Side Snacks:

Greenbeans Almondine

In a skillet melt a couple tablespoons of butter or magarine Add 1/3 Cup of sliced almonds (these can be found in the baking section of any supermarket)
Cook almonds until they are a golden brown
Open 2 cans of green beans--drain
Add to skillet with melted butter and toasted almonds
Heat well
Serve

This time of year, I get hungry for FRESH things. Asparagus is in the stores now, and the prices are better this year, than they have been in the past, so I have been buying some. Just thinking about it, makes my mouth water. Mmmmmmm Those of you who don't know the joys of fresh asparagus, give it a try. You might like it.

It is really easy to fix-This is the way my mother taught me.

To avoid the woody, fibrous parts of the asparagus, snap the asparagus (like green beans) into about 1 1/2 inch pieces, starting at the tip. When you near the bottom of the stalk, if the asparagus doesn't snap easily, it will probably be woody and fibrous, so throw that end away.

Steam DO NOT boil asparagus. The microwave works really well for cooking asparagus. Put snapped asparagus in a shallow microwaveable dish. Put just a little water in the bottom of the dish, cover tightly with plastic wrap, then poke small holes in the plastic ( it will balloon if you don't). Cook on high heat for 4-6 minutes (depending on your own microwave. You may have to experiment a little.) Asparagus should be just a tiny bit crunchy. Enjoy!

Salads help to relieve my craving for FRESH food. The grocery stores now carry a lovely mix of different kinds of lettuces and other greens. Buy as many different kinds as your budget will allow.

Tear all lettuces and greens into bite sized pieces. Then start rummaging through your refrigerator to see what you can throw into it.

Got leftover roast beef from Sunday dinner? Slice it thin and cut into strips and throw it into the salad. Or turkey or chicken or whatever!

Tomatoes from the produce section taste like cardboard, don't they? Buy a can of diced tomatoes. Drain the tomatoes and put them into your salad. Much more flavorful than the cardboard kind.

Have a handful of button mushrooms that are starting to go past their prime? Toss those in too.

Crumbled bacon, shredded cheese, boiled eggs,diced celery, radishes, frozen peas, grated carrot, shredded cabbage. Or how about some heads of broccoli or some cauliflower? You are only limited by your imagination and what is in your fridge.

And the variety of salad dressing available now, is just mind boggling. So eat and enjoy!

Anyone who is on blood thinners or who has a history of gout, beware! Some of the foods I have listed can cause you problems. Ask your doctor what kinds of foods you need to avoid.

Scalloped Potatoes and Ham

Slice potatoes as uniformly as possible by hand or run through your food processor. I leave the peels on.
Layer in pan, sprinkle with a little flour and dot with a little margarine or butter Put in some diced ham
Add another layer of potatoes and repeat until your pan is full, ending with a layer of potatoes.
Pour milk into pan until potatoes are covered or nearly covered. Bake 375 degrees F. until potatoes are tender (usually 45 min to an hour) and ENJOY!!

And how about something new?

Broccoli with Onion Jack Sauce
(Borrowed directly from the "Butterball" site)

2 tablespoons butter or Margarine
1 large onion, coarsely chopped (2 cups)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
3 pounds fresh broccoli, cut up
Salt and ground pepper, to taste

Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until tender, about 8 minutes. Stir in flour. Add milk; cook and stir until sauce comes to a boil for several minutes. Stir in cheese until it melts; season with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, cook broccoli until crisp-tender. Drain well. Place broccoli in shallow serving dish and top with onion sauce.

Squash

One of the things I like about fall, is the abundance of squash that is available. Try this recipe for your family. Even if they say they dont like squash, this could change their minds.

6 medium acorn squash halves (seeds removed of course)
1 pound bulk sausage
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup herb stuffing mix
Add just enough stock to moisten stuffing (or use plain water)
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Cook sausage and onion in a skillet over medium heat until sausage is browned, stirring to crumble. Remove from heat and drain off pan drippings.
Stir in stuffing, and salt. Place squash shells in a baking dish. Spoon sausage mixture into shells; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 degrees until squash is tender. Yield: 6 servings.

