Gnocchi update

I went to a grocery store the other day and was walking down the pasta aisle.  They had hard, dried, thin pasta that was named gnocchi.  I think that if you were to do a baked gnocchi with that, it would be tasty.  If you find the soft, plump rounded gnocchi, find a different recipe.  So the gnocchi recipe is this:
  Cook the gnocchi in boiling chicken broth.  Follow the directions on the package.  Drain the gnocchi.  Place in baking pan and sprinkle mozzerella and parmesean cheese on top.  Broil for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.  Serve with crusty bread and a nice salad.

Grandma's Pumpkin Pie

3 eggs
1 1/2 c pumpkin
2/3 c sugar
2 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg (or pumpkin pie spice)
1/2 t salt
1 t vanilla
1 1/2 c evaporated milk
1 pie crust


This recipe is for 1 9-inch pie.  Preheat oven to 425.  Beat the eggs together in a large mixing bowl (or electric mixer).  Add the pumpkin to the eggs. In small bowl combine the sugar and spices.  Add this mixture to the pumpkin.  Add the vanilla.  Slowly add the milk.  Line pie plate with crust (homemade or store bought) and add pie filling.  Cover pie crust with a pie guard or aluminum foil.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Remove pie guard from crust.  Turn heat down to 350 degrees and bake 45-50 minutes.

Company Potatoes

I've heard these potatoes called by a few names: Company Potatoes, Funeral Potatoes, Potato Casserole, Cheesy Potatoes.  Whatever you call them, they are good.

1 bag shredded hash browns (1 lb 4 oz or so bag)
1 10 3/4 oz can cream of chicken soup
8 oz shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 c sour cream
1/4 c butter, melted
2 T onions, chopped
dash of pepper
Topping:
2 C crushed Ritz crackers
1/2 c margarine/butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a 2 quart baking dish and place hash browns in bottom of dish.  Mix all remaining ingredients in a medium bowl.  Add mixture to the hash browns and stir until well mixed.  Combine the topping ingredients and put on top of casserole.  Bake 45 minutes.  Makes about 10 servings.

We had this meal served with ham and veggies.  I've never tried it, but I think that if you add ham to the casserole it would be a good complete meal.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Maybe I've been living in the South too long.  Before living here I would have said, "Sweet potatoes?  No thanks."  Then a few years ago a friend of mine made them and I thought they were really good.  So this year for Thanksgiving I decided to try.  I didn't do the casserole with the marshmallows though, I just mashed them.  It was simple and pretty good.

3 Sweet potatoes (or yams, I'm not sure how you can tell which is which)
3 T butter
2 T brown sugar

I washed the sweet potatoes (but not peeled) and put them in water to boil.  If they are the larger size you may have to cut them in half.  When they were soft I drained them and let them cool.  When they are cool to the touch take off the peel.  In the pan add butter and melt.  Add the potatoes and "smash" (intentionally leave some pieces not mashed) then add brown sugar.

Shepherd's Pie

I've made the basic recipe for this a few times.  I decided to use up some of the veggies I had in the refrigerator this time and just added what I had.  It ended up turning out really good.  So if you don't like my veggie choice, put whatever you want in.  I used to just use canned corn, but anything works.

1-2 lbs ground beef
1 can cream of mushroom soup (or broccoli, celery, potato)
1/4 can water
dash of pepper
3 shakes celery salt
6 shakes garlic powder
4 shakes onion powder
6 oz mushrooms, halved and sliced
handful of baby carrots, sliced
3 hadfuls of broccoli, small pieces
5 medium potatoes (i like yukon gold), mashed
Grated cheese (as much as you like.

Preheat oven to 350.  Brown the beef in a frying pan.  Drain most of grease. Add seasonings.  Add mushrooms and saute 3 minutes.  Add carrots and broccoli.  Add can of soup and water.  Mix well.  Pour contents into a 9x13 pan.  Top with mashed potatoes.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Sprinkle cheese on top and bake additional 10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

