Shrimp Creole Au Gratin

Or something lol This is something I learned from my friend Gelena, and it is delicious. Anyone I have made it for instantly drools over it. It sounds a little weird, and it isn't exactly good for you lol but sonofabitch is it ever tasty!! Some measurements are approximate, because I don't have an actual recipe for it, just learned it by watching her make it! If you are the kind of cook that needs an exact recipe to follow to cook, this might not be the recipe for you lol! But if you're cool with winging it and throwing shit together, then gets to cookin'!!

2 box Zatarain's dirty rice (there is a low sodium variety available)
3 stalks celery, diced
about half a medium onion, diced
butter (you'll need a good 4 tbsp or so)
about 1 and 1/2 lbs ground beef ( i get the biggest package over 1 lb I can find but you don't quite need 2 lbs)
2 lbs shrimp (i get 2 bags frozen shrimp, 1 lb each), thawed, peeled
2 egg yolks
flour (you'll use the same amount of flour as butter, to make a roux, so about 4 tbsp)
milk (this one is a tricky measurement...you probably need at least a cup, maybe up to 2 cups. You have to add it in a little at a time til the sauce is a saucy consistency lol)
Tony Chachere's creole seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
1-2 bags sharp cheddar (enough to cover top of 13x9 casserole)

Cook rice per package directions, with ground beef. In skillet, saute celery and onion in 2 tbsp butter til tender, push to side. Add 2-3 more tbsp butter, melt, then equal amount of flour to make roux (remember you already added 2 tbsp of butter to cook the onion and celery in, so add those 2 tbsp of flour too. So if you add 2 more tbsp of butter after cooking the onion and celery, you'll need a total of 4 tbsp flour. Got it? Hope so!). Cook til golden and bubbly, using a whisk to stir often. Whisk in milk- start slowly, about 1/2 cup at a time. Keep that whisk moving to get the milk into your roux. You want the sauce to be thick, but creamy, so add small amounts of milk, stirring between each addition, to get the right consistency. Add the 2 egg yolks, stir well. Bring to boil. Stir in a handful or 2 of shredded sharp cheddar, allow to melt. Now for the seasonings- I'd say start with a teaspoon of creole seasoning, stir well. Give it a taste. If you don't taste the spice, which you probably won't at that point (I probably add about a tbsp or more of seasoning), add another teaspoon. Again, stir and taste. If you want more flavor, then keep adding little bits of seasoning at a time. The salt and pepper are optional, it may be salty and peppery enough for your tastes with just the creole seasoning. Once you get the consistency and flavor right, add shrimp and stir. Pour sauce mix into a 13x9 casserole dish, top with cheese to cover (we like lots of cheese). Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, or til cheese is melty and casserole is bubbly. Serve over the prepared dirty rice.
This makes a lot, you could halve the recipe easily. When I make it just for us at home, I only make half.

Chicken Tamale Casserole

Ingredients
1 cup (4 ounces) preshredded 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese, divided
1/3 cup fat-free milk
1/4 cup egg substitute
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 (14 3/4-ounce) can cream-style corn
1 (8.5-ounce) box corn muffin mix (such as Martha White)
1 (4-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
Cooking spray
1 (10-ounce) can red enchilada sauce (such as Old El Paso)
2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
1/2 cup fat-free sour cream

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Combine 1/4 cup cheese and next 7 ingredients (through chiles) in a large bowl, stirring just until moist. Pour mixture into a 13 x 9–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.
3. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until set. Pierce entire surface liberally with a fork; pour enchilada sauce over top. Top with chicken; sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup cheese. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until cheese melts. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes. Cut into 8 pieces; top each serving with 1 tablespoon sour cream.

