Tamale Pie

Tamale Pie 1 1/2 lbs Hamburger 2 Bell Peppers 4 Onions 2 8 oz packages Wide Egg Noodles 2 15 oz cans Diced Tomatoes 1 15 oz can Cream Style Corn 1 large can Mushrooms 1 large can pitted Olives 1/2 cup slivered Almonds 3 large California Style Beef Tamales (sliced into thin pieces) 5 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce 1/2 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper 1/2 Teaspoon Paparika 1/2 Teaspoon pepper 1 1/2 lbs grated Cheddar Cheese Chop onions and Bell Peppers, then cook in large fry pan with hamburger, meanwhile cook egg noodle in boiling salt water then drain. After meat and noodles are cooked mix in a very large bowl adding all the rest of the ingredients except for the cheese. This makes enough to feed about 16 people, so it will fill 2 very large pans or casserole dishes, after filling you pans cover the top with the grated cheese. Cook for 1 1/2 hours at 325*, I cover mine with a lid or foil for the first hour only uncovering the last 30 minutes. This has always been a family favorite, enjoy

Tamale Pie

1 1/2 lbs Hamburger 2 Bell Peppers 4 Onions 2 8 oz packages Wide Egg Noodles 2 15 oz cans Diced Tomatoes 1 15 oz can Cream Style Corn 1 large can Mushrooms 1 large can pitted Olives 1/2 cup slivered Almonds 3 large California Style Beef Tamales (sliced into thin pieces) 5 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce 1/2 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper 1/2 Teaspoon Paparika 1/2 Teaspoon pepper 1 1/2 lbs grated Cheddar Cheese Chop onions and Bell Peppers, then cook in large fry pan with hamburger, meanwhile cook egg noodle in boiling salt water then drain. After meat and noodles are cooked mix in a very large bowl adding all the rest of the ingredients except for the cheese. This makes enough to feed about 16 people, so it will fill 2 very large pans or casserole dishes, after filling you pans cover the top with the grated cheese. Cook for 1 1/2 hours at 325*, I cover mine with a lid or foil for the first hour only uncovering the last 30 minutes. This has always been a family favorite, enjoy

Creamy Chicken Toquitoes

I made these the other day. I got the recipe off a website called 'The Girl Who Ate Everything'. They're delish and pretty fast to make. I'm going to make this again...soon! It was that good! Next time though, I'm going to double the recipe so there'll be leftovers.

1/3 cup (3oz) cream cheese
1/4 cup green salsa
1 T fresh lime juice
1/2 t cumin
1 t chili powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/2 t garlic powder
3 T chopped cilantro
2 T sliced green onions
2 cups shredded chicked (I boiled mine and shredded it like I do for chicken noodle soup)
1 cup shredded pepperjack cheese (I used some mexican cheese blend I got on sale at the grocery store instead and it was still yummy)
small flour tortillas
salt
cooking spray

Heat oven to 475. Line a cooking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.

Heat cream cheese in the microwave so it's soft and easy to stir. Add green salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder, and garlic powder. Stir to combine. Then add the cilantro, green onions, chicken, and cheese. Combine well.

Place 2-3 T of the mixture on the bottom third of the tortilla (don't put it too close to the edges). Roll it up as tight as you can.

Place seam side down on the baking sheet. Once all the toquitoes are layed out on the sheet (not touching) spray the tops lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until they're crisp and the ends start to get brown.

Using the big tortillas, this made 8. Next time I'm going to use the small tortillas. I think that'll double it, so I'd buy at least 16 small tortillas. Make sure you have stuff to dip these in. Salsa, sour cream, beans, etc.

Yum!

Potato Bacon Chowder

I had this at a friend's house the other night and HAD to have the recipe! Seriously yummy stuff!

1 onion, diced
1 lb. Bacon
2 cans cream of chicken soup
16 oz. sour cream
1 cup water
2 baked potatoes
¼ c. milk
salt and pepper
garnish with parsley

Cook bacon. Set aside, keeping a little of the bacon grease in the pan to sauté the onion in. After the onion is done, add diced potato and water. Boil for about 5-10 minutes, just make sure the potatoes are soft and cooked all the way through.
Add sour cream, soup, salt, pepper and use milk to reach desired consistency. Add crumbled bacon before serving. Garnish with parsley.

Persimmon Cheesecake

I have been getting some fruit from Bountiful Baskets. I had a bunch of persimmons, which I didn't know existed, but I found a recipe online for persimmon cheesecake. So, I gathered ingredients, and this is what I got. I didn't know what a spring form pan was, so I just used a Pyrex pie pan. I only used half the filling in the pie so I made up another crust. I used a square Pyrex pan for that one.

