Tuna Casserole Supreme

1 package wide egg noodle (or 8 oz of rotini, bowtie, or your choice of pasta)

2 tablespoons butter or oil

1/2 onion, diced

2-3 ribs celery, chopped

1/4 cup all-purpose flour (or 2 tablespoons of cornstarch)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp dry mustard

1 cup milk

1 (10.75 oz) can cream of mushroom soup

2 (5 oz) cans of tuna, drained

1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

2 cups potato chips, crushed (or cornflakes)

Prepare noodles according to package directions; drain and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. While noodles are, melt butter in 3 quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute onion 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in celery, flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder and dry mustard. Cook, stirring constantly until bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in milk and mushroom soup. Return to heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil 1 minute. Stir in tuna, cheddar cheese and cooked noodles. Pour into ungreased 2 quart casserole dish. Top with crushed potato chips and bake 20 minutes.

DELICIOUS!! You can skip the chips, or course, and it's still yummy. The spices give it a nice kick and we found that we like the celery rather than the traditional peas.

Russian Chicken

This is a great meal for college students and those who need a easy meal that tastes yummy.

I had some chicken thawing out in the fridge so I decided to make Russian chicken for dinner tonight for my roommates :) It's a really easy meal to make and really delicious.

You will need: thawed chicken breasts, a bottle of Russian dressing, 1/2 cup of honey, and 1 package of onion soup mix.

Mix the Russian dressing with the honey and onion soup mix in a bowl. Take the chicken breasts and place them in a cooking dish/casserole pan. Pour the mixture over the chicken breast, cover with foil and bake in oven for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

I then bought some instant white rice and made some frozen green beans. When the chicken is done, there's a lot of sauce and it tastes great on rice.

Everyone loved the dinner, they said it felt like they were home, it was great to have a home-cooked meal; and the best part was it was so easy! A delicious meal, that's easy and fun to make!

Plus, I felt so accomplished because I usually never make any food for myself, but tonight I made enough food for 5 people with chicken and sauce leftovers! I'm feeling pretty good today :)

Enjoy!!!

A Quick & Healthy Snack

This isn't a meal, but a great snack I discovered yesterday afternoon after stake conference. Okay, here it is, we'll do the whole official thing.

Ingredients:
your favorite bread
Olive oil
garlic powder

take your favorite bread and put it in the toaster on the desired level of toastiness. When it comes out, pour some Olive oil and spread it around. Take garlic powder and sprinkle it on your toast. Eat and enjoy! But beware of garlic breath!

Crockpot Chicken

Tonight I made the recipe Becky gave me for the crockpot:
chicken breasts
can of cranberry sauce
1/2 packet of dry onion soup mix
8 oz. catalina or french dressing.

My chicken was still partially frozen so I wasn't sure it would crock in time but it was nice and tender.
We served it over mashed potatoes.
I also served a salad of greens with shredded cheddar, craisins, toasted chopped pecans with poppy seed dressing.
The girls didn't care for the meat very much which is not unusal at all. However, Mom and Dad who were here absolutely loved it.  They tried to guess the three ingredients in the sauce but weren't able to name any of them.

I also made these gluten free monster cookies this afternoon--yum!

Gluten Free Monster Cookies

 3 eggs

1 1/14 cups packed brown sugar

1 cup sugar

½ tsp salt

½ tsp vanilla

1 12 oz jar creamy peanut butter

1 cube softened butter

½ cup multi colored chocolate candies ( I used chopped nuts instead)

½ cup chocolate chips

½ cup raisins (optional) (I used craisins instead)

2 tsp baking soda

4 ½ cups quick-cooking oatmeal (or regular, but not instant)

Preheat oven to 350. In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs and sugars. Mix well. Add salt, vanilla, peanut butter and butter. Mix well. Stir in the chocolate candies, chocolate chips, raisins (opt), baking soda and oatmeal. Drop by tablespoons 2 inches apart onto greased cookie sheet.

Bake for 8-10 minutes. Do not overbake. Let stand for about 3 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool. When cool, store in large re-sealable plastic bags.

African-style Peanut Butter Soup

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, sliced
1 sweet red pepper, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes
2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup cooked brown or white rice
1 cup finely chopped cooked chicken

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and red pepper. Saute, stirring often, until the vegetables are very tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic and chili powder. Saute 1 minute longer.

Add the tomatoes with their liquid, chicken broth, and peanut butter to the saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring often. Stir in the rice and chicken. Cook 5 minutes longer. Serve warm.

Spinach Stroganoff

As I was mixing up some stroganoff I was thinking how good spinach would be with the mushrooms so I threw some in. I loved it but Daniel said he was expecting the usual stroganoff taste so it wasn't quite as good as he'd hoped. If I had told him I made "Spinach a la rice" he probably would have told me it tasted great. (Anyone wanting the recipe just leave a comment.)

Apple Pork

This is from the crockpot recipe book you gave me, Amy. It was soooooo good with such simple ingredients.

1 1/2 pounds boneless pork loin cut into 6 pieces, or 6 boneless pork loin chops
4 medium Golden Delicious or Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Place pork in slow cooker. Cover with apples. Combine brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl; sprinkle over apples. Cover; cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours.