CRUNCHY BAKED FISH:
1 lb. fish fillets
1/3 cup finely crushed cheez-it crackers
1 tsp. parsley flakes
1/2 cup low-fat catalina dressing
*preheat oven to 400*
*mix crackers and parsley
*brush both sides of fish with catalina dressing
*coat one side of fish with cracker mixture
*place fish, cracker side up, on cookie sheet sprayed with nonstick cooking spray
*bake, uncovered, until fish flakes easily with fork, 10-15 min.
BROILED AND SPICY CHICKEN:
1. 6 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
2. 1/2 cup fat-free italian dressing
3. 1 cup tomato juice
4. 1/2 tsp. chili powder
*combine dressing, tomato juice, and chili powder
*pour over chicken and marinate for several hours
*broil for 30 min. or until done, turning once and basting frequently
LEMON GARLIC CHICKEN:
4 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup fat-free chicken broth
1 TBS lemon juice
*using non-stick skillet sprayed with cooking spray, slowly saute garlic over low heat
*add chicken and cook over medium heat until brown on both sides
*add broth and lemon juice
* heat to boiling, then reduce heat
*cover and simmer 10-15 min. or until chicken is done
*remove chicken and keep warm
*cook or reduce remaining liquid in pan, around 3 min.
* pour over chicken and serve
OVEN FRIED CHICKEN:
1. 6 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
2. 1 cup crushed corn flakes
3. 1/4 cup buttermilk
4. 1 tsp. creole seasoning
*combine creole seasoning and corn flake crumbs
*brush chicken with buttermilk and roll in crumb mixture
*bake at 375* for 1 hour
Buy the book at the Simply Saving Shop
by Rachel Paxton
Description: Easy salads that you can prepare for family barbecues or picnics.
Salads are a great accompaniment to any summer picnic or barbecue. Everyone has their favorite. I personally love Taco Salad, my daughter’s favorite is Pea Salad.
Here are some easy salad recipes you can prepare for your family or take to your next family get-together. Keep an open mind about the Broccoli Salad recipe and give it a try. It is delicious!
Taco Salad
1/2 onion, chopped
3 tomatoes
1 head lettuce
4 oz. cheese, grated
8 oz. Thousand Island dressing
Taco Sauce to taste
1 bag tortilla chips
1 lg. avocado, opt.
1 lb. ground beef
1 can kidney beans
1/4 t. salt
Chop onion, tomatoes, and lettuce. Toss with cheese, dressing and taco sauce. Crunch and add chips. Brown meat, add kidney beans, salt and simmer 10 minutes and mix into cold salad. Serve immediately (or prepare ahead of time and add cheese and chips right before serving).
Three Bean Salad
1 can green beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can wax beans
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. vinegar
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. salt
Drain beans. Heat remaining ingredients in a saucepan until heated through. Pour over beans and refrigerate before serving.
Picnic Coleslaw
6 c. shredded cabbage
2 c. shredded carrots
8 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
12 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 c. vinegar
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1/3 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
Combine cabbage, carrots, bacon, and onion. In a jar mix vinegar, sugar, salt, and shake well. Just before serving, pour dressing over cabbage mixture and toss.
Macaroni Salad
1 lb. salad macaroni
12 med. green onions, sliced
4 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1 c. thinly sliced celery
12 slices crisply cooked bacon, crumbled
1 c. dill pickles, chopped
1 1/2 c. mayonnaise
1 tbsp. mustard
1 tbsp. horseradish
1 tbsp. dill pickle juice
Salt and pepper
Cook macaroni according to package directions and drain well. Rinse and drain again. Place macaroni into large bowl. Add onion, eggs, celery, and pickle. Blend together the mayonnaise, horseradish, mustard, and pickle juice. Stir into macaroni mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and chill 4-6 hours.
Broccoli Salad
1 bunch broccoli, cut in tiny flowers
1 c. raisins
1/4 c. red onion
1/4 c. pecans (or walnuts, or sunflower seeds)
1/4 c. bacon bits
1 c. mayonnaise
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. vinegar
Mix mayonnaise, sugar and vinegar. Add bacon bits and other ingredients and mix. Chill for a few hours.
Pea Salad
2 bags frozen peas
1 block cheddar cheese (cubed or shredded)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 bunch green onions
1 pkg. bacon cut into small pieces and fried
Keep peas frozen until ready to use. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Chill and serve.
