Hash Brown Casserole!

I've seen this recipe called everything from party potatoes to funeral potatoes but we call it Hash Brown Casserole here in Western Pennsylvania.

Of course, it's another easy recipe...just my style.

I generally use store brands for everything in this recipe and it works just fine. I've also mixed in ham cut up in cubes and added green beans on the side to make it a complete meal. I don't make it very often because it makes a lot for my little family. I usually save it for family get togethers. My favorite thing to serve this with is barbecued chicken and lima beans. I don't know why, all the flavors just blend for me.

My family loves the topping and the original recipe wasn't enough for them so I double it. The recipe below reflects that change.

Hash Brown Casserole

Ingredients:
2 lbs. frozen hash browns
16 oz. sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 sticks of melted butter (1 stick for base and 1 for topping so keep them separate)
4 cups corn flakes

Directions:
~Mix the first 4 ingredients and 1 stick of melted butter together well in a very big bowl.
~Add the hash browns to the mixture.
~Put the mixture into a greased 9 x 13 casserole dish.
~Crush the corn flakes in a Ziploc bag.
~Add 1 stick of melted butter to the crushed corn flakes.
~Put corn flake mixture on top of base.
~Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hr. 15 min.
~Let sit for 10 minutes.

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Calico Baked Beans!

Don't you just love great baked beans? I know I do!

This recipe come from my BFF's Mom, Sandy. She's like my second Mom and graciously passed this recipe to me when I fell in love with it.

:::WARNING!::: This recipe makes a lot! Really! I mean it! So if you only have a few people in your family, you will be eating it for days or you can freeze half of it for another time. I always make it for a party because I'm afraid that if I have it for days at a time, I'll not like it anymore. You know. Too much of a good thing isn't always a good thing.

Calico Baked Beans

Ingredients:
1 lb. bacon
1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 medium can of Campbell's Pork and Beans
1 can Kidney Beans
1 can Lima Beans (drained)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon yellow mustard

Directions:
~Cook off 1 pound of bacon, drain and when cooled, crumble.
~Brown 1 pound of ground meat with chopped onion. Drain grease.
~Add all ingredients into a big bowl and mix together well.
~Bake at 350 degrees covered in oven safe cookware for 45 minutes.

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Simmered Cabbage!

Over the next several weeks, I will be transferring some recipes from my main blog, "This is My Life." These were posted over there before I started this cooking blog and now I think it's time to get them all in one place.

I found this recipe on Recipe Zaar and fell in love with it! I love cabbage and this is a perfect low calorie but very flavorful side dish. Although, I could just eat a bowl of it for lunch and be perfectly happy!

The recipe below is the exact recipe as I found it on Recipe Zaar. The items in red are my comments for adjustments and if you want to see my step by step instructions in pictures, click here.

Simmered Cabbage

Ingredients:

1/2 head cabbage, chopped into approx 1 inch squares or pieces (I used 8 cups)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 teaspoon salt, to taste

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper, to taste

1 cup chicken broth or vegetable broth (I prefer it with the chicken) (Me too!)

3 tablespoons dry sherry (optional) (I didn't use this)

Directions

1. Heat oil and butter in large heavy and wide saucepan or saute pan; add cabbage, salt, pepper, and stir over low heat for 5 minutes.

2. Add broth (I usually add a bit of sherry, too )and bring to boil, cover and simmer over medium-low heat, stirring often, for about 15 minutes or until cabbage is tender.

3. Raise heat to medium, uncover and let juices reduce to about half (be careful not to let burn). 4. Taste and adjust seasoning, serve hot.

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Green Beans with Bacon!

I wanted to make another vegetable on Thanksgiving for those who didn't like the Scalloped Corn . This recipe ended up being perfect. Seriously, who doesn't love bacon? It's a really easy recipe but just adds a little something extra to regular old green beans.

This recipe is the one I used on Thanksgiving so the quantities are for a crowd. It can easily be cut to down to accommodate your family size. Actually, you really only need to use the method. The quantities really don't matter all that much. Just make it fit you.

One more thing before you read this recipe. If you are a regular reader of this cooking blog, you know I like recipes that are yummy and tasty but do not require a lot of time in the kitchen. Okay. Having said that....I used canned green beans! GASP! Did she say canned? Yes! I did! Fresh would have been nice but I decided that the green beans were not going to be what was taking center stage on Thanksgiving so I used canned! I saved myself the time of trimming and snapping them into smaller pieces. No one had any complaints!

