Ohio Trip Continue

 Okay I should have posted these pictures first instead of H's baptism. The day I arrived we went to a German Restaurant. The reason being is that I wanted to go to Germantown to see the big 32 room book store that is located there. Well this restaurant is in the same area. It was a nice place and very busy. Of course it was a Friday night.

 Getting to this restaurant was very interesting. First time I actually used the GPS on my phone. I was sitting in the front seat of my parents van reading the directions to my dad. After one wrong turn, which wasn't my fault my dad said he knew the way to the freeway, we got back on tract. We found the street but the streets were very narrow and we are trying to read the numbers to find the restaurant. All of a sudden my dad said Debbie look up and there it was right in front of us. The Restaurant was actually at the end of the street. The street goes around the place.

 We had to wait for my son and part of his family since he had to work. Rachel's parents brought the granddaughters and so we took pictures of the girls in front of the restaurant. Once we had everyone there we were able to seat down to eat. There was a lot to chose from. I ended up doing the buffet so I could try everything and not limit myself. I wasn't able to eat my dessert but I took it back to the hotel and shared it with my parents. They make a wonderful cream puff. This cream puff is huge. It fed three of us.

My parents and I went to the book store after dinner while everyone else went back to Michael's. I will have to go back to both this restaurant and the book store. It was late when we went to the book store so wasn't able to look through all of the rooms. I had a long flight and was tired but it was great seeing everyone that first day.
I can't wait to be able to go back again and next time the rest of my family needs to go with me.

Tuna Casserole Recipe

 This is a quick and easy dish that you can make. I grew up with this dish. I am not sure where my mom got the recipe. As you can see the ingredients are very few and simple. You will need 2 cups uncooked macaroni, 1 cup milk, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, 1 6 oz. can tuna, drained, 1 10 1/2 oz. can cream of chicken soup, 1 tablespoon chopped onion, (I use dried) and 1/4 pound cheddar cheese, grated. This is just the minimum amount. You can use a different cream soup. We always add more tuna and cheese then it calls for. Change it up to your liking. Sometimes I will add peas to this. You will also need either a 1 1/2 quart casserole or I use a 9x13 pan.

 You will need to cook the macaroni according to directions on package or to how you like it. Set aside, combine soup, milk, onion, and pepper into a saucepan. Place over low heat. Add grated cheese and stir occasionally until cheese is melted. Mix macaroni, tuna in pan of your choice. Blend in cheese sauce. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. You can also put this into the microwave and cook it for about 10 minutes.

I fixed it with green beans instead of peas this time. The boys love this meal and I usually don't have much leftover. I hope you give this recipe a try.

Red Beans and Rice Recipe

This is a family favorite. I use the basic recipe from my Betty Crocker cookbook. I don't use everything in that recipe and add a few things.
What you will need is about 2 cups of cooked beans. You can used canned or dried that has been cooked. One bunch of green onions, 1-2 cups of rice not cooked, 2-4 cups of broth or water, one 12-16 oz. package of polish kielbasa.
I chop up the green onions and then sauté them in olive oil with some Tony Chachere's, when they are done I transfer them into a different pot.
I then slice and quarter the kielbasa and fry them in some olive oil with some tony Chachere's.
These also go into the same pot with the onions. You then add your beans (drained) and rice along with the liquid of your choice. I sometimes add more Tony Chachere's.
Cook this on low with a lid on until the rice is cooked and the liquid is gone. I do check it off and on to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.
The reason I add the Tony Chachere's is because this dish can be bland and this seasoning gives it a nice flavoring. You do need to careful because it can be hot and salty. Taste before you add.
I hope you give this a dish a try.

Ohio Trip

 Sorry I haven't been around much for the last month or so. I went on a mini vacation at the end of September. My first stop was in Ohio. My Grand daughter H just turned 8 and she was getting baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I am so proud that she has decided to become a member. She is shown above with my son, her father. He baptized her and bestowed the Holy Ghost to her on this wonderful day.

