Ingenue Mom

I already told you all about the fennel pasta salad & cucumber tomato salad that I made last week with the foods from my CSA share . I also made a pizza with the banana peppers from the share! I used a deep dish pizza crust mix (yeah I'm lazy), some Ragu pizza sauce, black olives & the banana peppers with cheese! It was yummy!! Then we made this tomato pasta with some more tomatoes & the fresh oregano! We just cooked the pasta, then put the tomatoes on the skillet for a minute with the oregano, olive oil, red pepper & smoked paprika (my husband is obsessed with smoked paprika - puts it on everything). Then we tossed all of it together with the pasta & some parmesan cheese! It was great for dinner & for lunch the next day!! Check out my previous CSA share meals & info !

Tonight I made the Fennel, Bean & Pasta Salad! I also made a Cucumber & Tomato Salad! I think they both turned out really well!! (These pictures were taken with my phone. Sorry they're not great looking foodie blog pictures.) Fennel, Bean & Pasta Salad - I posted the recipe here . This was really different! We had never had fennel before. My husband preferred to eat it heated up rather than chilled, but I ate it cold. It was good, I just don't think I'm a huge fan of fennel. I need to find some other ways to cook it to see if I like it better in different recipes! Cucumber & Tomato Salad Ingredients Dashes of red-wine vinegar (to taste) Pinch of sugar Dash of olive oil 2 tomatoes 1 green cucumber 1 yellow cucumber Handful of feta cheese Handful of fresh, chopped thai basil I just chopped this all up & mixed it together & voila!! It was delish!!! CSA food used: Fennel bulb Cucumber Lemon Cucumber Tomatoes Thai Basil

I originally found this recipe at $5 Dinners ! I absolutely love her recipes! She has great, cheap meals for a family! I ended up adding a little to it after making it once. Here's what I ended up coming up with... Fajita Pasta (based on Grilled Chicken Fajita Pasta @ $5 Dinners ) Ingredients 3 Chicken Breasts 1 box bowtie pasta 1 bag frozen peppers & onions blend 1 pkg fajita seasoning 1 pkg sliced mushrooms Directions 1. Boil water & cook pasta 2. Cook chicken on stove & cut into pieces 3. Cook peppers & onions blend & mushrooms 4. Add fajita seasoning to veggies 5. Mix all together! These are pics of ours the time we cooked it without the mushrooms. We made it again with mushrooms about 2 days later! It was really yummy & lasted a while!!

I found this recipe on the $5 Dinners blog! I love that blog! I've found so many great recipes that are cheap! Lewis loves this one in particular. We add sour cream & salsa on top of it sometimes. It's yummy!! Mexican Rice Casserole **Note: go to the link for the $5 Dinners recipe. I've put my modified version below** Ingredients 1 package ground beef (or ground turkey) 1 package taco seasoning 1 8 oz can tomato sauce 2 cups rice 1 cup frozen corn 1 can kidney beans 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese Directions 1. Cook 2 cups rice with 4 3/4 cup water. Bring water to boil, add rice, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. 2. Brown ground beef. Drain. Return to skillet, add 3/4 cup water, taco seasoning, tomato sauce, corn & beans. Stir through. 3. Add ground beef to rice. Put into 9×13 baking dish. Top with shredded cheese. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes until cheese melts. Check out more of my favorite recipes !

This is another recipe from my friend's grandmother. I have a couple of recipes for Potato Soup, but this is the one I make most often. In terms of restaurant soups, it's more like Cheddars Potato Soup than O'Charley's if you know what I mean. Ingredients: 16 oz frozen hash browns 1 cup chopped onion 1 (14 1/2 oz) can ready to serve chicken broth 2 cups water 1 (10 3/4 oz) can cream of chicken soup 1 (10 3/4 oz) can cream of celery soup 2 cups milk Preparation: Combine first 4 ingredients. Bring to a boil. Cover - reduce heat - simmer 30 minutes. Stir in soups & milk - heat thoroughly. Makes 2 1/2 quarts. Garnish with cheddar cheese, ham or bacon. I love this recipe! It's another one that lasts us a while. Lunches & dinners. Got a recipe I could try? Email me ! Check out my other recipes !

This is not my recipe. I got it from my friend's grandmother - who is by far one of the best cooks I've ever known in my life! I've never had anything of hers that I didn't like. Her chicken salad is my absolute favorite. No restaurant has ever been able to compare. So here's the recipe for chili soup (which she may have found somewhere else). It's DELISH!! Ingredients: 1 pkg ground beef (we use ground turkey) 1 medium onion, chopped 1 can Rotel tomatoes 1 can stewed tomatoes 1 can chili beans 3 cans Campbell's Minestrone soup 3 cans water Preparation: Brown ground beef & add onions. Cook together, then add to soup pot with all other ingredients. Heat & let simmer 10 minutes. Simple!! It's in our rotation. We rotate the same meals every 2 weeks. This one lasts forever! It makes dinners & lunches & is pretty healthy - although Lew & I always end up adding some crumbled whole wheat Saltines, sour cream & shredded cheddar cheese... B...