Fried Corn Zucchini Medley

One of the best things about summer is getting to eat fresh corn- on-the-cob.  The next best thing is having leftovers, so I can cut the corn off the cob and made Fried Corn.  (And when I cook corn-on-the-cob, I always make extra for leftovers.)  Sometimes I just fry the corn by itself, sometimes I add other veggies.  It depends on my mood.  Since I still have zucchini to use up, I chose to make Fried Corn Zucchini Medley, a mixture of corn, onion, red pepper and zucchini.  Diced fresh tomatoes, celery, green beans, peas and other vegetables can be added or substituted.  Use what your family likes.

There is nothing earth shattering about this dish, but it is so very good.  There is a crispness about cooked, fresh corn cut off the cob that simply cannot be duplicated with either canned or frozen corn.

I used some crisp fried bacon as a garnish, but more could be used to make it part of the dish.  This could be turned into a main dish with the addition of some cooked meat or poultry.  Omit the bacon and use olive oil, and this would be a tasty vegetarian dish.
 
This is so pretty that I don’t care that hubby won't eat this.  I will just make it for myself and enjoy every bite.

This is a very fast recipe to make, taking only about 15 minutes including preparing the vegetables.

Fried Corn Zucchini Medley
2 T. butter or olive oil
1 medium zucchini, cut into about 1/4-inch dice (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 c. onion, cut in about 1/4-inch dice
1/2 c. red pepper, cut in about 1/4-inch dice
2 to 3 medium ears cooked corn-on-the-cob
1 slice bacon, crisp cooked and crumbled for garnish, optional
1 t. or so of your favorite seasoned salt or spice blend

Melt butter or heat olive oil in a medium to large skillet.  Stir in zucchini, onion and red pepper.  Cook over medium heat until crisp-tender, about 5 to 7 minutes.  While vegetables are cooking, cut the corn kernels from the corn-on-the-cob.  Add corn kernels and seasoned salt or spice blend to the vegetables, stir and cook until the corn is heated through, about 2 to 3 minutes.  Remove from heat, place in a serving dish and garnish with the bacon.  Makes about 4 servings or a big one just for me.

 Linking to these great parties:
Weekend Potluck
Full Plate Thursday
Thursday's Treasures
Fantastic Thursday
Showcase Your Talent Thursday
Catch a Glimpse Party

Potato Zucchini Meat Loaf Roll

Good Monday, all.  Welcome to my new followers.  As always many thanks to those who take time from their busy lives to stop and read this blog.  You are much appreciated, and I hope that what you find here is useful to you.

Still getting zucchini from my daughter, still trying to find ways to use it.  As I said last week, hubby really doesn’t care for zucchini except in sweets, but this is a dish that I dreamed up that passed muster with him.  He actually said that it was very good and ate the leftovers for his dinners last week until it was gone.

It wasn’t all that creative, I just decided to use my go-to meatloaf recipe, roll it out and spread it with a filling of shredded potato, zucchini, diced red pepper and onion bound together with an egg, add some grated cheese, roll it up and bake it.

Now I would like to say that everything went smoothly, but I did have a little trouble with the meat roll separating a bit in the middle.  There are two things that I will do differently the next time I make this.  I will salt the zucchini and potato. put it in a sieve and press some of the moisture out.  I will not pat the meat loaf mixture out as thinly as I did this time.

I omitted the onion in my meat loaf since I was putting it in the filling.  I used a Lucerne (Safeway) product called Mac and Cheese Blend grated cheese which melted very nicely in this.  I made a simple gravy to serve with the meat roll using a can of beef broth, 1/4 c. flour, 2 t. Worcestershire sauce, a pinch of garlic powder and a bit of coarse ground pepper.  Ketchup or tomato sauce could also be spread over the top of the roll before putting it in the oven.

Zucchini, Potato Meat Loaf Roll
1 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef
1 c. dried bread crumbs
1 t. salt
1/2 t. rubbed sage
1/4 t. pepper
2/3 c. milk
1 egg
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
2 c. grated potatoes, about 2 medium potatoes, peeled
1 c. grated zucchini
1/2 c. finely chopped red pepper
1/2 c. finely chopped onion
1 egg, beaten
1 c. shredded cheese, flavor of choice

Place ground beef in a large mixing bowl.  Add bread crumbs, salt, sage and pepper.  Mix lightly to combine ingredients.  Measure milk into a glass measuring cup.  Add egg and Worcestershire sauce and beat well with a fork or whisk.  Add to meat mixture and mix lightly until well blended.  Spread a length of foil (about 15 inches long) out on baking sheet.  Turn meat mixture out onto foil and press out to about a 1/2-inch thick rectangle.  Place potato and zucchini in a sieve and salt lightly.  Let sit for a few minutes over a bowl.  Press vegetables with the back of a spoon to remove excess moisture.  Place in a medium bowl and add red pepper and onion.  Add beaten egg and mix until all the potato and zucchini is moistened.  Spread the vegetable mixture in an even layer over the meat mixture.  Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the vegetable mixture.  Using both ends of the foil to assist, roll up as for a jelly roll.  Leave foil under meat loaf and place baking pan in oven.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Remove from oven, bring ends of foil over meat loaf and let sit 10 minutes before serving.  Cut into slices and serve.  Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Linking to these great parties:
What'd You Do This Weekend
Make the Scene Monday
Mix It Up Monday
Made by You Monday
Monday Funday
Recipe Sharing Monday
Melt in Your Mouth Monday
Marvelous Monday
Busy Monday
Inspiration Monday 
Tuesday Trivia
Tasty Tuesday
Tasteful Tuesday
Totally Tasty Tuesday
Show Me What You Got
Two Cup Tuesday
Show Me What Ya Got
Time to Sparkle

Deviled Egg Pasta Salad

I like deviled eggs, and I like pasta salad.  The other day I was thinking about making a pasta salad to eat for lunch the rest of the week.  I also was thinking about deviled eggs.  I decided to see if I could make a pasta salad with the flavor of deviled eggs.  So Deviled Egg Pasta Salad was born.

I finally got brave and turned my camera so it would take a more vertical picture.  These are better for Pinterest so they say.  I also tried putting text on my  photos for the first time.  There is hope that this old grandma can get in the groove yet.  Now if I can just get brave enough to actually use my DSLR.

