Mexican Rice and Bean Casserole

Mexican Rice and Bean Casserole

Because Wednesday is Payday...Tuesday in our house has turned into pantry day. Today while searching through the pantry, I saw a few ingredients that sounded interesting and after a few different ideas I came up with this one. It was really good. The picture is not so great because the rice does not want to hold up, but you get the general idea!!

1 lbs ground beef
1 large can of mild enchilada sauce, I used El Paso
1 small can of tomato sauce
1 can of black beans, drained
1 can of green beans, drained
4 cups of cooked white rice
2 lbs of cheese or more if you prefer.

While cooking the rice, you can work on the rest of the casserole. In a large sauce pan, cook your ground meat. Season with some salt, pepper and onion powder. After meat is fully cooked, drain all grease. With meat back in the sauce pan, add the can of enchilada sauce, tomato sauce, green beans, black beans.

After rice is cooked, add it to the sauce pan along with about 2 cups of cheese. Stir until it is all mixed together and cheese is melted. Place in a 9x13 pan and cover with remaining cheese.

Bake in oven at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Let cool for a few minutes and enjoy. Add salt and pepper to taste

Lion House Rolls

Lion House Rolls
Ingredients:
2 cups warm water (110-115 degrees)
2/3 cup nonfat dry milk (instant)
2 Tb. dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup shortening (butter or margarine)
1 egg
5-5 1/2 cups flour, all purpose (bread flour can be used if you have it on hand)
Method:


In the large bowl of an electric mixer, combine the water and the milk powder and stir so the milk dissolves. Add the yeast to tthis mixture then the sugar, salt, shortening, egg and 2 cups of the flour. Mix on low speed of mixer until ingredients are wet, then turn to medium speed and mix for 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and add 2 more cups of flour then mix on low speed until the ingredients are wet, then turn mixer on medium speed and mix for 2 minutes. The dough will be getting stiff and you may need to remove the bowl from the mixer and mix in the remaining flour by hand. Add approximately 1/2 cup of flour and mix again. (This can be done by hand or mixer). The dough should be soft, not overly sticky, and not stiff. (It is not necessary to use the entire amount of flour). Scrape the dough off the sides of the bowl and pour approximately on tablespoon of vegetable oil all around the sides of the bowl. Turn the dough over in the bowl so it is covered with the oil. (This helps prevent the dough from drying out.) Cover with plastic and allow to rise in a warm place until double in size. Sprinkle a cutting board or counter with flour and put the dough on the flour. It is now ready to roll out and cut into desired shape and size of rolls. Place on greased (or parchment lined) baking pans. Let rise in a warm place until the rolls are double in size (approx. 1-1 1/2 hours). Bake in a 375-degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until they are browned to your satisfaction. Brush with melted butter while hot. Yields 2 to 2 1/2 dozen rolls.

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When shaping the rolls, I followed the directions in the following clip that I found on you tube!! These came out perfect and If you know me and baking bread and rolls you know these are super easy!!

The Best Chicken Salad

The Best Chicken Salad

YUMMY!!!!!!

I lost my original recipe, but made it again after many years for R.S. on 7-17-08. Thanks to my sister, Jane, who uses this recipe too and has been saving it all these years, we have a copy… I keep getting requests to share this recipe so here it is. Enjoy!

2-3 Cups cut up chicken (I use both sides of the chicken breast on one chicken from Walmart. (Their roasted chickens are usually bigger than in other stores and I prefer the roasted traditional flavor) If you cook the chicken fresh probably use three to 4 boneless chicken breast cooked and cut up. I've just gotten a bit lazy.

2 Cups celery cut up

1 Can crushed pineapple- regular size can ... the whole thing (Dole brand name is the best! My opinion..... don’t skimp on a few nickles)

3 Cups grapes cut in half (I prefer purple seedless. It takes time to cut all those little grapes so plan accordingly)

4-6 Cups pasta (We used to use elbow, but now I use Rotini, the curly spiral ones – I think it looks nicer) *** I sometimes add all the noodles I cook just to extend the size of the salad.

2 apples peeled and cored and cut into pieces

2-3 green onions (just the tops or green part)

1 small package slivered almonds

Could use 1 can sliced water chestnuts

(add fresh peaches or nectarines in season and cut up, these are totally optional)

After all has been cut up and prepared put in a large bowl (I use my big white Tupperware bowl) and then add the sauce. Mix well and enjoy. Or you can have the sauce mixture on the bottom with the pineapple and put everything on top and then mix... how ever is easier for you.

