Elementary Chef

It’s fun to experiment in the kitchen especially when you use some of your favorite ingredients. A few years ago, I was trying to use up some leftovers when I stumbled upon something that I thought tasted pretty good. I call it Southwest lasagna and it’s the easiest recipe ever.

What you will need -

Flour tortillas(whole wheat)
1 can chili
1 can corn
1 can black beans
1/2 cup cheddar cheese

Open your cans and then begin to put the dish together by starting with a layer of tortillas. Then add a layer of chili, black beans, and corn. Then add another tortilla and repeat with the layer of chili, beans, and corn. End with a tortilla layer and dribble the remaining chili on top. Then add cheese. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

You can add your favorite Southwest flavors like black olives, sour cream, etc. to the top of the lasagna for more flavor.

This weekend we have family visiting. My sister-in-law brought me a starting kit for Amish Friendship bread along with the recipe. Apparently this Amish bread is making the rounds in her hometown. I’m vaguely familiar with it but knew that you split your batter and then gave it to your friends. She did bring two loaves that she had made and I have to admit that it is really good bread. It’s a sweet bread that would make a great dessert to be served with coffee.

I recently bought a bread maker, so spending 10 days making one loaf of bread when I can do it in three hours is unappealing. But since I did taste the bread I know that it is worth the trouble. On the 10th day, you add the rest of the ingredients to make your bread. You can find variations on the recipe.

My instructions say that the only way to get a starter is to have one given to you. Well I’m too much of an Internet geek to believe that and found the Amish started recipe online.

You can’t use metal mixing bowls with the recipe and you shouldn’t refrigerate the mixture. There are several days that all you have to do is stir or mash(in a Ziploc bag) the starter. A good idea is to mark on your giveaway starters the date. That way it will be easy for your friends to remember which day they are on in case they lose track.

I can’t wait to break the bread and am tempted to save the other starters to do some bread experiments. I might give a few away but since I’ve been on a bread making kick lately, don’t hold me to it.

This week I made manicotti. It has been a while since I made any but my husband loves it. I’m not sure how authentic my recipe is to other manicotti recipes. I just kind of put in what we like and leave it at that.

For my filling, I use 1 pound lean ground beef and 1/2 pound of turkey sausage. Once it has browned, I drain it and then add some spaghetti sauce and about 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese.

I cook the manicotti for 9 minutes. I let the water boil and then add the pasta. I always wind up with at least two spilt manicotti. I just stuff and roll it up. I place more sauce on the bottom of my casserole dish and then place my stuffed manicotti into the pan. If I have some meat left, I just add it to the top with the rest of the sauce. I cover with cheese and then bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

It’s probably missing some other ingredients you might find in other recipes but this works for us.

A very quick and hearty meal is taco soup. While spring is nearly here, there are still plenty of cool nights to enjoy a bowl of soup. Taco soup is fairly easy to make. All you need is to gather your favorite foods and begin. Here is how I make taco soup.

1 pound lean ground beef
1 can corn
1 cup salsa
1 can black beans
1/2 can green chilies
1/2 chopped tomato
1 packet ranch dressing
1 packet taco seasoning

Brown the ground beef and add all ingredients into a big sauce pan. Then add a couple of cups of water or more if desired. Then let soup cook for twenty minutes until it begins to thicken. Serve with tortilla chips in lieu of crackers. Also add grated cheddar cheese and sour cream on top of individual servings if desired.

Mashed potatoes are one of our favorite foods. My husband loves them and so do I. Even the girl loves them and will eat them when she won’t eat anything else. My husband loves the instant mashed potatoes that I’m not a fan of. I didn’t grow up eating them so it’s taken 14 years of being together for me to finally come around to actually serving them every now and then.

But to me mashed potatoes are made from scratch. One of my favorite variations of mashed potatoes is garlic mashed potatoes. Oh they are so yummy. I could eat them and nothing else for a meal.

When I make garlic mashed potatoes, I start by making mashed potatoes but with a slight difference. I leave the skin on the potatoes. So after washing the potatoes, I cut them up in cubes so they will cook faster.

Once the potatoes are done, I mash them up and add butter, sour cream, and garlic. I have garlic in a jar instead of the garlic cloves since I don’t often cook with garlic. Sometimes I even use garlic butter. I melt butter and add some garlic powder. Then I add it to the potatoes. Garlic powder is cheap if you get the generic store brand. It’s good to have around to add the garlic flavoring but don’t have any garlic on hand.

