a pan. Melt butter slowly in sauce pan, then add ingredients and bring to a slow boil. Poor over sandwiches covering as well as you can. Cover tightly with foil. Then let sit in the frig for a couple hours. Bake at 350 for about 1/2 hour, uncover for the last 5 mintues so the tops of the buns get slightly glazed. Serve hot.

Recipe for Pretzel Salad

The following is a recipe submitted by a mom friend of mine. I’ve had variations of this salad made by others and love it. I’ve never made it myself, mostly because I didn’t have a recipe. Now, I won’t have an excuse.

Pretzel Salad Recipe

FIRST LAYER

• 2 cups coarsely crushed pretzels
• 3/4 cup melted margarine
• 3 tablespoons sugar

SECOND LAYER

• 1 (8oz) pkg cream cheese
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups whipped topping (small container)

THIRD LAYER

• 1 lg pkg (6 ounces) strawberry flavored gelatin
• 2 cups boiling water
• 1 (10oz) boxes frozen strawberries

Preheat oven to 400°. Put first layer in a 9x13x2-inch pan. Bake 8 minutes. Remove to cool.

Second Layer – Beat sugar into cheese, stir in whipped topping. Spread over cooled pretzels.

Third Layer – Mix gelatin, boiling water and strawberries together and set aside 10 minutes. Pour over cheese mixture; chill thoroughly.

Potato Corn Chowder Recipe

Potato Corn Chowder is a simple, fast, and inexpensive meal that is always a hit with my kids. It also works well in the crockpot and freezes well.  It’s a great way to get some veggies into the mouths of my increasingly picky kids.

Recipe: Potato Corn Chowder

1 can cream corn

1 frozen bag of corn (I freeze fresh sweet corn and use that)

2 green onions chopped

4 potatoes, cubed

4 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled (I sometimes use a bag of bacon bits)

salt and pepper to taste

Appx. 3 cups milk (I use skim, and add as much as I need to make it creamy)

I microwave the potatoes until almost tender, then mix all ingredients together and bring it to a boil. If I am making it in the crockpot, I’ll set it low so that the milk doesn’t burn and give it a few hours.

Frugal Recipe: Chicken in Cream Sauce

I tried a new recipe tonight for supper, and it turned out great. As usual I altered as I went to keep the recipe tasty and frugal. I guarantee you this tasted like a gourmet restaurant recipe. It was devine!

Chicken in Cream Sauce Recipe

 A couple chicken breasts split in half (technically you could use any cut of meat with the skin removed)

1 packet of corn beef (like the inexpensive little Hormel packets)

1 container of mushrooms

1 onion finely chopped

1 TBLS veg. oil

2 TBLS margarine

2 TBLS flour

1/2 cup of sour cream

1 pinch nutmeg

1 pinch salt and pepper

1 TBLS chicken broth granules

1 cup milk (this is appx. I just add slowly from the carton until I have the saucy consistency I want)

Cook the onions slowly in the veg. oil until they are soft, then add the mushrooms. Add the salt, pepper, chicken broth granules, nutmeg. Melt the margarine and add 2 TBLS flour, then the sour cream and enough milk to make a creamy sauce. Cut the chicken breasts in half the long way (again) and wrap in corn beef. Place in a baking dish and top with the sauce. I cooked mine in this great clay dish, for a nice presentation (we had dinner guests) Bake at 350 for about 1.5 hours until chicken is cooked and the sauce is bubbly. I topped my serving dish with a little paprika and green onions. It was melt-in-your-mouth good!

Sweet and Sour Sauce Recipe

Here’s the Sweet and Sour Sauce recipe I  referred to in my last post about Cheese Wontons. I’ll admit that I sometimes buy a jar of sweet and sour sauce, but if I have the time and ingredients, I prefer the real deal.

Recipe for Sweet and Sour Sauce

1 can Pineapple chunks

1 Tbls rice vinegar

2 Tbls brown sugar

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

cornstarch, water

Drain the pineapple juice into a small sauce pan, and set aside the pineapple. Add the remaining ingredients (except for the cornstarch/water) and bring it to a boil. Add a little corn starch to a little water and slowly add to thicken the sauce. Add the pineapple chunks back in for a fantastic, authentic sauce.

*Hint: If you love Sweet and Sour Chicken, you can do the same thing by adding some cooked chicken and green pepper! Serve over rice.

Cheese Wonton Recipe

Yesterday we were snowed in; three kids, no school, and no vehicle. I decided to treat the kids to cheese wontons for lunch and it occurred to me that I could post my recipe for cheese wontons and sweet and sour sauce, both are my original recipes. So original, in fact, that I don’t use a recipe. As I have posted before, I rarely use recipes. Therefore, I have to stop, think, and estimate the best I can how to replicate what I make.

If you love cheese wontons or crab rangoons as they are often called, you will love these. Make them with or without seafood, depending what you like.

Recipe for Cheese Wontons

Wonton Papers (similar to Egg Roll papers, only smaller)

4 oz of cream cheese

1/2 tsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp sugar

1 clove grated or finely chopped garlic

(chopped crab or shrimp optional)

canola oil

Mix the ingredients together and put a small tsp size or smaller in the middle of each wonton paper. Wet the edges with water using your finger and press together tightly. Heat enough oil in your wok or small pan to float some wontons when added. It should be quite hot, as each wonton will only take about 30 seconds per side to be golden brown/crispy.

Recipe: Wasabi Mayo Sauce

It is so strange that neither my husband nor I had EVER tried this wonderful sauce prior to a visit to our friend’s home. They invited us over for the most delicious Asian Turkey Burger’s with Wasabi Mayo Sauce. One bite is all it took for us to be hooked on ground turkey and wasabi-mayo.

“What’s in this sauce?”, I asked. Simple.

Wasabi Mayo Sauce Recipe

1/2 cup real mayonnaise (doesn’t work with Miracle Whip)

1 tsp green wasabi paste (usually found in your Asian food isle)

Mix well. Yumm!

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