Cheese Tortellini Salad

                                                                                 

This is a nice change from Macaroni or Potato Salad! Yummy cheese filled pasta, crisp veggies & the creamy Ranch Dressing makes this a pasta dish that triumphs over the usual everyday side dish!
1 Bag of Frozen Tortellini Cheese Filled Pasta cooked according to package, drained
2 Ribs Celery Chopped
1/4 cup Red Onion Chopped
1/2 Green Pepper Chopped or Sliced
1 Carrot Peeled & cut into thin coins
1 Tomato Chopped
1 Cucumber Sliced Thin
2 Heaping TBS of Chopped Dried Vegetables found in the spice section of your grocery store
1 Cup Ranch Dressing I used Hidden Valley Buttermilk Dressing
Stir all together & chill. The only thing you might want to do to improve this salad is add 1 pound cleaned steamed shrimp that is chilled or 1 pound lump crabmeat! DELICIOUS!. 

Crunchy Cornflake Crumb Chicken Nuggets!

                                                                                    

Look at that plate full of Crispy, Crunchy Chicken Nuggets! These are BAKED not fried but you will think they were fried! Better for you & better tasting too! Bake up a bunch & see for yourself!

1 & 1/2 LBS. White Meat Boneless Skinless Chicken cut into Nuggets
2 Eggs Beaten
1 Cup Milk added to beaten eggs & beaten again
3 Cups Corn Flake Crumbs
1 & 1/2 TSP Sea Salt
Dash or 2 of Red Pepper
1/2 TSP Pepper I used White Pepper
1 TBS Parsley Flakes
1 TSP Paprika
1 TSP Garlic Powder
1 TSP Onion Powder
Stir crumbs & seasoning together. Dip each nugget into the egg mixture & then into the crumbs making sure to coat all sides of the chicken. Place chicken onto a sprayed with baking spray 9x13 cookie sheet & bake at 350 Degrees for 20 minutes then turn each piece of chicken & bake another 10 minutes! CRUNCHY CRISPY & BROWNED NUGGETS ALREADY TO EAT! Serve with honey or BBQ sauce for dipping!

This was too cute not to share!

                                                                            

Amish Wedding Supper Chicken Pie!

                                                                                

This my friends is rustic dining at it's finest! Hearty, with lots of chicken & vegetables, the wondrous flaky crust, moist stuffing, & tasty gravy. Then topped with mashed potatoes, what is not to love?  This would be great for the family & yet delicious for guest to sit around your table & rave over! Truly a GREAT MEAL!The Amish make a dish almost like this for their wedding guest! A layer of filling, vegetables turkey or chicken, gravy, & then the mashed potatoes all baked in a 9x13 pan. I took that idea & made it into this scrumptious pie. Therefore the name Amish Wedding Supper Chicken Pie!
                                              

Just look at that pie! My oh my, I could not wait to slice into it! Served up in nice wedges too! If you do not have stuffing or filling as we call it, do not dismay this would still be wonderful, just not as wonderful as it was with stuffing! 
                                                 

This is what Blind Baking will do for your bottom crust! See how brown & crispy it gets! Not wet soggy dough but a flaky crispy brown & the entire bottom crust will be just like this!

3 Cups Cooked Leftover Chicken
1 to 1 & 1/2 Cups Leftover Stuffing
1 Cup Leftover Vegetables ( any) I used Peas & Carrots!
1 & 1/2 Cups Leftover Gravy or used bought!
3 Cups Leftover Mashed Potatoes or use Instant!
1 Single Pie Crust ( I had one from my Apple Crumb Pie in the freezer that I thawed. Make a Single Crust Pie or use a bought frozen crust.
1 Beaten Egg

