Chicken Portabello Lasagna Roll-Ups, from Stacy

INGREDIENTS
18 lasagna noodles, cooked and drained
2+ cups marinara sauce
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup portobello mushrooms, diced small -SMALL
1 cup cooked spinach - I used 2 bags fresh spinach as spinach decreases in size once cooked.
2 cups diced cooked chicken - 2 CHICKEN BREAST
½ Cup white wine
1 (15 ounce) container ricotta cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoon dried oregano
salt and ground black pepper to taste
3 cups Alfredo sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts

DIRECTIONS:
Cook lasagna until noodles are cooked, but still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes, drain and rinse. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Spread the marinara sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 glass baking dish; set aside.

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat; cook and add mushrooms and onion until they soften add wine and simmer about 5 minutes. Add cooked spinach; and cook until hot; remove from heat.

Stir together the chicken, ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, oregano, and the cooked spinach mixture in a large bowl; season to taste with salt and black pepper. Spread large spoonful of mixture on each lasagna noodle. Roll the noodle up, and place seam-side down into the baking dish. Repeat for each noodle. Pour Alfredo sauce over the rollups.
Bake covered, in the preheated oven for 40 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and pine nuts. Return to the oven and bake until the cheese is melted and bubbly and the pine nuts are toasted, about 10 minutes. Serve hot.

Note from Stacy re: water content: It doesn't get too watery. You cook the onions, spinach and mushrooms together in a pan before mixing them into the cheese concoction. So if it's watery I just let it simmer off. I also use a rotisserie chicken. That's something that I do for any dish that calls for cut up chicken as an ingredient. I only cook chicken when we're having chicken. Otherwise it seems like I'm making two meals.

Crockpot Beef Stroganoff, from Carrie

Beef tips or stew meat
1/2 can beef stock
sliced onion
mushrooms*

Cook all day. before serving add rest of beef stock, some sour cream and a "glug" of marsala wine or red wine.

Beef Stroganoff, from Shauna

Beef Stroganoff

1lb beef tenderloin or sirloin steak, cut into chunks or strips.
2 tbsp butter
*1/2 pound mushrooms, washed, trimmed and sliced*
1 can beef broth
2 tbsp ketchup
1 clove garlic or 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp flour
1 cup sour cream

*Melt butter in large skillet and saute mushrooms until done, then remove*
In same skillet, brown meat. Reserve 1/3 cup broth, stir in remaining broth, ketchup, garlic and salt. Cover and simmer 15 minutes.
Blend reserved broth and flour, stir into meat mixture.
*Add mushrooms back in* Heat to boiling, stirring constantly, and boil 1 minute. Reduce heat, stir in sour cream, and when hot serve over noodles or rice.

Honey Dijon Chicken and Mushrooms, an idea from Barb

Aaute mushrooms with EVOO and garlic -
then added in chicken breasts for about 2-3 minutes per side.
Add 1 - 1 1/2 cups white wine - simmer for 5 minutes - add 1/4 cup Honey Dijon Mustard - or more if you like and 1 tbsp honey
Simmer until sauce is thickened.
Serve over angel hair pasta

Suggested by Mandy - Chicken Diablo

Chicken Diablo
Serves 8

For the marinade:
3 ounces blended oil (10 percent olive oil, 90 percent canola)
5 ounces Grey Poupon mustard
3 ounces lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt

For the sauce:
1 46-ounce can chicken broth
1/4 pound margarine or butter
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 ounces lemon juice
4 ounces Grey Poupon mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon chopped parsley

For the chicken:
8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 pounds fresh angel hair pasta

For the chicken:

In a mixing bowl large enough to hold all of the chicken, whisk together the marinade ingredients. Add the chicken and coat thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate. Can be done 1-2 days in advance, or 2-4 hours ahead. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake the chicken flat on a sheet pan for 12-15 minutes, until thoroughly cooked.

For the sauce:

Melt the margarine and whisk with the flour to make a light roux. Heat gently about 5 minutes, whisking occasionally. In a separate pot, add mushrooms and lemon juice to chicken broth and bring to a boil. Simmer, and thicken with the roux, using a whisk to mix. Add remaining sauce ingredients, except the parsley. Keep warm until serving.

To finish:

Bring 2 gallons of water to a boil to cook the pasta. Cook pasta and drain. Toss in a pot with the sauce. Add parsley and pre-plate pasta or pour into a large serving bowl. Top pasta with cooked chicken breasts and garnish with parsley sprigs.