Ingredients

· 2 cups chopped walnuts

· 1/3 cup brown sugar

· 3 tablespoons melted butter

·

· 2 cups pureed persimmons

· 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

· 1 1/4 cups white sugar

· 3/4 cup sour cream

· 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

· 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

· 6 eggs

·

· 1 1/4 cups sour cream

· 3 tablespoons white sugar

· 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

2. Chop the walnuts in a food processor until fine. Mix together in a bowl with the brown sugar and melted butter. Press the mixture into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.

3. Bake in the preheated oven for 12 minutes. Set aside to cool completely.

4. Combine the persimmons, cream cheese, 1 1/4 cup sugar, 3/4 cup sour cream, cinnamon, and ginger in a food processor. Blend in processor until smooth, stopping occasionally to scrape edges of food processor bowl with a spatula. Add the eggs, one at a time, and process until fully incorporated. Pour the mixture over the cooled crust.

5. Bake in the preheated oven until mostly set with the center being slightly jiggly, 60 to 75 minutes.

6. While the cheesecake is baking, whisk together the 1 1/4 sour cream, 3 tablespoon white sugar, and vanilla extract. Spread evenly over the cheesecake while still hot and return to oven another 10 minutes. Allow to cool completely. Loosely cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate 4 to 8 hours or overnight before serving.

Ratatouille

Ratatouille
my adaptation of this youtube video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFZqufAajN8

Ingredients

• thinly sliced eggplant (I used 1 medium to small)
  
• thinly sliced cucumbers (I used 4 pickling cucumbers)
  
• thinly sliced zuccini (I didn't use this)
  
• thinly sliced carrots (I used 4-6 short stubby ones.. I recommend using the carrot *bums* where the slices make the largest circles if possible and they're usually too fat around to want to eat without cutting anyway)
• 2 large tomatoes sliced
  
• 1 large onion chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic minced
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups chopped mushrooms
• 2 cans tomato sauce
• 2 tsp basil (we used fresh basil so the measurement was different)
• 2 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp thyme
• salt & pepper to taste
• 5 Tbsp olive oil

Prepare sliced veggies. In a sauce pan add 2 cans tomato sauce, basil, oregano, and thyme and cook over medium low heat while cooking the rest of the food. In a skillet or fry pan, saute onion, garlic, carrots in 2 Tbsp of oil over medium heat until onions are white and translucent. Add eggplant, zuccini, cucumber and remaining 3 Tbsp of oil to the onion mixture. You may cover if desired and continue to cook for 3-4 minutes. Check carrot tenderness. When carrots are almost your desired tenderness add mushrooms and tomatoes and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until mushrooms and tomatoes and carrots are done. Spoon vegetables into a bowl or plate and top with sauce. You can always add more sauce if you start out conservatively. Enjoy! Most of the time to make this meal was spent prepping the vegetables. So simple and so easy with a lovely earthy dish as a result that your family will love. Sorry moms...you can't hide the fact that there are servings of vegetables in this dish. :)

Changes I made to the video's recipe:
*added carrots... you could probably also add potatoes but having tasted it I think it matches better without.
*cut in thin slices instead of chopped veggies... the texture is more pleasing but chopping might be faster. I recommend a mandolin or food slicer if you slice.
*added 2 small cans of tomato sauce and cooked spices in the sauce instead of adding to veggies directly.
*substituted cucumber slices for zuccini... zuccini would be closer to the eggplant texture so if would be fine,.. i think the cucumber added a nice different texture and freshness that wouldn't otherwise be there so I'm keeping them in the recipe.

** We did not eat this as presented in this photo. We just spooned it into a bowl and poured the sauce over it to serve.
** The changes I made were to match closer to the presentation made in Disney's Pixar's Ratatouille so I cannot take credit for the ideas I tried my best to imitate.

Homemade Ice Cream

4 quarts Half and Half

3 cups Sugar

2 Tablespoons Vanilla

Combine all ingredients, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. To avoid sugar settling to the bottom of freezer some of the half and half can be heated with the sugar over low heat until completely dissolved and then mixed with the rest of the half and half, with this method though the ingredients must be cooled in the refrigerator prior to freezing. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Makes 6 Quarts frozen ice cream, you can divide recipe to fit the size of your ice cream freezer.

Note: Most ice cream makers produce soft-serve ice cream which you can firm, if desired, by placing it in your refrigerator's freezer in an airtight container for about 2 hours.

Caramel Sauce

3 cups Brown Sugar

1 cube Butter

1/2 pint Heavy Whipping Cream

Put in a double broiler all ingredients, cooking over medium low heat stirring until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved, continue cooking for 1 hour stirring occasionally. Sauce will have thickened slightly and be a caramel color. Serve over ice cream, homemade ice cream is especially good! Store in refrigerator, sauce may become somewhat crystallized but will smooth out when heated.

