Shrimp Pasta Salad

This makes a great cold salad, something a little different to add to the menu.

What Ingredients You Need	Directions
2 cups small shell pasta, cooked 1 1/2 pounds cooked shelled shrimp, halved 1/2 cup celery, thinly sliced 1/2 green bell pepper, finely chopped 1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped 1/2 cup chopped seeded peeled cucumber 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped 1/4 cup chopped black olives 1/4 cup mayonnaise 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar	Cook pasta in boiling salted water as directed on package. Rinse under cold water. Drain. In a large bowl, toss pasta in with shrimp, celery, green and red bell peppers, cucumber, olives and red onion. Mix mayo and vinegar. Pour over pasta mixture and mix well. Cover. Refrigerate 2 hours. Just before serving, sprinkle with chopped parsley and reserved shrimp.

Antipasto Salad

Perfect for summer entertaining. Make ahead and let the flavors mingle. Only cooking involved is cooking the pasta. Most of the ingredients except meat and cheese are probably on your pantry shelf.

Antipasto Appetizer or Salad
What You Need	Directions
1 lb. of  curly or tube pasta 8 oz. pepperoni cut into 1/4 inch strips 8 oz. salami cut into 1/4 inch strips 4 oz. capicola  cut into 1/4 inch strips 1 jar pickled mushrooms sliced and drained 1 jar roasted red peppers in oil, drained 1 med. red onion sliced thinly 6 oz. provolone shaved 4 oz. sliced black olive 1 jar pickled artichoke heart drained and chopped (optional 1 pt. cherry tomatoes 4 cloves of garlic smashed red pepper flakes to taste 1/2 cup bottled Italian dressing	Bring 4 quarts of well salted water to a boil. When boil has been reached, add pasta and cook till al dente. Drain and immediately return to pot. Top with dressing and toss. Spread pasta on rimmed cookie sheet and chill for an hour. Bring pasta out of refrigerator and put in large bowl, add meats, peppers, olives,  provolone and toss well. If salad seems dry drizzle a little more dressing and toss. Put in container and cover salad will keep for 3 days.

Feel free to add or subtract ingredients to make the salad your own. Additional items could be shredded carrots,  pepperoncini,  croutons ( add at last minute), green olives. To make a light supper add a can of tuna in olive oil drained and broken into chunks.

Q&E Pantry Items

These items are great to stock up on and create magic with.  I want to share some of my slight of hand tricks. How many items are in your pantry?

Cream Soups		Noodles
Chicken & Beef Broth		Rice
Canned Meats Tuna Salmon		Canned Tomatoes & Tomato Paste
Beans, Baked and White		Canned  Vegetables
Bread  Crumbs, plain		Olives
Asst Instant Pudding		Various Pasta
Salad Dressing		Croutons
Hoisin Sauce		Mushrooms
Artichoke Hearts		Pesto
Roasted Peppers		Peanut Butter
Powder Sugar		Pie Filling
Ready Made Cookie Pie Crust		Chocolate Semi-sweet & itter-sweet
Sweetened Condensed Milk		Mixes ie: muffin, waffle
Chocolate Syrup

Cooked chicken from the freezer combined with canned cream soup of choice. Boil noodles, drain and serve over noodles.

Cookie Pie Crust filled with instant pudding and topped with whip topping from the freezer.

Cook pasta top with tomato sauce made from the canned tomatoes. Serve with meatballs or sausage from the freezer. Add a loaf of French bread from the freezer.

Antipasto serve black and green olives with artichoke hearts, mushrooms and roasted peppers drizzle lightly with olive oil. Add some provolone or cheddar cheese and serve with  bruschetta.

Take frozen chili and defrost, serve over rice.

Powder sugar sprinkle over many desserts make them look elegant.

Q&E Entrees

These are  suggested entrees to have on hand in the freezer. Add a salad and bread to some of these entrees and you will be one smart host/hostess.Your guests will never guess how you did it.  I will be adding additional frozen entrée recipes and suggested menus.

C=Cooked		R=Raw
Chili		Lasagna
Chicken Spaghetti		Meatballs cooked+
Sweet and Sour Chicken*		Beef Cubes for Kabobs
Pizza		Shrimp C&R
Taco Filling		Cube Steaks
Salmon Fillets		Bacon
BBQ Chicken+		Hamburger

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Ingredients
4 chicken breasts, cut in cubes
1 can pineapple chunks (save juice)
one garlic clove, minced
1/4 Cup soy sauce
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
l teaspoon ginger
1-2 carrots cut in small pieces
1 green pepper cut in pieces
Directions
Add all ingredients together in a ziplock bag. Freeze. In frying pan add chicken and vegetables  and allow to cook on low for 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Cook frozen rice to go with the meal.

For dessert serve vanilla ice cream with chopped almonds and fortune cookies.  Fortune cookies can be stored in the pantry for just such an occasion.

+Flash freeze the meatballs and store in a zip lock bag when frozen.

+ Chicken cooked and shredded can be thawed and mixed with bbq sauce, serve over rice or on a bun.

Hamburger can make quick tostados, taco salad, nachos for unexpected company.

Informal Dinner for Six

Chicken Parmesan Dinner

Menu

Chicken Parmesan

Pasta

Tossed Salad
Garlic Bread
Dessert - Vanilla ice cream balls rolled in coconut with shortbread cookies

Grocery List

2 0r 3 chicken breasts - see below
bread crumbs
paresan cheese
1/2 pound sliced fresh mozzarella cheese
large jar of tomato sauce

1 lb of spaghetti or shape of your choice.
bag of salad greens
salad dressing
garlic bread

Prep: 15 min; Tota; Cook Time: 20 min
Serves 4 - 6
2  (3 if six guests) large whole boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1 - 1 1/2 pounds total)
2 cups dry Italian bread crumbs
1/3 up parmesan cheese grated
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 pound fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Large jar of your favorite tomato sauce

Day before party - To make the cutlets: thin, with the flat side of a cleaver or a heavy skillent pound the breasts until they are approximately 1/4" thick. Cut each breast in half.

Put  the bread crumbs with 1/3 cup parmesan cheese on a flat plate.

Coat cutlets with bread crumbs (press down firmly while coating with bread crumbs).

On medium-high heat, heat  the olive oil. Sautee the breaded cutlets until they are deep golden brown on both sides. Remove to paper towel to drain.

At this point when cutlets have cooled, place in refrigerator in a covered single layer until next day.

Day of Party -  take the cutlets out  of the refrigerator about an hour before warming them. Preheat oven to 350°.  In an oven proof dish lightly cover the bottom of the dish with tomato sauce, place cutlets in a single layer and top with tomato sauce and sliced mozzarella cheese. Bake for fifteen minutes or till heated through and cheese is melted.  Prepare garlic bread according to package directions and keep warm.

Serve with pasta, tossed salad and garlic bread.
 

1lb (1 box) of cooked pasta will feed 4 people as a main course.

Cooking pasta basics