TASTY MEAT LOAF by Angelita "Lita" Fretheim
littleangel848

2 lbs. ground chuck
1/2 cup mini oatmeal
2 whole eggs
1 envelope Lipton Onion Soup
3/4 cup ketchup
3/4 teaspoon poultry seasonings
2 tbsp. Worchestershire sauce
2 slices bread

Mix all the liquid together. Add the bread and oatmeal. Pour envelope of lipton soup. Mix the beef thoroughly.
Put it on baking dish (deep). Bake about 1 hr. and 10 minutes or until cooked at 350°.

Received this recipe from my loving friend, Ruth, before she retired


Crouton Hot Dish

2 lbs. hamburger
1 box (8 oz. herb) croutons
2 cans cream of chicken (or mushroom) soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 soup can of water
Diced onion (amount to suit your taste)

Brown hamburger & onion. Add rest of ingredients. Bake 1 hour in 350° oven.

This recipe makes a lot!

I received this recipe from my mother-in-law as part of a wedding present, given to her by my husband's aunt.


Frosted Fruit Salad

2 3 oz. Pkgs. strawberry gelatin
1 10 oz. Pkg. frozen strawberries
1 15-1/4 Can crushed pineapple
1 Cup Sour cream
2 Large bananas

Day before serving:

In large bowl, combine gelatin, 2 cups boiling water & strawberries. Set aside until strawberries are thawed. In small bowl, mash bananas with pineapples, stir into gelatin. Pour into 8" springform pan or 13"x9" baking pan. Refrigerate until serving time. Makes about 12 servings.

Another recipe from my mother-in-law Sue.

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Mollipenos by Molly Gibbons-Norwood
Valuesavvy

1 pound ground sausage
1 block of Philadelphia cream cheese
1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese
20-25 jalapenos
latex gloves

Cook a pound of ground sausage - regular or maple flavor. Drain the grease. In a large bowl, mix sausage together with cream cheese, parmesan cheese, and cheddar cheese. Halve 20-25 jalapenos lengthwise - wear latex gloves! - clean out the seeds & insides under cold water. Pat dry. Stuff the jalapenos with the mixture & place on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. YUM! That's IT! GREAT appetizer & crowd pleaser! Hint: Freeze jalapenos for 2 hours before halving - to reduce crying, sneezing, and coughing.

Cake:

1 box yellow cake mix
1 large box instant vanilla pudding
1 cup pecans
½ cup canola oil
½ cup rum (light or dark)
4 eggs

Grease and flour tube pan. Line bottom with pecans. Mix cake mix & pudding. Add oil, rum, and eggs, one at a time. Beat well. Bake at 325 for 50-60 minutes.

Rum Sauce:

½ cup butter
1 cup sugar
¼ cup water
¼ cup rum

Bring butter, sugar, and water to a boil. Cool. Add rum. Poke holes in cake & pour sauce over it.

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Chocolate Fudge by Jim & Donna Halloran
Geranium5

1 Can Carnation evaporated milk (mix together, bring to a boil for 7-8 minutes)
4 Cups sugar (stir constantly!)

Remove from heat and add:

3 Small Pkgs. Nestle Semisweet Chocolate Chips
18 Large marshmallows (mix & add)
1 Stick Oleo
1 Cup chopped nuts
1 Tbsp. vanilla

Pour into greased cookie sheet and let stand 2-4 hours. Makes 5lbs.

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Cheesy Black-Eyed Pea Dip by Renata Hampton
by Mommy2_2boys

A black-eyed pea dip with cheese and hot peppers, along with black-eyed peas and seasonings.

Ingredients:

4 ounces butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 clove garlic, finely minced
12 ounces shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
2 cans (15 ounces each) black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed, or about 4 cups cooked and drained
1 jalapeno pepper, seeds removed, finely chopped
1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilies
Salt & pepper, to taste

Preparation:

In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Add the chopped onion and sauté until golden in color; add garlic and cook for 30 seconds longer. Turn heat to low and add cheese, stirring until melted. Add the black-eyed peas, chopped jalapeno and green chiles. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot in slow cooker or in a chafing dish. Serves 8

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by Linda Hicks
LindasXtra

Copper Pennies

Ingredients:

2 Lbs of carrots (sliced & cooked)
1 Medium onion sliced
1 Bell pepper sliced
1 Can tomato soup
¾ Cup vinegar
1 Cup sugar
½ Cup salad oil
1 Tsp mustard
1 Tsp Worchestershire sauce
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Combine all and serve hot!


