AirForceWifeApril - the whole review collection

hearty spaghetti sauce
serves 8

1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1 cup soft bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh parsley
1 pound ground beef

Sauce:
1 pound Italian sausage links, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 large onion, chopped
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 can (28-oz) whole tomatoes, drained and squished
1 can (28-oz) crushed tomatoes
2 cans (8-oz) tomato sauce
1 can beef broth
1 can (6-oz) tomato paste
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons each: dried basil, oregano and parsley flakes
2 teaspoons sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
Hot cooked spaghetti
Grated parmesan cheese

In a bowl, combine the first 6 ingredients. Add beef and mix well. Shape into 32 meatballs. In a pan, cook sausage, onion and green pepper until vegetables are tender; drain. Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, broth, tomato paste, garlic and seasonings. Add meatballs (raw); stir gently. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 2-3 hours. Serve over spaghetti; sprinkle with parsley and parmesan cheese.

Red Zinger Cake
posted by AirForceWifeApril

1 box yellow cake mix
2 tablespoons raspberry Jello powder
1 can sweetened condensed (Eagle brand) milk
1/2 jar raspberry preserves
1 small tub (8 oz) Cool Whip
1 cup coconut

Prepare yellow cake batter as directed on package directions. Stir in the raspberry jello powder. Bake according to directions on cake box. Remove cake from oven and immediately poke holes all over the cake with a fork and then pour the condensed milk all over the top; spread raspberry preserves over that and let the cake cool completely. Top with Cool Whip and then sprinkle with coconut.

I feel like a stranger since it's been about a month that I've been out of pocket, but the vacation and then our move went smoothly.

Now that we are living in Texas (until the Air Force moves us again this winter), it's grill season, so here's a recipe that we made this weekend...I say "we" because I may be the kitchen queen here, but DH is the grill king LOL!! So I marinated, he grilled. This is a long-time recipe that we've been making for 10 years, and I got the recipe from my mom who made it when I was growing up as well. All I can say is it is AWESOME!!! And it's all in the marinade. So fire up your grills and give this a try... it's totally delicious...tender juicy chicken breasts, the lime and cilantro flavors are not overpowering, but they definitely make the dish! You know how grilled chicken breast from Outback Steakhouse is totally tender, juicy and not the slightest bit dried out? Well, that's exactly how this chicken turns out... maybe due to the pounding and the olive oil in the marinade, but other ways that we grill chicken never comes out as tender and juicy as this recipe.

SUMMER LIME CHICKEN

4 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
1/3 cup olive oil
juice of 3 limes
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
red and yellow peppers, roasted

Pound chicken to flatten slightly. combine oil, lime juice, garlic, 2 tablespoons cilantro, salt and pepper in bowl. Pour over chicken and marinate for 1 hour. (I marinate for 2-3 hours). Grill 2 minutes each side. Sprinkle with remaining cilantro and serve with roasted peppers.

I marinated these for 5-1/2 hours-flavor was excellent!

I was reading the title of bagelbaker's thread for this recipe outloud to my husband last night (the part where she mentions it being the best non-chocolate bundt cake) and my husband immediately says, "Wow, that's a pretty lofty claim...we better test it to make sure!" *wink*

So...1 hour and 40 minutes later, we were sitting on the couch drooling over some warm fresh-out-of-the-oven slices. It was soooooooo good! My husband and I both love chocolate, but I have to admit, that this was a great non-chocolate cake.

I wanted to add the maple icing, as bagelbaker mentioned doing once, but we just couldn't wait for the cake to cool off, so we didn't bother.

The best way to describe this cake is "Butter Pecan Cake" in my opinion, because the batter (that we enjoyed licking off the beaters and bowl and spatula!) tasted very similar to butter pecan ice cream... and the finished cake echoed this flavor as well. VERY MOIST, VERY YUMMY, VERY TENDER cake, and very very much a keeper of a recipe.

Thanks for posting it bagelbaker_OH!!

