Dinner · dinner in 30 minutes · Fall · home · main dish

My Three Go-To Meals

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There are always busy fall/winter days that demand a fast supper meal.  For those days, I try to keep the ingredients on hand for the entree’s  listed above  because they are:

  1. Done in under 30 minutes
  2. Filling
  3. Delicious!!!

To make White Castle Sliders, Cheese Ravioli with Tomatoes, and Sausage Corn Chowder, all I need to keep on hand is:

2 pounds hamburger
Hawaiian Rolls – I freeze these
Frozen Cheese Ravioli – I recently tried Aldi’s brand and it was very good!
Tomatoes (I freeze the cherry tomatoes and use them for this dish if I don’t have fresh on hand)
Red Onion
Parmesan Cheese
Canned Corn
Cream Corn
Evaporated milk
Potatoes
1 pound Sausage

These are all very basic staple items to keep.  Having them on hand allows me to put a great meal together so quickly!  

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White Castle Sliders
2# hamburger (80/20)
Dried Onion Flakes
Seasoned Salt
Sister Shubert Rolls
Sprinkle dried onion flakes in the bottom of a 9 x 13 dish.
Press beef over onion flakes, make a one huge patty.
Sprinkle with Seasoned salt.
Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, or until done.
Drain and Pat grease off.
Top with cheese slices.  Place back in oven for 2 minutes to melt.
Remove and slice into hamburger patties, the size of your buns.
Pasta dishes are great for quick meals, but this one isn’t your normal Spaghetti and pasta meal!  This is one of our favorites – in a hurry or not!  Add some toasted French Bread and a salad and your meal is complete!
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Cheese Ravioli with Tomatoes

Ingredients:

1 pound cherry tomatoes
2 shallots, cut into wedges (I use red onion instead)
Cooking spray
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
12 ounces frozen cheese ravioli

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425°.
2. Halve half of tomatoes. Arrange cut tomatoes, whole tomatoes, and shallots on a jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray.  Drizzle with 1 tablespoon oil; toss.
Bake at 425° for 35 minutes.
3. Add 2 tablespoons oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper to pan. Bake 10 minutes.
4. Cook ravioli according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain ravioli, reserving 1/4 cup cooking liquid. Add ravioli to tomatoes; toss. Add cooking liquid, if needed. Garnish with chopped basil.Drizzle with 1 tablespoon oil; toss. Bake at 425° for 35 minutes.
3. Add 2 tablespoons oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper to pan. Bake 10 minutes.
4. Cook ravioli according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain ravioli, reserving 1/4 cup cooking liquid. Add ravioli to tomatoes; toss. Add cooking liquid, if needed. Garnish with chopped basil.

 

This chowder is so hearty and comforting!  It’s been a favorite of our family for years! You could add some quick biscuits or just crackers and a salad to round it out.

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Sausage Corn Chowder

1 LB Bulk Pork Sausage
1 med onion
3 medium potatoes, cut into 1/2 cubes
2 cps water
1/2 tsp dried marjoram
1 tsp salt
crushed 1/2 tsp pepper
1 15 1/4 oz can whole kernel corn, drained
1 14 3/4 oz can cream style corn
1 12oz can evaporated milk

Preparation:
Crumble pork sausage into 4 qt dutch oven; cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. add onion; cook about 5 minutes more or until sausage is brown. Add cubed potatoes, water, seasonings, bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Stir in the whole kernel corn, cream style corn and evaporated milk. heat chowder through.
6 Main dish servings

There are other meal ingredients that I have kept ready for those busy days and I’ll share some of those next week.  In the meantime, tell me what  ingredients do you keep in your pantry and freezer and what meal do you make with them?

With love from my country kitchen,

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baking · Dinner · home · Home Landscaping · Main entree · Outside decor

Friday Favorites – Fall and Food!

wp-1476366379870.jpgWith fall’s arrival bringing cooler temps and glorious days, I’ve had some incredible views this week.  Between the countryside where we live and a visit to a nearby lake, it’s been gorgeous all around me, as you’ll see in the pictures below.

I had some young bakers in the kitchen with me this week.  They made sugar cookies in the shapes of leaves and pumpkins.  It was as much fun making them as it was eating them!

Also in the pictures below you’ll see my morning Quiet Time place.  I love its comfort and soft lights in the early morning.  Liza found a comfy spot, too!

The bottom left picture is dinner at our daughter and son-in-law’s home on Sunday.  It’s a special joy to have family living here so that we can enjoy church and a meal after!  I truly never anticipated living near either of my girls.  I just want them to go where God takes them and their husband, but for now our youngest daugher and her husband are here and we’re enjoying it for as long as God will allow.   It’s a special treat to have an invitation for Sunday dinner!  Both of my girls are great cooks and like to try new recipes.  The meal we had last weekend was a new oone she was trying, and it was really yummy!

The other picture was Katie Brown Chicken that I made for my neighbor who had surgery.  I love making this to take to people.  It’s easy to put together, and it’s a comfort kind of food that’s also good for you!

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The pictures below are all from my yard.  Fall allows the roses to bloom again without the threat of the beetles!  I’m enjoying their beauty!  

In the early morning the view out the front windows is breathtaking.  There are the cows, the hills, and the mountains with the sun peeking up and bringing with it a fresh, new day!

When I come back in from my morning walk, I love the view of the front porch.  The rockers got a fresh coat of paint this week, making them even more inviting to sit and enjoy the views!

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How has your fall started out?  Have you made any comfort foods or seen anything beautiful in your area?

I pray you’ll have a great weekend.  We have a fun activity planned – I can’t wait to participate in it, then share the pictures with you next Friday!

Find a place where you can hear God’s Word being preached and be faithful to go AND to participate in worship this weekend!

