Taco Soup

This hearty Taco Soup is so easy to make.  It comes together quickly with minimal effort!  My kind of recipe!

I consider this a 'crowd-pleaser', because you can easily adapt the recipe to feed as many people as needed.  It is great for potluck dinners or for making for a friend in need.  It freezes great! 

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef, cooked and drained
• 1 Taco Seasoning packet
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 1 heaping Tablespoon chopped garlic
• 2 large cans kidney beans
• 1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies (mild)
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 can black olives, diced or sliced
• 1-2 cups frozen corn
• 1 packet of Ranch Dressing mix - Optional (I did not use)
• Green olives - Optional (I did not use)

Directions:

1. Crumble ground beef into soup pot, cook and drain.  Return meat to pot.
2. Add diced onion, pepper, and celery.  Cook until vegetables are tender, and onions are translucent.
3. Add garlic and cook for just a minute or so, to cook out the raw garlic taste.  Be sure to not burn the garlic, as it will be bitter if you do.
4. Add beans, tomatoes, olives and frozen corn.
5. Cook until all ingredients are heated through.

You can top this soup with cilantro, crushed tortilla chips, sour cream, grated cheddar cheese, or any topping you would like!

Enjoy!

Impossible Pie

 

I love coconut!  This recipe is absolutely fantastic, and is one of the easiest recipes I have ever made!  Try it today!

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs 
• 1/2 cup butter 
• 1/2 cup flour 
• 2 cups milk 
• 1 cup sugar 
• 1 cup coconut 
• 2 teaspoons vanilla 

Directions: 

1. Blend all ingredients in a blender for a few seconds, until well mixed. 
2. Pour mixture into a 10” greased pie plate. 
3. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour or until center tests firm. 
4. The flour will settle to form the crust, the coconut forms the topping, the center is an egg custard filling.

Enjoy!

Lasagna

This is a delicious, easy to make recipe. I know you'll love it!

I consider this a 'crowd-pleaser', because you can easily adapt the recipe to feed as many people as needed.  It is great for potluck dinners or for making for a friend in need.  It freezes great (freeze before baking)!  

When I serve it on Sundays, I make it the night before and store it in the fridge overnight.  If your oven has a timer which will turn on the oven for you, you can pop the lasagna into the oven before leaving for church and set the timer to turn on 30-45 minutes before you will be returning home from from church.  This is what I do.  It is a fantastic Sunday meal with absolutely no Sunday prep!

Ingredients:

• 1-2 boxes lasagna noodles cooked (depending on size of pan)
• 1 lb. hamburger
• 1 lb. Italian sausage
• 1-2 large jars Prego, spaghetti sauce
• 1 large container Ricotta cheese
• Parmesian Cheese, grated
• Sugar to taste
• 3-6 eggs
• 1-2 lbs shredded Mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Fry hamburger and sausage together. Drain. Add spaghetti sauce (reserve enough sauce to cover the bottom of baking pan - to prevent noodles from sticking). Set aside.
3. In separate bowl, mix Ricotta cheese, eggs and sugar (to taste). It should have a slightly sweet flavor, but not too sweet. Set aside.
4. In bottom of pan, pour spaghetti sauce, to cover. Layer lasagna noodles, meat mixture, Ricotta cheese, and Mozzarella... form as many layers as possible. (Sprinkle a layer of Parmesian cheese ONLY ONCE in the middle of the lasagna layers)  My pan isn't very deep, so I only get 2-3 layers. (I haven't tried it yet, but I'm thinking it might be a good idea to try baking this in a turkey roasting pan!) The top layer should be Mozzarella cheese.
5. Cover pan with aluminum foil, keeping in mind that it will stick to the cheese if it touches ... so be sure to 'tent' the foil over the pan.  
6. Bake at 350 degrees until heated through. Remove foil and return to oven.  Continue to bake until cheese is lightly browned and bubbly.

NOTE: You may choose to make this beforehand and not bake it right away.  If this is the case, and you plan to keep it in the refrigerator or freezer before baking, you can put a layer of plastic wrap or wax paper UNDER the foil to keep the aluminum foil from dissolving into the lasagna. But DON'T FORGET to remove plastic wrap or wax paper before baking!  

