• 1 16 oz. box rotini noodles
• 1 block cheddar cheese (cubed)
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup ranch dressing
• 1 cup broccoli (chopped)

Cook noodles according to package directions and allow to cool. Mix all other ingredients with noodles together in large bowl. Can be eaten warm or chilled. Refrigerate leftovers.

• 1 16 oz. box rotini noodles
• 1 1/2 cups broccoli (chopped)
• 1 block Colby cheese (cubed)
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 can black olives (sliced)
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 carrot (shaved)
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup ranch

Cook noodles according to package directions. When noodles are done mix with olive oil and salt. Allow noodles to cool before adding all other ingredients, it melts the cheese when too hot. Mix all other ingredients and place in the fridge to chill. This can be eaten right after bein made or after being chilled, its your choice.

• 1 head lettuce (chopped)
• 2-3 large tomatoes(diced)
• 1 8oz. package shredded cheese
• 1 cup broccoli (chopped)
• 1 cup cauliflower(chopped)
• 1 cucumber (diced)

After chopping/dicing all the vegetables throw them all in a large bowl. Mix all the veggies well. Put your favorite dressing on your salad and eat healthy.

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• 3 cups instant rice
• 3 cups water
• 1 jar Ragu cheese sauce
• 1 bag frozen veggies (your favorite mix)

Heat water on high in large saucepan. Pour frozen veggies in medium saucepan, cover with water, and cook on high heat. When water in large saucepan is boiling stir in rice and remove from heat. Let rice sit for 5 minutes to absorb water, then fluff with fork. Cook veggies until soft, then drain. Mix rice, veggies, and jar of Ragu together and serve.

2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup
2 packages frozen mixed vegetables (thawed)
2 cups chicken (cooked, cubed)
1 cup chicken broth combined with 2 tablespoons flour
2Â pie shells

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix soup, veggies, chicken and broth mixture. Pour soup mixture into pie shell and cover with 2nd pie shell. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until crust is golden.

• 1 package egg noodles
• 2Â cans tuna (drained)
• 2Â cans cream of chicken soup
• 1 can sweet peas (drained)
• 1 8oz bag shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Boil egg noodles as directed on package and drain. To noodles add tuna, soup, and peas; mix. Pour into casserole dish and cover with shredded cheese. Bake until cheese is melted and browned.

• 2 cups baby carrots
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp butter

Put carrots in saucepan and cover with water. Cook until carrots are soft. Drain carrots and add brown sugar and butter and stir until melted to create a glaze.

Doesn’t this pic of my Sausage, Peppers, and Potato Recipe look Yummy?

I seem to have the uncanny ability to take ingredients that need to be used up and create really tasty dishes! We had a cookout awhile back and my son demanded those all beef Kosher Hebrew National hot dogs. We had never purchased them before – but it’s what he wanted, so we got them for the cookout. We had a lot of people so I had purchased a big 32 pack of the all beef Polish sausage variety. We had a half dozen left, and this is what I did with them.

To make this recipe you will need these ingredients:

• 6 small-med potatoes (red, white, or gold)
• 1/2 lg Vidalia onion, sliced
• 1/2 lg green pepper, chopped
• 6 Hebrew National All Beef Polish Dogs sliced in 1″ pieces
• salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
• 2 cloves chopped garlic

I started by dicing the potatoes skin-on and placing them in a large skillet on high with about 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil. While they cooked, I sliced the onion and diced the green pepper. If you like, you could always chop and add a small hot pepper to mix as well! Add the onion and green pepper to the pan and mix well to coat with oil. Then slice the Polish dogs, add to the pan and mix well. Last add the garlic, and mix well.

Let me explain the order of things. I get the potatoes in the pan right away – they would take 20 minutes to cook alone, so I try to let them cook (by themselves) for 8-10 minutes before adding the pepper and onion. Turn the heat down to med-high and about 5 minutes later I’ve chopped the polish dogs, so I add them. I reserve the garlic until about 5 minutes more. Then it really only needs to cook a few more minutes and as long as the potatoes are soft.

Even though this dish looks really good in the pic above, the thing that really makes it incredible are those polish dogs. I’ve had LOTS of hot dogs and TONS of different sausages in my life, but I’d never had Hebrew National. Their all beef texture is distinctive, but the thing that sets them apart is that they appear to be packaged in vinegar – which gives them this bit of “pickled” flavor I just can’t describe, but couldn’t get enough of. It permeates the onion and pepper, and once it matches up with the garlic – it just made this very simple dish come alive! There were in fact more than one in the house making fun of it – but the finished taste was unmistakable! Once you try this, you may never buy regular polish dogs again!

Make it a meatless Monday with this “Cheesy Veggie Casserole” vegetarian main dish!

As I’ve stated before, having a night with a vegetarian dish is a great way to cut out some calories and fat, eat lighter, and become more healthy! Sometimes I think people think that eating vegetarian has to mean tasteless bland food – and nothing could be further from the truth! Let me show you how to take some simple ingredients and combine the tastes of several classic you love into one main casserole dish for dinner!