Sauce: mix together separately before and add to the rest all the other ingredients

1 Cup Mayonaise

1 Cup regular yogurt (another recipe used sour cream)I like the yogurt best.

1 teaspoon celery salt (don't substitute on this because this is the flavor we want)

¼ teaspoon paprika

Buttery Soft Pretzels

Just found and tried this recipe and had to share! These are soooo good! The 2nd pan I left as "bitz" like you get from wetzel's pretzels and instead of salting them before putting them in the oven, I spread melted butter over the tops as soon as they came out of the oven. Soooo yummy like that!

Buttery Soft Pretzels

Ingredients
• 4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

• 1/2 cup baking soda
• 4 cups hot water
• 1/4 cup kosher salt, for topping

Directions
1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center; add the oil and yeast mixture. Mix and form into a dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two tablespoons of water. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in hot water.
4. When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape. Once all of the dough is all shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda solution and place on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes, until browned

Fake Fried Ice Cream

Fake Fried Ice Cream (Boulder Creek Relief Society 2007)

5 Cups Crushed Corn Flakes
2 teaspoons melted butter
4 Tablespoons Sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Mix above ingredients together and spread it out on a cookie sheet coated with non stick cooking spray
bake at 350’ F for about 5 minutes until topping is brown and crisp
Cool

Using a glass 9x13 pan
Use ½ gallon vanilla Ice Cream (easiest is to get the kind in a rectangle and slice it)
Pack the bottom of the pan with the ice cream
Top with the corn flake topping
Freeze for 2-3 hours until firm
Serve by cutting it in squares and serve with toppings of choice

Toppings:
Strawberry
Honey
Chocolate
Carmel
Whipped cream
Maraschino cherry for decoration

S’More Cookie Bars

Okay, So I totally copied this from bakingbites.com, but give them total credit, even the picture.
Last year in Cub Scouts the theme was Smores, so for pack meeting I found this recipe and though it would be a fun and easy dessert. It was a little messy but if it's a great recipe!!

S’More Cookie Bars
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs*
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 king-sized milk chocolate bars (e.g. Hershey’s)
1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (not melted marshmallows)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined. Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan.

Place chocolate bars over dough. 2 king-sized Hershey’s bars should fit perfectly side by side, but break the chocolate (if necessary) to get it to fit in a single layer no more than 1/4 inch thick.

Spread chocolate with marshmallow creme or fluff.

Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff (most easily achieved by flattening the dough into small shingles and laying them together).

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned.

Cool completely before cutting into bars

Makes 16 cookie bars.

*Note: 3/4 cup crumbs is approx 7 full-sized graham cracker sheets, whizzed in the food processor until fine.

The bars can be eaten slightly warm (and gooey) or at room temperature, though I would lean towards room temperature for ease of slicing and being able to eat without making a huge mess. They taste and smell amazing and are crazily addictive, so be forewarned that you might be tempted to eat a second one before you are done with the first.

The dough is a fairly standard cookie dough, but graham cracker crumbs are added in to give it a graham cracker flavor. It’s a crucial component of the classic s’more and it’s a nice touch in this recipe. Once mixed up, it is divided in half and pressed into the pan to form a crust. The bottom crust is layered with chocolate and marshmallow, then topped with the remaining dough. It’s close to impossible to spread the dough over the marshmallow and I achieved an even upper crust by flattening small pieces of dough and placing them, like a puzzle, gently on top of the marshmallow.

Speaking of the marshmallow, the puffed kind doesn’t hold up inside this bar cookie. You really need to use marshmallow creme or marshmallow fluff, which can be easily spread on top of the chocolate and can withstand the heat of the oven during baking. I stuck with Hershey’s as the chocolate, since that was always the standard s’more chocolate when I was little. Plus, the king sized Hershey’s bars are the perfect size to fit into the baking pan for an even layer of chocolate.

http://bakingbites.com/2007/08/smore-cookie-bars/

Braised Pork Chops in Sour Cream Sauce

This is one of my new favorites! I love the sauce, it's rich and creamy without a lot of calories and fat! There are 259 calories and 12 grams of fat per serving. That's pretty good especially since the sauce is wonderful! I love to serve this with garlic roasted red potatoes and dip those potatoes in the extra sauce. Yummy!

(I double this recipe)

4 pork chops
salt and pepper
3/4 cup beef broth, divided
1 T A-1 sauce (or bbq sauce if you prefer that)
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/3 cup sour cream
3 T flour

Sprinkle chops with salt and pepper.

Spray non-stick skillet with cooking spray, heat pan and add chops. Cover and cook until lightly browned on both sides, abt 5 to 10 min.

In small bowl, combine 1/2 cup broth with 1 T A-1 sauce. Pour this over chops, cover and simmer until chops are cooked through, abt 10 min.

Remove chops, cover to keep warm. In bowl, combine remaining broth, milk, sour cream and flour until smooth. Pour into skillet and cook over med to low heat until thickened. May need to thin with additional milk or broth.

Serve sauce over chops.