Monday, November 21, 2011

Say Cheese!

Hello again people! Lets get right to it, shall we?
"Cheesy Cornbread Casserole"
I got it from allrecipes.com but it was a Kraft sponsored recipe so it asks for some name brand stuff. But you can always use whatever brand you want.


Ingredients:

1 lb lean bround beef, 1 chopped onion, 1 seeded, chopped jalapeno pepper, 1 (15 oz) can enchilada sauce, 1 (15 oz) can black beans, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 (8.5 oz) package corn muffin mix, 1 (8 oz) package Kraft Mexican Stle Shredded 4 Cheese with a touch of Philadelphia

As you can see I bought the Kraft cheese. I thought, why not? I sampled a bit before adding it to the recipe and honestly, saw now difference between it and other cheese. Next time, its store brand cheese for me!


Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Brown meat with onion and pepper in large skillet.

In the past, I have tried rather unsuccessfully to mince onions. Thankfully when I was making this I remembered one of my latest Pampered Chef purchases. Its a Manual Food Processor. I chopped the onion and pepper into small chunks and tossed them in. Then I put the lid on a pumped the handle so the blades moved. And it worked fabulously!


Obviously, whenever a recipe asks for minced veggies, I am using this wonderful gadget!


Stir in next 4 ingredients; cook and stir for 3 minutes, or heated through. Spoon into 13x9 inch baking dish.
Prepare muffin batter as directed on package; stir in cheese. Spread over meat mix.

You are probably wondering why I have added this pic? Well the Jiffy mix I bought called for and egg. I looked in the fridge, pulled out what I thought was a egg carton with several eggs in it. Opened it to find this. I called my wonderful husband and asked, "Did you put a bunch of empty eggshells in the fridge?"
"...Yeah."
"Why?"
"....I don't know."
Counting to 10, I then calmly asked him to pick up eggs on his way home from work and I left the meat mix in the skillet on low so it wouldn't get cold. And when he got home, I continued.





Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cornbread topping comes out clean. Cool slightly.


And its done! The husband really liked, but we both agree next time I will double the recipe. When it was done it was really thin. And the cornbread topping hardly covered the top. The only thing I won't double is the onion. It called for an entire chopped onion, but I only used half of one and it was just fine, and I think it would be great in a double batch for just a hint of onion and the jalapeno. And before you ask, no I did not eat this.
I leave you with my kitchen companion: Rufus



Saturday, November 12, 2011

Boil 'em , mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew!!

Good day to you readers! Here I am with a recipe that I will actually eat!
"Company Mashed Potatoes"
This recipe, as far as I know, is my mother's. She might have got it from someone else, but who cares? Thank you mom! ;)
Lets get right to it shall we?

Ingredients:

5 lbs potatoes, 8 oz cream cheese, 8 oz sour cream, 1 stick butter or margarine, 1 tsp onion powder.

You will notice the absence of the potatoes in this picture. Well, I peeled them, rinsed them, and cut them. The whole time thinking about the blog, and not remember my usual ingredient picture. Oh well, no harm done!


Directions:

Boil potatoes. For me this took nearly a half an hour. Why so long? I used too small a pot, I think. Well, I think that is the reason for it taking so long, I know it was too small a pot.




Mash the potatoes. Add remaining ingredients, mix well.





Like my mixer? Its a Black and Decker, super legit. I bought a random $5 one at walmart once, and the first time I made frosting it starting smoking. Moral of the story? You get what you pay for.


Put in buttered casserole dish, and garnish with paprika. Refrigerate until needed. Heat in a 350 degree oven until warm.


The finished product! I could seriously eat this whole dish, but I restrained myself. Good thing its for church! I must add that I did not butter the dish, and I don't know if it makes a difference or not. My mom thinks so.


Saturday, November 5, 2011

Easy, Chewie

Hello! I am back! This time with a shorter recipe. Its "Easy Chili". Its from this cookbook:



I got it for Christmas in 2009, and I've used this one recipe the most(you may notice the brown stain on the book. That was when I was making Sloppy Joes, and spilled worcestershire sauce on it). This wasn't for my husband's lunches. I made this for Reformation Night at my church. For those of you that don't know Reformation Night is when Martin Luther nailed the 95 theses(I so did not spell that right)to the church at Wittenburg in 1517, on the 31st of October. Popularly known as Halloween. Anyway, this is not a history blog. Onto the recipe!

Ingredients:


4 lbs lean ground beef, 2 (1 oz) packages hot chili mix, 1 (6oz) can tomato sauce, 2 (15 oz) cans stewed tomatoes w/ liquid, 2 1/2 tsps ground cumin, 1 tsp salt, 1 cup water



You may notice my cumin is not ground. Well I have a super tiny mortar and pedestal and I thought it would be fun to ground it myself. But it takes forever since its really tiny. It is still fun, I just pretend I am in Snape's potions class.


Directions:

In large skillet break ground beef into pieces. Brown and drain. Use slotted spoon to drain fat and places beef in 5 to 6 quart slow cooker.
I did not take a picture of browning the ground beef because I am was an idiot. I just threw all four pounds of the beef into a medium sized pot. It took FOR-E-VER(channeling Squintz from 'The Sandlot'), and spilled a lot.

Add chili mix, tomato sauce, stewed tomatoes, cumin, salt, and water.


Yes, the recipe does call for just 2 packages of mix. But my husband wanted more spice, so I obliged. You can add as much or as little as you want. You can even add mild mix instead of hot. Whatever floats your boat.


Cover and cook on LOW, for 4 to 5 hours.


There you have it, the final outcome. I would normally have eaten this, but I got sick once and had this chili, so even if I smell it I get kinda nauseated. Weird how the human mind works, huh?