Kolleen

>One thing I would like to replace is noodle mixes - I know it wouldn't
>be hard to come up with a recipe for noodles with a tomato parmesan
>sauce or pasta shells in a creamy garlic sauce. Does anyone have
>any pointers on good recipes? I hate buying the pre-packaged mixes
>but my DH gets them since they are so quick and easy to make. I
>really don't think they'd be that much harder from scratch but can't
>figure out how to start!
>Cindy Ferguson


Hi Cindy,
If you want I can dig up recipes BUT I have found it much easier to just
cook on the fly. One great cook told me to *smell* the spices and see if
they would mix with what I'm cooking.

I'm really bad at following recipes unless I'm baking.

Soooooo, the basics are all you need.

White sauce for creamy things: heat a small amount of butter, mix a small
amount of flour (maybe a teaspoon each) and then add some milk and stir
until it thickens. Once you have this, you can make anything *creamy*.

~Add parmesan and romano for alfredo sauce.
~Add cheddar or american cheese for mac & cheese sauce (you can cassarole
this after by pouring in with pasta, and sprinkling a bit of breadcrumbs
on top.
~Add some baked (or boiled if in a hurry) garlic and parsley flakes for
another flavour

Use it to make creamy soups with roasted garlic, potatos (you can make it
not so creamy with some chicken broth)

Tomato based sauces. You can either make up a bunch of marinara sauce (if
you want my quick and easy one, just ask, I share!) and freeze it in
smaller containers for on the fly stuff.. OR you can use some Muir Glen
ketchup for recipes OR you can get a tube of some really good tomato
paste... anything to add that tomato taste.

I keep chicken broth available to me for just about everything I cook.
Its amazing how easy one can whip up meals by using that instead of water.

For example, cook your pasta. You may want to cook a bunch and keep it
refidgerated for quick dinners. Heat a deep frying pan, add some Muir
Glen ketchup, some chicken broth and any veggies you got in the freezer.
A touch of salt/pepper, some basil (I ALWAYS keep a freezer full of basil
when its available in the summer for all winter long) and voila, you got
a great dinner.. put parmesan cheese on the table to each to add
individually.

Being half Italian, parmesan cheese is important to my cooking. So I
always buy GOOD cheese and either grate it on the fly (its cheaper than
pre-grated) or I buy it grated when the budget allows. You'll see your
sauces and soups make a big change this way.

Francaise sauce is easy with small amount of butter, chicken broth and
some lemon (either juice from a bottle or fresh).. sometimes I add fresh
sage for a nice flavour. I cook it seperate from the chicken (just egg
and flour and sautee with very little olive oil)

Stir fry (you can even use a frying pan for this one)
High heat, olive oil AFTER pan has heated, chicken slices to brown each
side, throw in some garlic and a dash of tamari. REAL quick and easy.

You can toss in some steamed veggies after its just about cooked so they
soak up the juice.

I guess what I'm driving at is a few simple things in the kitchen and you
can mix and match as you need and then you'll be cooking on the fly.

staples:
extra virgin olive oil
garlic
chicken broth
tamari (a type of soy sauce)
basil
parsley flakes
salt/pepper
tomato (whatever form is easiest for you)
ginger
breadcrumbs
paresan cheese
lemon juice
thyme (great for throwing on potatoes, spray with olive oil and bake)
sage
butter
milk

And thats about it. I'll *rarely* grab anything else.. I just keep mixing
up combos of the above.

For veggies, we use a lot of green chard, swiss chard, spinich etc. You
get more bang in vitamins for the bite when using the dark green veggies.
And well, I'm a firm beleiver in having greens each day.

Let us know how you do!

regards,
kolleen