Chili Mac

 1 lb pasta, cooked

Fry one can of corn, drained, or 2 cups of frozen corn

Stir in 2 can chili, and pasta. 

Melt in 3 oz cream cheese, and a sprinkle of shredded cheese. 

Serve with Trader Joe’s elote corn chips

Chili

 1 diced onion, cooked

2 t garlic

1 lb cooked ground turkey or beef

1 can beef broth

1 can diced tomatoes

2 T chili powder

2 canned chipotle chilis in adobo sauce, diced

2 T adobo sauce from can

Add water if necessary  serve with blue corn tortilla chips, plain Greek yogurt, and shredded cheese  

Crock Pot Beef Tips

This was one of few amazing recipes from my 30 new recipes challenge in May.  My neighbor also made it for her challenge. We both found we needed WAY more butter to make a roux, there just wasn't much fat left from the beef. Recipe from Carlsbad Cravings.

Beef Tips and Gravy

1 T. olive oil
1 1/2 stew meat or sirloin, bite size chunks
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1 onion
4-6 garlic cloves

1 T. butter
1/2 c. flour
4 c. beef broth
1 T. beef bouillon
1 1/2 t. sugar
1/2 t. parsley
1/2 t. paprika
1/4 t. oregano

Heat oil in skillet.  Season meat with salt and pepper, and sear in pan. Put in crockpot and add onions and garlic.  Melt butter in pan with juices.  Add flour, and slowly incorporate broth.  Stir in remaining ingredients and cook until gravy thickens.  Pour into crockpot and stir.  Cook 3-4 hours high, or just keep cooking until the meat is tender.

Aunt Jeuney's Pesto

Pesto Sauce
2 cups (pressed) basil
1/2-3/4 cups pine nuts
1/4-1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Process nuts, salt and garlic a little to break up nuts. Add basil and oil and process until smooth. Add cheese and process to blend. 

Taco Stack

Taco stack is a long time favorite. It's really easy to double and feed the neighborhood.

Taco Stack
1 lb ground beef
1 onion
1 can tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1 package taco seasoning
12 corn cortillas
1 pound shredded cheddar cheese.

Brown beef with onion.  Drain fat.  Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, and taco seasoning.  Simmer 10 minutes.

Place 1/4 c mixture in the bottom of 9x13 pan.  Layer tortillas, meat mixture, and cheese in two stacks of 6 tortillas.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Serve with sour cream and green onion.

Crockpot Chicken Spaghetti

This is, like, not even a recipe.

4-5 chicken breasts
1 jar spaghetti sauce
8 hours on low in the crock pot

Serve over spaghetti with parmesan cheese.

Tomato Chicken Penne

A simple one pot pasta dish, other than it assumes you have cooked chicken lying around

Tomato Chicken Penne

2 1/2 c penne
1/2 c. onion
1 T. olive oil
2 T. chicken broth
2 c. cooked chicken
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1/2 c. parmesan cheese
1/2 c. whipping cream
1 can sliced olives

Cook pasta.  Saute onion in oil.  Stir in broth, cook for 1 minute.  Drain pasta and add to skillet.  Add remaining ingredients.  Cook and stir until heated through and slightly thickened.

Thai Pasta Salad

The printed email from which I first got this recipe (one of John's coworkers at BYU) is dated 2004, so I've been making this a long time.

Thai Pasta Salad
1 package bow tie pasta
1 t. crushed red pepper
1/2 c. oil (I do a mixture of grape seed, olive, and sesame.  Don't use too much EVOO, it's overpowering).
1/4 c. honey
1/4 c. soy sauce
3/4 t. salt
6 T. cilantro
6 T. green onions

honey roasted peanuts
sesame seeds

Cook pasta and drain.  In saucepan, heat red pepper and oils for 2 min.  Add honey, soy sauce and salt. Mix well and pour over pasta.  over and refrigerate at least 4 hours.  When ready to serve, add cilantro, green onion, peanuts and sesame seeds

Ramen Cabbage Salad

Ramen Cabbage Salad
1 head cabbage
4 green onions
3 chicken breasts, sliced and cooked
1 package chicken flavored ramen noodles
mandarin oranges
slivered almonds

Cabbage Salad Dressing
1/2 c. oil
3 T. sugar
3 T. vinegar
1 t. salt
1 t. pepper
1 packet Ramen seasoning

Creamy Asparagus Pasta

I created this dish to replicate something I ate frequently at an American restaurant in Bangalore.

Creamy Asparagus Pasta
3 c. pasta
1 lb asparagus
1/2 can diced tomatoes
1/2 c. chicken broth
3 oz cream cheese
3/4 t. italian seasoning
1/2 c.cheese
grilled chicken
parmesan cheese
bacon! optional, I just came up with that.

Cook the pasta, adding the asparagus the last few minutes to cook.  Drain. Melt the cream cheese in the pan.  Stir in the chicken broth.  Add the seasoning, and stir the pasta and asparagus back in.  Stir in the cheese until melted.  Top with chicken and parmesan cheese.

Mini Meatloaves

Mini Meatloaves aka Meatloaf Muffins

1 lb ground beef
1 package StoveTop stuffing
1 c. water
mozzarella cheese
ketchup

Mix meat, stuffing mix and water until well blended.  Press evenly into 12 muffin cups.  Make an indentation in each and squirt 1 T. of ketchup on top.  Bake 30 minutes at 375 until cooked  Top evenly with cheese.  Continue baking 5 minutes to melt cheese.

BBQ Pork Sandwiches

BBQ Pork Sandwiches

1 pork tenderloin cut into four pieces
1/2 c. BBQ sauce
1 T. apple cider vinegar
1/4 c. water

Simmer in a saucepan until tender, about 20 minutes.

