After Christmas I bought four rosemary trees that had been shaped as Christmas trees and clearanced for 2.00 each. I was excited about it because there is so much that fresh rosemary is wonderful for.  I love smelling it when I am sitting out on the porch…I love using it in cooking and baking.  I love adding springs of it to my drawers or closets.

Another thing I love is chicken and noodles, or Pennsylvania Dutch chicken pot pie.  I thought I had come up with every variation known to man but I was inspired the other day to add rosemary and Swiss cheese to a basic recipe.

The flavor went from comfort food to sophisticated comfort food.  I was in love.  This is my entry into this week’s Presto Pasta Nights, hosted by Patsy of Family, Friends and Food.  I am getting to know her on Twitter and she is so very sweet!  Many thanks to Ruth, of Once Upon a Feast for keeping this going!

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I have learned to love Muir Glen Fire Roasted tomatoes.  They add a smoky bite to everything I have put them in.

Our green beans are just starting to stop producing. I didn’t plant enough this year so I haven’t canned any at all.  I thought about putting in more but I think my time is too limited at the moment to care for them.

Anyway, the okra begins to produce just about the time that the green beans stop. We didn’t have enough for fried okra, only a few tender pods…so I sliced them up with some onions, and other things from the garden, added a can of fire roasted tomatoes and some fresh cilantro..and mixed some whole wheat rotini into the whole thing. Wow! With a little cheese, it was awesome. Read more

Sometimes I feel that I have no time to cook. I really hate that because I love cooking but my life right now is just so busy that cooking seems to take a back seat.  I know I have been scarce in visiting your blogs…blame it on a huge amount of writing assignments and Chris being home…both good things!

Even my photography seems to be BLAH. Read more

This is my entry for the Presto Pasta Night Round-up. Head over there and check out the rest of the pasta dishes. They are always amazing.

I discovered whole foods (not Whole Foods, that came later) sometime in the very early 1980s. Yep. Before it was cool. We were vegan for several years and then vegetarian for several years after that.

We still eat a diet that is not average for Americans. It is very vegetable based with more meat in winter than in summer. We try to eat locally and about 90% of what we eat is either home grown or organic.

I like whole grains in most things. Read more

I usually think of this casserole in the fall when the weather is cooling down but it is one of those that the family loves any time of the year, and so when I found ham on clearance at the grocers the other day this was an immediate thought. You can add buttered, toasted crumbs to the top just before baking if you like, but just plain like this is fine too. It is creamy and filling and you can use less ham to stretch the budget a bit more if you like. Vary the types of cheese used to vary the flavor in this versatile dish. Read more

If you are looking for a fabulous main course, Italian dish that is easy to make, and freezes great try this Torta Rustica. There are so many ways to make it that the recipe is almost needless.

Add whatever cheese-vegetable-meat combo you want,( this one was vegetarian) and bake in your pizza crust until done. Serve warm, room temp, or cold. Store it well covered for up to two days in the fridge, or seal and freeze.

I love this with black olive bread, a leafy, mixed greens salad, some black olives, and if you want, maybe add this toffee, dark chocolate bundt cake for dessert. Read more

March 29 is Marc and my 28th anniversary. Oh my gosh, where did the time go? I know that is such a cheesy thing to say..but it is so true. I can’t imagine that we are now grandparents dealing with disability payments and bad backs.

I was a month away from twenty, and he was two months away from twenty one when we got married. It was on a Saturday because we could not get leave time. Our best man did not show up..so one of the other guys got drafted to be best man. I made the cake. The detachment took up a collection to pay for the reception. Ah, good times. Read more

Do you hate when your schedule gets out of whack? I do…I am just not real flexible..it is a time thing. I get up at 4:30 and try to write my blogs before barn chores and breakfast. This morning I got up..grabbed my coffee and sat at the computer only to hear a high pitched sound..like the sound the machines make on the medical t.v. shows when the patient flatlines. And it was true. The computer had flatlined. I didn’t have the web addresses to what I needed even though I tried to punch them in 40 different ways. Sigh.

Well Marc came home and talked sternly to the computer and of course it is up and running again.

I thought perhaps I had better post some savory foods since I have been on such a dessert kick lately.  This recipe is a big comfort food for me. It is very versatile, inexpensive and filling. Best of all it just tastes good. The hard thing was actually writing hte recipe for it because I just put in what I have and don’t bother to measure much.  This freezes well, stores for a week in the fridge if you need it to (AS IF) and you can adjust the ingredients as you like. This recipe makes a 13″ x 9″ casserole dish, 8-10 servings at our house, probably 12-16 at someone else’s house.  If you don’t need that much you can even freeze it in single serving freezer containers for a quick  meal for one, or if you do once a month cooking this does freeze well.

Tamale Pie

6 cups cooked pinto beans

1 16 oz package frozen corn kernels

1 onion chopped

1 bell pepper chopped

1 clove garlic chopped fine

1 jalapeno chopped fine

oil for saute-ing

1 bunch fresh cilantro chopped

1 large can diced tomatoes.

1 tsp cumin

1 tbs chili powder

salt to taste

2 c grated colby jack cheese

For the topping:

1 1/2 white corn meal

1/4  c flour

1  tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 c buttermilk

2 tbs oil or  melted butter

1 egg

Preheat oven to 375.