Pasta with White Bean Sauce

This is a great vegitarian recipe from the Better Homes and Garden's cookbook. Since my Noah has, so far, proven himself to be a vegitarian I thought I'd try this out and see how we like it. We LIKE it! Noah ate his up in less than 5 minutes (which he NEVER does) so it was a winner before I'd even tasted mine. Once I'd tasted it though, I could see why he ate it so fast - delish!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 1/3 cups milk
1 1/2 cups shredded Gruyere cheese (but you could also use Swiss or American - I used the Gruyere)
1 - 15 oz. can great Northern, navy, or white kidney beans, drained
1 - 4 oz. can diced green chili peppers, drained
1 ounces dried linguini or spaghetti

Directions:
1. Cook the onion and garlic in a large saucepan with hot margarine until tender. Stir in the flour and 1/8 tsp of pepper (you could probably leave that out but whatever). Add the milk all at once. Cook and stir over medium heat until it's thick and bubbly (probably took me about 5 minutes to get it the consistency I wanted). Cook it and stir one minute more. Add cheese; stir until melted. Stir in drained beans and chili peppers (I used about half of the chili peppers that it called for just because I didn't want it to be too spicy for my kids. It ended up being a good amount of heat for them - if you ever cook this just for adults though I'd use all the chili's). Heat through.

2. Cook the linguini (I'm assuming you probably know how to cook pasta so I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how to do that). Serve the sauce over the pasta. Enjoy!

Chicken and Rice

My friend Vanessa gave me this recipe the other day and I made it last night and it is a WINNER! So easy and delicious - even my vegitarian Noah ate it!

Ingredients:

2-3 lbs of chicken - cut into bite size cubes (the more chicken you use the less sauce you end up with)
4 tbsp butter
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1 tsp salt
1 tsp curry

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread your cut up chicken around in a baking dish. Melt the butter and mix the honey, mustard, salt and curry into it. Pour it evenly over the chicken. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

2. For the rice. You could do plain old minute rice and that would be delish. But for a little extra flavor, try mixing a packet of Lipton's French Onion Soup mix (you know, the powdered stuff) into whatever rice you make. It gives it a little extra zing and compliments this meal beautifully!

Pear Salad

So here is a delicious salad that whenever I make it I get tons of compliments on it and everyone wants the recipe, so I thought I would share it with the masses:

Ingredients:
-One head of lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces or a bag of salad greens
-2pears-cored and cut into slices (or you can use canned pears and just cut them up)
-5 ounces crumbled blue cheese
-1 avocado-peeled,pitted, and diced
-1/4 cup white sugar
-1/2 cup pecans
-1/3 cup olive oil
-3tablespoons red wine vinegar
-1 1/2 teaspoons prepared mustard
-1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
-1 clove garlic, chopped
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-fresh ground black pepper to taste

Directions:
1. In a skillet over medium heat, stir 1/4 cup of sugar together with pecans. Continue stirring gently until sugar has melted and the pecans are caramelized. Carefully transfer nuts onto waxed paper. Allow to cool, and break into pieces.
2. For the dressing, blend oil, vinegar, 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar, mustard, chopped garlic, salt, and pepper.
3. In a large serving bowl, layer lettuce, pears, blue cheese, avocado, and green onions. Pour dressing over salad, sprinkle with pecans and serve!!

Ravioli Soup

I got this recipe from Parents magazine and it is really good (and healthy). My kids also seem to enjoy it so extra bonus!
-1/2 lb. ground turkey
-1 Tbs. Italian-seasoned bread crumbs
-1/8 tsp. ground sage
-1/8 tsp. pepper
-1/8 tsp. salt
- 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 can (14.5 oz) Italian-seasoned diced tomatoes
- 1 can no-salt-added tomato sauce
-1 cup chopped celery
-1 cup chopped carrots
-1 cup frozen cut green beans, thawed
- 1 pkg (7 oz.) refrigerated mini cheese ravioli
1. Heat oven 400 degrees. Line a baking pan with aluminum foil and coat with vegetable cooking spray. Combine turkey, bread crumbs, sage, pepper, and salt in bowl; shape into 48 meatballs. Bake for 12 minutes, or until browned.
2. In saucepan, combine broth, tomatoes, tomato sauce, celery, and carrots. Boil, then reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir green beans and ravioli into broth. Cook covered, for 5 minutes. Add meatballs to serve.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I am having lds food services chicken tortilla soup today and it is really really yummy. I think this is the recipe but I could be wrong. I'll give it to you anyway though.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

4 6-inch corn tortillas

1/2 cup chopped onion

3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 12 ounces)

1 garlic clove, pressed through garlic press

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

cumin ? ? they didn't include it but it's in it and mentioned later in the recipe....the main flavor!

