Beef and Wild Rice Medley

My only complaint about this delicious dish is the initial saltiness from using the packaged wild rice mix, but that was overshadowed by being able to eat this cold as well as hot (always a benefit in the summer).

Gidget's Rating: 5 stars

Italian-Style Rice

It was just as good without the Parmesan cheese! I forgot about that last step when I took my first bite. In fact, there's a bit too much Parmesan for my taste but I was surprised how tasty this was.

Gidget's Rating: 5 stars

Strawberry Chicken Salad

We use a caterer at work that makes a salad like this. I absolutely LOVE it. I used spinich instead of mixed greens but it's the dressing & feta cheese that makes this a winner!

Gidget's Rating: 5 stars

Chicken Veggie Casserole

Personal Observations: This tastes like potpie! No crust needed! Easy & inexpensive, I make this one often.

Gidget's Rating: 5 stars

Sausage Tomato Hashbrown Casserole

Personal Observations: One of my favorites! I have yet to figure out how best to get the tomato flavor into the whole dish. The original recipe called for cherry tomatoes, but those are rather pricey so I substituted sliced tomatoes. I'm considering using diced tomotoes next time and mixing it into the dish rather than layering it on top...*ponders* We'll see.



Gidget's Rating: 5 stars

Tex-Mex Chicken Soup

Personal Observations: This is really good! I did eliminate a few ingredients (i.e. icky split peas) and substituted tortilla chips for the home-broiled tortilla strips (my attempt resulted in blackened blobs). Consequently the nutritional analysis is slightly inaccurate.

Gidget's Rating: 5 stars

Easy Feta Chicken Bake

Personal Observations: I added sliced bell peppers to the dish before baking and it was all delicious! Each bite is a piece of heaven. Yumm!

Gidget's Rating: 5 stars

Moroccan Chickpea Chili

Personal Observations: This is really good! I'm the first to shy away from cinnamon in my main dishes but I followed directions on this one and it turned out fabulous! It's even better warmed up! The only doctoring I did was add butter, as with ham & bean soup. Perfect!

Gidget's Rating: 5 stars

Fajita Frittata

Personal Observations:
I LOVE this dish! My only reservation is the quantity of servings for an egg dish and for one person. Some people can handle the smell of microwaved eggs. I'm not one of them.

I cut the recipe in half and use a cast iron skillet for cooking, storing the left overs in foil for warming in the oven later.

Gidget's Rating: 5 stars

Sweet 'n' Spicy Pork Chops

Personal Observations: Another one I deviated from, but only in cooking method. I really don't like to broil stuff, only because the clean up is a pain. So...I cooked it in a skillet and it turned out okay. My only problem was the grittiness of the brown sugar mixture because it couldn't fully melt despite using a lid on the skillet and turning up the heat. However, it was still tasty enough for me to warrant additional attempts -- maybe in the oven this time.

Gidget's Rating: 5 stars

Quick-Fix Beef Burrito Skillet

Ingredients:

1 lb. lean ground beef
1 pkg. taco seasoning mix
1 can (19 oz.) kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 c. salsa
1 c. water
1 c. shredded cheese
1/3 c. sour cream
1/3 c. chopped green onions
Tortillas

Brown meat; drain. Add seasoning mix, beans, salsa & water, stir. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes. Top with cheese. Cover, let stand 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Top with sour cream & onions. Serve with tortillas.

Yield: 4 servings (1 1/2 c. each)

Personal Observations:
I drooled over this so much when I made it that it's now became a frequent meal for dinner. I've varied the taco seasoning a bit -- sometimes using seasoning with cheese flavor added (and then reducing the actual cheese), sometimes getting the mild or low-sodium version. It's very customizable!

Gidget's Rating: 5 stars!

Chicken Noodle Casserole

Personal Observations:

This is really good if you like cheesy sauces without it being too thick. The aroma was so tantalizing that I couldn't wait until the noodles had cooked to try out the chicken mixture. You can guess what happened -- it never made it to the baking stage. Definitely prime deee-lish factor here. My only wrinkle in the process was not being able to find savory.

Gidget's Rating: 5 stars, even without the savory!

Peppered Meatballs

Meatball Ingredients:
1/2 c. sour cream
2 t. grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
2-3 t. pepper
1 t. salt
1 t. dry bread crumbs
1/2 t. garlic powder
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef

Sauce Ingredients:
1 c. sour cream
1 (10 3/4 oz.) can condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
2 t. dill weed
1/2 t. sugar
1/2 t. pepper
1/4 t. garlic powder

In a large bowl, combine the sour cream and Parmesan cheese. Add pepper, salt, bread crumbs and garlic powder. Crumble the meat over the mixture and mix well. Shape into 1-inch balls. Place meatballs on a greased rack in a shallow baking pan. Bake at 350 F for 20-25 minutes or until no longer pink; drain.

Transfer the meatballs to a 1 1/2-quart slow cooker. Combine the sauce ingredients; pour over meatballs. Cover and cook on high for 2 hours or until heated through.

Yield: 1 1/2 dozen (2 cups sauce)

Personal observations:
I drooled over the meatballs themselves but the sauce wasn't my favorite. I think the dill component was a little too much so I'll have to tweak that the next time. Also, given that I grind my own peppercorns instead of purchasing already ground pepper, the amount of pepper needs to be...well...reduced. Unless one likes their meals accompanied by tears... Fortunately I did take it easy on the pepper but I think I still went overboard. :)

Gidget's Rating: 4-5 stars, since the sauce needs modification.

Italian Zucchini & Onions

A tasty dish, I found myself making a double batch because of the dee-lish factor.

Ingredients:
2 c. sliced zucchini
1/2 c. chopped onion
1/4 t. oregano
1/8 t. salt
1/8 t. pepper
Parmesan cheese

Saute zucchini & onion in 1 t. oil for 6 minutes. Add seasonings and stir to coat. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over top & serve.

Serves: 1 if you're greedy (2 if you share your food)

Gidget's Rating: 5 stars!