Subject: Rec/Rev: (WW) Caesar Chicken Pasta Salad (T&T)... Delicious!!
Posted by: AirForceWifeApril Replies: 6 Posted on: 5/12/2006 1:01:15 PM
#T673154
This is such a delicious salad. We've been eating this for about 4 years or so, sometimes as a side, often as a main dish. We all love it, yes even the kids. And if you don't tell anyone it's a Weight Watcher's recipe... they'll never suspect it. Totally delicious year round, but even especiall more in the summer, I think. Full of flavor, full of goodness. And although this is a Weight Watchers recipe, but I don't have the points for it, sorry, I don't use the WW system, although I like some of their recipes.

Caesar Chicken Pasta Salad
Source: Weight Watcher magazine
Serves: 4

3 cups skinned, shredded roasted chicken breasts (**I use grilled!!**)
3 cups cooked penne pasta
2 cups thinly sliced romaine (I use half romaine, half baby spinach) (I used all romaine)
1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup thinly sliced basil
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/3 cup Caesar salad dressing
1/4 cup chopped parsley (I use flat-leaf Italian parsley)
4 oz. crumbled feta cheese (I used Mozzarella & Parmesan)
1 garlic clove, minced

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl; toss well. Chill until ready to serve.

Subject: REC/REV: Crock Pot Creamy Italian Chicken...YUMMMM!!!!! (what I'm making for dinner tonight)
Posted by: AirForceWifeApril Replies: 22 Posted on: 2/10/2006 3:40:21 PM
#T636111
This is very good. It's an unusual combination of ingredients, but that's what originally caught my eye when I first saw this in a TOH magazine about 6 years ago. We only have it about once a year or so (I try to limit recipes that use "cream of ____" soups), and tonight's the night. It turns out with fall-apart chicken, a creamy Italian sauce that you can then drizzle over individual plates when serving. We don't ever have leftovers of this (the whole family scarfs it up!) so I can't speak for how leftovers would be. LOL! I don't know if the addition of the veggies was in the original recipe or if that's something I added.

Creamy Italian Chicken
serves 4 (but it feeds my family of 5 nicely)

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 envelope Italian dressing mix (dry)
1/4 cup water
1 (8-oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
1 can cream of chicken soup
3 carrots, sliced
1 green pepper, cut up
hot rice or noodles, cooked

Place chicken in crock pot. Combine salad dressing mix and water; pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 3 hours. Beat cream cheese and soup until well blended; pour over chicken. Add carrots and peppers; cook 1 hour longer. Serve over rice or noodles. (Depending on how thick your carrots are, you may need to partially cook them, like blanching, first. The reason I do the veggies like this is because I don't like cooked-to-death veggies. If that's how you like them, consider adding them in at the beginning.)

Well, my 5yo dd had requested waffles for dinner when I was making up my menu, so last night I had planned to make waffles. Only 1 problem...my standard recipe was in a cookbook that had already been packed in a box in preparation for our upcoming move...so I did a BB search, no luck in just a regular waffle recipe (they were all things like Butterscotch Caramel Waffles and I was just looking for "run of the mill average everyday ordinary waffles"...no luck. So I flipped through some old TOH magazines that hadn't been packed yet, and finally found an issue with a page on waffles. Turns out I had torn part of the page out previously, and there were only 2 recipes on the page left to see. One was a savory dinner waffle, which caught my eye. I had everything on hand, so I made it, although I adjusted it a little to suit my tastebuds a bit more.

All I can say is that these waffles were awesome! They are seasoned with a hint of onion and garlic and chives, spiced up a touch with a splash of Worcestershire sauce, and made totally delicious with the addition of crumbled bacon and cheddar cheese, although the cheese could be varied for whatever suits you. I couldn't bear to put maple syrup on them because they were so savory, so I stirred together equal parts sour cream and salsa, and made a very yummy spread to serve dolloped on top of the waffles. They were so good! The savory-ness was just perfect for a dinner waffle. We all pigged out. The kids must have eaten at least 4 each, and I'm not about to admit how many dh and I ate! Here's the recipe.