CROCK POT SAUSAGE PASTA A LA MODE

RECIPES THAT HAVE A UNIVERSAL APPEAL TO EVERYONE, YOUNG AND OLD ALIKE, RICH AND POOR, SHORT AND TALL, OPTIMIST OR PESSIMIST.

Something for everyone, that's what we are aiming for here and this recipe is no different. If you haven't yet been introduced to Orzo, then now is your chance. Pasta comes in all shapes and sizes from huge big manicotti noodles down to the very smallest which is Orzo. Orzo looks almost like rice because it comes in small grains, but it cooks and tastes just like any other pasta. Since it is so much smaller than other pasta, it is important not to overcook it as it can become mushy very fast. Kids like it because it's easy to eat and adults like it because it tastes good--simple as that. You can get all kinds of creative with Orzo, but I've found it's best to stick close to the basics which is what this recipe is--just a basic pasta with a few veggies and cheese sprinkled on top. Actually, it's the cheese that makes it so delicious, so don't skimp on it. On with the Orzo:

1. Start by cooking a pound of Italian sausage in a large skillet. I like mine mild, but you can choose whichever kind you like.

2. Cook it until it is lightly browned clear through.

3. To this add 1 T. dry onion flakes (chopped onion) and 2 tsp. dry sliced garlic.

4. Now put the sausage into the crock pot that has been sprayed with Pam. To this add 1 can of pasta sauce and 1 can of chopped tomatoes. I like the "No Sugar Added" kind of pasta sauce, which is not always easy to find. Most pasta sauces have some sugar or high-fructose corn syrup which I don't care for in a pasta sauce.

5. To this add 3/4 C. Orzo. As you can see in the picture, it does look like rice but don't be fooled. It cooks up very differently.

6. Now turn the crock pot to low and cook 4-6 hours or until you're ready to eat it.

7. Steam some vegetables until they are crisp-tender. Choose any fresh veggies that you like.

I used 1 crown of fresh broccoli, 1 C. of shredded carrots, 1/2 small onion sliced. Also good added to this would be zucchini, yellow crookneck squash, mushrooms and peppers.

7. Dish up the pasta onto plates. Sprinkle 1/4 C. Mozarella cheese over it and melt in the microwave.

8. Then add the veggies on top and sprinkle 2-3 T. Parmesan cheese on top and serve immediately. This recipe serves 4-6. Enjoy!

HASH BROWN SCRAMBLED EGG STACK

RECIPES THAT HAVE A UNIVERSAL APPEAL TO EVERYONE, YOUNG AND OLD ALIKE, RICH AND POOR, SHORT AND TALL, OPTIMIST OR PESSIMIST.

Here is a breakfast fit for a king or just anybody who likes to eat something somewhat special but not that hard to make. The nice thing about this dish is that it works for any meal, not just breakfast. If you need something fast for dinner that you can make in a flash and will satisfy hungry appetites with very little fuss, then keep this in mind. It works for just about everybody and it's fun to make, besides. It's fairly low-budget and you can also be creative and substitute just about anything you want in place of what I have here. The beauty of this recipe is that it's pretty hard to ruin it. You would either have to burn everything or use really bad ingredients for it not to turn out. In other words, it's almost fool-proof and that is definitely a plus. Add to this the fact that it's a whole lot better than a bowl of cold cereal or some dry old toast for breakfast and you have a winner! I'll take you through it step by step so you can see exactly how it's done. Don't be intimidated thinking it's too much work--it's really not. This is just to give you the big picture so you can see how easy it really is.

1. You start with grating a medium-size potato into a collander. Then you rinse it with warm water and push all the water through the collander.

2. After that you put the grated potato on a clean towel and let it drain.

3. In the meantime you chop up 1/2 onion white and 1/4 red pepper. (Again, you can use whatever ingredients you want. Mushrooms would be good, as well.)

4. Also chop up 1 slice of breakfast ham, skin removed, into small pieces.

5. Heat 1 T. oil in a large skillet.

6. Now take the towel and twist all of the moisture out of the potatoes. This is important so they will fry up quickly without all the starch sticking to the potatoes.

7. In a small bowl scramble 3 eggs and set aside.

8. In a smaller skillet heat another 1 T. of oil.

9. Fry the onion and pepper in the small skillet until it's translucent.

10. In the larger skillet fry the potatoes until they are golden brown, trying often.

11. Now add the vegetables to the potatoes.

12. Season with Lawry's seasoning salt, about 1/2 tsp.

13. In the smaller skillet, scramble the eggs. Add the chopped ham.

14. Turn the potatoes out onto a large plate.

15. Top with the scrambled eggs and ham. Then sprinkle 1/4 C. grated cheese over the top. Serve immediately. This dish must be eaten while it's hot. If you want, you can melt the cheese under a broiler before serving. Serves 1-2. Enjoy!

GARLIC SHRIMP VEGGIE PASTA

RECIPES THAT MAKE YOU WANT TO INVITE PEOPLE OVER SO YOU CAN SHARE YOUR BOUNTY WITH THEM.

If you haven't tried it before, then I suggest you consider shrimp as an excellent companion to pasta. I know you always worry about shrimp tasting too "fishy", but if you cook it the way I have in this recipe, you won't have the fish taste at all. It makes a wonderful dish that is quick and easy, is colorful and delicious and nutritious, to boot. What more could you want? Oh, yes, and it's budget-friendly, too. Now that's something worth thinking about. But don't just think about it, give it a try and see if you don't agree that this garlic shrimp veggie pasta is something you'll want to make again and again. As you can see in the picture above, I served it with some sourdough toast topped with pizza sauce and melted mozzarella cheese. It was a definite hit. You can vary the amount of garlic you use according to your own taste. I happen to prefer lots of garlic, but you may not want that much. Here is the recipe:

1. First, cook some pasta in salted water, then drain and put into a large oven-proof bowl. I chose the mini penne pasta because I think it's easier to eat, but any kind will do. The amount of pasta you cook will depend on how many you are feeding. 2 C. of pasta will feed 4-6 generously.

