Tuna Casserole

Tonight:

2(6 1/2oz)can tuna fish, water packed, drained
egg noodles or elbow mac, cooked
1 tsp instant onions
1 can cream of mushroom soup

Place cooked noodles in bottom of a casserole. Top with drained tuna. Sprinkle with onions. Cover with soup; spreading to edges to seal. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

Notes: You can use 1 12 oz can of tuna instead of 2 6 1/2 oz cans. This may be doubled, but cooking time needs to be adjusted.

Mexican Lasagna/ Mexican Blend Herbs

3 pounds hamburger
12 tortillas, cut in half
23 ounces ranch style beans
14 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
10 ounces rotel tomatoes with green chilies
10 ounces cream of mushroom soup
1 onion chopped
1 tablespoon chili powder

Brown meat with onion. Drain. Add chili powder. In a baking dish layer 12 tortilla halves. Place 1/2 of meat on top. Top with beans. Place a layer of cheese over this. Place remaining tortilla halves over this. Mix together remaining meat and sup and rotels, Pour on top. Cover with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Notes: This was way too much for us the first time I made it. So I now make half the recipe. It is very good. The original recipe just called for tortillas as written above. But I've made it both ways, you really want to use corn tortillas. Also instead of using plain chili powder, I used a blend of Mexican spices, about 2 tablespoons. And finally I add a 4 ounce can of sliced mushrooms to the Meat/soup mixture [for half recipe so add 2 for the whole one].


Mexican Blend Herbs

3 Tablespoons oregano
2 tablespoons dry cilantro
1 tablespoon cayenne
2 tablespoons garlic powder
3 tablespoons cumin
pinch cloves
1 tablespoons onion powder
1/2 tablespoon paprika
1 1/2 tablespoon chili powder

Blend well. Store in an airtight container.

Spanish Beef/Chicken

1 whole chicken, boiled and boned
1 (10oz) can cream of chicken soup
1 (10oz) can cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup onion, chopped
4 ounces grated cheddar cheese
crushed tortilla chips

Stir together all ingredients; pour into greased baking pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

Note: Instead of Using Chicken, I used 1 pound browned hamburger meat. This turned out just as good as with the chicken. And I would imagine that it would be good with ground venison, lamb, pork, or other meats; these are the two ways I've tried though.

Shopping Day 10-12-2007

Here it is another week is upon us. Here is the weekly menu list for this coming week.

Spanish Beef
Mexican Lasagna
Baked Potatoes
Tuna Casserole
Pizza Cups
BLT's
Tuna Helper

I will try my best to get the recipe prepared over the weekend posted Monday morning.

Pizza Casserole

Last night we had Pizza Casserole. As always it was delicious! We could eat a lot of this. With too much ado here's the Recipe:

Pizza Casserole:

1/2 package shell pasta
1 roll bulk sausage
1 package pepperoni slices
1 jar pizza sauce
1 package mixed shredded cheese

Cook pasta and drain. Cook sausage and drain. Layer all ingredients [1/2 noodles, 1/2 sausage, 1/2 pepperoni, 1/2 cheese, then top with next layer] Top with sauce [1/2 jar] cook in preheated 350* oven for 25-30 minutes. Do not cover while cooking.

I make my own Pizza and Spaghetti sauces. They are really simple and easy to make.

Sullivan Family Spaghetti Sauce:

15 ounces tomato sauce
8 ounces tomato paste
sage
oregano
garlic powder
basil
thyme
celery salt
rosemary
dill
parsley
vegetables, cooked
meat, cooked
15 ounces diced tomatoes

Combine tomato sauce and tomato paste in a sauce pan and heat and stir until combined. Add seasonings, meats, and vegetables as desired.

For Pizza Sauce use tomato sauce and seasonings. Leave out the meats, vegetables, and diced tomatoes. Simply mix in seasonings as desired.

Pizza

Pizza, Yum.... Tell Me, Who doesn't like Pizza?

Pizza Crust

1 package active dry yeast, or 1 tablespoon
instant yeast
1 1/8 cups warm water
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons oil
3 cups flour

YOur method depends greatly upon which yeast your using. If using regular yeast you must proof it. Mix your yeast with the warm water and sugar. Let stand until bubbly. Add Oil and Salt. Gradually work in as much flour as possibly until you have a stiff dough.

If your using the instant yeast Mix the water, sugar, salt, and oil. Combine yeast and 1 cup flour. Gradually add yeast-flour mixture to water mixture until thoroughly combined. Then proceed in adding flour until a stiff dough is obtained.

