Carefree Casserole--Dinner Favorite

Yesterday for my birthday I had Jacob make this recipe.  It is written in Mom's handwriting and looked easy and tasty and cheap to me.

Carefree Casserole                    350 degrees 20 min        6 servings

1 10 oz pkg. frozen peas and carrots
1 can mushroom soup
1/2 c water
1/2 c milk
3 c cooked rice
1 1/2 c diced cooked chicken or turkey
1/2 c shredded cheese

1.  Combine peas, carrots, soup, water, and milk in saucepan.  Bring to boil; lower heat and simmer 3 minutes.  Spoon 1/2 mixture in 1 1/2 qt. baking dish.
2.  Spoon the cooked rice over the vegetables.  Layer chicken over rice; sprinkle with salt; top with remaining vegetable mixture.  Sprinkle top with cheese.
3.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

 It was really good.  Jacob added extra rice, just to make it go farther for us.  He also added extra cheese, because he loves cheese.  The only issue was that Jacob forgot to add salt, so it was real bland until we added our own.  Overall, we loved it and will add it to our easy dinner repertoire.

Non-Cupboard related, here is my birthday cake that Jacob also made for me.  Isn't it cute?  He is embarrassed at the writing, but it is really good considering he had nothing to write it with.  It tasted super good, too. It must have been the cup(!) of butter he put in the frosting.

Was this a joke? (Strawberry Bread)

I really like strawberry bread. And I've made it before, probably the very same recipe that I'm posting now. But you see, I've gotten wiser in the ten years since I've made this bread, so this time, it turned out AWESOME. So, the joke's on whomever thought it would be funny to hide this recipe in my collection.

Strawberry Bread

1 1/2 c oil
2 c sugar
3 eggs
3 c flour
1 t soda
1 t cinnamon
3/4 t salt
1 1/2-2 c frozen strawberries with juice (thawed)
1 c nuts (I omitted, yet again)

Mix oil, sugar, egg. Add dry ingredients and mix (If too dry, add some strawberry...

juice? Fold in berries and nuts. Pour into 2 greased loaf pans. Bake for 45-50 minutes at 350 degrees. Makes 2 loaves. Note: Do NOT double the amount of strawberries.

And that's it. I looked on the internet  for a similar recipe to figure out baking time and such, and I noticed that the recipe I was reading made two loaves. It's a good thing I went to the effort to look up the rest of the directions, because I would have ended up with one huge loaf of overflowing bread and a mess in the oven. And then you all would have even more to laugh about.

I substituted half the oil with applesauce. 1 1/2 c oil is a lot. I also was trying to use some fresh strawberries I had, so I sliced them up and mixed them with the sugar, then let them sit while I got the rest of the stuff ready. It worked fine in place of frozen.

Cocoa-Walnut Brownie Loaf

We should just call it Brownie Loaf because I opted not to use any walnuts for reasons stated in the orange chicken with sweet potato post.

Yeah, pretty weird looking, but tastes good.

Walnut Brownie Loaf

3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups flour (unsifted)
1/2 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 (8 ounce) container plain yogurt (at room temperature)
1 cup walnuts (toasted and coarsely chopped)
Cocoa Fudge Frosting
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4-1/2 cup walnuts (toasted and coarsely chopped, for garnish)
Directions:


BROWNIE LOAF DIRECTIONS:.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees (glass) or 350 degrees (metal).

Cream butter, sugars and vanilla.

Add eggs one at a time, beating until mixture is light and fluffy.

Combine dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture in thirds, alternating with yogurt.

Stir in chopped walnuts.

Pour into greased and floured 9 x 5 x 3 loaf pan. Bake at 325 degrees (glass) or at 350 degrees (metal) for 65-75 minutes, or until cake springs back when lightly touched ~ top may be cracked.

Cool in pan 10 minutes. Invert onto wire rack and cool completely. Frost with cocoa fudge frosting.

COCOA FUDGE FROSTING DIRECTIONS:.

Melt butter. Combine butter with cocoa, sugar, milk and vanilla; beat until smooth and creamy, adding additional powdered sugar if necessary for spreading consistency.

Frost cooled brownie loaf and garnish top with coarsely chopped walnuts.

NOTE: 2/3 cup milk can be substituted for the 8 ounce container of plain yogurt -- when using milk, omit baking soda. NOTE: If baking in glass loaf pan, reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.

