Wild Rice-Stuffed Green Peppers

1/3 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp butter or margarine, melted
1 ½ cups beef broth
¾ cup long-grain, brown, and wild rice blend
1/3 cup sliced celery
¼ cup finely chopped carrot
1 (14 ½ oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
½ cup chopped zucchini
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
¼ tsp dried basil
1/8 to ¼ tsp ground thyme
2 large green peppers, stem ends sliced off
1 to 2 Tbsp tomato juice (optional)
¼ cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese


Sauté onion and garlic in butter in a large saucepan until tender. Add broth, rice, celery, and carrot. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 25 minutes or until rice is almost done. Remove from heat; stir in tomatoes and next 5 ingredients.

Place peppers in a saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil; cook 3 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain; stuff with rice mixture. Place peppers in a 1 ½-quart greased casserole; spoon any extra rice around peppers. Cover with foil; bake at 350o for 25 minutes or until tender, basting with tomato juice after 15 minutes if mixture seems dry. When almost done, remove foil, and top with Parmesan; bake 5 more minutes. Yeild: 2 servings.

Primavera Pizza

Asparagus tips, broccoli florets, yellow summer squash sliced
½ cup olive oil
2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese
2 cups shredded white cheddar cheese
1 cup sliced Roma tomatoes
6 green onions, chopped
Salt & pepper
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3 Tbsp minced fresh tarragon

Separately steam or blanch vegetables until crisp tender, immediately in ice water to halt cooking and retain bright color. Drain well and reserve.

Shape pizza dough. Brush dough with olive oil and top with cheeses, leaving a ½ inch border around the edges. Arrange the veggies and tomatoes on top of the cheese. Sprinkle with green onions and season to taste with salt and pepper. Drizzle evenly with olive oil.

Bake in preheated 400o oven for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven to a cutting board and sprinkle with parmesan cheese and tarragon. Slice and serve immediately.

Porcupine Meatballs

1 ½ lbs ground beef (raw)
½ cup rice
½ tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp chopped onion
1 (10.5 oz) can condensed tomato soup
½ cup water


Combine meat, rice, salt, pepper and onion. Shape into small balls. In sauce pan mix the soup and water, heat to simmer. Add the meatballs, cover and cook for 30 minutes on simmer.

I double the soup and water so I have more sauce and make a couple of cups of plain rice. I put the meatballs and sauce over the rice or on the side --- whichever your family likes. I have used both the regular and minute rice in this recipe --- both work.

Ham and Egg Brunch Bake

6 cups frozen hash brown potatoes

2 cups diced fully cooked ham

2 cups shredded Swiss cheese (8 ounces)

1 jar (7 oz) roasted red bell peppers, drained and chopped

1 jar (4 ½ oz) sliced mushrooms, drained

6 eggs

⅓ cup milk

1 cup small curd creamed cottage cheese

¼ tsp pepper

Heat oven to 350^o. Grease a 9x13x2 baking dish. Sprinkle 3 cups potatoes evenly in baking dish. Layer with ham, Swiss cheese, bell peppers and mushrooms. Sprinkle remaining potatoes over mushrooms.

Beat eggs, milk, cottage cheese and pepper with a fork or wire whisk until blended. Pour over potatoes. Bake uncovered 45 to 50 minutes or until light brown and set in the center.

Budgeteria Burrito Bake

1 cup baking mix (like Bisquick)
1/4 cup water
1 (16 oz) can refried beans
1 pound ground beef, browned and drained
1 avocado, sliced
1 cup thick salsa
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese

Grease a 10 inch pie plate. Mix baking mix, water, and beans. Spread into pie pan. Layer remaining ingredients on bean mixture. Bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees. Serve with any additional sides such as sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, etc.

Cabbage Rolls

12 leaves cabbage
1 cup cooked white rice
1 egg, beaten
¼ cup milk
1 Tbsp onion salt (or use half a medium onion and 1 ¼ tsp salt)
¾ tsp ground black pepper

1 pound extra-lean ground beef
¼ tsp garlic salt

1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Steam cabbage.

In large bowl, combine rice, egg, milk, onion, ground beef, salt and pepper. Place ¼ cup meat mixture in center of each cabbage leaf, and roll up, tucking in ends. Place in greased 9x13 dish.

In small bowl, mix tomato sauce, brown sugar, lemon juice, and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over cabbage rolls. Cover with foil and bake for one hour.

Brunch Bread

I FINALLY made this one so I can post the recipe with pictures! YIPEE!

1 cube softened butter or margarine (I use butter)
Any of the following:
Roll Mix
Bread Machine Mix
Your favorite bread recipe (for one loaf)

1 package (3 Tbsp) dry ranch mix
3/4 lb thin sliced lunch meat (or 4 small packages)
3-4 cups grated cheese (Monterey Jack mixed with medium cheddar works well)
Poppy seeds

Place dough mix in bread machine. Follow directions on package. Allowing the dough to rise is optional. I have made it both ways it works fine either way.

(I used my favorite bread recipe. It makes three loaves but I just split the dough in halves and made a loaf of bread along with my Brunch Bread. Next time, I would definitely split it into thirds. This was way to much bread!)

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix softened butter with ranch mix. Set aside. Use wrapper from butter to grease cookie sheet (or spray with cooking spray).

On lightly floured surface, knead dough. Before rolling dough, lightly flour surface again. Roll dough into a rectangle. This should be no longer than the cookie sheet and about 9-10" wide. Brush butter mix onto dough covering entire surface (the side facing up). Leave about 1/4 of the mixture to spread on top. Make cuts about 2" deep and 1" apart along the length of the rectangle.

Layer the meat down the middle of the dough leaving the cut edges uncovered.

(I haven't made this in a while and used the wrong kind of meat. You need the really thin cheapy lunch meat. This meat had way too much water in it and almost ruined the bread!)

Add the grated cheese on top of the meat (leaving the sides uncovered). This will flatten as it bakes so don't be afraid to load up!!

On one end, pull the dough out from under the meat and fold it over the cheese. Pull the strips up onto the mixture, alternating between sides (to create a braid).
Move Brunch Bread to cookie sheet. Brush the remaining butter mixture on top of the bread. Sprinkle poppy seeds on top.

Again, allowing the finished product to rise is optional.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes (should be browned). And I, OF COURSE, was so excited to EAT my yummy Brunch Bread that I forgot to take a picture of the finished product! But trust me, it looked and tasted GREAT!

This is great served fresh and warm or cold from the refrigerator!

Note: For Desert Bread - Add 3-4 tablespoons sugar to bread mix. Brush top with softened butter, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon mixture. Bake as noted above.