When I am making a salad just for me, I always use ingredients that I like.  Change or sub ingredients to fit your tastes.  I had green onions that needed to be used up, other wise I would have used another variety of finely chopped onion.

Since pasta seems to absorb dressing, it may be necessary to add a little more mayonnaise or some sour cream after the salad has set for awhile.

Deviled Egg Pasta Salad
2 c. small shell pasta or other small pasta
6 eggs, hard cooked
1/2 c. thinly sliced green onion or 1/3 c. finely diced yellow, white or red onion
1/3 c. finely diced red pepper
2 ribs celery, cut in half vertically and thinly sliced on the diagonal
10 black olives, cut into eighths
1 medium dill pickle, finely chopped
2/3 c. mayonnaise
1 T. Dijon mustard
1 T. white wine vinegar
1/4 t. coarse ground pepper

Cook pasta in boiling water according to package directions.  Drain.  Cool with cold water and thoroughly drain again.  Pour into large mixing bowl.  Peel eggs and cut in half.  Remove yolks and put in a small mixing bowl.  Chop the egg whites and add to the pasta.  Add onion, red pepper, celery, black olives and dill pickle.  Stir to combine ingredients.  Using a fork, mash the yolks until very smooth.  Add mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, vinegar and pepper to the egg yolks.  Beat until well combined.  Spoon dressing over the pasta and mix until pasta and vegetables are thoroughly coated.  Cover and chill until ready to serve.  Makes 4 generous servings.

Linking to these great parties:
Full Plate Thursday
Thursday's Treasures
Fantastic Thursday
Tasty Thursday
Showcase Your Talent
Catch a Glimpse Party

Oriental Fried Ramen-Starving Student’s Survival

My granddaughter calls Oriental Fried Ramen Starving Student’s Survival.  That is because this recipe can feed four people for less than $2.00, and she is a starving student in California.  It is a "go-to" recipe for her.

I like to have fried rice as a side dish when I make something Oriental.   Since hubby doesn’t really care for rice, I often make this dish instead.  Use your favorite ramen noodle flavor in this.

Like all recipes for fried rice, you can use whatever veggies that you want in this dish or whatever you happen to have in the fridge.  I rarely make this exactly the same way twice in a row.  I do almost always use onion and red pepper.  This particular time I used carrots and snow peas.  I also sometimes add chopped nuts.

Although I include eggs when I make this, they can be left out, and almost any kind of cooked meat (even bacon) can be used to make it more of a main dish.

The recipe is loosely based on a recipe I found at  - http://busycooks.About.com a number of years ago.

Oriental Fried Ramen
2 pkgs. Ramen noodles, flavor of choice
3 c. boiling water
1 T. vegetable oil
1 t. sesame oil (optional)
1/2 c. chopped onion (regular or green)
1/2 c. chopped red pepper
1/2 c. carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch matchsticks
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 c. frozen peas (or chopped snow peas or sugar snap peas)
2 T. soy sauce
2 eggs, beaten
1 to 2 c. chopped cooked meat or poultry

Break ramen noodles into six or eight pieces and place in a medium mixing bowl.  Sprinkle with the contents of the seasoning packets.  Pour boiling water over noodles and let set while preparing rest of ingredients.  Heat vegetable oil and sesame oil in a medium skillet.  Add onion, red pepper, carrots and garlic.  Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until tender-crisp, about 7 minutes.  Drain noodles well and add to skillet.  Add soy sauce and mix until well blended.  Cook and stir noodles 1 or 2 minutes.  Push noodles to the side of the skillet and pour eggs into the center.  Cook eggs, scrambling and cutting into small pieces as the eggs cook.  Mix eggs with noodles.  Add meat or poultry if using and heat through.  Serve as a side or main dish as desired.  Makes 4 servings.

Linking to these great parties:
Tuesday Trivia
Tasteful Tuesday
Totally Tasteful Tuesday
Show Me What You Got
Two Cup Tuesday
Show Me What Ya Got
Tasty Tuesday
Time to Sparkle

Pork Stew with Dill Dumplings

Happy Monday.  Welcome to my new followers.  Thank you all for stopping by my blog and reading my posts.  It is so nice to have you here.  Hope that you find the information I post useful.

Although it is still warm here, I recently was hungry for stew.  Pork is more tender than beef so it cooks more quickly.  This makes it a good choice for making stew in the summer.  Pork Stew with Dill Dumplings fits the bill.

Either pork shoulder or loin may be used, but the shoulder will be slightly more flavorful.  As with all stews, the vegetables can be changed to suit personal preferences.  Although I usually use frozen peas for this dish, the stew in the photos has drained, canned peas in it.  I had some of those left over in the fridge that needed to be used up.

Pork Stew with Dill Dumplings
1 to 1 1 /2 lbs. boneless pork, cut into 1-inch cubes
1/3 c. flour
1 t. paprika
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper, coarse ground if possible
2 T. or more vegetable oil
3 medium/large potatoes (about 1  1/2 lb.) peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 c. coarsely chopped onion
2-3 medium carrots (1 c.) cut into 1x1/4-inch matchstick pieces
1 red pepper, coarsely chopped
2 ribs celery, cut into 1/2-inch bias slices
1 bay leaf
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can (14 oz.) low-sodium chicken broth
1 c. frozen peas
Dumplings
1 c. flour
2 t. sugar
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 t. dried dill weed
1/3 c. milk
2 T. vegetable oil
1 egg

Place flour, paprika, salt and pepper in a plastic bag and shake to combine.  Add pork cubes and shake until the cubes are coated.  Heat the vegetable oil in a Dutch oven.  Add pork cubes, but do not let them touch.  (You may need to do this in two batches.)  Brown cubes on all sides.  Remove and set aside.  Continue until all cubes are brown, adding more oil if necessary.  Return pork to Dutch oven and add potatoes,  onion, carrots, red pepper, celery, bay leaf and garlic.  Stir in remaining flour.  Pour in chicken broth and stir well.  Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer 30 minutes.  While stew is cooking, prepare dumplings.  In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and dill weed.  Stir to mix well.  Combine milk, vegetable oil and egg in a small bowl.  Add to flour mixture and stir just to  moisten dry ingredients.  Add peas to stew and bring back to a low boil.  Drop dumpling mixture by tablespoonsful into hot stew.  Cover and simmer 15 minutes.  Remove from heat and serve.  Makes 6 servings.  Store dumplings and stew separately if there are leftovers.

