Great Make Ahead Recipes
Hungarian Mushroom Soup
Porcini mushrooms and Hungarian paprika really punch up the flavors in this mushroom soup. It is rich and filling enough to serve for dinner with a loaf of fresh bread on a busy winter weeknight. Ingredients for Hungarian Mushroom Soup 2 T. butter 1 T. olive oil 1...
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Green Tomato Chutney
Whether we break down the garden in late August or late October, I find that it means lots of green tomatoes. Tasty as they are, one batch of fried green tomatoes is about our limit! For a while, what to do with the rest of those wonderful green tomatoes was a puzzle....
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Jim’s Texas Chili
The tradition of chili on Halloween started with my parents when my sister and I were growing up. It is the perfect meal before or after (or both!) trick-or-treating on a cold October night. Made in the afternoon, the chili stays on the stove and can be reheated...
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Neopolitan Pizza Crust
This pizza crust is crunchy with just a little chew and wonderfully versatile! It is a family affair when we make extra crusts and freeze them for easy weeknight meals. Kids love the dough toss step and this has even been a popular birthday party activity! From a...
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Cheese Puffs
A family favorite, these cheese puffs are on the appetizer table at every holiday gathering in our house. They are easy to make and even easier to eat! They can be made ahead and frozen in larger batches so you can keep them coming. From frozen, heat at 375° for 8 to...
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Old Fashioned Mac and Cheese
Sometimes there is nothing that can soothe your soul like a hot dish of homemade macaroni and cheese. It's not surprising that people have come up with thousands of variations on this popular dish. (Certainly, there is room for all kinds of delicious mac and cheese...
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Mom’s Spaghetti Sauce
This is a favorite weeknight meal at our house! If you already have Jim's Italian Sausage and Sicilian Tomato Sauce on hand, it is quite easy to put together and goes a long way (two nights for us). You can certainly get a very tasty result with your favorite sausage...
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Pumpkin Cheesecake Layer Pie (No Bake)
There are never enough ovens on Thanksgiving Day, so I love to make this easy, no-bake pumpkin pie! I adapted the recipe from one I got from my aunt many years ago. Mostly, what has changed is the elimination of as much of the processed ingredients as possible. The...
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Jim’s Italian Sausage
Jim's Italian Sausage is so versatile and handy to have around! This recipe makes about 5 pounds of sausage, most of which we freeze in smaller amounts for later use. A couple of our favorite recipes are Italian Sausage Manicotti and Mom's Spaghetti Sauce. Also, you...
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As You Wish Crustless Quiche
We're calling this "As You Wish" because you really can get creative with this crustless quiche. I have offered several variations at the bottom of this post, but just about any ingredients that you think sound good are worth a try added to this basic cheese quiche....
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Turkey Oven Sandwiches
These Turkey Oven Sandwiches are a great weeknight meal. We like to cook one pan the night we make them and save the other for the next night in the refrigerator. They can also be frozen for an easy meal in the further future. Distributing tomatoes and celery for...
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Chicken Lasagna
This is one of our favorite make ahead meals. It heats great from frozen and the investment of one afternoon yields at least four meals. For our small family, it's more like 8. Sometimes, for Sunday dinner with Gogo and Papa, one 8" x 8" pan serves 4 adults and 1 kid...
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Lessons in the Garden
The trees are budding and the sprouts are in the windowsill, soon it will be time to plant our garden. Below is a brief history of my "gardening" life. Do you grow things to eat in the summer? What do you grow and why? I'd love to learn from your experiences! I grew...
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Basic Bread from Starter (Yum!)
We make this bread at least once a month. It makes four medium size loaves. We usually eat one on the day we make it and freeze the other three. It is a perfect bread sliced in a basket for a side at the dinner table, but we also use it instead of pastry puffs and in...
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Irish Farmhouse Salad
This salad is always yummy, but is especially popular in our house during the winter months when many of our favorite seasonal veggies are not available or not at their peak. It evolved from an old Irish recipe that mixed cream and mustard with a cooked egg yoke to...
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Beef in Guinness
This is by far my favorite beef stew recipe! Pictured above with Basic Bread from Starter, it is also delicious with boxty and we often serve it with our Irish Farmhouse Salad on the side. Years ago, we started making this stew by trying a variety of recipes one at a...
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Smokey Chicken Parmesan
Chicken parmesan can be a little bit blah, but using Smokey Tomato Sauce really steps up the flavor, offering a unique twist on an old classic. If you have the sauce already on hand, this comes together fairly easily and, when frozen, is a super easy weeknight meal....
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Sourdough Starter
Bread, English muffins, waffles, pancakes, biscuits, pretzels – the list of things you can do with a nice sourdough starter is endless! A friend of my mom's turned me on to the wonders of starter many years ago when she served up the most delicious sourdough biscuits...
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Pierogi
These Polish dumplings are the ultimate in comfort food around our house! We always enjoy making them together, too. They freeze well, which gives us several easier future meals in the freezer. Sometimes we indulge in a carbohydrate overload and just eat them as a...
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Smokey Tomato Sauce
We make this sauce in August when we have more tomatoes than we know what to do with. We love the "hearty without meat" flavor it brings to a wide variety of dishes. Another plus: it maintains it's unique, smokey flavor through the canning process. In our version of...
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Basil Pesto
This pesto recipe is very versatile. It is pictured here with Cavatappi pasta, cherry tomatoes and some fresh mozzarella. We like to make lots of pesto in the summer when fresh basil is readily available and freeze it for use throughout the year. Having pesto on hand...
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Italian Sausage and Cheese (Not) Stuffed Manicotti
These "not stuffed" manicotti may be a little easier to make than the traditional filled pasta tubes we're used to, but this recipe still requires an investment of time. Luckily, once you are committed, you might as well make enough for the future. Recruit the family...
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Basic Tomato Sauce
When you need a fresh-tasting tomato sauce, but don't have all day to make it, this basic recipe is a great option. Fresh carrots, celery, onion and garlic all brighten – and deepen – the flavor of the canned tomatoes. Perfect served simply over pasta and also ideal...
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Tomorrow’s Nutty Banana Bread
This banana bread is worth the wait, though it smells so good in the oven that it's hard to hold out as the recipe (and tradition) dictates! Adding some whole wheat flour, pecans, a touch of nutmeg and a hint of vanilla helps create the nutty flavor that perfectly...
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Vegetables in Fragrant Cumin Tomato Broth
We enjoy this flavorful Indian vegetable dish for lunch during the colder months of the year when a salad just doesn't sound good. It keeps well in the refrigerator and can be heated quickly on the stove or in the microwave. It is chock full of healthy ingredients and...
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Sicilian Tomato Sauce
I'll put it to you straight: this is NOT a fast recipe. However, it is beyond worth the time to make and save for quick meals in the future. It is delicious, versatile and best of all, you know what's in it. (Many commercial tomato sauces have as much as 16 teaspoons...
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Meatballs
These savory meatballs are fun to make together and delicious for dinner tonight or next week! Ingredients for Meatballs 3/4 lb Ground Beef 3/4 lb. Ground Pork 1/2 Cup Toasted Bread Crumbs 2/3 Cup Milk 1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt 1.5 Teaspoons Fresh Thyme, chopped 2 Egg...
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