Lemon-herb pasta

So you want something easy, but you're out of spaghetti sauce. Or maybe you want dinner to seem fancy without putting a lot of work into it. Try this. Super yummy, and so easy.

1 lb. pasta of your choice (we like linguine)
2 tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. dried basil
2 tsp. dried parsley
2 tsp. garlic powder
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. lemon juice

Cook your pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse so it doesn't stick together. Return to pot (or put in a big bowl) and add olive oil, lemon juice, and spices. (You can adjust spices and lemon juice to taste -- this is just a rough estimate to get you in the right direction.) Toss well to mix everything, and serve hot. Great with garlic bread. You can also add in some crushed red pepper if you like it. If you have premixed Italian Seasoning on hand, you can use that instead of the individual spices and just add it to taste.

This works great as a main dish, or if you use little noodles like penne or something, it's a really nice side. Easy peasy, and a nice change of pace from regular spaghetti. :)

Yummy dill potatoes and onions

I don't measure. Consider all of these "suggestions," especially considering that I don't know how many potatoes you need to feed your family, or the size of the onions you like to buy.

1 large onion, peeled and cut into wedges
enough potatoes to feed everybody, cut into chunks (about an inch or so)... peel them if you want to, but I generally don't
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp. (more or less) dill weed
1 tsp. (more or less) garlic powder
cooking oil

Put some oil in your pan and heat it up. Toss in the onion, and cook and stir it over medium heat just until it starts to get fragrant -- about 2 or 3 minutes. Toss in your potatoes, and add salt and pepper to taste (I like a little salt and lots of pepper) and the garlic powder. (You can use fresh minced too, and it would probably be even better.) Cook and stir for a while. Don't let the onions sit too long without getting scraped up off the bottom, or they'll get burned. They're going to end up kind of caramelized, but you don't want them crispy. A few minutes before the potatoes are done cooking, sprinkle in your dill. Use as much as you like -- I like a lot! I find if you add it earlier in the cooking it still tastes ok, but the dill loses some of its oomph and you have to add more, so I save it until last. And that's it! Yummy with just about everything. You can also add cut up carrots and/or celery for more yummy goodness.

Easy chicken and rice dinner

Seriously, it's easy. I'm a big fan of easy. I'm also a big fan of dry vegetable soup mix, apparently, since I'm using it in everything lately.

Boneless, skinless chicken breast tenders (any kind of boneless chicken will do, but you can't use big pieces like whole breasts. If you have large pieces, cut them to be smaller so they'll cook faster.)
1 cup white rice
3 cups water
1 package dry vegetable soup mix

Brown the chicken slightly in a little bit of oil. Nothing too major. If you over-brown, that's ok. Or if you forget to brown it, that's ok too. Whatever. Either way, use a really big skillet so you'll have room for everything (I used my 12-inch cast iron and it was just big enough). Then pour in your water and the veggie soup mix, and stir it to dissolve the powder and get everything evened out. Dump in your rice, and try to spread it evenly around the skillet. Make sure there's no rice hanging out on top of the chicken where it won't be in the water. Bring the water to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 20-25 minutes, until the rice is done and the chicken is cooked through.

This recipe serves 4, or maybe 5 depending on how much chicken you have and what sides you serve with it. I didn't serve any sides and it served the 4 of us with a few leftovers. As with my other chicken recipe, this would be great if you cut the chicken into small bite-size pieces, but I didn't and it was still good. I'm sure you could also bake this, but I have no idea how long you'd need to bake it, so if you go that route you're on your own.

Home Made Beefaroni

I have no idea what store bought beefaroni tastes like so I am not sure how well this compares.

1# ground beef

1onion

2-4 t garlic (depends on how much you like garlic)

1 can tomato soup

2-3 T yellow mustard

shredded cheddar cheese

1# macaroni cooked

I run the onion and garlic through the food processor to almost puree. Dump them in a skillet with the ground beef. Cook til beef is brown. Stir in soup and mustard. Pour over cooked pasta and top with cheese.

Pretty kid friendly, quick and yummy

Chicken fried steak with Milk Gravy

Cubed steak, also known as minute steak or chopped steak. We prefer pork to beef.

Milk

Couple eggs

flour

salt

paprika

Pepper

couple tbs of butter

couple cups of milk

Put milk in 1 pie plate, eggs (beaten) in another and flour with spices in another. Generally 1 t. of each spice per cup of flour. Heat veg oil in a large skillet. The oil ensures good contact with the skillet so don't skimp. Wet each steak in the milk, then dredge in flour, egg, and flour again. Put in skillet and cook 5 min on each side. If they are thick steaks, check for doneness. Remove to a plate covered with foil to keep warm until all are done. When all meat is cooked, melt 3 T of butter or marg. in skillet. This amount depends on how much gravy you want. I generally double it. When the butter is melted and done foaming, add an equal amount of flour and whisk together. Then slowly add milk while whisking. If going with the 3T of butter and flour, generally 2C of milk is right, but once you have made it you can just eyeball it. Heat to boiling and keep whicking until desired thickness is achieved. Serve steaks with an obscene amount of gravy. DH loved mashed potatoes with this, but I just wast twice as much meat. Very Very good with crescent rolls

Awesome Baked Pork Chops

This recipe also comes from Recipezaar. I am using the exact title that it is listed there so you can check the source and give credit to the original poster.

6 pork chops

Italian bread crumbs

flour

Eggs

Veg. Oil

1 large can of Cream of mush soup

milk.

Heat a couple tbs of oil in a skillet. Dredge chops in flour, then egg, then crumbs. Brown in hot skillet on both sides. Place browned chops in a 9x13. Cover with foil and bake an hour @ 350. After an hour, mix soup with enough milk to make the consistency of gravy that you prefer. Pour it over the chops, recover with foil, and bake for another 20 min. Serve over jasmine rice.