First Blind Bake your crust for 10 minutes at 350 degrees! To do this roll out crust & place in your 9 or 10 inch deep pie pan. Lay foil or parchment gently in the crust to make a liner. Fill with 2 cups raw rice. Bake as I mentioned. Once the 10 minutes are over. Remove from the oven & GENTLY remove foil & rice now PROCEED!
Gently distribute stuffing or as we call it FILLING over the blind baked crust. Now spread out the drained leftover vegetables. Now spread out the chicken meat that you have cut into bite sized pieces. Spread the gravy over the chicken. Stir the cold leftover mashed potatoes to break them up. Add the egg & stir until potatoes are somewhat spreadable. Now dollop the potatoes over the gravy! Bake 350 degrees for about 40 minutes or until the potatoes are lightly browned & the pie filling is bubbling! Let sit for a few minutes before serving! NOW DIG IN!!! This is a lot like the casserole our local Amish serve at Amish Weddings. They would use Turkey or Chicken & so could you. They would not bake this in a pie shell but layers this in a 9x13 pan & bake. You may want to try it that way but I was hungry for a Meat Pie & had these leftovers from Sunday! Consider this a cross between a Meat Pie & a Shepherds Pie but no matter which THIS IS GOOD EATING!

Helpful Tips For Cooking!

This comes in handy for those of us who just don't need a dish for 8! Many recipe books have this list; but for anyone who wants to make less of one of my recipes now you don't have to do the math or browse through a recipe book! Have a Happy Day FOODIES!

Peach Cinnamon Flop Cake

                                                                                

Look at all that GOOEY PEACHY GOODNESS oozing from the tender sweet & cinnamon cake! This is PERFECT PEACH CAKE! Great for Breakfast, Brunch or any meal! Warm or cold topped with Vanilla Ice Cream, Whipped Cream or just as is this is GREAT CAKE! EASY TOO no mixer needed just a bowl & a spoon! This would be great with apples or pears instead of peaches too! ENJOY, FOODIES!

1 & 1/2 Cups Flour
3/4 Cup Sugar
2 & 1/2 TSP Baking Powder
1/2 TSP Salt
Mix all together. Cut in 1/4 Cup Shortening to make fine crumbs. Now Stir together 1 Beaten Egg with 1 cup milk & 2 TSP Vanilla. Dump all at once to the flour mixture & stir until well combined. Just use a heavy spoon, a mixer is not needed for this cake. Pour into a prepared with cooking spray or greased & floured 10 inch deep pie pan.
Cook 1 & 1/2 Cups thinly sliced peaches with 6 TBS Butter 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar & 1/2 Cup Granulated sugar. Cook until peaches are soft & mixture is thick & bubbling. Stir often while cooking over a medium heat. Gently spoon peach mixture over the cake batter. Sprinkle with a generous amount of cinnamon about 2 TSP. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Serve warm or cold with Vanilla Ice Cream or Whipped Cream. DELICIOUS!

Ricioca The Rice Pudding that thinks it's Tapioca!

                                                                               

So wonderfully sweet & fluffy this is rice pudding taken to a new level of delectable goodness. Fluffy like Tapioca but creamy like Rice Pudding because it is! Try Ricioca & you might never go back to eating plain Rice Pudding ever again!

2/3 Cup Raw White Rice
3 Cups Water
1/2 TSP Salt
3 TBS Butter
Mix all together & cook on medium heat to a low boil cover & simmer 20 minutes or until water is absorbed & rice is nice & fluffy. Set aside.

Beat 3 egg whites until stiff & set aside.

Mix the following:
3/4 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Cornstarch
Stir well. Now add 3 beaten egg yolks  & 1 cup milk. Beat well & set aside.

Back to the rice. Add 3 cups milk & stir & heat. Once hot but NOT boiling, ladle spoonfuls into your milk egg mixture until you have stirred in about 3/4 of a cup of the hot mixture. Now stir all of the the egg & milk mixture into the pot of cooking rice. stir & cook until thick & bubbling! Once thick about 8 minutes of cooking time, add 1 TBS of Vanilla & 2 TSP. of Cinnamon stirring well. Now pour all of the hot rice milk mixture into your beaten egg whites. Fold the hot pudding into your egg whites gently please! You want small soft pillows of egg whites throughout the pudding. Pour into a deep bowl & sprinkle with more cinnamon! Chill well! This makes about 8 big servings of DELIGHT! ENJOY!
                                                                          

If you love raisins please feel free to add them to this recipe! Add 1 Cup Raisins to the rice mixture when you place the 3 cups of milk to the cooked rice. Raisins will plump as you cook the pudding & add great flavor to this dish! If you are a Coconut Lover add coconut instead of the raisins! 1 Cup should do the trick! I am in LOVE with this Rice Pudding that I dubbed Ricioca!

