Ham Casserole

This is one of those things that I grew up eating, and never knew where my mom got the recipe from, but we all loved eating it, especially when it got cold out!  It is definitely a kid friendly dish...noodles, peas, ham and cheese!  It is colorful, and little ones can eat it with their fingers after it cools a little bit!  It also makes delicious left overs, and is even better the day after!  

Ham Casserole 
Yields 8 servings

To Prepare the Casserole 
1. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Boil 2 boxes of tri color fiori.  This will be approximately 24 ounces of pasta.  We normally use elbow noodles, but I already has the fiori in the pantry and decided to go with them.  They tomato and spinach in them added to the flavor of the casserole, and it made it look really pretty when it was done!
3. Once the pasta is done cooking, drain it and put it back in the pot you cooked it in, or in a large bowl.
4. Mix in 1 pound of thawed frozen peas.
5. Mix in 2 packs of pre-diced ham cubes.  You can usually find this in vacuum sealed baggies in the meat section of the grocery store with the ham products!  It works out to being about 1 pound of ham, so if you cannot find the cubes, you can cut 1 pound of ham steak into cubes and add it in to the mixture!

6. Mix in 1 pound of extra sharp shredded cheese.

7. Pour the entire mixture into a casserole dish.

8. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 20 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and the top has started to turn golden brown!

Cheesy Turkey Casserole

This is a recipe my mom came up with about 10 years ago the week after Thanksgiving!  After cooking a 50 pound turkey (for 5 people), we had TONS of leftover turkey!  We also had a lot of Wild Rice leftover, too.  All of the leftovers, combined with my mom's need to sneak my brother and sister veggies, brought this recipe to life!


Cheesy Turkey Casserole
Yields 6 - 8 servings

To Prepare the Casserole
1. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Prepare 2 boxes of Uncle Ben's Wild Rice per the directions on the box.
3. While the rice is cooking, pan sear approximately 1 pound of turkey in olive oil over medium heat.  You could also use chicken, or even ground turkey or chicken...just be sure, whichever you choose, that you cook it!  If you are using leftover turkey or chicken, you will just need to break it up into 1 inch pieces!
4. Pour the rice into a large casserole dish, and spread it out evenly. 

5. Next you will need to prepare 2 1/2 pounds of broccoli.  I used chopped frozen broccoli that I thawed.  If you are going to use fresh broccoli, you will need to boil it first!  Once your broccoli is either defrosted or cooked, spread it evenly across the rice!

6. Spread the meat evenly on top of the broccoli layer.

7. Top the whole casserole with 1 pound of sharp cheddar cheese.

8. Bake the casserole for approximately 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and golden brown!

Baked Ziti with Sage Sausage

I know a lot of you would not necessarily consider baked ziti a casserole, but this is how I look at it: A casserole is usually some sort of meat (sausage), a grain of some sort (ziti), sauce/veggie (tomato sauce), and cheese (mozzarella and ricotta).  Let us just say it is Italian casserole hehe!  

Baked Ziti with Sage Sausage
Yields 6 - 8 servings

To Prepare the Ziti
1. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees! 
2. Open a one pound tube of sage flavored sausage.  You know the stuff...the breakfast sausage that you cut and fry!  Brown the sausage in a frying pan, and break it up a with a spatula.  It will break down more and more as it cooks!

3. Bring a pot of water to boil, and cook 1 pound of ziti.  Don't cook it all the way, but just a little bit past the al dente state!
4. Once the pasta is cooked, drain it and leave it in the sieve.
5. Using the empty pot you cooked the pasta in, mix together approximately 25 ounces of pasta sauce, 1 pound of shredded mozzarella cheese (hold back some of the mozzarella to top the casserole), 1 pound of riccotta cheese, and 2 large eggs.

6. Once all of these ingredients are mixed, add the pasta and sausage in!
7. Pour the mixture into a glass casserole dish and top with the mozzarella you left out of the sauce. I sprinkled a little dash of parsley flake on top of the cheese, but you could also top it with a basil leaf, some fresh oregano, or some fresh parsley if you want to!

8. Bake for approximately 15 minutes, or until the cheese on top has melted and is just starting to brown!

Easy Shepherd's Pie

Episode after episode of Kitchen Nightmares, I watch Gordon Ramsay convince restaurant owners and chefs to add his family's Shepherd's Pie recipe to the menu.  I have finally caved and tried Shepherd's pie (not the Ramsay recipe), and LOVED it!  My dad and sister really enjoyed it, and in fact my dad is on his THIRD helping as I type this!  I kept this recipe nice, simple, and quick to make, as the whole point of a casserole is ease and simplicity.  You can click to check out the difference between this make-shift pie and an authentic one.  Overall the major difference is the sauce.  I have used beef gravy, while an authentic pie uses red wine, chicken stock, Worcester sauce, tomato sauce, and seasonings. 


Shepherd's Pie
Yields 6 servings

To Prepare the Pie
1. Brown approximately 1 pound of ground lamb meat.  I went for the authentic lamb option, but you can definitely go the route of beef, chicken, turkey, or loose tofu!
2. Dice one small onion, and 2 cloves of garlic.  If you are using pre-chopped garlic, use 1 tablespoon!
3. Add the onions and garlic to the lamb.

4. After the lamb is browned, mix it in a large bowl with 2 bottles of gravy (approximately 24 ounces).  Again, I opted for a beef gravy, but you could use mushroom gravy too!

5. Mix approximately 2 pounds of mixed vegetables with the lamb and gravy.  I used the mix that has corn, lima beans, green beans, carrots, and peas!

