Breakfast Casserole

Breakfast Casserole

This is a wonderful dish to make the night before.  We like ours plain, but you can add the mushrooms, tomatoes and onions to it to jazz it up a bit.

Ingredients:

• 1 package of sausage (your choice)
• 10 eggs, lightly beaten
• 3 cups milk
• 2 tablespoons dry mustard
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 6 cups of cubed bread
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  In a large skillet, cook sausage over medium high heat, stirring frequently until cooked through and no longer pink.  In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, mustard, salt and pepper: stir well.  Distribute half the bread evenly in a buttered 9" x 13" x 2" baking dish.  Sprinkle with half the pepper, half the cheese, half the sausage and half of any optional ingredients.  Repeat.  Pour egg mixture evenly over casserole.  Bake uncovered for 55 - 60 minutes, or until eggs are set.  Tent with foil if too begins to brown too quickly.  Can be made ahead and refrigerated up to 12 hours before baking.

Lemon Squares

Lemon Squares

This is a great and easy recipe that has to be made in a jelly roll pan.  Whenever I make bars, I grease my pan, place wax paper on top (leave some on the ends to use has a handle), and then I grease the top of the wax paper.  This makes getting the bars out of the pan, much easier.  Plus the bars can be cut much easier and more even.

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/2 cups cold butter

TOPPING:

• 6 eggs, lightly beaten
• 3 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Confectioners' sugar

Directions

• In a large bowl, combine the flour, confectioners' sugar and salt. Cut in butter until crumbly. Pat into a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 16-20 minutes or until set and top is golden brown.
• For topping, combine the eggs, sugar, lemon juice, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Pour over crust (pan will be full). Bake 16-20 minutes longer or until set and top is golden brown. Cool. Dust with confectioners' sugar. Cut into squares. Yield: 4 dozen.

Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberry Shortcake

This is a recipe that I borrowed from Taste of Home.  The recipe calls for a square pan, and all I had was a round pan.  That did not change the taste any.  :)  I do use fresh stawberries, cut them up, and then add sugar to taste.  I mix it up and let it sit and a natural syrup will form.

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup milk
• Whipped cream
• 1-1/2 quarts fresh or frozen strawberries, sliced

Directions

• In a bowl, cream sugar and shortening. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Combine dry ingredients and add alternately with milk to the creamed mixture. Spread in a greased 9-in. square baking pan. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes. Cool on wire rack.
• Cut into nine servings. Split each serving horizontally and fill with whipped cream and strawberries. Replace top of cake; garnish with more berries and a dollop of whipped cream. Serve immediately. Yield: 9 servings.

Lime Chicken

Lime Chicken

Lime Chicken with homemade salsa and Black and Red Fiesta Beans and Rice

This recipe was AMAZING!! It was easy and very tasty. Dean even loved it, and he hates chicken. I think the next time that we make this, I will use thighs. Boneless chicken breasts will work too. Both of these options will require less cooking time. This is a recipe that I adapted from Food TV. This does make a lot of chicken. I used my left over chicken in a salad and in quesadellas. If you try this, please let me know how it turned out for you.

Lime Chicken:

1 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (5 to 6 limes)
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (2 oranges)
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon minced fresh jalapeno pepper (1 pepper seeded)
1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic (3 cloves)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 whole (6 split) boneless chicken breasts, skin on

Directions
Combine the lime juice, orange juice, chili powder, jalapeno pepper, garlic, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Add the chicken breasts. Refrigerate overnight.

Heat a grill with coals and brush the rack with oil to prevent the chicken from sticking. Remove the chicken breasts from the marinade, sprinkle well with salt and pepper, and grill them skin-side down for about 5 minutes, until nicely browned. Turn the chicken and cook another 5 minutes. Repeat this turning process every 5 minutes for a total of 25 minutes or until the chicken is done. Remove from the grill to a plate. Cover tightly and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Black and Red Fiesta Beans and Rice

Black and Red Fiesta Beans and Rice

Lime Chicken with homemade salsa and Black and Red Fiesta Beans and Rice

This recipe really made a lot of food. So we ate it twice and also put it in tacos and other Mexican dishes. This was a cheap, easy and fulfilling dish that can be made from items in your pantry. This was a wonderful recipe, and that I will make over and over again for my family. This recipe was adapted from Food TV. This recipe was also very good topped with melted cheese.