Linking to these great parties:
What'd  You Do This Weekend
Make the Scene Monday
Monday Funday
Mix It Up Monday
Melt in Your Mouth Monday
Marvelous Monday
Inspiration Monday
Made by You Monday
Busy Monday

Dilly Red Onions and a Salad Idea-Eating the Alphabet

This is a month when the 15th and the third Thursday occur on the same day, so I am posting for each of the challenges I participate in.  We are up to the letters M, N and O in the Eat the Alphabet Challenge hosted by Brenda from Meal Planning Magic.  Since I love onions, I jumped right past M and N and went to O.

I also like dill so Dilly Red Onions are "right down my alley" as they say.  Although I did use red onions because they are so pretty, regular yellow or white onions can be used, and sweet onions, such a Walla Walla Sweets, are great in this recipe.

Although they need to chill a few hours, these are very easy to make and very versatile.  Use the onions in salads, as a topping for hamburgers and sandwiches, and I love to just eat them on their own.  The onions do become a bit soft so are best eaten within a day or two.

Cut the onions into rings if you prefer.  I just find it easier to cut the onion in half.

Dilly Red Onions
1 large red onion, cut in half and sliced into 1/4-inch thick slices
1/3 c. sugar
1 t. salt
2 t. dried dill weed
1/4 c. water

Place sliced onions in a medium bowl that has a lid.  Combine sugar, salt, dill weed and water.  Mix until sugar is dissolved.  Pour over onions.  Cover and refrigerate at least 5 hours, stirring every half hour or so.  Drain onions with a slotted spoon.  Use in salads, on hamburgers and sandwich or just enjoy eating as is.

One of my favorite things to do with the onions (other than just eating them like popcorn) is to combine them with red pepper rings and sugar snap peas and serve them on a bed of lettuce with a simple dressing of mayonnaise and dill weed.

Dilly Red Onion, Red Pepper and Sugar Snap Pea Salad (ingredients for a salad for one person, increase accordingly if serving more)
1 or 2 head lettuce leaves
3 or 4 slices red pepper rings
handful of sugar snap peas
big spoon full of drained Dilly Red Onions
a couple tablespoons mayonnaise (may use sour cream or yogurt instead, if desired)
dash of dried dill weed

Arrange the lettuce leaves on a salad plate.  Combine the red pepper rings, sugar snap peas and Dilly Red Onions in a small bowl.  Mix together the mayonnaise and dash of dill weed and stir well.  Add mayonnaise to the vegetables and mix until vegetables are covered with dressing .  Fish out the red pepper rings and place on the lettuce.  Do the same things with the sugar snap peas.  Top red peppers and peas with the onions.  Makes one serving.

There is still time to join the Eating the Alphabet Challenge.  Brenda has all the details in this post.

To see what other bloggers in the challenge have made with M, N and O, check out the links below.

Now that you have been good and eaten your salad, come back later for Chocolate and Vanilla Waffle Cookies.

Linking to these great parties:

Thursday's Treasures

Fantastic Thursday

Full Plate Thursday

Tasty Thursday

Showcase Your Talent

Catch a Glimpse Party

 

Cumin Corn Salad

This is one of the salads that I made to take with us on our vacation.  I am a big fan of the smoky sweet flavor of cumin so wanted to play it up here.

This is similar to the corn and corn chip salad that has been around.  I just put ingredients that I like together.  I prefer to eat this with crushed corn chips added, but I do not like to add them to the entire salad in case there is some leftover.  The corn chips become soft when the salad is stored in the fridge. I serve the corn chips on the side, and let each person add as many or as few as they like.

The salad will keep two or three days well chilled in the fridge.

Cumin Corn Salad

2 (16 oz.) cans whole kernel corn, well drained or 4 cups fresh or frozen corn, cooked and drained
1/2 c. red onion, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
1/3 c. red pepper, chopped
1/4 c. black olives, chopped
1/4 c. mayonnaise
1/4 c. picante sauce
1 1/2 t. ground cumin
1 t. garlic pepper
corn chips

Place well-drained corn in a medium mixing bowl.  Add onion, celery, red pepper, black olives and mix well.  In a small bowl combine mayonnaise, picante sauce, cumin and garlic pepper.  Stir mayonnaise mixture into corn mixture until vegetables are thoroughly coated with dressing.  Chill at least a few hours to allow flavors to blend.  Serve with corn chips to crush over the top.  Makes 4 servings.

Linking to these great parties:
Cast Party Wednesday
Show and Share Wednesday
Wow Me Wednesday
Two Girls and a Party
What's Cookin' Wednesday
Lil' Luna Link Party
Whimsy Wednesday
What's in Your Kitchen
Wicked Good Wednesday
Create and Share

Barbecued Pork Salad

 A few weeks ago, I needed to fix something for my lunch at work.  When I checked out my fridge, I found I had some roast pork, celery, onion, red pepper, radishes, some cooked asparagus and some black olives.  The roast pork had been glazed with a barbecue sauce so I decided to play that up by using some barbecue sauce in the salad.  It turned out to be a very tasty lunch that I will make again, probably this week since I made another pork roast today.  Since asparagus season is over here, I will  add some frozen, thawed peas.  The recipe is for just one serving, but it could be easily multiplied to serve more.

Barbecued Pork Salad
1/2 c. chopped cooked roast pork, chicken, ham or beef
1 to 2 ribs celery, finely chopped
2 thin slices onion, finely chopped
1/3 c. red pepper, chopped
3 to 4 radishes, quartered and sliced
6 spears asparagus, chopped
3 to 4 black olives, halved and sliced
2 T. mayonnaise
1 T. barbecue sauce
barbecue spice
croutons

Combine pork, celery, onion, red pepper, radishes, asparagus,and olives in a small bowl.  In another small bowl combine mayonnaise and barbecue sauce until well blended.  Combine with pork and vegetables until well blended.  Sprinkle with a dash of barbecue spice.  Chill and serve topped with croutons.  Makes 1 serving

Linking to these great parties:
Make the Scene Monday
Monday Funday
Manic Monday
Sweet Sharing Monday
Inspiration Monday
Busy Monday
Made by You Monday
Melt in Your Mouth Monday
Recipe Sharing Monday
Mix It Up Monday
Marvelous Monday

Peach Chicken Salad with Peach Basil Dressing-Improv Challenge

One of the main things I like about the Improv Challenge which Kristen from Frugal Antic of a Harried Homemaker  hosts is that it makes me think about ingredient combinations that I might not have thought of myself.

