50+ Lifestyles

Ella’s Kitchen

Welcome to May! It has been a wild ride to get here. Below are some recipes you can do with the grandkids,
for guests for a Kentucky Derby party, or just family get-togethers.

Ella

[Ella can be contacted at ellaweeza@yahoo.com or Ella – 50+ Lifestyles, 804 W Lombard Street, Davenport, IA, 52804]

Oven – Better Than Fries

Take a baking potato and thinly slice it but not all of the way through. Drizzle olive oil, a little butter, and sprinkle with sea salt and pepper, or other seasonings.
Bake in a 425 degree oven for about 45 min.

I did this and found that the potato was a little under done. I didn’t slice as thinly as the picture and I had a large Idaho russet. But it was still a great treat.

Another variation I tried was with a sweet potato. They take a longer baking time, also. I peeled the sweet potato before slicing and used only butter on it. For an extra sweet treat, you could add cinnamon. If you add sugar or brown sugar, I would recommend that you cover your cookie sheet or baking dish with foil first for easy clean up.
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Spaghetti Dogs

Cut hot dogs into four pieces per dog. Carefully push several pieces of spaghetti through each piece of hot dog. Place on large pot of boiling water and cook until spaghetti is done. Drain and place in large serving bowl or place a portion directly on the dinner plate. Ladle your favorite sauce over the spaghetti dogs.

Let the kids do this with you. It can be fun cooking together and it makes them feel good to be involved.

I did this with my daughters and two older granddaughters during spring break. They all have different likes, so I had serving bowls of three different sauces all warmed up. For convenience, all sauces were store bought. A three cheese Alfredo sauce, Cheez Whiz, and a tomato basil spaghetti sauce.
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Kentucky Derby Candies

4 oz. pecan halves
24 unwrapped Kraft Caramels
1 tsp. shortening
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Cover cookie sheet with aluminum foil, shiny side exposed. Lightly grease foil with vegetable oil spray. Place 3 pecan halves in a Y shape on the foil. Place 1 caramel candy in the center of each Y. Bake just until caramel is melted, about 9 to 10 minutes.
Heat shortening and chocolate chips over low heat just until chocolate is melted. Spread over candies and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
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Crescent Taco Oven-Bake

2 crescent roll tubes
1 Lb. ground beef (or ground turkey)
1 packet of taco seasoning
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
Shredded lettuce
1 or 2 diced tomatoes depending on size
1/2 small can sliced olives if desired
Sour cream optional
sliced avocado optional

Lay out the two tubes of crescent pastry, thick sides in. Use some of the left over crescent rolls to make the center a bit thicker.
Brown beef and add taco seasoning.
Lay beef in a circle inside of the laid out crescent rolls. Add cheese to the top
Pull over crescent rolls and tuck in under meat and cheese.
Bake according to package directions.
Add cheese, lettuce, tomato, black olives, sour cream or whatever you desire for your tacos, in the middle.