Saving...
Cheese Grits
Cheese Grits
4 cups water or broth
1 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 cups uncooked quick-cooking grits
2 cups (8 oz.) shredded Gouda or Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup butter
2 teaspoons hot sauce
Bring first 4 ingredients and 4 cups water to a boil in a Dutch oven over high heat; whisk in grits, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat, and stir in cheese and remaining ingredients.
Melissa’s Best Deviled Eggs
In my opinion these are the simplest, best deviled eggs ever!
Melissa’s Best Deviled Eggs
7 large eggs, hard boiled and peeled
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
Salt and pepper, for taste
Paprika, for garnishing
Halve 7 eggs lengthwise. Remove yolks and place in a small bowl. Mash yolks with a fork and stir in mayonnaise and pickle relish. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Fill egg whites evenly with yolk mixture. Garnish with paprika. Store covered in refrigerator.
Tip: Often, I will boil a couple of extra eggs and treat my dog to the whites and add the extra yolks to the mixture to make the stuffed eggs even fuller. Add extra mayonnaise and relish to taste.
Broccoli Salad
This is one my favorite recipes!
10 slices Morning Star Farms Vegetarian Bacon
1 head fresh broccoli, cut into bite size pieces
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
1/2 cup raisins
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup chopped pecans
Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat in a bit of oil until evenly just golden brown. Drain, crumble and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine the broccoli, onion and raisins. In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, sugar and mayonnaise. Pour over broccoli mixture, and toss until well mixed. Refrigerate for at least two hours. Before serving, toss salad with crumbled “bacon” and chopped pecans.
Roasted Beets with Gorgonzola Cheese and Walnuts
We love beets in our house. We usually eat them fresh, but every once in a while I will open a can and make Spiced Beets. This recipe or rather, method, is delicious and savory.
Roasted Beets with Gorgonzola Cheese and Walnuts
Trim tops from beets and wash. Place in a pot of water and bring to a boil, then simmer until tender. Cool.
I like to wear rubber gloves at this point and rub the outer skin off the beets, but you don’t really have to. Place beets in a casserole dish or roasting pan. Top with several pats to butter. Just eye-ball it. I like to give a good amount of butter over the top based on how many beets I am cooking. Sprinkle Gorgonzola and chopped walnuts over the top and roast for 20 or 30 minutes.
Delicious!
Melissa’s Cornbread (gluten free)
Recently, we decided that Sarah (she turns 17 years old today!!), who has Chron’s Disease should go gluten free. Our family has been vegetarian since 1998, so cooking vegan foods for Sarah was an easy transition, but going gluten free has been more of a thought provoking challenge. However, I am very excited about the possibilities and now that I have stocked up on some basic essentials for gluten free cooking, it doesn’t seem nearly as daunting.
Cornbread is something I cook quite often. It is a recipe that we love, love, love. My recipe called for flour. Last night, I decided to try the recipe without the flour, replacing it with cornmeal. The kids said they liked it even better. Who knew?
Melissa’s Gluten Free Cornbread
2 cups cornmeal
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. I like to put my cast iron skillet in there to heat up and melt 2 tbsp. butter/ margarine in the skillet. Mix together dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients. Mix until combined.
Remove cast iron skillet from oven, carefully! Tip from side to side to evenly coat with melted butter. Pour cornbread batter into skillet and bake for 20 minutes.
This recipe is soooo good. You can use this recipe to top pot pies, baked chili, Mexican Pie, and more. Add finely chopped jalapenos or corn, chopped onions and more for different flavors.
Thai Fried Rice
1/4 cup teriyaki sauce
8 oz. firm tofu, cubed
1 Tbsp. peanut oil
1 medium red pepper, cut into strips (about 1-1/2 cups)
1/2 cup (1-inch) green onion pieces
2-2/3 cups cooked brown rice, chilled
1 can (8 oz.) pineapple tidbits in juice, drained
1/2 cup peanuts, chopped
Pour teriyaki sauce over tofu in shallow dish. Refrigerate 5 to 10 minutes to marinate. Drain tofu; reserve teriyaki sauce. Heat oil in large skillet on medium-high heat. Add tofu; cook 3 to 4 minutes or until golden brown on all sides, stirring occasionally. Remove from skillet. Ad red pepper to skillet; cook and stir 2 minutes. Add green onion; cook and stir 1 minute. Add rice and pineapple; mix lightly. Cook 2 to 3 minutes or until heated through, stirring frequently. Add tofu, peanuts and reserved teriyaki sauce; mix lightly. Cook until heated through, stirring occasionally.