Knead dough by hand for 2 minutes. Return dough to greased bowl turning to coat. Let stand in a warm place until doubled in bulk. Spread crust in pan and cover with desired toppings. Bake at 400 degrees until dough is cooked through.


Pizza is always a hit around this house. Last night I ran out of white flour and had to finish with whole wheat flour. It was good this way and Hubby didn't even know it... until I said something about it. .....HUM....

Mixed Beans

Wow, I am amazed at how fast time goes by. Now that the baby is teething I'm having a hard time getting things done.. hence the late posts. She wants to be with Momma every second and I can't type very well with her in my lap. Alas, here goes...

Mixed Beans

I've been looking into sneaky ways to make our meals better for us. Though Hubby is one of those "I'm not eating that Junk people." So I've got to figure out how to sneak the good stuff in. This is the reason for the Cream of Wheat. I cannot get him to eat whole wheat any other way.

1 1/2 cups pinto beans
1 cup black beans
1 cup kidney beans
1/4 cup garbanzo beans or chickpeas
4 chicken bouillon cubes
water
salt
salt pork
1 Tablespoon cream of wheat, optional

Dissolve bouillon cubes in 4 cups of hot water. Wash beans and add to water in pot. And enough water to cover. Boil, adding water as necessary, until garbanzo beans are about half tender, add salt pork. Boil until pork is cooked and garbanzo beans are tender. Gradually add Cream of Wheat; boil a few minutes longer. Salt to taste.

This was absolutely delicious. By the time the Garbanzo beans are done the black beans will have cooked to mush. the Kidney beans will be approaching that point and the pinto beans will be soft. This was served with cornbread [same as before]. My only complaint about this recipe is that the garbanzo beans took too long to cook. I will use an equal portion of one of the others in it's place next time. He liked them [though he adds too much Jalapeno pepper juice to know it they were any good or not], no complaints.

Chicken Jambalaya/ Beans

Chicken Jambalaya

1 large hen or 2 fryers
1-1 1/2 cup olive oil
8 small white onions, minced
1 can Italian tomatoes or tomato paste
2 bell peppers, minced
2 pimentos, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 1/2 cup raw rice
salt
pepper
Tabasco sauce
2 stalks celery, minced
dash oregano
dash rosemary
dash thyme

Cut chicken in pieces and boil 1 1/2 hours in water to which onions, celery, and bell pepper have been added. Then add olive oil, garlic and salt and allow to boil 1 hour longer. Wash rice and add with tomatoes and pimentos to chicken. There should be about 2 fingers of liquid above rice. Add a little water if necessary. Simmer slowly in covered Dutch oven for 30-45 minutes, or until rice is cooked. Stir once or twice while cooking.

[from: Talk About Good, The Junior League Cookbook of Lafayette, Louisiana.]

Beans

Well, instead of the usual pinto beans it's going to be a mixture of pinto beans, kidney beans, and garbanzo beans. I've got tons of them all, and it's just for the sake of using them. Grin.

Well, that's it.

Shoping Day 9-28-2007/ Grilled Hamburgers/ Salad

Ok. Here Goes.. He had three days off and we were all over East Texas in these three days. This is the first time my computer has even been one this weekend. So here's my belated weekly menu and the recipes from the weekend and tonight.


28th
Grilled Hamburgers and hot dogs.

29th
Salad

30th
Chicken Jambalaya

1st
Mixed Beans

2nd
Pizza

3rd
Club Sandwich

4th
Hamburger And Potato Hash


Grilled Hamburgers and Hot Dogs.

This is an interesting feat every time. He's not used to using wood, he's always used charcoal. Given my choice I'd use wood every time. So guess who gets to start the grill and get it ready>>> Imagine that! A guy who doesn't know how to start a wood fire grill. I keep telling him it isn't much different than using charcoal, but he hasn't tried starting it yet. After the grill is ready he does the rest though. [I'll get him taught eventually though. LOL.]

The hamburger patties are the same jane old patties that he makes indoors. But as they are finishing on the grill, he places mushrooms on the top, lets them heat through and then places a slice of cheddar cheese on top of that. once that melts he takes them off the grill. This is delicious.

Salad

Salad is pretty simple and straight forward. Pretty much lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and anything else you'd like to add on your salad. This is a pretty big salad, huge might even be the word. Yes, at this size it's a meal all by itself. Sometimes on a given day it's all we want. Ah, delicious, good ol' salad. [Yes, my nick name could be buggs bunny. Love rabbit food.]