Black and Red Fiesta Beans and Rice


2 cups brown rice
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chilis
1/2 cup prepared salsa (You can also use your homemade salsa too.)
1 tablespoon onion flakes
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15-ounce) can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 (11-ounce) can corn, drained
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Cook rice according to package directions. Meanwhile, combine remaining ingredients in a large saucepan and set pan over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer. Simmer until rice is cooked. Fold in rice and season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Creamy Macaroni Salad

Creamy Macaroni Salad

My mom always makes macaroni salad, but with her traveling on her trip, I had to come up with something new. So this is the recipe that I used to make some of the best macaroni salad that I have tasted in a long time. It was creamy, even on the second day. I did not add celery, but you can add it for some extra crunch. I am all about using what I have in my pantry to make my meals. It also should have had green peppers, and I did not have any, so I used jalapeno peppers.

Creamy Macaroni Salad

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
3 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
2 cups creamy salad dressing (e.g. Miracle Whip)
3 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
3/4 cup white sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon celery seed

Directions:

Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add macaroni, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until tender. Drain, and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, stir together the eggs, onion, pepper, and relish. In a small bowl, stir together the salad dressing, mustard, white sugar, vinegar, salt and celery seed. Pour over the vegetables, and stir in macaroni until well blended. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour before serving.

Vintage Vanilla Pudding

Vintage Vanilla Pudding

As many of you know, I do not like to use packaged items. I do when I have to, but would much rather make mine food from scratch. This is a wonderful pudding recipe that is easy to make. My family no longer will eat pudding from a box. It is tastier and cheaper than box, and I would also hope a little healthier. Sometimes I take this pudding and use it to make banana pudding.

Vintage Vanilla Pudding

1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons Argo® or Kingsford’s® Corn Starch
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1-1/2 teaspoon vanilla


Combine sugar, corn starch and salt in medium saucepan. Gradually stir in milk until smooth. Add egg yolks.

Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, and boil 1 minute. Stir in vanilla.

Pour in a serving bowl OR pour equal amounts into 4 individual serving bowls. Cover and chill a minimum of 30 minutes before serving.

Honey Carrots

Honey Carrots

As you may know, I do not eat out a lot because it is expensive. I do love the sweet carrots from oriental restaurants. This recipe is the closest to those carrots that I have ever made. I did make them with baby cut carrots, but you can easily use whol carrots and just slice them. I hope you enjoy this as much as my family does. This was adapted from Reynolds Kitchen.

Honey Carrots

1 sheet (18x24-inches) aluminum foil (I did use regular size and folded two pieces together.)
1 package (16 oz.) peeled baby carrots
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

Preheat oven to 450°F or grill to medium-high.
Center carrots on sheet of aluminum foil. Sprinkle with brown sugar, drizzle with honey and top with butter.
Bring up foil sides. Double fold top and ends to seal making one large foil packet, leaving room for heat circulation inside.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes on a cookie sheet in oven or grill 11 to 13 minutes in covered grill. Open foil; stir in fresh parsley and lime juice before serving.

Cold Oven Pound Cake

Cold Oven Pound Cake

Video

This is the best pound cake I have ever eaten. It is moist, tasty and has a great texture. For years, I was told not to over beat my mixture. My cakes did not turn out very fluffy. They were dense and heavy. I do use my mixer, and I do mix it a lot. This is a great recipe that my friend Kellie Furr shared with me. You can switch around the extracts to adjust the taste to suit you. I am a traditionalist, so I just use vanilla. But you can use 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla and 1 1/2 tsp of lemon extract, brandy extract, almond extract or any flavor you want to try.

Cold Oven Pound Cake

2 sticks butter, softened
1/2 c. shortening
3 c. sugar
3 c. all purpose flour
5 eggs
2 - 3 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. milk

Cream the butter and shortening. Add sugar and beat well. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour and alternate with milk. Blend thoroughly. Add flavorings. Pour into a greased and floured tube or fluted pan. Place in cold over and bake for 1 hour at 325 degrees. Then raise the temperature to 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 -15 minutes before turning out of pan. Allow to cool before cutting. Serve plain, with powdered sugar, strawberries and syrup or any way you wish.

Red French Dressing

Red French Dressing

This is the best French Dressing I have ever had. It is so much cheaper to make than the bottled version, plus it is better tasting and no artificial ingredients. I hope you like this as much as my family does. This recipe comes from Cooking with the Horse and Buggy People cookbook.

