Tuna Patties

3 cans tuna

2 eggs (beaten)

1 cup mashed potatoes

¾ dry bread crumbs or smashed crackers

¼ cup onions

Mix all ingredients together and form in to patties.  Cook in pan or on skillet, med. Heat, 5 minutes on each side or golden brown.

I am NOT a tuna fan, but these are good.  4 out of 5 kids liked them as well.  JenW

Jambalya ala Capriotti

Here is one of the Capriotti favorites:

1lb Italian Sausage

4-5 stalks celery chopped

2-3 bell peppers (personal preference for red/yellow/orange/green) chopped

1 sm/med onion diced

1 T Creole seasoning

1 pint or 1 can of chicken broth

1-2 cups rice (white or brown)

Prep time: 15-30 minutes chopping peppers/onion/celery

Cook time: 1 hr, sometimes more if you use brown rice

Serving size 1 cup, makes 8-12 servings depending on quantity of celery/peppers/rice used.

Directions: Brown the sausage in olive oil in a deep sauce pan or wok. Add chopped peppers, celery, and diced onion in the pan with the creole seasoning until celery is soft - stirring frequently. Once celery is soft, create a "bowl" in the pan, add rice in the "bowl". Add chicken broth and additional water until rice is covered. Cover pan with lid, cook until rice is soft - stirring less frequently. Serve.

I'll send more when I have a chance, I've got a few that I've come up with that are quite popular with my family of 6. Even the smaller kids enjoy them.

Tanya Capriotti

Cookbook

Instead of sharing a recipe, I'd like to share a cookbook I'm reading from the library. The Rice Diet Cookbook has delicious looking recipes for cooking with veggies, fruit, grains, with low salt, and no or low sugar added. For example, a simple strawberry pineapple jam without any sugar that takes only a couple minutes to make and crockpot oatmeal. Some of these recipes might be good for specialty diets like gluten free. It has 3 weeks of menus for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Ruth Ann

Making dinner easier and faster

Just over a year ago, I invested in an electric pressure cooker. It has been worth every cent. Just to give some examples of how much time this little beauty saves: mashed potatoes 2-3 min. + pressure build, dry beans 23-30 minutes (versus hours of soaking), brown rice 15 minutes. The food tastes every bit as good as when it is cooked slower, some tastes better. Jen W.

Holidays 'n' Parties

This category is where you can share your special recipes and ideas for the holidays and parties throughout the year.

Julie's Pumpkin Seed Math

Here's some ways to do math with pumpkin seeds.

• Pumpkin seeds are lots of fun to cook and you can really enjoy measuring them and the ingredients in the recipe.
• I get out my balance and have them count equal amounts in the sides and talk about mass.
• Practice awareness of volume by letting them measure equal amounts and put them in different containers (bags, bottles, bowls). It helps them see amount is not dependent on container.
• See how high a younger child can count. Who has more seeds?
• Have an estimation contest. How many seeds would they estimate is in the pumpkin? How close did they get?
• Multiplication and division or addition and subtraction. We have so many seeds, if I put ten piles of ten, how many do I have? We have 25 seeds and 5 people need some how many will everyone get? If I have 15 seeds and you take 3 how many do I have left? Let them use the seeds for the visual aid.

Julie's Pumpkin Seeds

2 cups unwashed pumpkin seeds
1/2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 Tbs melted butter
1 1/2 tsp salt

Mix in large bowl. Spread on cookie sheet. Bake approximately 2 hours in a 250 degree oven until dry and golden brown. Cool and enjoy!