Mexican Taco Casserole

1 pound ground beef
1 small onion
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1 cup water
3/4 cup Taco Sauce, Medium
4 ounces Diced Green Chiles
1 can sliced black olives, drained, divided
1 package Taco Seasoning
1/2 bag tortilla chips
2 cups shredded mild cheddar cheese, divided
1/4 cup chopped tomatoes
1/8 cup sliced green onions

Preheat Oven to 375 degrees. Cook beef, onion and garlic until beef is brown. Stir in water, taco sauce, chiles, 1/4 cup olives, and seasoning mix. cook over low heat for 3-4 minutes. Layer half of broken tortilla chips on bottom of greased 12x8 inch pan. cover with half of meat sauce and then sprinkle 1 cup cheese. Repeat with remaining chips, meat sauce and cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly and cheese is melted. Top with remaining olives, tomatoes, and green onions.

The great thing about this recipe is you can modify it to fit your taste buds. For example, I left out the onions and olives. I also used a mild instead of a medium taco sauce and I didn't use a whole package of taco seasoning because the stuff is too strong for me. This is basically something of a glorified, layered nachos dish. We loved it and will definitely be making it again!

Coke Roast (Coca Cola Pot Roast)

This recipe is from Cooks.com

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1827,159190-252201,00.html

6 carrots, cut into 2-inch lengths
12 new potatoes, unpeeled
3 white onions
1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms
5-6 lb. boneless beef roast
1 (10 oz.) can consomme
1 (10 oz.) can cream of mushroom soup
1 pkg. dry onion soup mix
8 oz. Coca Cola
Salt and pepper
Soy sauce
Seasoning salt

Lightly precook potatoes and carrots in saucepan. Add salt, pepper, seasoning salt and soy sauce to roast, rubbing into meat. Place roast in pot. Drain carrots and potatoes and put in pot. Add onions, quartered and whole mushrooms. Add Coca Cola, consomme, cream of mushroom soup and dry onion soup mix. Cover and place in 325 degree oven for 3 hours.

Notes: I've heard you can use other kinds of pop, i.e. rootbeer, pepsi, etc. I think it's the bubbles that count.

Zuppa Toscana (Sausage, Kale soup from Olive Garden)

This is a look-a-like recipe I found online for Zuppa toscana from Olive Garden

1 lb ground italian sausage

1 1/2 tsp crushed red peppers

1 large diced white onion

4 Tbsp bacon pieces

2 tsp garlic puree

10 cups water

5 cubes of chicken bouillon

1 cup heavy cream

1 lb sliced Russet potatoes, or about 3 large potatoes

1/4 bunch of kale

1. Saute' italian sausage and crushed red pepper in a large pot. Drain excess fat, refridgerate while you prepare other ingredients.

2. In the same pan, saute' bacon, onions and garlic over low-medium heat for approximately 15 mins. or until the onions are soft.

3. Add chicken bouillon and water to the pot and heat until it starts to boil.

4. Add the sliced potatoes and cook until soft, about half and hour.

5. Add the heavy cream and just cook until thoroughly heated.

(It doesn't say in the recipe but I added the onions, bacon, and garlic mixture about the same time as the cream but I would think you could add it at any time after the potatoes are soft)

6. Stir in the sausage and the kale, let all heat through and serve

Tan Mein (Soup Noodles)

This recipe comes from the book, The Complete Oriental Cookbook.

12 oz. egg noodles or spaghetti

1 1/2 Tbs. vegetable oil

1 small onion, thinly sliced

1 1/2 in. piece of fresh green ginger, peeled and chopped

8 oz. lean pork, finely shredded

1 Tbs. butter

1 cup mushrooms

2/3 cup cabbage, blanched for 1 minute and drained

1/2 c bean sprouts, blanched for 1 minute and drained

2/3 cup peeled shrimp

1 1/2 Tbs. soy sauce

1 tsp. sugar

1 1/4 cups water

1 chicken bouillon cube, crumbled

2 1/2 cups chicken or beef stock

Cook the noodles or spaghetti in boiling, salted water until they are just tender. Drain and keep hot.

Heat the oil in a large frying-pan. When it is hot, add th onion, ginger and pork and fry for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the butter, and, when it has melted, stir in the mushrooms, cabbage, bean sprouts and shrimp. Stir-fry for 1 1/2 minutes. Stir in the soy sauce and sugar and stir-fry for 1 1/2 minutes. Remove from heat and keep warm.

