my top viewed posts for 2017

wow this year has gone by so quickly, thought I just did this for 2016...

in no particular order

tuna noodle casserole
spam pie
loaded baked potato soup
alice springs copy cat quesadilla
million dollar spaghetti
cheese fondue
orange dreamsicle pie
slow cooker bbq ribs
hamburger stroganoff, one skillet
chicken and rice teriyaki bowls
hamburger rice and gravy

a few of these remained from last year, cannot wait to see what stays this year

getting ready for week ahead

for my chemo, I do 2 weeks on and one week off...this has been my week off and been so nice, I feel almost human...ha, but it won't last...go back on Thursday...

so I used to use the weekend to get ready for meal planning by making things ahead, cause I would be going back to school...

now, I am getting ready for chemo...

here is what I did for the next 2 weeks...

....I already put a pan of baked penne in the freezer
....boiled eggs (egg salad sounds good)
....made 4 cups of rice
....cooked stew beef for stew
....made a small roast for sandwiches
....made pasta salad

this will help me a little, at least I hope

teaching Zoie...baked penne with meat sauce

since I got sick, when I am able to eat, I have been craving spaghetti with meat and sausage...

this is my week without chemo and decided it was now or never to make a big dinner...

no surprises here...

2 pounds of browned hamburger
1 pound of sweet italian sausage, cubed and browned
2 large jars of spaghetti sauce
1 large can of tomato soup (this is my way of cutting down on the acid of tomatoes)

I mixed all together and poured over 2 boxes of cooked till al-dente penne.

added mozzarella cheese to the top and baked at 350 for about 20 minutes....

was what I had been craving and paired with texas toast

posting my holiday menus...Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Years...

I am still confused about this, but it doesn't change anything really anyway...

Cancer does not run in my family...heart disease does and I always thought that heart disease would be the thing that brought me down...especially since I do have Congestive Heart Failure and Chronic Pulmonary Disease...Cancer threw me for a loop and has brought me down...

starting chemo was not quite as bad as I thought it would be, I am dealing the best I can...on chemo days, they give you enough nausea meds through the IV and it lasts for 4 days which is very nice...nausea, and fatigue are the worst...

I still have to feed my family, although I sure have scaled back...I try very hard to make big meals that will last for a couple of days to cover the days when I feel so bad...so for my holiday menus,

Thanksgiving
I made an oven roasted turkey and then since it was just Tim and me, we got a ham dinner from Marie Callendar and still ended up with tons of leftovers...

Christmas Eve (my favorite, we do a appetizerbuffet, but scaled back this year) 
swedish meatballs
cheddar and sour cream potatoes
pizza rolls
bbq little smokies
homemade pumpkin bread
Tim made a cranberry and pear tart

we scaled back so much I thought there would be complaints, but I think we are finding that just being together is better than slaving all day in the kitchen

Christmas Day
spiral ham
brown butter mashed potatoes
gravy
biscuits
maple glazed carrots
sweet potato cake

New Years Eve
macaroni salad
ham and cheese pinwheels
veggie tray
bisquick fried cheese
homemade egg rolls
million dollar dip

New Years Day
beef stroganoff

Kings Day
cheese fondue

so there you go...happy eating

teaching Zoie: oven baked pork ribs, corn casserole, parmesan noodles and peas

the store had these pork ribs (the boneless ones) on sale and it was just Tim, Zoie and me and I got away with only one package of meat...I am so not used to cooking for a small amount of people...

when we were in the process of loosing our house, after the cat had gotten laid off from aerospace, he took a part time job in a meat market but they could not afford to pay him so he took his wages in meat and the first time he brought these home, I did not know what to do with them...

but every time now, I do them like this and my family loves them...

I put them in a baking pan and minimally put BBQ sauce on them (they have their own liquid also) and I wrap tightly with aluminum foil and bake them for about 3 hours...they come out so tender...

tonight I paired with:
parmesan noodles (I used boxed ones tonight)
corn casserole
peas

family is happy


http://www.jiffymix.com/recipe.php/jiffy+corn+muffin+mix/156-spoon+bread+casserole

teaching Zoie; hashbrown casserole

This totally is one of our all time favorites...we love it for dinner too...there is not a person in this house that does not love it...I used it as a bribe for my 9 year old grandson this week...

here is what I do...
I take 2 pkgs of frozen shredded hashbrowns and lightly fry them in a small amount of oil to brown them (I think the browning adds to the flavor and helps to thaw them also)...I have to fry them in 2 batches as my fry pan is not big enough...

I add them to a bowl and sprinkle some cheese (this time I used colby and jack) saving enough cheese for the top...

then I add 6 lightly scrambled eggs to the mixture along with sausage (and with this I cheat, I buy the Jimmy Dean crumbled fully cooked turkey sausage)...

mix all together with 1 1/2 containers of sour cream...add which seasonings you like (I added garlic salt, pepper, and onion powder...)

put into a large baking pan and spread with cheese...

bake at 375 for about 1/2 hours or until bubbly and cheese is melted...

you will love it, I promise

teaching Zoie; baked meatball sliders

I had a really late appointment at Loma Linda and knew once home I would not feel like making dinner and we are trying really hard to eat at home and eat healthier too...so I got everything out and ready and told Zoie what to do and she came through big time....I was proud of our little girl...

so here is what she did...

she put frozen meatballs into a saucepan that she had poured one jar of spaghetti sauce into and she cooked the meatballs for 10 minutes...

we used King's Hawaiian rolls which she spread the bottoms in a baking pan...and she put one meatball onto each bottom slider...then the mozzarella cheese and the top bun...

she covered the pan with foil and baked at 350 for 10 minutes...next uncover the pan and bake an additional 10 minutes and the cheese is all melty and gooey...

Tim loved his dinner and he paired it with a green salad...

teaching Zoie; scalloped potatoes and ham

we had ham left over from Thanksgiving and I didn't want it to go to waste and Zoie was only too happy to help me this night with dinner...

we took 8 russet potatoes (when I was doing my research for this recipe, most people said russets make the best scalloped potatoes because of the starch) and we sliced them very thinly and started layering them in a baking pan...
in between each layer, we also added a layer of cut up ham...added seasonings to the top and poured half and half over the top with some chunks of butter...

baked at 375 for about an hour and then sprinkled some montery jack cheese and put back in oven to melt the cheese for about 5 minutes...

so good reminded me of my childhood, we had this a lot growing up

teaching Zoie; hot ham and cheese pinwheels

these are so good and would be fantastic for an appetizer for Christmas and are very easy to make also...

http://www.kevinandamanda.com/hot-ham-cheese-party-rolls/

everyone in my house loves these and I will be making for Christmas Eve...

my love for cooking, I am trying to pass off to my grand daughter Zoie...and it means more to me since my cancer diagnosis...she loves to cook too and has already said that if anything happens to me she wants my cookbooks...this kid also makes a mean roux...she is turning out to be better than I ever was...

please try these rolls you will not be disappointed...