Crab Quiche (#5)

At my house, you have two choices for breakfast. Cereal or............. Cereal. There are several reasons for this, but the two most important are 1. That's what I grew up on and 2. I am NOT a morning person.
I am trying to change. I have realized that cereal does not keep my belly full until lunch. I need more substance. This recipe has been in my recipe box on allrecipes.com for some time and boy was my husband glad it came into our food rotation. We *almost* ate the whole thing by ourselves. We showed some restraint and saved some for lunch the next day. I still like my brunch quiche a little better because it has mushrooms but this is fabulous too. I actually served this one for dinner so that's why I'm putting it on the list.

I think most people are intimated by quiches but this was so simple- mix and bake. I baked mine for the full 45 minutes until it was browned and a knife came out clean. You should try it!

Crab Quiche I

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 eggs, beaten (I used 3 medium)
1/2 cup milk
1 cup crab meat (I used imitation crab)
1 cup diced Swiss cheese
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, beat together eggs, mayonnaise, flour, and milk until thoroughly blended. Stir in crab, cheese, and onion. Spread into pie shell.
3. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup (#4)

With the weather taking a turn for the worst *sigh* I thought it was time to bust out this soup recipe I found from Real Mom Kitchen.

Mmmmm..... thick and creamy with cheesy goodness. Not to meantion the crisp bacon and perfect touch of green onion! Such a beautiful combination of potato soup and a loaded baked potato. This comfort soup does its job nicely. Now I want to bunker down for the winter while eating a delicious bowl of this soup!

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

4 lg. baking potatoes (I had 8 small to medium leftover baked potatoes that I used)

2/3 C butter

2/3 C flour

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

6 C milk (I used whole)

1 C sour cream

4 thinly sliced green onions

10 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled

1 C shredded cheddar cheese

1. Scrub potatoes, pat dry & cover with foil. Bake for 75 minutes at 350 or until tender; cool completely.(Or use leftover potatoes from another meal)
2. Peel and cube potatoes.
3. In a large pot melt the butter, stir in flour, salt and pepper until smooth. Use a whisk to make sure any lumps from the flour are smoothed out.
4. Gradually add milk a 2 cups at a time. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for a couple minutes or until thickened.
5. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add cubed potatoes. Heat until warm. Mix in sour cream.
6. Garnish with bacon, cheese, and green onions. Yield 8 servings.

White Bean Tuna Salad (#3)

Sorry I haven't posted in so long. My husband got laid off from his job three weeks ago and I kind of was in a tail-spin. Blogging has been the last thing on my mind. I am so grateful for family members and my church to give us reassurance and knowing they are there if we need anything. We have been doing good, but have a very limited budget for food so........... I've been trying out some food storage meals lately and it's been going great!

I know I post a lot of recipes from Mel's Kichen Cafe, but she's so awesome! I love her and when I found this simple recipe for a light tuna salad, AND I had all the ingredients on hand, I had to try it. Boy, am I glad I did! Such a delicate, light salad that mixes so well with crunch, crisp lettuce. I gobbled it all up.

White Bean Tuna Salad
by Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients:
½ cup chopped red onions
The zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 (5 or 6-ounce each) cans of tuna (I prefer albacore tuna packed in water)
2 (15-ounce each) cans of Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
A few splashes of Tabasco sauce or other hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Salt and olive oil to taste

Directions:
In a small bowl, sprinkle some of the lemon juice over the chopped onions while you prepare the other ingredients. This will take some of the oniony edge off the onions.
Drain the tuna and put it into a large bowl. Add the beans to the tuna and gently stir to combine. Add the onions, parsley, black pepper, lemon zest and lemon juice and mix to combine. Add Tabasco or hot sauce to taste. If the salad needs more acid, add a little more lemon juice. If the salad seems a little dry, add a little bit of olive oil. Add salt to taste.
Serve chilled or at room temperature. The salad develops great flavor if tightly covered and refrigerated for a couple hours, or up to a day, before serving. Serve with crackers, lightly toasted bread, lettuce cups/leaves, fresh vegetables, etc.

Here are my results:

Swiss Chicken Casserole (#2)

This cheesy chicken entree screams comfort food! Moist chicken topped with tangy Swiss cheese, creamy soup mixture and divine savory herb stuffing. This main dish satisfies everybody.

