Great Sweet Smoothie for Kids

Sorry no photo for this one. I made me one this morning and it was sweet but something I know kids would enjoy for breakfast and loads of calcium plus no cooking.

Ingredients for one adult size serving:

1 1/2 cups vanilla frozen yogurt (one the ice cream isle)
3 TBS of Smucker's Strawberry Jelly
1/4 cup of milk

Directions:
Put all ingredients in the blender on high until well blended. A little too sweet for hubby and myself but kids would LOVE this!

Opal's Easy and Yummy Pot Roast and Gravy

I love this recipe because the gravy literally makes it's own gravy while cooking. You can cook it in the oven, on the stove or in the crockpot. I prefer in the crock pot. As you can see we had mashed potatoes and Normandy blend vegetables as sides.

Ingredients:

Pot Roast (I made a 2 1/2 pound roast any bigger and you need to double the following ingredients)
Can of Cream of Mushroom
Can of Cream of Celery
Package of Onion Soup Mix

Directions:

Place Roast in crockpot, mix the soups in a bowl and pour it all over the pot roast. If cooking in the crockpot cook on low about 10 to 12 hours or on high for 4 to 6 hours. The soups mix with the roast juice and make their own gravy. It falls apart and is so YUMMY and easy... Enjoy!

My Husband's Meat Loaf and Myself trying out Copy Cat Cracker Barrel Hash Brown Casserole

I know I know I am running behind. My MIL came to stay with us Friday evening and so my husband cooked his Mom's meatloaf (with her help) and I made a different version than normal of Copy Cat Cracker Barrel Hash Brown Casserole. So here is a post of two recipes that go great together. We also had a vegetable medley of summer vegetables on the side.

Barbara's Meat Loaf

Ingredients:

2 pounds hamburger meat
2 eggs
1/2 can of Italian Flavored Bread Crumbs
1 small can of tomato sauce
1/2 small chopped onion
2 tsp Garlic Powder
2 tsp black pepper
Worcestershire Sauce to taste but Jason and Barbara use a lot of it.

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in a big bowl. Pat into a loaf and bake in a 9 by 13 cake pan at 350 oven for about an hour.


Copy Cat Hashbrown Casserole:

I tried this recipe with the option of either two cups of grated cheddar cheese (which I did) or 1 cup of grated cheddar cheese and one cup of cut up cubes of velveeta which I highly recommend and will do myself next time. What I really liked about this version is you fry the hash browns before you make the casserole. I also eliminated the salt.

Ingredients:

1 stick of butter
2 pounds of hash browns ( defrosted it frozen)
1 small onion chopped
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon of Olive Oil
2 cups of cheddar cheese ( You can also you 1 cup of cheese and use one cup of Velveeta)
1 can of cream of chicken soup ( 10 3/4 ounces) 



 Directions:




1. Preheat oven to 350 – oil or butter a 9×13 pan and chop onions
2. Melt butter in hot skillet then add onions. Once the onions are browning add the defrosted hash browns and add oil.
3. Cook until the hash is browning and tender.
4. Next take a large bowl and mix cheese and soup together.
5. Place the hash browns in the large bowl with the cheese and mix.
6. Place mixture into 9×13 pan .
7. Pop the pan in the oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Indian Tacos (Easier than you think)

This evening we had Indian Tacos. It's a very simple recipe especially since I didn't make them with home-made chili. The fry bread is a recipe that is simple and was given to me by a restaurant manager.

Ingredients:

Fry Bread is made with self rising flour and water. Oil for frying.

Toppings include:
Ranch Style Beans
Hormel Chili without beans (or if you have it on hand some left over home made chili)

Garnishments can include:
Cheese
Sour Cream
Onions
Lettuce
Any other toppings you wish

Directions:
Mix self rising flour and water until sticky (no measurements just make what you need), roll out on a floured surface and fry in hot oil turning once until browned on both sides.

Cook the Ranch Style Beans and Hormel Chili in different pans. Put a piece of fry bread on your plate, then cover with beans and chili and then your garnishments.

Quick, easy and oh so good... enjoy!

Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings

NOTE: This was from a couple of days ago. For some reason blogger.com wasn't letting me upload the photo.