And more squash...

Another vegetable that is traditional for the holiday, squash. The preparation method depends on the type of squash you use.

Acorn squash are usually dark green with big ridges running from stem end to tip. These can be cut in half, cleaned of seeds, and baked with some brown sugar and butter or margarine in the hollow.

Butternut squash are cream colored with the seed cavity in a rounded portion of the squash away from the stem end. These can be either baked or boiled, then mashed with butter or margarine, salt and pepper. I usually put mine in the microwave until tender, then remove from shells and mash.

Sweet Dumpling Squash are mottled dark green and white and can be baked like the acorn squash, or baked then cooled and removed from the shells and mashed with butter or margarine.

There are many varieties of squash, but these will give you an idea of how to cook them.

Fried Green Tomatoes

Ingredients:
4 large green tomatoes
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 quart vegetable oil for frying
Directions
1 Slice tomatoes 1/2 inch thick. Discard the ends.
2 Whisk eggs and milk together in a medium-size bowl. Scoop flour onto a plate. Mix cornmeal, bread crumbs and salt and pepper on another plate. Dip tomatoes into flour to coat. Then dip the tomatoes into milk and egg mixture. Dredge in breadcrumbs to completely coat.
3 In a large skillet, pour vegetable oil (enough so that there is 1/2 inch of oil in the pan) and heat over a medium heat. Place tomatoes into the frying pan in batches of 4 or 5, depending on the size of your skillet. Do not crowd the tomatoes, they should not touch each other. When the tomatoes are browned, flip and fry them on the other side. Drain them on paper towels

Crunchy Pizza Crisps
Here's a treat that's full of flavor and crunch, but with a fraction of the fat and calories found in a similar snack.
Serves: 4
Work Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes

2 ounces French bread, cut into 16 1/4-inch rounds
5 tablespoons tomato paste
5 tablespoons grated Parmigiano Reggiano
4 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme, rosemary, basil, or oregano
1 clove garlic, minced (optional)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Arrange bread slices on baking sheet; bake until crisp, about 8 minutes.
3. Spread each toast with tomato paste. Sprinkle with cheese, herbs, garlic, and pepper.
4. Bake until cheese is melted, 4 to 5 minutes. Serve warm.
Each serving: 95 calories, 6 g protein, 12 g carbohydrate, 3 g fat, 6 mg cholesterol, 245 mg sodium.

HoBo Potatoes
Peel and slice 5 large potatoes. Make the slices about 1/16 inch thick.
Cut off a piece of "Heavy Duty" aluminum foil 24" long from an 18" wide roll. Place a layer of potato slices in the middle of the foil. Add thin
slices of onion and a few pieces of oleo or butter. Sprinkle with salt
and pepper to taste. Add another layer of potato slices and repeat with
the onion and butter and the salt and pepper. Repeat layers as many
times as you have potato slices. Fold the foil up over the layers and
seal tightly. Also seal the side edges tightly. Bake in conventional
oven at 350 for 30 to 40 minutes.
If using a BBQ grill place the foil package on the top self and bake
with the lid closed for about the same amount of time as when using an
oven. I spray the aluminum foil with "Pam" to keep the potatoes from
sticking. When done open the package carefully to prevent a steam burn.

These next are really easy recipes from Campbells. They call for Campbells products, but as we all know, any brands can be used.

Char's Spanish Rice
(CAUTION: This recipe is not for anyone who is on a fat restricted diet!)