My in-laws are hysterical. I serve up anything gourmet and they thank me politely. I serve up something baked in good ole' cream-of-chicken and they sing my praises and ask for the recipe. This recipe wowed them. Hubby and I are the ones who ultimately decide what the rating is though and even we were impressed at this comfort food recipe. We give this 4★.


Swiss Chicken Casserole (adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:

6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

6 slices Swiss cheese

1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup

1/4 cup milk

1 package Stove Top Stuffing (savory herb flavor strongly suggested)

(You will need some extra butter and water for the stuffing preparation according to package directions)

2 Tbs melted butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.

2. Prepare Stove Top Stuffing according to package directions using the microwave.

2.While stuffing is being microwaved, arrange chicken breasts in the baking dish. Place one slice of Swiss cheese on top of each chicken breast. Combine cream of chicken soup and milk in a medium bowl, and pour over chicken breasts. Sprinkle with prepared stuffing. Pour melted butter over top, and cover with foil.

3. Bake 35 minutes covered, uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

Toasted Orzo with Peas and Parmesan (#1)

First recipes that makes the list is Toasted Orzo with Peas and Parmesan. This recipe comes from Mel's Kitchen Cafe. She has a ton of great recipes on her site and this one will not be the last one I promise. I made this as a vegetarian main course and it was so creamy and yummy!

Toasted Orzo with Peas and Parmesan
Serves 4-6 (as a side dish)

*Be careful when adding the broth to the pan, because it will create a lot of steam.
2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, minced
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 ¼ cups orzo
2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1 ounce Parmesan cheese, grated (about 1 cup)
2 tablespoons fresh minced parsley leaves
Ground black pepper
1 lemon, cut into wedges, for serving (optional)


Directions:
Melt the butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and ¾ teaspoon salt and cook, stirring often, until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the orzo and cook, stirring often, until most of the grains are golden, about 5 minutes. Carefully stir in the broth and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally until all of the liquid has been absorbed and the orzo is tender, 10 to 12 minutes. (Be careful not to cook at too high of heat at this point because the liquid will evaporate instead of cook the orzo and you’ll be left with undercooked pasta.)
Off the heat, stir in the peas, Parmesan, and parsley and let sit until the peas are warmed through, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve with the lemon wedges.
Recipe Source: adapted from Cook’s Illustrated Best Skillet Recipes

What is Perfect Dinner Project?

Good question! Perfect Dinner Project is my own quest for the perfect dinner recipes. The idea is to find 365 recipes that are delicious (not just OK) so that my family can rotate through them and have variety as well as fabulous dinner. If it's 4★ rating or above it will go on the list. Just so you and I are on the same page, here is my rating system:

5★ = Absolute Perfection! If this recipe was on a restaurant menu, I would order it EVERY SINGLE TIME, it's that good! Other people rave about it every time I make it and always ask for the recipe.

4½ ★= Almost perfection. There is probably nothing I could do to make it a 5★ recipe but it comes pretty close. On a restaurant menu I would order it often, but not every time because I like variety. People still rave about it and will probably ask for the recipe.

4★= Really good. Everybody likes it and it tastes great!

3½ ★= Good but just not good enough to go on the PDP list.

3★= Just OK. Some people will like it and some people won't. Bland. Would make if in a dire pinch and had the ingredients on hand. Before I became a foodie, I would say most of my recipes fell into this category. Nothing to be ashamed about just OK food happens.

2★= Edible but we didn't like it. Won't make it again

1★= I'm sorry I even made this recipe. I will NEVER make it again and it will probably go into the trash.

 About me: Stay-at-home-Mom of one little one. I have always been interesting in cooking but only started when I met my husband. On our first date, I read the instructions on how to boil spaghetti. I've come a long way!

I scour the internet and cookbook to try different recipes. We rarely have the same thing twice since I just like to try new things all the time. Even the 5★ recipes we've only had a handful of times. My philosophy is simple and easy if it's possible. I only do time consuming meals if they are worth the effort. I try and cook healthy but once in a while, I like to splurge. I like variety so my list will (hopefully) be full of variety; chicken, beef, seafood, and vegetarian.  I just want to make a good list of perfect dinners so that every day, anybody can have a good solid list of recipes they know will turn out fabulous.