Stay refreshed,

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Dinner · Fall · Home decor

Friday Favorites – Fall Party

Last weekend we got to have a lovely Fall party in our backyard.  It was so much fun to prep and decorate for it, and I couldn’t wait to show you some pictures.

The guests were our recent Apples Of Gold mentoring group and their husbands.  The Lord gave us a gorgeous day and evening to enjoy being outside for the entire dinner.

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I used mums and small pumpkins, as well as corn stalks out on the patio area.  I covered the three round tables where our guests ate with brown butcher paper.  Then I wrote the guest’s names on the paper.  Each table had a centerpiece that was a mixture of fall items – pumpkins, candles, apples, leaves and other decorative pieces set on a wooden tray or a piece of barn wood (see pic below).

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The menu consisted of:

Artichoke Dip and crackers

Veggie Tray and dip

Blue Cheese Crackers

Cream of Wild Rice Soup

Potato Soup

Beef and Barley Soup

Homemade French Bread

Harvest Salad – Greens, apples, red onion, dried cranberries, walnuts and blue cheese with a Balsamic vinaigrette

Pumpkin Crunch Cake

Texas Sheet Cake

The evening turned nice and cool, making the fire a welcomed place to gather to share testimonies of how the Lord has used Apples of Gold in each life, to sing songs and to be challenged by my husband to “Continue” and “Compliment.”  I thought the night was a huge success and can’t wait to host another gathering outside this fall!

Other events of the weekend consisted of a morning in Jonesborough with my daughter, Alli.  Jonesborough (the oldest city in TN) is always quaint and fun and beautiful, but add a farmer’s market, a library book sale and fall decorations, and you have a perfect morning!

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That waffle with blueberries above was my breakfast – fixed by my sweet husband before I headed out to Jonesborough!  Okay, I made the waffles and froze them, so all he had to do was toast them, but he thought of me, fixed breakfast, added blueberries and brought it up to me while I was having my Quiet Time!  What a great way to start any day!

One last group of photos below will reveal a kitty who curled up in the wooden tray on my chaise lounge – one I used ot hold magazines!  I never know where I’ll find her sleeping!

I was on the search for a gray cardigan and I found the one pictured here clearnanced priced for a whopping $5!  Double win!!

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The fall sunrises have been so beautiful!  I feel like Robert Sheffey, the old circuit riding preacher when he would see the sun setting and would take his sheep skin and go pray because he could “almost see heaven peeking through those clouds.”  I use my walking time to pray out loud to the Lord.  These cool, beautiful mornings have been such a blessing as I cry out to the Lord, walk and pray!

My week and my heart is full of so many of God’s blessings!  I am undeserving, but so very thankful! What fun things did you do this week?

Stay refreshed,

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Dinner · Uncategorized

Refreshing Summertime Pasta Dish

In the summertime I love eating light pasta dishes.  To me that means sauces with fresh veggies that require little or no cooking.  

This recipe today is a new one from a recent Southern Living Magazine.  We loved it!  The marinated tomatoes take the longest amount of time, but that’s only to let them sit and absorb the flavors.  You could add grilled chicken to this dish if you wanted to add some protein.   

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Spaghetti with Marinated Tomatoes

Ingredients

8 ounces thin spaghetti
1/2 cup small mozzarella balls

Preparation

Cook spaghetti according to package directions; drain and return to pot. Spoon in Mouthwatering Marinated Tomatoes and desired amount of vinaigrette; add mozzarella balls. Serve immediately.

Marinated Tomatoes

Ingredients

2 pounds assorted tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 small shallot, minced
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup loosely packed Italian parsley leaves

Preparation

Gently stir together tomatoes, minced shallot, crushed garlic, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper, and set aside for 1 hour and 45 minutes, tossing occasionally. Stir in basil leaves and Italian parsley leaves. Serve immediately.

I added a popover and a green salad and it was a delicious and satisfying meal!

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On a hot day when you don’t want to heat up the kitchen, this is the perfect recipe!  Add toasted garlic bread and you’ll have the perfect summer meal!

What dish do you love to fix when it’s hot outside?

With love from my country kitchen,

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Dinner · Family life · memories

Making the Most of Suppertime

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Mealtimes as a family are important.  It helps you connect, teach, relate, understand, regroup, rest, refresh, encourage, and be nourished physically, spiritually and emotionally as a family.  It takes lots of effort to make it happen, doesn’t it?  So while you’ve got everyone there, let’s make the most of it!!

Last Sunday night at church my husband finished a series on the home.  He ended the message by giving suggestions and taking responses from the congregation about how to make the most of suppertime and after the meal-time.  Here’s the list I compiled in my notebook.  These are great ideas!

  1. Create conversation.
    1. Talk about God’s Word
    2. Talk about answered prayer
    3. Talk about what God is doing in your life!
  2. Play a board game afterward.
  3. Read a book together.  You could use missionary biographies, fictional fun books, or devotional books.
  4. Take a family walk in the neighborhood.
  5. Call meal time a “No Phone Zone.”  No phones at the table.
  6. Lay a puzzle out on the cleared table and assemble it together.
  7. Walk the dog as a family.
  8. Eat in the dining room with cloth napkins, candles and a centerpiece.  Make it happen at a regular time and shoot for 5 x’s a week.
  9. Occasionally eat together at a “fancy” restaurant so you can give your children the experience and training (and also the treat!) of a nicer place out.  Your preparations at home will have them ready and you won’t have to “sweat it out!”
  10. Sing after the meal.

I love having my family gathered around the dinner table – even if it’s just my husband and me!  It’s a special time of day and we need to do all we can to maximize that time!

Tell me:  What do you do to make the most of mealtime?

Lovingly,