Garlic mashed potatoes give plain ole mashed potatoes a culinary makeover. It’s also very simple to pull off garlic mashed potatoes. Just add a touch of garlic flavoring(or more if you really love garlic) to really spice up those dull mashed potatoes.

Spaghetti makes a wonderful meal for several reasons. It’s easy to cook. It takes about 20 minutes. And it can be really cheap. My mom always made spaghetti on grocery day since she was always pressed for time. Here is how I make my spaghetti.

1 box of thin spaghetti(I use about half a small box or 1/3 or a big box)
1 lb lean ground beef (you can use ground beef, turkey, chicken..)
1 can Hunt’s meat spaghetti sauce

Get a sauce pan and fill with water. Bring water to a boil. At the same time brown beef in a skillet. When water comes to a boil, add spaghetti. Let cook until spaghetti is at the tenderness you like. When beef has browned, drain off any grease. Once you have drained your spaghetti, add it to the beef in the skillet. Next add spaghetti sauce.

Let spaghetti simmer on low for 5 minutes before serving.

I like to use thin spaghetti since it cooks faster than regular spaghetti. Sometimes I even use Angel Hair pasta since it cooks up really fast.

We always have Parmesan on hand to put on top of the spaghetti. When I was a kid, I would always use good ole American cheese. I would place it on the bottom of my plate and then add the spaghetti,. The spaghetti would then melt the cheese and boy was it delicious.

Add some garlic bread and you have a great meal that was fast and easy. You can make spaghetti for under $7 - probably even cheaper than that depending on the ground meat.

It just isn’t Mardi Gras unless I’ve had some King Cake. The King Cake is really more like a cinnamon roll than cake. Well if you slathered icing all over your cinnamon roll. Most King Cakes come with a filling like cream cheese or strawberry. This just adds to the rich taste of the cake.

The history of the King Cake dates back to the 12th century. The cake was made in conjunction with the celebration of Three Kings Day that is also close to the beginning of Mardi Gras. The cake is made in a circle to signify the route taken by the kings to see the Christ child. Something was hidden into the cake to represent how Christ was hidden after his birth from the king. Now a baby is hidden in the cake and whomever finds the baby has to buy the next King Cake.

Here is a simple King Cake recipe to enjoy.

For cake and filling:

1 box (16 ounces) Pillsbury Hot Roll Mix, prepared according to directions on box
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/3 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
For icing:
2 cups confectioner’s sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons water
1 cup granulated sugar (large crystals)
3 or 4 drops of purple, green or yellow food coloring.

Preheat oven to 375F.
Cream the butter, sugar and cinnamon together.

Make the dough by following the instructions on the Pillsbury Hot Roll Mix package. Put half the dough onto a floured surface, and roll into a 2-foot-by-1- foot rectangle. Spread half the butter and filling mixture on top of dough.

Roll the dough toward you into a long circular shape approximately 2 inches in diameter. Do the same with the second half of the dough. Place dough roll seam-side down on a well-greased baking sheet. Curve each roll to form the circle and pinch ends together.

Cover and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes or until doubled in size.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.

To prepare the icing, mix the sugar, lemon juice and water.
Slowly add more water by the teaspoon until it spreads as easily as a thin icing.
Place 1/3 cup sugar in three small jars. Add three drops of food coloring to each. Cover with lid and shake.

Coat the cake top with glaze. Sprinkle colored sugars in 2- to 3-inch alternating rows of purple, green and yellow.

Do you love to create your own recipes or have you ever thought about trying to create one? Recipe contests can net you some extra cash and prestige. From the county fair to the online contests to national TV shows, there are plenty of places to enter recipes.

But first let’s talk about what makes a good contest recipe. First the recipe needs to be good and well tested. Enlist anyone you can to sample your dish and to give honestly brutal feedback. It’s so important to get several taste buds’ opinion of your recipe to be able to tweak it properly.

Don’t go for over complicated. In fact the simpler you can make it, the better. I’m surprised to see so many winning recipes to be something that I could make in my home right now. There’s no fancy spices but just everyday kitchen staples or at least ingredients I can find at my local grocer. While it might be tempting to use some exotic seasonings, remember that your recipe will most likely be featured and there will be a lot of people testing it out. You don’t want them not to be able to make it and neither do the judges or sponsors.

If the recipe contest is sponsored, then, if possible, use one of their products in your recipe. This might even be a requirement for some contests. Be sure to read all of the rules carefully. If you have to use an ingredient, then make it a cornerstone ingredient instead of something just thrown in to meet the rules.

