Broccoli, Wraps, Soups, and Pasta (New Recipes of the Week ~5)

Here's what's been cookin' at our house lately...

Broccoli Oriental

The directions call for steaming the broccoli and pouring a warm orange sauce over it, but knowing half of my family's aversion to cooked broccoli, I opted to to serve the sauce as a dip. I would not recommend that. That little silver container is still sitting in the fridge half-eaten 2 weeks later!

Wraps a la Mexicana

1/3 c. cream cheese

1/2 an avocado, mashed

2 Tbsp. sour cream

4 8 inch flour tortillas

4 pieces leaf lettuce

1/2 lb cooked/grilled chicken

salsa

Combine cream cheese, avocado, and sour cream in a small bowl. Spread onto each tortilla. Place a piece of lettuce over the bottom half of the tortillas. Top with 1/4 of the chicken strips or slices. Drizzle with salsa. Fold edges inward, roll up, and cut in half diagonally. We are loving the $.29 avocado sales in wraps such as these!

The little spirals are leftover hummus, cheese, and lettuce spread onto the last tortilla in the package.

Slow-Cooked Vegetable Soup

Though this is a Taste of Home recipe, it was a bit on the healthy-tasting side for us. Garbanzo beans are not a family favorite along with cooked broccoli, but oh so good for you!

Sausage Mushroom Manicotti

1 lb bulk Italian sausage, cooked (I seasoned my own ground venison.)

1/2 c diced onion

1 garlic clove, minced

2 Tbsp. butter

9 oz. sliced mushrooms

1 can cream of mushroom soup (I cooked a white sauce instead.)

1/2 c. sour cream

1/4 tsp pepper

8 oz. manicotti shells, cooked

5 oz. milk

1 Tbsp minced fresh or 1 tsp. dried parsley

1 1/2 c. mozzarella cheese

Saute onions and garlic in butter until tender. Add mushrooms; heat through. Stir in soup, sour cream, pepper, milk, and parsley. Mix in cooked meat and pasta and cheese, reserving some to sprinkle on top. Heat through. (Or you can transfer to a baking dish, cover and bake 350* for 25 minutes.)

By the photos, I obviously did not use manicotti. I've never even made manicotti and have only eaten it once. That was at 11 o'clock at night and I was terribly hungry. Of course my hosts hadn't even gotten home from the grocery until 9pm and started dinner after that, hence I am convinced that stuffed manicotti can never be a fast family meal. However, pasta shells may be substituted for a quick version. We all heartily approved of this recipe, though I would call it stroganoff. 

Hamburger Vegetable Crock

Baking Day

Date Crumb Cake, Cinnamon Rolls, and little Sandwich Buns cut with a biscuit cutter.

A heavy sweet breakfast cake with dates and nuts. We replaced the dates with raisins and skipped the nuts. It is still tasty, especially with milk on top!