Here she is again with her mom. An added bonus was that the next day at church the primary children gave their program. Once a year the all the primary age children give a short program to show us what they have been learning. Primary age ranges from 3 years to 11 years.
I had a great time being with my oldest and his family.

Creamy Beef Enchilades Recipe

 I am not sure where I got this recipe. I found it in my to be tried file. Here are the ingredients you will need: 3 pounds chuck roast ( cooked and shredded), 1 onion chopped, 1 small can of diced green chilis, 2 cans of beef broth, 1 can of water, 1 fajita packet, and 1 aujus packet. You will need to put all of these items except for the green chilis into the crock pot and cook on low until done. When the meat is cooked shred it and add the chilis and onions. You will have to dig them out of the juice.

 For the sauce you will need tomato sauce, enchilada mix, and 1 cup of heavy whipping cream. I doubled everything except the cream. Prepare the sauce according to the directions. Once it is done then add the cream.
To assemble the enchiladas you will lay out the tortilla, put the meat in the middle of sprinkle some cheese and add about 1 tablespoon of sauce. Roll them up. Place them into a sprayed pan that has about 1/2 cup of sauce on the bottom. When the pan is full cover with sauce and cheese. Bake in a 350 degree oven and bake for 20 minutes.

This dish can be frozen. Reheating instructions are as follows. Frozen 350 degrees for 45 minutes and thawed 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
This made a lot of enchiladas. For use it made 2 9x13 pans and 1 8x8 pan. There was still some meat mixture left over that I also froze. We liked this recipe and was another way to make enchiladas. I hope you give it a try.

Chicken and Cheese Noodle Bake

 This recipe I received from my mom. She got it from a magazine called Taste of Home. The ingredients you will need are the following. 1 pkg.(16 oz.) spaghetti, broken
2 medium onions, chopped          1 medium green pepper, chopped ( I used a yellow pepper)
1 medium sweet red pepper, chopped          1/2 cup butter, cubed
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour                   2 cups milk
4 cups cubed cooked chicken                     1 cup (8 oz. ) sour cream  (I forgot this)
1 can condensed cream of chicken and mushroom soup, undiluted ( I used both as chicken)
1 can condensed cream of mushroom coup, undiluted  (I used chicken)
1/2 teaspoon celery salt                                 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese                 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Because my chicken wasn't pre cooked I had to cook it. I cubed it first and then cooked it. As you can see I was chopping my pepper.
Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Meanwhile, sauté the onions and peppers in butter in a Dutch oven until tender. Stir in flour until blended; gradually add milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in chicken, soups, sour cream, celery salt and pepper.
Drain spaghetti; add to sauce mixture and toss to coat. Transfer to two greased 11x7 baking dishes. Sprinkle with cheeses. Cover and freeze one casserole for up to 3 months. Cover and bake the remaining casserole at 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake for 5-10 minutes longer or until bubbly.
To use frozen casserole: Thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Cover and bake at 350 degree for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake 5-10 minutes longer or until bubbly.

This is what it looks like when it is done. I forgot to cover it the first time. It still came out tasting good even though I forgot the sour cream. I even bought the sour cream to use but it just slipped my mind. I hope you give this a try. As you can see you can change it up and even forget something and it still taste great.
Until next time enjoy your day.

O'Brion's Irish Dish Recipe

 I got this recipe years ago. I bought a little booklet that said they paid $ 30.00 a week for groceries. In that booklet was this recipe. I don't remember the name of the booklet. For this recipe you will need 1 package of Italian sausage, cut-up
4-6 large potatoes peeled and cut up
1 large onion chopped and 1 large green pepper chopped.
Throw all the ingredients into a 9x13 baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until done. You can stretch by adding more of any of the ingredients.

 This is a fast a simple dish. I have frozen potatoes before in this dish and that works great. I do add Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning because this is a bland dish.

I served it with peas. Everyone loves this dish. I hope you give it a try. Until next time enjoy your day.