A dish not only for King’s, but Astronauts as well!

Col. Tom Hendricks (Commander) and Dr. Rick Linnehan (Mission Specialists) members of the Columbia Crew had enjoyed this Special Baked Chicken Spaghetti on several past occasions at the home of the Chef that created this masterpiece and requested that she prepare this tasty recipe for their upcoming mission.

The dish was prepared and delivered to the NASA lab two months prior to departure, then freeze dried and labelled with the stamp of approval from the NASA powers that be!

Because of the strict controlled diets of the Astronauts, the Baked Chicken Spaghetti dish was carefully measured, weighed and analyzed “inside and out”! Several packages were prepared for the two Astronauts who after completion of mission brought back many stories of others on the mission “stealing” their color coded homemade meals while they weren’t looking!

Enjoy this Poultry Recipe that was good enough to go into outer space!

1 – 5-6 lb hen or 2 fryers
Stew until tender with 4 stalks of celery, 3 large carrots, 1-2 large onions. Remove meat from bones, set aside to cool and then skim off fat.

Saute the following in Olive Oil:
2 – Medium chopped onions
2 – Cloves Chopped Garlic
3 to 4 – Ribs of Chopped Celery
2 – Finely Chopped Carrots
1 – Large Finely Chopped Green Pepper

add all the above in a large pot, 8 cups of Chicken Broth either canned or from stew broth above with the following:
1 – Can of Cream of Tomato Soup (or Regular Tomato Soup)
1 – Can of Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 – 4oz can of Mushroom Stems and Pieces
1 – Large Can tomatoes (28oz) Put Through Blender
2 – Small cans Tomato Sauce (8 oz ea)
1 – Small Can Chopped Black Olives
2-3 – Tablespoons of Parsley

Season All With:
Salt and Pepper to taste (don’t be shy)
2-3 – Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
2-3 – Tablespoons Chili Powder
2 – Tablespoons Basil
1 – Tablespoon Sugar
1 – Good Dash of Paprika

Add to Large Pot all the chicken peices you have stripped from the cooled off chicken with:
1/2 lb – grated Velveeta Cheese (Spicy if you like a kick)

Boil 12 oz spaghetti until tender

Combine all ingredients and pour into casserole dish or dishes, cover with grated sharp cheddar cheese and bake for about 45 mins at 375 degrees…and enjoy!

By far one of the most unique and tasty salad dressings you have ever tasted!

Being a large fan of salads and dressing, I have absolutely fell in Love with this Cuban Salad Recipe.

So very unique and not overbearing by any means but you like I, will find yourself CRAVING this salad at all times of the day.

I have obviously finally grown up from Italian, Blue Cheese and Ranch Dressing…you will to once you try this tasty surprise.

This is probably the most requested dishes of all that are requested at our home. NEVER is there any  left over!

2 – Medium cloves of garlic crushed with 1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 – Tablespoon mayonaise
1 – Tablespoon of sour cream
1 – Dash of fresh ground pepper
1/4 – juice from of a medium lime

Mix well with a spoon and add Vegetable Oil to thin somewhat. (Try a tablespoon at a time)

Toss well with ROMAINE or ICEBERG lettuce cut into small pieces.

You don’t want to add anything else to the Cuban Salad Recipe such as tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, etc…It Drastically changes the taste of he the dressing and not for the better!

You can use this recipe for 1 pre-packaged bag of Romaine. For two packages of greens, double the recipe, for three packages, triple, etc…..

Trust me it is GOOD!

One of the easiest and by far the tastiest Breakfast Masterpieces ever compiled!

For a  easy morning follow these directions:

8 – Slices of bread toasted and cubed
2 – cups of cheddar cheese grated
1 – lb pork sausage browned and drained
8 – Eggs beaten
1 – tsp dry mustard
2 1/4 – cups milk
1 – Can cream of potato soup
1/2 – Additional cup of milk

Put Bread cubes in a greased 11 x 7 (or larger) buttered pan and spread with grated cheese. Arrange the already cooked pork sausage on top of everything.

Add the 2 1/4 cup of milk and dry mustard to the beaten eggs and pour over the sausage and bread mixture. Cover and refrigerate over night.

In the morning cover with the mixture of 1 cup of potato soup and the additional 1/2 cup of milk.

Bake for 1 hr at 350 degrees. We bake 3-4 pans of this favorite Easy Breakfast  Casserole every holiday season! I personally like to drown it in Picante Sauce/Hot Sauce when serving!

This Poblano Soup Recipe is by far one of the most requested treats at my home.