Five Cup Salad
1 c. sour cream
1 c. miniature marshmallows
1 c. coconut
1 c. pineapple
1 c. mandarin oranges
Mix together and refrigerate for 12 hours.
Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom who is the author of What’s for Dinner?, an e-cookbook containing more than 250 quick easy dinner ideas. For more recipes, gardening, organizing tips, home decorating, holiday hints, and more, visit Creative Homemaking at http://www.creativehomemaking.com.
Everyone can use some basic cooking tips. We offer you ten of the best cooking tips to help you cook cleaner, faster and healthier.
1. Easy clean up for your microwave – Keep a paper plate in the microwave to catch messy spills. When it is time to clean, just throw the paper plate out and replace with a new one.
2. Always crispy fried fish - Your fish will be perfectly fried if you put it in a little milk before flouring it. Also, put it into the pan when the oil is very hot, but not smoking. Your family and you will love the crispy coating.
3. Kitchen Tricks - Don’t throw out trimmings from onions and celery. Instead, freeze them to use later when you make stock or broth. They will have a rich taste.
4. Juice Your Lemons Juicier - For lemons that are really juicy, try this little trick. Just before you squeeze the lemons, put them in hot water. You can also place lemons in a preheated warm oven. These warmed up lemons give much more juice.
5. An Apple a Day - When you eat outside on a camping trip, if anyone forgets their toothbrush; always keep an apple in your backpack. The apple not only helps to digest your food, it cleans and disinfects the mouth.
6. Ripening Fruits and Vegetables - A lots of fruit and vegetables found in supermarkets today look ripe but are hard as a rock. Put them in a brown paper bag and hide the bag away in a dark cupboard for a day or two before you eat them.
Use this great tip for items such as avocados, bananas, kiwi fruit, peaches, nectarines, and many more.
7. Prepare a Quick Salad - Serve salad ingredients on a bed of lettuce rather than tearing the salad greens into small pieces. Just lay a few lettuce leaves on the plate and layer it with a slice of tomato, cucumber, red onion and olives.
8. Tender Meat – You can tenderize meat using one to two tablespoons of vinegar. You can do a quick marinade with vinegar and spices. Leave in the refrigerator 10-15 minutes then cook.
9. Wilted vegetables – You can perk up wilted vegetables by soaking them in 2 cups of water and 1 tablespoon of vinegar.
10. Wooden Skewers – Shish kebabs are a healthy meal and delicious meal especially for summer outdoor cookouts. When using wooden skewers for kebabs, keep them from burning by soaking in cold water for 10-30 minutes before you put them on the grill.
Angela Tyler is a mom who would rather play than cook. If that sounds like you, you won’t want to miss www.FreeQuickRecipes.com.
I’ve never been much of a cook so you won’t find many recipes here but the few things I do make, I’d be happy to share. One of them is bruschetta. I’m still tweaking this recipe so if you use it, let me know what you did.
Preheat oven to 375.
Combine 3 tomatoes (chopped), 1/2 onion (chopped), 1 clove of garlic (chopped), 1/2 TSP each of basil & oregano (fresh if you have it), 2 TBS olive oil and some grated parmesean cheese. Mix and set aside.
Cut a loaf of Italian bread diagonal, 1/2″ slices, place on pan and bake 2-3 minutes. Take the bread out and spoon the mixture on it. Add some shredded or thinly sliced mozzerella cheese. Put back in the oven for 2-3 minutes.
mangia! 
I’ve been a vegetarian all of my adult life. I originally stopped eating meat and poultry because I became interested in animal rights, but my on going good health has become an extra benefit.
I am by no means a cook. I don’t even like the kitchen. LOL But hey, we gotta eat. I love the products by companies like Morning Star Farms, Gardenburger (love their meatballs with some sweet and sour sauce!) and Boca because they’re so easy to use. I found this recipe on the MSF website that I’d like to try.
Asian Style Lettuce Wraps
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 8
Ingredients:
1/4 cup sliced green onions
4 Morningstar Farms Grillers Vegan Veggie Burgers, cut into 1-inch strips
3 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
2 cups packaged cole slaw mix or shredded cabbage
Directions:
1. Cook onion in nonstick frypan coated with vegetable cooking spray over medium heat for 1 minute. Stir in burger strips. Cook and stir until heated through.
