Zucchini Parmesan

Sliced zucchini
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
Parmesan cheese (shredded)

1. Put a small amount of olive oil in a frying pan, just enough to coat the bottom of the pan. Fry up zucchini.
2. Sprinkle salt and pepper and Parmesan cheese.

Asiago sage butternut squash

Butternut squash,sliced
Shredded Asiago cheese
Melted Butter (we love brummel and browns yogurt butter-great for weight watchers)
Chopped fresh sage.

Lay butternut squash on cookie sheet. Brush or spoon over butter. Sprinkle on Asiago cheese and sage and cook at 350 for 10 minutes or until browned

Autumn fish

Pumpkin butter
White fish  (tilapia or cod preferred)
Marjoram

fry fish with minimal salt and sprinkle marjoram generously on both sides (as you're cooking). Spoon pumpkin butter over the top and serve.

If you don't have marjoram, open pumpkin butter and smell with any spices you have. If the combination smells good to you, they should work well together.
Serve with rice and veggies or butternut squash.

Mummy pork

Pork loin (about a pound)
Spicy brown mustard
Crumbled bacon (optional)
Philo (phyllo?) dough (9x14 sheets)
Butter (melted)
Apple (Optional)

This was really good and festive for Halloween.
1. optional: Marinade pork loin (not sliced but a roll of it) in spicy brown mustard (optional: crumbled bacon).
2. Broil pork 6 inches away from heat for 6 minutes (with our without marinade). Remove from oven and cool slightly. Change oven to 400.
3. Lay out one layer of Philo dough, brush with butter, then lay another sheet of Philo dough on top. Repeat. You want about 4 layers. You will wrap the pork, with the marinade, in the phyllo dough. Then take another sheet of phyllo dough, brush with butter, lay a sheet of phyllo dough on top. Repeat like before. Cut into strips and wrap like a mummy. If you want a head, peel the apple and wrap in sheets of phyllo dough.
4. Cook uncovered for 15-20 minutes or till an internal temperature of 160. Let cool for about 10 minutes before cutting.

Easy pork ideas

So, this is the quickest meal I know, but it takes a little advance preparation. I buy pork loins in bulk from Costco/Sam's Club. I cut them in half, and since there's two of us-Jon and i, I put two in each bag (so do however many you'd need each time). Then I pick 3-4 marinades. Pork chops work well with fruit side dishes or sweet flavors. Some marinades I've tried and liked:

1. Maple syrup and walnuts
2. A sun dried tomato Tuscan salad dressing (were trying panera's balsamic salad dressing this time)
3. Apple pie filling (a can of peaches sounds good right now but I haven't tried it)
4. Raspberry Wasabi dip (it's like a specialty mustard sauce we found here in Indiana, but a mustard would work)

Anyways, freeze in any serving size you like with a brief description of the marinade and the date. Then the day before or the day of, take it out of the freezer to thaw.

To cook, turn a pan on high heat and you'll sear the pork on each side (leave extra marinade in the bag-syrup and some dressings don't cook as well). This doesn't take very long. Pour the extra marinade on top after seared to heat it up and for extra flavor. To make a healthy meal of it, throw together a salad, frozen mixed veggies in the microwave (usually what we do, we buy frozen veggies in bulk from Sam's) and rice. Our you can open up a can of fruit or applesauce. Another option we've tried for pork is searing pork that wasn't in a marinade and putting a little salt and pepper on it and then serve with applesauce on top.

We started using pork with weight watchers dinners (the maple syrup one we got from weight watchers). We've found it to be easy and tasty when we sear it, which is also the gayest way to cook it. Thawed pork can be ready to eat in under 10 minutes. (Possibly in about 5 minutes).

Easy Pork Lo Mein

Ingredients:
pork, chopped
4 cups water
2 packages of top ramen
1 pack frozen mixed vegetables (we used a frozen pack)
2 T flour (or cornstarch)

1. Boil frozen mixed vegetable in water and seasoning (from top ramen).
2. Sear the pork while waiting for the water to boil. Add when pork is done to water mixture.
3. Add top ramen noodles when water is boiling. Cook for 3 minutes.
4. Mix 2 T flour in 1 c water. Get all the lumps out. Stir into noodle mixture after 3 minutes are up and cook for additional minute on high.
5. Cool and serve.

Blueberry French Toast

One container of blueberry yogurt
2 eggs
some milk
bread

Mix eggs and yogurt together. Add milk only if needed to thin it out just a little. Dip bread in and cook each side.

Marsala Lasagna

Sauce:
3 T olive oil
1/4 cup onion, diced
1 T garlic, chopped
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced
3 T flour
1 cup Marsala wine
1 cup beef stock
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Add olive oil to heavy hot saucepan. Add onions, garlic, mushrooms, saute until mushrooms are tender. Add flour and cook about 1 minute then deglaze pan with Marsala wine. Add beef stock and cook until thick and flavors are blended.

Ingredients:
Sauce
2-15 oz containers Ricotta Cheese
2 cups shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided
1/2 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 t dried basil
1 lb ground Italian Sausage, cooked and drained
12 oz package Oven Ready Lasagna

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. In a medium bowl, combine Ricotta cheese, 1 cup Mozzarella cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, eggs, and basil; mix well.
3. In a 9 x 13 x 3 pan, spread some sauce to coat the bottom of the pan. Line bottom of the pan with lasagna noodles (DO NOT BOIL). Spread cheese mixture, then meat and then spoon sauce over. Repeat layers: noodles, cheese, meat then sauce. Last layer should be noodles and then sauce and sprinkle with remaining cheese.
4. Wrap the lasagna tightly with a double layer of foil. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until the Lasagna is fork tender.

