Hi Ladies!

Check your Inbox for an Evite to March Cooking Club at my house!

See you soon!

B

Our Fist meeting!

My baby boy took this picture of Holly & I think she looks cute!

Ok, it' s me Rebecca T! Totally happy because we finally met for cook club. And I made food for everyone, but there was really only 3 adults and 4 kids; so let me tell you I had a lot of left overs. Even though I did pawn some off on Holly and Becky.
Now we decided that everyone should posts their recipes on the web, instead of having to give it out to everyone.
Especially since some of us may want it on recipe cards or in a binder or what have you.
I'm great with that. Hope everyone else is too!

Well, I went with a southwestern theme and made Southwestern Lasagna & Southwestern Quiche. Plus a few other things. Here are the recipes:

Southwestern Lasagna:

2lbs of Ground Beef or Turkey
1 medium onion
Taco seasoning for 2lb of meat
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes undrained
1 small can diced green chilies
1 small can sliced olives
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cups or 1lb cottage cheese
1 egg
1 lb of Monterrey jack cheese thinly sliced
10 corn tortillas
1 cup shredded cheese

In skillet, cook the beef and onion over medium heat until meat is brown; drain. Stir in taco seasoning (can substitute 15 oz can of enchilada sauce too) diced tomatoes, oives, green chiles, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.
In a bowl mix egg & cottage cheese, add a little salt and pepper if you like. In greased 13x9x2 pan put a third of the meat, then top with sliced jack cheese, then spread 1/2 the cottage cheese mixture, and top with tortillas. Repeat layers. Top with remaining meat sauce. Sprinkle with shredded cheese.
Cover and bake for 30 to 45 minutes at 350. Uncover; bake 10 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Now on the above recipe I normally make the meat sauce the night before. Just easier that way. And it really calls for enchilada mix, but I have always used taco seasoning.


Southwestern Quiche:

1 pkg Corn bread muffin Mix (8.5 oz)
2 Tblsp butter or margaine, melted
1 Tblsp water
13 eggs
1 cup shredded cheese, divided
1 lb of bulk pork sausage cooked and drained
1 cup milk
1 can (14 3/4 oz) cream-style corn
2 cans (4oz) Chopped green chilies
2 Tblsp finely chopped Onion
1 Cup of Salsa

In a bowl, combine the muffin mix, butter, water and 1 egg; stir just until moistened. Spread in a greased 13x9x2 baking dish. Sprinkle with 1/2 the cheese. In a large bowl, beat the remaining eggs. Add the sausage, milk, corn, chilies, and onions; pour over batter.
Bake uncovered at 350 for 60 to 70 minutes or until knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Top with salsa and remaining cheese. Bake 10 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Okay side note on this dish. We decided that a 1/2 tsp of chili powder in the cornbread mix would make it better. Plus I only put one can of green chilis and didn't do the salsa. I put it on the table to add as they pleased.

Easy and Pleasin' Pasta

Hi! Teren here. Since I am a loser and cannot come to the first official "Cooking Club" meeting, I decided I would add to our blog and post one of my favorite quick and easy meals.
Being a mommy with two little boys, I love recipes that are quick, healthy, economical, create left-overs, and more importantly are KID FRIENDLY!
Needless to say, I have come to create many meals out of items I already have in the pantry. This is one of those creations and it uses one of my favorite items- spinach chicken sausage (I get the glutton free kind at Costco- love em!!!)

Ingredients:
1 box of whole grain pasta, I prefer fusilli.
3 roma tomatoes chopped
1 bag of fresh packaged spinach
1 clove of fresh garlic, finely chopped... I normally add more though (I like garlic)
1 tablespoon of olive oil
4 spinach chicken sausages

Directions:- Cook pasta and sausages according to their packages (I prefer to cook the sausages using the frying pan, but you can also grill, bake, or even microwave them). Cut up sausages into bite size pieces once done cooking and put that and the pasta to the side.
- Heat up olive oil in a large skillet. Add garlic and saute until it becomes a golden brown. Add in tomatoes and stir until the tomatoes become soft (4-5 minutes). Add in spinach a handful at a time, coating each handful in the tomatoes. Once all spinach has been added, saute for about one more minute. I prefer to "wilt" the spinach, but it is up to you. Add in cut up sausage, mix well.
- Add mixture to pasta and ta-da. Easy and pleasin!
-ENJOY- it creates a lot of leftovers, and I even like it more the second day!