Baked Gnocchi

A few years ago I found a book that I just love.  "Under the Tuscan Sun".  It is much different than the movie.  The way she writes makes me feel as if I am there with her.  Throughout her books (I think there are 3 on Tuscany) she has recipes that she learned while living in Italy.  One was gnocchi.  It is a dumpling made of potato.  The way she described it made it sound wonderful.  So I've been thinking about it for the past 5 years.  A few months ago I checked out quite a few childrens cookbooks and one had a recipe for Baked Gnocchi.  I was very excited and looked at 5 different grocery stores to find some.  The recipe was simple, boil the gnocchi in chicken broth for 5-8 minutes until they float.  Put in pan and cover with cheeses.  Place under broiler.  Unfortunately it didn't tast very good.  The gnocchi was very chewy (maybe they weren't done even though it said when they float they are done?) and I was so dissapointed.  So here's my cooking flop.  I don't know if maybe the brand I bought wasn't very good or if to have good gnocchi you have to make your own.  Either way, I'm not trying that recipe again.

Menu Planning

Lately when I've gone to the store I just pick up stuff that I think will be good with what I have at home, but no real plan on what to have and when.  I noticed that my grocery bill was getting higher than it should.  So last week I sat down and went through my cupboards and freezer to see what I had.  I checked my list of meals that I know how to make (about 50 different ones I know we like), and tried to figure out what meals I could make without having to buy many groceries.  I came up with 13 meals that I just needed a few things for.  So my shopping bill was only $50 last week!  That was great for me.  I decided that I would make a schedule for two weeks of meals.  That way I don't have to start thinking at 4:00 about what we will have for dinner.  Of course, if something comes up I can move the meals around, but it's nice to have a general plan.  Here's what my list looks like:  Baked Spaghetti, White Chicken Chili, Pot Roast with veggies, burritos, Chicken rice casserole, Homemade tomato soup, breakfast, meatloaf, Baked Gnocchi, Chicken Rice Soup, Crockpot pork chops, Shepherd's pie, fish sticks, Beef casserole.  I had all the meat for the meals, I just needed to buy salad makings and other veggies, and some bread to go with the meals.  The only thing I have to buy this week is snacks for the kids (apples, goldfish veggie crackers, yogurt).

Snowmen ...

A fun winter cake topper ... or can be done on individual cupcakes!

Cake or Brownie Mix
Whipped Topping
Large Marshmallows
Black icing
Assortment of sprinkles/candy to decorate.

Make cake/brownies. Cool. Spread on the whipped topping snow. Find the perfectest marshmallows and cut about 1/4" off the bottom of 1/2 of them. Squish these a bit to make them seem smaller. Stick to the uncut marshmallows. Decorate with icing, sprinkles, candy pieces. I just used things we had at home!! I borrowed this idea from one I found online. They used Jr. Mints as a beret for the snowman, which was very stylish! But.. I didn't want to make ANOTHER run to the grocery store, so we went for eclectic!! Very fun and easy!
Tip: Wet a toothpick and poke it into the place where you are going to poke in arms or the nose. It will make it much easier to get it in the snowman!! Happy Holidays!

Polar Bear Cupcakes

Cake Mix
White frosting
Coconut flakes
Chocolate Frosting
Blue food coloring
Live Saver Mints (halved)
Small black candy (optional)

Make and cool cupcakes. Frost with white frosting, sprinkle coconut (for fur). Mix blue food coloring into chocolate frosting and  put in a pastry bag with a fairly large tip. Pipe on a nose. Change to a small tip and pipe the mouth. Place the ears and the eyes. (I used little black bat sprinkles I had leftover from Halloween for the eyes, but any small black circular candy would work... or a bit of the piped frosting, too!) Super easy!

Kitty Cupcakes

Cake Mix
White frosting
Pink frosting (in tube or pastry bag)
Green M&Ms
Saltines (quartered)
Pink pastel mints (halved)
Pretzel sticks (halved)

Make and cool cupcakes. Frost with white frosting. Place M&Ms as eyes and pastel mints as a nose. Pipe the mouth on with the pink frosting.  Stick saltine quarters into the cupcake so that they make a pointy ear. Place pretzels in as whiskers. All done. Super easy... and lots of fun!

Chicken Rice Soup

49oz Chicken Broth
2 cans Hormel Chunk Chicken (or 1 lb shredded chicken)
26oz spaghetti sauce
2 T chopped parsley
3 cups cooked rice
Grated Parmesan cheese

In a large saucepan, combine first 4 ingredients.  Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.  Add rice; simmer 10 minutes.  Serve with cheese.