BIZZY BAKES

Until the week before Passover (Pesach), Operation Clean-Up is going on and I am clearing out any cabinet with food in it (including refrigerator and freezer).   This is an example from an old post of how I throw, whatever I can find in my kitchen, together to create a new dish. I found in my hydrator, a half of a package of shredded cabbage which had to be used up or it would land in the garbage and that is not where food belongs.  I have tons of recipes using cabbage but I was not in the mood for making any of them.  What else could I find? In my onion drawer, there were two shallots.  Sounded good to me.  There was a bag of golden raisins and another of cashews in the cabinet.  So far, so good.  A moment of thinking and I decided on a simple stir fry. Nutty Cabbage & Shallot Stir Fry Ingredients: 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 shallots, sliced thin 2 cups shredded cabbage (you could use cole slaw mix) 1/2 cup (pecans or cas...

Meatballs with apples had instant appeal to me.  I particularly like that the apples are both in the meatballs and in the sauce.  There seem to be a lot of ingredients that go into this  but when I collected everything, it was all in the cupboard or refrigerator. I made the meatballs first and while they were cooking, I prepared the gravy.  The final dish was a dream come true;  I left small apple pieces in the sauce instead of making it plain creamy and this was a good decision.  It was a delight to get these chunks of apple which were still crisp with the creamy sauce and meatballs. I served this with roasted potatoes and a tossed salad. A true success story...... I felt happy feeding this to hubby and even better, I love it. Chicken Apple Meatballs in Onion and Apple Gravy adapted from Joy Bauer Ingredients: for the meatballs: 1 pound package ground turkey 2 (heaping) tablespoons Dijon mustard 1 teaspoon granulated onion 1...

I only discovered parsnips about four years ago.  I put them in soup and was never sure, I liked them for themselves or as another veggie in chicken soup.  Finally, one day, I roasted them with some other vegetables and found they are delicious. It was no big deal to put this together and enjoy it thoroughly. Parsnips and Potatoes Ingredients: 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 large parsnips, peeled and sliced thin 3 large shallots, thinly sliced 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth 1 teaspoon chopped thyme 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper In a large, deep skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in the oil.  Add the parsnips and cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 6 minutes.  Add potatoes and cook for another 6 minute. Add the shallots and cook, stirring, until softened, about 2 minutes.  Add the broth and thyme and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper, cover ...

Tomorrow, you will see my stuffed potato muffins which were in need of something else to complete lunch.  I usually go to a green vegetable when I have a starch for the main dish.  This time, it was broccoli, dressed up in wine, almonds and shallots.   Broccoli seems to be an adaptable recipe as long as  you don't cook it for a long time and I often fall back on it, when a green is needed.  Spinach is good but it is a "pain" to have to squeeze out all the water, from it.  Beans are OK but they don't have the same "class" as broccoli.  I love peas but for some reason, I did not see them, with the potatoes and normally, I love mashed potatoes with a side of peas.   Broccoli & Shallots with Browned Almonds Ingredients: 1 - 2 tablespoons olive oil 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic 2 large shallots, chopped 1 teaspoon black pepper 1/4 cup sliced almonds 1/4 red bell pepper, chopped 1 - 2 cups broccoli florets (I used frozen) 1 tablespoon...