2 t. dried minced onion
2 t. salt
1 c. sugar
3/4 c. oil
1/3 c. white vinegar
1 c. ketchup
1 t. paprika
juice of one lemon
1 T. mayonnaise

Whisk everything together but the mayonnaise until all mixed. Then stir in the mayonnaise just until blended. Keep refrigerated

Blue Cheese Dressing

Blue Cheese Dressing

I would much rather make my food at home, then buy it in a store. Here is another example of something that I make for my family. This dressing is so thick and wonderful, that is can easily double as a dip. I adapted this for a recipe for allrecipes.com.

Blue Cheese Dressing

1/4 cup milk
3 cups mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
1 container of crumbled blue cheese (They range from 4 oz. to 5 1/2 oz.)
2 teaspoons garlic salt

Mix together the milk, mayonnaise, sour cream and garlic salt until smooth and well blended. Stir in the blue cheese. Cover and refrigerate. It is best to allow the flavors to mix for at least 2 hours before serving.

Blueberry Sauce

Blueberry Sauce

This is great for angel food cake, ice cream, pound cake or anywhere else you can think. I did add about 1 tablespoon of cornstarch so the sauce would thicken up some more for my taste. Enjoy, I know my family did.

Blueberry Sauce

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Wash and crush blueberries; add sugar, lemon juice and salt. Mix well. In a small saucepan, bring blueberry mixture to a boil; boil 1 minute. Add vanilla. Chill.

Easy No-Fail Barbeque Ribs

Easy No-Fail Barbeque Ribs

This recipe is so easy that anyone can do it, and no grill is needed. You can use any type of ribs, but my favorite are country style ribs. You can buy these for less than $1.50 per pound when they are on sale. This is a cheap and easy meal. I made it tonight, and for around $11.00, I feed a family, and even had a little left over.

Directions:
Ribs
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Cayenne Pepper, Red Pepper Flakes, or any other spice you like
1/8 - 1/4 cup water
1 - 2 bottles of favorite sauce

Place ribs in pan. You can use a casserole dish or a cake pan. Sprinkle the ribs with the garlic and onion powders. Use as much as you like for your taste. Add any additional spices. Pour water into the pan. Use the smaller amount for one package of ribs and use the larger amount for two packages of ribs. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil. Place in a 325 degree oven. No need to preheat the oven and waste the energy. Check ribs in one hour. If it is close to fork tender, then top with your preferred bottled barbeque sauce. Cover again with foil and bake 30 additional minutes. If the ribs are not fork tender, recover and check in 30 - 45 minutes. Once fork tender, add the sauce and finish.

Fake Crunch Bar

Fake Crunch Bar

This is an easy candy that can be made for any occasion. In my family, we do not need an occasion. Use saltine crackers as a base for the toffee and chocolate. I make this recipe in a 1/2 cookie sheet. You can double it for a regular size cookie sheet.

Ingredients:
2 oz. saltine crackers (make sure they are fresh and not stale)
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 c. chocolate chips
1 and 1/3 c. chopped walnuts

Directions:
Line the cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Spray the foil generously with nonstick spray. Arrange crackers in a single layer on foil. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Boil the sugar and butter for 3 minutes. Pour evenly over the crackers. Use caution as this is very hot and sticky. Bake for 7 minutes. Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle chocolate chips over the hot mixture. Wait a few minutes for the chips to melt, then spread with a spatula or back of a spoon. Sprinkle with nuts. Allow to cool completely and then break up to desired sized pieces.

Baked Beans

Baked Beans

This is an easy dish that is a big hit with my family. You can make a large casserole dish for around $4.00 or less, depending on what you get on sale and what you already have on hand. This size serving feeds my family for two meals.

Ingredients:
4 cans of pork and beans
1/4 - 1/2 lb of bacon
1/2 diced onion
1/4 c white sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
3/4 c ketchup
3 tbls mustard
5 tbls Worcestershire sauce

Directions:
Cut the bacon into small pieces and fry until brown. While cooking bacon, open the cans of beans and place them in the dish. You can also dice the onion at this time. You can go ahead and place all of the other ingredients, except for the bacon and onion, in the dish with the beans. Once the bacon is done, drain, and place in the dish. In the pan of bacon grease, fry your onions until tender. Drain and place in dish. Mix well, and place in a 350 degree oven for 1 1/2 hours.No need to preheat oven and waste the electricity.