Cheesy Spaghetti Squash and Ground Meat Casserole

This recipe is my own invention.  (Using what I had on hand, including what needed to be used up.)

My husband and parents approved.  :)

1/2 of a large spaghetti squash, baked
1/2 lb sausage
1 lb ground beef
1/2 an onion, chopped
sage, parsley, rosemary, savory, salt, and seasoned pepper to taste
a little fat (about a tablespoon or two--oil, butter, lard--whatever you want)
about 1/2 lb mushrooms, chopped
a lot of garlic, minced
a few stalks of celery, chopped
about 1/2 lb mozzarella, shredded
about 1/2 lb medium cheddar, shredded, in two parts

Shred the spaghetti squash into a large mixing bowl.
Brown the sausage and ground beef over medium heat.  Add the onion and spices when the meat is about half browned, and cook until the meat is browned and the onions are soft.
Add the meat to the squash.
Return the pan to the heat, and melt the fat.  Cook the mushrooms, garlic, and celery until they are softened, and any liquid cooks off.
Add the mushroom mixture to the squash, along with the mozzarella, and about half of the cheddar.  Mix it well.
Grease a 9x13" pan or casserole dish (I sprayed with olive oil).  Spread the mixture evenly in the dish, and cover with the rest of the cheddar.
Bake at 350F (or 325 in a convection oven) for about an hour.

Broccoli and Quinoa Casserole

Here's the inspiration.  I didn't change much.
I took it to a church potluck, and it was devoured, so it turned out ok.  But no picture.


1 1/2 cups dry quinoa
3 cups water
1/2 an onion
8 oz (or so) mushrooms
2-4 cloves of garlic
1 T (or so) olive oil
4 cups broccoli florets (and stems)
2 cups (or more) shredded cheese (sharp cheddar, guyere, and colby-jack)
2 eggs
1 t paprika
salt and pepper
extra shredded cheese for topping (colby-jack)

Rinse the quinoa.  Boil the water (add a little salt).  Add the quinoa, bring back to a boil, cover and reduce the heat, and cook for 15 minutes.  (Or follow directions on the package.)
Meanwhile, dice the onion and mushrooms, and mince the garlic.  Saute them in the olive oil with a little salt, over medium-high heat until softened, and any liquid cooks off.
Microwave the broccoli with a little water until it's bright green, about 2-3 minutes, and drain the water off.
In a very large bowl, lightly beat the eggs.  Add the mushroom mixture, the quinoa, the broccoli, cheese, paprika, and salt and pepper to taste.
Spray a 9x13" pan with olive oil.  Pour the mixture into it, and spread and pat it down so it's even.  Top with the additional cheese.
Bake at about 350-375 for 15-20 minutes if you just made it, or 30 minutes or more if you refrigerate before baking it.

Spaghetti Squash Casserole

The first recipe on this page was my inspiration for today.

1/2 of a large spaghetti squash, cooked and shredded
4 T butter
1 onion, chopped small-ish
4 cloves garlic, minced
about 12 oz crimini mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
about 8 oz fresh spinach, roughly chopped
salt, pepper, and dry parsley to taste
2-3 cups shredded mozzarella

Melt the butter in a large skillet.
Saute the onion for a couple minutes (long enough to mince garlic), and add the garlic.
Continue to saute (long enough to slice the mushrooms) and add the mushrooms.
Continue to cook (long enough to chop the spinach, and let the mushrooms cook down to make some room) and add the spinach.

Add salt, pepper, dry parsley, and spaghetti squash.

 Add half of the mozzarella, and stir it in.
Put it all in a casserole dish (mine was between 8x8" and 9x13", and I sprayed it with olive oil first).
Put the rest of the mozzarella on top.
Bake it for about 15 minutes (or more if the spaghetti squash was cold) at around 350F.