When naming your recipe, make it stand out. A unique name will make a lasting impression and could pique more interest in your dish.

Work on presentation. The better the dish looks on the plate, the more likely it is to be remember favorably.

Now are you ready to hit the kitchen and start working on that winning recipe? Well here are a few recipe contests that might be of interest:

Tillamook Macaroni and Cheese contest

Taste of Home’s Best Loved Recipe contest

National Beef Cook-off

Chocolate Recipe Contest

Pillsbury Bake-off

Contessa’s Breakfast Recipe Contest

International Pancake Day Cooking/Recipe Contest

Meatloaf is one of those staple meals that everyone should have a good recipe for. It’s fast and easy. Sometimes meatloaf is not always scrumptious. My philosophy when it comes to meatloaf is to keep it simple. The more ingredients you add, the less appealing it becomes. So here is a simple meatloaf recipe that I turn when I want to make this very delicious meal.

What you will need -

2 lbs. ground meat
3/4 cut ketchup
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 can 8 oz. tomato sauce
1 packet of onion soup mix
1/4 cut hot water

Combine everything together except for the tomato sauce. Mix thoroughly. Then place it into a greased baking or loaf pan. Pour tomato sauce over top. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.

For added flavor, place strips of bacon over top of meatloaf before adding the tomato sauce.

You can also substitute the ketchup with barbecue sauce for more flavor.

You can use chopped onions instead of the onion soup mix.

For a lighter meatloaf, use lean ground beef or turkey. If you use turkey, then you may want to mix some ground beef in it or use extra ketchup as ground turkey is very dry.

This is a basic meatloaf. It has plenty of taste to it but you can always add green peppers or other family favorites to it.

Meatloaf makes a very good foundation for any meal. Serve with potatoes to have a really good comfort food meal. Keeping meatloaf simple not only cuts down prep time but also keeps the flavor in check. Sometimes meatloaf will have too many flavors and therefore is overwhelming. To me a simple meatloaf is best.

Dirt Cake is an easy dessert that is so much fun to make. It also gets quite the reaction from kids - although sometimes it might not be the reaction you were looking for! I made this one Christmas and just knew my nephews would love it. But they wouldn’t even try it and said it looked nasty. I didn’t take offense and was quite pleased that my dirt cake looked so authentic.

Here are the ingredients to make the cake -

1 cup sugar
1 stick of butter
1 8 oz. package of cream cheese
3 1/2 cups milk
2 small packages instand vanilla pudding
1 twelve oz. container of whipped topping
1 large package of Oreo Cookies(crushed)

To make it more fun, you will need -

1 clean flower pot
Some fake flowers
A clean spade for serving
1 package of gummy worms
Cling wrap to line the flower pot

Leave the cream cheese on the counter until it becomes room temperature or at least soft enough to mix. Mix sugar, butter and cream cheese together. Use another bowl to mix milk, pudding and whipped topping together. Combine the two.

Now it’s time to put the cake together. First start with a layer of crushed cookies. Then add a layer of the mixture on top of that. Then add another layer of cookies. End with a layer of cookies. Wrap cling wrap around the bottom of flowers and place in the center of the dessert. Play gummy worms on top of the cake.

I crush my Oreo cookies using my electric chopper but you could use a blender or just break them up with your hands - although that may take a while. Using the chopper really made it look like dirt and not just crushed up Oreos - hence the reason my nephews thought it was nasty.

Today I’ve learned something amazing. You can make your own graham crackers. There are so many times that I have needed graham crackers but don’t have them on hand. A recipe like this would be extremely handy especially for graham cracker crusts on pies or cheesecakes.

I love graham crackers and think it would be very interesting to make your own. This might be something to try sometime soon. The recipe is from AllRecipes.com.

Many people are getting ready for Thanksgiving and possibly guests who will stay with them. I have always loved Thanksgiving. It’s the kick off to the holiday season and is a wonderful holiday because it’s a time for visiting and eating. Here is an easy recipe that can be used at every meal this Thanksgiving. Best of all, it’s easy, fast, and simply delicious.

Cheese Danish

2 packages of Crescent rolls
2 packages 8 oz. cream cheese
1 cup of sugar

First, set out cream cheese until it’s soft. Then mix it with the sugar in a bowl. One you have it mixed well, set aside. Then take a 9×13 inch pan and unwrap one package of crescent rolls. Line the bottom of the pan with these. There’s no need to grease the pan. Now add the cream cheese/sugar mixture on top of the crescent roll dough. Spread it evenly. Then top it with the second package of crescent rolls.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place in oven and cook for thirty minutes or until top is lightly brown. Remove from oven and let cool.

