Tag Archives: Lunch

Aug28

Mystery solved….what to do with leftover spaghetti noodles

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Mystery solved….what to do with leftover spaghetti noodles

In a very random conversation last week at work, my friend shared that she had made a frittata with leftover spaghetti (no sauce, mind you).  I replied “I always make too much and throw it out”.  Laura is with us today to share a super easy, economical and delicious  way to use that leftover spaghetti (who doesn’t cook too much)???

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Meet Laura

She found that this frittata is a great way to use up left-over spaghetti, and her family of three ate the whole thing and asked for it again the next night.  I plan to try it soon, but I think I’ll have to mix it up with a few different meats cuz I live with Mr. All Meat Pizza – you could use browned sausage, canadian bacon, ham, etc.  If you do try one of these alternatives to the bacon that Laura used, we would love for you to come back and comment below!

Step 1 involves chopping up the cooked spaghetti:

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Step 2 – whisk the eggs and milk, and adding the yummy (bacon and cheese) ingredients:

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The Final Frittata!

I could most definitely snarf a piece of that right now!  I’m sharing Laura’s recipe below, and hope that you enjoy as I certainly plan to!  Thanks for dropping by to get in on Laura’s quick weeknight meal!

~Connie Kaye

Spaghetti Frittata

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Ingredients:

6 eggs
1 ½ cups cut-up cooked spaghetti
2 slices of chopped cooked bacon
1 cup of shredded cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350.  Spray a 9 inch round pie plate with non-stick cooking oil.

Whisk the six eggs in a separate bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Laura added a Zesty no-salt substitute to give it a little more flavor without adding additional salt.

Stir in the 2 slices of pre-cooked bacon, ½ cup of shredded cheese and chopped spaghetti. (Laura used the Mexican four cheese blend because that is what she had on hand and wanted to use up.)

Pour the blended items into the pie plate and sprinkle with the remaining ½ cup of cheese.  Bake for 30 min. or until center is set.

Mar29

A twist on good ‘ol grilled ham & cheese!

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A twist on good ‘ol grilled ham & cheese!

We used to be big fans of a show called Down Home with the Neeleys.  They did some unique tricks, all good, and all with a BBQ flair.  I’ve made several things that they aired on TV, and one yummy one that I’ve never shared is a Memphis Monte Cristo.  You can view it on their site, but I’m sharing it below for your convenience.  It’s your typical Monte Cristo, but BBQ’d up a little.  And, not only is it GOOD, it’s very economical, and it’s quick!

The final product, ready to be attacked!

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Basically you assemble, dunk in the egg/cream mixture (and oh yeah, a little cayenne), brown in skillet, then place on rack, like this, so the gouda can get deliciously melty:

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Five minutes, and ring that dinner bell!  Hope you enjoy as my family has, and thank you Lord for the rain!!!

~Connie Kaye

Memphis Monte Cristo

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Ingredients:

2 tbsp vegetable oil
3 eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp sugar
dash of salt (who measures salt??)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, or to your liking
1/4 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce
8 slices white sandwich bread (not thin bread)
8 thin slices deli smoked Gouda cheese
8 thin slices deli smoked ham
8 thin slices deli smoked turkey

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Heat a large skillet or griddle pan with vegetable oil.

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, cream, sugar, salt and cayenne until blended.

Spread some BBQ sauce on each slice of bread.  On 4 slices of bread, add 1 slice each of the cheese and meats, then repeat layers.  Top with the other piece of bread and press the sandwiches together with your hands.  Dip into wet batter and turn to coat.

Add the battered sandwiches to the hot griddle and cook until golden brown on each side (doesn’t take long.)  Place on rack-lined sheet tray (see above).  Place in oven and bake until cheese melts, about 5 minutes.  Remove to cutting board and slice.  (you could cut in triangles and this would be a good appetizer)

 

Mar18

Ham and Gruyere Quiche

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Ham and Gruyere Quiche

I love quiche and gruyere is one my favorite cheeses, although pretty darn pricey, but I thought I’d take a shot at this recipe, adapted from Food Network Magazine.  I took it to work and it was a hit, so thought I might share here.  Super easy, and you don’t have to sell the farm to buy the gruyere…I just bought a small container of it shredded which wasn’t too bad.

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I used a frozen pie crust, although I like the ones you unroll from a box better.  Notice the container of apple smoked gruyere is empty – I’m a cheese freak so I took care of the extra.  Whipped it up and in 30 minutes, ready to roll.  Finished product:

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Enjoy!

