Romano Buns

If you are looking for a quick sandwich type dinner, this is it!  These are perfect baked in the oven and even better cooked on the grill or right on the side of a bonfire.  These are a must for our camping trips and as a dinner when we are cooking on the bonfire.

They are like a melted ham and cheese with a buttery rich mustard flavor.

I don’t really measure anything but it’s simple ingredients:

Sliced deli ham (use a good one)
Swiss Cheese
Mustard (any kind you like)
Butter softened
Chopped Onion
Poppy Seeds
Sandwich or Hamburger rolls

Mix mustard, softened butter, and onion in a bowl
Place 2 slices of ham and a slice and 1/2 of swiss cheese on the roll
Place a tablespoon of the mustard mixture on the inside of the roll
Close the roll and spread a little extra mustard mixture on top and sprinkle with poppy seeds
Wrap loosely in tent style in aluminum foil

If baking bake at 350 for 10 minutes to let the cheese melt and the roll get crusty.
If cooking in the fire set on hot coals for about 8 minutes

The roll gets crusty, the cheese and buttery mixture melt into the roll and you have a delicious quick lunch or dinner!

Onion Meatballs in gravy over rice

Always a tasty dinner when you are pressed for time.  Doesn’t take much preparation even when making your own meatballs and quick brown gravy (cheater’s gravy) is what I like to call it.

You can find the recipe on my Facebook page here:  Onion Meatballs

Chicken Rollups

Simple, quick and easy meals are a must do in my world.  These chicken rollups are a perfect dinner you can put together in less than 10 minutes and pop in the oven for 35 minutes and have a wonderful meal.  It’s a sure hit with everyone having chicken, stuffing and gravy all in one.  We topped it off with some homemade cranberry sauce adding to the “comfort food” level!

The ingredients include thin chicken breasts, stuffing (you can use boxed to keep it quick but I like to make my own), 1 can of cream of chicken or celery soup, 1/2 cup of milk.  That’s it!

Here are more pictures and the recipe at the bottom.

Assemble all the ingredients

Lay a thin chicken breast on a plate and put a tablespoon of stuffing on top

Roll it up and place in the baking dish

Continue until all is used up

Mix the soup with the milk and pour over the top spreading to cover all

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes and the chicken is cooked through.

Open a homemade jar of wonderful cranberry sauce (Cranberry Sauce recipe)  or you can use store bought

And dinner is served!

1 package thin style chicken breasts

1 box stuffing (or you can make your own)

1 can cream of chicken, celery, or mushroom soup

1/2 cup milk

Lay out the chicken breasts and place a heaping tablespoon of stuffing on each.  Roll and place in baking dish.  Mix soup and milk in a bowl and pour over chicken.  Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Enjoy!

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

On nights when there is little time and I still want to put a meal on the table, I pull out one of my “cheater” recipes.  These are recipes that are made with store bought ingredients and can made quickly so you can have that 10 minute family meal!!

Here is how I make our “cheater” Easy Pot Pie on my facebook page:  Easy Chicken Pot Pie

Ham Salad

I always try to keep a few chunks of ham when we have it for dinner to make ham salad.  I made this for lunches today with some of the leftover ham from the Split Pea soup I made last week.  It’s a great lunch or snack!!

You can see how I make our ham salad on my facebook page here:  Ham Salad

Original Crock Pot Pork Roast

Planning ahead is key in our lives with taking care of animals and the kids sports which have started up.  Monday and Tuesday are busy nights this week so I took out a pork roast from the freezer to thaw and put in the crock pot this morning.  We have been eating out A LOT so I wanted to bring everyone back to a wonderful basic home cooked meal.

Using the crock pot or a roasting pan in the oven is the best way to keep pork juicy, flavorful and tender. Below are the pictures of how I prepared it and how we served it with my original pork roast recipe.  I have many different recipes for preparing a pork roast from sweet to spicy to asian style but today I just wanted the original flavor.

You do not have to follow this perfectly.  Adjust to your cut of meat.

4 lbs pork roast

Season with 2 chicken bouillon cubes, garlic powder (1/4 tsp), Salt and Pepper, 1/4 tsp. dried parsley flakes and a few red pepper flakes (these are optional)

Place the roast in the crock pot or roasting pan.  If there is a fattier side, place that facing up. 

Chop one medium onion and place in with the pork. 