This month’s challenge is to use peaches and an herb.  Every time that I thought about what herb to use, a little voice in my head kept saying, “basil, basil, basil,” much like that duck in the Aflac commercial.

I decided that basil it was and went looking for recipe ideas.  I found a salad dressing recipe at food.com that used a peach and basil that I knew I could adapt to what I had in mind.  The poster there used fresh basil, and I would highly recommend that.  I had to use dried basil and felt that it did not quite give me the flavor I was looking for.

For the salad part, I chose to use peaches, chicken, green onions, celery and red pepper.  I sprinkled the peaches with lemon juice and the salad kept well for several days.  To make the salad a little more special, I added some Easy Glazed Walnut Halves for garnish.

This was a really fun Improv Challenge to do.  If you would like to join in next month, you can find all the details on Kristen’s Improv page.

Peach Chicken Salad with Peach Basil Dressing
3 ripe peaches
2 T. lemon juice
1T. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 T. chopped fresh basil or 1 1/2 t. dried
2 1/2 T. vinegar
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. celery seed
2 t. sugar or to taste
1/8 t. coarse ground pepper
1/3 c. mayonnaise
3 ribs celery, chopped
1/2 c. thinly sliced green onion
1/2 c. diced red pepper
2 c. chopped cooked chicken breast
1 recipe Easy Glazed Walnut Halves (you won’t need them all for this recipe, eat the leftovers for a snack)
Iceberg lettuce leaves for serving

Peel peaches and chop two of them into a medium mixing bowl.  Pour lemon juice over peaches, mix well and set aside.  Peel and slice remaining peach into a blender or food chopper.  Add olive oil, basil, vinegar, salt, celery seed and sugar and blend until smooth.  Add mayonnaise and blend until well mixed.  Add celery, green onion, red pepper and chicken to the peaches in the medium bowl and mix well.  Add prepared dressing and mix until salad ingredients are very well coated.  Chill at least several hours to blend flavors.  Serve in iceberg lettuce leaves and garnish with Easy Glazed Walnut Halves.  Makes 4 servings.

To see what other Improv bloggers chose to do with peaches and herbs, check out the links below.

Linking to these great parties:

Catch a Glimpse Thursday

Full Plate Thursday

Thursday's Treasures

Showcase Your Talent Thursday

Tasty Thursday

Fantastic Thursday

Pasta Salad with Tartar Dressing

Since I wanted to do as little actual cooking as possible when we were on vacation, I made several salads to take with us.  One of my favorite things about having fish and chips when I am eating out is the tartar sauce.  Several years ago, I ran across a recipe in Family Circle magazine for a dressing for pasta salad that included tartar sauce.  The original recipe made more than I usually need, so I have adapted it over the time.  Now this is usually the dressing I use when I make pasta salad.

Since tartar sauce is already in the dressing, this is a great salad to add fish or seafood to.  I personally like tuna or salmon.

Everyone has their own take on what to put in a pasta salad so add and subtract ingredients as you  please.

Pasta Salad with Tartar Dressing
8 oz.. pasta of your choice, cooked just until tender
1/3 c. chopped red pepper
1/3 c. chopped red onion
1 medium dill pickle finely chopped
1/4 c. chopped ripe olives
1/2 c. tartar sauce

1/4 c. mayonnaise
2 1/2 T. cider vinegar
1 1/4 t. sugar
1 t. Dijon mustard
1/4 t. black pepper
1/4 t. salt

Combine pasta, red pepper, red onion, dill pickle and olives in a large mixing bowl.  Stir well to combine.  In a small bowl, mix tartar sauce, mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, mustard, pepper and salt.  Stir until ingredients are well combined.  Spoon dressing over pasta mixture and mix until all pasta pieces are coated with dressing.  Place in a covered container and chill at least several hours before serving.  Makes 6 servings.

Linking to these great parties:
Cast Party Wednesday
Show and Share Wednesday
Wow Me Wednesday
Two Girls and a Party
What's Cooking Wednesday
Lil' Luna Link Party
Whimsy Wednesday
Create and Share
What's in Your Kitchen Wednesday
Wicked Good Wednesday
Work It Wednesday

Quick, Creamy Chicken Chilaquiles

I am not overly fond of spicy Mexican type dishes, especially those that use salsa.  However, every-once-in-awhile, I find one that I want to try.  This recipe came from the back of a Kraft Mexican Style Queso Quesadilla Cheese package.

Two things made me want to try this recipe.   I had some cooked chicken on hand and also some bits and pieces of tortilla chips leftover from making nachos for hubby for lunch.  The dish  takes less than 20 minutes to prepare which makes it a great weeknight dinner.

I added onions, red peppers and frozen corn to make the recipe more of a one-dish meal.  Since I am a wimp when it comes to heat and did not have any mild salsa on hand (hubby is the salsa eater, and he likes medium), I used half medium salsa and half mild Picante Sauce.

The original recipe called for 3 c. of crushed tortilla chips.  I had only 2 c. on hand, and that amount worked fine.

To save money and calories, in the future I will use only 1 c. to 1 1/2 c. of cheese.  The full 2 cups was a bit of overkill to me.  If you cannot find the Queso Quesadilla cheese, I am sure that Mexican Blend Cheese or Cheddar cheese would work instead.  If I was making this for a potluck or just for me, I would add some sliced ripe olives (hubby doesn't like olives).

All in all, we both liked this dish, and it will go into my regular lunch/dinner rotation.

I wonder, am I the only one who still makes recipes found on food packages?

Quick, Creamy Chilaquiles
1 T. vegetable oil
1/2 c. chopped onions
1/2 c. chopped red peppers
1 c. frozen corn
1 1/2 c. salsa (I used half medium salsa and half mild Picante)
2 c. shredded, cooked chicken
2-3 c. coarsely crushed tortilla chips
1-2 c. shredded Queso Quesadilla Cheese, Mexican Cheese, or Cheddar cheese

Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet on medium high.  Add onion, red pepper and frozen corn.  Cook until onions are tender, about 5  to 10 minutes.  Add salsa and chicken.  Cook for about 5 minutes.  Add crushed tortilla chips and mix well.  Top with cheese.  Cover, cook on medium-low heat 3 minutes until cheese is melted.  Serve topped with sour cream, green onions, and more salsa if desired.  Makes 6 servings.