2. Combine soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, and red pepper.
3. Add soy mixture and cole slaw mix to burger strips. Gently toss until combined.
4. Spoon some burger mixture into each lettuce leaf. Wrap leaf around filling. Secure with wooden pick. Serve immediately.
I was checking out the recipe exchange at Morning Star Farms again and came across two more that I want to try.
Ginger Dipping Sauce
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 6
Ingredients
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon soy sauce
In a blender, combine onion, garlic, ginger, lemon juice, soy sauce, sugar, and vinegar. Process until smooth. Serve at room temperature.
Dip Morningstar Farms Original Chikn Tenders in finished ginger sauce.
Chik’n Penne Alfredo
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients:
11 or 12-ounce mini penne pasta (uncooked)
2 cups alfredo sauce
2 1/2 cups chopped Morningstar Farms Meal Starters Chik’n Strips
Directions:
Cook, strain and rinse pasta
Return pasta to pan and add sauce
Add favorite seasoning (Old Bay or Italian seasoning works great)
Lightly chop Chik’n Strips. Add to pasta and sauce
Stir ingredients together
Simmer covered 3 to 5 minutes
Let stand 2 to 3 minutes uncovered before serving
Simplify Your Menu Planning: by Leslie Sausage
Ever said to yourself, it’s 5:00 o’clock and what’s for dinner?!? Yikes! A simple menu plan may eliminate some of this stress!
To get started, check the family calendar. Grab the grocery sales ads, a sheet of paper, a pen and your favorite recipes or cookbooks. Yes, and pour yourself a glass of iced tea or brew a cup of your favorite hot tea.
Next, fold your sheet of paper into eighths by folding in half, side-to-side, then fold in half, top-to-bottom and again top-to-bottom.
Now label the eight squares: meat, dairy, produce, canned, bakery, frozen, staples and non-food. On the other side of the paper; label the squares with the days of the week.
Then, check the pantry, freezer and the refrigerator for what supplies you are starting with. Before you begin planning; check the grocery sales ads to see what the specials are.
Now, what will you have for dinner on grocery shopping day? This is important to decide. I’ve found that it’s best to either make dinner with what you already have at home or plan an easy meal for this night, just depends on your schedule.
Write down each day’s menu, then list what side dish, bread, dessert or salad that you will prepare. Think about what you have already on hand to prepare the meal with and add what’s needed to your grocery list on the other side of the sheet of paper.
Continue with the other days of the week. While planning, think about “planned leftovers” or slowcooker meals for your busy days. Slowcooker meals are also great for Sunday lunch when you come home from church.
Cooking at home will save you tons of money over taking the whole family out for a meal!
Make an extra meal (which can be frozen) on the days you have more time. Don’t forget about plans for breakfast and lunch!
After making your menu plan, add other non-food items that you’ll need to purchase this week.
Go shopping with your list!
After shopping, think about what can be done as you put the groceries away. Boil some eggs for a quick egg salad later in the week. This is also a good time to squeeze in a double batch of Jell-o with fruit for dessert or snack this week. Instead of freezing that large roast you bought on sale, go ahead and start cooking it on low in the slowcooker.
Even if the roast will not be for tonight’s dinner, the cooked roast can be kept for a few days to make a nice dinner tomorrow or sandwiches for lunch sometime this week. You can also freeze the cooked roast. Just use freezer zipper-seal bags and add a little of the broth. About two cups of cooked meat equals one pound. This will be great on a night when you get home late or have an extra busy day. Just defrost and heat it up, adding a side dish like rice or mashed potatoes and a salad for a very quick meal.
You’ve taken the time to make your menu plan, and gone shopping to get what is needed to prepare the menu, now post it on the refrigerator to remind you of your plan this week.
Each morning, before 10 o’clock, check to see what’is for dinner…and whether the plan needs to be adjusted according to changes in your schedule.
For more help with menu planning, check out my Five-Week Menu and Shopping List. It’s five weeks of dinner menu plans and the main ingredients needed to prepare the meals. Exact recipes are not included; you may need to check your favorite cookbook for that.
Leslie Sausage lives with her husband in rural Texas. She is the mom of four grown children, a freelance writer, and has degree in business administration. You are invited to visit her online for more creative, practical and fun ideas — http://heart4home.net.