After baking, let lasagna stand for 10-15 minutes before serving.

***Serving Suggestion:
Green salad and garlic bread.

Oven Bar-B-Que Chicken

I am posting this recipe without pictures because it is so delicious and easy to make that pictures aren't really needed. When I make it again I'll take pictures and add them to the recipe.  

I consider this a 'crowd-pleaser', because you can easily adapt the recipe to feed as many people as needed.  This is a great recipe for potluck dinners. Easy to make, and everyone loves it. It is always a huge hit.  The chicken is so tender that it falls from the bone!

Ingredients:

• Chicken pieces (leg quarters, breasts, your preference) [I use enough pieces to cover a turkey sized baking pan]
• 1 large bottle of Kraft, BBQ sauce
• 1 large bottle of Kraft, hickory smoke flavored BBQ sauce

Directions:

1. Line bottom of pan with aluminum foil. 
2. Wash chicken pieces, and place in bottom of pan. 
3. Pour entire bottle of bar-b-que sauce over chicken, then pour 2nd bottle of bar-b-que sauce over chicken.
4. Cover with aluminum foil... pierce foil in a few places. 
5. Put in oven, and bake at 325-350 degree oven. 
6. When you start to smell the aroma of bar-b-que sauce (approx. 15 min.), baste chicken every 15 minutes, returning foil cover after each time. Do this until chicken is completely cooked (Test with a fork. When clear juices run from chicken it is done). 
7. After chicken is done, remove foil, and return pan to oven. 
8. Continue to bake chicken un-covered, basting every 7 minutes or so until chicken has a thick dark coating of bar-b-que sauce. It should look very much as if it were cooked outside on a grill.

Enjoy!

*** Be careful when removing this chicken from the pan... it falls apart very easily because it is so tender! It tastes wonderful!

Sour Cream Pound Cake

Baked in loaf pan 70 minutes

I absolutely love Sour Cream Pound Cake. It is my all time favorite cake. It is moist and tender, perfectly sweet and doesn't need any frosting or glaze.

When I was a little girl, my dear friend lived across the street from me. We shared such a carefree and wonderful childhood.  Her Grandmother lived with her, and it is because of her extraordinary baking skills that I fell in love with this particular cake.  She seemed to bake a lot, and I know that I enjoyed many of her creations; but I honestly can't recall what they were or how they tasted ... except for her pound cake.  I can still remember sitting at their kitchen table and savoring every mouthful of her perfectly baked cake.  It was firm, but moist, and had the most wonderful crust.  

My friend and her family moved when I was 13 years old, and it would be several years before I would have the opportunity to enjoy my favorite dessert again.  I was given this recipe by a co-worker, and I made it that very night. When I took the first bite it was if I was thrown back in time.  It's funny how certain foods can do that.  I hope you all enjoy this cake as much as I do!  

Ingredients:

• 3 Cups sugar (minus 1 TBL for high altitude)
• 3 Cups sifted flour (plus 1 TBL for high altitude)
• 1 Cup butter (2 sticks)
• 1/4 tsp. soda
• 6 eggs (separated)
• 8 oz. sour cream

Directions:

Prep pans; grease and flour.

Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees.

Because I don't have a handheld mixer, I go ahead and beat the egg whites until firm but tender, making sure to not over beat them.  I then transfer them into another bowl and use the stand mixer to mix the rest of the cake.   

Cream butter and sugar.

 

Add yokes ( 1 at a time).

Add soda to flour.
 Alternately add flour, then sour cream to butter and sugar mixture. 

Fold stiffened egg whites into cake batter.

Mini loaf pans

Pour batter into prepared pans.  

* For these particular mini loaf pans, I used a 1/3 cup measure plus about a Tbl of batter for each mold.  (I tried to divide the batter evenly)

Baked in mini loaf pans 40 minutes

Bake 1 1/2 hours (90 min.) @ 300 degrees,  or 325 degrees for high altitude.

