Broccoli Rice & Cheese Casserole

I cannot believe I have not posted this sooner! With Thanksgiving being tomorrow, I thought I would share. Happy Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for!

This is one of the items I'm bringing to my parents' Thanksgiving meal (along with Do Ahead Mashed Potatoes). It is the best I've ever eaten, and I got it from my sister-in-law, Terry. She is also a fabulous photographer and you can see and buy her work at Art.com.

Ingredients

1 small onion, chopped
1/2 c. of chopped celery
1 pkg (10 oz.) frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
1 Tbsp. butter
16 oz. of Velveeta - can use the light version and save some calories
1 can of cream of mushroom soup (undiluted) - could use 98% fat free
1 can (5 oz.) evaporated milk
4 cups of cooked rice (2 cups uncooked) - could use brown rice and up the fiber

In a large skillet over medium heat, saute onion, celery and broccoli in butter for 3 to 5 minutes.

Stir in cheese, soup and milk until smooth. Place rice in a 9x13 baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Pour cheese mixture over; do NOT stir. Bake uncovered at 325 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

I've done this with all low fat items and it is just as wonderful and no one knew ... even the picky eaters.

You can add chopped, cooked chicken for a complete meal if you don't want to serve it as a side dish.

Blog Content Stolen

UPDATE (11-19-2007): Since I posted this, itsyourrecipe.com has taken out all of the curse words from their posts that are posts from other people's recipe blogs. I haven't heard from them, and they removed my comments from the post that contained my content. So, they may not have known that the word replacement plugin was running on their site? I don't know how all of that works, but I really appreciate them cleaning up the content they took from my blog and others' blogs. They've got some really good recipes there that now make sense.

I went to Technorati to look at some blogs I have saved there and to see what was up with my blogs. I noticed that there were two blog reactions to this recipe blog that looked odd. I clicked on them, and it took me to a website called itsyourrecipe.com. It had a link back to my original post. I guess they think that makes it legal?

It had my exact blog entry posted on this blog (along with my photos), but they have used the word replacement plugin for WordPress to replace words in my post with curse words. Nice, I know. If you go to the the link above, the fellow who created the plugin is very proud of the fact that you can do that and suggests that it is more fun if you use it for that, but I don't think he intended it to be used on stolen, copyrighted material.

I don't want to judge these people. I don't know where they are in life or what they have been through or why they think a small and limited vocabulary is so funny ... but I understand that people find different things funny. I really do and can appreciate that uniqueness. I just do not want my material used in this way. I posted on my content that was used and asked them nicely and respectfully not use use my posts like that anymore. They must have some program that steals the post immediately, because I had just posted right before I went to Technorati and that post was already there all "doctored up" with foul language.

I also wanted to let you know that this person has a BUNCH of recipes on his or her blog ... all of which have curse words in them. So, you may want to go there and check to see if any of your content is there.

Does anyone know if there is anything you can do about it? Of course, there was no information about the person on their blog. Just wanted to give you a warning that your recipe posts may have been stolen, also.

My New Favorite Kitchen Gadget - Microwave Egg Boiler

I love boiled eggs on my salad and in my tuna salad, and my five year old is always asking for deviled eggs (I like them, too). But, I never think to boil eggs ahead and by the time I think of it, it is too much hassle and time. Well, the other day I was in Wal-mart and I happened across this microwave egg boiler for about $6! It is very cute in that it is shaped like an egg AND it makes four perfect hard boiled eggs in about 8 to 9 minutes! It doesn't dry them out, they are just right. I did a Google search and found this list of microwave egg boilers. Mine is the Nordic Ware version. Oh, another plus, when you are finished, you can just pop all three pieces in the top rack of your dishwasher. It is definitely my new favorite kitchen gadget!

BTW, I added a picture to my Cranberry Chicken recipe. I made that for dinner last night. I didn't have any General Tso's seasoning so it wasn't as spicy as I normally make it, but is it SOOO good. It is one of my all time favorites! The sauce is so good, and I'm not normally a cranberry fan.

Beef & Potato Casserole

I was looking for something to make with potatoes, because I picked up a 10 pound bag for $2.88 the other day and had lots of potatoes on hand. I found this recipe, did my own thing to it, and here it is. Sorry I don't have a picture, but I was late getting dinner on the table and didn't have time to get a photo. It was VERY good though. Because I was doing this in a hurry, so I didn't take time to stop and measure some of this stuff for you ... so just do it to taste.