Bring the water to boil in a large saucepan. Reduce the heat to moderate and add the stock (bouillon) cube, stirring until it has dissolved. Add half the pork mixture to the stock and bring the mixture to a boil. Stir in the noodles or spaghetti and simmer for 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, return the frying-pan to high heat and stir-fry the remaining pork mixture for 1 minute to reheat it.

Divide the noodle mixture between four or six serving bowls. Spoon over the pork mixture and serve at once.

Serves 4-6

Preparation and cooking time: 30 minutes

Notes from Raschel :)

Ginger root is hard to get chopped small enough so you don't get a big bite of ginger in your mouth (blah). You can buy bottles of it all ready to go. I recommend that.

Usually grocery stores don't have ground pork sitting on the shelf ready to buy. But if you ask one of the meat-guys for a pound of ground pork they should be able to grind it up. I had it done at Broulim's one time. And I bought some on-the-shelf at Walmart once. Or you could cook a pork roast and use that or use any other imaginative pork retrieval ideas you may have.

Chile Rellenos Casserole

From Allrecipes.com and altered by Melynda Gessel

4 (4oz) cans whole green chile's, drained. Make sure all the seeds are removed.
8 oz Monterey Jack cheese shredded
8 oz. Mild cheddar cheese shredded
3 eggs
7 oz. evaporated milk
3/4 c. milk
3 T. Flour


Open 2 cans of chile's and open each chile up to lay flat on greased 9x13 inch pan. Cover with half of the cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese. Place the other two cans of peppers over top of the cheese in the same way.

Mix eggs, milk, and flour with a whisk. Pour over top of the chile's and cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

In a blender or food processor, place 1 tomato, 1/2 onion, cilantro, and 6 cloves garlic with 1/2 can spaghetti sauce. Puree together.

After chile's are cooked, place this over top with remaining cheese over top of sauce and bake for 10 to 15 minutes longer.

Serve hot and enjoy!!!

2 yummy side dishes.

I usually don't seem to get around to the side dish but I made both these yesterday and they were easy and really good.

Parmesan Herbed Noodles
3 c. uncooked wide egg noodles
1/4 c. parmesan cheese
2 Tbs. butter
2 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried thyme
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp salt

In saucepan, cook noodles according to package directions; drain. Add the remaining ingredients and toss to coat.
(This was especially good with parmesan chicken)

Marinated Veggie Salad
1 1/3 c. frozen french-style green beans, thawed
1 c. frozen peas, thawed
2/3 c. chopped celery
1/2 c. chopped green pepper
1/2 c. chopped green onions
2 jars (2 ounces each) diced pimientos, drained

Dressing:
1/4 c. sugar
2 Tbs. canola oil
2 Tbs. cider vinegar
2 tsp. water

In a salad bowl, combine the beans, peas, celery, green pepper, onions and pimientos. In a smalll bowl, combine the dressing ingredients. Pour over vegetables. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Serve with slotted spoon.

(I didn't have pimientos and I didn't chill it for 2 hours. But it still tasted really good)

Pickled Peas

We have had quite a few sugar snap peas coming out of our garden and I saw this recipe for pickled peas and wanted to try it. The girls ask for more- which gives it two thumbs up from me!

This is from the website I took it from so these are her words. Here is the link if you want to see pictures. I didn't add red pepper flakes.

Pickled Sugar Snap Peas
From Smitten Kitchen who Adapted from The Joy of Pickling via Epicurious

1 1/4 cups white distilled vinegar
1 1/4 cups cold water
1 tablespoon kosher or pickling salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 pound sugar snap peas, stems trimmed and strings removed (I didn’t know what strings Deb was talking about)
4 garlic cloves, sliced
dried red pepper flakes, 5 or 6 shakes from a shaker jar if you like things spicy

In a nonreactive saucepan, heat the vinegar with the salt and sugar until they are dissolved. Remove from the heat, and add the cold water which starts the cooling process faster.

When the vinegar mixture is cool, pack the sugar snaps, garlic and flakes into a 1-quart jar and pour the brine over it. Cover with a non-reactive cap. [I have started to save tons of glass jars and I used a leftover TJs apple sauce jar.]

Deb mentions that original recipe suggests you store the jar in the refrigerator for two weeks before eating the pickled peas, but it is likely that you will start eating them the next day, and the jar will be gone a few days later. They are that good.