Thursday, January 3, 2008

Fresh Apple Cake

Pare apples and dice to make 4 cups.
Pour 2 cups sugar over apples in large bowl and add 2 beaten eggs.
Let stand for 1 hour.

Then add the following ingredients, mixing well:
1/2 c. oil
2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. chopped walnuts

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes in a greased and floured 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan.

It's even better served with Butter Sauce:
1 cube butter (1/2 cup)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 c. cold water
1 heaping T. cornstarch

In a saucepan, melt butter, add sugar, mix together water & cornstarch, then add to butter/sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, boil 1 minute. Pour over each piece of Apple cake as it's served.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Red Hamburger Enchiladas

1 lb. hamburger
½ minced onion
4 c. grated cheese
2 doz. Corn tortillas
Sauce:
1 pkg. brown gravy mix
1 can tomato sauce
1 lg. can enchilada sauce

Serve with:

Refried beans
Salsa
More Grated cheese
Shredded Lettuce
Tomato
Sour Cream
Scrambled eggs (optional)

Process:

Brown Hamburger & minced onion
Make sauce
fry tortillas
roll hamburger mixture & cheese in tortillas, put in 9x13 foil pan
bag sauce in gallon Ziploc & put on top of rolled enchiladas
put bag of cheese in and cover with tinfoil
write directions on foil & freeze

Directions: Thaw, assemble by pouring sauce over, bake 350 for 30 min, top w/ cheese & bake 10 more minutes uncovered

OAMC Make with: Green chicken enchiladas, soft tacos

Green Chile Enchiladas

1 family size Cream of Chicken Soup
Sour Cream
½ Onion minced
Green chiles
1 lb cooked chicken breasts or turkey (chopped)
2 doz corn tortillas
2 c. Grated Cheddar Cheese


Serve with:

Refried Beans
Salsa
More Grated Cheese
Shredded Lettuce
Tomato


Process:

1. Boil Chicken Breasts in Broth

2. Chop Chicken

3. Saute Onion & Green Chile

4. Mix Chicken & Cheese

5. Fry 2 doz tortillas

6. Roll Chicken/Cheese Filling in Tortillas in 9x13 foil pan

7. Put any leftover chicken cheese along with minced onions, green chiles, sour cream & soup together in gallon Ziploc

8. Put bag of sauce flattened on top of rolled tortillas, add bag of grated cheese, cover with foil, Freeze.

Directions: Thaw, assemble by pouring sauce over, bake 350 for 30 min., top w/ cheese

OAMC Make with: Red hamburger enchiladas, soft tacos, green chile quiche, green chile burros

Crockpot Shredded Chicken

Make it into Burritos, Tacos & Tortilla Soup.

Put about 8 boneless/skinless chicken breasts in your crockpot with 1 jar of salsa, 1 onion chopped, 1 can diced tomatoes, 1 small can diced green chiles, and 1 can chicken broth. (If you're in a hurry, just add chicken and salsa - you can add the other stuff later when you make the soup). Cook about 5 hours on high. Fish out the chicken and Shred the chicken with 2 forks.

Tortilla Soup -
Put one or two breasts worth back into the pot with the soupy stuff and freeze in a gallon Ziploc (zip it and lay it flat, so it will thaw faster) or a large gladware container. Take out to thaw the night before you plan to serve it.

When you're ready to have tortilla soup just add 1 can corn, 1 can pinto beans, and 1 can black beans. I also like to add a can of refried beans for our big family, and sometimes it needs another can of tomatoes or chicken broth (to stretch it). Serve with Tortilla Chips and grated cheese. (With all the extra cans of goodness - it's enough for at least 2 meals for my family of 8).

Chicken Tacos -
For tacos just use the shredded meat in taco shells, instead of ground beef. Then decorate with grated cheese, shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, salsa, sour cream, etc. Make burritos with any leftover meat and freeze them for later!

Shredded Chicken Burritos -
Take 1 large tortilla, add refried beans (I warm a large can with about 1/4 cup water, 1/2 cup grated cheese, and 1/4 cup salsa), shredded chicken, and grated cheese. Then I roll them, and wrap them in tinfoil, stick them in a freezer ziploc and freeze. When you're ready to serve them, unwrap and microwave for 1 minute, turn over, and warm 1 minute more (maybe 2 depending on your microwave.) Of course, you can have them fresh too, then make up your leftovers into more burritos to freeze.

Sausage Gravy

1 lb. hot sausage or bacon/sausage, cooked and crumbled and set aside (save grease)

Make a roux by mixing/melting butter, grease, and flour over medium heat:

8 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. reserved sausage grease (call it drippings if it makes you feel better about it- you can leave it out, but it won't taste as good.)
10 Tbsp. flour

Slowly add 4 cups milk while stirring constantly, so you don't get lumps.
Cook over medium heat, add salt, pepper, and garlic salt to taste (I'd guess 1/2 to 1 tsp of each, take it slow and test along the way.) Add drained sausage.

Since I don't usually use a recipe my gravy comes out different every time. With our large family I make 4 cups of gravy. If that is too much for you, you can certainly halve the recipe, but you can also pour any leftover into a freezer bag or container and freeze it. With a roll of biscuits and some scrambled eggs, you can have a meal ready in minutes!

Quiche

from BH&G New Cook Book - My Fave!!!

3 beaten eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 c. chopped green onion
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
dash ground nutmeg
3/4 cup chopped cooked chicken, ham, etc.
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (swiss, cheddar, jack, or havarti - 6 oz.)
1 T. all-purpose flour

Preheat oven according to package instructions, prepare pastry crust (I use ready crust that comes in a roll or else a regular freezer pie crust). Bake crust as for 1 crust pie.

Meanwhile, in a bowl stir together eggs, milk, onion, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Stir in cooked meat. Toss together grated cheese and flour. Add to egg mixture; mix well.

Pour egg mixture into hot pastry shell. Bake in 325 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes or till a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. If necessary, cover edge of crust with foil to prevent over browning. Let stand for 10 minutes. Serves 6.

Other great quiche combinations: cheddar, green chile, onion & sausage; swiss, onion, spinach & bacon; ham & cheddar; mushroom, cheddar, bacon; anything that sounds good to you. (Saute the veggies/ cook the meat, before adding so that most of the liquid is out of them.)

Monti's Roman Bread

Make 1 recipe bread dough (I add a tablespoon each of minced onion,and italian seasoning or oregano to bread dough with the warm water). Let rise once, then punch down and roll out into greased jelly roll pan. Poke about every 2 inches with fingers to leave indentions, brush with olive oil, sprinkle with kosher salt and rosemary. Let rise until doubled. Bake 15 to 20 minutes in 400 degree oven.

Got leftovers? Slice in half, butter insides and toast under broiler, top with pizza fixings, or makes an amazing bun for burgers or deli sandwiches!