Sloppy Joes

Brown 1 pound of ground meat (I use Turkey, but beef is good too) drain any fat
add 1 chopped onion and 1 chopped green bell pepper
cook until veggies are soft
add 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
add 1 Tablespoon sugar
add 2 Tablespoons dry ground mustard
mix it all until evenly distributed
add ketchup to the consistency you want---it ends up being quite a lot, kind of a shocking amount.

serve on warmed buns with cheese

Penne and Smoked Sausage Casserole

This is from Taste of Home Easy Family Casseroles that was sold in the spring 2008 at check out counters as a 5x7 sized magazine.

2 cups uncooked penne pasta
1 pound smoked sausage or keilbasa cut into 1/4 inch slices (I use Jenny-O turkey keilbasa)
1 1/2 cups milk
1 can cream of celery soup
1 1/2 cups chedder french fried onions, divided
1 cup shredded mozzerella, divided
1 cup frozen peas (i'll use about 2 cups mixed veggies)

cook pasta. Meanwhile in a skillet brown sausage over medium, drain. In a large bowl combine milk and soup. Stir in 1/2 cup onions, 1/2 cup cheese, veggies and sausage. Drain pasta and add to mixture. Stir.
Transfer to greased 9 x 13 dish, Cver and bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining onions and cheese, bake uncovered 3-5 minutes until cheese melts.

Egg Salad

I forgot to snap a photo--but really you know what a sandwich looks like.

Put eggs in pot cover with cold water, bring to a boil, boil 8 minutes.
I got this from Kyle's mom and it definitely worked perfectly. No dark ring around the yolk and the shells came off in 2 giant halves--no picking tiny slivers of shell.
rinse and submerge eggs in COLD water (I kept dumping it out and refreshing until the water stayed cool then plopped a lunch box ice bag in) for 30ish minutes.

Peel eggs, mash with a fork. Add mayo/mustard or Dijionnaise by Best Foods. salt and pepper to taste. Add finely diced celery and sweet pickle. Really you can add whatever you like: onion, carrot, red bell pepper..etc....

put on toasted bread with preferred accompaniments: cheese, spinach, tomato etc.

Stuffed Peppers

Usually 4 good sized green bell peppers, but these were a little smallish so I used 5 in the photo.
1 pound ground meat (traditionally beef, but now I always use turkey)
1/3 cup chopped onion---I use about half a mayan sweet which is surely more than 1/3 c
1 can diced tomatoes (14 oz I think these are)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup UNCOOKED long grain rice --I use uncle ben's --I've been afraid to experiment with brown rice since it takes almost double the time to cook.
1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce---I use about 2 Tablespoons for ground turkey
4 oz shredded chedder (i'm sure I use way more than 4 oz)

cut off tops of peppers, clean inside, sprinkle with salt. cook ground meat and onion until meat is browned. season with salt and pepper. add tomatoes, water, rice and worcestershire. Cover and simmer until rice is tender (all liquid is absorbed) about 15 minutes. stir in cheese to melt, stuff peppers, place in a baking dish (actually i put the empty peppers in the dish then fill them up.) Bake uncovered at 350 for 20-25 minutes.
sprinkle cheese on top at the end.

Teriyaki Chicken

This is my super simple version. I cook 1 cup of brown rice. Bake 2 chicken breasts in a teriyaki bath -- I don't take the time to marinade -- at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes. I microwave or steam peas, but you could use whatever veggie you like or a combo. I cut my chicken into bite sized pieces and then mix it all together. I pour some of the cooked teriyaki sauce over it all. We get at about 4 portions from this and since the chicken is cut up you don't feel jipped like you would if you were served 1/2 a piece of chicken.

Red Bean and Quinoa Chili

This is from Feeding the Whole Family Cooking With Whole Foods by Cynthia Lair. pg 151

1 cup dried kidney beans, soaked and drained
3 cups water, divided
2 teaspoons ground cumin, divided
1 TBLS EVOO
1 medium onion chopped
2 teaspoons sea salt divided (i used regular morton's)
2 cloves minced garlic
1 large green bell pepper chopped
1 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
2/3 cup quinoa rinsed in warm water and drained (this is in the bulk food section)
1 cup fresh or frozen corn
1 -2 cups organic tomato sauce (i used the 14 oz can)
grated cheese optional garnish

Place beans in a large pot with 2 cups water and 1 teaspoon cumin bring to a boil and simmer over low, covered until tender (about 1 hour). You can refrigerate these and finish tomorrow if you need to split the time.

Heat oil in 4 QT pot on medium. add onion, 1 teaspoon salt, garlic, green pepper, 1 teaspoon cumiin, and the rest of the spices (I used more than 1/8 cayenne) saute for 5-10 minutes.
add quinoa and stir, add corn, tomato sauce, and one cup water. simmer 20 minutes. add cooked beans, 1 teaspoon salt, simmer 10 minutes.
Top each bowl with grated cheese.

I think I may have added some chili powder too when I made this before.

HAM CASSEROLE

well this is sort of a sucky photo. Obviously Bon Apetit won't be employing me as a photographer any time soon.

2 cups of dry pasta (I use whole wheat rotini, but you may use any kind you like) cooked and drained, be sure to salt the water
one ham steak cut into bite sized pieces
one frozen bag of mixed veggies--I like the carrots, green beans, corn, lima beans, peas mix, cooked and drained

throw it all together with a can of cream of mushroom soup and seasonings -- I like Nature's Own but salt and pepper is okay too.

sprinkle with bread crumbs or parmesan cheese
bake at 350 for 25ish minutes.