Egg Salad Sandwich for One

• 1 boiled egg
• 1 sweet pickle
• 1 3-inch piece of celery
• 1 Tablespoon lite mayonnaise
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 pinch pepper
• ¼ teaspoon sugar
• 2 slices Fit and Active Whole Wheat Bread
• 4 leaves baby spinach

1. Chop egg, pickle, and celery.
2. Add salt, pepper, and sugar.
3. Add mayonnaise.
4. Mix.
5. Spread on the bottom whole wheat bread.
6. Distribute the baby spinach.
7. Top with the other slice of bread.
8. Cut and enjoy.  

Tomato Soup Pasta with Meatballs

It's better than you might think!  

Meatball ingredients:

• 2 slices bread with the crusts removed
• ½ cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1 onion, chopped
• ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon refrigerated minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 lb. ground chuck

(Note: I have tripled the amounts in the listed recipe for the meatball recipe and frozen two groups of twenty meatballs for future use after baking them. That is as much as my blender can handle to hold the non-meat ingredients. Saves time and mess in the future.)

Sauce ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cans of tomato soup
• 2 soup cans water
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon parsley
• ½ teaspoon dried basil
• ½ teaspoon sage
• ½ teaspoon thyme
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• Your favorite pasta

1. Tear bread into cubes and place in blender
2. Add milk, egg, and chopped onion.
3. Blend 30 seconds.
4. Place in mixing bowl.
5. Add Parmesan, salt, pepper, minced garlic, and dried parsley.
6. Stir.
7. Add ground beef and mix but don't overly do so.
8. Scoop mixture into meatballs with a medium scoop. Spray a baking dish with non-stick spray.
9. Bake meatballs in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes or until brown but not crusty.

In the meantime, prepare the sauce:

1. Saute the onion in a large skillet in the olive oil.
2. Add the two cans of soup and water.
3. Add the lemon juice, salt, parsley, basil, sage, thyme, and cayenne pepper.
4. Cook under medium-low heat, stirring frequently to keep it from burning.
5. When meatballs are brown, remove them from the oven, and add to the sauce.
6. Continue cooking about ½ hour.

Pasta:

1. Boil 13 ounces of pasta in salted water.
2. Drain pasta.
3. Plate.
4. Add sauce.
5. Serve and enjoy.

Jello Strawberry Pie

Crust:

• 1 stick butter
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 cup flour

1. Cut butter into pats and cut into the rest of the ingredients while still cold.
2. Put mixture in the a pie plate and press to cover sides and bottom as evenly as possible (not rolled).
3. Bake at 375 degrees for 12 minutes or until the edges are just beginning to brown.
4. Allow to cool completely.

Filling:

• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup water
• 1 3 ounce package of strawberry Jello
• 1 ½ quarts of fresh ripe strawberries, washed, stemmed and cut into quarters

1. Bring sugar, cornstarch, salt and water to a boil, stirring constantly.
2. Continue cooking and stirring constantly for 3 minutes on medium heat.
3. Add Jello and continue stirring and cooking for another minute.
4. Remove from heat and stir for 2 more minutes.
5. Let cool 15 minutes but don't put in the refrigerator.
6. Add the strawberries and stir.
7. Pour the mixture into a the baked pie shell.
8. Turn the strawberries so the outer sides are showing.
9. Chill in the refrigerator for two hours.
10. Serve, topped with whip cream (optional) and enjoy.

Breakfast Casserole

• 12 slices of bacon, fried, drained and crumbled
• Non-stick cooking spray
• 6 slices bread
• 8 eggs
• 1-12 ounce can of condensed milk
• 4 ounces 2% milk
• 1 small onion, chopped fine
• 1 teaspoon prepared mustard
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray a 9 x 13 dish with non-stick cooking spray.
3. Trim crusts off the bread, then cube the bread and spread them over the bottom of the baking dish.
4. Take half the crumbled bacon and half the shredded cheese and sprinkle them evenly over the bread.
5. In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs for approximately a minute.
6. Whisk in the condensed milk, and 2% milk.
7. Add the chopped onion.
8. Add the prepared mustard, salt and pepper. And whisk about 30 seconds.
9. Pour mixture over the bread, bacon, and cheese over the bottom evenly.
10. Top with the remaining bacon and cheese, spread evenly over the mixture.
11. Bake for 40 minutes.
12. Turn oven off.
13. Let it sit in oven with the door open for 10 minutes.
14. Cut into squares and serve.