Cucumber Snacks

Ingredients:

2 ½ Lbs cucumbers
2 Tbsp salt
1 Cup white vinegar
¼ Cup sugar
½ Tsp white pepper

Directions:

Scrape the peel off the cucumbers and slice into about ¼" wide slices. Place these slices in a bowl with the salt, toss to coat. Leave this out of the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, but not overnight. Drain, pat dry and return to the bowl. Combine vinegar, sugar and pepper to pour over the cucumber slices. Chill overnight, drain and serve.

I leave them in the juices in the frig for a quick pick-me-up snack!

Black Bean Salad

Ingredients:

1 28 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can corn, drained
2 cans Rotel (original)

Directions:

Mash ½ of the drained beans with a potato masher. Add remaining beans, corn and Rotel tomatoes. Heat in the microwave for 4 minutes. Stir and heat 3 minutes more until hot. Serve with tortilla chips and enjoy.

Fried Green Beans

Ingredients:

2 Lbs fresh green beans - trimmed and snapped to 1" lengths. (appox. 6 cups)
2 Large cloves of garlic - minced
½ Large bell pepper – chopped
½ Large onion – chopped
1 Tsp oregano
1 Tsp basil (crushed)
¼ Cup olive oil
1 Tbsp real butter

Directions:

Over medium heat in a large skillet, saute' all ingredients except the green beans. When the oil mixture is hot, add the green beans and toss to coat all of them. Stir until the beans are bright green. On medium-high heat, cover and cook about 10 minutes more until they are crisp but tender. Serves 6 to 8

Roasted Potatoes

Ingredients:

8 Med potatoes peeled and cut into fourths (2 lbs)
2 Lg cloves of garlic, minced
3 Tbsp virgin olive oil
¼ Tsp salt or use ½ teaspoon of celery salt
1 Tbsp red pepper flakes or roasted garlic
1 ½ Tsp oregano
1 ½ Tsp rosemary
1 Tsp lemon pepper

Directions:

Soak cut potatoes in ice water for 30 minutes and pat dry. Mix all other ingredients while potatoes are soaking.
After potatoes are dry, toss in the oil mixture to coat. Place in a single layer not touching each other, on a foil lined flat pan. Bake uncovered at 425` for 30 minutes. Remove from the over and turn the potatoes oven. Bake 15 to 20 minutes more. Serve immediately


NOTE: To determine how many potatoes you will need to prepare, multiply the number of people you will be feeding by 1 ½. This is if the potatoes are medium size. Adjust for other sizes of potatoes.

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Texas Sheet Cake w/ Chocolate Frosting by Stephanie Inge
Stephintexas

This version of Texas sheet cake is made with sour cream, cocoa and a rich chocolate frosting with chopped pecans.

Ingredients:

1 cup butter
1 cup water
1/4 cup cocoa
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
Frosting, below
chopped pecans

Frosting

1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup cocoa
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
1 box (1 lb) confectioners' sugar, sifted (4-1/4 cups sifted)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Cake: Combine butter, water, and cocoa in saucepan over medium heat; heat until butter melts. Add sugar, flour, salt, eggs, soda, sour cream, and vanilla; mix well. Pour into a 15x10x1-inch jelly roll pan. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Spread frosting over hot cake and sprinkle with chopped pecans. Cook Time: 20 minutes

Frosting: Combine butter, cocoa, and milk in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Add remaining ingredients and mix well with electric mixer. Spread over the hot sheet cake then sprinkle with chopped pecans.


