Spicy Beans and Rice

Spicy Beans and Rice.

Note: I used garden ingredients, but I wrote the recipe for someone who might used canned or frozen items.

Ingredients:

1/4 tsp real garlic (I use the kind that is already chopped and comes in little glass containers)
About 1/2 cup of chopped or diced onions
about 1/4 cup of peppers (or canned diced green chiles)
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of beans (whatever kind you like)
1 1/2 cup of dry rice (fix according to package directions.  I use the old fashioned kind)
1 lb hb meat, italian sausage, or chicken. (optional)
Either a couple of tablespoons of chili powder or cajun powder to taste.
(To stretch the dish, corn could also be added as well as a small can of tomato sauce).


Brown and drain meat.  Cook rice according to package.  Saute' garlic, onion, and peppers (unless they are canned, then wait) in oil. After the peppers are soft, add the canned items, meat, and rice.  Mix well.

Easy Home-made Pizza, using Self-Rising Pizza Crust

This is an extremely frugal meal if you just use cheese and sauce.  :-)

Self-Rising Pizza Crust (from HillbillyHousewife.com)

2 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp dry yeast

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup oil

I doubled the recipe, making a giant pizza on my giant cookie sheet.  If you don't have a giant cookie sheet, you can make 2 pizzas if you have extra pans and pie pans and such.

 The recipe above (undoubled) makes a 9x13 size.

In a medium sized bowl combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and yeast.  Stir it up to distribute the salt and yeast evenly.  Add the water and oil.  You may need a spoonful or two more of water if the day is dry.  Mix he dough with a wooden spoon until it forms a big ball in the middle of the bowl.  It will be a little stiffer than biscuit dough.  Knead the dough about 10 or 12 times and then form it into a ball.  Place the ball in the center of a 16 inch pizza pan or a 9 x 13 inch rectangular pan.  Use your hands and a rolling pin, to press the dough into the pan.  I find a rolling pin most effective in this effort.  The dough will be a medium thickness.

For rolling out the dough, I use a mat I found at Walmart in the kitchen utensils section (near the cake pans).  It is  made by Wilton used to roll out pie crusts.  It is great for rolling out doughs.  You roll it up and dump the excess dough and flour into the garbage.  Hand wash on the counter with soap and water. Easy clean up!  I have found that I am more likely to do from-scratch dough recipes when I have an easy way to clean up.  I highly recommend it. Click here to see what it looks like.

 Top the crust with a sauce and toppings of your choice.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 15-20 minutes. 

My favorite quiche recipe

Easy Bacon Quiche

Pie crust  - put it in the oven while preheating to prevent sogginess
3 eggs
1 cup of cheese
1 1/2 cups of milk
1 package of real bacon bits (I like real bacon bits, but you can also do the soy kind and they are tasty too)
1/4 tsp pepper

Mix all together and pour into pie crust.  Bake at 425 degree for 10 minutes, and then lower the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 45 minutes. 

If you are serving for dinner, add salad & fruit on the side.  Yum!
This is enough for one pie, but I always double this recipe and bake in a 9x13" pan.
Quiche is very versatile.
 Another favorite is to add asparagas or mushrooms, if you like those types of veggies (my favorites!).

English Muffin Pizzas

I bought some sourdough English muffins and made little pizzas from them. They were a big hit.

*Halve the English muffins
*Spread them with pizza sauce - not too much
*layer favorite vegetables (I used mushrooms & diced tomatoes)
*layer with favorite meat if you like (I used real bacon bits)

*Broil for a couple of minutes

*sprinkle with shredded cheese and place into oven

*Turn oven off and let sit until cheese is melted (cheese will melt superfast since oven is so hot).

*Serve with a tossed salad!

Mushroom Noodle soup

I realize this recipe carb & sodium city, but today is the day before getting groceries.  I try to only shop twice a month so...  If anyone is like me, I usually have a few things left in the pantry (we always have tons of deer meat but who wants to cook that for lunch?).  This is what I threw together for lunch and it was just too tasty not to share:

1 package of Amish noodles
2 packets of mushroom gravy
1 packet of country gravy (white)
If I had them, I would add sliced fresh mushrooms too

Prepare the Amish noodles according to the package.  During the last 5 minutes (while the noodles are boiling).  Mix all 3 packets of gravy in about a 1 1/2 cup of cold water or milk.  Pour the gravy mixture into the boiling noodles and mix.  If you have mushrooms...add them too!
I will probably be bouncing off the walls in a bit after all those carbs (and very little protein) but it sure was good!

Home-made Pizza

I found a great recipe for pizza crust a couple of years ago. It has served me well, so I decided to share. I always double the recipe to make a giant pizza.

Self rising pizza crust:

2 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp dry yeast

3/4 cup water

3/4 cup oil

Mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients. I mix all together with a wooden spoon.

I roll it out on top of a large piece of aluminum foil (sprinkle with flour). Pick it up and flatten it into the pan and up the sides.

Top with sauce, cheese, and toppings. Bake at 400 F for 15-20 minutes (make sure it is browned or it will be gummy).

Chicken, Beef, Bean, or plain Cheese Enchildada

This recipe comes from Michael's aunt Carolyn. We love it!