WW Chicken or Turkey Tettrazini

10 oz uncooked vermicelli
2 tsp veg oil
1 lb turkey breast cutlets or chicken breasts
3/4 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp salt, divided
1/4 tsp pepper, divided
2 tbsp dry sherry or white wine
2 (8 oz each) pkg sliced mushrooms
3/4 c frozen peas, thawed
3/4 c FF milk
2/3 c FF sour cream
1/3 c grated parm
1 can RF cream of mushroom
cooking spray
1/3 c dry breadcrumbs
2 tbsp melted butter
sauteed celery and onion

Preheat oven to 450. Cook pasta according to pkg directions. Drain. Heat a little butter or oil in a skillet, saute a little bit of onion and celery (the recipe is weird, it doesn't specify an amount, nor does it have the oil or butter needed for this step listed in the ingredients. I just use 2-3 stalks of celery and about 1/2 an onion, diced). Put celery and onion in a bowl and set aside. Heat oil on med-hi. Sprinkle turkey with 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/8 tsp pepper. Cook in oil til done, remove from pan. Add1/4 tsp onion powder, sherry, and mushrooms to pan. Cover and cook til tender, about 4 minutes. Combine peas, milk, sour cream, cheese, and soup in large bowl. Chop turkey (or chicken). Add 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper, pasta, turkey, celery and onion, and mushroom mixture to soup mixture, tossing gently to combine. Spoon into greased 13x9 baking dish. Combine butter and breadcrumbs; sprinkle on top. Bake at 450 for 12 minutes or til bubbly and hot.

Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole

2 lbs frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed
1/2 C margarine or butter, melted
1 can Cream Of Chicken Soup
1/2 C onion, chopped
2 C cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt

Combine soup, onion, melted butter, and seasonings, stir well. Stir in cheese and frozen hash browns. Place in 9×13 dish and bake at 350 for thirty minutes, or until bubbly. Very similar to Cracker Barrel's hashbrown casserole.

Stove Top One Dish Chicken

This is in the oven right now for dinner tonight. There are 2 methods, either in the oven or on the stove top, I'm going for in the oven tonight, but have made it both ways. Gonna have a can of wax beans and salad with it, with homemade Greek/vinaigrette dressing (recipe to follow in new post).

Stove Top One Dish Chicken
1 1/2 cups hot water
1/2 stick melted butter
1 pkg chicken flavored Stove Top
6 small bnls sknls chicken breast halves (1 1/2 lbs... I just use whatever pack of about 1 1/2 pounds I have on hand in the freezer, there are never 6 pieces in the packs I buy, but most are big enough that I slice them lengthwise in half to make thinner pieces)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/3 cup sour cream (I use reduced fat)

Mix hot water, butter, and stuffing mix. Cook chicken in nonstick skillet on med-hi 5 minutes each sideor til browned. Mix soup and sour cream; pour over chicken. Top with stuffing; cover. Cook on low 10 minutes or til chicken is done.
Oven method: Heat oven to 375. Prepare stuffing as directed. Place chicken in 13x9 baking dish. Mix soup and sour cream; pour over chicken. Top with stufing. Bake 35 minutes or til chicken is done.

Crustless Smoked Turkey and Spinach Quiche

I make this for dinner, it is very filling and rich, and it even heats up wonderfully. I actually think I have some of this turkey ham in the freezer, so I might have to make it again soon, all this food talk is makin' me hungry :P Oh, and this is a lower fat version of quiche, from a Cooking Light magazine I believe.

3/4 cup (4 oz.) cubed smoked turkey ham (such as Jennie-O)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup fat free evaporated milk (NOT sweetened condensed milk....some people get them confused)
3/4 cup shredded Swiss, divided
1 cup fresh baby spinach
1 cup fat free cottage cheese
1/4 cup shredded reduced fat cheddar
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350F. Heat large nonstick skillet on med-high. Coat with cooking spray. Add ham, onion, and pepper; saute' 4 minutes or til ham is lightly browned. Sprinkle 1/4 cup swiss cheese in 9 inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Top with ham mixture. Combine remaining 1/2 cup swiss, spinach, eggs, egg whites, evaporated milk, cheddar, and cottage cheese in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cup and level with knife. Combine flour with baking powder in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk; add to egg mixture. Pour egg mixture over ham mixture. Bake at 350F for 45 minutes or til knife inserted in center comes out clean. Makes 8 servings

