Pea Soup

2 quarts water
2 cups (1 lb.) green split peas
1 stalk celery coarsely chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ tsp. thyme
Few drops of Tabasco sauce
1 small bay leaf

1.Combine all ingredients and boil for 20 minutes, partly covered.
2. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes or until peas are tender. 3. Discard bay leaf and strain soup through a sieve into another pot, or a microwavable casserole dish. Adjust seasoning to taste and reheat. (you need a lot of salt for this recipe. I use about 1 tbl. other wise it is bland).
-- You can put in the refrigerator then warm up for dinner. Serving it with garlic bread, or melted cheese on bread and a salad makes it a good hearty meal. (great for Halloween night).

Chicken Tetrazzini

Serves 8

1 can cream of mushroom soup
½ cup water
1 ½ cups grated parmesan cheese
¼ tsp. dried thyme leaves
½ pound linguine, broken in half
½ of a rotisserie chicken, skin removed and meat shredded (about 2 cups) (you can also use canned chicken)
½ package of a 10oz. frozen peas

1. Preheat oven to 400. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil (for pasta).
2. In a large mixing bowl add the cream of mushroom soup, and water mix well. Add 1 cup of parmesan cheese and the thyme. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Cook pasta 2 minutes less than package instructions for al dente; drain and add to sauce in the large mixing bowl. Add chicken and peas then toss well to combine. Place this glop (cause that’s what it looks like) in a 9x13 baking dish and sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese.
4. Bake at 400 until brown, about 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Or let cool, then put in fridge, then at dinner time, just warm up a serving at a time. Remove from fridge 45 minutes before you cook if you do it this way.

Baked Ziti

8 oz. ziti rigate (ridged) or other short pasta
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1 large egg, lightly beaten
¾ cup finely grated parmesan
1 cup shredded park-skim mozzarella
1 jar (24-26 oz.) best quality tomato sauce (about 3 ½ cups)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package instructions, drain and reserve.
2. In a large bowl, combine ricotta, egg, ¼ cup parmesan and ½ cup mozzarella. Season with salt and pepper. Add the pasta and toss to mix.
3. In the bottom of a 9x13 serving dish, spread ½ the tomato sauce. Top with the pasta mixture then top with the remaining tomato sauce. Sprinkle remaining ½ cup parmesan and remaining ½ cup mozzarella.
4. Bake at 350 until top is browned (20 -25 minutes)
-- You can bake now then cool and put in fridge and reheat for dinner.
Or you can put in fridge now then bake at dinner time. Remove from fridge 45 minutes before you cook if you do it this way.

Enchilada Pie

1 lb hamburger
1 onion chopped
1 tbl. chili powder
1 (8oz.) can tomato sauce
Salt and pepper
6 corn tortillas
1 small can of chopped olives
1 ½ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1. Brown hamburger with onion. Drain oil. Stir in chili powder and tomato sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
2. In a 2 quart round baking dish (or even a square one) alternate layers of tortilla, meat sauce, olives (corn, or both if you like) and cheese.
3. Bake 400 about 20 minutes.
--You can bake now, then cool, then put in fridge then reheat for dinner.
Or put in fridge now then cook at dinner time. Remove from fridge 45 minutes before you cook if you do it this way.

Crock Pot Chili

Serves 2-4

1 large (about 16 oz.) can of chili without beans
1 (8oz.) can of refried beans

1. Put in crock pot. Turn crock pot on low. It takes about 2 hours for the chili to warm up, but you can leave it in the pot several hours. Just check it now and then and make sure it isn’t burning. You may need to add a small amount of tomato sauce if it is getting too thick.

--You can also experiment (which your Grandmother has done) and add onions, or peppers, or kidney beans, or tomato sauce or cherrios, oh wait, she never added cherrios.

--Serve with grated cheese on top, and some bread and you both will be happy campers.
--You can also freeze what you don’t eat. It warms up very nicely.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

4 chicken breast halves

1 box Long Grain and Wild Rice Mix (Near East brand is best, but Uncle Ben's is easier to find.)

1 quart chicken stock or broth

1 quart milk or evaporated milk

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup flour

1 1/2 Tbs. cornstarch

1/2 tsp poultry seasoning

2 carrots, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

salt and pepper

• Sprinkle the chicken with 1/2 of the poultry seasoning and salt. Cook it in a tiny bit of olive oil over medium heat. Cover to avoid drying out.
• At the same time, cook the rice according to the directions on the box.
• In a large pot, melt butter. Add chopped carrots and celery and pepper to taste, and saute for about 10 minutes until tender. Add flour, cornstarch and the rest of the poultry seasoning, and whisk together quickly.
• Add stock and milk, whisking quickly as you pour. Cook over medium-low heat stirring often.
• When the chicken and rice are finished, cut chicken into bite-size pieces and add both to the soup.

Crock Pot Cake

1 package chocolate cake mix
1 container of sour cream (8 oz)
1 cup chocolate morsels
1 cup water
4 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 package instant chocolate pudding mix

spray crock pot with nonstick cooking spray.
mix cake mix, sour cream, chocolate morsels, water, egss, oil
and pudding mix in a bowl by hand.
pour into crock pot.
cover and cook on low 6-8 hours or high 3-4 hours

Courtesy of Courtney Kendrick