Deb's Mexican Pasta w/ Veggies

I was going to make myself some Penne today in the more or less Italian style (translate that to Ragu). I had pulled out a roll of ground turkey that I THOUGHT was Italian seasoned. It turned out to be taco seasoned so I decided to experiment and here it is.

Mexican Pasta w/ Veggies

Box of whole wheat pasta - I used Penne but any whole wheat pasta should work
1 lb Taco seasoned ground turkey or 1 lb ground turkey and 1 packet taco seasoning
1 can Nacho Cheese soup (non-negotiable)
1 can tomato soup or small can tomato sauce
1-2 cups cooked beans or 1 can beans (I used pinto)
Veggies which can be a combination of any frozen veggie that suits your mood, celery, peppers, onion or any leftover veggies. How much you use is up to you, I usually use a total of a cup or two of veggies in this type of dish.(I used frozen broccoli, celery and onion)

Cook the pasta as directed and drain
Saute the onions, peppers and celery if being used then brown ground turkey in same pan
Cook frozen veggies in your preferred method, heat beans and any leftovers your adding
Put all this and the two cans of soup back in the pot you cooked your pasta in heat together then serve.

I live alone and this makes a lot. I freeze things like this in small plastic containers and it's perfect for when I don't feel like cooking.

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme

OK, so I don't much care for rosemary but I do have the first two and more! I just bought a sage plant and a, well OK, it's marjoram not thyme at a BOGO free sale at our local veggie stand. The parsley and basil have been growing like crazy and I've been freezing a lot of it..What I'm trying is a way I read about years ago. You chop up the herb like you were going to use it fresh, then you measure out by teaspoons or tablespoons into ice cube containers. Fill with water, then freeze. When a recipe calls for one of these herbs you just take out the required amount of cubes and add to it! Just remember that it usually takes twice as much "fresh" as it does dried. Don't forget to compensate for the water although in most recipes it will be so minimal as to not make a difference.

Sauteed Zucchini

I took this to a pot luck the other night and it got rave reviews. I'm growing my own veggies and most of the ingredients came from my patio garden! It's really easy and flexible. I'm going to scale it down because your not generally going to want to feed ten or more people!

1 small to medium zucchini
1 or 2 green onions sliced
small amount of sweet peppers any color
two tbsp of chopped fresh parsley

Spray a frying pan with cooking spray and saute all ingredients until the zucchini is tender

You can use yellow squash instead of zucchini, regular onion instead of green, add celery if you want or experiment with adding other veggies. I really like how this comes out and make it for myself quite often.

Breakfast Burritos

I really love the breakfast burritos some fast food restaurants make but don't like paying the price. I often shop really early on Saturday mornings and a couple weeks ago when I was done shopping I was going to go to the closest fast food joint and buy a couple when it occured to me that I had everything I needed in the grocery bags in the back seat. So here it is.

For each burrito you will need:

1 taco size whole wheat tortilla

1 or 2 eggs (depends on how much other stuff your going to stuff in it)

Cheese:
You can use 1 or 2 slices of cheese or grated cheese

Meat (optional);
2 deli sliced pieces of ham ot turkey or
1 or 2 sausage links or patties chopped up or
2 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled or
Chopped cooked ham, turkey or chicken

Veggies:
Small amount of chopped onions and peppers are a must, use whatever peppers your taste buds can handle
Optional veggies, pick one or two(or more if your cooking for several people) :
(just use a small amount for each burrito)
Broccoli (this is really good, try it)
Grated carrots
Celery
Corn
Grated potato
Cubed cooked potatoes
Mushrooms
Tomato
Any leftover veggies from dinner

Put the deli sliced meat (if that's what your using) and cheese on tortilla, put in microwave for about 20 to 30 seconds. If you have help, have them do this while your cooking the filling.

Filling:
Saute the onions, peppers and any other uncooked veggies, add the sausage if thats what your using, saute until onions are transparent and sausage is cooked through. Add other meats, cooked veggies and heat through. Beat the eggs thouroughly and add to mixture. Cook like scrambled eggs. Put desired amount on each burrito, roll up and enjoy.

Tired of Boring Green Beans?

One of the things that seems really popular among my clients is to pour bacon grease and crumbled bacon over their green beans. This makes the health conscious part of me cringe. However, bacon bits or crumbles without the bacon grease works very nicely. Here's some other quick and easy ideas to add some interest to your beans.
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Add some mushrooms, peppers, water chestnuts, green onions and/or chopped onion.
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Add some salsa
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Toss cooked beans with a tablespoon or two of Parmesan cheese
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Saute with onions, mushrooms, celery and/or peppers
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Simmer in cream with mushrooms and/or onions
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Toss with a little bit of sour cream and chives
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Toss with sauteed or toasted almonds
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Cook with a crushed clove of garlic
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Add fresh thyme, basil or parsley
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Add a dash or two of Worcestershire or soy sauce
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Saute with one or two seeded and chopped tomatoes
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Cook with a small can of diced or stewed tomatoes
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Sprinkle with lemon juice
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Sprinkle with crushed red peppers
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Here's an Idea

One of my readers, Molly, sent in this idea I haven't tried it, I don't cook at home enough but this is basically how it goes:

Deb , a Mennonite friend introduced me to Mennonite stew what we do is we take a butter dish and put it in the freezer when we have left overs just a small amount we put them into the dish in the freezer when the dish is full i defrost it put it in a casserole dish and bake at the end i cover the top with shredded cheese. Most things will work in this as long as it isn't too soupie. The casserole is always different and I haven't had a bad one yet. The dish might have several different types of meat and veggies in it and it eliminates almost all waste of food.Molly : O )

Coleslaw Scramble

My veggie scramble can involve a lot of preparation that some people may not be up to first thing in the morning. You could, of course, do it the night before if you can plan that far ahead (something I'm not really good at), so I've tried this the other day and it's a fast and easy alternative to get more veggies into a meal that is traditionally devoid of them.

The recipe is based on two eggs for one person, you can of course make it for any number of people by increasing the ingredients.

2 eggs
about a 1/4 cup of fresh coleslaw blend (the one I used had broccoli and cauliflower "hearts" as well as the cabbage) you can adjust the amount to suit your own tastes
Green onion sliced or small amount diced onion
Shredded cheese

Spray pan with cooking spray. Saute onion and coleslaw blend until just tender
Beat eggs and add to vegetables. Right before eggs are done sprinkle with shredded cheese.

Of course, you could add any of the ingredients listed for the veggie scramble too. Once again it's a great way to use up leftover meat or vegetables from the night before