Vegetables

During the winter a lot of vegetables are just bland. Trina I read your comment in the forum games where you said : Canned Asparagus Rarely Edible. (Or something like that!) I hit on a way to make them really tasty. Preheat your oven to 325. Open the can of asparagus and drain well being careful not to break the asparagus. Lay it out on a baking sheet and then pour vegetable or olive oil over the asparagus. Toss lightly until all pieces are covered with oil. Bake for 15 minutes. Keep checking on the asparagus because this is just my basic recipe and I am not a chef! LOL

To make tomatoes taste more like the home grown I have a little secret. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Put your tomato in there for just a minute. Immediately put the tomato into a bowl with ice and water. The peeling will come off. The flavor to me is more pronounced.

Kids being picky about eating vegetables. Here are a couple of tricks. On movie night or family time slice up raw vegetables and ranch or French onion dip. Kids usually love raw vegetables and being able to dip them makes it so much fun!

Make candied carrots. Melt margarine in a non-stick skillet add raw carrots and about a quarter cup of brown sugar. Cook until carrots are tender. Once again you will have to judge this because it is another one of those recipes I kind of adopted as one of my own!

My mom has a trick she uses with canned green beans. She buys the Italian cut. She drains them and then rinses the beans thoroughly. She then heats them on the stove with a splash of olive oil. For real authentic homegrown taste you could use a piece of salt pork, streak of lean, or a slice of bacon.

Now if I could just learn to like greens! LOL



I think this thread was transferred from the old board. I believe it was started by CANDY CRAZY.
Let me know if I am wrong.

Company Broccoli Three-Cheese Bake


Prep Time: 10 min
Total Time: 1 hour 0 min
Makes: 14 servings (1/2 cup each)


1 can (2.8 oz) French-fried onions
2 bags (24 oz each) Green Giant frozen broccoli & three cheese sauce
1 package (3 oz) cream cheese, cut into cubes
1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper, if desired
1/2 teaspoon red pepper sauce

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Reserve 1 cup French-fried onions for topping.
2. In 5-quart Dutch oven, mix remaining onions, the broccoli, cream cheese, bell pepper and red pepper sauce. Cover; cook over medium-low heat about 20 minutes, stirring once halfway through cooking, until sauce chips are melted. Transfer to ungreased 2- to 3-quart casserole.
3. Bake uncovered 20 to 25 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Sprinkle reserved onions around outer edge of casserole; bake 5 minutes longer.
High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Heat oven to 375°F. In step 2, cover and cook over medium heat 20 to 25 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. In step 3, bake 25 to 30 minutes.

"Healthified" Spinach and Rice Casserole

Prep Time: 20 min
Total Time: 1 hour 0 min
Makes: 8 servings (1 cup each)

2	teaspoons olive oil
3	medium carrots, chopped (1 1/2 cups)
2/3	cup chopped celery
1	medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
1	clove garlic, finely chopped
1 3/4	cups water
1	can (10 3/4 oz) condensed 98% fat-free cream of mushroom soup
2	boxes (9 oz each) Green Giant frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained
1 1/2	cups uncooked instant brown rice
1	teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2	teaspoon pepper
1	cup diced cooked ham
3/4	cup shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese (3 oz)
1/4	cup grated Parmesan cheese

1.	Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray.
2.	In 3-quart saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add carrots, celery, onion and garlic; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add water and soup; heat to boiling. Add spinach, rice, Italian seasoning and pepper; return to boiling. Remove from heat; stir in ham, 1/4 cup of the Cheddar cheese and the Parmesan cheese. Spread in baking dish. Cover with foil.
3.	Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until bubbly. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese. Let stand uncovered 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

I like to cook baby cut carrots in butter and brown sugar. It gives the carrots a little extra flavor and my kids will eat them a little more often. I just use the baby cut carrots you get in the veggie section of the store and steam them a little. Then I add about 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and about the same amount of butter. It gives them a glaze and they taste great! Something else I do to increase the amount of veggies my kids eat is to add melted velveeta cheese to the top. I have done this with broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots.

I am pretty sure that Mohala was meaning the previous comment for you Flipper. Scarlet has not posted in this thread, so I'm pretty sure that compliment was meant for you. lol

What's funny is that I was writing Flipper a pm and just in the nick of time, I realized it was addressed to Scarlet. I'm not the only who has made this mistake. lol

Thanks for the compliment!! I have found some very unique ways to get my kids to eat and have found in the process some recipes that are more throw togethers than anything else....lol. I have a few more to share and just have to get the time to post them today. I'm glad others are enjoying these recipes!

Sorry Flipper. I don't know what I was thinking I did edit the post though. Just wanted you to know also that I do enjoy your posts and I guess I get to typing and forget who Im talking to (lol) It's not just you I do this to by the way, Im good at it on the phone too. I can be talking to my daughter or one of my sisters and call them by the others name. (lol) Im trying to get better though. Have a great day.

Thanks Trina for bringing that to my attention.

Spicy Cabbage

1 large cabbage (about 2 1/2 lb.), cut into bite-size pieces 2 green tomatoes, chopped 1 large green bell pepper, chopped 1 cup water 1/3 cup hot pickled banana peppers, chopped 1 tbsp. vegetable oil 1 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. pepper

Bring all ingredients to a boil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 25 minutes or until cabbage is tender.


I love love love cabbage and try to find new ways to spice it up!!!!