Linking to these great parties:

Cast Party Wednesday

Show and Share Wednesday

Wow Me Wednesday

Work It Wednesday

Two Girls and A Party

What's Cookin Wednesday

Lil Luna Link Party

Whimsy Wednesday

Wicked Awesome Wednesday

Create and Share

Wednesday Whatsits

What's in Your Kitchen Wednesday

Wicked Good Wednesday

Stuffed Iceberg Lettuce Salad-Eating the Alphabet

I will not be posting a Saturday Sweet today as this is the day to post for this month's Eating the Alphabet Challenge hosted by Brenda at Meal Planning Magic.  You can, however, find a recipe for a Double Berry Giant Eclair in Thursday's post.

The letters for June are I and J, and they are, indeed, a challenge.  The only two vegetables I could think of were iceberg lettuce and jicama.

Although it is somewhat looked down upon now, when I was growing up in the late 40’s and 50’s, iceberg lettuce was the most common lettuce found at the grocery store so people ate a lot of it. Creative cooks dreamed up many ways to serve it.  After all, this was the era of peach and pear halves made into faces and bananas made into candles.

In my area of the country, a popular “ladies’ lunch” dish was Stuffed Iceberg Lettuce Salad.  This dish consisted of cream cheese and other ingredients that were combined and stuffed into a cored head of lettuce.  The whole thing was tightly wrapped, chilled for several hours or overnight, then sliced for serving.  Generally, the slice of lettuce was smeared with a mayonnaise-based red dressing.  Because the slice of lettuce was cut up and everything mixed together to eat it,  this was also sometimes called a Knife and Fork Salad.

In the spirit of reviving an old favorite, today I am sharing a recipe for Stuffed Iceberg Lettuce Salad.  I have included two dressing choices, one for vegetable salad and one for fruit salad.

When selecting a head of lettuce to stuff, look for one that is heavy for its size and that has the core centered as much as possible.

The stuffing mixture is very flexible so if I have an 8-oz. package of cream cheese on hand, I use half of it.  If I have to buy cream cheese, I sometimes just buy the 3-oz. package.  Either can be used.

Almost any ingredient that one wants can be mixed in with the cream cheese.  Vegetables such as grated carrot, minced onion, peppers, tomatoes, radishes, celery, cucumber are common.  For a fruit salad chopped fresh or canned fruit such as apples, cherries, peaches, pears, pineapple, mandarin oranges or strawberries can be used.  Usually nuts are added to this.  Chopped cooked chicken, ham, tuna, salmon or bacon can be added for a more main-dish salad.  Consider the recipe below just a basic guide.

Stuffed Iceberg Lettuce Salad
1 medium head Iceberg Lettuce
3-4 oz. cream cheese, softened (regular, low fat or fat-free)

2 T. shredded Cheddar
2 T. minced onion, regular or green
2 T. minced red pepper
2 T. chopped black olives
1/4 t. garlic powder
1/4 t. dill weed
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients except lettuce in a small bowl and mix until well blended.  Set aside.  Smack core of lettuce against the edge of a counter to dislodge it.  Twist and remove the core.  If cavity does not seem big enough to hold all the cream cheese mixture, reach in and remove additional lettuce with a clean hand.  Stuff the cream cheese mixture tightly into the lettuce cavity.  Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and chill several hours or overnight.  At serving time, remove from refrigerator.  Cut into thick slices with a very sharp knife.  Lay on serving plates and smear lettuce with a thick red dressing such as the ones below.  Makes about 4 servings.

Quick Red Dressing (for vegetable or main-dish salad.
1/2 c. mayonnaise
1/4 c. chili sauce or ketchup
2 T. pickle relish
1 t. lemon juice

Combine ingredients in a small bowl until well blended.  Chill to blend flavors.  Makes about 3/4 c.

Cranberry Dressing (for fruit salad)
1 c. jellied cranberry sauce
1 c. mayonnaise
2 T. lemon juice
1 c. whipped cream (opt.)

Beat cranberry sauce and mayonnaise with an electric mixer until well blended.  Stir in lemon juice.  Chill to blend flavors.  For a richer dressing, fold in whipped cream.  Makes 2 -3 c.

There is still time to join in the fun and help us finish up the rest of the alphabet.  You can find all the necessary details on Brenda's Eating the Alphabet page.

Click on the links below to see what other bloggers have dreamed up for the letters I and J.

Linking to these great parties:
Weekend Potluck
Weekend Bloggy Reading
Party Junk
Strut Your Stuff
Share Your Creativity
I'm Lovin' It
What'd You Do this Weekend
Marvelous Monday
Mix It Up Monday
Recipe Sharing Monday
Melt in Your Mouth Monday
On the Menu Monday
Make the Scene Monday
Mop It Up Monday
Manic Monday
Sweet Sharing Monday
Monday Funday

Hoisin Noodles with Veggies

Sunday I felt like doing something Oriental inspired for dinner  As usual I had round steak in the freezer so decided to use that and make some Teriyaki Beef (recipe coming).  I wanted to make a chow mein or low mein (I am not sure exactly what the difference is) type of side dish to go with the meat.  We were already planning to have deep-fried asparagus so I had the veggie covered.

I looked in my cookbooks and on the internet and couldn't find exactly what I wanted so I used bits and pieces from several recipes and came up with my own version.

Like most things of this type, lots of different ingredients could be added.  Water chestnuts come to mind.  I did not use them because hubby isn't that fond of them, and he was going to be eating leftovers from this for two nights.  This time of year, I would add some chopped asparagus if I was making it just for me to eat.  Chopped green beans and snow peas are other things I would probably add if I had them available.

I posted two DIY Hoisin Sauce recipes yesterday for those who might not have that available and wanted to make this.

I served this with the Teriyaki Beef, but any kind of chopped cooked meat or poultry would turn this into a main dish, so it is a good use for leftovers.

