Moving to WordPress

I am moving my blog to WordPress.  You can find the new posts here.

Smoothie Recipes

I've done so many smoothie posts lately, that I decided to give them their own page.  They can all be found on Smoothies by ShanonaMommy.

Hobo Dinners

My very picky child raved about how good these were, so I thought it worth posting. You can find the original recipe here.

Hobo Dinners

I will add a picture the next time I make it again.

You will need a square casserole dish to cook this in.

Ingredients

• Ground Beef (amount depends on how big you want the patties to be and how many people you are cooking for)
• Potatoes – one per person if small, ½ per person if big
• Onion Slices – 1-2 slices per person/packet
• Any other veggies you want (we used diced green peppers)
• Seasoning – whatever you think would be good (most of us used Worcestershire sauce, but for the kids, just salt & pepper)
• Pat of Butter
• Heavy Foil

* We let each person pick what they want in their packet.

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Make hamburger patties in whatever size you choose. Season the patty generously. Place each patty in the center of it's own piece of foil (approx. 16in or so). Add veggies to the packet. Feel free to add a bit more seasoning if you want. Place the pat of butter on top of the final concoction. Finally, bring the foil together over the top of it all and seal tight. The final result should look like a hobo bag. Place the foil packets directly on the wire racks in your oven and cook for 1 hour.

Important: The foil packets need to be sealed tight. This will help everything cook properly. Otherwise, you will have dry meat and raw potatoes.

Some people like to add a bit of soup to the packet to make a gravy and add a bit of flavor. Play around with it until you find what you like.

Shepherd's Pie

Normally, this dish is on the plain side, but we've spiced it up, just a bit

Shepherd's Pie

I will add a picture the next time I make it again.

You will need a square casserole dish to cook this in.

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 (15.5 oz) can sloppy joe sauce
• 4 servings of instant mashed potatoes*
• 8 ounces shredded cheese 
• 1 (14.5 oz) can vegetables**
  

* You can use homemade mashed potatoes, if you prefer

**We normally use green beans, but any will do

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (about 205 degrees C).  Cook potatoes according to directions.  Brown the ground beef in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Drain grease, if needed/desired.  Add the sloppy joe sauce and vegetables, stir together well.  In a square casserole dish, layer meat mixture and potatoes.  Top with cheese.  Bake for 10 minutes, or until cheese has melted.

This recipe can easily be doubled.  Just use a 9x13 casserole dish instead.  Enjoy!

Goulash

This is a favorite recipe from my childhood, with a few changes.

Goulash

I will add a picture the next time I make it again.

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 can kidney beans, drained
• 1 can corn, drained
• 1 can onions, optional^
• 1 (1lb) package of pasta*
• 1 can/jar of spaghetti sauce**

* I usually use macaroni noodles, but I've also used shells.  Just use whatever you want.
**Growing up, tomato sauce and/or paste was used.  I tried spaghetti sauce once when I didn't have tomato sauce and found that it tastes much better.
^Fresh onions would probably taste better.  Add them whenever you would like for whatever taste you want.

Directions

Prepare pasta according to package directions or however you would normally prepare pasta.  Meanwhile, brown the ground beef in a large skillet over medium high heat, using any seasoning you might want.  In a separate pan, combine corn, kidney beans, onions, and spaghetti sauce.  Cook until warm.  When everything is cooked, drain pasta and meat.  Mix everything together.  I usually use a soup pot, similar to this.  

You will *most likely* have left overs.  These will reheat very well and make a good lunch for work  

Taco Pie

This is a fairly new recipe to us, however, it turned out to be VERY successful.  When you have children, you tend to stick with the "tried and true".  When we decided to try this, we weren't sure if it would be liked.  Turns out it's loved and has even been asked for again.  If you want to try it directly from the source, you can find it here.  I will also type it all out here, because I like it that much.  

Taco Pie

I will add a picture the next time I make it again.

You will need a square casserole dish to cook this in.

Ingredients

• 1 (8oz) package refrigerated crescent rolls
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 (1oz) package taco seasoning mix
• 1 (16oz) container sour cream*
• 8 ounces shredded Mexican-style cheese blend
• 1 (14oz) bag tortilla chips, crushed

* The directions call for the sour cream to be layered in the mix, but we leave it out.  The kids don't really like it, so the adults add it later.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).  Lay crescent dough flat on the bottom of the square cake pain and bake according to package directions.  Meanwhile, brown the ground beef in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Drain grease, if needed/desired.  Add the taco seasoning and stir together well.  When dough is done, remove from oven and place meat mixture on top, then layer with sour cream and cheese, and then top off with the crushed tortilla chips.  Return to the oven and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 10 minutes, or until cheese has melted.

This recipe makes 4 servings.  To feed our family of 5-7, we add a side of Spanish rice.

Ritz Cracker Chicken Casserole

Ritz Cracker Chicken Casserole

I will add a picture the next time I make it again.

**Do Not Preheat Oven**

You will need a 9x13 casserole dish to cook this in.

Ingredients

• 4 Chicken Breasts, cooked and cubed^
• 6 slices of bread, cubed*
• 2 eggs, large
• 1 10.5 oz can of chicken noodle soup, undiluted
• 2 10.75 oz cans of cream of whatever soup, undiluted**
• 1 stick of butter/margarine, melted
• 1 stack of Ritz crackers, crushed

* Day old is best, but any will do

** The original recipe calls for cream of mushroom.  Since most of the people in my house despise mushrooms, I have used cream of celery, cream of onion, and cream of chicken, and not always 2 cans of the same.

^ The woman I learned this recipe from would cook her chicken, with no seasoning, in the microwave and then cube it.  I prefer to cube it, and cook it on the stove with a bit of rosemary.  You can cook it however you want.

Directions

Mix your eggs and soups together.  Mix your butter and crackers together.
In your casserole dish, spread out your chicken and put your bread pieces on top of that.  Next, pour the egg/soup mixture over the top.  Try to make sure you cover all the bread at least.  Top with butter soaked Ritz crackers.

Bake at 450 degrees F (232 degrees C) for 1 hour.  Enjoy!