Shred and serve on Hawaiian sweet rolls.

Chili Cheese Dog Casserole & Cornbread

This sounds gross, but for some reason, is really delicious.  Also, from scratch cornbread recipe, if I ever need that for anything else.

Cornbread Recipe
3/4 c. flour
1/3 c. sugar
1/4 c. cornmeal
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1/2 c. 2 T. milk
1 egg
1/6 c. oil
1 1/2 T. butter

mix dry, mix wet, add and stir just until blended.

Chili Cheese Dog Casserole
1 c. green pepper
1/2 c. onion
1/2 c. celery
1 T. olive oil
1 pkg hot dogs, cut up
1 can chili with beans
1 T. brown sugar
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. chili powder
1 c. shredded cheddar

Put 1/2 cornbread mix in 9x9 dish.  Saute pepper, onion and celery in oil.  Stir in hot dog saute 3 min. Stir in chili, sugar, garlic powder, chili powder and heat through. Stir in 3/4 c. cheese. Spoon into dish.  Spread remaining batter on top. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.  Bake 350 28-32 min or until toothpick comes clean from cornbread.

Crock Pot Ranch Chicken

This recipe was a hit, and it's a great one to double and freeze, or share with a friend.

Crock Pot Ranch Chicken
4 chicken breasts
Potatoes
Carrots
Green beans
1/4 c oil
1/4 c red wine vinegar
2 pkg ranch dressing mix 

Lemon Glazed Chicken

I've made this recipe several times. Kids love it. I love it. Any time I make dinner and don't sit down to a chorus of complaints, win

Lemon Glazed Chicken

1 1/2 lb chicken
Salt and pepper
Cornstarch
A little Sesame oil
Olive oil

Cut up chicken into bites. Season well with salt and pepper. Dip in cornstarch and fry in hot oil until lightly browned.

For the lemon sauce:
1 c chicken broth
1 t lemon zest
1/3 c lemon juice
2 T soy sauce
3 T honey
1/2 t ginger
2 T cornstarch

Whisk together. Add all the chicken back into the pan and add the sauce. Cook until the sauce is thickened and the chicken is cooked.

Stuffed Shells

Freezer-Friendly Stuffed Shells recipe

16 shells, cooked
1 pkg spinach
1 c. cottage cheese
1 c. mozzarella
2 c. pasta sauce
1/4 c. parmesan

Cover with foil. Bake at 375 25-30 minutes.

Easy to double and freeze! I'm always amazed that my kids will actually eat this.

Refried Beans

I finally learned how to make these well.  It's so cheap to make refried beans from dried pintos and my whole family loves them with homemade tortillas.

Refried Beans in the Crock Pot
2 lb dry pinto beans
10 cups water
1 onion, finely diced (or half an onion tossed in, and pull it out after)
3 T minced garlic
2 t cumin
1 t pepper
1-2 T salt

Mix in the crock pot and cook on high 6 hours.  Mash wit ha potato masher until the desired consistency.  Sometimes I need all the water and sometimes I don't, so I usually scoop some out and save it to see if it's needed, rather than risk the beans being too runny.

Sour Cream Enchilada Sauce

I made an enchilada sauce that was really good. I didn't actually make enchiladas with it, just layered cooked chicken, cheese, and torn up corn tortillas.

3 T. butter
3 T. flour
2 c. green enchilada sauce (mild)
1 cup sour cream

Mix the butter and flour together in a sauce pan. Slowly add the enchilada sauce and bring to a boil. Stir in the sour cream and heat, but don't boil.

Pizza Pretzels

I began making pizza for dinner last night and the kids ran in and asked if I was making pretzels. Well, why not? Pizza pretzels were born. We've had these at Wetzel's Pretzels, so it wasn't an original idea, but I'd never made them before.

Also, I recently discovered that my pizza dough and pretzel dough recipes are exactly the same. Embarrassingly, they are printed right above each other on the paper I've been reading them off for four years. Here's the recipe again:

1 T. yeast
1 c. warm water
1 T. sugar
2 T. oil
2 1/2-3 c. flour

For the pizza (and pizza pretzels), I add a couple teaspoons of minced garlic. I don't usually let my pizza dough rise, but I usually go through the double rising process with pretzels. However, since I had planned on making pizza, I didn't have time. So I skipped it and they were fine. The dough was actually amazing and I think it's because I added a squirt of the soy lecithin that's been lying around my kitchen unused for several years. It made the dough really stretchy, satiny, and it looked like the pretzel dough the bakeries use.  If you're interested in this, I found a helpful article on dough enhancers.

Once the dough was mixed, I made the usual pretzel shapes, skipping both rising steps.

Boil them in baking soda water for 10 seconds on each side. Sprinkle plenty of mozzarella cheese and add some pepperoni slices.

Bake the pizza pretzels at 425 for 10-12 minutes. 

Red Pepper Risotto with Grilled Chicken

Red Pepper Risotto
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons butter, divided
1/2 onion, diced
2 red bell peppers, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 1/2 cups arborio rice (risotto rice)
1 quart chicken broth (4 cups)
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
4 chicken breasts, grilled (optional)

Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter with the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and peppers and cook until translucent.

In a separate pot, heat the chicken broth.

Add the remaining 1 tablespoon butter and the rice to the onion and peppers. Stir and cook just until the rice is coated in butter and begins to be translucent.

Add two ladles of hot broth. Stirring constantly, cook the risotto over medium heat, adding a ladle of broth just before the rice gets dry. If you run out of broth, add hot water until the rice is cooked and creamy.

 Remove from heat and stir in the parsley, lemon juice and cheese. Serve immediately with grilled chicken (4 servings) or as a side dish (6-8 servings).