Hoisin Noodles with Veggies
8 oz. Chinese noodles or spaghetti
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into match-stick pieces
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1/2 red pepper, sliced horizontally
quarter of a small head of cabbage, thinly sliced
2 ribs celery, thinly sliced on the bias
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 (2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced or 1/2 t. dry ginger
2-3 T. vegetable oil
1/4 c. low-sodium chicken broth or water
1/4 c. hoisin sauce
2 T. low-sodium soy sauce

Heat water and cook Chinese noodles or spaghetti according to package directions.  Drain, rinse with cold water and set aside.  Heat 2 T. oil in a large skillet until hot.  Add carrots,  onion, red pepper, cabbage and celery.  Cook, stirring occasionally, 5 to 10 minutes until crisp-tender.  Remove vegetables and set aside.  Add another tablespoon of oil to skillet and heat.  Add spaghetti, garlic and ginger.  Cook, stirring,  for two to three minutes until spaghetti is lightly browned.  Return vegetables to skillet.  Combine chicken broth or water, hoisin sauce and soy sauce until well blended.  Pour over spaghetti and vegetables.  Heat and stir until liquid boils and is slightly thickened.  Transfer to a serving bowl.  Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Linking to these great parties:

Full Plate Thursday

Fantastic Thursday

Cheesy Green Bean Wontons-Eating the Alphabet

The idea for this recipe came from a post for Asparagus Pockets by Sheryl over at Lady Behind the Curtain.  She used asparagus and crescent rolls.

This month’s letters for Eating the Alphabet Recipe Challenge, hosted by Brenda over at Meal Planning Magic, are G and H.  I knew that I wanted to make something new with green beans.  When I saw Sheryl’s post, I thought “Why not green beans and why not wontons?”  Thus, this recipe for Cheesy Green Bean Wontons was born.  Thanks, Sheryl, for the inspiration.

You could, of course, use cooked asparagus here instead of green beans.  Chopped broccoli and shredded carrots are another option.  Adding some cooked, finely chopped chicken, turkey or ham could turn the wontons into a main dish.  I am adding some chopped ripe olives next time I make these.

I used well-drained, canned green beans because that is all hubby will eat, but I think that crisply cooked frozen or fresh green beans would be even better.

I think dill goes well with green beans so I used that.  If you are not a dill person use something else.  Italian herbs would be good also.

The wontons can be served as an appetizer or a side dish, with or without a dip.  I made about 36 wontons and have been eating the remaining filling on toasted Sandwich Thins.

Cheesy Green Bean Wontons
1 (12 oz.) pkg. wontons
1/2 T. olive oil
1/3 c. minced red pepper
1/3 c. finely sliced green onion
1 lg. clove garlic, minced
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, well softened (can be regular or low fat, and I used whipped cream cheese)
1 t. dried dill weed
1/2 t. garlic powder
1 (16 oz.) can cut green beans, well drained and cut into 1/4-inch pieces or 1 1/2 c. crisply cooked frozen or fresh green beans, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
olive oil

Heat olive oil in a small skillet.  Add red pepper, green onion and garlic and cook gently for about 5 minutes.  Set aside.  combine cream cheese, dill week and garlic powder.  Mix well.  Stir in pepper/onion mixture and green beans.  Mix well.  Place wontons on a foil-lines baking pan.  Place a heaping teaspoon of green bean mixture in the center of each wonton.  Moisten edges of wontons with water and bring them together to form a triangle.  When the baking pan is full, brush wontons lightly with olive oil.  Bake at 375 degrees 10-15 minutes or until the edges of the wonton’s are lightly browned, turning the wontons over at about 7 minutes.  Makes about 36 to 48 wontons.

Sharing at these great parties:

Cast Party Wednesday

Wednesday Whatsits

Work It Wednesday

Wow Me Wednesday

Show and Share Wednesday

Check out the links below to see what creations other bloggers have shared today.

Cheesy Sausage Potato Bake

Good Monday to all.  Welcome to my new followers and thanks to everyone who takes time from their busy lives to read this blog.  I hope that you find some useful information here.  Have a great first week in April.

Recently I need to use up a roll of Jimmy Dean Sausage that I had in my refrigerator and wanted to use it to make something for dinner.  After wandering the internet to get some ideas; as usual, I pretty much came up with my own thing.

I combined the sausage with some diced potatoes, added a cheese sauce, and topped the whole thing with French fried onions.  I could have added peas, peas and carrots or other veggie to make this a one-dish meal.   Of course, I added some diced red pepper.  You could use green pepper if that is more your thing.

Hubby liked this one.  It is the kind of thing that is easy for him to reheat to eat on the nights that I work.

 Cheesy Sausage Potato Bake
6 medium potatoes, peeled and diced into 1-inch chunks (enough to cover the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish in a single layer)
1/2 c. diced red pepper
1 lb. ground sausage
1/2 c.  flour
3 c. milk
1 to 2 c. shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 can (6 oz.) French fried onions

Place potato chunks in a saucepan and cover with water.  Bring to a boil and boil 5 minutes.  Add diced red pepper and boil 5 minute more.  Remove from heat and drain off water.  Meanwhile, brown sausage in a large skillet.  Place potato/red pepper mixture in the bottom of a greased 9x13-inch baking dish.  Remove sausage from skillet with a slotted spoon and spread over potato/red pepper mixture in a single layer.  Add flour to skillet and stir well to mix with sausage drippings.  Gradually add the milk, stirring and bringing to a boil.  Boil 1 minute or until thickened to medium/thick sauce consistency.  Stir in cheese and cook until cheese is melted stirring to blend.  Pour cheese sauce over sausage and potatoes in baking dish.  Spread French fried onions evenly over the top.  Bake at 350 degrees until browned and bubbly.  Serves 6 to 8.

Hawaiian-Style Vegetables-Improv Cooking Challenge

Today is the day to post our recipes for this month’s Improv Cooking Challenge hosted by Kristen over at Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker.  (Note, Kristen’s is in the process of changing servers so I will be back with a link as soon as I know the blog is back up.)

The ingredients Kristen chose this month were peas and carrots, a pretty common combination.  I chose to go a somewhat traditional route with these, but used snow peas in my recipe.

Many, many years ago Birdseye made a frozen vegetable and pineapple combination called Hawaiian Vegetables.  It had carrots, green peppers, onions, water chestnuts and pineapple with little cubes of frozen sauce that melted and glazed the vegetables as they cooked.  Although I don’t really like green peppers, I did love this particular dish.

