Quick and easy; that seems to be our food motto these days.  With Church & school functions, work, and sports, making a ham and cheese calzone is just one of the easy recipes I’ve been cooking up lately.    It’s a meal that to grab and go which we frequently do with basketball season in full bloom.  Concession stands have drained me this school year so I try to get most of us full before we ever get to the game. Know what I mean?

I honestly had no plan for the dough when making this so bare with me.  The neat thing about this meal idea, is that you can put anything you want inside the calzone.  I did simple ingredients for us because we are on a budget but you could definitely go all out!  I bought crescent roll dough and ended up mushing it all together and separating into 3 dough balls for 3 calzones.  Hey, it ain’t fancy but it worked!

This recipe was submitted by Rachel S for May’s Food Challenge. If you have a recipe with eggs in it, you can enter too! Check it out ’cause there’s a great prize! Thanks Rachel for entering!

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 Eggs
• Shredding Mozzarella Cheese
• Asparagus
• Onions
• Butter
• Salt/Pepper

(I followed a recipe I found here: http://www.musingsofahousewife.com/2011/05/asparagus-frittata.html – with a few of my own tweaks and changes)

DIRECTIONS

1. Chop onion and put it into frying pan with butter, until soft
2. Clean/cut asparagus and add it to pan. Allow to cook for 5-7 minutes.
3. While veggies are in the pan, make egg mixture – 8 eggs, 1 cup of cheese, salt/pepper to liking – and mix together.
4. Add the veggies to a quiche or pie pan. Pour egg mixture on top. Put in oven (at 350) until the egg has solidified. Add more cheese on top (I used the same mozzarella cheese on top, but have also make it with goat cheese) and put under the broiler for about 5 minutes – or until it is golden brown and delicious!

(photo credit goes to http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/asparagus_frittata/)

This recipe was submitted by Malerie C, into March’s Food Challenge.  Thanks Malerie for entering!

This sandwich recipe is for one sandwich.

The weather’s turning cooler, the leaves are falling, and the soups are cookin’. There’s something about tater soup that comforts me. Maybe because it’s tasty or maybe it’s because no matter how low we get on groceries, I always keep potatoes on hand and that means there will always be food on the table.

There are so many variations of potato soup but keeping with the “ration cooking” theme, I’ll leave it to basics. I’ve mentioned it before but I’ll say it again, Carnation Evaporated Milk is a staple around here and it can add a tremendous amount of flavor to your meals. Most people think desserts when using evaporated milk but it gives even the plainest recipes a savory, full flavor.

INGREDIENTS

• 6-8 potatoes, chunked (I prefer new potatoes)
• 1 med. onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp. parsley flakes
• 5 c. water
• 1 can of Carnation Evaporated Milk
• Salt and pepper to taste (I add extra salt because taters need it)
• dab of butter

DIRECTIONS

Cook in crock pot on low for 8 hours or until taters are done. One hour before serving, add the one can of Carnation evaporated milk.

In keeping with transparency, as always, I did receive a gift card from One2One Network and Carnation for ingredients to create this fine tater soup but in no way was my opinion of evaporated milk bought. It’s always been a staple and if you want to search my recipes for it, you’ll know that’s the truth;)  {{giggle}}

I normally have guest posts on Friday but I owe Toni-Lynn (who saves TONS of money on groceries! Seriously, you’ve got to check her grocery blog out!) since I told her two+ weeks ago that I’d publish it. Sorry about that girl! These look great and like something the kiddos could help make! And if you’re feeling really energetic and like the “from scratch” method, try making the english muffins from scratch!

If your going to make these babies I suggest that you make a lot of them! My family of 4 can polish off 2 bags of English Muffins when I make them. These are Super Simple and a great way to get your kids in the kitchen with you!

Preheat your oven to 360 Degrees.  Split your english muffins in half and place them on a baking sheet. Spread your favorite pasta sauce on each half. That is the hand of my 7 year old. helping out.

Next, I sprinkle on a LITTLE Salt, Pepper, Onion Powder, Oregano and Parmesan Cheese. I stress a LITTLE because these are obviously small and the spices can over power them very quickly if you put on to much.

The most important part is next! Top with your favorite shredded cheese. I like to use a mix of cheeses for this. Kraft makes a 6 Cheese Italian blend which is what i usually use. I like a lot of cheese on mine.
Bake them for about 10 minutes. Just watch for your cheese to be nice and melted. This was the best finished picture I could get because my family always attacks them! I almost didn’t get one.

About the Author:

Toni-Lynn is the owner and author of Grocery Price Blog. She is a stay/work at home mom of 2 boys ages 7 and 2.

I told you I’d share the Grilled Chicken Penne al Fresco recipe from the Pampered Chef party and I am!  This is a recipe that can be made on the stove or in the microwave using the Deep Covered Baker.  It’s a time saving, delicious, and healthy meal! You can see a few more pictures in my original post!