Saute bell pepper, onion, garlic, and jalapeno until tender.  Remove from heat and add corn kernels, pinto beans, chopped cilantro,canned tomatoes and seasoning. If mixture seems very dry add a little tomato juice or water. Spread in 13×9 pan. Top with cheese.

Mix cornmeal, flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl.  Stir together beaten egg,  melted butter, and butter milk.  You can also add 1 can of chiles at this point if you like. Stir the cornmeal mixture into the egg mixture, beating until smooth.  Pour over top of cheese layer and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until cornbread tests done and  bean mixture is heated through.

You can add other vegetables to this. It is always fantastic.

So before I hand over this incredible recipe, tell me, if you were replacing your computer would you go with a laptop or a full size and why?

  I am telling you, blogging at the library is getting old and I dislike not being able to post pictures  because I like to look at pictures on blogs, myself. Plus, I am getting jealous of all Aisa’a yummy pictures sitting there on her posts tempting me to break my diet. :P   Ijust am trying to decide,I am leaning toward a laptop but I have 6 kids remaining at home that are homeschooled and use the computer routinely as well..What I need is for a couple of thousand to be dropped in my lap and get both.

   O.k..these are really good and not hard to make..you can use chicken or turkey instead of the ground beef if you like. The recipe makes 12 enchiladas. According to most theories this will feed 6 people. In our house that will take care of the 2 teenage boys…I usually double or triple the recipe.

  I used to do Once a Month Cooking…I really like the idea altho I do get tired of so many casserole type meals. This recipe is from when I was doing that and therefore freezes very, very well.  If you are freezing then freeze the grated cheese in a small ziploc and attach the ziploc to the casserole dish so you can add the cheese seperately when you cook it. Freeze for up to 3 months.

  These are child friendly..meaning they are no too spicy. If you like more spice add about 1/2 c of salsa verde to the sauce with the chilis.

 1 1/2 lb ground beef  (chicken breast, or turkey )

1 1/4 c chopped onion

1 Tbs chili powder

12 corn tortillas

3 c grated monterey jack cheese

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup

            *OR if you are NOT freezing this make a white sauce with 2 c half and half, 1/4 c flour, 2 tsp chicken bullion paste and salt and pepper to taste. I dislike using commercila products because of everything they seem to like to add to it but it does freeze better when you use the commercial product.

  1 1/2 c sour cream

4 oz can diced chilis

  Brown beef.If you are using cooked chicken breast or turkey leftovers then just go ahead to the sauteeing. :). Saute onion. Combine with chili powder, salt and pepper.

  Reserve 1 c cheese (this is what you would put in freezer bag if freezing). Mix remaining cheese in with meat mixture.

  Warm tortillas until flexible.

  lay a tortilla flat and spoon about 2 tbs meat mixture down center.  roll up and place, seam side down, in a 9×13 pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray or greased with olive oil. Repeat until all the tortillas have been used.

 Combine soup, sour cream and green chilis to make a sauce. Pour over enchiladas.

 Freeze at this point…

 OR

Bake at 375 for 15 minutes. Sprinkle reserved 1 cup cheese over top and continue baking for 10 more minutes or until heated through.

Lasagne is, I think, Marc’s very favorite dinner. When I make it I make a HUGE pan of it..actually the pan is not a 13×9 as it may look but a 26x 18…This recipe is for a 13x 9 since I don’t know many people that have to cook lasagne in the portions that I do.
I use homemade whole wheat pasta for the lasagne noodles, and I have made my own sauce, ricotta, and mozzerella in the past,w ith awesome results… Use what you like. When I was low carbing I used thinly sliced eggplant for the noodles and that works well too! The meat for this lasagne can be italian sausage or ground beef. I recently started grinding the beef myself because I dislike the quality of ground meat available in the store. If you use all ground beef then do get a ground chuck so it has more flavor.
To me, lasagne is best assembled a day ahead and cooked before serving. It feezes well for up to 3 months.

1 lbs homemade pasta or 1 box of lasagne noodles
1 lbs of ricotta
2 eggs
1/4 c fresh basil chopped
1 lb of mozzarella shredded (or part mozzerella/ part provelone)
3 cups favorite pasta sauce
1 1/2 lbs ground beef or mix ground beef and italian sausage
1 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 green pepper chopped
1/4 c italian seasoning

Mix ricotta, eggs and basil leaves together well

Brown meat, garlic, onion, and pepper in skillet..Be sure to salt and pepper ground beef as it is cooking…if you are using italian sausage there is no need to do that. Drain fat, mix in italian seasoning, and set aside.
Cook lasagne noodles in boiling, salted water with a tbs of olive oil added. Cook until a la dente…overcooking will make it mushy. Drain and hang noodles over the side of the pot to keep seperate while assembling lasagne.
Pour a layer of sauce in the bottom of a 13x 9 pan. Lay approximately 3 lasagne noodles over the sauce, side by side, to cover the bottom. Put meat and onion mixture over noodles and spread with about 1/3 of the mozzarella.Pour about 1/3 sauce over and then make a layer of noodles. Spread with ricotta mixture, sprinkle with 1/3 mozzerella, and pour 1/3 sauce over. Lay the last noodles over top, spread with the last 1/3 of sauce and sprinkle with the last 1/3 mozzerella.
Cover and refridgerate over night or freeze at this point.
Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Let set for 20 minutes before cutting.

you can layer spinach with the ricotta layer, or any number of variations.