Cheesy Pasta with Ham and Peas

 Kristen made up this recipe and it is delicious.  Her kids love it.

Cheesy Pasta with Ham and Peas

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.  Cook 1 lb. pasta of choice according to box directions.

Make a white sauce by melting 1/4 cup butter in saucepan.  Blend in 1/4 cup flour, salt, and pepper.  Add 2 cups milk and cook, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens and bubbles.  Add 1 cup grated cheese and stir until melted.  

In a small skillet, saute ham chunks until carnalized.  You can use lunch meat ham or cut up a ham steak.  Add to the sauce along with a bag of frozen petite peas. Blend and heat through. 

Serve over pasta of choice.  Or you can mix the sauce with the pasta and serve.  

German Pancakes

 When our children were young, I made this frequently.  Now they are making it for their families.  Everyone loves German Pancakes.

German Pancakes

6 eggs

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup milk

Put 1/2 cube of butter in a 9x13 pan.  Preheat oven to 450.  While preheating, put the pan with the butter in the oven until the butter has melted.  Beat all ingredients together in a bowl and pour over the melted butter.  Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven.  Cut and serve with syrup or blended  frozen strawberries (sweeten with sugar or applesauce,) warmed.  Or you can make this delicious fruit topping:

Fruit topping

1 10 oz package frozen strawberries or raspberries

1 can pineapple, drained

1 banana, sliced

Brown sugar

Sour cream

Mix the fruits together and put on the pancake.  Sprinkle with brown sugar and a dollop of sour cream.

Two.  Ready for a family of 8.  The kids love to see how this puffs up in the oven.

Sock-it-to-me Cake

This recipe dates back to the early days of our marriage.  I think I clipped it out of a magazine.  It is an oldie, but goodie.  

Sock-It-To-Me Cake

1 yellow cake mix (with pudding in the mix)

1 cup sour cream

1/3 cup oil

1/3 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

4 eggs

Filling

1 cup chopped pecans

2 T. brown sugar

1 T. cinnamon

2 T. reserved cake mix

Preheat oven to 375.  Prepare a bundt pan.  Take 2 T. of the cake mix out and put it in a small bowl.  

In a large bowl, mix together the rest of the cake ingredients.  Beat for 2 minutes.  Pour about 2/3 of the cake mixture batter into the prepared bundt pan.  Mix together the filling ingredients and sprinkle over the batter.  Then spread the remaining batter over the top.  Bake for 45-50 minutes until it passes the toothpick test.  Cool on a wire rack for about 20 minutes, then remove from pan onto a plate or platter.  

Mix together 1 cup powdered sugar with 2T. milk or cream to make a glaze and drizzle over the cooled cake.

Mongolian Beef over Rice

 This dish is delicious and very quick and easy to make.  It doesn't make a huge amount, though, so if your family is very big, I would suggest doubling the recipe.  I would say it serves about 4 adults.

Mongolian Beef over Rice

1 lb ground beef

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup beef stock

2 tsps. rice vinegar

2 T. brown sugar

1 T. corn starch

1 inch piece of ginger, grated

4 cloves garlic, minced

3-5 green onions, sliced thin

Hot cooked rice

In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, stock, rice vinegar, brown sugar, and corn starch.  Set aside.

In a large skillet, brown the ground beef over medium heat.  Season with salt and pepper.

Reduce heat to medium and add garlic and ginger.  Cook about 2-3 minutes.

Pour the sauce into the pan and stir and simmer and thicken for 2-3 minutes.

Stir well until all the ground beef is coated with the sauce.  Add the green onions and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes.

Serve over rice with steamed vegetables of choice.

Banana Bread

 I was staying with Kristen's kids and had overripe bananas to use.  I didn't have all the ingredients to make my usual banana bread, so googled recipes that used what I did have.  This bread was moist and delicious.

Banana Bread

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup chopped nuts

2- 3 bananas, mashed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Grease a loaf pan.

In a large bowl, stir together the melted butter and sugar.  Add eggs and vanilla.  Mix well.  Add the flour, soda, and salt and mix well.  Fold in the sour cream, nuts and bananas.  Spread in prepared pan.  Bake for 60 minutes.  A toothpick should come out clean.  Let sit in pan for about 10 minutes, then take out of pan and cool on a wire rack.