INGREDIENTS

• 4 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 cups grape or cherry tomatoes
• 3 cups uncooked mezze penne pasta
• 3 cups chicken broth
• ¾ cup dry white wine such as Chardonnay
• ½ tsp each salt and coarsely ground black pepper
• 1¼ cups lightly packed fresh basil leaves, divided
• 1 oz Parmesan cheese, grated (about ¼ cup packed)
• 2 cups diced grilled chicken breasts
• Additional grated fresh Parmesan cheese
• coarsely ground black pepper (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Spray Deep Covered Baker with olive oil using Kitchen Spritzer. Slice garlic into baker using Garlic
Slicer. Add tomatoes. Cover; microwave on HIGH 4-5 minutes or until tomatoes begin to burst, stirring
after 2 minutes. Crush tomatoes using Mix ‘N Chop. Add pasta, broth, wine, salt and black pepper.

2. Return baker to microwave; cover and microwave on HIGH 16-18 minutes or until pasta is tender, stirring
after 10 minutes. Meanwhile, coarsely chop basil with Chef’s Knife. Reserve 2 tbsp for garnish. Grate
cheese using Rotary Grater.

3. Carefully remove baker from microwave and remove lid, lifting away from you. Add remaining basil,

cheese and chicken to baker; mix well. Garnish with reserved 2 tbsp basil, additional Parmesan cheese and black pepper, if desired.

Cook’s Tips: An additional ¾ cup chicken broth can be substituted for the wine, if desired.
Any tube-shaped pasta requiring 9-11 minutes cook time, such as penne or rigatoni, can be substituted for the
mezze penne pasta.

To grill chicken in the Grill Pan, season 2 chicken breasts, about 6 oz each, with salt and black pepper. Heat Grill
Pan over medium-high heat 5 minutes. Spray pan with oil. Cook chicken 4-6 minutes or until grill marks appear.
Turn chicken over; cook 4-6 minutes or until center of chicken is no longer pink and Pocket Thermometer
registers 170°F.

Yield: 8 servings

Kitchen Spritzer

Garlic Slicer

Mix N’ Chop

Rotary Grater

And it comes to the end of sandwich week here at My Wooden Spoon but I’m leaving you with a super easy and VERY good sandwich recipe.  This was my absolute fave from Chef John Li and I’m sure it will become one of your favorites as well!

One thing I learned from the trip, is that a sandwich doesn’t have to be just  sliced white bread with sandwich meat. It can be cold or hot, with buns or tortillas, and can include your favorites ingredients other than lettuce and tomato.  Be creative so that the next time you’re serving up sandwiches, you’ll have eyebrows raised and smiles on faces with these not-so typical sandwich recipes!

And don’t forget to give the sandwich recipe I made a try! Roasted Red Peppers and Roast Beef Wrap!

This week’s sandwiches included the French Dip Roast Beef Sandwich with Caramelized Onions and Sweet Spicy Chicken and Bacon Wrap.

Earlier I shared the French Dip Roast Beef Sandwich with Caramelized Onion, today, a wrap.  Wraps are fun way to do sandwiches instead of the same ol’ bread slices and they make for a pretty presentation as well.

This recipe has 3 parts. The spread, the dressing, and the filing.  The dressing can be made ahead of time to save you some time.  Another great recipe by Chef John Li that I hope you guys all enjoy.

Remember, if you try some of these recipes, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comment section!

I’m declaring July 20- July 24 sandwich week here at My Wooden Spoon and will present you with 3 delicious sandwich recipes created by the VERY talented Chef John Li! Chef John Li is a corporate executive chef for Kraft for over 15 years and I had the honor to meet him at my visit to Oscar Mayer.

This entire recipe makes 4 sandwiches which will feed a crew!  Enjoy y’all!

Well, I Ain’t No Rachael Ray!

In early June, I had the chance to attend an Oscar Mayer event and learn about their Deli Fresh Meats.  Not only did we get to visit the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile, we had to do was create a sandwich using their Deli Fresh Meats.  I’m probably one of the most uncreative people alive but after 6 sandwich taste-testing sessions with my family, I narrowed it down to a wrap called, Lori Falcon’s Roasted Red Peppers and Roast Beef Wrap. They guys at Oscar Mayer were nice enough to bring in a camera crew to make a video of us making our sandwich, which you can see below. You can see all the videos from the other bloggers at the Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh youtube page.

INGREDIENTS

• Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh Slow Roasted Roast Beef
• Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened
• Ground Cumin
• Garlic Powder or Clove of Garlic
• Soft Flat Bread
• Avocado, cubed
• Tomato, chopped (and seeded if you like)
• Havarti Cheese
• Red Roasted Peppers
• Lettuce Leaf
• Salt & Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Mix the cream cheese, cumin, garlic, and roasted red peppers until well blended.  Spread of a layer of cream cheese mixture over flat bread tortilla.  Place a lettuce leaf on each flat bread tortilla and top with 2-3 slices of roast beef.  Sprinkle evenly with avocado, tomatoes, and cheese.  Starting at one end, roll up each flat bread tortilla so that it looks like a large burrito.  Cut in half and serve 2 pieces on a 6″ plate.

Eat & Enjoy

Enjoy the video.  I’m clearly not made for TV and I would love for the counters to be just a bit taller so that I don’t look near as big!

More to come on sandwiches to get you through the hot Summer!