Fantastic Food

We went to my in-law's home a year ago or so (no I don't hate them, they just live a 10 hour drive from me!) and my MIL made sausage pot pie.  I'd only ever had chicken pot pie, which, most of the time, I thought was just "okay".  The sausage pot pie was yummy.  My kids thought it was a gift sent from God from His own table.  My son loved it so much he requested it for his birthday dinner (a good 10 months from then).  And then every month he would bring it up again that he still wanted that for his birthday.  Well the pie was  really good, so I asked my MIL for the recipe.  I'll give you the bad news first:  It had canned EVERYTHING, the worst being a can of mushroom soup.  And store-bought pie crusts. First of all, store-bought crust tastes like cardboard.  It just does, so no thank you.  Also, I sorta have a thing against cooking with canned soups.  I'm not 100% sure why, but I think it is a "must cook from scratch" ...

This one is more of a casserole than bread, but is also considered finger food. Ingredients: 1 can whole kernel corn 1 can creamed corn 1 box corn muffin mix (Jiffy is fine) 1 cup buttermilk 2 eggs 1 stick butter, melted Optional, to taste:   diced green onions OR  diced jalepenos grated cheddar cheese Directions: Drain off 1/2 of whole kernel corn liquid.  Mix everything together.  Pour into greased 8 x 11 baking dish (or the equivalent size you have).  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, until golden brown. Delicious with some spicy chili! (see Major Cajone's chili recipe on this blog)

I haven't had this for a while, but I made it for a friend the other day and remembered how delicious it is.  It's a recipe my Mom made for us growing up; to me it's a wonderfully homey, feel-good meal.  Here is what you'll need: 1 2lb. bag broccoli cuts 1lb. regular ground sausage 1 1/2 cans cream of mushroom soup 1 1/2 cups white rice 1. Cook rice on stove or in rice cooker according to package directions. 2.  Brown sausage. 3.  Cook broccoli according to package directions, and then drain all but about an 1/8 cup water. 4.  Combine broccoli, sausage, and soup together in the pot you cooked the broccoli in, and heat through on stove. 5.  Serve on or beside fluffed rice. You can serve this with baked potatoes instead of rice as well.   I've also put it with pasta and topped the mixture w/ cheese and baked it for 15 minutes.  It's a very versatile concoction, try something at let me know how it goes!  

Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups elbow macaroni, uncooked 1 c. cream-style cottage cheese 1 c. sour cream 2/3 c. cream cheese 1 egg, beaten 5 slices bacon 3/4 t. salt 1/2 t. pepper 1/2 t. garlic powder 8 oz. package shredded cheddar cheese Optional: 1/2 t. crushed red pepper flakes, a couple shakes of Tony Charere's creole seasoning, paprika to taste. Directions: Cook macaroni al dente, according to package directions; drain and set aside. While macaroni is cooking, cook bacon in a skillet until it is well-done (so that it will crumble easily); set aside to cool. Combine cottage cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, egg, and seasonings (minus the paprika). Crumble bacon and add to the cheese mixture. Combine the cooked macaroni and cheese mixture and stir until pasta is well coated. Transfer to a greased 13" x 9" baking pan. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes, or until heated through. Sprinkle with paprika if desired. Makes 6 to 8 servings. This is an excell...

So, I made this up a few nights ago when I wanted to make tinfoil dinners, only to discover I was out of tinfoil after I had cut up the ingredients. Kevin suggested I just make it like a casserole, and now I really like it! 1 lb. ground hamburger Whatever type of hamburger seasonings you normally use Brown sugar 3 potatoes, sliced 1 package sliced frozen carrots (obviously, you can use freshly diced carrots) 1/2 onion, diced frozen peas (as much as you want) 1 can mushroom soup grated cheese basil (or other regular seasonings you like to use) Place hamburger evenly across bottom of 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle hamburger seasonings over top. Sprinkle hamburger with brown sugar. (Brown sugar sounds a little strange, but I love the sweet taste it gives to the hamburger. But the second time we're eating this, Kevin informs me he likes it better without the brown sugar. So you'll have to try it half & half the first time to decide if you like it.) Then place potatoes, carrots...

So this recipe is from a lady that was in my branch growing up. Her version is good, but I like mine a little bit spicy and a little more flavorful, so I will give you her recipe, and then give you the things I like to do differently/in addition. CHICKEN SPAGHETTI 3 to 5 chicken breasts 12 to 16 oz. spaghetti 1/2 to 1 lb. velveeta cheese 1 can cream of mushroom soup 1 can Ro-tel (or diced tomatoes with diced green chiles) 1 can green peas (or 2 cups frozen peas) 1/2 onion, chopped 1 green bell pepper, chopped 3/4 cup butter Jaynee's additional ingredients: 1 tsp. garlic 1 tsp. Tony's Original Creole seasoning (more or less to taste). If you use this, you don't really need to add salt. If you don't use this, then I would suggest adding 1/2 tsp. to 1 tsp. salt. Fresh ground pepper to taste 1 jalepeno, diced mushrooms, sauteed (i don't always do the mushrooms--just if I have them) I don't like canned peas, so I always use the 2 cups frozen peas instead DIRECTIONS: ...

Ingredients: 2 cups dried elbow macaroni 1 1/2 to 2 cups freshly grated cheddar cheese Generous 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese 1 Tbsp. butter 4 Tbsp. white bread crumbs 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil (or 1/2 tsp. dried basil) Salt & Pepper TOMATO SAUCE: 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil 1 Shallot, shopped finely (or half of a small onion) 2 garlic cloves, minced 18 oz. canned, petite-diced tomatoes 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil (or 1 tsp. dried) 1. To make the tomato sauce, heat the oil in a pan over a medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and basil, and season to taste with salt & pepper. Cook, stirring, for 10 minutes. 2. Meanwhile, bring a large pan of lightly salted water to a boil over medium heat. Add macaroni and cook until done (according to package directions). Drain macaroni thoroughly. 3. Mix the grated cheddar and parmesan cheeses together in a bowl. Grease a deep casserole dish. Spoon one third...