Low-Carb Stroganoff

3 lb. chuck roast
1 quart beef broth (you might not need it all)
1/4 c butter (half of a stick)
1 lb mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 t. xanthan gum (more or less)
salt and pepper
16 oz. tub of sour cream


Cook the roast in a crock pot (8 hours on low) with some of the beef broth.  Refrigerate the rest of the broth.
When the meat is done, set aside the drippings and broth from the slow cooker.
Remove any big chunks of fat from the meat, and shred it with two forks.
Melt the butter in a big pot or dutch oven.
Saute the onion and mushrooms in the butter.
Measure the drippings and broth from the slow cooker, and add more broth to make at least 5 cups.  (It was still very thick and chunky with 5, so you might want more.)
Add that to the onions and mushrooms.
Let it come to a boil.
Add the xanthan gum.  (Be careful, because it likes to clump.  I sprinkled a little at a time over the surface, stirred it in, and sprinkled a little more.)
Let it boil a bit, to see if it is getting as thick as you like it.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Stir in the sour cream, and cook for a little longer, so you're sure it is nice and hot (but don't really boil it after the sour cream is in).
Remove from the heat, and serve with buttery cabbage "noodles", shirataki noodles, or cauliflower "rice."

"Mexican" Meatloaf

This was my inspiration.

2 lb. ground turkey
10 oz chorizo
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t oregano
1/2 t chili powder
1 t basil
1 t salt
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3/4 c minced mushrooms
2 c shredded pepper Jack cheese
1/2 of a red onion, minced
2 eggs

 

  

Heat oven to 350.
Combine all ingredients.
Put the mixture in a loaf pan.  Cover with foil.
Bake for an hour.
Remove the foil.  Pour off excess liquid.  Increase the oven temperature to 400, and bake for another 5 minutes or so, until it is slightly browned.

Brunch for One

Mince: 1 clove of garlic
Slice: several small mushrooms
Chop: 1/2 of a red bell pepper

Melt in a small frying pan: about 1 t coconut oil or butter

Add: a spoonful of julienned sun-dried tomatoes
         the chopped vegetables
         a pinch or two of salt
         some black pepper
Cook over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add: the green part of a couple of green onion, cut up with scissors
        some fresh basil leaves, cut up with scissors
Stir those in.

Add: two eggs, lightly beaten
As the eggs start to cook, lift up the edges to let the raw egg flow under.

If you are more talented than I am, flip the whole thing over to cook the other side.
If you are smarter than I am, cook the top under the broiler, like a fritatta.
If you are hungry and in a hurry, try to flip it in as big of pieces as you can, and call it a scramble.

When it is almost cooked through, top with: grated Pecorino Romano cheese
                                                                             a bit more green onion top

If I had some pesto, I would have added that, and other herbs, like oregano or rosemary would also be nice additions.

Not a cooking post- How to Clean Silver (Easily)

I had seen things on Pinterest a few times, about polishing silver by soaking it in hot salt-water with aluminum foil, and mentioned to my husband that I wanted to try it, because all of my silver pieces were looking REALLY bad.

Observe:

The pitcher before--notice the "bubbly" marks that I have never been able to remove when I polished this.

A candlestick before

So, my husband didn't think that salt would work very well, and he found this article, so I decided to try that.

First, I filled my plastic basin with water, and dumped the water into my stock-pot to boil.  (That way I didn't heat more water than would fit.)  It was about 6 quarts, so I measured out 1 1/2 cups of baking soda (1 cup per gallon of water).

In the mean time, I put a sheet of aluminum foil in the bottom of the plastic basin, and set the two candlesticks on the foil.

When the water came to a boil, I set the stock-pot in the sink and added the baking soda.  It did foam up (a lot), so I added it gradually, and then stirred it with a long spoon to make sure it was dissolved.

Then I poured the baking soda solution into the basin.  (It smelled just like being at Yellowstone--silver tarnish is silver sulfide.  Who knew?)  The tarnish just came off the candlesticks immediately--before all of the water was in the basin, they were already looking shiny.  I let them sit in the solution for a few minutes, then washed them with hot soapy water to get the baking soda and candle-wax residue off.  (There wasn't much wax left inside the candlesticks before I started this, but there was some.)

After they were washed and dried, we polished them up with a silver polishing cloth, and they were beautiful!

Polishing cloth

The candlesticks after

I used the same aluminum foil and baking soda solution for the two candlesticks, the handle of a "hostess plate," a dish that I think is for setting a bottle of wine on, and a pitcher.

The pitcher during--the basin was too small, so you can see  how much  tarnish came off just sitting in the solution for a minute or so.

 The pitcher was too big to be immersed in my small basin, so it had to be turned over during its treatment.

When it came out, it still had some of the bubbly-looking marks on the sides.  My husband said that it was probably a different type of tarnish--not sulfur, and that I should try the polish I had.  And now it worked!

The pitcher after

I am so excited.  My silver looks better than I've ever gotten it before, and with a lot less effort than I've ever put into it!