Homemade Texas Fried Pies

Filling:

2 C. dried apples, peaches or apricots
water to cover
3/4 C. sugar

Crust:

2 C. flour
1 tsp. salt
1/3 C. shortening
3/4 C. buttermilk
pinch of baking soda
shortening, melted

Glaze:

1 C. confectioners' sugar
1-2 T. milk

Directions:

Cover fruit with water in a saucepan. Cook until fruit is tender. Add sugar and cook an additional 5 minutes. Drain and mash with a fork or potato masher. Mix flour, salt, and shortening together. Add baking soda to buttermilk then add to flour, blending well. Do not make it too stiff. More buttermilk may be added. Roll dough onto a floured board to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut a rounded circle using an inverted saucer as a guide. Place 1 T. fruit in the center of one side of circle. Fold over the other side and seal by pressing edges with a fork. Prick to 3-4 times. Melt shortening in an iron skillet and fry pies until brown, turning once.
Glaze: Combine sugar and milk by adding milk slowly to reach a glaze consistency. Spread over each pie. Yield: app. 8 pies.

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Chicken Soup from Scratch by Melinda Jackson
GalleriaGifts


1 chicken (without heart, liver, neck)
½ tsp thyme (ground)
½ tsp ground mace
½ tsp white pepper
6 whole peppers
½ tsp curry
½ tsp whole garlic or powder
3-4 cloves
½ tsp ground ginger
3-4 bay leaves
3 KNORR chicken bouillon cubes
Vermicelli (broken up spaghetti will do)

4 carrots, slices
1 or 2 onions
2 or 3 leek* sliced in ¼ - ½ inches pieces

Use green part of leek. Get tough pieces off and 1-2 layers of white part of leek.

Put chicken into large pot, cover with water. Put next 10 ingredients in pot and bring to a boil, simmer until chicken is done (approximately 45 minutes). Remove chicken from pot, cut meat from bone and chop into pieces; set aside. Put chicken stock through strainer and reheat with the carrots, leeks and onion. Simmer until carrots are soft. Add chicken and vermicelli. Simmer 10 more minutes. If soup is not tasty enough, add another bouillon cube and/or more salt, being careful not to over-salt. If soup is not thick enough, add more vermicelli and simmer until done (another 8-10 minutes).

Chili

5 lbs lean meat
1 pkg Chill Lee’s Chili Mix
1 can beer
16 oz water
2 Tbsp cumin
2 Tbsp New Mexico Ground Red Chiles
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp Accent (msg)
1 tsp salt
3 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
1 large white onion (finely chopped)
1 large jalapeno (take out seeds if fresh)

Brown meat. Brown onion, garlic, and jalapeno together. Before adding liquid, mix onion, garlic, jalapeno, chili mix, and spices in with meat and stir in good. Add tomato sauce, beer, and water. Stir well. Cook chili ground meat for at least two hours, hand cut meat should be cooked for 3-4 hours, and hamburger meat should be ready in 30 minutes.

Chili hints:
Cooking chili is like cooking steak: start with good lean meat.
Seasoning doesn’t start working for about 45 minutes, don’t start adding this and that to it after just a few minutes. Chili does not have to set your mouth on fire to be good!

Freeze your leftovers, it is even better after it has been frozen.

Easy Breakfast Casserole

1 lb sausage, browned (Owen’s)
6 eggs, beaten
2 cups milk
6 slices of bread, cubed
1 cup sharp cheese, grated
1 tsp dry mustard
1 dash of oregano
1 tsp salt

Mix together in a 9 x 13 inch pan. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Bake at 325 degrees for 40 minutes.

I love to make this on the weekend and then warm it up and go on hurried weekday mornings! I call this my casual quiche. Cut a slice and place in a microwave safe bowl, sprinkle a few drops of water around it, cover with a saucer to keep in the steam (to retain moisture), and heat in microwave.

Simple Crockpot Chicken

In a hurry and want to come home to a home cooked meal? This is the ticket!

6 boneless chicken breasts
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 tub of Philadelphia Cream Cheese
6 – 12 pieces thick sliced bacon

Oven Preparation: Preheat oven to 325. Mix the cans of soup and cream cheese in a bowl (I sometimes warm in microwave after combined to melt cream cheese and mix with the soup). Pour mixture into casserole baking dish. Then wrap bacon around chicken breasts and place in mixture. Spoon liquid ingredients over the bacon-wrapped chicken. Bake for up to 1 hour 45 minutes.