1. 5. Let stand for 10 minutes sealed in foil before cutting and serving.

Creamy Poblano Mac and Cheese

Ingredients:
2 T butter
1/2-1 onion, chopped
1 small red pepper, chopped (optional)
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 can of diced tomatoes or 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
garlic powder
salt and black pepper
2 10.75 oz cans Campbells Condensed Creamy Poblano and Queso Soup
1.5 cups milk
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1 lb bag of elbow macaroni (cooked and drained)
4 hot dogs, sliced
2 T chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

1. Cook macaroni noodles
2. Heat the butter over medium high heat. Add the onion and bell peppers and cook for 5 minutes or until the vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the tomato and garlic (sprinkle in) and cook and stir for 1 minute. Season with salt and black pepper
4. Stir in the soup, hot dogs and milk and heat to a boil. Remove the saucepan from heat. Add cheese and stir until melted. Stir in the macaroni. Sprinkle with cilantro if desired.

Chicken rolls

Makes 6

Ingredients:
One 8 Oz package cream cheese
Chicken (we used thigh but I got the idea from someone who used chicken breasts)
Onions
Celery
1/2 green bell pepper
Green onions
One can mushroom soup
Uncooked bread (I tried both pillsbury crescent roll dough- 3 packages and frozen rolls for a smaller serving)
Butter
Italian bread crumbs

Directions:
1. Boil chicken. I did 6 tenderloin thighs, or 2-4 chicken breasts depending on size. Chop when finished (will end up in between chopped and shredded)
2. Chop onions. Saute onions in a little oil (maybe 1 T- just enough to coat the bottom of the pan). Chop and add in celery and then the chopped green pepper and continue to saute. Go until onions are ready. Turn stove off.
3. Add in sliced green onions and cream cheese and can of mushroom soup and chicken.
4. Use 2 crescent roll triangles and press seams together to make a square. Spoon filling onto dough and then pull up the sides of the dough, pressing sides together to seal shut. Flip over so that the seam side is down. For the roll option, I flattened the risen dough and spooned mixture in and sealed this as well. The first option gives bigger squares and the second, round rolls.
5. Melt butter and brush onto rolls and then sprinkle on Italian bread crumbs.
6. Cook rolls at designated temperature for the roll of your choice (should say on package) until golden brown.

Donut bacon cheeseburgers

Ingredients:
Glazed donuts (sliced)
Hamburger patties
Slices of cheese
2 slices of bacon per hamburger
Lawrys seasoning or salt, pepper and onion powder

Directions:
1. Cook bacon slices.
2. Cook hamburger patties. Season each side with lawrys or salt, pepper and onion powder. Place bacon on top of pattie and melt cheese slice on top.
3. After you get the hamburgers cooking, place the donuts on a pan, glaze side up, and toast the inside of the donuts.
4. Assemble cheeseburgers, glazed part facing in

Mexican pasta

Serves 4

Ingredients:
Pasta noodles (we used rotini because that's what we had)
Ground beef enough for one seasoning packet (I think they usually say 1/2 lb)
One taco seasoning pack
Cumin
2 Cans of stewed tomatoes
One can of tomatoes with green Chiles  (make sure the jar says mild if you don't want it spicy)
Cheddar cheese
Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Start boiling water to make pasta noodles normally.
2. Cook ground beef and follow directions on taco seasoning packet
3. Add one can of stewed tomatoes and can of tomatoes with green Chiles. Add other can of stewed tomatoes until you have enough for the sauce. Mix and smash stewed tomatoes. Add cumin to taste.
4. Mix in cooked pasta noodles. Here you have a few options. You can save this mixture now (the leftovers are actually better because the flavors settle in more) or melt the cheddar cheese on top- you can do this in the pan or in the bowl. If you save it for later you can melt it as you warm it up. We melted one slice on top of pasta in each bowl (shredded cheese also works great). Sprinkle Parmesan cheese to taste.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

I made the tortillas from scratch using Masa or Maseca and followed the directions for about 12 tortillas, then I split the dough in half and rolled them both out (one in the casserole dish I wanted to use) and one on a cookie sheet to about the same size.  Then I baked them for about 5-10 minutes at 350.  If you want to use pre-made tortillas, then skip this step.

Ingredients:
Masa or corn tortillas (enough to cover the bottom of the pan twice). 
One large can of enchilada sauce
One can of tomatoes with green chiles in it
About 1/2 lb block of cheddar cheese (shredded)
Chicken (breasts or thighs, or whatever you like)- I do 6-10 pieces depending on how many people I'm feeding and how filling I want it to be.
Cumin
Cilantro (I've used dried and a frozen cube of cilantro before, but whatever you have)

Directions:
1. Clean chicken and cut into pieces.  Throw in a saucepan and start to cook on med-low.
2. Add cilantro and cumin- sprinkle over the whole pan.  Then add tomatoes to saucepan. and about half the cheese and stir.
3. Lay half the tortillas in the bottom of the casserole dish you want to use (9x13?).  Then pour in the chicken, tomato and cheese mixture. (NOTE: chicken should not be completely cooked, that was just to give it a head start to ensure that it is fully cooked when the cheese melts in the oven.)  And then pour in most of the enchilada sauce.
4. Layer the remaining tortillas on top and pour remaining enchilada sauce on and remaining cheese on top.
5. Bake at 350 for 20-35 minutes (til the cheese is melted and a little brown)

Raspberry Rice

White rice
Glazed walnuts
Raisins
Raspberry Vinaigrette

Make white rice as directed.  Then fry up with lots of raspberry vinaigrette and glazed walnut and raisins.