Roasted Green Beans & Mushrooms

For Thanksgiving, one of my friends, Christi and her family celebrated with us.  She brought roasted asparagus topped with mushrooms. And another time when we had dinner together, she brought roasted green beans.  So I combined both of her ideas and did this.  I've only ever done green beans not out of the can once other than this and failed miserably.  I never thought to roast them or to top them with mushrooms.  They were delicious, easy, and they look super elegant.

Green Beans
Mushrooms - out of can or fresh, I used canned
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper

Snap ends off of green beans and wash them.  Place on cookie sheet and cover in olive oil and salt and pepper.  Cook at 400 for 15 minutes.
This time, I first sauteed the mushrooms in a little olive oil and then also roasted them when the beans were about halfway through.  I don't know if the sautee-ing was necessary. Next time I might skip that.  I wasn't planning on roasting them at all and then it hit me that it would be a good way to do it.  So I did and it was awesome.

Red Mashed Potatoes

All you're doing is making mashed potatoes but with red potatoes and you leave the skins on. I'll give directions anyway. These are delicious with meatloaf.

Ingredients:
5 red mashed potatoes
2 Tbsp. Butter
1 Tbsp. Milk
1/2 Tbsp. Salt
1/2 Tbsp. Pepper

Directions:
Wash and cut potatoes. Put in sauce pan and fill with water until potatoes are completely covered. Once the water is boiling, turn the heat down and boil for 15 minutes. Once it's done, drain the water. Using a standing mixer or hand mixer, add all ingredients and mix together until all the lumps are gone. If you like your potatoes thinner, you can add more milk.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

or another way to serve it...

 I made this for a Halloween party and I forgot to bring my dishes (and more importantly, leftovers) home.  Guess I'll just have to make it again!

Ingredients

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened 

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 clove garlic, peeled and minced

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

salt and pepper to taste

1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a small baking dish.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese, garlic, basil, salt and pepper. Gently stir in artichoke hearts and spinach.
3. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish. Top with mozzarella cheese. Bake in the preheated oven 25 minutes, until bubbly and lightly browned.

Funeral Potatoes

Sorry I haven't posted in so long. I've had family visiting for the last two weeks and I haven't had a chance. But we did make this as part of our Easter dinner and it was DELICIOUS. Absolutely one of my favorite dishes. And of course, it's served best with ham.

7-8 medium size Potatoes
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
1/2 pint (8 oz) Sour Cream
1 Green Onion
1 Cup (8 oz) Shredded Cheddar Cheese
3 Tbsp. Margarine or Butter
2 cups Corn Flakes

Wash potatoes. Leave skins on and boil for 30 minutes. Make sure they're completely covered in water. Drain and let them cool just long enough for you to touch them without getting burned. Peel off the skins and shred the potatoes. In a separate bowl mix the cream of chicken soup, sour cream, green onions, and cheese. Fold in potatoes and transfer to the pan. You can use a 9 x13 or a 9 x 9. Crush 2 cups of Corn Flakes and mix with the melted butter or margarine. Cover the potatoes with this mixture.
At this point, you can refridgerate for later or bake now at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly hot. Bake longer if refridgerated.

Our unwanted Easter guest.

During our Easter dinner, Landon tells us that there's a bug on his bean.  We go look and sure enough, this little guy was baked into the bean.  Never knew what hit him.  Good thing Landon saw this before he ate it.  My niece and nephews don't like green beans and I'm pretty sure after this they won't ever.

Pretty funny, huh?  Maybe I should contact Green Giant and see if we can settle. :)

Ham Fried Rice

I got this recipe from my mom. My exact words when she made this were, "That's not a main dish, that's a side dish!" What did I do? Ate it as my main dish and LOVED it. But you could also use it as a side dish. And I am not a mushroom lover, but I LOVE mushrooms in this dish.

2-3 Cups Minute Rice
1 -2 Cups Cubed Ham
1/2 Green Pepper
1 or 2 Celery Stocks - depending on how much you like celery
1 small can Mushrooms, drained - sometimes I add two because they are SO yummy
3 Green Onions
4 Tbsp. or so of Soy Sauce
2 Eggs

Wash and cut up vegetables and ham. Let cook over medium heat. In another pan, start boiling water for minute rice. Follow directions on box. When your vegetables are cooked, push to the side and add the eggs in the middle of the pan stirring them.  Once cooked (like scrambled eggs) then mix in with the other ingredients. Make sure the eggs are fully cooked. Then add rice and soy sauce.

Zucchini & Squash

1 Zucchini
1 Squash
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
Favorite Seasoning - I use DeVerl's, you could use Season All or just salt and pepper


Wash, slice and put in frying pan with olive oil and favorite seasoning. Cook on medium heat frequently stirring for 5-10 minutes. Once it starts to brown or get tender, it's done.

Cheesy Biscuits

I got this recipe from Mandi Freestone who made these for us a while ago and I've been craving them ever since.
I didn't realize they were so easy or I would have done it a long time ago.

1 Cup Milk
1 Cup Cheese
1 3/4 Cup Bisquick
1/4 Cup Melted Butter
1 Tbsp or so of Garlic Salt
2 Tbsp. Parsley

Mix ingredients together well and place on a greased baking dish or I used greased muffin tins. I use a Pampered Chef medium scoop which is 2 Tbsp to scoop them into the muffin tins. 1 batch made 12 bisquits.

Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes, remove from oven.  Top with melted butter, garlic salt, and parsley.  Place back in oven and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes until golden brown.

I didn't have any parsley on hand and this was a very last minute addition to tonight's dinner so I skipped that part.

Just to prove how easy all of the dishes are that I made tonight for dinner are, here's the list.

Pork Loin
Rolls & Cinnamon Rolls made out of one batch of dough
Cheesy Biscuits
Roasted Asparagus

Roasted Asparagus

1 bunch of Asparagus - the thinner the asparagus, the better!
1-2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper

Wash and cut or snap off ends of asparagus. Place on baking dish and brush olive oil onto asparagus. Then cover with salt and pepper.
Cook at 350 for 10 minutes.

Hasselback Potatoes

I got this recipe from My Kitchen Cafe who got it from someone else who got it from Sweet Basil which I've just discovered and really like. Not sure why this dish is called what it is, but it is.
I did change the recipe a little bit. It calls for more garlic and butter, and I added DeVerl's Seasoning. So here's what I did.

3 Medium Size Potatoes
1 Clove Garlic, minced
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp. DeVerl's Seasoning
Sea Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Place potatoes on cutting board and cut thin slices almost all the way through. Place in baking dish and put garlic in between potato slices. Pour on Olive Oil and the seasonings. Bake at 425 for 40 minutes or until crispy.

Roasted Vegetables

Use any of your favorite vegetables - I use red potatoes and broccoli.  Depending on what you use you may have to add to some half way through because they'll cook faster.
Olive Oil
Your Favorite Seasoning -
Some suggestions are Italian Seasoning, Salt & Pepper, Mrs. Dash or if you're near Logan, Utah you can go to a local grocery store or to Juniper Take Out and buy the DeVerl's Seasoning, that's my personal favorite.

Wash and cut up vegetables. Place in baking dish and generously coat with olive oil. Then cover with the seasoning of your choice. Cook at 350 for an hour and a half stirring every half an hour.