Baked Apple Roses Pastry

• 1 sheet frozen puffed pastry
• 2 honey crisp apples
• Juice of a lemon
• Water to cover the apples (amount depends on the size of the bowl)
• 3 tablespoons peach jam
• 1 tablespoon water
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• Non-stick cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Spray a silicone cupcake pan with non-stick cooking spray
3. Thaw the pastry sheet for 15 minutes and roll out until about a third larger in length.
4. Squeeze one lemon's juice into a bowl.
5. Add enough water to bowl to cover the apple slices. (You may have to add more as the apples are added.)
6. Cut each apple in half vertically.
7. Core the apple halves.
8. Place apples flat side down and slice thinly horizonally.
9. Add the apple slices to the lemon water.
10. Add more water if necessary to cover the slices.
11. Microwave the the apple slices in the water for 3 minutes.
12. Remove from the microwave and drain.
13. Add the one tablespoon water to the peach jam and stir until fairly smooth.
14. Slice the pastry sheet into six strips.
15. Take one of the strips, paint one side of it with the peach and water mixture, and place about 7 slices of the apples along the edge overlapping about half way along the length, and half way over each other apple slice.
16. Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar mixture.
17. On one end, start rolling the pastry, holding it so that the apple slices appear to be rose petals when completely rolled.
18. Place each rose in one of the cupcake compartments.
19. Repeat this assembly process five more times.
20. Bake at 375 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes.
21. Serve and enjoy.

Piccolini Carbonara a.k.a. Mini Farfalle or Mini Bowtie Carbonara

8 ounces piccolini or mini farfalle (bowtie) pasta cooked (usually half the box)

1 lb. Italian ground sausage

½ ham, chopped finely

½ teaspoon sage

¼ teaspoon pepper

2 eggs

1 Tablespoon Tone's Spicy Spaghetti Seasoning

8 oz. Shredded Asiago cheese

Boil the pasta in a pan.

Brown and crumble the ground sausage until well browned.

Add ham and brown a little more.

Add the sage, pepper, and Spaghetti Spices and stir well.

Drain the pasta and add to the skillet of of meat mixture.

Stir.

Add the eggs, one at a time, stirring constantly. The heat from the pasta will cook the eggs.

Add the Asiago Cheese and stir well.

Serve and enjoy.

Sugar Cookies

Sugar Cookie Recipe

Please note, this is a great tasting cookie recipe. The frosting recipe is not included. Use your own favorite. But if you are needing a sugar cookie in which the shape of the cookies hold the sharp definition of the details, this will not work. But if you are just wanting great taste, this recipe is wonderful.  Thanks to my aunt, Maxine Hooper, for the basic recipe ingredients.  I have updated the instructions to include using parchment or a silicone baking sheet on top of your cookie sheet.

• 2 ½ sticks of butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 Tablespoons milk
• 2 beaten eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 3 cups of flour
• extra sugar for sprinkling

1. Cream sugar and butter together.
2. Add milk, beaten eggs, and vanilla and mix well.
3. Add baking soda, salt, and cream of tarter and stir well.
4. Add the flour a little at time, mix well by hand, but don't use a mixer. Overmixing could result in a tough cookie.
5. Form three balls of dough and return to the mixing bowl.
6. Cover the dough and refrigerate overnight.
7. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
8. Line cookie sheets with parchment or a silicone baking sheet.
9. Roll out dough in small batches. (Keep the rest of the dough refrigerated until needed.)
10. Cut into rather small cookies. You can also use larger use larger cookie cutters, but you will need to increase baking time.
11. Use a food lifter (like Rachel Ray uses) to transfer cut cookies for baking.
12. Leave plenty of room between cookies as these spread a bit.
13. Sprinkle extra sugar on the cookies before baking.
14. Bake 375 degrees for 6 minutes for small cookies (longer for larger cookies). They should appear just beginning to brown slightly at the edges.
15. Remove from the oven.
16. Cool three minutes on the pan before removing.
17. Transfer to racks to continue cooling.
18. After cookies are cooled, frost and decorate as desired.