Penne Chicken with Asparagus, from Karli

Penne Chicken with Asparagus

1lb chicken breasts
1lb asparagus
1 can diced tomatoes (I actually used fresh grape tomatoes and chopped them up)
1/2lb mushrooms, sliced
1/2cup chicken broth
4oz cream cheese
2cups (dry) penne pasta

Boil pasta. Cut chicken into bite size pieces. Brown in olive oil in skillet. Add chicken broth and mushrooms, cook for about 10 minutes (depends on how big the chicken pieces are). Add asparagus, tomatoes, cream cheese and cook for 5 more minutes. Mix with pasta.I added some minced garlic, salt and pepper for more flavor.

Suggested by Stacy - Creamy Smoked Salmon Pasta

We had smoked salmon pasta tonight. It was yum. I used canned SS that I got at Trader Joe's. It's the cheap, but good way.

Creamy Smoked Salmon Pasta

Suggested by Karli - Paprika Chicken with Mushrooms

Paprika Chicken with Mushrooms

INGREDIENTS

* 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
* 1 teaspoon paprika
* salt and pepper to taste
* 1 pinch garlic powder
* 1/4 cup butter
* 1 onion, sliced into thin rings
* 1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced

DIRECTIONS

1. Pound chicken breasts to 1/2 inch thickness. Sprinkle both sides of each chicken breast liberally with paprika, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
2. In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Arrange chicken breasts in the pan, cover, and cook for 10 minutes. Turn chicken breasts over, and layer the thinly sliced onions and mushrooms on top of the chicken. Cover, and cook for 10 minutes.
3. Remove lid, and mix onions and mushrooms into the butter sauce. Reduce heat to low, and cook uncovered for 5 minutes.

I didn't actually measure out the seasonings, just sprinkled them on the chicken.

Suggested by Alison - Ratatouille

Ratatouille at Cooking for Engineers

Stirfry, from Teresa

Here's the stirfry I cooked Sunday night:

Saute 2 big cloves of garlic and 1/2 lb beef strips in 2 Tbps oil, remove from
pan. Add ~equal amounts of frozen orange juice concentrate & oyster sauce, plus 1 rounded
tsp minced ginger. Add sliced mushrooms. cover and cook 3 minutes. Add 1/2 package broccoli slaw. Cover and cook 2 minutes. Return beef & garlic. cover and cook 1 minute. Scoop out food to drain. Return juice to pan; add a few shakes of teriyaki
sauce and cornstarch solution; cook to thicken, return food.

Easy Creamy Chicken, from Michelle

Rotisserie chicken and rotini in a fake cream sauce. Here are the ingredients if anyone is interested:

Rotisserie chicken shredded or chunked (depending on what size bites you prefer)
1 box of rotini
1 block of cream cheese (I use the 1/3 less fat variety)
1 can of cream of mushroom soup (I use 98% FF)

Melt the chream cheese and add the mushroom soup. I add some creole seasoning at this point. You could add actual mushrooms and stuff (DH and I don't eat them). Cook the rotini. Add a few ladles of pasta water to the sauce. Drain the pasta and add to the sauce. Toss in the chicken.

Mmmmmmm. Really good. And since it's a fake cream sauce, it's water friendly. If the leftovers seem a bit congealed, add some water before putting in the micro.

A note from Karli: Oh wow, that's very similar to what we had last night. The only difference is I added a package of dry ranch dressing to the cream sauce and we did use mushrooms. We call it chicken stroganoff.

Pork Chop Potato Casserole, from Karli

Pork Chop Potato Casserole

4 boneless pork chops
4 med-large potatoes, thinly sliced
1/2 onion, sliced into rings
1 can cream of mushroom soup (I doubled the recipe and used one can mushroom and 1 can cream of celery)
1 cup of milk

Lay sliced onions in bottom of 9x13 baking pan. Put potatoes on top of onion layer. Mix together soup and milk and pour over onions and potatoes. Place pork chops on top and season with favorite seasonings. Bake at 425° for 1 hour.

Amber adds: Karli, that is the same recipe my mom used for pork chops and it is how I make them now. Yummy! Sometimes I add sliced mushrooms or carrots to it as well. It is also good with sour cream mixed into the sauce and lots of garlic.

Veggie Stir-Fry, an idea from Amy

I'm doing a veggie stir-fry tonight since I have a ton of veggies in the fridge I need to use. I'm going to just slice carrots, celery, mushrooms, broccoli, cook, coat in hoisin sauce, add baby corn from a can, serve with rice. I might have some left over tri-tip in the freezer that I'll throw in for protein purposes!

Chicken with Wild Mushrooms and Balsamic Cream Sauce, suggested by Amy

From Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals

Salt
1/2 pound orzo pasta
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts,
6 ounces Pepper
2 tablespoons butter
12 cremini or baby portobello mushrooms, sliced
12 shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and sliced
12 white mushrooms, sliced
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon thyme leaves, a couple of sprigs, chopped
2 large shallots, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, eyeball it
3 tablespoons heavy cream or half-and-half, a couple turns of the pan
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley, a generous handful

Heat a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water and add orzo pasta. Cook to al dente.
Preheat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and add extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan. Season chicken liberally with salt and pepper and add to the hot skillet. Cook the chicken for 5 to 6 minutes on each side. Remove the chicken from the pan and cover with foil to keep warm.

