1 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tsp sugar

½ tsp garlic powder

½ cup sliced green onions

4 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled, divided

4 cups torn romaine

1 cup fresh snow peas, trimmed and halved

1 cup fresh cauliflowerets

1 cup fresh broccoli florets

1 large sweet red pepper, chopped

½ cup shredded swiss cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions. Mean while, in a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, lemon juice, sugar and garlic powder; set aside. Drain pasta and rinse in cold water; toss with green onions and half of the bacon.

In a large salad bowl or trifle bowl, layer half of the romaine, pasta mixture, peas, cauliflower, broccoli, red pepper, mayonnaise mixture and cheese. Repeat layers. Sprinkle with remaining bacon. Cover and refrigerate until serving.

Yield: 16 servings

1 jar (26-28 ounces) spaghetti sauce, divided or homemade seasoned pasta sauce (see recipe below)

1/3 cup onion, chopped

1 ½ pounds lean (90%) ground beef

¾ cup quick or old-fashioned oats

1 egg

2 garlic cloves, pressed or 1 tsp minced garlic

1 ½ tsp Italian seasoning

½ tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400°F, spread 2/3 cup of the spaghetti sauce over bottom of 9”x13” baking dish. Chop onion into fine pieces. In a large mixing bowl combine onion, ground beef, oats, 1/3 cup of the sauce, egg, garlic, Italian seasoning and salt; mix gently. Using a small to medium scoop, shape meat mixture into balls; place in baking dish. Bake 10 minutes, pour remaining sauce over meatball. Continue baking 20 minute. Place half the meatballs and half o the sauce from the baking dish in a covered container; refrigerate for later and use in spaghetti with meatballs, etc. Use remaining meatballs with sauce to make Italian Meatball Sub.

Yield: 36 – 48 meatballs

13 cups pureed tomatoes

½ cup lemon juice

2 tsp minced garlic

2 tsp Italian seasoning or Oregano

1 tsp basil *optional

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Process tomatoes: core and make an X cut on the bottom of the tomatoes. In a large stock pot bring water to boil, in a separate large container fill half full with equal parts of cold water and ice. Place cored tomatoes, 6-9 at a time in the boiling water for 30-45 seconds and them immediately into the ice water. Pull one tomato out at a time and “slip the skin”. Once all the skins are removed  place in another large container or strainer. Place a small amount of tomatoes in the blender to puree. Continue until you have 13 cups. Refrigerate any leftover tomotoes.  Pour pureed tomatoes into a large, non-stick stock pot and all remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil then turn down heat to a slow boil. Stir occasionally and do not cover (covering pot keeps the moisture in and will delay the thickening process). It will take several hours for the sauce to boil down to the thickness required for sauce (amount will be reduced by about half).

Thickness stages:

Marinara = when it first starts to thicken, but not quite a sauce

Pasta Sauce = continue to cook when it hits the Marinara stage for about 1 hour until it reaches the thickness of commercial pasta sauce

Pizza Sauce = continue to cook when it hits the Pasta sauce stage for about 1 hour until it reaches the thickness of a commercial pizza sauce paste

2 packages (11 ounces each) refrigerated French bread dough

Olive oil

½ tsp garlic salt

1 package (8 ounces) mozzarella cheese slices

Preheat oven to 350°. Place dough, seams side down, on 15” round baking stone. Join ends of dough together to form 1 large ring. Using a serrated bread knit, cut 8 diagonal slashed (1/2 inch deep) on top of dough. Lightly brush olive oil over top of dough and sprinkle garlic salt evenly. Bake 26-30 minutes. Immediately remove bread and place on cooling rake; cool completely. To assemble sandwich, cut bread in half horizontally with bread knife. Spoon meatballs with sauce over bottom half of bread. Top with cheese slices and top half of bread. Cut into wedges and serve immediately.

Yield: 6 servings

Meatballs

1 jar (26-28 ounces) spaghetti sauce, divided or homemade seasoned pasta sauce (see recipe below)

1/3 cup onion, chopped

1 ½ pounds lean (90%) ground beef

¾ cup quick or old-fashioned oats

1 egg

2 garlic cloves, pressed or 1 tsp minced garlic

1 ½ tsp Italian seasoning

½ tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400°F, spread 2/3 cup of the spaghetti sauce over bottom of 9”x13” baking dish. Chop onion into fine pieces. In a large mixing bowl combine onion, ground beef, oats, 1/3 cup of the sauce, egg, garlic, Italian seasoning and salt; mix gently. Using a small to medium scoop, shape meat mixture into balls; place in baking dish. Bake 10 minutes, pour remaining sauce over meatball. Continue baking 20 minute. Place half the meatballs and half o the sauce from the baking dish in a covered container; refrigerate for later and use in spaghetti with meatballs, etc. Use remaining meatballs with sauce to make Italian Meatball Sub.