~Connie Kaye

Ham and Gruyere Quiche

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Ingredients:

1 cup diced smoked ham
1 cup shredded gruyere cheese (about 4 oz)
1 9 inch pie crust, thawed if frozen, or ready-made out of box
3 large eggs
1 1/4 cups half and half
Minced onion to taste (optional)
Handful of fresh or dried chives
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and place a baking sheet on the middle oven rack.  Scatter the ham and cheese in the bottom of the pie crust, and onion if you are including it.  In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, half and half, chives and season well with salt and a few grinds of pepper; pour into the crust.  Transfer to hot baking sheet and bake until the eggs are set and the top is lightly browned, about 30 minutes.

Place on rack to cool a little; can be served immediately or refrigerated.

 

 

 

Jun7

Pizza……on the grill!

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We like to grill.  A.  Lot.  So I could take the really homemade route and make the pizza dough from scratch.  However, I opt for the ready-made wonders that you can find anywhere, and I typically buy the crispy version.  Here’s my ingredients that I assembled:

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Pepperoni, sausage, cheese, black olives, mushrooms, canadian bacon, etc.  Yep, we’re meat lovers.  So when we bought our house, our realtor failed to tell us that it came with awesome neighbors.  I ended up with a helper last night, my buddy Gab, who I quickly put to work with kitchen shears (what, she said, are these???) to cut up the canadian bacon:

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Meet Gab (a.k.a. The Gabster)

I then had the girls assemble their mini pizzas while the grill warmed up:

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This is a fun way to personalize your own food, and everybody gets exactly what they want.  To cook the pizzas, get your grill nice and hot, then oil the grates (we use a vegetable oil-soaked paper towel and rub the grates using tongs).  Once you’re ready to cook the pizzas, turn one side off and cook the pizzas on that side checking the bottom crust frequently to make sure they don’t burn.  Here’s the finished product that I ate:

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My yummy finished product!

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Looks like my cooking partner in crime liked her pizza!

Enjoy your pizza, and summer outside with friends and family!

~Connie Kaye

Pizza On The Grill

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Ingredients:

Packaged pizza crust
Pizza sauce
Your choice of toppings
Mozzarella or Italian blend cheese

Preheat grill, and oil grates.  Lightly brush pizza crust with olive oil, then layer sauce cheese and toppings.  Turn off one side of the grill, or turn to very lowest setting.  Grill, watching bottom crust so that it doesn’t burn while the toppings melt.  Remove with tongs and serve with grated mozzarella and crushed red pepper, if desired.

 

 

 

Apr28

Another birthday, and STROMBOLI!!!!!

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Twenty-nine years ago today, I was just a tad tired and stressed, which translates into the fact that my daughter, Brandi, didn’t just come bee bopping into this world easily.  However, it’s been all good since then – some unbelievably good times, with someone who I love “as big as the world”.  (You’re supposed to outstretch your arms when you say this).     Meet Miss Brandi Lynn:

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A little vacay to Belize!

So it started like this – note that she had a good working relationship with the phone waaay back then:

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Her first horse show at Mound City KS. Cannot remember which one of my barrel horses she rode, but she won FIRST. (she was well known for riding the variety of moms barrel horses)  One of my good friends in Oklahoma painted our matching shirts….I still have them.  And Yes, that’s one of my retired helmets 🙂

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Kickin’ some butt in the barrel race on Ace. He turned out to be an AMAZING barrel horse for me, at first, and then won a TON of buckles, a saddle, etc., for Brandi & Brice.B & C C & B

So my little girl grew into this gorgeous young woman, and as I said on a previous birthday, hug ’em and hold ’em, cuz they grow up fast and don’t fit on your lap anymore!

My amazing friend, Linda, introduced me to stromboli (Linda McAdam style) many, many years ago.  And.  It’s.  Awesome.  In fact, Brandi and Brice would take it for lunch the following day, and finally the cooks at the school kitchen asked if they could have the recipe.  Wow…now, that’s a compliment!   To this day, it’s one of our family favorites so I am happy to share the “Connie Kaye” version here.  Unfortunately the subject of this post is in Washington, DC, so we are currently unable to enjoy it together.   Whah.  Whah.   That was my sad voice.

Stromboli is super easy and you can add what you like.  We use pepperoni, and I like to buy turkey pepperoni because of the lesser fat content, and a good sliced lunchmeat ham.  Layer away and it will be superb.  I always offer up spaghetti or marinara sauce for dipping but I like it as is.  Anytime.  Anywhere.  And if the recipe below works out for you it will somewhat mirror this, and oh man, grab it quick!

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I use frozen bread dough and some simple yummy stuff inside.  My hubster  loves the all meat version so we are flexible on our strombolis 🙂 And, it evens warms up well in the microwave.  Happy birthday to my stromboli-lovin daughter, and I hope you enjoy this family favorite!