1-14 oz. can of diced tomatoes (either run through a blender or food processor, or squish with your hands to make the pieces smaller).
Using the tomato can-1can tomato juice or water
1 med onion coarsely chopped
1/2 lb of bacon cut into small pieces (tip: Bacon cuts more easily when partially frozen)
1/2 green pepper (or more if you really like the taste of green peppers)
2 cups of uncooked white rice (if you are in a hurry, instant rice works well too)
Cook bacon and onion together in a skillet, making sure they don't burn. (One of my favorite smells in the whole world is bacon and onions cooking together!)
Drain off any excess fat if desired. (I don't drain mine. It just adds extra flavor to the rice.)
Put everything together in the skillet if it is large enough or move all to a heavy pan for stove top cooking. Or put all into a crockpot or slow cooker. Cook until rice is tender.
Rewarms well in the microwave. Freezes well too.

I have discovered the joys of roasted garlic! I bought a number of heads of fresh garlic at the grocery store. You just put it into the oven until the cloves of garlic are soft. Then peel each clove, add a few drops of a good olive oil and using your blender, or food processor, turn them into a paste.

I added this garlic paste to instant mashed potatoes for Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes. Wonderful!&nbsP;
I spread this paste over raw chicken, then baked it in the oven. Incredible!
I suspect it would make incredible garlic bread for those nights you make pasta for dinner, although, I have not tried it that way yet. But roasted garlic (to steal a phrase from you know who), that's a good thing.

Here is a recipe with a bit of heat. This one is from our own beloved Krissy Jo. Thanks sweetie!

Stuffed n Wrapped Jalopeno Poppers
Using as many peppers as you need
Cut tops off peppers
cut in half and remove seeds and veins (removing the viens takes away much of the heat)
Stuff each half with a mixture of cream cheese, diced garlic, a little diced cilantro and a bit of horseradish.
Put the halves together and wrap with a slice of bacon. Spear with tooth pick to secure.

Cook on grill, toaster oven or oven until the bacon is cooked.

Easy and absolutely marvelous!!!

Garlic Scalloped Potatoes
For anyone who loves homemade scalloped potatoes, this recipe will very likely become a favorite. And it's so easy to make!


Ingredients:

8 to 10 large new potatoes, sliced thin (I scrub potatoes and leave on the peels.)
24 to 32 oz heavy whipping cream&nbsP;
8 to 16 oz half-and-half (I just use milk. You gotta save calories somewhere!)
3 to 6 cloves minced garlic, according to taste
1 to 2 tsp salt
1 to 2 tsp pepper
melted butter


DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place sliced potatoes in large, heavy saucepan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Pour cream and half-and-half over&nbsP;
potatoes, adding more if necessary (potatoes should be nearly covered). Add garlic and seasonings.

Over moderate heat, cook potatoes uncovered for 20 minutes or until mixture starts to thicken. Stir occasionally to prevent potatoes from sticking to bottom of pan.

Pour hot potatoes into large, generously buttered baking dish. Drizzle butter over the top (I use a lot!). Bake for approximately 45 minutes or until potatoes are tender and lightly browned.

Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

My Baked Beans
In a skillet-
Brown 1 LB of bacon (cut into small pieces)
1 large onion-diced
Add-
1 can pork and beans
1 can kidney or red beans
1 8 oz package frozen lima beans
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbs. Mustard
1/4 C EITHER catsup or barbecue sauce
Can be served right from the skillet after simmering a bit, or put into a casserole dish and baked in the oven for 30 minutes or so.

Old Fashioned Homemade Egg Noodles
For a single family sized pot of beef and noodles or chicken and noodles, you need
2-3 eggs
2-3 tbs. of water
mix together with a fork or hand held mixer
add enough flour until you have soft dough
At this point you should probably stop using a mixer and start using your hands
Add enough flour so that dough becomes fairly stiff and is not sticky
Using a rolling pin (just roll with your hands flat on the rolling pin. No gripping necessary)
Roll the dough on a floured surface
Roll until thin
Cut rolled dough into 4 pieces
Stack pieces with straight edges together
Cut thin strips of dough
Sprinkle noodles with flour and toss
Let noodles dry for about an hour or more
These freeze very well