Return the skillet to the heat, turn heat back a bit, and add the butter. Once the butter melts add the mushrooms and brown stirring occasionally for about 4 to 5 minutes. Once the mushrooms are brown season with salt and pepper then add the garlic, thyme and shallots. Cook stirring occasionally for about 2 minutes or until the shallots are wilted. Sprinkle the flour into the pan and cook 2 minutes more. Whisk in the stock, balsamic vinegar and the cream. Turn the heat up to high and simmer for about 2 minutes or until thickened. Slice the chicken on an angle. Add the parsley and the chicken back to the skillet to heat up, about 1 minute.

To serve, pile orzo on dinner plates and top with the sliced chicken and sauce.

Grilled Portabellas and Caprise Salad, an idea from Barb

Much to my mothers dismay - I never measure - afterall recipes aren't carved in stone - they're written on paper.

For the 'shrooms:
some balsamic vinegar (good stuff)
some EVOO (okay stuff)
Liquid Smoke (not too much a little goes a long way with this stuff)
McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning
Water
Put it all together and poured it over them and let them soak it up for about 4 hours - then just grilled until tender

My Caprese
Tomatoes - chunked up (I like to get all the juices out of them into the bowl for the sauce)
Chunks of Mozzarella
Very good EVOO - dipping quality!!!
McCormick California Style Garlic Salt w/Parsley
Italian Seasoning (Oregano, Rosemary, Thyme )
Let it all get happy together then save the sauce for dipping with crusty bread.

Grilling Ideas from Tara

Some of our favs are kabobs with either chicken or steak, bell peppers, onions & mushrooms. Corn on the cob is great on the grill...just peel back the husks & rip the hairs out, spread on some butter & seasoning salt or chili powder and fold the husks back on & throw on the grill. We like grilled salmon. Marinate some salmon filets in a marinade of soy sauce & brown sugar. Good ole' BBQ chicken is always great too. Asparagus is fabulous on the grill also!

Carbonara Sauce, by Nastia

In a deep pan put
2table spoons of butter or margerine
about 200grms ham cut in very small cubes
some mushrooms
stir fry for a couple of minutes and add two tablespoons of flour, continue fry,
add 2 1/2 cups of milk in room temperature,
salt and pepper,
mix until it gets creamy (not too thick)
take off the fire and add two eggs beated mixing well and fast.
Its great with any kind of pasta.
You can add some cheese crumbs on top of each serve (optional)

Black Beans and Mango with Rice, an idea from Sue

Black Beans and Mango w/ Rice.

Ingredients:

Garlic, Onions, Olive Oil, Chicken Stock, White Wine, Mango, Mushrooms, Fresh Basil, Fresh Sage, Can of Goya Frijoles Negros, Jasmine Rice.

Preheat Olive Oil in skillet and add Garlic & Onions. Cook until soft. Add splash of White Wine, Mango and Mushrooms and cover ingredients w/ Chicken Stock. Boil down for a few minutes. Tear Basil and Sage leaves into little pieces and add to mixture. Simmer for a few more minutes. Drain can of beans. Add beans to mixture. In the mean time cook Jasmine Rice.

When mixture is no longer liquidy it is ready to serve. Put some rice in a bowl and spoon beans on top. Enjoy!!!

Crockpot Beef Fauxganoff, from Amy

Put a tri-tip in the crockpot.

Cover with some cream of mushroom soup.

Cook for 6 hours on low (I should have gone a little longer so it would have shredded.)

When done: Cook egg noodles, and saute some mushrooms. Combine w/some butter and pepper

Add cornstarch to "gravy" in crockpot to thicken.

Serve meat and gravy over noodles.

Call it the poor man's...something. I'm sure it's similar to something real. It's not too shabby though!

Risotto, from Sarah

Risotto

This is a pretty basic recipe, but I like my small modifications so I'll share.

Cook 1 cup arborio rice, 1 or 2 cloves of garlic, and sliced mushrooms in olive oil over medium heat until the rice is slightly brown. Add about 1/2 a cup to 1 cup of white wine, lower heat a bit, and stir. (Wine's optional).

In the meantime, heat up about 3 cups of chicken broth (or veggie broth if you swing that way). Once the wine is absorbed, pour the broth about 1/2 a cup at a time. Stir. Each time you add broth, add one of the following: carrots, peppers, asparagus, olives. Stir. Keep stirring. At the end, add walnuts, a dash or two of Worchestireshire sauce (either for chicken or meat, both are good), and a few sprinkles of lemon juice. Stir in some parma cheese and some shredded muenster.