Steak Sandwich Thin & Crispy Pizza!

                                                                             

 Hello Foodies! This is my latest Pizza & it is FAB! 2 Large 16 inch pizzas topped with Steak Sandwich Meat, Onions & Mushrooms all in a GREAT SAUCE. Don't forget the cheese, Lots & lots of cheese! DIG IN !

The Dough:
3 Cups + Bread Flour
2 TSP Sugar
1/2 Tsp Fast Active Yeast
1 & 1/3 Cup Ice Water
1 TBS Olive Oil
1 TSP Salt
Mix flour, sugar, & yeast in food processor until combined. Slowly add ice water & mix in processor until mixed & forms a ball. Let stand 10 minutes. Now add oil & salt & process until well formed ball that has shine forms. Oil a bowl, by kneading slightly  form dough into a ball . Place it in the bowl, oil the top of the ball & cover tightly with plastic wrap & refrigerate 24 hours or up to 3 days. When ready to make pizza take dough out of refrigerator & let stand at room temp. for 1 hour. While that is resting make sauce!
NOTE: I have found that you do not have to wait to make this GREAT PIZZA! Make dough & let it raise to double just like normally would any dough! Punch down & roll out & it is still a GREAT THIN & CRISPY PIZZA!  

                                                                         

 This dough recipe rolls out two 16 inch pizzas! Be sure to scatter about a tablespoon of flour under the dough on the pan so that crust does not stick & bakes up crispy! You will get 9 big hearty slices from each pizza!

The Sauce:
1, 28 OZ. Can of whole peeled Tomatoes DRAINED
1 TBS Olive Oil
1 TSP Red Wine Vinegar
2 TSP Crushed Garlic
1/2 TSP Salt
3 Pinches Sugar
1 TSP Onion Powder
1 TSP Garlic Powder
1 TSP Italian Seasonings
2 TSP Parsley Flakes
Process until smooth

Share between the 2 pizzas OR use a favorite canned sauce that you love. I sometimes use Pregos Pizza Sauce to save on  time & it makes a great pizza! The original sauce I listed here is better but time is sometimes an issue!

The Meat & Toppings:
2 LBS. of Chipped Steak Sandwich Meat. I use Darrenkamps chipped steak because it is the best a many local pizza shops use it. If not near one of the Darrenkamp stores go to your butcher at your store & buy theirs. Do not use those flat prefrozen wafer like steaks that are sold as steak sandwich meat, they are just not good!
1 Large Vidalia or Sweet Onion, & Sliced Green Pepper if you like!
2 Tsp Chopped Garlic
2 TBS Olive Oil
1 TBS Italian Seasoning
or fresh chopped oregano, basil, parsley, marjoram & rosemary adding up to 1 TBS .
1 Can Sliced Mushrooms drained 8 OZ. or 1 Cup Chopped Fresh Mushrooms
Heat oil in pan, add meat, onion, peppers if using, & mushrooms& lightly brown & cook until meat is  no longer pink. Drain off meat so the juices will not make your crust soggy. Stir in spices after you drain & add salt to taste as you like. Divide the meat between the 2 pizza crust that you ladled the sauce onto. 

TOPPINGS:
1/2 LB. Sliced Provolone Cheese divided between pizzas
4 Cups Mozzarella Cheese Shredded & divide between pizzas. Lay the slices of provolone right on top of the meat layer. Next sprinkle the shredded cheese over the pizzas. Sprinkle more Italian Seasonings over both & bake in a 450 degree oven for 18 to 24 minutes BUT CHECK the bottom crust for brown crust & crispy crust. If still pale & soft let in another 5 minutes & check again. Mine took almost 30 minutes & the more toppings you have the longer it needs to bake BUT at 450 degrees it is a fine line between brown crispy pizza & burnt pizza! This pizza is worth the effort it taste like a GREAT TAKEOUT PIZZA only you made it & for much less cost than take out pizza!
                                                                         

LOADED WITH MEAT & MUSHROOMS, SWEET ONION & GREAT SAUCE all on that CRISPY CRUST! I like mine with a little extra sauce on the side to dip my slice of pizza for good measure! But then I am a sauce fanatic! Have PIZZA NIGHT at your house with all the fun of making it yourself! You will be glad you did, ENJOY, Judys Foodies!