Chicken and rice casserole with squash

Another Easter is over and once again the Easter bunny was very generous with his (or her) sweet gifts. I think my kids must have consumed 5 lbs of bad chocolate and other candy's made from ingredients a human should never ingest. It just makes me cringe! Well, a new week is ahead and I am looking forward to celebrating my 17th wedding anniversary to my wonderful Robert on April 29. Oh, isn't there something else happening that day? A royal wedding or something? Notice the sarcasm in my ignorance? I actually think it is kind of fun that we will from now on share our anniversary with Prince William and Kate. I will have to get up at 4 in the morning to see it all live, so I haven't quite committed to that yet. I am sure there will be plenty of replays, though live is always best. I am also thinking about new dinners to make for my family, but today I want to share a recipe that I made at the end of last week; Chicken and Rice casserole with squash.

Kids favorite dessert, Strawberry-banana pudding

I find it very interesting that my most popular postings are mostly treats and desserts (just saying!). Nothing finishes off a good meal like something sweet. Oh, and did you know stressed spelled backwards is desserts? Just thought I would  share that amusing little factoid.

Whole Wheat Garlic Herb And Cheese Bread

There are several reasons I am excited to share this bread recipe with you. You see, it is from the first cookbook I ever owned. It is in Norwegian by a beloved Norwegian chef named Ingrid Espelid Hovig, titled Everything You Need To Know To Make Good Food, Bake Good Cakes And Good Bread. She was the first TV chef in Norway, when we only had one state channel that came on after 5 o'clock in the evening (we are talking mid-seventies to mid-eighties here). Ingrid is sort of like the Norwegian Julia Child, although she wasn't quite as funny as Julia (I am actually not sure if Ingrid has passed away?). Anyhow, I have this tattered cookbook that has been my companion since I moved away from home. Most classic Norwegian recipes are in here.

Beef stroganoff

Jack Frost came back for a last blast (hopefully!) this weekend, shattering our enthusiasm for warmer days spent outside. While I am looking forward to all the spring and summer dishes I will be making soon, I went back to an old family classic yesterday, the always tasty beef stroganoff.

Zucchini Fritters

When we had our Twice baked potato dinner recently, I decided to fry up a little sidekick. I saw these in Cooks Illustrated Magazine, and was very curious. They contain two of my favorites, Zucchini, and Feta cheese. How can you go wrong with that?

Caesar Salad with homemade oregano -parmesan croutons

The Caesar salad is the most common salad here in the US. Every restaurant has their own version of one. It

is a very basic salad consisting of Romaine lettuce and croutons, and topped with a variety of Caesar dressings, Parmesan cheese and cracked pepper. Some recipes have Anchoves in the salad or chopped up in the dressing, for a strong fishy taste, but I leave this out. I like a plain non-fishy Caesar salad. When Ingrid requested Caesar salad with the Twice-baked potatoes, I decided I would make my own croutons.

Twice-baked potatoes

Before the weekend my second youngest daughter Ingrid (age 9) came to me with a dinner request: She wanted me to make twice-baked potatoes and Caesar salad  ( Recipe to come). I thought that was a great idea! I just love it when my kids tell me what to make. Then I know they will actually eat it, and I don't have to try to come up with something, which is a constant challenge.