Homemade Seasoned Pasta Sauce

13 cups pureed tomatoes

½ cup lemon juice

2 tsp minced garlic

2 tsp Italian seasoning or Oregano

1 tsp basil *optional

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Process tomatoes: core and make an X cut on the bottom of the tomatoes. In a large stock pot bring water to boil, in a separate large container fill half full with equal parts of cold water and ice. Place cored tomatoes, 6-9 at a time in the boiling water for 30-45 seconds and them immediately into the ice water. Pull one tomato out at a time and “slip the skin”. Once all the skins are removed  place in another large container or strainer. Place a small amount of tomatoes in the blender to puree. Continue until you have 13 cups. Refrigerate any leftover tomotoes.  Pour pureed tomatoes into a large, non-stick stock pot and all remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil then turn down heat to a slow boil. Stir occasionally and do not cover (covering pot keeps the moisture in and will delay the thickening process). It will take several hours for the sauce to boil down to the thickness required for sauce (amount will be reduced by about half).

Thickness stages:

Marinara = when it first starts to thicken, but not quite a sauce

Pasta Sauce = continue to cook when it hits the Marinara stage for about 1 hour until it reaches the thickness of commercial pasta sauce

Pizza Sauce = continue to cook when it hits the Pasta sauce stage for about 1 hour until it reaches the thickness of a commercial pizza sauce paste

Yield: 36 – 48 meatballs

2 cups rice

4 cups water

In a  medium sized pan pour in rice and water and cover. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Do Not lift lid. After 20 minutes remove from heat and set aside for 5 minutes before serving

Pearl Barley

2 cups barley

4 cups water

In a  medium sized pan pour in barley and water; cover. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 40 minutes. Do Not lift lid. After 40 minutes remove from heat and set aside for 5 minutes before serving

2 tablespoons honey

2 teaspoons minced ginger

½ teaspoon sesame oil

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

Whisk together soy sauce, hone, ginger, sesame oil and red pepper flakes in a small bowl. Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Just before serving stir in sesame seeds.

1/3 cup water

2 tablespoons vinegar

1/2 teaspoon minced ginger

1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon chili oil

1/2 teaspoon oil

1 tablespoon brown sugar

Combine ingredients in a pan over medium low heat. Heat while whisking until sauce becomes smooth. Remove from heat when done.

4 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

2 cups chicken breast strips/ or chopped

1 tablespoon butter

4 tablespoons sesame seeds

2 tablespoons sesame oil

6 butter lettuce leaves

Combine soy sauce, brown sugar, and cornstarch in a small bowl; pour over chicken strips and stir to coat. Set aside for 15 minutes. In a frying pan, melt butter over low heat. Add sesame seeds and cook until lightly browned. Set aside to cool. In a separate skillet, heat sesame oil over medium heat. Quickly stir-fry the chicken  in the heated oil just until cooked through. Combine sesame seeds with chicken. Spoon one-sixth of the mixture atop the center of each lettuce leaf. Fold lettuce into a wrap to be eaten by hand. Place on a platter. Makes 6 sesame chicken bundles.

1 pkg chocolate pudding

Milk

1 tub cool whip

1 cup crushed English Toffee or Heath Bar

1 jar hot fudge sauce *optional

Make chocolate cake as directed, cool and set aside. Once completely cooled cube. Make pudding as directed. In a large trifle bowl or bowl with high sides layer the dessert; sprinkle 1/3 of the cubed cake, drizzle ¼ cup fudge sauce, then spread 1/3 of the pudding, and 1/3 of the cool whip and top with 1/3 of the crushed candy bar. Repeat layers so you end up with three layers. Refrigerate and serve within 24 hours.

1 package (1 ounce) sugar-free instant vanilla pudding mix

1 cup (8 ounces) fat-free vanilla yogurt

6 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese, cubed

1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 carton (12 ounces) frozen reduced-fat whipped topping, thawed, divided

1 prepared angel food cake (18 inches), cut into 1-inch cubes

1 pint each blackberries, raspberries and blueberries

In a small bowl, whisk the milk and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set. In a large bowl, beat the yogurt, cream cheese, sour cream and vanilla until smooth. Fold in pudding mixture and 1 cup whipped topping. Place a third of the cake cubes in a 4-qt. trifle bowl. Top with a third of the pudding mixture, a third of the berries and half of the remaining whipped topping. Repeat layers once. Top with remaining cake, pudding and berries. Serve immediately or refrigerate. Yield: 14 servings.