Cooking with KP

Creamy Bowtie Pasta Dinner

I discovered this recipe while watching Facebook Reels. It is so tasty. Quick, easy, and oh, so cheesy!

12 ounces bow tie pasta

1-1.5 pounds of ground beef or turkey

1 small onion (optional)

onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper to taste

1 can Rotel tomatoes with green chili, undrained

1 cup heavy cream

1.5 -2 cups of Fiesta/Mexican blend cheese

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; add pasta. Let boil for around 11 minutes. Drain when done.

In a large skillet, add cooking oil and ground meat. Add onion and cook until fully cooked. Drain any grease and return to skillet.

Add Rotel. Let simmer for 3 minutes.

Push meat to the side.

Pour in heavy cream and cheese. Stirring constantly until cheese is melted.

Fold in meat mixture and let simmer 4-5 minutes.

Mix in pasta and let simmer 3-5 minutes.

To make this more Mexican, cook meat with a package of taco seasonings.

Creamy Butter Baked Chicken

I discovered this recipe watching Facebook reels. It is easy and delicious! We really enjoy it.

4-6 thin sliced boneless chicken breasts (you could use boneless skinless thighs, too)
1 cup plain flour
1 teaspoon seasoned salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup butter
12 oz can EVAPORATED milk
10.5 oz can cream of chicken soup

1/4 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.
Cut the butter into cubes and add to a 13 x 9 pan. Then, place it in the oven to melt.
Mix flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder and seasoning salt in a shallow bowl.
In another shallow bowl, pour 4 oz of evaporated milk.
Dredge each chicken into the evaporated milk and then in the flour mixture.
Put each chicken breasts directly on top of the melted butter.
Bake for 45 minutes.
Combine the rest of the evaporated milk, the cream of chicken soup, and the water. (You might want to add a dash of your seasonings, too).
Turn the chicken over and then drizzle the tops with the milk soup mixture until they are well coated.
Pour the milk soup mixture all around the chicken. Don't fill the pan completely up above the chicken, but add enough that it can be used as gravy.
Bake for an additional 30 minutes, until golden brown and soup mixture has thickened.
Remove from oven and serve immediately.

Cheesy Chicken and Rice in Crockpot

I found this recipe on Your Barefoot Neighbor who credited someone for the recipe. I don't care who created it, but it is a wonderfully easy and delicious dinner.

Ingredients:

1 ½ -2 pounds of chicken (breasts, thighs, or tenders)

1 box (6.9 ounces) yellow rice mix (such as Zatarain's)

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can whole kernel corn (drained)

1 diced onion

½ diced bell pepper

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 stick of butter

Seasonings: salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika

Spray the crockpot. Season the bottom of your slow cooker with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika, then place the chicken breasts down.

In a separate mixing bowl, combine the drained corn, diced onion, bell pepper, dry yellow rice mix, cream of chicken soup, and shredded cheddar cheese.

Spread the rice and soup mixture evenly over the top of the chicken in the crockpot.

Slice the butter into pats and place on top of the mixture. Making sure to put butter over the entire top.

Cover and cook on your preferred slow-cooker setting until the chicken is tender and the rice is fully cooked through. (Usually 6-8 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high).

Creamy Chicken and Egg Noodles

Looking for some tasty comfort food? Here is an option. I found the recipe online and we enjoy it.

1-2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts

32 ounces of low sodium chicken broth

3 cans of cream of chicken soup

1 Tablespoon garlic powder

1/2 Tablespoon seasoned salt

1 Tablespoon dried parsley flakes

1 teaspoon pepper

1 Tablespoon of minced garlic

1 1/2 cups of frozen peas and carrots or mixed vegetables

24 ounce bag of frozen egg noodles (Reames)

In a large pot,combine 3 cans of cream of chicken soup, 32 ounces of chicken broth, dried parsley, black pepper and minced garlic. Season 1 1/2 to 2 pounds of chicken with salt, pepper and garlic powder and add to your broth. Let simmer until the chicken is fully cooked, about 40 minutes. Remove the cooked chicken, shred it and return to the pot along frozen veggies and 24 ounces of frozen egg noodles. Cook an additional 30 minutes or until the noodles are cooked.