~Connie Kaye

Stromboli

  • Servings: 4
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Ingredients:

Frozen bread dough
Choice of meat fillings (sliced ham, pepperoni, browned sausage)
Shredded mozzarella and/or Italian blend cheese
Garlic Salt

Spray a deep casserole dish or large bread pan (something with high sides works best) with cooking spray.  Place frozen dough in pan an cover with plastic wrap.  Let it defrost and rise at room temperature for approx. 8 hours or so.  Remove from pan and place on ungreased baking sheet.  Stretch to make a rectangle, being careful to not rip or get dough to thin in places.  Layer ham slices, then garlic salt, cheese, pepperoni/sausage, and a last layer of cheese.  Bring sides together and pinch to seal, fold ends in and seal.  Flip this over so it’s seam side down.  Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until browned to your liking.  I remove it about 10 minutes before it’s done and brush with melted butter.  Return it to the oven to finish and you’ll have a beautiful crust.

 

 

 

 

Apr8

Delicious and Easy Salad and Sandwich Recipe

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Delicious and Easy Salad and Sandwich Recipe

I’m not sure if I’ll ever get my friend Gina on here, so in lieu of that, I’m posting a couple of my favorite things she has made recently.   Not a huge fan of raw broccoli, but the ingredients in this salad are sweet and crunchy, and who doesn’t love ANYTHING with bacon in it.   It’s a taste treat!

I did want to share that I’m on a plane to Washington, DC at the moment, watching the NFL Network and blogging away.  You’ll notice that some of the passengers were enjoying a little shut eye (don’t know this guy.)  Also, I’m pretty excited to use a free drink coupon, so if the plane would quit jolting through the air, they might show up with my Bloody Mary.

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Here’s the end result of the Broccoli Salad:

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I’m also sharing a recipe for sandwiches that Gina brought for snacks one night.  Don’t have any idea what to call them (Ginawiches?), but you’ll think yummo!  And really different!  I’m not familiar with a lot of the various sausage or salami brands in the deli sections, but I know these are available at your local Hy-Vee, and probably any other large grocer.

The sandwiches are made on the little cocktail or potato/egg rolls and use both Dijon and honey mustard.  Add sausage, cheese and sweet pickle chips, and wow, do you have a tasty delight!!  Specifics below and apologies that I didn’t get a pic before they were all gone L  And, if there’s any weird words in this blog, it’s due – not to the Bloody Mary, which I finally got, but the fact that the airplane is doing a gymnastics routine at 557 miles an hour.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy the beautiful spring weather and flowers blooming!!!!

~Connie Kaye

P.S.  On a side note, amazing that sleeping dude woke up for snacks.  Hmmm….maybe he wasn’t really asleep

Broccoli Salad

Ingredients:

Wash and cut stalks off of 2 heads of broccoli.  Separate into bite-size pieces.

 Add:

1 chopped red onion
1 cup craisins
1 lb. bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 cup mayonnaise
3 TBSP sugar

Mix well and refrigerate before serving.

Ginawiches

Ingredients:

Butter/egg or cocktail rolls (or Hawaiian rolls)
Havarti with Dill sliced cheese
Lebanon sausage
Sweet pickle chips
Dijon mustard
Honey mustard

Spread one side of the roll with honey mustard, the other with Dijon mustard.  Layer sandwich ingredients and ENJOY!

Apr3

Easy Crunchy Chicken Salad

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I am not a traditional Chicken-Salad-Sandwich-Eater.  My mom used to make it and we would eat it on Wheat Thins.  Yum.  So, I’ve kinda upped the ante over the years and added some crunchiness, and it’s really good as a sandwich, or with good ol’ Wheat Thins.  MB doesn’t care for yard bird (chicken) but he eats this.  That’s the GO sign.

The very quick and easy way is to grab a rotisserie chicken from the deli, and either use all of it, if you’re cool with dark meat, use it, or keep it for something else.  The cheaper way is to use boneless skinless chicken breasts and boil them.  Mostly I’m in the quick and easy, but you have options.   I’ve shared the recipe below, and I’m sure that you have some add-ins that make it better.  One note – we don’t care much for walnuts, so I use pecans.  And my quick, easy and economical trick with them is to purchase a big bag at your local club shopping store and then take a few minutes with your food processor, chop them, and freeze them for easy use.  Enjoy!

Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

Rotisserie chicken, or 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
3/4 C halved seedless red grapes
1/2 C chopped pecans
1/3 C dried cranberries
finely chopped red onion, to taste
1/3 C finely chopped celery
1/2 C reduced fan plain Greek yogurt or more if needed
salt and pepper, to taste

If needed, boil chicken, drain well, and shred.  Otherwise, remove meat from rotisserie chicken, saving dark for later if you don’t wish to use it.  Stir chicken and remaining ingredients.  Cover and refrigerate well.  Note:  increase or decrease grapes, celery, pecans, etc. to your liking.