Mom Recipes

Here’s where you share your mom recipes! What works for you, children/husband favorites. Quick and easy or a tad bit complicated!

ALMOST CHICKEN & DUMPLINS

I named this recipe “Almost” because I only use 1/2 a package of dumplins. You can add more and make it real dumplin-y, I like it as a soup!

Ingredients:

1 raw chicken (can use pieces)

1 large onion

4 or 5 peeled carrots

4 or 5 stalks of celery

1 carton chicken broth

½ package Mary B’s frozen dumplings

Salt and pepper to taste

In a large Dutch oven or soup pot, boil chicken with water, enough to cover ½ way, until done (usually 1 or 1 1/2 hours or so depending on size.)

Fully salt and pepper raw chicken. Remove cooked chicken from broth and put in a bowl to cool. Strain broth and return to pot. Add enough canned chicken broth (or stock) to fill pot within 2 inches from top.

Peel carrots and clean celery, chop to desired size, I like them kind of big. Chop onion. Bring liquid to a boil and add onion, carrots and celery. Break up dumplings into two or three pieces and add to broth.

Boil all ingredients (without chicken) for about 40 minutes or until vegies are tender. Add enough chicken before serving to make a great soup and serve with saltine crackers. Yum.

*You can use rotisserie chicken but adjust the broth to fit the pot and add chicken last.

Here’s another good one!

HEARTY TURNIP GREEN SOUP

It only takes 6 ingredients and can be made in a soup pot or a crockpot. Easy and delicious! I made some tonight and it was yummy!

Ingredients:

1 small roll of breakfast sausage

3 small cans Original Rotel (or 1 large, substitute 1 can regular diced tomatoes if you don’t like it so spicy.

1 large can seasoned turnip greens

1 can Great Northern Beans

2 cans black-eye peas

1-3 cup carton chicken broth/stock

Brown the sausage. Add the tomatoes, turnip greens and juice, beans and juice. Then add the chicken stock and stir. Let it simmer for about 30-45 minutes to blend the flavors, or set it on low in your crockpot and come home to delicious soup. *Salt, pepper and spices, optional. That’s it!

Serve with your favorite cornbread and you have a great meal with just a little work!

Let me know if you make it or share your favorite family recipe below!

Stay tuned for more recipes from

Professional Mom


Quick and Easy Vegetables…

We are trying to eat more veggies at my house lately. Here’s a great way to provide simple roasted sides with any meal. Featured is Butternut Squash. My hack is to buy it already cut and cleaned in the produce section of the grocery, also, I used pre-cut garlic. Anything to make it easier for mom!

http://allrecipes.com/video/4448/simple-roasted-butternut-squash/?internalSource=picture_play&referringId=229733&referringContentType=recipe

 

Ribs on the Barbee (not really, in the oven)

Ribs, first time, no joke!

Using the trusty internet, as well as the “advice” of pro rib cookers, my sister Micki and my son Sean, son Joey and his wife Veronica for the loin, I purchased 3 slabs of baby back ribs (about 4lbs each) and a 4lb pork loin.

For the pork loin:

Salt and pepper and cut in half, if large. Place a small about of broth or apple juice in the bottom. Place on High for 2 hours, then low for 4 hours. Gauge amount of time by pounds. Leave it! Put BBQ sauce on the last hour if desired.

For the ribs:

Have plenty of aluminum foil, preferably heavy duty. I used it to both prep the meat and cook on. I got my pans ready and covered the bottom with foil. TIP: I used cooking oil to coat the foil so they wouldn’t stick.

Remove the membrane from the back of the slab. TIP: grab with a paper towel for easy removal.

Cut in half and salt and pepper both sides. Place on the foil/oiled pan or in a Pyrex, cover tightly with more foil/oiled.

Preheat oven 275° and cook low and slow for 4 hours. You can check ½ way through and turn them over if you like. If you like yours sauced, take off top foil the last 15 minutes and broil until caramelized and yummy.