Crockpot Preparation: Throw in it all in the crockpot and cook all day on low! Come home to the most tender chicken you’ve ever tasted. The sauce is fabulous as gravy on mashed potatoes!

For low fat diet ~ omit the bacon and omit cream cheese or use low fat cream cheese.
You can experiment with 2 cream of chicken soups, or two cream of mushroom soups ~ I prefer one of each! Same recipe works great with pork chops too!

Very Best Carrot Cake

3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
3 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp baking soda
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1 ½ cups corn oil
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 ½ cups shelled walnuts, chopped
1 ½ shredded coconut
1 ½ cups pureed cooked carrots
¾ cup drained crushed pineapple
Cream Cheese Frosting (see recipe below)
Confectioners sugar for dusting top

Pre-heat oven to 350. Grease two 9-inch layer cake pans (or three small pans) lined with wax paper. Stir dry ingredients into a bowl. Add oil, eggs, and vanilla. Beat well. Fold in walnuts, coconuts, carrots, and pineapple. Pour batter into the prepared pans. Set on the idle rack of the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, until edges have pulled away from sides and cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on cake rack for 3 hours. Fill cake and frost sides with cream cheese frosting. Dust top with confectioners sugar.

Cream Cheese Frosting: (I always double this)
1 8-oz tub mascarpone
6 Tbsp sweet butter, room temperature
3 cups confectioners sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Cream together cream cheese and butter in a mixing bowl. Slowly sift in confectioners sugar and continue beating until fully incorporated. Mixture should be free of lumps. Stir in vanilla

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Lentil Tomato Soup by Rosemary Jensen
Rosio2


1 lb dried lentils
2 32oz boxes chicken broth (I use Pacific brand, which is gluten-free)
2 C water
3 cans diced tomatoes
1 Tbsp Worchestershire Sauce
salt & pepper to taste

Sort and rinse lentils. Add chicken stock and water to dutch oven. Add rinsed lentils and 2 cans tomatos, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes to one hour until lentils are tender and done to your liking. When tender add remaining can of tomatos and worchestershire, adjust salt and pepper. Heat just to boiling and remove from heat.

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Bourbon Slush by Kelly Loach

2 tea bags
1 cup boiling water
1 cup sugar
3 1/2 cups water
6 oz orange juice frozen concentrate
3 oz lemonade frozen concentrate
½ cup bourbon (or more )

Steep tea bags in boiling water for 5 minutes. Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Add remaining ingredients and stir. Freeze and stir several times a day. Once frozen then fill a glass with slush and then add 7 UP and stir. (If you do not have 7 UP then Sprite, etc will work) This slush mixes well with many things.

I used to make it years ago and it was always a hit!!

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Christmas Brunch Frittata by Terry Lyday
TXBlue49

8 eggs
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 T. Land O Lakes Butter
2 cups chopped red & green bell peppers
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Beat together eggs, salt & pepper. Fold in shredded cheese and set aside. Melt butter over medium heat in a 10 inch skillet that's both ovenproof and nonstick. Add green onions(setting aside a bit for garnish) and peppers. Saute until tender. Pour eggs over peppers and onions. Cover and cook it all over a medium-low heat for about 9 minutes. Make sure the eggs are set(look for lightly browned bottom). Turn oven on to broil. Move the frittata from stovetop to oven an broil top about 5 inches from the heat until light browned. Takes about 20-30 minutes, serves 6.

Neiman Marcus Cake

1 box yellow recipe butter cake mix
1 stick margarine, melted
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mixture will be stiff, spread evenly into a greased & floured 13x9 pan. You can also use a spray like Pam instead. Then set dish aside.

Next mix:

1 box powdered sugar
1 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Pour over 1st mixture completely covering it. Bake at approximately 325 degrees for 45-60 minutes.

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MEXICAN CHEESE BALL by Eva Matula
7386eva

This one has authority!

1 tablespoon water
1 ounce onion dip mix
4 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
4 ounces canned chopped green chilies
2 ounces diced pimiento, drained
1/2 cup magonnaise
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Paprika or cayenne pepper
Tortilla chips

In small bowl, mix water and onion dip mix. Set aside. In larger bowl, mix cheese, green chilies and pimiento. Add mayonnaise, butter and cayenne pepper and blend. Add onion dip mixture and mix well. Shape into large ball and sprinkle with paprika or additional cayenne pepper. Serve with tortilla chips.

