MILLION CALORIE POTATOES

Bake 6 large potatoes

Half lengthwise and scoop out the potato meat. 

To the potato add:

1 c. sour cream

¼ c. butter

3 oz cream cheese

2 finely chopped green onions

1 t. salt 

1 t. pepper

½ t. Thyme

2 c. shredded cheese

Mash all this together with an electric mixer. 

Stuff mixture back into potato shells.

Sprinkle with additional cheese and lots of paprika

Bake at 350* for 15 minutes

For thousand calorie potatoes, use low fat versions of ingredients.

RANCH PRIMAVERA SALAD

Cook 1 pkg of colored rotella pasta until “Al Dente.”

Drain well. The last 5 minutes of cooking the pasta you can add any amount of fresh veggies

(I.E. carrots, broccoli or cauliflower or add the frozen vegetable medley as specified below)

Stir in 2 T. cooking oil into the drained pasta. Add ½ c. of your favorite Italian dressing 

Sprinkle 1 envelope of dry ranch dressing mix on pasta.

Add 16 oz of frozen vegetable medley.

Mix well and chill for several hours.

You can also add a cup of diced chicken, tuna, or ham for a main dish salad.

MEXICAN CHEESECAKE APPETIZER

Have all ingredients at room temperature

2  8oz pkgs cream cheese (can use low fat)

1  10oz cracker barrel sharp cheese, finely grated

3 eggs

1 small can diced green chiles, drained

½ c. sour cream

You can use 1 cup crushed corn chips for a crust, or make this without a crust.

Mix cream cheese, cheese, sour cream, eggs, and chiles. 

Pour into spring form pan (or use 6 jumbo muffin tins)

Bake at 350* for 20-30 minutes (for muffin tins, bake 15 minutes)

Top of cheesecake will crack and look set up around the edges when it is done. Let cool.

Top with sour cream and/or drained salsa and surround with chips or crackers to serve.

Have a knife ready to serve pieces.

LITTLE BARBECUED MEAT BALLS

2 lb very lean ground beef

1 small onion

Salt and pepper to taste

4 slices rye bread (soak in milk)

1 beaten egg

Mix together and form into small balls, about the size of large marbles.

Bake at 325* for about 20 minutes. 

Mix with sauce and heat on low or high in a crockpot for several hours.

Serve warm with toothpicks

SAUCE:

2 small bottles of ketchup (Heinz) use about 3 cups

1 bottle chili sauce (homemeade brand)

1 can beef broth

¼ c. worcestershire sauce

1 t. Chili powder

1 t. Mustard (dry)

1-2 T. dry minced onoin

¼ c. vinegar or lemon juice

1 c. brown sugar

1 t. Paprika

1 t. Seasoned pepper

HOT BEEF DIP

 *** This sounds weird but it is good

3 oz chipped beef (like you buy with the deli meats)

½ c. parmesan cheese

¼ c. finely chopped green onion (can omit)

½ c. sour cream

¼ c. mayonnaise

8 oz cream cheese

Blend soft cream cheese. 

Add rest of ingredients except chop the beef finely.

Stir well and put into some type of casserole dish. 

Bake about 20 minutes at 300*. Serve with crackers or baby carrots

SHRIMP COCKTAIL DRINK

2 large cans V-8 juice

1 c. ketchup

3 T. worchestershire sauce

1 small bottle sesafood cocktail sauce

½ t. salt

½ t. garlic salt

1 t. Seasoned or lemon pepper

3 T. sugar

2 cans small deveined shrimp (rinsed well and drained)

2 c. very finely diced celery

Juice of 1-2 lemons (to taste)

Combine all ingredients. Mix well. Chill until ready to serve.

Best made several hours ahead.

CHRISTMAS JAM

Use the Sure-Jel recipe for strawberry jam. (frozen jam)

The recipe calls for 2 c. crushed strawberries.

For this recipe, use 1 ½ c. crushed strawberries and ½ c. fresh cranberries, crushed.

Do not put the fruit into the blender, it gets too mushy.

I use a food processor and only chop for a few seconds. 

Follow the jam recipe in the pectin box and put into festive jars for gifts.

GERMAN DILL PICKLES

(from Wendy Pearson)

3 c. vinegar 

2 c. sugar

1 ½ T. salt

4-5 c. water

Mix solution in a large kettle and heat until sugar is dissolved.

For each bottle of pickles, you put this in the bottle:

¼ -½ whole mustard seed

½ to 1 whole seed head of dill weed

2 thin slices of onion

Enough sliced cucumbers to fill up the bottle

Pour warm solution over cucumbers, leaving ½ inch air space at the top.

Place lids and rings on bottles and process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

IMPORTANT: These pickles need sit in a cool, dry place for at least 2 months to develop the flavor completely.

Hints: I have used a food slicer to cut up the cucumbers. 

Also there is a kind of cucumber called Armenian (with a fluted rind) that makes a nice pickle.

SALSA/PICANTE SAUCE

16 c. peeled, ripe tomatoes, chopped as chunky as you like

3 large onions

3 green peppers

4-6 jalepeno peppers, depending on how hot you like this

(Wear rubber gloves when you chop these. Take the seeds out first, then chop into a very fine dice0

1 can diced green chiles

½ - ¾ c. brown sugar

2 c. vinegar

1 T. salt

1 T. beef bouillon granules

Couple dashes of Tabasco

Place chopped tomatoes in a large heavy kettle. Process (chop) onions and green peppers in a food processor and add to kettle. 

Add remaining ingredients and simmer sauce for at least 2 hours, until thick. 

Pour into clean, hot jars. I put my empty jars on a cookie sheet and heat in the oven.

You should process in a hot water bath or steamer for 10 minutes to ensure sealing.