If I want brownies, I'd rather have it in bar form rather than bread form. It's weird to slice off a piece of brownie from a loaf. That being said, I actually liked the brownie recipe. It was nice and moist and tender, probably because of the yogurt. It's definitely worth making again, but in a sheet pan. It also would have been nice if I had seen the note about baking it in a glass pan before now, but I didn't have any problems baking at 350 degrees. 

I found the recipe online so I didn't have to type it all in, and I noticed that the the reviewers especially liked the frosting. I didn't melt the butter, and I still thought the frosting was too runny. Taste-wise, it was just another chocolate frosting recipe.

Orange Chicken with Sweet Potatoes (slow cooker)

This was an award winning recipe from a slow cooker contest in Taste of Home. It didn't win any awards around here. I probably won't be making it again.

Ingredients

source

3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced
2/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pepper
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (5 ounces each)
2 tablespoons butter
1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
3/4 cup unsweetened pineapple juice
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
1/2 pound sliced fresh mushrooms
Hot cooked rice



Directions
Layer sweet potatoes in a 3-qt. slow cooker. In a large resealable plastic bag, combine 2/3 cup flour and seasonings; add chicken, one piece at a time, and shake to coat.
In a large skillet over medium heat, cook chicken in butter for 3 minutes on each side or until lightly browned. Arrange chicken over sweet potatoes.
Place remaining flour in a small bowl. Stir in the soup, pineapple juice, brown sugar and orange peel until blended. Add mushrooms; pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours or until meat is tender and potatoes are tender. Serve with rice. Yield: 4 servings.

I never seem to be able to make recipes as they are because I'm stingy and lazy. I didn't add the sliced mushrooms and I didn't brown the chicken. I don't think it would have mattered anyhow. It just wasn't that great of a recipe. I like sweet citrus-y sauces, but there was just something missing from this one. You can try it if you like, but don't blame me if you don't like it. I posted the picture from Taste of Home. Don't be fooled into thinking mine looked like that. I didn't bother taking a picture because it looked (and tasted) so unappetizing They must have tried to make their photo look better by not adding any of the brown goopy sauce.

Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas

This recipe is from Tonya Campbell. It was really good.

Not my picture, but might as well be since they looked almost identical

3/4 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast
3 slices bacon
2 cloves garlic
1 1/2 c. Pace Picante Sauce
1 (16) oz. can black beans, undrained
1 med. red bell pepper, chopped
1 med. green bell pepper, chopped
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c. sliced green onions
12 flour tortillas (6''-7'')
1 1/2 c. shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Toppings: shredded lettuce, sour cream, chopped tomatoes

Cut chicken into short thin strips. Cook bacon in skillet until crisp. Remove to paper towel; crumble. Pour off  all but 2 tablespoons drippings. Cook chicken in reserved drippings until chicken is no longer pink. Stir in 1/2 cup Pace Picante Sauce, beans, peppers, cumin, and salt. Simmer until thickened, 7 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in green onions and reserved bacon. Spoon heaping 1/4 cup bean mixture down the center of each tortilla; top with 1 tablespoon cheese. Roll up; place seam side down in lightly greased 9x13'' baking dish. Spoon remaining 1 cup Pace Picante Sauce evenly over enchiladas. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Top with remaining cheese; return to oven about 3 minutes. Top as desired and serve with additional Pace Picante Sauce. Makes 6 servings.

I really like the creamy green chile kind of enchiladas, but these were just as good and maybe better. I like bell peppers, so that helped their case. I changed a few small things for convenience--used canned chicken, turkey bacon, and powdered garlic. I got 10 enchiladas, which was perfect because I had a 10 pack of tortillas. These are pretty hefty enchiladas; they filled us up. I wonder if the recipe is from Pace Picante Sauce?

Soft Pretzels

 This is a very worn recipe that looks like it's in Grandma Allred's handwriting.

This is 2/16 worth of pretzel dough.

3/4 c warm water
1 pkg yeast
1/2 tspn salt
2 c flour
1/2 tspn sugar

1/2 egg, Kosher salt

Add yeast to water, dissolve. Add salt, sugar; stir. Add flour; stir. Knead lightly. Store in greased container with top in the frig. for at least 1 hr. Punch down dough. Divide into 16 parts. Shape; place on foil lined cookie sheet. Brush with egg. Bake 425 degrees - 15 minutes.

The pretzels tasted good, and were just the right size for a small snack (smaller than mall pretzels). The only thing I would change would be to dip them in a baking soda bath to give them that distinct pretzel taste.