I decided this was a good time to try to replicate that recipe.  The only brand I can find that makes 8-oz. cans of pineapple tidbits is Dole.  Pineapple chunks may be used, but they will need to be quartered.  They carrots need to be very thinly sliced, no thicker than the snow peas.  I like to slice them on the diagonal.  Since I didn't use them, I have listed the water chestnuts as optional.

Hawaiian-Style Vegetables
1 can (8 oz.) pineapple tidbits in their own juice
1 T. butter
2 t. brown sugar
1 c. very thinly sliced carrots
1/2 c. finely chopped onion
1 c. snow peas
1/2 to 3/4 c. very thinly sliced red pepper (I used about 1/4 of a very large pepper)
1/8 t. salt
1/3 c. thinly sliced canned water chestnuts
1 T. cornstarch
1/3 c. water

Drain pineapple, reserving juice (there should be about 1/3 c.)  Melt butter in a 1 1/2-qt. saucepan and add brown sugar.  Stir in carrots, onion,  and snow peas.  Cook, uncovered, over medium heat 4 minutes, stirring often.  Add red pepper, pineapple juice and salt.  Cover and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring often.  Add reserved pineapple chunks and water chestnuts, if using.  Cook about 1 minutes longer until vegetables are not quite as tender as you like.  Add cornstarch to water and mix well.  Add to vegetable mixture, stirring constantly.  Cook over medium heat until sauce is clear, thickened, and boiling.  Remove from heat, turn into a serving bowl and serve immediately.  Makes 4 servings.

Secret Recipe Club-Chicken and Gnocchi Soup

My assignment for November for Secret Recipe Club was the blog It's Yummy to My Tummy.  This blog was started by Heather in 2010.  She chose an apt name for her blog.  It is loaded with delicious recipes, all of them  "yummy to the tummy."

I went through every post in her blog and found many great recipes to try like Baked Doughnuts (I must finally use my new doughnut pan),  Cheese and Fruit Danish,  and Grandma’s Cinnamon Rolls.  Several that are great for this time of the year:  Tootsie Roll Fudge, S’Mores Fudge, and one that is a big weird Soda Pop Jell-O Salad.

When I finally made a choice, I chose Chicken and Gnocchi Soup because I am always looking for new soup recipes, and I had cooked up some of my Stovetop Rotisserie Chicken (post to come on Wednesday) so I could have cooked chicken on hand.  Because I wanted a greater quantity of soup, I increased the recipe by half.  My recipe amounts reflect that.

Parmesan gnocchi was the only gnocchi that I could find at my grocery store.  The gnocchi had a packet of cheese and herb seasoning with it so I did add it to the soup.

I was pretty sure that I would not be able to get the spinach by my hubby, so my solution was to use a bag of frozen spinach, put a small amount in my bowl when the soup was served, and  put it in the microwave for 1 minute or so.  This worked very well, I had my soup with spinach, and hubby had his without.  Of course, I had to add my ever-present red pepper.  I have listed it as optional.

This was a very good soup, and I will be making it often so I am going to have to start making my own gnocchi.  I also think that this would be good made with tortellini.

Chicken and Gnocchi Soup (adapted from It's Yummy to My Tummy blog)
4 T. butter
1 T. extra virgin olive oil
3/4 c. finely diced celery
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 c. finely diced onion
1/2 c. finely diced red pepper (opt.)
1/3 c. flour
2 cans (14 oz.) chicken broth (4 c.)
1 c. shredded carrots
3/4 t. thyme
1 qt. half and half
1 c. whole milk
1 1/2 c. diced cooked chicken
1 1/2 c. spinach, chopped
1 1/2 lb. gnocchi, cooked according to package directions
salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter and olive oil together in a soup pot.  Add celery, garlic, onion and red pepper.  Cook until veggies are beginning to get tender, about 10 minutes.  Stir in flour and blend well.  Slowly stir in chicken broth, carrot and thyme.  Cook gently until veggies are tender.  Stir in  half and half, milk and chicken.  Bring to a gentle simmer.  Cook about 5 minutes.  Add spinach and cook a few more minutes or until the spinach starts to wilt.  Serve with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese if desired.  Makes  6 to 8 servings.

Go and spend a little time at It's Yummy to My Tummy.  You will be glad you did.

Linking to:  Ingredient Spotlight

Eating the Alphabet-Curried Leak and Veggie Spread

Here it is time for another Eating the Alphabet post.  This month we are doing K or L.  I chose L and decided to make something with leeks.

I have not used leeks often, but after searching for recipes using leeks and developing a couple myself, I will use them more.  I sort of went on a “leek kick” and will be posting a couple more recipes using leeks soon.

For today’s post, I chose Curried Leak and Veggie Spread.  I saw a recipe over at allrecipes for a Leek Dip.  It sounded good, but by the time I got done, what I made did not resemble that original recipe at all.

To prepare the leek, slice it into thin slices and chop fine.  Put into a bowl of water and swish around to remove any grit or dirt.  Remove from the water and rinse in a colander.  Turn into a clean towel and squeeze to remove excess water.

If you don't like curry powder or fennel seeds, use another herb or just leave them out.  I just happen to like curry, but this is perfectly good without it.

To serve this, I like to split pita bread, cut it into triangles, brush it with olive oil, and toast them in a pan on the stove or in the oven.  This is also good with any kind of cracker or melba toast.

Note:  The veggies in this will begin to release their water so this is best eaten in a day or three.  After that, you are apt to have a dip.  Still good, but no longer spreadable.

Curried Leek and Veggie Spread
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese (I use 1/3 less fat), softened
1 c. creamy salad dressing like Miracle Whip (low fat is OK)
1/2 c. sour cream, I use low fat
1 leek, white and light green park, finely chopped
1/4 c. sliced green onions
1/2 c. finely chopped red pepper
1 rib celery, finely chopped
1/2 c. finely chopped carrot
! T. lemon juice
1/2 t. curry powder
1/2 t. fennel seed
salt and pepper to taste, if desired
6 strips bacon fried crisp and crumbled or 1/4 c. ready-cooked real bacon bits

Combine all ingredients together in a bowl and mix very well.  Place in a covered container and place in refrigerator.  Chill at least 2 to 3 hours to allow the flavors to blend.  Makes about 2 cups.  Serve with pita bread triangles, crackers or melba toast.

