Balsamic Pork Scaloppini

A couple of week's ago, I went into Publix and smelled the most wonderful meal cooking at the Apron's meal demonstration. I already had dinner plans that night, but picked up the recipe card to use another time. I made it last week and it was delicious!

I'm getting sort of lazy about typing up recipes so follow the link--------->

I didn't follow their directions for the Tomato Buttered Noodles, but made my own version by just adding butter and sun-dried tomato pesto to cooked noodles.

Pierogi Bake

Pierogi [peer-OH-gee] - A Polish specialty, pierogi are half-moon-shaped noodle dumplings filled with a minced mixture, the most common being pork, onions, cottage cheese and seasonings. Mushrooms, cabbage, potatoes and rice are also used as filling ingredients. After the pierogi are cooked in boiling water, they're sometimes sautéed briefly in butter and topped with toasted bread crumbs. They can be served as a first course or side dish. - THE FOOD LOVER'S COMPANION, 2nd edition, by Sharon Tyler Herbst.

Pierogi - Like a ravioli, but with mashed potatoes and onion inside. - Beth

I have seen this recipe several places. The original here (this one has nutrition info), but also seen here and here!

(Follow the links to recipe)

Pyszne! (Google Translate says this is Polish for delicious)

Sheldon

I love this kitty!

He's so sweet to help with the laundry...

Chicken Tortilla Stack

This is my version of a Pampered Chef recipe from many years ago. You could easily adjust to use your favorite Mexican flavors.

I used extra large flour tortillas, refried black beans, shredded cooked chicken, sliced black olives, chunky salsa and shredded cheddar cheese. There are three layers, in that order, of all those ingredients. Then I topped it with one last flour tortilla, baked it at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes. Once it was out of the oven, I added more cheddar cheese, diced tomato, chopped avocado, a few olive slices and some sour cream. Slice it carefully and serve.

Some great options might be to use ground beef, shredded smoked pork.... maybe regular 'pinto' refried beans... enchilada sauce poured over? White cheese sauce with jalapenos?

Peachy Ham Quesadilla

We almost always have grilled cheese sandwiches with my homemade soups. I decided to throw this together with a few "leftover" ingredients I had on hand instead.


Ham, Swiss cheese, honey mustard and peach preserves in a flour tortilla grilled on the sandwich press/grill.

I used to get something like this at a Roly-Poly sandwich shop. If you're not familiar - they make about 50 different wrap sandwiches. The menu always seemed so overwhelming. I'm not sure mine is exactly the same, but the combination turned out great!

Apricot Almond Chicken Salad

Here's the other dish I made for the Easter Picnic last weekend. Chicken salad or shrimp salad work great in these tiny pitas as an appetizer.



APRICOT ALMOND CHICKEN SALAD

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup apricot preserves
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
salt
black pepper
3/4 cup chopped or sliced almonds
3/4 cup chopped dried apricots
3 cups chopped cooked chicken (I used canned chicken this time)

Stir together first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Add almonds, apricots and chicken, stir some more.

The measurements here are just estimates, adjust to your taste. Serve in pitas, on crackers, on a salad, in a sandwich.....

Cherry Pineapple Dump Cake

This is part of what I made for my extended family's Easter picnic. Only one small serving came home with me. It's always good to see others enjoying something I made.

In case you didn't know, it's called a dump cake because you just "dump" the ingredients right into the pan.

CHERRY PINEAPPLE DUMP CAKE
recipe from Southern Living

1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple in juice, undrained
1 (21 ounce) can cherry pie filling
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
3/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Spread crushed pineapple on bottom of a lightly greased 13 x 9 inch pan. Top pineapple with cherry pie filling. Sprinkle the dry cake mix evenly over fruit. Drizzle with the melted butter. Sprinkle with chopped pecans.

Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, until hot and bubbly.




This would be really great to top with vanilla ice cream when it's warm just out of the oven.

And here's the entire table of food at our family picnic (you might call it a potluck).....



My plate.... ham, mac 'n' cheese, potato salad, deviled egg, sweet potato casserole, baked beans, pasta salad, hash brown casserole, Buffalo chicken tender, baked ziti, Apricot Almond Chicken Salad in a tiny pita (I made that, too. Recipe coming soon.).



And that doesn't include dessert. I had another small plate for that. No need for dinner tonight!