This recipe is so versatile! The chicken mentioned can be replaced with refried beans, plain beans, cheese or beef! You can get my "from-scratch" recipes by clicking the highlighted words.

• 1 cup of boned chicken [or refried beans, chili beans, beans & rice mixed, shredded cheese only, or beef (hb meat or shredded)]
• 2 cups of grated Cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup Chicken broth or water
• 1 can of cream of chicken soup
• Vegetable oil
• 1 can of diced green chiles
• 1/2 tsp of pepper
• 1/2 cup of chopped onion (I just use about a tablespoon of onion powder since Michael isn't fond of onions)
• 6 soft corn or flour tortillas

Chop cooked chicken, add diced onions (or onion powder), and let set. Add diced green chilies to cream of chicken soup and mix with chicken broth. Set aside. Take tortillas, add chicken and onion, tablespoon of shredded cheese and roll up and place into a 9 x 13 oil sprayed pan. Repeat with the rest of the tortillas. Cover with cream of chicken soup mixture and bake at *400 for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting. Serve with salsa and sour cream.

Salad, A Great Summer Lunch

I really do not have much time for cooking lunches. Lunch-meat is way, way too salty so I usually do not buy it. I do not want to spend the money on pre-packaged lunches.
Sometimes we do leftovers. However usually, I only have enough for one meal (which I send with Michael to work). I know... I know... I need to cook extra.

So...what do ya do other than sandwiches or leftovers? I posted before about having a vegetable tray. Another option is to do salads.

Options are virtually limitless:

• Lettuces: Spinach, Iceberg, Romaine....
• Veggies: Broccoli, Carrots, Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Red Cabbage shreds, Sprouts, Cauliflower......
• Canned Vegetables: Any type of bean or pea, Chick Peas (my favorite!), Corn, Hominy...
• Frozen vegetables (I am thinking peas)...
• Strawberries, mandarin oranges, raisins...
  
• Diced Meats (Cook a whole chicken early in the week,divide it into Ziploc bags, & freeze), boiled eggs...
  
• Toppings: Bacon Bits, Salad Crispins, Nuts, Seeds, Shredded Cheeses...

If you are taking your lunch away from home, Glad brand makes pudding sized containers that are great for those things you don't want to add to your salad until the last minute!

Add wheat crackers, a cup of fruit,yogurt, or cottage cheese and you have the perfect lunch!

Nacho Potato Soup

This is VERY easy and extremely good! This one is a big hit with my family.

Nacho Potato Soup
1 (5 1/4 oz) box au gratin potatoes
1 (11 oz) can whole kernal corn, drained
1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes and green chiles, undrained (I buy the tomatoes & chiles separate because the Walmart chiles are milder than the Rotel brand)
2 cups water
2 cups milk
2 cups Velveeta cheese (1/2 the large box) cut into cubes

In a soup pot combine the contents of the potato pkg, corn, tomatoes, chiles, & water. Boil, cover, and then simmer for 15 minutes (until potatoes are tender). Add cubed cheese & milk. Cook and stir occasionally until the cheese is melted. You can sprinkle with chili powder or hot sauce if you like :-)

Makes 6-8 servings!

*I found this in a Taste of Home Magazine several years ago*

Tortilla Chip Pie

If you need a quick, inexpensive meal this is the one! It makes a great weekend treat.

1 bag of corn or tortilla chips
1 or 2 cans of beans (chili beans or pintos work great, but you can try anything)
1 can of tomato sauce (aroud 14-16 oz)
spices: chili & cumin (either or... or both!)
1 bag of shredded cheese

Microwave beans. Layer on a cookie sheet:
corn or tortilla chips, heated beans, tomato sauce. Sprinkle with spices (however spicy you want!), and then top with shredded cheese.

Broil until cheese melts (don't leave the room! This only takes 1-2 minutes... set your timer!)

Variations:
Replace chips with Rice,
Add any or all of the following:
diced chilis on top of tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, lettuce,sour cream, & black olives.

This is a good vegetarian (translate CHEAP) meal!!! We all love it!

Stir fry Ideas

I am crazy about stir fry dishes. They are really easy to make if you have some fresh veggies on hand.

First you need to decide if you want to have a home-made sauce or pre-made. I like to do home-made.. it's cheaper.

My sauce recipe:
To a couple of cups of water add the following according to your taste:
Soy sauce or bullion cubes, ginger, garlic, lemon juice
Thicken with cornstarch. I usually add 2 heaping tablespoons of cornstarch to a cup of water and mix. Then add that to the boiling sauces to thicken. Cover and set aside.

Daddy used to just use cream of mushroom soup. I remember that was pretty delicious too!

Brown meat: You can use beef, chicken, shrimp, crab or lobster or if you want a huge cut in your budget, go vegetarian! The peanuts will replace the protein!

Remove meat from pan and add around 2 tablespoons of oil.

Saute any of the following fresh vegetables (or whatever you have on hand):

broccoli
carrots
bell peppers
mushrooms
snow peas or sugar snap peas

Or you can buy a frozen mix.

I like to add peanuts or water chestnuts for crunch.

Pour over rice, cooked spaghetti (called lo mein), or chow mein noodles.