Nanny's Chicken Casserole

I'm gonna share something that is near and dear to my heart. This is one of my great-grandmother's (I called her Nanny) recipes. For those that don't know me that well, my Nanny was very special to me. My mom was a teen mom, and we lived with my great-grandparents (along with my mom's brother) up until I was about 13, and at that time my mom and I just moved across the street to live with her boyfriend/fiance/now common-law husband or whatever, but anyways....so growing up, there was always super yummy southern granny food on the table. A lot of these she never wrote down, so many have been lost as she got older and has since passed away (though I was very lucky to have her in my lfe until I was about 28). So the handful of her recipes that I have are very important to me, it's like preserving a special part of my past. This is by far my most favorite thing she ever made, next to her apple pie turnovers.
1 chicken (boiled and deboned. You can either boil it whole, adding enough water just to cover, or cut it in pieces and add enough water to cover. Either way, reserve the cooking liquid coz you can use it for the chicken broth that the recipe also calls for instead of canned)
1 1/2 cups chicken broth (you can use canned or just strain the chicken cooking liquid coz hey, that's chicken broth!)
1 bag herb Pepperidge Farm dressing
1 can cream of chicken
1 can cream of mushroom
1 stick butter

When chicken is done, remove from pot, reserving liquid if desired, and set aside to cool slightly. When cool enough to handle, remove from bones (discard skin and bones or save them to boil up to make even more chicken broth) and shred into large but fairly bite sized pieces. Melt butter; pour over dressing in large bowl and let sit about 10 minutes. Layer dressing, chicken, 1 can soup, and 3/4 cup broth (if using the broth from the cooked chicken, be sure to strain through a fine strainer to remove any bits and pieces); repeat layers and sprinkle with remaining dressing on top. Bake at 350 F for 35 minutes.

Low Fat Corn Casserole

You may know this as corn casserole or corn souffle. This is a lower fat version, may have been weight watchers but I can't remember, but tastes just like the full fat version. It's a favorite of the boys.

1/4 cup egg substitute
1/4 cup melted butter
1 can no salt cream corn
1 can no salt whole kernel corn
1 pkg. corn muffin mix
1 (8 oz.) carton plain FF yogurt

Preheat oven to 350. Combine in a medium bowl; stir well. Pour into an 8 inch square baking dish coated with nonstick spray. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or til set. 8 servings.

WW Shepherd's Pie

This is a weight watchers recipe. You'll probably end up seeing a lot of these, and trust me, just because it's "diet food" or "healthy food" does not mean it sucks! Quite the contray!! I have about 10-12 WW cookbooks, and have tried many, many recipes, and I am serious when I say that every single one has been absolutely delicious. I've used ground beef and ground lamb in this, the ground beef tastes just fine, but I'm a purist and I prefer ground lamb. It's personal preference, and price can definitely make a difference sometimes on whether or not I buy beef or lamb.

1 tsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 1/2 lbs ground round or lamb
2 cups frozen mix veg (I don't like frozen mixed veggies. I just use a couple of handfuls of frozen peas and dice up a few fresh carrots to equal about 2 cups)
3 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 (14 oz) can Fat Free Reduced Sodium beef broth
2 tbsp AP flour
1 (20 oz) pkg refrig mashed potatoes (such as simply potatoes, or make your own)

Preheat oven to 375. Heat oil in large skillet on med-hi. Add onion and carrots, saute 5 minutes. Add meat, cook til done, then drain. Returnto skillet. Add peas, tomato paste, salt, and pepper, cook on medium 5 minutes or til veg are hot, stirring frequently. Combine broth and flour, stirring with a whisk. Add broth mixture, bring to boil, and cook 3 minutes or til thick, stiring constantly. Spoon into an 11x8 baking dish. Spread potatoes on top, sprinkle with cheddar (ok, this isn't in the ingredient list, but I gotta have cheese on my shepherd's pie!) . Bake at 375 for 20 minutes or til browned.