Mushroom Gravy

Mushroom Gravy 

2 Tablespoons butter
8 ounces sliced/cleaned mushrooms
few dashes of salt
2 Tablespoons flour
2 cups chicken or beef broth or milk (for cream of mushroom)
Dash or two of dried thyme


Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat.


Add mushrooms and salt.
Stirring occasionally, cook for approximately 15 minutes or until soft. The salt will make them left off their juice and then it will evaporate. Allow to brown a little in the pan.

Add flour and mix well. Cook for about 1 minute.

Add broth a little at a time to incorporate without lumps. Add thyme.

Cook for another 15-20 minutes until thickened and everything is cooked through.

Serve over hamburgers, steak, potatoes. Anything your heart desires!  You can also use it to make tater tot casserole.

Meatloaf Patties

Making meatloaf patty style does three things:  It insures everyone gets plenty of topping, your meat is always cooked through, and it saves time since it cooks faster. Bonus?  It's freezable. Zip on down to the bottom to see how to freeze them for later.

Meatloaf Patties

olive oil

1/2 cup onion, diced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1-1/2 Tablespoon chicken broth

1 teaspoon tomato paste

1 pound ground beef

2-1/2 Tablespoons bread crumbs (use quinoa flakes for GF)

1 egg

1/2 c ketchup (or more to your taste!) BBQ sauce can also be used

Chop/dice onion. I do mine pretty small  so there are never any crunchy onions in my meatloaf.Cook onions in oil with salt/pepper until completely cooked. Turn off heat. Add Worcestershire sauce, broth, and paste. Mix and cool a little. Mix eggs and bread crumbs...Add tomato/onion mixture to it. and beef. Form into 3-4 hamburger patties. Put on jelly roll pan (cookie sheet with sides) and drizzle with ketchup. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until done. 

To grill... Heat ketchup separately  mostly to get the chill off. Grill meatloaf patties on medium heat for for 5-6 minutes. Flip, add ketchup and grill for another 5-6 minutes.
You can make more than one batch at a time. TO FREEZE....Form patties and put on wax paper lined cookie sheet. Freeze and then bag. To cook, thaw and cook according to directions above.

Catfish Parmesan

Catfish Parmesan

4 catfish fillets with or without bones
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 cup bread crumbs
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons minced garlic (or less depending on your taste and strength of garlic)
1/4 cup fresh parsley (or 1 tablespoon dried)
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
nonstick cooking spray


Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rinse fillets and pat dry. Combine eggs and milk in shallow bowl. Combine remaining ingredients in another shallow bowl.
Dip fillets in egg mixture and then into bread crumb mixture. Coat fillets evenly and pat firmly. Arrange fillets in greased baking sheet. Spray fillets lightly with cooking spray

Bake uncovered for 15 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. (1/2 pound whole fillets (no heads) cook for 25 minutes) Serve as is or with tartar sauce.