BIZZY BAKES

This week, in Eating with Ellie, Margaret selected Corn and Quinoa with Sausage found on page 158 in Weeknight Wonders.  I was thrilled when I saw this on our list.  Corn and sausage always appeal to me and quinoa is not far behind.  All three sounded like a winning recipe and in fact, it was. The procedures went quickly although, you do have to prepare by cooking the quinoa and frying up the sausage and vegetables.  I did both at the same time to speed the process and the whole thing, did not take long.  Quinoa cooks much more quickly than rice which is why I have been choosing it for recipes above the brown rice, I used to cook, so much of the time. The sausage gives this a great flavor as does the cilantro.  I expected this to be a favorite and I was not disappointed. Let's find out what the other ladies did with this recipe at our site. Waste Not Want Not Wednesday               Creative Munst...

I had seen a recipe, once upon a time, for burgers that included apples with the turkey.  With this in mind, I put together this meatloaf.  The taste was unbelievable.  The mixture of chopped turkey with the sausage gave it a spicy background that was the background for the additional spices. Apple, Sausage Meatloaf 1 1/2 pounds ground turkey  2 medium apples, diced 3 sausages, fine diced (I used food processor) 1 tablespoon parsley 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon sage 2 large eggs, beaten Topping: 1/4 cup soy sauce 1 tablespoon honey Method:  Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Combine turkey, sausage, apples, parsley, sage, pepper, nutmeg and eggs in a bowl.  Place meatloaf mixture into loaf pan or casserole.  (I sprayed pan with cooking oil but it probably does not need it. Mix the topping ingredients and spread on top of meatloaf. Bake for 1 hour or ...

Once in  a while, we find a recipe that everyone likes and wants again and this is an example.  I ate two good sized bowls before I shared with my  husband.  I wanted to hide the rest so he wouldn't find it but he did and then he ate his share of the soup.  Somewhere in the middle, I added water to the pot and stretched the soup.  I did not add more seasonings and the soup maintained its goodness,  We got another day out of it but hubby put it in the back of the refrigerator and he got even more.  I kept adding water and the goodness remained. I wonder if I had added water each day, the soup would have multiplied forever.  It would have been well worth it.  You can guess, we loved this soup and hubby is already asking me to make it again.  Let me quote: "If you would make this soup on a regular basis, you would not have to make any other soup, ever again." Sausage, Cabbage & Root Vegetable Soup  (adapted from Eatin...

I try to stay away from processed meats and salt so why use sausage?  I am going to stick to the old adage "All things in moderation and moderation in all things".  We have sausage a few times a year because it is so good but honestly, I usually put it in the freezer and forget about it until I clean the freezer or when I see a really good recipe using sausage. The idea of potatoes and sausage and of course onions and spinach seemed to be too good a combination so I put it together and we had a hearty soup. Potato Sausage Soup Ingredients: 1 tablespoon olive oil 3 sweet sausages, diced 1 onion, chopped 1 teaspoon dried basil 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes  1 teaspoon herbs de provence   salt and pepper, to taste 2 cups chicken broth (from the freezer - mine) 3 Idaho potatoes or potato of choice 2 cups baby spinach, rough chopped 1 cup Rice Milk Method: Heat oil in a large saucepan.   Add sausage and cook unt...

The photo above is to show you the adorable patty pan squash in the rice dish. The dish is a result of my independence in cooking. There was a time that zucchini was an exotic vegetable, to me. I stuck to green beans, yellow potatoes, carrots and other basic vegetables. What do I mean by basic? The vegetables my Mom used to cook as did my Mother-in-Law. The joke in our house comes up when I make a new dish or use a new ingredient and the husband says, "My mother made it differently," meaning he never saw that dish, in his Mom's home. There are times, we struggle to remember the food we ate, as kids and get stuck at the vegetables above plus corn, chicken, ground beef and salads with tomatoes and iceberg lettuce. We come from another generation and the world was different. I was going to say, money was tighter but it is probably not true. My in-laws were comfortable (not at all rich - comfortable) and my parents struggled. Dad had a small business which meant sometimes,...

I had some extra stew and threw in some spinach to make a meal for that night.  The rest, I froze for the upcoming Jewish holidays. Sausage Stew Ingredients: 8 to 10 medium potatoes, cut into 1-1/2-inch pieces 2 large white onions, quartered 1 large green pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces 1 large sweet red pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces 2 pounds sausage, cut into 1-inch slices 1/4 cup olive oil 1 tablespoon dried basil 2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon pepper Method: Place potatoes in a  roasting pan.  Add onions, peppers and sausage; toss gently.  Combine oil, basil, salt and pepper.  Pour over the eat and vegetables; toss well. Cover and bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until potatoes are tender Originally published as Creamy Sausage Stew in Country Woman January/February 1995, p29 Linked to:   Treasure Box Tuesday        Two Cup Tuesday         In and Out of the Kitchen   ...