My Favorite Guacamole
I have always thought that God made avocados just for me. I mean, they are literally my favorite thing to eat! I can’t wait to get to heaven. I plan to have more than one avocado trees!
My Favorite Guacamole
- 2 avocados
- 2 fat cloves of garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup minced onion
- 2 tbsp chopped cilantro
- The juice from 1/2 a lime or to taste
- Salt and pepper to taste
Mash the avocados with a fork. Add remaining ingredients and serve immediately!
Cheesy Stuffed Mushrooms
These little bites are soooo yummy! This recipe is super easy enough to prepare for everyday and decadent enough for special occasions! I like to grate some fresh Parmesan or Romano cheese over the top before baking.
Cheesy Stuffed Mushrooms
12 large whole fresh mushrooms (or 24 smaller mushrooms)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Carefully break off stems. Chop stems extremely fine, discarding tough end of stems.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and chopped mushroom stems to the skillet. Fry until any moisture has disappeared, taking care not to burn garlic. Set aside to cool.
When garlic and mushroom mixture is no longer hot, stir in cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, black pepper, onion powder and cayenne pepper. Mixture should be very thick. Using a little spoon, fill each mushroom cap with a generous amount of stuffing. Arrange the mushroom caps on prepared cookie sheet.
Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the mushrooms are piping hot and liquid starts to form under caps.
Middle Eastern Hummus
This is one of my favorite dips for pitas or chips. It is buttery and melts in your mouth. I’ve discovered that you can play with the ingredients to get a taste that you like, but the most important thing is to blend it until its creamy. This is a healthy snack that is an easy way to sneak beans into your child’s diet. 
Hummus
1 can garbonzo beans (chick peas) (or 1 cup dried, pre-soak overnight and then cook until tender)
1/4 cup Tahini (sesame paste)
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 cloves garlic peeled (or you can roast it until tender to make more neutral flavor)
1/4 t. salt (add more to taste if using dried beans)
1/4 +/- water
10 kalamata olives pitted (or your favorite Mediterranean olive)
2 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Blend all ingredients (but olive oil) in a blender for at least 2 minuets. Add more water if needed. Mixture should look like the texture and consistency of a thick milkshake (Wendy’s Frosty). Keep adding small amounts of water until the mixture is creamy. Serve drizzled with olive oil.
(Optional ingredients. Roasted Red Peppers and nutritional yeast flakes, or fresh basil, or cumin, chili powder and paprika. )
Healthy alternative to Burgers and Fries!
Who among us doesn’t LOVE French fries, but HATE how their made? I honestly refuse to give up this terrible fast food, but have given in to eating in moderation. A burger and fries just seems like the best summertime food, so I”ll post my favorite recipes for the meal pictured below. I have learned a tip or two here and there about how to make this meal “healthy”, and decided to give it a try. Here is the result of my labors.
Fast and easy whole wheat burger buns. I can take no credit here, but LOVE how fast and easy these are! This lady’s got some great advise for cooking dairy free. I used this recipe and used egg replacer (ener-g brand) and they turned out fine. My friend made them without any egg replacer and said they did well too. I added fresh crushed garlic and Italian seasonings. These do freeze well, but they are BEST right out of the oven, nice and crusty, so if reheating them, pop into a hot oven for a few minuets. This recipe makes 8 buns.
Meaty Oat burger. I love a frozen soy burger, but these are cheaper and better for you, without tasting like cardboard. 
This recipe is for about 16 burgers.
Oven Baked French Fries.
Preheat oven to 400
4 potatoes, scrubbed or peeled
Olive oil
Salt
Herbs of choice (I like basil, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, parsley)
Cut potatoes into thick fries and toss in a few tablespoons of olive oil and your favorite spices. Place on a cookie sheet so they are not overlapping. Bake for 30 min. Serve with your favorite condiments. (If you noticed that my fries are a little well done its because I got distracted after the timer went off. ) This makes enough for 2 hungry adults and 1 hungry 3 year old.
**Variety** Try using a sweet potato and serve with a horseradish sauce.