*The ribs turned out tender and juicy, I chose to have the sauce on the side. The loin, was a little dry. I would recommend using a lot of bone broth, cook for about 6-8 hours if large.

 

Husband’s Delight is Delightful! (American Lasagna)

Years ago, my mother-in-law, owned and operated a kindergarten. I was a newlywed and had almost no cooking experience. She owned and operated a kindergarten and put together a cookbook (made by the children) with the mom’s recipes. There was one that stood out, seemed “doable” to my novice self and over the years, with some tweaks, I have made it my own.

It’s tried and true, never fail, great for all occasions, stores well in the fridge or freezer. You have to try it! Decide if you want to make several casseroles or just one and reduce the ingredients accordingly. This is my super-duper batch.

Here we go, you’ll need:

1st step

2 lbs. of ground chuck

1 large can of diced tomatoes (petite)

1 large can of tomato sauce

½ small can of tomato paste

Italian spices

Garlic powder

Brown the meat and drain, add the tomato paste and distribute throughout the meat. Add the cans of tomato and sauce and stir in a handful of spices, basil, oregano, or blended spices. Add a good splash of garlic powder. Simmer for 30 or 45 minutes while you cook the noodles and make the cheese layer. Cool a little before assembling.

2nd step

2 blocks of cream cheese (can use low-fat)

2 cartons of sour cream (or one large)

Green onions chopped with tops

Soften cream cheese, either leave on counter or microwave for 2 minutes on 50% power. Chop onions with green tops. Mix cream cheese with sour cream and add onions. Set aside.

2 packages wide egg noodles

Cook according to package directions.

Assemble:

Mix noodles with sauce in a large bowl or the noodle pot. Place meat and noodle mixture in a thick layer in one large or several small casserole dishes. I usually make some smaller ones to give away.

Put a thick layer of the cheese mixture on each casserole and spread around. You’ll need to portion it out so each one gets enough cheese.

And finally, cover each casserole with grated cheddar cheese, I usually buy a big bag, but you can grate yourself.

 You can store this in the fridge or freeze.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cover casserole with foil and bake for 30 minutes, if room temp, 45 if cold. Uncover and bake another 15 minutes to brown the cheese.

Let it sit for a few minutes before slicing into squares, Enjoy!!!

 

Quiche by Heart

If you love quiche as much as I do, you’ll love this adaptation I came up with from recipes I have used in the past. One of the great things about this recipe is that you can make it your own just by changing the vegetables or cheeses, playing with spices, and adding meats to your heart’s content! My measurements are made for two deep dish pie shells. Cut the egg to 8 or 10 for smaller pie shells. Leave off crust for less calories. Make it your own, I did!

Ingredients:

2 deep dish frozen pie shells

1 medium onion

2 tablespoons butter

Sliced mushrooms (to taste)

Bagged spinach (two or 3 handfuls or to taste, this will wilt down when heated)

12 eggs

2 tablespoons salt

1 tablespoon pepper

2 cups grated cheddar

1 cup grated Swiss

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Garlic power (splash)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Preheat a large skillet, sauté chopped onions for about 3 minutes or until clear, add mushrooms and spinach and stir for a few minutes until soft.

Let that sit and crack eggs in a bowl, adding cream, salt, pepper and some garlic powder. Whisk until blended, no need to beat hard.

Put the quiche together with both crusts on a baking sheet, placing your vegetables on the bottom of the crust, a good portion of both cheeses and then the egg mixture. Top with the rest of the cheeses.

Cook in oven for 30 minutes or until crust is getting brown, then cover lightly with aluminum foil for another 20 minutes (may need 30.)

Pull it out and test, when a knife comes out clean in the center, it is done. Let it cool and set for a few minutes then enjoy!

Let me know how yours turns out!

Patti

 

2 Comments

  1. I wanted to post my “tips” on the Chicken Soup! My genius daughter added lemon pepper to jazz it up and also used surgical gloves to pick the chicken! Too cool! My mom adds a handful of rice to her chicken soup to thicken it up! Send me your tips when you try it!

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