Layered Tuna Bake

Originally when I planned our dinner menu this week, I had tuna patties on the list for tonight. As I was looking for recipes for cookies yesterday, I ran across a couple recipe cards from General Mills using Bisquick mix. This recipe was included on one.


2 cans (6 1/2 ounces each) tuna, drained
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup toasted almonds
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cups Bisquick baking mix
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
1 egg yolk, beaten
Dill Sauce (below)

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease baking dish, 8x8x2. Mix tuna, cheese, onion, celery, almonds, lemon juice, egg, salt, and pepper. Mix baking mix, milk and mayonnaise; beat vigorously 20 strokes. Spread half the dough in dish; top with tuna mixture. Spread remaining dough over tuna mixture. Brush with egg yolk. Bake until deep golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve with Dill Sauce. 6 to 8 servings.

Dill Sauce: Heat 2 tablespoons margarine or butter in 1-qt saucepan over low heat until melted. Stir in 2 tablespoons Bisquick baking mix, 1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until smooth and bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in 1 cup milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly, Boil and stir one minute.

The verdict: not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. I didn't have almonds, so I omitted them, but I don't think they would have added anything to the dish. I made my own baking mix because I am not going to buy any when I have all the ingredients in my cupboard. It turned out really well, probably better than the real stuff would have. And, the dill sauce is a white sauce with some dill added to it. It was taking incredibly long to melt the dang butter so I turned the heat up. Way up.

Big Chubb, of course, loved it, especially the dill sauce, though he felt it could have used a little more flavor to enhance the taste. Baby Chubb scarfed most of hers down and then started pretending to drop it on the floor. It is her way of saving some for later. Little Chubb ate about half of what I gave him, which was more than I expected.

Cranberry Oat Cookies

I needed something sweet yesterday afternoon so I looked through all the cookie recipes I have and this one stood out because I happen to have dried cranberries.

Ingredients

3/4 cup Lactantia  butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tbsp water
2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup Robin Hood all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
3 cups Robin Hood or Old Mill oats
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cups copped pecans, optional

Preparations

Cream butter, sugars, egg, water and vanilla together on medium speed of electric mixer until light and creamy.

COmbne flour, baking soda and cinnamon. Add to creamed mixture, beating on low speed until blended. Stir in oats, cranberries and nuts.

Drop dough by heaping spoonfuls onto greased baking sheets.

Press flat for crisp cookies; leave mounded for chewy cookies.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes, or until edgeds are golden brown. Don't overbake.

Makes about 4 dozen.


I halved the recipe so mine turned out a little bit wetter than they should have because I didn't halve the egg. And, I must have used a large spoon because I only got about 15 cookies from the dough. I also opted not to use the pecans. We didn't have any.

We all loved them. Little Chubb asked for more cookies even though he told us he only had one more room in his tummy for any food to go into BEFORE he ate his cookie. Big Chubb said it was a keeper! Baby CHubb was sad that she only got to have chocolate chips for her treat instead of a cookie. She had one earlier and I didn't want to go over board on the oatmeal since we had it for breakfast, too.

Mom's Stew

The scouts went camping last weekend and had a dutch oven cook off. Big Chubb was assigned to make some stew, so I decided this would be a good chance to use this recipe. I ended up making it because Big Chubb had less than an hour between when he got home from school and when he had to leave to go meet at the church. We don't eat stew often because we never have beef. I used some of the venison Dad gave us at Thanksgiving. Plus, if it turned out gross the scouts would be eating it.

I'm not sure which Mom this belongs to, but I don't feel like we ever had stew like this.

Mom's Stew

2 pkg. stew meat
1 green pepper
1 onion
celery
potatoes-4 big
carrots-6 good size
tomato sauce (big) 29 oz.
1 can water
salt
pepper
6 TBLS tapioca
2 bay leaves

Put in lg. casserole. Stir to mix. Cook 5 hours without opening lid. 350 degree oven. Makes a lot!

So it would have been fairly easy to assemble, but we don't have a huge casserole. And, I wasn't about to clean out the dutch oven Big Chubb got from church. So I used our huge stock pot. It seemed to work fine. It started getting stuck to the bottom of the pan, but it was right when Big Chubb was moving over to the Dutch oven to take it, so it didn't get burned. I also had to cut up the venison, which took for ever. Plus, Baby Chubb was screaming at me the whole time, and Little Chubb had been sent to take a nap for being naughty. It was a pleasant afternoon.

Anyway, it was well received by the campers. The leaders all enjoyed it, and some of the scouts (all deacons) who poorly planned their meals were very happy to have some. Big Chubb said it had a very tomato-y base, not like a regular stew that has a much more beefy base. I had forgotten that we were out of celery because Big Chubb ate it all, but he said it wouldn't have changed the flavor profile much.

I forgot to snap a picture before Big Chubb took it away, but just imagine all those veggies in a red broth. It did look pretty with the green and orange and white in the red.