Crockpot Tortellini

If you need an easy but tasty and filling meal, you may liket this. It goes righ in the crockpot allowing you to relax and then enjoy a good meal.

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 pound of ground beef

1 pound of loose Italian sausage or ground pork

1 medium onion, finely diced

2 Tablespoons minced garlic

1 15 ounce can diced tomatoes

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 teaspoons sugar (alway use sugar to cut the acid of tomato sauces)

1 24 ounce jar marinara sauce

1 15 ounce jar alfredo sauce

1 Tablespoon of Italian blend seasoning

1 Tablespoon of dried parsley

1 teaspoon smoky paprika

Pinch of red pepper flakes

2 cups of tortellini

Top with your favorite cheese (s)

Place olive oil in skillet. Add both meats and brown. Drain any grease. Add in onion and garlic. Cook 4 minutes and remove from heat. Spray crockpot and put all other ingredients except tortellini to crockpot. Mix well. Cook on low for 5 hours or high for 3.5 hours. Add tortellini and cook for 40 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Crockpot Bbq Garlic and Lime Pork

I found some pork stew meat on sale and the hunt began online for a quick and easy recipe that I could tweak. I needed it to be no fuss and delicious and this does just that!

3-4 pounds of pork cubes/chunks or stew meat

Juice of 3-4 limes

Garlic powder

Pepper

Seasoned salt

Red pepper flakes

1 small onion, thinly sliced

3 Tablespoons of minced garlic

2 cups of barbecue sauce

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

Spray crockpot with oil. Put meat in a large bowl and sprinkle them with garlic powder, pepper, and seasoned salt. Mix well. Squeeze lime juice into bowl and toss well. Place thinly slice onions in bottom of crock pot. Add meat. In bowl mix bbq sauce, brown sugar, minced garlic, and red pepper flakes (if using). Pour ontop of meat, cover with lid and cook on low 4-6 hours, or high 3-4 hours. Stiring every hour. When meat is cooked, spoon up 1-2 cups of the liquid and put in a small pot and bring to a boil and reduce. Pour over meat before serving. It will make a glaze. Enjoy!

Swedish Cube Steak in Crock Pot

I found the basic recipe for this simple and delicious meal online and, of course, I changes a few things. We really enjoy it.

6-10 cube steaks ( I used two packs of 4)

1 medium onion thinly sliced

1 can Cream of Celery soup

8 ounces of cleaned and sliced fresh mushrooms (optional)

1 Tablespoon minced garlic

1/2 Tablespoon pepper

1-2 Tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce

1 package of Au Jus gravy

8 ounces cream cheese, cubed and softened

8 ounces sour cream

Seasoned salt, pepper, and garlic powder

Spray your crock pot with cooking spray. Place onion slices in bottom of pot. Season your cube steaks with seasoned salt, pepper, and garlic powder on both sides. Place steaks on top onions. Place mushrooms on top of steaks In a small bowl, mix soup, au jus gravy packet, Worcestershire sauce, minced garlic, and pepper. Pour on top of mushrooms. Cook on low for 5 hours. If possible turn steak over midway. Mix sour cream and cream cheese until well blended and cream cheese has not more lumps. Pour on top of crock pot mixture and cook up to 1 hour more. Serve over egg noodles, rice, or potatoes.

Cheaper Cuts of Beef Don't Have To Be Tough

Most people avoid the cheaper cuts of beef because they tend to be tough. With 8 children and three adults in our home, my mother had to find ways to tenderize the cheaper cuts of beef. One way to cook "down", as my mother used to say, a tough cut of beef steak is to season both sides of the steak with garlic powder, seasoned salt and pepper. Lightly brown the steak in a large skillet and on top add a diced green bell pepper, medium onion, a bay leaf, parsley flakes, a few dashes of Worchestershire sauce, and a can of diced tomatoes. Cover with lid. Let the steak simmer for 30-50 minutes. Remove lid and thicken juices by cooking 5-10 more minutes. You can also do the same with a cheap beef roast in a crock pot. Add all the ingredients in crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. The flavor is simple, amazing and great with mashed potatoes.

