by admin | Oct 4, 2008 | Cooking
My husband could literally make a meal off this recipe for Mexican Cornbread that I adapted from one in an old church cookbook. The original recipe called for a cheese layer in the center of the cornbread. Being the lazy baker that I am at times, I just mixed it all in together. It worked out just fine. So well in fact that I have continued to mix it that way ever since. Why mess with a good thing? This recipe is so loved at our house that I always double it and bake it in a 9 X 13 inch pan, usually Pyrex. This time I baked it in two smaller casseroles so my husband could take one to his men’s fellowship meal and we could keep one at home. You can vary the amounts of onion and peppers to suit your taste. My guys like it pretty spicy. It is so moist and full of flavor but as you can see from the list of ingredients, it is definitely not good for the waistline.
Mexican Cornbread
1 1/2 cups corn meal
1 large onion, chopped
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp. chopped green pepper
2 eggs
2 tsp. chopped Jalapeno pepper
1 small can creamed corn (8 ounce)
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups grated cheese
Mix all ingredients together. Pour into greased 8 inch square pan or skillet. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes.
by admin | Oct 3, 2008 | Cooking
Our garden just keeps producing tomatoes and more tomatoes. We have probably given away bushels from the six plants in our garden and I still have a counter top full. One thing my husband loves is fresh salsa. I ran across several recipes for roasted tomato salsa and decided to give one a try. As usual, I did not have the exact ingredients that were listed so I improvised, using ideas from more than one recipe. The pepper fumes nearly took my breath but in the end it was worth it. Both the guys agreed that it was much better than the usual raw salsa. I will definitely add this recipe to my keeper list.
ROASTED TOMATO SALSA
8 medium tomatoes, peeled and quartered
1/2 large onion, cut into large pieces
1 green bell pepper, seeded and quartered
3 jalapeno peppers with seeds removed
1 generous tablespoon chopped garlic in oil
cilantro to taste
lime juice
salt to taste
olive oil cooking spray
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place tomatoes, onion, and peppers on a foil lined pan. Spray with cooking spray. Cook 15 to 30 minutes or until pepper skins are blackened. Remove from oven. Cool slightly and remove most of pepper skins. Place all vegetables in food processor and add lime juice, cilantro, and salt. Pulse until tomatoes and peppers are chopped but are still somewhat chunky. Serve warm or cold.
by admin | Oct 1, 2008 | Cooking
We are still getting an abundance of zucchini and yellow squash from our small garden. We have enjoyed all the fresh vegetables so much and will miss them when they are no longer bearing. We feel blessed to have so much produce to eat and give away so late in the season this year. This is my go to recipe for zucchini bread. I just took two loaves out of the oven a short time ago.
ZUCCHINI NUT BREAD:
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups grated raw zucchini
1 cup chopped nuts
Beat eggs until foamy. Add oil, sugar and vanilla. Sift together flour, salt, soda and baking powder. Combine with the egg mixture. Stir in nuts and grated zucchini. Put into two greased and floured 9 X 5 X 3 inch loaf pans and bake in 350 degree oven approximately 1 hour. Let cool in pans for 15 minutes before turning out on racks.
by admin | Sep 28, 2008 | Cooking
Yesterday, the very last of this year’s apple crop begged to be used up before they ended up in the compost pile. I had saved a few for my son to eat raw but apparently he became tired of them. One experiment I had tried earlier with some of the apples was to use my faithful dump cake recipe using apples rather than canned pineapple and cherry pie filling. The results were so delicious that I have cooked it for a pot luck as well as my family several times since. Once again, the dish was wonderful. I was unable to get a shot of the entire dish fresh out of the oven because I had let my camera battery run down. But I do have a close-up of a warmed up bowl taken this evening. Looks good enough to eat, doesn’t it?
APPLE DUMP CAKE
Apple Filling – (You can use 2 cans apple pie filling if you don’t have fresh apples)
1/2 stick butter
1 cup sugar (adjust according to sweetness of apples)
peeled and sliced apples (about 6 cups or so – amount not critical)
cinnamon (if desired)
Melt butter in pan. Cook butter, sugar, cinnamon, and apples together until apples are partially done and some of the liquid has cooked out of them.
1 yellow cake mix
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup brown sugar
1 stick butter
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour apples into a 9 X 13 pan or glass dish. Spread dry cake mix over top of apples. Sprinkle pecans and brown sugar over top of cake mix. Slice butter and distribute evenly over the top. Bake for 45 – 60 minutes or until browned. Serve warm. Vanilla ice cream is great on it!
by admin | Sep 25, 2008 | Cooking
I recently received an email from Al Malekovic who offered to send me two bottles of Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce if I would review it on my blog. Always open to free stuff, I quickly agreed. Two days later, UPS arrived with a package from Country Bob’s. We tried it as a sauce on various food items and all agreed that it was pretty good.
I wanted to try at least one of the Country Bob recipes (there are dozens on the website) so having all the ingredients, I decided to try the meatloaf. The only ingredient I didn’t have was the Country Bob’s Seasoning Salt so I substituted one I had on hand.I was concerned that there were not enough crackers in the recipe to absorb the amount of liquid required. I wish I had added just a few more because the meatloaf fell apart when done. However, that did not affect the taste at all. Everyone thought it was very tasty and were not concerned with the appearance. I have always been told that sometimes the food that falls apart is the best tasting. There may be something to it.
Anyway, I would recommend Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce and would buy it in the future. If you check out their web site, you can sign up for a free bottle to try it yourself.
Country Bob’s Meatloaf
Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs lean hamburger
1/4 cup chopped onions
12 crushed saltine crackers
2 eggs, beaten
1 Tbsp Country Bob’s Seasoning Salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3/4 cup Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce (or may substitute Spicy Hot)
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
Directions: Mix all ingredients together, place in baking dish, shape in loaf, pour a little more Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce on top and bake at 350 degrees for one hour.
by admin | Sep 24, 2008 | Cooking
We have really enjoyed having loads of fresh squash this summer. I think we have eaten it at least once a day for the last month or so. I will really miss it when the vines stop bearing. Now that it is officially autumn, that day will come sooner than I would like.
Most of the time, I just cook squash sliced into a pan with butter and onions with a little salt and pepper. Nothing goes better with squash than onions as far as I am concerned. I also tend to mix the zucchini and yellow squash together. But sometimes I just have to cook squash with other ingredients that are not so healthy. And my squash casserole could probably never be accused of being healthy.
Tasty Summer Squash Casserole
3-4 cups sliced squash cooked with onions
2 eggs
5-6 slices bread, crumbled
8 ounces pepper jack cheese, shredded or grated
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tube Ritz crackers
1 stick butter
Mix squash, eggs, bread crumbs, cheese, and salt and pepper well. Pour into greased (or sprayed) casserole. Melt butter. Crush crackers and mix into melted butter. Sprinkle over top of casserole. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until top is golden brown.