Believe it or not, I have my friends children asking for me to freeze (foodsaver) this delight for their Christmas gifts from me. Not kidding….it’s just this good!

We take vacation during the summer to the beach and usually rent a house for a week. About 3 years ago I cooked soups and spaghetti sauces etc…and froze them in my “foodsaver” bags to make mealtime for all the kids and adults quick and easy to serve….lets face it….you don’t want to cook your whole vacation! It worked GREAT and I’ll never do it any other way! We even bbq’d Hamburger patties and froze them! They were probably the best dang burger ever made!

The reason I bring all this up is that out of all my soup recipes I could freeze and bring to vacation, this is the most requested soup. ( I eat/drink it out of a cup)!

The following is to make a LARGE pot…I don’t think I can remember how to make a small pot!

8-10 – Tablespoons butter or margarine
19-21 – Poblano chile peppers (roasted) peeled, seeded and diced ( see below for procedure)
2 1/2 – cup chopped onion
1 1/4 – cup chopped carrots
10 – Tablespoons all-purpose flour
10 – Cups of water
12 – Cups of Chicken Stock
4 -5 – Cups of half and half
2 bunches – Finely chopped washed and stemmed fresh Cilantro
6 – Teaspoons of salt
8 -10 – large cups of crushed tortilla chips
6-8 – Cups of Monterey Jack Cheese shredded

For the  peppers I cut the stems off and scape out the seeds and veins from the inside of the pepper and place on a cookie sheet. I then place in oven on HI Broil with a pair of tongs very handy! Flip the peppers several times until the skin of the peppers starts to brown and separate. One softened and skin is clearly removable, take peppers out and let cool. Once able to handle comfortably, remove thin layer of skin from pepper and chop into small to medium pieces.

Add Peppers, onion and carrots to the melted butter/margarine and saute fo 10-15 minutes until vegetables are soft. Sprinkle with Flour to slightly “Stiffen” up. Saute after the flour another 4-5 minutes.

Whisk in Water, Chicken Stock and Cilantro until blended to your satisfaction. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.

Now here’s the pain part…Transfer soup in batches to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth and return to another large pot.

Add half and half and salt and heat to simmer.

Ladle soup into individual bowls and top with tortilla chips, cheese and fresh Cilantro….you will be a hero!

This is a lot of fun to make and the kids LOVE to help. I know it sounds like a bunch of work but the Poblano Soup Recipe that I think I’ve perfected…is actually not that labor intensive because you blend most all of it! Only problem I have is that I need two big pots! Enjoy!

Ok…This is good no matter how you want to prepare it! You can bake it in the oven or on the BBQ pit. I’m going to try and not be long winded on this one….but this recipe for Stuffed Jalapenos is a labor of LOVE !

Unfortunately because of the quantities i/we have produced for BBQ and Chili Cookoffs…the amount of ingredients has never been perfected! But you will see that it really won’t be a problem.

Also lovingly known as “GrassHoppers” this is a treat you can prepare ahead of time and freeze (foodsaver) for many different parties and get-togethers. Even though there is no “exact” science to these little beauties…You need to try them!

ok…I’m going to do my best.

Ingredients needed:

Whole Raw Jalapenos
Cream Cheese
Raw Sliced Bacon
Toothpicks
Your Favorite BBQ Sauce

Take the Jalapeno and cut in half. Take a small knife or spoon or potato peeler and scrape out the “vein” and seeds. Might want to invest in some rubber gloves because when doing this procedure you DO NOT want to be touching any “sensitive” areas with your hot Jalapeno Oil Fingers!!!!! Trust Me!

Fill the halves of Jalapenos with the Cream Cheese and wrap only once around with Bacon securing with as many toothpicks as you wish. Place on a cookie sheet or a vented non-stick tray. ( you want the bacon to cook without losing the cream cheese). This is the hard part! making sure that all sides of the bacon are cooked. A Fish cooker usually works pretty good because you can flip…or take foil and place loosely over the top to generate heat for the top side of the hoopers.

Once the Jalapenos are cooked/soft and the bacon looks cooked…drizzle bbq sauce all over the top of the hoppers only long enough to heat up the sauce and remove from heat. You will be the hit of any party or function! Like I said before, this is a labor intensive procedure…but the results are well worth it!

Note: I have fried up the bacon, crushed in food processor and then blended with the cream cheese and achieved the same results without having to “wrap”  bacon around  the Stuffed Jalapeno. Because of the different thicknesses of the bacon, sometimes getting the bacon to cook completely is difficult.