Category: Recipes

3 large beets, cooked and cut in quarters
18 hardboiled eggs, peeled (approx)
2 cups vinegar
2 cups water
1 cup sugar (brown or white)
1/2 tsp whole allspice
1/2 tsp whole cloves
1 stick cinnamon
1 tsp salt

Boil viengar, water, sugar and spices, let cool and pour over eggs and beets. Let sit for several days before eating.

2 lbs round steak
4 oz Butter
1 lg can tomatoes (diced or stewed)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup dry red wine
1/2 tsp dried sweet basil
Pepper, to taste (the canned tomatoes have enough salt in them)

Sprinkle flour on meat and pound to tenderize. Cut meat into individual serving pieces and brown in butter.

Add basil, pepper (salt, if adding any), tomatoes,  green pepper, and wine to meat. Simmer, covered, about 1 hour. Uncover and continue cooking until meat is tender and sauce is thickened.

Take meat out and top with cheese; place under broiler until cheese melts. Spoon sauce over meat. Serve with rice or egg noodles.

2 oz unsweetened chocolate ( 3TBL cocoa + 1 TBL fat= 1 oz chocolate)
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup flour

Melt chocolate and butter, cool. Add vanilla, sugar and eggs to cooled chocolate and mix. Then add flour.

Pour in greased 8 x 8in. Bake 30 min at 375.

I needed a good recipe I could make ahead and freeze that would be quick to heat up. I have a lot of uncooked meatloaf frozen and wanted something that cooks faster than meatloaf. I found a recipe for ‘summer garden stuffed peppers’ that sounded good – ground beef, shredded cabbage, shredded zucchini, shredded carrot, diced onion, chopped green pepper, a can of tomatoes, and rice. It was seasoned with pepper, basil, and brown sugar. When cooked, scoop it into parboiled green pepper cups. I made some stuffed peppers for mom and we had what was left of the “hash” for supper, no pepper shells.

1 1/2 pounds ground beef, cooked and drained.
1/2 cup shredded cabbage
1 small zucchini, shredded
1 carrot, shredded
1 diced onion
1 clove garlic, diced

Saute the veggies, stir in 1/2 cup uncooked long grain rice, 28 oz can of tomatoes, 1 TBL brown sugar and 1/2 tsp basil and freshly ground pepper. Simmer 20 min, until rice is cooked. Scoop into parboiled green peppers and serve.

I like Ratatouille but Phil doesn’t like meatless meals, so I tried it tonight with chicken breast. It was very good, although I had too much chicken in it and not enough tomatoes.  Cece had seconds so it must have been good. (I tried ground beef Ratatouille a few months ago – it was edible but I probably wont do it again.)

I cubed the breast meat, dredged it in a mixture of flour, Italian seasonings, and fresh ground pepper then browned it in olive oil while I peeled and cubed a medium eggplant, cubed a couple of onions and sweet red peppers,  2 zucchini and about a dozen mushrooms (sliced). I tossed in what was left of my frozen basil – about 1/4 cup – and about 1/3 cup of frozen chopped parsley. I also added 2 cans of tomatoes and about 1 tsp of dried oregano plus some coarsely ground pepper and a couple of shakes of dried crushed red peppers.

Serve with mozzarella cheese.  🙂