To add more flavor, add your favorite jellies or jams to the mix before cooking. You can even use fresh fruit if you like.

This makes a great breakfast pastry or a nice dessert. Plan to make more than one because this creation will go fast. Cheese Danish is one of my favorite desserts at Thanksgiving. It ranks right up there with pecan pie in my book. It’s a shame since it is so easy to make that we don’t make it more often. But it’s like many treats, it just tastes better during the holidays.

The first time I tried grape salad was at a Christmas party last year. It looked interesting and the cook must have known that people would be skeptical to try it. She had written out the ingredients and placed it beside the salad so that everyone would know exactly what was in this different creation. After reading that it had cream cheese, I knew I was sold and dipped out a spoonful on my plate. That was a great decision as this creation was really yummy. It’s also easy to make, which is always a plus.

Here is what you will need -

1 8 oz. Pkg. Cream cheese
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 8 oz. Pkg. Sour cream
1/2 tsp. Vanilla
2-3 lbs. Red seedless grapes

Topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup toasted chopped pecans

First lay the cream cheese out until it is soft. This will make it much easier to work with. Mix together the cream cheese and sugar. Once you have it well beaten together, add the sour cream and vanilla. Mix it well. Now fold in the grapes. Once those are well mixed in, top the salad with the brown sugar and pecans.

Cover and store in refrigerator until you are ready to serve it. It’s best if the salad has a chance to chill overnight. This makes about 10-12 servings. This recipe is easily doubled if you are making it for a larger crowd.

This recipe is a great one for those holiday get-togethers or office parties. It’s a no fuss, great tasting, salad that even Scrooge would enjoy. Make it low calorie by using low-fat sour cream and low fat cream cheese.

Chicken Rotel is a very easy casserole dish that is both easy and delicious. For those who especially love rotel dip(Velveeta and Rotel tomatoes) will enjoy Chicken Rotel. It’s just a few ingredients. More can be added to give if desired. My college roommate used to make this, so I make it from memory.

You will need -

Cooked chicken(boiled, broiled, pre-cooked, doesn’t really matter)
Velveeta cheese
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 bag of Doritos tortilla chips

Cook and cut up the chicken into 1 inch - or bite-sized chunks. Lay the chicken in a casserole dish and cover with a layer of Doritos. You can crush the Doritos or mix them together with the chicken. Once you have about an equal ratio of chips to chicken, cut up the Velveeta cheese and cover the top with chunks of Velveeta. Next pour the can of Rotel on top of the cheese.

Place in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. If you really like cheese, then add more. You could also add vegetables like corn to make the casserole more tasty and interesting. Substitute chicken for meat for an interesting creation, too. Or even try soft tortillas for a different taste as well.

Chicken Rotel is very easy and is made easier if you buy pre-cooked chicken. I usually just buy the chicken breast and cook them. If you buy the chicken pre-cooked, be sure to select some that is not seasoned or is seasoned with something that will go with the Rotel/Mexican taste of the casserole.

So if you need a quick recipe for supper or a casserole to take to a get-together, chicken Rotel is a good choice.

Sausage balls are an easy appetizer and are perfect for Thanksgiving since they will help to satisfy hungry stomachs while waiting for dinner. Thanksgiving dinner is usually served at 5pm. Everyone begins to gather around 12noon to watch the football games. So we are hanging out all day and need something to snack on. When you have to smell turkey, dressing, pumpkin pie, and other goodies you naturally want to eat something. A serving of sausage balls makes a heaping of them and just a few will help tide over your hungry bunch.

Ingredients -

4 cups Bisquick
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 lbs. hot or mild sausage

Mix all ingredients until they are mixed well. Break up the sausage beforehand so that it is easier to mix it together. Next pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.

Spoon out the mixture and place on a cookie sheet. Now place in the over for 30 minutes. Let it slightly cool and then place onto serving tray. It really is that simple.

This recipes makes a lot of sausage balls - around 60-75 depending on how big of balls you make. You can freeze any cooked sausage balls that you don’t need.

Sausage balls is not only a quick and easy appetizer, but it’s cheap. Also clean up shouldn’t take that long. This kind of appetizer is great for when you are expecting a crowd - like Thanksgiving. You could use a fancy platter or just toss these into a casserole dish. You might want to have toothpicks nearby to make serving a little easier.

Sausage balls are a yummy food for any occasion. Try them this holiday for a way to tide over the hungry masses.