2 14 1/2-ounce cans chicken broth

1 14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 4-ounce can chopped green chilies, undrained

4 teaspoons snipped fresh cilantro

1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese

4 thick sliced fresh lime (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cut tortillas into 1/2-inch strips using kitchen shears.

Place on flat baking stone. Bake 7-8 minutes or until crisp.
Meanwhile, chop onion.

Cut chicken into 1/2-inch pieces.

Heat 4-quart casserole (or pot) over medium high heat.

Spray with vegetable oil.

Add chicken, cook and stir 3 minutes.

Add onion, pressed garlic, chili powder and cumin.

Cook and stir 2 minutes.

Stir in broth, tomatoes and chilies.

Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.

Serve:
Snap cilantro, using kitchen shears.

Divide tortilla strips among 4 bowls.

Ladle soup over tortillas.

Grate cheese over the top.

Sprinkle soup with cilantro.

Garnish each bowl with lime slice to squeeze juice into soup, if desired.

Grandma's Fudge (Sister Earl's recipe)

4 Cups Sugar
2 Cubes Real Butter
11oz Canned Milk (not sweetened condensed)
2-7oz Marshmallow Cream
6 to 8 Cups Walnuts
12oz Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips

Add sugar, butter and milk in a large heavy pan, bring to a boil over medium heat, stir constantly until reaches soft ball stage (if you don't have a thermometer you can have a cup of very cold water by the stove and test this way by dropping a drip of mixture into the water, if it holds its shape and has kind of a taffy texture to it when you feel it with your fingers it is ready), remove from heat and immediately stir in chocolate chips till melted, then stir in marshmallow creme till disolved into fudge stir in the desired amount of walnuts then pour into a greased 11 by 13 pan, refridgerate till set, cut and enjoy. Stays fresher if kept in the fridge.

Delicious Food Blog

I know this isn't a recipe but I wanted to let you all know about my friend Lillian's food blog she has some really delicious, fancy recipes on her blog and everything that I have tried that she has made has been so good. Check it out!

A new ingredient for an old favorite!

So now that the weather is getting chilly out it's time for soup! I love soup and, in my opinion, it's one of the only good things about cold weather. The other night, I decided to make one of my all time favs - chicken noodle soup. I usually make my own noodles (I think there's a recipe for them somewhere on this blog) and serve it with yummy homemade bread. However, a few weeks ago I had some delicious chicken noodle soup and my friend Mindi's house. It was so creamy and delightful that I had to know what she put in it! Her secret ingredient...two cans of cream of chicken soup! So I tried it last night and it was the best chicken noodle soup I'd ever made! Here's what went into it:

Homemade noodles (which sound hard, but really aren't)
Carrots
Zucchini
Onion
Chicken (of course)
Yellow Squash
2 cans of chicken broth
1 can water
2 cans cream of chicken soup

Seriously, it was so yummy! Next time you make your own version of this classic - try a few cans of cream of chicken. I think you will be pleasantly surprised!

Pretzel Salad

1 cube butter
pretzels to line a 9x13 pan
1 8oz cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 8oz cool whip
1 large box strawberry jello
In a 9x13 pan melt butter, crumble pretzels and put into a single layer on bottom of pan. Bake at 350* for 10 minutes or until most of butter has been absorbed into pretzels, cool completely. Beat together cream cheese, sugar, slowly add cool whip, if needed add a little milk to make a spreadable consistency, spread over cooled pretzels, seal edges. Prepare strawberry jello per package, chill till partially set and pour over the top of cream cheese refridgerate until completely set.

English Toffee

16oz milk chocolate chips
1/2 lb chopped almonds (I like mine whole)
1lb butter
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup water
4 Tbsp light corn syrup
chopped almonds for top
Cook butter, sugar, water and corn syrup over medium till 280*, add nuts and cook till 282* pour into greased cookie sheet allow to set for 10 minutes put chocolate chips on top and when melted spread smooth and sprinkle almonds on top. Allow to set completely break into pieces.

Poppy Cock

8 cups popped corn
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 cup pecan halves
1 cup sliced almonds
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 cup butter (not margarine)
Keep popcorn warm in 224* oven. In sauce pan combine sugar, butter and corn syrup. Bring to a boil stirring constantly. Cook and stir until carmel color about 10 minutes. Add nuts and stir nuts in. Pour over popcorn mix well and turn out on wax paper. Separate with a fork.

Nana Nelson's Danish Rice Pudding

1 quart milk
1 cup rice
1/4 tsp salt
3 1/2 Tbsp sugar
1 bag slivered almonds (optional)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 pint heavy cream
Bring milk and rice to a gentle boil for 25 minutes. Put into chilled dish, add salt , sugar, almonds and vanilla mix and refridgerate. Just before serving whip cream and sweeten to taste, fold in rice mixture, top with cherry pie filling. I enjoy it plain and without the almonds also.