1/2 tsp. sesame oil drizzled on the pork

2 cups of chicken stock with 3 Tablespoons of cornstarch mixed in thoroughly

cover and cook in the crock pot on low for 6-8 hours or in the oven at 200 degrees for 6-8 hours.

You will have port that pulls apart with a fork and an awesome gravy to serve atop rice or noodles.

We like peas on top of ours also but you can use any vegetables you’d like on top or as a side.

The glass bowl is leftovers for tomorrow.  I will reheat that adding in 4 Tablespoons of sour cream to make it a creamy pork and noodles so it’s a tad different than tonights!!

Easy delicious homemade dinner!!

 

 

Kabobs

Oh my this is a yummy plate of goodness.  This is a great way to invite a child to try a vegetable.  Let them build their own kabob and they will want to try what they created.

Weekends are always a busy time and especially at this time of year with weddings, showers, graduations, end of the school things and so on.  Kabobs are such a quick meal and you can have the kids build them while you make whatever else you need for dinner.  Grilling is quick and in a half hour you can have a great (fast) family dinner.

I love having chicken and beef kabobs.  It’s like a little buffet!!  I marinate the meat in store bought Italian dressing, and cut some colored peppers, red onion and pineapple.  You can add so many other veggies or fruits.  Each time our kabobs are different so you never tire of them!!

With this meal I made jasmine rice cooked in homemade chicken stock seasoned with a little garlic powder and pepper.  Great meal

Chicken Scampi

This is a favorite at our house and so quick to make.  I never follow a recipe but will list how I make it and as always, you do not need to follow this perfectly.  You can adjust to your taste.

 

 

5-6 thin boneless chicken breasts (or regular pounded thin)

 Approx. 5 tablespoons garlic flavored olive oil (or regular)

1/3 cups white wine (any kind you have is fine I use pinot grigio or chardonnay)

4 Tablespoons butter

1 cup chicken broth

2-3 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon dried parsley

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

sprinkle salt/pepper

1 box angel hair pasta (or any pasta of choice)

Heat oil in skillet

place chicken and cook through (about 4 minutes per side if thin)  Remove and cover with tin foil when done

add wine to skillet and use spatula to scrap all the browned bits from skillet

let cook down about 3 minutes and add butter

let cook down again about 3 minutes and add chicken broth and remaining ingredients. 

cook approximately 5 minutes while cooking angel hair pasta. (you can add more broth if it cooks down too much)

Immediately serve pasta with chicken on top and spoonful of sauce from skillet

season with salt/pepper (you can add parmesan cheese also)

Fast, easy, delicious!!!

 

 

Navy Bean Soup

We had scalloped potatoes and ham the other night so I had the ham bone left over after taking some meat off for the casserole. It’s very cold here today so I threw together this soup and let it simmer while we did barn chores and came into a nice hot lunch.

1 package navy beans (rinse well but do not soak)

some baby carrots or regular carrots diced

small onion diced

kale leaved chopped fine (your preference how much)

ham bone or cubed ham steak (this is totally optional as you don’t need the meat)

chicken bouillon cubes (I use 4 as mine are 1 cube per 2 cups of water)

8 cups of water

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

salt / pepper to taste

Toss all into a pot and simmer for an hour (or until beans are tender)

Perfect for our chilly afternoon, sneaking in some greens with the kale and served with warm bisquick biscuits!!

 

 

Rainbow Chicken Stir Fry

This is as easy as it gets and so colorful it’s almost art served on a bed of rice.  This is a basic recipe and you can add anything you like such as cashews, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, peanuts, flax seeds, mushrooms etc.

4 thin sliced chicken breasts cut into strips or cubes

one orange, green, and red pepper cut in strips

one small onion cut in thin strips

1 garlic clove minced small

1 cup of snowpeas

Approx. 4 Tablespoons Sesame Oil

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

2 Tablespoons cornstarch

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

soy sauce to taste

Scallions to top

Brown Rice (I made enough for 4 servings)

Cooking:

Brown the chicken in 2 Tablespoons sesame oil until cooked through.  Set aside

Brown/soften the peppers, onions, snowpeas in remaining sesame oil (drizzle in more as needed)

Add all ingredients and cook until sauce thickens a little.

Serve over cooked rice and top with scallions.

Quick, Easy and Delicious!!