I just emailed you my prosciutto pasta recipe!

This curry sauce chicken sounds great. I'll have to try that one.

As for tonight, it was DH's turn. He grilled beef tenderloins to perfection. I took the easy way and sliced organic zucchini into thin rounds. Placed on baking sheet. Threw on some herbs de provence and EVOO. Roasted on 420 (convection) until browned. About halfway, I threw on organic garlic cloves. I add those later so that they don't burn. We had baked potatoes.

With steak we usually have roasted rosemary new potatoes. With those, I would saute the zucchini with red onion in EVOO, add ground pepper and Kosher salt to taste.

I'm a seat-of-the-pants cook except when baking. Like you, Annette, I freely alter, recipes are just a guideline. Have found that the same basic ingredients can be interpreted in many ways depending upon seasoning: Indian, curry; Mexican, salsa; Italian garlic/tomato etc.

I suggest "planned overs". Cook up a large batch of the basics, refrigerate, then season to taste.

A fave easy/yummy recipe for late summer? Zucchini.

Sauté onion 'til limp. Add diced zukes then peppers/olives/garlic at will. Fresh or canned tomatoes, Italian seasoning: oregano, basil, etc. Serve over cous-cous

I love cabbage rolls. But am not willing to exert that much effort..that means lazy.

Brown about 2 lbs of ground meat and 1/4 cup of wheat germ. If it starts getting too dry add a bit of water. While this is cooking, slice a head of cabbage. Add 2 16oz cans of tomato sauce. Add cabbage. In a 2 cup measure (or bowl) mix together 1/4 cup vinegar and 1/4 cup brown sugar, fill to 1 2/3 line with water. Add 1/4 cup corn starch and mix well. Add this vinegar mixture to the tomato sauce, cabbage and meat. Stir until it thickens. Cover and cook, on a medium/low temp, until cabbage is tender.

When we had this the other night my son and DIL came over. He said that as a kid, cabbage always tasted good to him, but due to the odor, he had to leave the house while I was cooking it.

What fun! Last night we had something that is so easy and yet tastes wonderful. Take fresh tuna steaks about 1 in thick ( you can substitute other firm fish) make sure they are same thickness. Prerub lightly with kosher salt and EVOO . Crush whole coriander seeds and black peppercorns coarsely. Coat each steak with spice patting to make sure it adheres. It can't be too thin or you miss the flavor. Sear on a very hot cast iron grill plate that has been sprayed with Hi Heat Pam for approx 1 min per side. Needs to be hot pink inside.

Roasted vegetables: butternut squash peeled,seeded and cut in 1 in cubes, 1 very large red bell pepper cut in 1 in cubes, 1 lrg red onion in 1 in cubes about 5-6 lrg garlic cloves sliced . Toss all with Kosher salt and black pepper and EVOO. Place on a pan sprayed with the new Hi Heat Pam. Roast at 425 til quite brown on the edges, approx 40 min. We put the garlic in so it will get blackened....tastes like caramel. The longer you roast the sweeter the vegs get. I use different ones but always the onion and garlic. Caroline

Here are 2 quick meals using leftovers.

I always have Progresso and Campbell's Chunky Soups on hand ( the ones where you do not add water). I use these as the base for creating a stew.

My favorites are the vegtable soups. To that I add leftover veggies, chicken, beef, rice, pasta. Sometimes I will also add canned or fresh veggies if I want to bulk up the stew a bit more. (You will have to gauge the consistency, and might need to add more water or broth to the stew.) Let it simmer on the stove and serve with parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

Another way to use up leftovers is to make omelets, again using veggies, beef, chicken, rice etc.

I find that my family will eat left overs better when they are somewhat disguised. :-)

Looking forward to reading more responses. Good idea for a thread, Annette.

Marilyn

What do you do with two leftover hamburger buns. This came about because I spent the day in the garden, it was hot, I was pooped and I certainly didn't feel like chaining myself to the stove. I opened the fridge, stared at these two lonely buns and came up with this.

Stackups

Lightly butter and toast the buns under the broiler
Dice some bacon, fry crisp, set aside
Saute a few mushrooms in the same pan after removing most of the bacon drippings
Chop and dice some green/red pepper, sweet onion and roma tomato
Place toasted buns on a baking sheet, top with mushrooms, bacon and veggies, sprinkle with grated cheddar cheese and a bit of garlic salt, red pepper flakes an option.
Pop them under the broiler until the cheese melts.
These are really tasty little devils.

Annette

This week, I made a big pot of "traditional" marinara sauce. To do it properly means simmering it for a long while, but you can do loads of stuff while it bubbles away.

And every meal this past week has used marinara sauce. it is a big time saver.

Tonght will be mussels - a new venture for me. I was thinking of a simple sauce combining marinara, white wine, garlic, and some lemongrass perhaps.

This looks long, but it's really easy (the recipe that I made up and sent to Annette). It reheats (microwaves) great the next day, too.
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Here's what I think I did for the pasta sauce for 4 servings. I vary this as you probably will, depending upon how it looks/tastes to you and what you have on hand.
I use a very large all-clad saute pan so that there is a lot of flat surface, but it has steep sides like a stock pot. I add my drained penne pasta (4 servings) to the pot of sauce. (When I'm out of penne, I always have thin spaghetti -- then I add the sauce to the pasta in the bowls instead of the pasta to the sauce). We use the Barrillo PLUS pasta products.
1 large shallot, chopped
saute in EVOO (a few tablespoons)
1 package of fresh, mixed gourmet mushrooms (these are sold in our groceries, but you can use shitake or baby bellas)
rough chopped. Add to pan and saute with the shallots.
Add about 1 cup of red wine.
I buy 1/4 lb of thinly sliced prosciutto de parma. I have the deli put the individual layers (4-5) between paper in a large ziplock. I can then use 2 layers for the recipe. I roll each layer into a pencil shape for easy slicing into small rounds. Add to the pan.
Tomatoes: I've used 2 28-oz cans of diced (drained) roasted Muir Glen; or, I've used 1 14 oz can of diced and supplemented with 1 large jar of marinara sauce.
Add basil and oregano to taste.
Add red pepper flakes to taste.
Let it simmer for an hour on low heat with the lid on. If it gets too dry, add a splash of red wine.
After 1 hour, I add a large handful of crumbled gorgonzola. Gently stir over low heat until the gorgonzola is really soft and distributed.
Add parsley to taste (preferably fresh, but if not available add dried parsley earlier with the basil and oregano)
Add the drained penne pasta to the pot of sauce. (I usually add my Kosher salt to the pasta while it's boiling instead of to my sauce)
Gently toss.
Serve in pasta bowls; sprinkle with freshly grated parmeseano reggiano; drizzle a tiny amount of EVOO to each bowl.
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As for red wine, we typically use what we like to drink. For us, that's Liberty School or Sterling Vineyards Cabernet. I've also used merlot or pinot noir if we were out of the cab.

Don't you have to cook to have leftovers? (ducking)

My son has come home to live with us for a few months. Between him and Mark there are no leftovers. lol!

Diana

How many of you have made Nanaimo Bars? Here's a link to the original recipe? or maybe just the best 'Nanaimo Bar' I've ever eaten. One of my home town's claim to fame. Some debate here, some say it's the 'New York Slice' can anyone tell me if the recipes are the same.

Annette

Here is a link that might be useful: Nanaimo Bars