SHRIMP COCKTAIL SAUCE

1 c. heinz Ketchup

2 T. horseradish

2 T. fresh lemon juice

Dash of tabasco

MEXICAN CAVIAR

Combine the following ingredients and chill overnight:

1 small can chopped ripe olives

1 can diced green chiles

2 tomatoes, seeded, peeled, and chopped

2 diced green onions

1 large avocado, diced and sprinkled with lemon juice

2 T. oil

2 T. wine vinegar

1 t. Pepper

Dash of season salt

Serve with scoop corn chips

BUTTERMILK PANCAKES

Sift together in a large bowl:

1 ½ c. flour

2 T. sugar

1 t. each baking powder, baking soda, and salt

Beat together:

2 eggs

1 ¾ c. buttermilk

2 T. melted margarine

Stir together just to mix. Cook on griddle.

For waffles: beat egg whites separately until stiff and fold in.

Increase melted margarine to ¼ cup.

12 LAYER SALAD

**Make this recipe when you are home all day

Use these flavors of jello, in this order. 

Follow the same directions for each small box of jello

Black Cherry

Cherry

Strawberry

Orange

Lemon

Lime

1. Dissolve each jello in 1 cup boiling water. Set aside ½ of this mixture. 

To the other ½ of the jello add ⅓ c. sour cream. 

Important: sour cream should be at room temperature or it will be too hard to mix.

Whisk together the jello and the sour cream.

2. To the remaining jello, add 3 T. cold water. 

Then layer the jello in this manner, waiting for each layer to set up before you add the next layer.

3. Pour creamy layer in pan, let set. Then add clear layer. Let set. etc.

This sounds harder than it is. Try to use a clear glass container to set the salad in.

BASIC CREPES

4 large eggs, room temp

1 ½ c. milk

1 T. melted butter

1 ½ c. flour

Dash of sugar and salt

Blend in blender until smooth. Chill for ½ hour.

CARAMEL CORN

1 c. margarine

2 c. brown sugar

½ c. white Karo syrup

Combine in a large glass pitcher. Bring to a boil in microwave. 

Boil a total of 4 minutes. It will boil up fast, so watch carefully. 

Be sure all the sugar is dissolved. 

Remove from heat and add 1 t. Soda and 1 t. Vanilla. The soda makes it really foam.

Then pour immediately over popped corn. I usually fill a large bowl with corn and this sauce covers most of it.

Stir well, and put on wax paper or it is too sticky.

SLUSH

1 large can pineapple juice

1  6 oz can frozen lemonade

1  6 oz frozen orange juice

Fill each can with water (only once). Mix all together and add 3 c. sugar

Stir until sugar is dissolved. Freeze.

Take out about 2 hours before serving and add at least 2 large bottles of sprite or 7 up 

Break up until slushy

GUACAMOLE

2 large ripe avocados

1 fresh tomato, seeded and chopped

1 green onion, chopped fine

2 T. fresh lime juice

2 T. diced green chilies

½ c. sour cream

Garlic salt to taste

Mash avocados and add remaining ingredients. Chill

30 Minute SPAGHETTI SAUCE

¾ lb very lean ground beef

Brown meat and add:

1 large can Hunts Traditional Spaghetti Sauce

1 can tomato soup

½ can water (maybe more)

1 t. Sugar

1 t. Oregano leaves, crushed

1 T. beef bouillon granules

1 T. dry minced onion

Whatever other spices you like in your sauce

Simmer at least 30 minutes. Use with any kind of pasta. 

Can omit meat and use mushrooms instead.

STEW

(your kids WILL eat this)

Brown about 2 lbs lean stew meat. Add:

4-6 carrots, cut into chunks

4-6 potatoes, chunked

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of celery soup

1 can beef broth

½ envelope Lipton onion soup mix (dry)

1 can tomato sauce

This cooks for 6-8  hours in a 250 oven. Cover the pot. Or do a crockpot on low for 8-10 hours

Turn the crock pot to High the last 2 hours if you are home and remember.

You can add 1 pkg of petite peas the last hour of cooking.

Know your oven with this recipe. I have know people to burn this whole thing up.

BARBEQUE HAMBURGERS

(When our husband is golfing and your kids have soccer/baseball/ballet/etc practice)

Brown 8-10 hamburger patties on your grill or in a pan. Put them in a 9x13 pan.

Top with sauce and bake at 300* for however long it takes for the crowd to show up. Minimum time is 1 hour.

SAUCE:

⅓ c. brown sugar

1 c. chili sauce (homemade brand)

⅓ c. vinegar

½ c. water

1 t. EACH chili powder, worcestershire sauce, dry mustard, minced onion

1 or 2 cups Heinz ketchup

CHILI- STEW

1 onion, diced

3 stalks celery, diced

3 carrots, sliced

3 potatoes, diced

Sprinkle all ingredients with garlic salt.

Then add to 1 lb of ground beef that you are browning

Then add the following ingredients and simmer for 1 hour:

2 cans tomatoes ( 1 use 2 cans tomato sauce and 1 can tomato soup)

2 c. chili beans (canned or homemade)

2 T. chili powder

2 T. worcestershire sauce

1 T. mustard

1 t. sugar

1 T. beef bullion granules (or a can of beef broth)

Top with grated cheese to serve

CLAM CHOWDER

1 c. onions, finely diced

1 c. celery, finely diced

2 c. diced potatoes

Simmer until barely tender

¾ c. butter or margarine

¾ c. flour

Melt butter and add flour. Cook until bubbly.

Add 2 c. half and half cream and 2 c. milk and the vegetables with their cooking water.

Add 1 ½ t. Seasoned pepper. 

Bring soup mixture to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. 

Drain and rinse 2 cans of minced clams. Add to soup.

Heat but do not boil.