Still the new stove sits unused. There is a problem with the gas line so the plumber needs to come and look at it. So, last night I put 4 large chicken breasts in the crock pot. Sprinkled them with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Poured enough water in to cover them and cooked them on low overnight. They came out perfect and ready for this recipe plus gave me the chicken broth that I needed for it, too.

I know above that I said I cooked 4 large chicken breasts but that is because I made a double recipe you should only need two for the recipe below.

Ingredients:

2 large chicken breasts cooked and shredded
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
20 oz chicken broth
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 16oz can biscuits

Directions:

Mix all ingredients (except biscuits) in the crock pot. Then tear each biscuit in four sections and put all in the crock pot. Stir well to mix the biscuits. Cook on low for 4 to 6 hours or until biscuits are well cooked. Enjoy!

Crock Pot Pinto Beans

I know that Pinto Beans is usually a cold weather dinner but I've been craving them because it's been so long since we ate them. Plus there are lots you can do with the leftovers.

Directions:

To cook quicker you can soak the beans in water over night and then rinse and start cooking. You can also boil on the stove and once they are to a rolling boil turn off heat and let set covered for an hour the rinse and cook or you can do what I did which was put the beans dry into the crock pot and cook on high for about 12 hours without precooking. If you soak or cook first then cook on low for 12 hours or on high for about 4 to 6 hours.

Ingredients:

2 or 3 Ham Hocks placed in the bottom of the crock pot
1 16oz package of dry pinto beans
2 packages of dry onion soup mix
water to cover all (check back often to see if more water needs to be added)

Serve by itself or with fresh baked corn bread. Can also be served over rice.

Best Enchiladas I've Ever Made and Eaten

It took ten years of searching and experimenting with different Enchilada recipes before I found "the" one. I have family and friends that ask me to cook them and even ones willing to drive 70 miles to my house just to eat them. I'm told they are better than in the restaurant and I completely agree. Here is my famous Cheese Enchilada Recipe...

I eye ball the cheese when rolling the Enchiladas and usually use more than it calls for and you can also make without the onions if desired...
Ingredients
chili gravy (adapted from a Robb Walsh recipe) - makes 2 cups
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1-1/2 tsp powdered garlic
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano (Mexican oregano is preferred if it’s available)
2 T chile powder
2 cups chicken broth (or water) (I used a combination of both)
For the cheese Enchiladas (makes 8)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
8 corn tortillas
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese... I use monterey jack and cheddar
One medium onion, diced
2 cups chili gravy

How to make it

Chili Gravy:
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.
Stir in the flour and continue stirring for 3 to 4 minutes, or until it makes a light brown roux. Add all the dry ingredients and continue to cook for 1 minute, constantly stirring and blending ingredients. This browns fast so don't over do or you will have a very burnt tasting gravy.
Add chicken broth or water, mixing and stirring until the sauce thickens.
Turn heat to low and let sauce simmer for 15 minutes or so. Add water to adjust the thickness. Pull off heat to cool.

NOTE: I mix all the dry ingredients up before I start the Chili Gravy so that I can quickly pour the ingredients in so it doesn't burn while measuring it all out.

For the Cheese Enchiladas:
Preheat the oven to 450.
Heat the tortillas in the microwave for a couple of minutes or put them in foil completely covered and in the hot oven for about 10 minutes.
Pour 1/2 cup of chili gravy in a baking pan.
Take a tortilla, put 1/4 cup of cheese and 1 tablespoon of onion in the center and roll it.
Place rolled tortilla in baking dish, seam side down.
Continue with remaining tortillas.
Take remaining chili gravy, and pour it over the rolled tortillas.
Sprinkle remaining cheese and onions on top.
Bake for 10 minutes or until sauce is bubbly and cheese is melted. Let cool for about 5 minutes before serving with refried bean and rice.

NOTE: I do NOT soften the tortillas for a second in hot oil instead I put a bunch of them in a large zip lock baggie and heat in microwave for two to three minutes. If you don't have a microwave make several stacks of ten tortillas wrapped in foil and put in the oven for a few minutes. ALso, depending on the size of your pan you may need more than 1/2 cup of chili gravy in the bottom. I eye ball putting chili gravy in the bottom and on top of them.

For my big family I usually have to times this recipe by four.