*Note:  I used the mini loaf pans, and baked them at 300 degrees for 40 minutes.  Some of them turned out beautifully golden brown, and others were a little pale in color.  However, all of the cakes were fully cooked in 40 minutes, and very fluffy and moist.  

* The tender, 'crystalized' crust which is a result of the egg whites being folded into the batter, in my opinion (as well as the opinions of most of my family members) is the absolute best part of the cake.  That is why I chose to bake it in individual loaves instead of in a bundt pan.  My goal was to have more of the coveted crusty surface.  However, my plan backfired.  I had a very difficult time getting the cakes out of the pans.  I've never had that happen with this particular recipe before.  I don't know what happened, but I wasn't able to get even one of the loaves to come out of the pan cleanly.  (I'm wondering if I overfilled the wells.  If I'd divided the batter into 3 sets of mini loaves instead of 2 it may have prevented them from baking up and over the edge of the mold.)  Will my family enjoy them less because they aren't beautiful and whole?  Not likely!  I don't really mind that they fell apart and look like a mess.  The flavor is absolutely amazing ... exactly as I remember! 

Baked in mini loaf pan 40 minutes

Enjoy!

Marvelous Meatloaf

This meatloaf is always a hit! It was one of the last meals I was able to cook for my dear Father 2 weeks before he passed away. After spending several days in the hospital, he was ready for a hearty home cooked meal.  He had suffered a severe stroke, and speaking was difficult for him, but he took one bite of the meatloaf and commented, "That's brag-a-licious!"  ... One of my all time favorite memories. 

I consider this a 'crowd-pleaser', because you can easily adapt the recipe to feed as many people as needed.  It is great for potluck dinners or for making for a friend in need.  It freezes great (freeze before baking)! 

When I serve it on Sundays, I make it the night before and store it in the fridge overnight.  If your oven has a timer which will turn on the oven for you, you can pop the lasagna into the oven before leaving for church and set the timer to turn on 30-45 minutes before you will be returning home from from church.  This is what I do.  It is a fantastic Sunday meal with absolutely no Sunday prep!

Ingredients:

• 3 slices white bread
• 1 large carrot, finely chopped
• 1 rib celery, finely chopped
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 large Tablespoon chopped garlic
• 1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 2 teaspoons dry mustard (can use prepared mustard)
• 1 ½ lbs ground beef (can use combination of beef, pork and veal if desired) 
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon Tabasco Sauce, or to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

Glaze:

• Ketchup, to taste
• Brown sugar, to taste
• Mustard, to taste
• Chopped Rosemary, if desired (maybe ¼ tsp or so)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°. 

2. Remove crusts from bread, and place slices in the bowl of a food processor. Process until fine crumbs form, about 10 seconds. Transfer bread crumbs to a large mixing bowl. Do not substitute dried bread crumbs in this step, as they will make your meat loaf rubbery.

3. Chop carrot, celery, yellow onion, garlic, and parsley. You can chop them in a food processor until vegetables have been minced, about 30 seconds, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice. (Chopping vegetables this way saves time and ensures that vegetables will be small enough to cook through and not be crunchy). Transfer vegetables to bowl with the bread crumbs.

4. Add 1/2 cup ketchup, 2 teaspoons dry mustard, meat, eggs, salt, pepper, Tabasco, and rosemary. Using your hands, knead the ingredients until thoroughly combined, about 1 minute. The texture should be wet, but tight enough to hold a free-form shape. * Be careful not to over knead the meatloaf ingredients; doing so will result in a heavy and dense loaf.

5. Form meat loaf in an 11-by-17-inch baking pan. I usually form mini loaves by using the side of my hand to divide the large loaf into smaller ones. This will help to decrease the cooking time.

6. GLAZE: Place desired amount of ketchup, mustard and brown sugar in mixing bowl. (You can also add a little chopped Rosemary to the bowl if desired. Not too much, as a little goes a long way.) 