For Eating the Alphabet each month we post a recipe starting with a specific letter of the alphabet.  Next month the letters will be M, N, and/or O.  I invite you to join in the fun.  It is hosted by Brenda from Meal Planning Magic.  Just hop on over and sign up.

Check out the links below to see what the other "Eating the Alphabet" bloggers have posted this month.

Eating the Alphabet-Balsamic Green Bean Medley

A, B, C,D,E,F,G,H.  Here we are in our 4th month of Eating the Alphabet hosted by Brenda over at Meal Planning Magic.  Last month I wanted to do fennel, looked all over for it and could not find it, so I ended up sitting out April.  This month is G or H, so I bring a dish for green beans.

Mix some green beans, corn, onion, red pepper, almonds and bacon bits with some balsamic vinegar and a little sugar, and you have a dish that lifts green beans a little beyond the ordinary.

This dish is made with cooked vegetables so it can be made from fresh, frozen, or canned green beans and corn.  Hubby will really only eat canned green beans so that is what I use.  Most of the time I used frozen corn.  For myself, I would use diced, cooked carrots instead of the corn, but hubby prefers the corn.

This has a very light sweet/sour undertone, it can be made more pronounced by doubling the balsamic vinegar and sugar.

The almonds and crumbled bacon adds a nice crunch.

   

Balsamic Green Bean Medley
1 T. butter
1/2 c. diced onion
1/2 c. diced red pepper
1 can green beans, rinsed and drained or 2 c. cooked green beans
1 can whole kernel corn, rinsed and drained or 2 c. cooked corn
2 T. Balsamic vinegar
1 T. sugar
1/4 c. toasted slivered almonds
2 T. cooked, crumbled bacon

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan.  Add onion and red pepper and cook until tender.  Add green beans and corn and mix well.  Sprinkle sugar over the vegetables and mix well.  Add Balsamic vinegar, stir well and cook until vegetables are heated through.  Stir in almonds and bacon, reserving a little for a garnish on top.  Turn into a serving dish, garnish with the reserved almonds and bacon and serve immediately.  Makes 6 to 8 servings. 

If you would like to expand your veggie recipe arsenal come and join Eating the Alphabet.  You can find the details and sign up here.

DIY Groceries-Biscuit/All-Purpose Mix

Biscuit or All/Purpose Mix is a very handy thing to have in your kitchen.  I have so many recipes that call for this kind of mix that I have a whole file on my computer.  One can, of course, purchase Bisquick or other commercial mix.  However these are expensive and have chemical and additives many people would prefer to avoid.  The alternative is a homemade mix.

There are a couple of ways to make homemade biscuit/all-purpose mix.  One way is to combine the dry ingredients for a recipe, put that in a zippered storage bag; and add the remaining ingredients when the recipe is made.  This can be repeated as many times as you want.  The advantage of this method is that you do not have to use shortening if you object to that ingredient.  The disadvantage to this is that the mix is restricted to being used in a specific recipe.

To have the mix be truly “all-purpose”, it is usually necessary to have some fat in it.   Over the years, shortening has been the fat of choice to make all-purpose mix shelf stable.  (Although, if you look at the label on Reduced-Fat Bisquick, it says to refrigerated it after opening.)
  
Years ago, county extension services provided directions for a all-purpose mix called Missouri Mix.  The directions for  Missouri Mix can be found here.  There is a link to a PDF version in the upper left corner of the page.  Included are directions for the Missouri Mix in small and large quantities and recipes for using the mix.  Missouri Mix made with half white and half whole wheat flour was my all-purpose mix of choice for many years.  With the addition of the whole wheat flour came the necessity to keep the mix in the refrigerator or freezer.

Now, many people are concerned about the use of shortening.  Missouri Mix uses 1 1/2 cup shortening to 8 cups of flour.  King Arthur put out a Baking Mix that has a slightly smaller ratio of shortening to flour.  Their mix uses 1 cup shortening to 9 cups of flour.  There is also information in this article on making self-rising flour and corn meal and recipes for using the Baking Mix.

If you want to avoid shortening completely, this is a mix that I now make which uses vegetable oil.  It is successful in most recipes   This recipe seems to have come from Weight Watchers, but I don't know that for sure. 

WW Master Mix
5 pounds all purpose flour (about 20 cups)  I use half whole wheat flour
2 cups instant non-fat powdered milk
3/4 cup baking powder (preferably sodium free)
1 1/2 Tablespoons salt
1 Tablespoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup Splenda or other sugar substitute (I leave out)
1 cup oil

In large bowl, combine all ingredients except oil.  Mix together until very well blended, at least 2 minutes so baking powder is well incorporated.  Cut oil into flour mixture until consistency of cornmeal. Store tightly covered in refrigerator or freezer.  Stir well before using.

No matter what recipe one chooses, a homemade all-purpose mix is very handy to have in the kitchen.   

Here are a couple of quick recipes using all-purpose mix:

Canton Crispy Chicken Stir Fry
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 c. all-purpose mix
2 c. diced uncooked chicken breasts (about 3/4 lb.)
2 eggs, slightly beaten
3 carrots, cut diagonally into 1/4-inch pieces
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1 red  or green pepper, cut in thin strips
1 small onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings
1 (20 oz.) can pineapple tidbits or chunks, drained (I prefer the tidbits as they are smaller)

Mix pepper and all-purpose mix in large plastic bag. Stir chicken into beaten egg, remove with slotted spoon. Shake in bag until coated, remove chicken and set aside in single layer.  Heat 1 tablespoon oil in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Stir-fry carrots 2 minutes; add red pepper and stir-fry 2 minutes. Remove from skillet.  Heat remaining oil. Stir-fry chicken until golden. Add vegetables. Stir-fry until heated through. Stir in pineapple.  Makes 4 to 6 servings

1 2 3 Cookies
1 cup peanut butter (I like crunchy)
1 cup sugar or 1 cup brown sugar packed
1/2 cup boiling water
2 cups all-purpose mix

Combine peanut butter, sugar and water blending well. Stir in all-purpose mix.  Drop by small spoon fulls on to lightly greased baking sheets. Flatten  cookies with a fork dipped in flour. Bake at 400 for 8 to 10 minutes.
Makes  about 6 1/2 dozen.

Tomorrow-Cooking with the Journal-Potato Chip Cookies