****I have decided to move my Donna Hay posts here from My Sweet and Savory since I have put it to sleep.  I love my Donna recipes and want to share them with you.  There will be several new posts brought over and I do hope you make some of them.  Donna produces good recipes.*** This photo was blurry.  I worked with a photo program and it pulled the lines from the blurry area and they can now be seen.  If it is a bit sharp, that is the reason why, but now you can see that they egg is an egg. This is a wonderful omelet  that could be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  I chose to make it our last meal of the day.  You can find the recipe on  Donna's site  and below. Bacon is not a kosher food so I subbed in some roast turkey pieces.  I browned them a bit before using them.  This recipe is simply roasting the tomatoes for about ten minutes and making the meat and then the egg, topping it with the tomatoes and I u...

When I saw that the choice for this week in WWDH was paella, I immediately cringed since I knew what was coming, and I was correct.  Mussels, Clams, Prawns and Sausage, none of which are kosher.  Actually, sausage is kosher but it can't be cooked with fish and shell fish is definitely prohibited in a kosher diet. When I joined the group, Wednesdays with Donna Hay, I made the decision to at least attempt to modify recipes so that we could eat them and in most cases, it is not difficult to accomplish.  When pork is used, I use chicken or turkey.  When fish is used, I sub in salm on or a white fish such as flounder or sole.  Easy to do..... Donna went all out using so many shellfish and the only course of action I had was to ignore them completely and use vegetables and sausage with the rice.   I also decided to look up what a paella should really be and was happy to find the following at Wise Geek . "Almost anything can be used in a paella, and it is...

This is the first meal of my experiment to actively show you how I use what is in the house, ready to leave this world, if I don't save it. My biggie was the bag of shredded cabbage, I had planned to used on the Sabbath, and then just didn't bother with it.  The other was a package of Italian sausages with only two left.  Potatoes, carrots, onions and apples are usually on hand. Although I did add black pepper, this does not need much in the way of spices.  The sausage is strong enough to permeate the vegetable.  The crispy apple adds the crunch (slight) but it makes a difference. Ingredients: 2 Sweet Italian Sausages. sliced 1 huge onion (Costco style), rough chopped 3 large potatoes, rough diced 2 large carrots, sliced 12 ounces of cabbage 1 - 3 apples, rough chopped in 1 teaspoon brown sugar 2 cups organic vegetable soup water or additional soup if necessary Method: Spray a large skillet with cooking oil (olive) Brown the sausage and chopped...

I found this in scheduled recipes with a date months down the road.  I have no idea what it is doing there.  I know we gobbled these down when I first made them, the summer of 2013.  I decided to share them with you. Swedish Sausage and Potato Cakes (adapted from  Food.com) Ingredients: 2 chicken sausages 1 1/2 cups mashed potatoes 1 egg, beaten 1/2 red onion, thin sliced and cut in half 1 pinch black pepper Method: Crumble and brown the sausage. Add browned sausage, potatoes, egg, onion and about a tablespoon of drippings in a bowl. Form into 6 patties, and fry in some of the reserved drippings, browning both sides . Serve hot. This is a guilty pleasure.  Eat and enjoy. Linked to Friday Favorites        See Ya in the Gumbo     Two Cup Tuesday           In and Out of the Kitchen         Fat Tuesday      Hearth and Soul Hop ...

I am late posting, this week, because I cooked my Donna Hay recipe tonight rather than on Tuesday.  I started off planning to be a purist and make the recipe for Sausage Rolls as Donna wrote it.  I ran into the problem that Hubby could not eat this week's dish because it was not gluten-free and I was not prepared to make my own puff pastry. I came up with a different recipe for him and used his filling with my sausage for our rolls.  I am sure, I have confused you thoroughly, by now. I had planned to cut the recipe and use only one sausage rather than 2 full pounds until I decided to use some leftover chicken and make hubby turkey-mashed potato pancakes.  Instead of strictly following Donna, I took the chicken filling and added some of the ingredients from the sausage recipe which resulted in a turkey-sausage filled roll.  Actually, it ended in three filled rolls that were delicious and which I plan to have for lunch, tomorrow. Please do check out the ot...