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Peggy's Best Chicken Tortilla Soup by Peggy McMurtray
Peggys_Antiques

Take a very large pot, big enough for two whole chickens and boil them for 2 hours (or more). Next take the chicken out of the pots and save the chicken stock. Using just the breast of the chicken, shred the chicken and put it back in the chicken stock. (You can use the rest of the chicken meat; I just use the white meat.)

Then in a large frying pan, take 2 tablespoons butter, melt and heat. Stir in 2-3 onions, chopped real fine, 2 bunches of fresh cilantro, cut up small with scissors, 3-4 tablespoons garlic chopped. Saute these ingredients until the onion and garlic are brown. Then add this mixture to the big pot with the chicken stock.

Then add 4 cans Rotel tomatoes, 2 large cans of whole tomatoes, 2 teaspoons cumin and to give it some "spice" either 5 chopped fresh tomatillos or 1/2 cup of chopped pickled jalapenos. Let all of the above simmer for 1-2 hours on the stove or in a crock pot

Crush some tortilla chips in the bottom of a bowl or cup before pouring some of the soup in and then top with grated cheese.


3 Meat Gumbo

2 lbs. Andouille Cajun Sausage
2 lbs. Medium size shrimp (no tails/peeled
1 lg package chicken breasts – frozen
4 large onions
1 large stalk celery
1 package fresh sliced mushrooms
1 lg bottle Louisiana Hot Sauce
1 Bottle Clam Juice
2 large cans diced tomatoes
3 teas Gumbo File spice
1 bunch oregano – fresh
1 bunch thyme – fresh
5 bay leaves
2 teaspoons Creole seasoning blend
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon fresh cracked pepper
1 cup butter
2 packages Zatarans Cajun rice and beans with seasonings
4 quarts water
1 large container vegetable stock

Chop onions and celery. Saute onions and celery in butter. (I used two different frying pans – 1 lb butter in each.)
Saute Cajun Sausage until brown. Cut up into slices like pepperoni. Keep the grease from the sausage.

Defrost the chicken breasts in the microwave. Saute the chicken breasts in the sausage grease until real brown.
Using a LARGE cooking pot with lid, pour vegetable stock and water in the pot and bring to a boil. Add onions and celery. Add bottle clam juice, gumbo file, bay leaves, fresh mushrooms, tomatoes, creole seasoning, sugar, salt, pepper. Cut fresh herbs with a scissor real fine into the pot. Add Louisiana hot sauce to taste. I added about half a large bottle. Dump packages of Cajun rice, beans, and seasonings into this mixture and put on real low simmer.
Next add cut up sausage to the mixture. Then cut chicken into pieces and sauté/brown some more. Drain sausage grease from the chicken, then add the chicken to the mixture.

Let this conconction simmer all night long, adding water if it gets too thick. The next morning, skim off any oil or grease off the top of the pot. Add shrimp about 1 hour before you plan on serving the gumbo. Serve over rice.


Potato Salad

1 – 5 lb package of red potatoes
1 lg container of sour cream (is that a pint?)
Bunch Fresh Dill (cut up real fine with scissor; about ½ cup chopped should do or more depending on taste)
½ cup Mustard
1 teas salt
1/2 teas black pepper (or more depending on your taste)
½ teas cayenne pepper (or more depending on your taste)
1 small onion; chopped real fine
2 large pickles; chopped real fine
½ cup pickle relish (optional;ok if you don’t have it)
Bacon bits

Boil the potatoes leaving the skin on. Cool. Cut the potatoes up leaving the skins on. Mix all the above ingredients together. Sprinkle top with real bacon bits.


Green Beans

1 HUGE can of beans; flat cut is better
1 cup Vinegar
1 1lb pkg bacon
2 large onions; chopped
1 sticks butter
Salt & Pepper to taste

Saute onions and bacon until bacon is crisp. Pour beans in large pan. Add vinegar, butter, and onion/bacon combination. Simmer for several hours adding water if necessary.

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