6. Make two pouches of instant mashed potatoes (or 1 entire box of the Betty Crocker mixes).  I opted for the creamy butter flavor, but you could definitely use another flavor...something like butter garlic, or four cheese, would taste yummy!
7. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.
8. Pour the veggie and meat mixture into a casserole dish.
9. Top with the mashed potatoes.  I chose to pipe mine one with a cake decorating bag and tip, but you can also spread them evenly and give it some texture by running a fork through it!  You definitely want to give it a little texture though, because that is the part that is going to brown and give it a little crunch!

10. Bake for approximately 30 minutes, or until the topping is browning on the peaks, and the sauce is bubbling throughout the casserole!

Creamy Chicken and Green Bean Casserole

It is the official start of my self proclaimed CASSEROLE WEEK!!!  Why casseroles, you may ask?  They are easy and cheap to make, are a great way to get left overs out of the fridge and freezer, and can be made a head of time and reheated!  Plus, casseroles are great for lunch the next day or two!  I know that some of you do not have ovens or access to them, so I would like to take a quick second here to tell you that you do not have to have an oven to enjoy a casserole!  All of the ingredients can be prepared and heated and then served on top of each other.  For example, with tonight's recipe, you can heat the green beans in the sauce while the chicken cooks, and then top with the stuffing mixture.  Sometimes, we just have to get a little creative to enjoy our kitchen and dinner!

I have made this casserole for some of my friends in the past, but never for my family, so it is new for my dad and sister...hopefully they will be digging in for seconds!

Creamy Chicken and Green Bean Casserole
Yields 6 - 8 servings

To Prepare the Casserole
1. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Heat a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
3. Once the olive oil is hot, add 1 pound of chicken.  I used boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins!
4. While the chicken is cooking, start making the sauce by adding 2 cans of cream of chicken soup, 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup, and 1 cup of white wine in a bowl and mixing it well.  (Be sure to pour yourself a glass of wine while you are at it!)

5. Pour a thin layer of sauce in a large casserole dish.

6. Put 2 pounds of thawed green beans in the casserole dish.

7. Evenly spread the cooked chicken on top of the green beans.

8. Cover the entire casserole with the remaining sauce.

9. Top with dry, seasoned stuffing cubes.

10. Bake in the oven for approximately 45 minutes, or until the stuffing is golden brown and the sauce is bubbling! 

Enjoy your casserole with a glass of white wine!

Sweet Potato Casserole

There is nothing I hate about Fall...cooler weather, leaves changing, heartier meals that warm us from the inside out, and...dun dun dun...PREPARING FOR THANKSGIVING!!!  October is when I start thinking about what I will be serving for Thanksgiving dinner...aka the big game!  It is definitely my favorite holiday (and my birthday hint hint :-P).  I pride myself on putting a spread on the table that is delicious and leaves no Plymouth Rock unturned!  I don't want to leave my guests or family hungry, but I do want to leave them begging for more (and doggy bags!).  So, to bring me back to my point, I start playing with my menu and options now!  I always serve some variety of sweet potato or yam, plain canned yams, yams topped with syrup and marshmallows, coconut curry sweet potatoes with raisins, double stuffed sweet potatoes...you get the point!  This year I have been toying with the idea of a sweet potato casserole.  This one came out well, and presented well (can't forget about presentation when it comes to Thanksgiving!).  Well, anywho, here is the recipe and pictures!  Between now and Thanksgiving, I will be labeling some of my recipe with the tag of "Thanksgiving" at the bottom of the post (the orange links).  So I hope this makes Thanksgiving type recipes easier to find, should you be interested!  

Sweet Potato Casserole
Yields 8 servings

To Make the Potatoes
1. Peel 4 - 5 pounds of yams or sweet potatoes.  If you are using a food mill, you will not need to peel!
2. Boil the yams or sweet potatoes until they are soft enough to be easily pierced with a fork.

3. Mash the potatoes.

4. Add 1/4 cup of maple syrup, 1/4 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of milk, and 2 tablespoons of butter to the mash.  

To Make the Topping 
1. Pour 4 packages of single serving instant oatmeal into a bowl.  Make sure it is the oats and not semolina!

2. Add the following to the dry oatmeal: 1/4 teaspoon of Allspice, 1/4 teaspoon of Ginger. 1/4 teaspoon of Ground Cloves, 1/4 teaspoon of Nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon of Cinnamon, and 2 tablespoons of Brown Sugar.
3. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter.
4. Mix 1/2 tablespoon of maple syrup into the butter.
5. Mix the wet and dry ingredients together well!

To  Make the Casserole
1. Pour the mash into a casserole or ceramic pie dish.

2. Sprinkle the top with the topping mixture.

3. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
4. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and crunchy!

Mac and Cheese...Help Needed!

This is one of those recipes I just cannot seem to get to work right, so I need your help, readers!  I'll give you the run down of what I did...do me a favor and read through, and please help me out with any tips you may have, or tricks you use (if you are willing to share them)!  The taste this time was much better than the one I made before, but this time, the consistency of the sauce was TOTALLY off!  I might have to give up on making mac and cheese soon if I don't start getting it right!

Mac and Cheese
Yields 6 generous servings

To Make the  Mac and Cheese
1. Bring 3 cups of whole milk to a boil in a large pan.

2. Add 2 tablespoons of cornstarch or flour to the milk and blend well.
3. Add 24 ounces of shredded Monterey Jack and Colby mix cheese.  Add the cheese in small quantities, making sure to blend it into the milk until it is melted and fully incorporated into the sauce.

5. Once all of the cheese is mixed into the milk, add uncooked elbow macaroni.  I have tried doing the macaroni both ways...cooked and uncooked...but I think the sauce holds up a little better when I add cooked macaroni.

6. Heat the oven to 350.
7. Put the mac and cheese in a casserole dish and top with 8 more ounces of shredded cheese.

 8. Bake until the pasta is tender and the top of the casserole is golden brown and melted.