Green Beans with Bacon

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. bacon

2-3 Tablespoons butter

4 cans of cut green beans, drained

black pepper, to taste

Instructions:
1. Cut the 1/2 pound of bacon into thin strips.
2. In a large skillet over medium to medium high heat, fry bacon strips. Remove strips from skillet and set aside.
3. Discard all but 1-2 Tablespoons of the bacon grease from the skillet leaving the reserved bacon grease in the skillet.
4. Add butter to skillet and melt over medium high heat.
5. Add drained green beans to skillet and stir well making sure all green beans are heated.
6. Stir back in cooked bacon strips.
7. Season to taste with black pepper.

Note: I made this the day ahead but did not heat the green beans all the way through in step 5. I stirred them enough to cover them all with the grease/butter mixture. I put them all in a covered casserole dish and reheated them on Thanksgiving in the microwave.

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Cranberry Salad!

I like cranberry sauce. I do not like raw celery. It's something about the strings. I know. I'm odd.

Last year, one of my co-workers, Dawn, brought in this cranberry salad to work and forced (yes, forced) me to try it. Oh. My. Word! It was so yummy and I learned that I DO like raw celery! It just has to be cut up really small so the strings are not noticeable! Wow...the things you learn about me by reading my blogs!

Anyway. The recipe below is the recipe she gave me cut in half. It makes a little over 3 cups. If your family loves cranberry sauce, then double the recipe below. My Curtis and Allison love the cranberry jelly right out of the can so I serve both.

Cranberry Salad

Ingredients:
1 can (14 oz.) whole cranberry sauce, mashed
1 small can (approx. 8 oz.) crushed pineapple, drained
1 small box (3 oz.) raspberry Jello
1/2 cup celery, finely chopped
1/2 cup water, hot
1/2 cup chopped pecans, (optional...I don't add this)

Instructions:
1. Dissolve jello in a sauce pan of hot water.
2. Add whole cranberry sauce, crushed pineapple, celery and nuts to jello mixture. Stir well.
3. Pour into a pretty serving dish and refrigerate until firm.

Note: This recipe is great for doing the day before!

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Scalloped Corn a.k.a Corn Crap!

This recipe comes from a good friend of mine. Actually, it's not Nancy's recipe but her Mom's recipe.

Before I post this recipe, let me explain what "Corn Crap" in the title means. Somewhere along the way, this dish was labeled "Corn Crap" by, I think, Nancy's husband because he couldn't remember the name. It wasn't meant to be a bad thing because we all LOVE it so much! In fact, it should probably be named "Corn Crack" because you can't just have one helping of it.

Anyway. Fast forward to a visit to Nancy's home town of Bellefontaine, Ohio. Nancy took me and another friend of ours, Carolyn, to visit where she grew up. Well. Nancy's Mom, Sis, cooked for us and she made this scalloped corn. When Carolyn saw it she called it "Corn Crap" and Nancy's Mother's eyes just about popped out of her head and she said "Nothing I make is CRAP!" Sis didn't realize that it was a term of endearment for the casserole and we thought Carolyn was about to cry! Too funny! I'm sure it's a story we'll remember forever!

Scalloped Corn

Ingredients:

2 cans creamed corn

1 can whole kernel corn, drained

1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix

1 Tablespoon sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup milk

1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients together in a big bowl.

2. Put into greased casserole or baking dish.

3. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees until brown. Approximately 40-50 minutes.

Notes:
1. You can prep this dish the day before and cook it the day of your dinner. If you do this, be sure to take it out of the refrigerator 1-2 hours prior to baking to bring it to room temperature.
2. You can also prep and bake this the day before too and reheat it in the oven the day of your dinner.

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Aunt Jan's Sweet Potatoes!

I like sweet potatoes...especially on Thanksgiving. I, however, do not like sweet potatoes with marshmallows on them. Sorry. I know a lot of you do but it's just not my thing!

This recipe is for a mashed sweet potato casserole. It's delish! Actually, it's Curtis's favorite thing on the Thanksgiving table. I found the recipe on Heather D. White's blog. It's her Aunt Jan's recipe...obviously!

If you click on this link, you will find the original recipe. I make mine a little different...of course. Aunt Jan's recipe calls for walnuts. I can't do walnuts. My body tells me I can't do them by giving me horrible heartburn. So I substitute pecans. I also do my topping a little different. I used softened butter and make a sort of a crumb topping to add on top. It seems to cover the top more evenly. The recipe below includes my adjustments. Give them a try! If you like sweet potatoes, you'll love these.