Do you know about My Kitchen My World ?  Each month, they travel to a new location and we cook dishes from that place.  Last month was Argentina and this month is Cuba.  The group is open to everyone.  If you are interested, go on over and leave a comment.  There are no requirements as to how often you have to cook.  Simply, join in and have fun. Cuban cooking is enjoyable.  For me, the word mango is magic and I made two recipes using mango and then made myself Mangolope (a drink I created, blending mango and cantelope). " Cuban cuisine is a fusion of Spanish , African , and Caribbean cuisine ." You will find my Caribbean coconut chicken here. Black Beans and Rice with Mango -- adapted from  Cocina Cubana Club  Ingredients: 1/4 cup mild sausage crumbled (not married to my husband, you can use something spicier) 1/2 cup red pepper, chopped 1/2 cup onion, chopped 1//2 teaspoon minced garlic 1 (15oz) can black beans, rins...

I discovered this wonderful new group and immediately cooked the recipe of the month and promptly forgot I hadn't posted it and that is why I have to cook, at the last minute, in the future.  This is a feeling foolish day.  The name of the group is Make it Mine. To learn about the club, take a short trip to  Cook the Story.    The idea is to take traditional dishes and put your own spin on it. When it came to the dish, Bangers and Mash, I had no idea what we were talking about and didn't feel, I could be too innovative when I didn't have a clue about presentation.  I decided to make potato mounds with the sausage.    Bangers and Mash Ingredients : 1 pound turkey sausage 4 large potatoes, peeled and diced 1 tablespoon olive oil  one onion, diced 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper   Method: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Bake sausages in a square pan until they are a ...

The Hungry Little Girl has organized this  monthly swap and it is fun.  Why not contact her and join in the cooking fun?  This is my second month of the SRS and the blog chosen for me to cook from is Red, White and Blueberries.  Melissa is a Texan with a diversity of interests and the owner of rescue dogs.  That is impressive.  She was fortunate enough to have cooked with her Mom and grandmother.  To me, that means, family customs and secrets. I visited the blog a number of times and each time left with another recipe to make for the swap.  The last time, I looked, was close to dinner time so I gravitated to a main course recipe, Sausage and Peppers.  Since we eat little meat, sausage is a treat and I was happy to make an easy. Last year, I received a huge electric fry pan and decided this was an occasion to use it with all those peppers and onions.  I love using this pan. It is spacious and cleans up easily. I made a ...

T here are certain items, I like to eat, and when I shop, I generally pick these up and figure, I will make use of them.  When I looked in my refrigerator, I found these ingredients to be used: Spinach, Sausage, Mushrooms and Bok Choy.  They tended to make sense to me as possibilities for a dish.  I thought about it and decided, the most logical dish, would be a stir-fry. This was such a delicious meal.  Sausage may not be the healthiest food but it has such a yummy flavor and I love it.  I don't often make it so when I do, I doubly enjoy it.  It adds a wham to any dish.  I bought a sweet sausage for hubby who is not a fan of spicy and found this sausage too much for him.  Strangely, he managed to eat it, heartily. Spinach-Sausage Saute    Ingredients 2 sausages (I prefer chicken) spray olive oil 2 bok choy, sliced 1 cup spinach, torn 1/2 teaspoon garlic, minced 4 button mushrooms, sliced Method Spray l...

This is a Cooking Light recipe and to my dismay, it was called White Bean and Sausage Ragout with Tomatoes, Kale and Zucchini. One of the reasons, I have difficulty titling recipes is because of a trend of listing all the main ingredients, in the title. I am guilty of doing this, as well, but I don't really like it. I understand, by naming all the ingredients, it is apt to have something that appeals to almost everyone. On the other hand, who wants to read an ingredient list, as the title of the recipe? The problem is, what gets cut out? In this recipe, everything is important. There is no star. Each food works with the others and the result is in the total dish. I decided to shorten the "real" title and use the first words, White Bean and Sausage Ragout. I could have called it, Kale- Tomato Ragout or White Bean and Tomato or Sausage and Zucchini......you get the point. In the end, I guess it does not matter, in this case. What does matter is that this ma...

Friday is a total cooking day for me.  Well, there is some cleaning in there, too, but it is the cooking, I love to do.  Each Friday, I have the fun of selecting different dishes to make and to scan the cookbooks, magazines of the blogs, looking for something a bit different.  This is a part of the week, I especially enjoy and of course, it is all for our Sabbath (Shabbos). My husband kept asking for rice, potatoes or pasta for dinner but I didn't feel like any of them. So simple when that happens - one of us get his/her way. This time, it is me. I don't think hubby is going to be disappointed with what I ended up making.  Since he was looking for starch, I decided bread would be the right way to go.  I haven't had extra gluten-free bread in the house for months.  Usually, we make a loaf a week and that is fine for hubby.  When I was shopping, I decided to pick up some gluten-free rolls and I had a few packages in the freezer.  Poof, ...