Ingredients

1 pound of ground beef (I used 97% lean)
3 to 4 baking potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (about 1/4" thick)
1 can of cream of mushroom soup (I used 98% fat free)
Worcestershire Sauce
1 clove of garlic, minced
Red cooking wine
Shredded Cheddar cheese

1. Put sliced potatoes in a medium sauce pan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Cook until just tender ... about 5 minutes and drain. Be careful not to over cook these because if you do, they will fall apart, and you want them to retain their shape and not be mashed potatoes.

2. While potatoes are heating to a boil (be sure to set your timer when they start to boil), brown ground beef with ground pepper and garlic. Drain if necessary (I didn't have to because the beef I used was so lean)

3. Add soup, about 1/2 c. of red wine, and a few dashes of Worcestershire Sauce to the ground beef and mix it until combined. Then add potatoes and gently mix to coat the potatoes with the meat mixture.

4. Pour the meat mixture into a 2 and 1/2 quart casserole dish that has been lightly sprayed with cooking spray. If you want to do a 9x13 dish full, I would suggest doubling this recipe.

5. Sprinkle enough cheese over the top to cover it, then bake it in a 350 degree preheated oven for about 25 to 30 minutes.

This amount will serve about 4 people.

I served this with fresh green beans cooked with butter and some drop biscuits brushed with garlic butter. The whole family plus our one dinner guest REALLY enjoyed it. Hope you do, too!

Take Along Cake

I made this cake for our church potluck, too. It was easy and SOOO moist and chocolaty without being WAY too rich. It is rich but not sickeningly rich. It was wonderful tasting and easy to "take along" because it didn't have icing (and doesn't need it). I got it out of The Cake Mix Bible.

Ingredients

1 package of Devil's Food cake mix (the recipe called for swiss chocolate cake mix, but I used devil's food)
1 twelve ounce package of semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup of miniature marshmallows
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup of packed brown sugar
1/2 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts (I used walnuts)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a 13x9 pan with cooking spray. Prepare the cake mix as directed on package. Add chocolate chips and marshmallows to batter. Pour into prepared pan. Drizzle melted butter over batter. Sprinkle with brown sugar and top with pecans. Bake at 350 for 45 or 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Serve warm with ice cream or cool completely in pan. Makes about 20 servings if you slice it 4 x 5.

Crock Pot Enchilades

I made this recipe for potluck last Sunday. I was out of town all day Saturday, so I knew I needed something I could make ahead easily. I browned the meat and added the soups and seasonings, and then put the crock in the fridge Friday night. Sunday morning, I put the crock in the "pot" and heated it for about 4 hours and it turned out great.

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds of hamburger meat
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 can of cheese soup (any flavor)
1 can of golden mushroom soup
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 can of red enchilada sauce (mild or hot)
1 tsp. of ground cumin
1 four ounce can of chopped green chilies
12 corn tortillas

Brown hamburger meat and onions. Drain and put into a Crockpot you have sprayed with cooking spray. Add the rest of the ingredients except for the tortillas. Cook for four hours on low. One hour before you serve it, tear up the tortillas and add to the soup mixture in the crock pot. Cook an additional hour and serve.

Waffle Iron

This is for Jill or anyone else who might be wondering what kind of waffle iron I use to make my French Toast Waffles. The waffle iron I am using now is a $14 Belgian Waffle maker I picked up at Kroger on a whim. It makes the thick, and yet seemingly trendy, Belgian Waffle (my husband and I don't like these because they don't get crispy enough for our taste), but it works great to make the French Toast Waffles. My in-laws have one of those big $80 kind of Belgian waffle makers, and they have made this recipe successfully with that. My husband and I REALLY don't like the waffles made with these ... not that I won't eat them, mind you, I just don't like them as much as the classic, crispy waffles.

I want one of those old, classic waffle makers that my mom used to makes us waffles with. I've been too cheap to buy one of the classic ones, though ... they are usually about $50. Maybe I'll add that to my Christmas wish list this year. I see the one linked above is on sale for $30. I don't know how well the classic waffle maker would work on the waffles made with bread slices. It may work beautifully, I just don't know.

Anyway, there is the scoop on my waffle iron that I use to make French Toast Waffles.

Let me know if you've tried this recipe and how it turned out for you! :o)