Ingredients you’ll need:

* 6-7 Medium Russet, White, Yellow, or Red potatoes
* 1/2 Vidalia Onion sliced
* About 1/2 lb fresh green beans
* About 1/2 lb fresh shortcut carrots
* About 1/2 of a brick of 2% Velveeta cheese cut into cubes
* 1 cup water
* 1 cup milk
* salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
* Italian seasonings (or fresh dill or fresh italian parsley chopped)
* 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
* *optional: 1/4 cup bread crumbs and / or freshly grated parmesan cheese

This recipe is pretty simple. First pre-heat your oven to 375. Next get a large mixing bowl, and dice your potatoes up (skin on) and place in the bowl. Add the carrots. Snap the ends off of your fresh green beans and then snap them all in half, and add to the bowl. Add the olive oil to the bowl and toss ingredients. Cut your onion and add to the bowl. Add the salt and fresh ground pepper to taste, turn the mixture over a few times and turn out into a glass 9×14 baking dish. Chop your Velveeta into cubes, add to the top of the pan, and push down a little into the veggie mixture. Pour the water and milk over the mixture slowly from one end of the pan to the other. On top add the bread crumbs or parmesan cheese if you like.

Bake on 375 for about 1 hour in center of oven. Best served with fresh french bread or freshly baked multi-grain rolls. The best way to describe this disk is a cross between scalloped potatoes and Mac & Cheese (without the pasta)! It’s really good, and we never have any left over when we make it!

Like Italian food but trying to lose weight? My “Healthy Chicken Parmesan” is the perfect alternative for you!

Since I’ve been losing weight, I’ve been experimenting with ways to create some of my favorite standard meals – most of which it turns out, were very, very fattening. My family has always been really big on Italian and Mexican foods, and those types of dishes are traditionally very, very high in both carbs and fat. With this healthy chicken parmesan I tried to cut the fat – but also go really big on taste to make up for it.

Ingredients you’ll need:

1/3 Vidalia Onion
10 baby or one large carrot shredded
1/2 large green pepper
5 cloves garlic
Italian seasonings
garlic powder
3 tbsp Xylitol
1 Jar Spaghetti sauce (I used Ragu roasted peppers and onion)
3 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
2 large tomatoes or 6 Roma tomatoes
1 lb organic wheat pasta (I used Thin Spaghetti)
1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese

I’m part Italian, but not enough so that I have to make my own sauce for hours and hours. I do however, like to make a hybrid half-homemade and half-jar tomato based sauce. You could just use premium sauce from the jar – but that just wouldn’t be as good would it? I usually like to use up veggies in the fridge, and in this case I had a bowl of fresh tomatoes and a pepper from the garden that smelled especially good.

Start out by adding the olive oil to a large skillet/saucepan on the stove. Place your 4 chicken breasts in the pan and turn the heat on med-high. While this cooks, chop up your onion and pepper, and shred your carrot. By this time your chicken has cooked on one side 5-8 minutes, turn it over and add these veggies to your saucepan on top of the chicken. While that cooks, chop up your garlic cloves and set aside. Next Dice up your tomatoes. By the time you are done chopping the tomatoes it’s time to turn your chicken again. Add the chopped tomatoes and garlic to the pan, stir everything up around the chicken the best you can. You can turn the heat down just slightly above medium now.

While that simmers uncovered, next I run the hot water and then fill a 4 quart pot halfway with hot water and place on the stove on low. I want the water to be just a minute away from boiling when I need it (pasta cooks quick). Now I add some italian seasonings and some garlic powder, and even some salt and ground pepper to the chicken and sauce base. I’ll let this cook maybe 5 minutes more and then I add the entire jar of spaghetti sauce and the Xylitol and mix it up really good with the veggies in and around the chicken. You might have to pile the chicken up in either side of the pan twice to do this effectively. Then, cover your pan with a lid and simmer and medium low. The reason I use Xylitol sugar substitute is because it gives the sauce a slightly sweet taste and it balances out the garlic and enhances the natural sweetness of the carrots. Xylitol is good for you because it’s a natural sugar substitue (found in vegetables), and it has no cooking aftertaste, it tastes exactly like sugar – with none of the calories. It doesn’t affect blood sugar at all. You can get it at any health food store.

Now turn the water pan up to high and get it boiling, add the wheat pasta and boil for 6-8 minutes. About halfway through stir up your chicken and sauce mixture. Drain your pasta, and I usually drizzle with a bit of extra virgin olive oil to keep it from sticking, and also a bit of fresh ground pepper. Now you can turn off the chicken. Grab four plates, and distribute the pasta evenly. Place one chicken breast on each mound of pasta and sauceover the top and onto the noodles. Sprinkle your fresh ground parmesan cheese over each sauce covered chicken breast and serve!

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