2. Next, chop up some fresh vegetables. I chose carrots, broccoli, green and red peppers, red onion and mushrooms. After chopping, there were about 3 cups of veggies in all.

3. Defrost and drain some frozen mini shrimp, about 3 cups. I put them into the collander, run warm water over them and then put them on a towel and pat them until they are dry. This is important, otherwise they will be too wet and it will be hard to get them to fry properly.

4. Next, in a large skillet heat 2-3 T. olive oil and stir-fry the veggies for 5 minutes. Then add 2 T. water, cover, lower the heat and steam for approximately 5 more minutes or until they are soft but not mushy. Remove the veggies and add them to the pasta.

5. Next, clean out the skillet then add 2 T. butter. To this add 2-4 cloves of minced fresh garlic and cook for 1 minute. Then add the shrimp and cook and stir for about three or four minutes. You want to cook them long enough for the shrimp to absorb the garlic taste but not too long or they will be rubbery and over-cooked.

6. Once the shrimp and garlic are well cooked, add:

2 T. flour

1/2 C. heavy cream

2 C. milk

1 C. Parmesan cheese, grated

1 tsp. salt

Cook and stir until it has thickened. Now pour this over the pasta, sprinkle on mozzarella cheese and serve immediately. Serves 4-6. Enjoy!

BANANA PUMPKIN PIE BREAD

RECIPES THAT MAKE YOU WANT TO INVITE PEOPLE OVER SO YOU CAN SHARE YOUR BOUNTY WITH THEM.

Here is a little trick to help you get rid of any extra pumpkin pie you might have lying around that you don't want to keep. Either the temptation of having it around is too great because you can't eat pumpkin pie without a big dollop of whipped cream and you can't afford the calories or else you just can't bear to throw it out because of all the starving children in Africa or Asia or Indonesia or wherever there are a lot of starving children. Didn't your mother use this ploy to try to get you to eat your vegetables when you were a child? Mine did! Anyway, did you know you can throw in a piece of pumpkin pie, crust and all, and have it turn into a remarkably good loaf of bread as easy as pie? (Pardon the pun.) Chances are you've never even thought of doing such a thing, but cooking is all about taking chances, doing new things, going out on a limb and finding ingenious and creative ways of using up leftovers. Your mother would be proud of you for refusing to let a perfectly good piece of pumpkin pie go to waste (or waist). There are few things more fun in life than creating something and finding out it actually does work and this bread is no exception. It's one of those serendipitous things that leaves you with a smile on your face and a warm spot in your heart for the whole idea of making something new and different. Anyway, it's worth a try. Here are the steps:

1. Prepare a basic loaf pan by greasing it or spraying it with vegetable spray. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Put all of your ingredients into a large mixing bowl:

2 C. flour

1 1/2 C. sugar

1 tsp. soda

1 tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

Mix together well:

2. In a small bowl mash up 1 or 2 ripe bananas. Add 3 eggs and mix together until well blended.

Add a piece of pumpkin pie--yes, the whole thing!

3. Put it all back in with the dry ingredients. Add:

2/3 C. oil

1/2 C. water

Mix well.

Add 1/2 C. chopped nuts (optional)

4l Pour into the prepared pan and set it on the middle rack in the oven.

5. Give it plenty of time to bake, approximately 60 minutes or until it is done in the middle. Turn out of the pan onto a wire rack and allow to cool slightly before serving. It's best if it's eaten warm. Serve with butter or cream cheese. Makes approximately 8-10 slices. Enjoy!

BUTTERNUT SQUASH WITH APPLES PECANS AND CRAISINS

RECIPES THAT MAKE YOU WANT TO INVITE PEOPLE OVER SO YOU CAN SHARE YOUR BOUNTY WITH THEM.

Okay, so there are two kinds of people in the world: those who like squash and those who never have, never will and won't eat it no matter how you fix it or how good it is and that's just the way it is, period. The squash lovers will love this recipe and the non-squash lovers (otherwise known as squash haters) will turn up their noses and say Yuccckkkk! So, don't expect everyone to fall in love with butternut squash because of this recipe if they've never liked it before and wouldn't eat even if you served it to them on a silver platter or bribed them with a double scoop of ice cream with chocolate syrup, whipped cream and a cherry on top. I happen to be a squash lover and so I was excited to try this new recipe that I found and added a few things to it to make it even better (well, more than a few), which is what I usually do when I find a new recipe. I thought it was delicious, but it got mixed reviews at the table so I'm putting this recipe on my blog with a disclaimer: no guarantees! However, it's definitely worth a try and maybe you'll get a thumb's up all around, who knows? Here is the recipe:

1. Take 1 large butternut squash and cut it up into one inch chunks. You can also buy it already done for you which saves a lot of time. Either way works.

2. Peel and cut into chunks 2 average-size apples. I used Golden Delicious, but almost any kind will do. Granny Smith would be good because it's tart.

3. Chop up 1/3 C. of pecans and set them aside.

4.. Put the squash and apples into a prepared baking dish and add 3 T. water.

5. Add 1/2 C. Craisins. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 20 minutes or until the squash is soft. Take out of the oven and pour off any excess water.

Now pour 1/2 C. melted butter over the squash, then in a separate bowl

mix together the following:

1/3 C. brown sugar

1/2 C. orange juice

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

The chopped pecans

1 tsp. salt

Mix this in with the squash and apples and return to the oven to heat through until it is all bubbling and hot. Serve immediately. Serves 4-6. Enjoy!