Curried Chicken Shepherd's Pie

Great mix of spice and comfort food. I didn't bake it because of my issues with using the oven when the A/C is on.

Saute 1 diced onion and 4 celery ribs in 1T of butter until soft. Add 2 cups of frozen veggies (I used peas, carrots, and corn) and 2T of butter. Add 1T seasoning salt, 3T flour, 2T parsley flakes, 2T curry powder, and 1t cayenne pepper. Add 1.5 cups water and 1/2 c of milk. (You could add diced chicken at this point, but I served it on the side due to the vegetarians.) Stir and cook over low heat until thick. Serve topped with mashed potatoes.

Sweet Potato Salad

This is adapted from a BH & G recipe. The combination of ingredients sounds weird, but it was seriously yummy.

1. Bring 1 cup of pearl barley and 3 cups of water to a boil; reduce to a simmer and cook uncovered for 25 minutes. Refrigerate the barley.

2. Piece 4 small sweet potatoes with a fork and microwave for 7 minutes. Refrigerate.

3. Make the dressing: mix 1/3 c olive oil, 1/4 c balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and garlic.

4. Make a salad of the following ingredients: barley, sweet potatoes, edamame, spinach, raisins, and thin slices of purple onion.

Pasta e Fagioli

It was 99 degrees and I made soup. But it was so good.

In the crock pot on low for 5 hours:

1 pound cooked ground beef
1 diced onion
2 cups of diced carrots
2 cups of diced celery
2 cups of water
1 beef bouillon cube
1 tsp black pepper
3 T chopped fresh parsley
1 t Tabasco sauce
3 cups of pasta sauce
1 can drained and rinsed white beans
1 can drained and rinsed kidney beans

When you serve it, add a scoop of cooked whole wheat macaroni to each bowl.

Scones

Yummy.

From allrecipes:

Ingredients

1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
1 egg
1 cup raisins (optional)

Directions

In a small bowl, blend the sour cream and baking soda, and set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a large baking sheet.
In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt. Cut in the butter. Stir the sour cream mixture and egg into the flour mixture until just moistened. Mix in the raisins.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead briefly. Roll or pat dough into a 3/4 inch thick round. Cut into 12 wedges, and place them 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown on the bottom.

Molten Chocolate Cake

These were so yummy--like warm pudding in the middle of a cake. We served it with vanilla ice cream.

Ingredients

1 cup butter
8 ounces dark chocolate chips
5 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
4 teaspoons flour
8 extra-large paper muffin cups

Directions

(1) Melt butter and chocolate in a medium heat-proof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water; remove from heat. Beat eggs and sugar in a medium bowl. Beat egg mixture into chocolate until smooth. Beat in flour until just combined.
(2) Preheat to 430. Spray muffin papers with vegetable cooking spray. Divide batter among muffin cups.
(30 Bake 10 minutes.

Texas Caviar

I served this for dinner, oh yes I did. With tortilla chips. We all loved it, although the boys like to run theirs through the food processor first so they could pretend they weren't eating veggies and beans.

1/2 onion, chopped (I used 1015's)
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 (8 ounce) bottle zesty Italian dressing (I used homemade)
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained
1 (15 ounce) can black-eyed peas, drained
1 bunch chopped fresh cilantro

Tortellini Salad

Layer in a bowl:

spinach
purple cabbage
cooked and cooled tortellini
cooked and diced bacon
homemade Ranch dressing