Fall Vegetables for a Healthy You

As the fall approaches, we will all start to stay indoors more hours. This will lessen our vitamins, such as vitamin A, D, and K, which are enhanced by sunlight. Below are a few vegetables you might want to increase in your diet as the fall and later winter days approach. Besides, they are very tasty. In fact, in the next few weeks, I will be posting recipes that incorporate many of these delicious veggies.

Sweet potatoes and yams are very rich in carotenoids, vitamins A, B6, C, potassium, iron and fiber and are delicious when baked and eaten plain (without butter) or used in soups, casseroles or stir-fries.

Bell peppers are great sources of potassium, manganese, fiber and vitamins A, B, C and K. These sweet peppers are flavorful additions to salads and healthy stir-fries. You can choose from a rainbow of colors, including: green peppers,yellow peppers, orange peppers,and red peppers.

Summer and winter squash are rich in carotenoids, vitamins A and C, potassium, magnesium and fiber and can be served alone or added to many dishes.

Just a few tips for you...

Spray your Tupperware with nonstick cooking spray before pouring in tomato- based sauces. No more stains!

Use lifesavers candy to hold candles in place on your next birthday cake! Kids love them.

Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of a sugarcone to prevent ice cream drips!

Zap garlic cloves in the microwave for 15 seconds and the skins slip right off!

If your celery begins to wilt in the fridge, fill a large cup half full of water and place celery in the cup. Put back in the fridge for two hours--it will be crisp. (Learned this from my mother).

Cooking Myth Busted

A Potato Can Save a Salty Soup or Stew. True or False? False. "This is an attractive idea, but it doesn't work because potatoes are not particularly absorbent," says Wolke, who conducted his own soup-and-potato experiment for his Cooking Myth Busters book. "There is no reason they would attract salt." If you remove the raw potato from the soup, the potato will taste salty, but so would a sponge — it has simply soaked up some of the salty liquid. Still, there is hope for salty stews: Adding a bit of vinegar or sugar can "cancel out" the saltiness by giving your taste buds competing flavors.

Super Moist Turkey

If you are looking for a way to get a moist turkey, you might try one of these family hints:

1--bake the turkey upside down--breast down for the first half of the cooking time. It will help the darker meat cook more thoroughly and the fatty juices of the darker meat will drip down to the breast and add moistness. Use a deep roasting pan for this.

2--bake the turkey with the breast up, but rub it with butter, garlic powder and pepper only. Do not salt the skin. Instead, mix salt in a cup of warm water and pour that cup of salted warm-not hot-water inside the cavity of the turkey. The salt water will steam up into the turkey, making it very moist.

3. bake the turkey with the breast up and slice two lemons and one orange in halves. Place the halves inside the seasoned turkey and the juices will steam into the meat, adding moisture and flavor.

Hint of the Week

Here is something I learned from my wonderful Mother, the greatest cook I have ever known. When you have just a small serving of cooked vegetables leftover from dinner, don't throw them away. Keep a large plastic container in the freezer and put the vegetables in the container. Mix them--carrots, corn, green beans, broccoli, etc. When the container is full make a pot of soup or stew. Also, if a recipe calls for 1/2 a chopped onion, chop the whole onion and add the half to the freezer container. My mother made the best vegetable soups from this idea.

Hint for the Week

With Fourth of July quickly approaching, you might be thinking of making Deviled Eggs. If you want perfectly boiled eggs, place eggs in a large pot and completely cover with cold water. Do not layer eggs on top of one another. Bring water to a rapid boil for 2 minutes, reduce to simmer and let eggs simmer 8 minutes, return to boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and empty hot water and fill pot with cold water. Let sit for 5 minutes. To peel easily, slightly crush shell in your fist and roll on counter with a firm grip. Of course, you don't want to push through the egg, but by making the shell crack in many small pieces, it is easier to peel. My father saw this on a cooking show years ago and taught me this. It truly works.