Sweet Potato Casserole

Ingredients:
3 cups cooked sweet potatoes, mashed (approx. 2 large potatoes)
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar, divided (1/4 c. for potatoes & 3/4 cup for topping)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup butter, divided (1/2 c. melted for potatoes & 1/2 c. softened for topping)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup flour

Directions:
1.Combine cooked, mashed sweet potatoes, sugar, 1/4 c. of the brown sugar, salt, eggs, 1/2 c. of melted butter, milk and vanilla.
2. Place in buttered 2 quart casserole or baking dish.
3. Combine 1/2 cup softened butter, remaining 3/4 c. of brown sugar, pecans and flour together to make a crumb topping. Sprinkle over sweet potatoes.
4. Bake covered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Notes:
1. Heather usually does this recipe 1 1/2 times and fills a 9" x 13" baking dish.
2. You can prep this recipe the day before but not bake it. If you choose to do this, take the prepped dish out of the refrigerator for 1-2 hours to bring to room temperature prior to baking.

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P.W.'s Creamy Mashed Potatoes!

Today's recipe is for mashed potatoes. I know mashed potatoes are very basic and most people know how to make them. I thought that too...until I made these! They are creamy, smooth and velvety. I could just curl up with them on sofa and be perfectly happy!

Seriously. I found this recipe on The Pioneer Woman's site. WHAT? You don't know who The Pioneer Woman is??? Well then. You better get on over there and see what she's all about! She my girl crush! Yes. I admit it! I have a girl crush! Ree Drummond is my girl crush! There. I've said it and I'm not embarrassed. Really...go check her out! While you are there, check out her cookbook that just came out last month. Yes. Of course I bought it! In fact, I just sent it out to her on Monday so she could sign it. What? She said she would do it for anyone and gave us all an address where to send them!

This is the recipe I used for our Thanksgiving mashed potatoes and I will never make them any other way ever again!!!! The recipe below is her recipe exactly and here is a link to her post on it so you can see all the wonderful steps in pictures. The picture above is mine but make sure you go and see hers. She has a much nicer camera and better photography skills than I do. She says you can make these ahead of time which is PERFECT for preparing the Thanksgiving meal! Mashed potatoes take so much time on the actual day so why not make it easier on yourself. I did and they were perfect! The only thing I did differently than she did was I did not bake them in the oven. I pulled them out of the refrigerator in the early morning for about 2 hours. I then put them into a buttered slow cooker (my BFF suggested that...Thanks Susan!) with a few more pats of butter on top. I turned the slow cooker on high to get it started and then turned it on low once it got going. I stirred them up every once in a while to make sure they were heating evenly. Do it quickly though because you don't want all the heat to escape. You can also flip the switch back to high if you need. I hope you try these because they are TO DIE FOR! If you are uneasy about the cream cheese, don't be...you don't taste it at all! It just adds that velvety creaminess to the potatoes!

Pioneer Woman's Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:

5 pounds Russet Or Yukon Gold Potatoes
¾ cups Butter
1 package (8 Oz.) Cream Cheese, Softened
½ cups (to 3/4 Cups) Half-and-Half
½ teaspoons (to 1 Teaspoon) Lawry's Seasoned Salt
½ teaspoons (to 1 Teaspoon) Black Pepper

Preparation Instructions:

Peel and cut the potatoes into pieces that are generally the same size. Bring a large pot of water to a simmer and add the potatoes. Bring to a boil and cook for 30 to 35 minutes. When they’re cooked through, the fork should easily slide into the potatoes with no resistance, and the potatoes should almost, but not totally, fall apart.

Drain the potatoes in a large colander. When the potatoes have finished draining, place them back into the dry pot and put the pot on the stove. Mash the potatoes over low heat, allowing all the steam to escape, before adding in all the other ingredients.

Turn off the stove and add 1 ½ sticks of butter, an 8-ounce package of cream cheese and about ½ cup of half-and-half. Mash, mash, mash! Next, add about ½ teaspoon of Lawry’s Seasoning Salt and ½ a teaspoon of black pepper.

Stir well and place in a medium-sized baking dish. Throw a few pats of butter over the top of the potatoes and place them in a 350-degree oven and heat until butter is melted and potatoes are warmed through.

Note: When making this dish a day or two in advance, take it out of the fridge about 2 to 3 hours before serving time. Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 20 to 30 minutes or until warmed through.

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Bread Stuffing!

I have never made homemade stuffing before but since I was making the Thanksgiving meal, I thought I better find a recipe. I started searching the Internet. When I search there, I always look at the ratings or reviews and comments. You can really learn a lot from them and this one had almost perfect reviews.

So. The starting point for my bread stuffing came from Betty Crocker. You can find their original recipe by clicking here. I like a moist but not wet stuffing so of course I made some changes. My adjusted recipe is below and this will be the one I'll use for years to come. It received great reviews and even I liked it ... and I'm not a stuffing person!

