Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole

I remember my sister making a pretty good casserole, and I thought I’d try it.  I didn’t have any cream of…soups though.  Here’s what I came up with.

Ingredients:

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon margarine or butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

dash of pepper

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 can of mushrooms

1 cup rice

1 cup veggie stock

2 cups chopped broccoli

1/2 teaspoon marjoram

1 teaspoon chives

1 teaspoon parsley

1 bag of Morningstar Farm chick’n starter (or chicken breasts cut in strips)

grated cheese

In a 2 quart sauce pan melt 1 tablespoon of margarine or butter.  Add 1 Tablespoon of flour and mix.  Add 1 cup of milk and mix with a whisk to get rid of all lumps.  Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and a dash of pepper.  Keep stirring over a medium heat until it is thick and bubbly.

Add the onion, mushroom, rice, veggie stock, broccoli and herbs.  Cook until it is hot.

Put the chick’n starter in the bottom of a glass baking dish and cover with the broccoli and rice mixture.

Bake at 350* F until it is hot and bubbly.  Cover with the cheese and bake until it melts.

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It turned out quite nicely!  I’m sharing with Homestead Blog Hop, Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Macro Monday and Monday Mellow Yellows.

“Mortgage Lifter” Heirloom Tomato Pasta Sauce

Have you ever heard of the Fabulous Beekman Boys?  I had.  That was it.  Then last summer when I went to New York to meet my lovely goatsisters, I was treated to some of their goat milk caramel sauce.  After all, a gay couple that are goat farmers–that’s a crazy goat lady’s dream come true!  Click on the picture to visit their website.

Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell, the Beekman Boys

When they went on the Amazing Race last fall, a lot of us goatsisters spent our Sunday evenings watching them race around the world connected by Facebook.  When they won, goatsisters reveled in their victory!  It was especially sweet to hear them talk about giving back and wanting to help other small farmers live their dreams and get to farm full time.  You’ve all heard me talk about how much I wished I could stay home and farm full time, so when I saw they came out with the “Mortgage Lifter” Heirloom Tomato Pasta Sauce as a way to raise money to help other small farmers, I just had to buy some.

Then I saw they were having a contest and encouraging people to share their recipes.  Well, I like trying new things in the kitchen.  Then I saw the parenthetical comment about how impressed they would be if someone shared a dessert recipe…That’s as good as double-dog-daring me.

Chocolate Spice Cake

Mix together thoroughly (with a mixer to get all those lovely chunks of tomato blended):

1 1/2 cups light brown sugar

3 large eggs

3/4 cup oil

1 cup “Mortgage Lifter” Heirloom Tomato  Sauce

Here’s that “point of no return” moment when I added the pasta sauce to the bowl.

Add:

2 cups all- purpose unbleached flour

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/2 cup cocoa

1 cup nuts (optional)

Bake in at greased and floured bundt pan at 350* for about 30 minutes (until a toothpick comes out cleanly)

Glaze:

In a double boiler mix and melt:

3/4 cup milk chocolate chips

1/4 cup margarine

2 Tbsp milk

Add enough powdered sugar to get the consistency you desire.

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

I’m happy to report that I liked the cake, but the real test was letting someone taste it not knowing my secret ingredient!  My dear nephew, Brandon, was my guinea pig.  He was enjoying the cake, which I told him I was entering in a contest and needed an honest opinion.  His answer was that it was good.  If only I’d had the camera when I leaned close and whispered, “It has spaghetti sauce in it.”  The look of bewilderment and disbelief was priceless!

I’m happy to say I even got to try out the sauce on my spaghetti!  It’s good.  It tastes homemade, and I hate to admit it, but it’s even better than my home canned sauce.

I would encourage you to try this tomato sauce and if you like it, you can even ask your local grocery chain to stock it.  Let’s help the Beekman Boys help small farmers.

I did not receive any compensation for this glowing review.  I even had to buy the sauce to try and create the recipe.  That’s okay because it’s for a good cause.

Linking to Homestead Barn Hop, Clever Chick’s Blog  Hop, Macro Monday and Mosaic Monday.

Oatmeal Honey Raisin Cookies SHS

For Scavenger Hunt Sunday, Ashley assigned the following themes:  #5, Word of the Day, Sharing, Wiggle, and Cookies

Cookies:  I made oatmeal honey raisin cookies for a student.  He will be graduating, and I promised to make him cookies when he finally did it!

Sharing:  I’m also sharing the recipe for the cookies.

Oatmeal Honey Raisin  Cookies

Cream together:

1/2 cup butter flavored Crisco

1/2 cup honey

2 eggs

1 Tbsp milk

1/2 Tbsp vanilla

1 cup brown sugar

Beat thoroughly and add:

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 cups flour

Mix and add

3 cups cooking oats

1 1/2 cups raisins

Mix and place on greased cookie sheet by spoon.  Flatten slightly with a glass dipped in sugar.  Bake at 375*F for about 10 minutes.

Word of the Day:  Raisins.  I needed them for the cookies.

#5: I only kept these five cookies for myself.  I was struggling with this one, and I was on a cookie theme.  There’s also five pictures in my collage.

Wiggle:  I don’t think I can wiggle my way out of this one.  I’ve got nothing, but I still have pretty roses from yesterday.

Okay, I put my mind to it and tried really hard, and I came up with wiggling a peacock feather for Leo.  Not a good picture, but he had fun.

Leo

Another reminder that I am holding a giveaway for a copy of my novel that was just published.  You can click the cover below to enter.

Linking to Scavenger Hunt Sunday, Mellow Yellow Monday, Mosaic Monday, Homestead Barn Hop and Clever Chick’s Blog Hop.