Pizza/ German Chocolate Cake/ Pizza Skillet Casserole

Well, the anniversary of the day I came into this world was alright. We had pizza [Digorno] and German Chocolate Cake [actually a simply a chocolate cake mix with the Coconut Pecan Frosting out of a tub]. Nothing real impressive. He didn't complain.

Here are Recipes for Dinner tonight and Good recipes for the German chocolate Cake and the Frosting [both of which are excellent].

Pizza Skillet Casserole

5 cups egg noodles
1 pound ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
8 ounces tomato sauce
1 package McCormick* Italian Style Spaghetti Sauce Mix
1 cup water
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

Cook egg noodles as directed on package. Brown ground beef and onion in large skillet on medium heat. Drain fat. Add tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce mix and water. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in cooked egg noodles. Top with cheese; cover. Cook on low 5 minutes or until cheese melts.

Servings: 8
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Start to finish: 30 minutes

German Chocolate Cake

1 package sweet chocolate
1/2 cup boiling water
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch salt
1 teaspoon soda
2 1/2 cup sifted caked flour
1 cup buttermilk
4 egg whites

Melt chocolate in boiling water. Cool. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add vanilla to chocolate mixture. Add chocolate mixture to the batter. Sift together salt, and flour, add alternately with butter milk to chocolate batter, beating well after each addition. Beat until smooth. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into batter. Pour into 3 8- or 9-inch greased pans, lightly lined on the bottom with paper. Bake at 350° for 30 to 40 minutes. Cool. Frost with Coconut Pecan Frosting.

Coconut Pecan Frosting

1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
1/4 pound margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/3 cups coconut
1 cup pecans

Combine evaporated milk, sugar, egg yolks, margarine and vanilla in a saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture thickens, about 12 minutes. Add coconut and pecans. Beat until frosting is cool and thick enough to spread on cake.
Yield: enough to frost 1 cake.

Well, dinner went well. He liked all, except the cabbage. But that is OK. It was napa cabbage or bok choy instead of the head cabbage everyone is used to. I used that because it was leftover from the won tons I made a few nights ago. It has only a very light cabbage flavor after it's cooked, so it was ok; I didn't much care for it cooked this way either. Oh, well.

Dinner tonight:

Indoor Barbecued Chicken

Again this is an adaptation of my mother's recipe. She would just simply pour barbecue sauce over the top of some chicken and bake at 300 degrees until they were done. This would turn out O.K. it would often be burned on top though. What I do is dilute the Barbecue sauce down a little bit with water, and baste it periodically during the baking. This prevents it from being burned and keeps the chicken moist as well. This is good, but he doesn't like chicken. He'll eat it though.

Picky Smicky!

I'm creating this blog to chronicle life with a picky eater. The only thing worse than a child who's a picky eater is a Hubby who is! At least with a kid you might be able to get them to try it and when they do they might learn to like it. But when the picky one is an adult they've already tried it and simply don't like it! He doesn't like this, he doesn't like that; so on and so forth. When we first got married I told him, you like next to nothing... you cook. Funny thing about it is he did. Now that I've got a little better handle on what he likes and dislikes, I'm trying to cook more. So this blog is a record of what he likes and dislikes and the recipes to share.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Tonight's menu:

Pinto Beans
Cabbage
Corn Bread
Rice
Cake

Pinto Beans:
My recipe is a simple southern way of cooking beans. Boil them in water until almost tender and add a little ham, a ham hock, or salt pork. Then you cook until they are fairly mushy.

Believe it or not for some one who says he doesn't like beans he sure wants these a lot and eats a lot of them.

Cabbage:
Again a simple southern way of cooking. Chop or tear into pieces, and boil in water until tender. We always add a little bit of something like in the beans for flavor. Salt pork tonight.

Corn bread:
He told me when we first got married that he didn't like corn bread. But he really likes this recipe. It's an adaptation of my mother's recipe, I don't quite like as much cornmeal as is used in typical cornbread recipes, so I simply adjusted the proportions of cornmeal and flour. Also I use undiluted evaporated milk in place of milk. It gives the cornbread a lighter texture and flavor. It just turns out better.

Amanda's Cornbread
1 1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 1/2 cup evaporated milk, undiluted
5 teaspoons oil

Mix flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt. Add egg, milk, and oil; mix until no lumps remain. Pour into an 8-inch square or 9-inch round pan. Bake at 300 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Cake:
I've got a spice cake mix sitting over in the cabinet and I'm gonna make that for dessert. He says he doesn't like frosting and from what I've seen he doesn't have very much of a sweet tooth. So I may or may not frost it.

Well, that's dinner tonight. I hope you like the recipes.