Bread Stuffing
(makes 12 servings)

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter
2 large celery stalks, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
11 cups semi-soft bread cubes (20 slices)
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 teaspoon dried
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley or 1/2 teaspoon dried
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground sage
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 to 1 cup chicken broth

To Prepare Bread Cubes:
Preheat oven to 170 degrees or your oven's lowest setting. Lay out slices of bread on a cookie sheets or jelly roll pans. Place trays in oven and keep checking back on them until they are semi-dried out or semi-soft. Remove them from the oven and after they have cooled, cut them into small 1/2" cubes.

Directions:
1. Melt butter in a pan on the stove over medium-high heat. Cook celery and onion in butter 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender. Remove pan from the heat.
2. In a large bowl, using a spoon gently toss celery mixture and remaining ingredients except chicken broth, until bread cubes are evenly coated.
3. Starting with 1/2 cup of chicken broth, add to stuffing mixture and toss well. Keep adding more broth, if necessary, a little at a time until the mixture is moist but not wet.
4. Grease a casserole or baking dish with butter or cooking spray. Place stuffing in casserole or baking dish. Cover with lid or aluminum foil and bake at 325°F for 30 minutes. If it's too moist for your liking, you can uncover it and bake it a little longer.

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Lemon-Butter Red Potatoes!

I found this recipe on scrapbooker, Heather D. White's blog a couple of years ago. She was kind enough to let me repost it here. I'm glad she did because this recipe is just too good not to share!

I make this recipe Christmas Eve to go with the rack of pork that I make every year. The potatoes are a light, fresh flavor and works well with the heaviness of the roast.

Lemon-Butter Red Potatoes


Ingredients:
10-15 red potatoes, quartered
1/3 cup butter (no substitutes)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/3 cup lemon juice
3 Tbsp. fresh chives, minced (or 1 1/2 Tbsp. dried)
2 Tbsp. fresh parsley, minced (or 1 Tbsp. dried)
1 Tbsp. grated lemon peel
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Directions:
~Place potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with water. Cover the saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until tender.
~In a small saucepan, heat butter over medium heat for 2-3 minutes or until lightly browned (the browning give it the flavor). Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients.
~Drain potatoes and toss with lemon butter.
~Serve and enjoy!

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My Antipasto Pasta Salad!

Pasta salad is popular dish this time of year. It's cool, refreshing and a perfect addition to any get together with family and friends.

There are many recipes out there for pasta salad. I happen to like a little heartier pasta salad with meat and cheeses. It's probably the Italian in me. As you have probably picked up from reading this blog, I cook for my family's taste buds. So having said that, you will not find the usual sliced olives, onions or green peppers in this recipe. Feel free to make this recipe your own and add what you and your family like.

A note before I post the recipe...I do not have exact measurements for the ingredients. I kind of throw things together. I'll do my best to give amounts but if you feel it needs more or less of anything, go for it. The recipe below is the amount I make for a party as a side dish so it makes a lot.

Cindi's Antipasto Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 box (12 oz. or 16 oz.)of bite sized pasta. I usually use tri-color rotini but this time I used farfalle (bow-ties). Both work well.


• 1 1/2 - 2 cups of broccoli florets, raw


• 1 1/2 - 2 cups of cauliflower florets, raw


• 1 medium cucumber, seeded and diced into large pieces


• 15 (approx.) grape tomatoes, cut in half


• 1/2 - 3/4 cup pepperoni, sliced thick and then cut into squares. Although this time I found "Hormel Pepperoni Minis" that was perfect for this dish. (You could also do 1/2 pepperoni and 1/2 hard salami if you like)


• 8 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, cut into bite sized cubes


• 8 oz. mozzarella cheese, cut into bite sized cubes


• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese


• 1-2 bottles (16 oz.) of Wishbone Robusto Italian Dressing

Directions:

• Cook pasta in salted boiling water until al dente. Drain and rinse immediately under cold water to stop the cooking process.


• In a large bowl, add the pasta, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber, pepperoni and cubed cheese and one bottle of dressing and mix well.


• Sprinkle in the grated Parmesan cheese a little at a time to prevent clumping and mix in. The cheese will absorb some of the dressing so if you feel you need to add more dressing at this time, go ahead and a little more. It should be wetter than you think because the pasta will absorb quite a bit of the dressing as it marinates.


• Lastly add the tomatoes and gently mix them so they can keep their form.


• Refrigerate the salad for several hours or overnight to blend the flavors.


• Before serving, stir well and if it seems too dry, add more dressing.

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