Cheesy Broccoli-Potato Casserole

"Waste not, want not." Using leftovers is the epitome of this philosophy...

A few days ago, I made some of my German Potato Salad to go with some Polish sausages. I love the tang of the salad's vinegar and olive oil dressing with with smoky saltiness of the sausages...yum. Oh, where was I? Oh, yes. Using leftovers.

Well, I boiled enough potatoes for the usual large batch of this salad. I thought I had a whole cucumber in the fridge. But, when I had peeled the potatoes and sliced them, I went to the fridge to get the cucumber and found I only had half of one! Uh-oh. Oh well, I went ahead and made the salad, scaling it down to accommodate the half cucumber. Now, I had leftover boiled potato.

Yesterday, I used that leftover potato. I greased a casserole dish and arranged the sliced boiled potato in the bottom. Then, I poured in half a bag of frozen broccoli on top and spread it out to cover the potato. Next, I made a cheese sauce* (with white cheddar) and poured that all over the broccoli, making sure it was evenly distributed. Of course, I then sprinkled more grated cheese over the top of that. Then, I popped it into the oven (350 degrees) and baked it for about 45 minutes. Yum. My Sweetie liked it so much, he did not want to save room for dessert! (Although, He did manage to squeeze in a slice of cake after all!)

*For a cheese sauce, make this basic white sauce:

Basic White Sauce

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
4 tablespoons flour
salt
pepper
dash nutmeg
about 1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup water

In a medium sauce pan, melt butter in olive oil, add flour. Stirring constantly, cook this mixture just a few minutes. Add a little salt and pepper. Continuing to stir constantly, slowly add the water and about a cup of the milk. As mixture comes to a boil, turn down heat and if too thick, add more milk. Once you have the consistency of a gravy, add a dash of nutmeg and simmer just a few minutes longer.

*Then, slowly add about a cup of grated cheese, stirring constantly. Once the cheese has melted, you are done.

Banana Upside-down Cake

I was in the mood for cake. I wanted it to be easy. Upside-down cakes are easy, so I went surfing - I googled "upside-down cakes" and got this page listing a whole variety of upside-down cakes. I picked three that sounded good and utilize ingredients I have on hand. Then, I had to decide which one I would bake first...not an easy choice.

I settled on "Banana Upside-Down Cake" as I had two bananas and some plain yogurt that needed to be used. I don't regret my choice. It was delicious. My Sweetie and I both give this cake at least 4 stars. I give 4 rather than 5 only because it is not chocolate...

Of course, I made some changes to the recipe...

• I used chopped (versus halved) pecans because that is what I had on hand.
• I substituted half of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour for the extra body and fiber.
• I used a cast iron skillet rather than the springform pan because, again, that is what I had. Because the cast iron skillet holds heat so well, I had to reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees when the cake began to brown too fast.
• I only had one lemon and so only got 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel...never let a little thing like this stop you from trying something!
  

I will be baking this one again - after I have tried the other two first. (No, I will not tell you which ones they are, you will just have to keep checking back!)

KnotGyspy's Cajun Black Bean and Sausage Soup

I had some black beans in the freezer*. I had some "Sage" flavor sausage leftover from a pancake breakfast the day before. Hmmmmm...Wait, I also had some green bell pepper and of course some onions.

I envisioned a sort of "Cajun" style soup, as the Cajun seasonings would go well with the sage in the sausage.

Into the kitchen I went.

In a Soup Pot, I put:

about 2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 onion, halved and sliced
1 small green bell pepper, sliced into slivers

I sauteed this mixture until onions and peppers were slightly browned.

Then, in a skillet, I browned the sausage (about half a pound chub) like you do with ground beef. I put the sausage into the Soup Pot with the onions and peppers. Then I deglazed the skillet with some water and added this to the Soup Pot as well. This sausage was low in fat and therefore did not need draining.

Next, I added a couple of cups of water and a beef boullion cube to the Soup Pot.

Now for the black beans. I had about 3 cups cooked black beans with their cooking liquid. I pureed about a cup of them in my blender (for a creamy thickener) and added them all to the Soup Pot.

My Sweetie loves corn, so I added about a cup of corn.

I felt it needed some tomatoes, so I added about a half a can. (Save the other half for another meal).

Okay, I have the basis of soup now. All I need is seasoning. I added about a teaspoon of Cajun Seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon thyme, and 1/2 teaspoon sage. Then, of course, a little salt and pepper.

I simmered it for about an hour and it turned out quite well if I do say so myself. My finicky husband ate two big bowls and he does not like black beans, nor does he like tomatoes cooked into soups and stews...oh well, so much for what he thinks he does not like! My friend's finicky daughter liked it as well. I guess it was a success. I had to save one small bowl in order to have some to photograph!

I am sorry I do not have exact measurements, but this soup was made "in the moment". When I am being creative, I just cannot be bothered to stop and do such logical things as measuring! Next time I make it, and I will, I will get the measurements for you. I promise.

*My habit is to soak a bag of beans overnight. Then, I rinse them and put them in my crockpot and cover with water. Then I cook them on HIGH for about 3 hours (your time may vary with your crockpot) until tender but not mushy. I do not season them at this stage. Then, I separate them into meal size batches (for us, it is about 2-3 cups per container) and freeze them. When I am ready to use them, I thaw them out and season them as appropriate to whatever use I am putting them to.