easy recipes

Chopped Salad with Oil and Vinegar Dressing

January 28, 2010 by Ellen · 2 Comments 

Learn to mix up a quick vinaigrette and you will have endless variations of salad dressings available to you at the drop of a hat. The trick in making your own oil and vinegar salad dressings is to find the ratio of oil to vinegar (or lemon juice) that you prefer, like finding the right [...]

Book Review: Family Feasts for $75 a Week

December 17, 2009 by Ellen · Leave a Comment 

I’ve been remiss in my book reviews lately.  I’ve enjoyed the Owl Haven blog for quite some time and was thrilled when I heard Mary Ostyn had a cookbook coming out. I didn’t even try to get a review copy but went out and bought a copy as soon as I saw it at our [...]

Ham Panini Sandwiches with …

November 15, 2009 by Ellen · Leave a Comment 

I had a few nights this week where it was just me for dinner!  Wow. Not used to cooking for one.  I had some ham so both nights ended making ham paninis with various fixings and a simple green salad with tomatoes from the garden. First up was a Panini sandwich with some thinly sliced [...]

Oh So Simple White Bean and Ham Soup

November 8, 2009 by Ellen · Leave a Comment 

This is from The Supper Book: 10th Anniversary Edition by Marion Cunningham. Kind of funny–you can buy a hardcover of this on Amazon (used) for $3 (plus shipping) but the paperback version, that I have is $8 (still a deal!). This is so simple, but so delicious. Certainly frugal, let’s see $1 for the beans, [...]

Saffron Rice in a Rice Cooker

November 6, 2009 by Ellen · Leave a Comment 

NOT CheapCooking but quite good. 1 Tbs oil 1 Tbs minced onion 1 cup rice 2 cups chicken broth 1 pinch saffron Put the rice cooker on cook and heat a Tbs of oil, then add 1 Tbs of minced onion and cook a few minutes until softened. Stir in the rice and cook a [...]

Chicken Salad Sandwich and Soup

October 31, 2009 by Ellen · Leave a Comment 

A dinner of leftovers tonight. I can hardly cook when the doorbell keeps ringing! First, I had some leftover Sort of Mexican Chicken Soup.  I added a large spoonful of this avocado pico del gallo and some crushed tortilla chips. Mmm! I also used the last of the cooked chicken to make a chicken salad [...]

Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries

October 20, 2009 by Ellen · Leave a Comment 

A neighbor shared some hot dog buns leftover from her party the other night and I had hot dogs in the freezer left over from my last party so it was barbecued hot dogs tonight for dinner!   I wanted to make some fries to go with and saw I still had a sweet potato so [...]

Mexican Rice in a Rice Cooker

October 20, 2009 by Ellen · Leave a Comment 

A while back I bought this Zojirushi 6 Cup Rice Cooker / Steamer and have been playing around with it a bit. It’s my first rice cooker so I can’t compare to others, but I have been happy with it. I’m usually only cooking for 2 or 3 and it suits our needs great.    I [...]

Meatball Sandwich Recipe: Use Up Those Leftover Meatballs!

October 15, 2009 by Ellen · Leave a Comment 

In truth, there’s hardly a recipe for a meatball sandwich. At its simplest, you take a French or hoagie roll, put a few meatballs on it, ladle some spaghetti sauce on it and eat. If you want to get a bit fancier, you’d use your own homemade meatballs. My favorite recipe uses ground pork and [...]

Ham, Cheese and Apple Panini

October 6, 2009 by Ellen · Leave a Comment 

I made some macaroni and cheese tonight for dinner but felt like we needed a bit more as well, plus I was bringing dinner over to my broken-leg neighbor. I decided on a small panini and brought him some vegetable soup from last night as well.  I had some ham and cheddar cheese as the [...]

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