Starting out with about 1 cup of ketchup, 1 cup of brown sugar, and about 1 Tablespoon of mustard, mix together and taste. After tasting, add each of the same ingredients as desired to ‘tweak’ the glaze to your own taste. I like my glaze to be sweet, yet savory. And I actually make a LOT of glaze, because there is nothing worse than dry, tasteless meatloaf. Mix until smooth. Pour this mixture all over the top of the meatloaves. Cover them completely with the sauce and let the excess run over the sides into the pan.  

7. Lay strips of bacon over each of the loaves. If making mini loaves usually cut each strip of bacon into thirds to accommodate the size of the loaves. *You may choose to use only a few strips of bacon over each loaf, but I cover the loaves completely because my family loves the sweet caramelized bacon after it is cooked, and I want to make sure there is enough for everyone. NOTE:  As you can see, the pan is pretty full, so I ended up transferring some of it to another pan before baking to prevent spillover in the oven.

8. Bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the loaf registers 160°, about 45 minutes or so. (A few times during baking time, I remove excess bacon grease from pan.) After removing pan from oven, let meat loaf cool for about 15 minutes before serving.

**This is wonderful with scalloped or buttered dill potatoes, glazed carrots and pea salad. (I’ll be posting recipes for these side dishes as well.) 

Enjoy!

Stir-Fried Rice

This dish is quick and easy to make … and is absolutely delicious! It is a nice recipe to have, because it can be made at a moment’s notice, and turns out great every time! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 3-4 cups cooked rice
• ½ pound bacon, diced and cooked until crispy
• 4 stalks celery – diced
• 1 large onion – diced
• 1 large bell pepper – any color – diced
• Toasted Sesame oil to taste
• Soy Sauce to taste
• Worcestershire Sauce to taste
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Cook rice (or use leftover rice)
2. Dice bacon and cook. Put cooked bacon in small bowl and set aside. 
3. If not much bacon grease is left in pan, leave it. Otherwise, remove some of the bacon grease. You want to have just enough in the bottom of the pan to enable you to fry the vegetables.
4. Add diced vegetables to bacon grease in pan, and cook until they begin to become transparent.
5. Add rice to pan. Mix and let fry in pan for a few minutes until it starts to look a little toasted.
6. Add drizzle of Toasted Sesame Oil, drizzle of Worcestershire Sauce, and drizzle of Soy Sauce. You will want to ‘experiment’ with the amounts that you use. Each of these ingredients adds its own unique flavor to the dish. I happen to love the taste of the Toasted Sesame Oil and the Soy Sauce, so I use more of that than the Worcestershire Sauce.
7. Add the crisply cooked bacon bits back to the pan and stir to incorporate them into the rest of the ingredients.
8. Salt and Pepper to taste. You will want to do this last, because the amount you use will be determined by the amount of Soy Sauce you use.

Enjoy!

Fantastic Brownies

Oh my ... I just had the best brownie for breakfast!!! Probably not the most nutritious choice, but certainly a tasty one! 

I've recently been on a quest to find a really good brownie recipe, and I discovered that I should have just looked at my old recipes.  Yesterday I made a batch using a recipe I used over 40 years ago.  They may just be the best brownies I've had ... in forty years! ha! They blow box mixes out of the water!!! I must say, I prefer them cold ... but I’m sure they would be equally delicious if served hot with vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

FANTASTIC BROWNIES

Ingredients:

• 4 sq. Baker's unsweetened chocolate
• 3/4 c. (1 1/2 sticks) butter (I used 'Salted Butter' because that is what I have on hand)
• 2 c. sugar
• 3 eggs (I used 4 because, although the carton said they were large eggs, they seemed a bit on the small side)
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 c. flour (I added 1 Tbl due to high altitude)
• 1 c. chopped nuts, optional (I did not have any, so I made mine without)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwave bowl at high 2 minutes or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted.

3. Stir sugar into chocolate. Mix in eggs and vanilla until well blended. Stir in flour and nuts. 

4.  Spread in greased 13 x 9 inch pan.

Note:  When using glass baking dish, bake at 325 degrees.  

For cake-like brownies, stir in 1/2 cup milk with eggs; use 1 1/2 cups flour.

5. Bake 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgie crumbs. Cool in pan; cut into squares. Makes 24 fudgie brownies.

Enjoy!