Black Bean and Cheese Enchiladas

Mom actually did make these several times. I remember she had some waiting once when I came home for a weekend. I'm pretty sure it was the weekend right before Big Chubb and I went on our first date.

photo courtesy of Betty Crocker

1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon cumin
1 can black beans, drained, rinsed
1 package flour tortillas (8 inch), heated
2 cups monterey jack cheese
1 can enchilada sauce
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Salsa if desired

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray 11x7 inch glass baking dish with cooking spray. heat oil in 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cumin, cook and stir until onion is tender. Stir in beans.

Place about 3 tablespoons bean mixture in center of each warm tortilla. Top each with 1/4 cup Monterey Jack cheese. Roll up tightly; place, seam side down, in baking dish. Spoon enchilada sauce over tortillas. Spray sheet of foil with cooking spray; cover baking dish with foil. sprayed side down.

Bake 30-35 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Sprinkle with Cheddar cheese. Serve enchiladas with salsa.

We love these! I usually put more than just three tablespoons of beans in each, so we only get about 5 enchiladas from the recipe, but that is more than enough for our family. Since everyone in this house LOVES beans, it is also a go to meal that will always be eaten. We like to have it with salad and tomatoes, avocados, olives, sour cream, etc.

Graham Cracker Bars

There was one way Mom would eat coconut, and this is it. I remember this as an Allred classic. I noticed Mom had me change the recipe in the Allred cookbook, but those must have been her own changes. This seems to be the original that's in the book.

1 c butter

1/2 c milk

1 c brown sugar

1 egg, slightly beaten

Cover bottom of cookie sheet w/ graham crackers. Melt butter, add sugar, milk, and egg. Cook, stirring constantly and let boil 5 minutes. Add 1 cup coconut, 1 cup nuts, and 1 cup crushed graham cracker crumbs. Spread over whole crackers. Put another layer of whole grahams on top.

First, this is the only time I've seen nuts in the recipe. I omitted. Second, it doesn't talk about frosting on top. I made a very thin frosting, using all the powdered sugar I had because it seems necessary according to my memory of the recipe. I remember these being completely soggy every time I had them, but we didn't wait that long to dig in. I liked it with the crackers still a little crispy. FYI, you need 2 boxes of graham crackers. I halved it and put it in a 9x13.

These were a big hit. I tried the gnocchi zucchini stuff for dinner (homemade gnocchi even), and it was a huge success. C and O both ate it, and C ate everything on her plate including the spinach salad. Then we all polished off plenty of these bars. Happy tummies tonight in this house.

Veggie Pizza

Veggie Pizza

1 can crescent rolls
4 oz soft cream cheese
1/3 packet Hidden Valley Ranch
1 T mayonnaise
Raw veggies (broccoli, green pepper, radishes, cucumbers, mushrooms, celery, carrots, olives, purple cabbage, etc.)
4 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 c crushed pineapple

1) Unroll can of rolls onto cookie sheet.
2) Bake for 1/2 of package time.
3) While baking mix cream cheese, ranch dressing and mayo. Chop veggies into small pieces.
4) Remove rolls, spread cheese mixture over on top of hot crust. Sprinkle on veggies, pineapple, and cheese.
5) Return to oven for remainder of baking time or until veggies are done and cheese melts.
6) Cut into pieces while hot.

I've made normal veggie pizza before, but I wanted to try this because you cook the pizza after you put the toppings on, and it calls for pineapple. It was good, but baking it with the toppings on didn't really do much since it only ended up being about 5 minutes. They were still pretty much raw, but I was afraid the crust would get overdone if I left it in there longer. The pineapple was a good addition. The mozzarella just kind of disappeared. When I make it again, I'll just make it the normal way, maybe with pineapple.

Zucchini Bars

I had some zucchini I needed to use up, so I made these.

From Allrecipes

Zucchini Bars 

    These bars are so delicious that my family can eat the entire batch in one day!!! They are very easy and moist. Prep time: approx. 15 minutes Cook time: approx. 25 minutes Ready in: approx. 40 minutes Makes 1 9x13 pan (24 servings).

3 eggs

1 c. vegetable  oil

2 c. sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 1/3 c. all purpose flour

1/4 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 c. grated zucchini

1/2 c. margarine

1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese

2 1/2 c. confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the eggs, oil, sugar, and vanilla until well blended. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Mix in the zucchini. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.

3. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow bars to cool completely before frosting. To make the frosting, blend together the margarine, cream cheese and confectioners' sugar until well blended. Spread over cooled bars before cutting.

This recipes was very similar to Mom's carrot cake recipe. You could barely tell there was any zucchini in it. Big Chubb said it tasted like buttered popcorn (?) the Little Chubb and Baby Chubb gobbled it up, so I'd say it was a success. I liked it enough to eat too much of it. 

My only problem with this recipe is that it took about twice as long to bake as the recipe said. If I would have taken it out at 25 minutes we would have still been eating batter.

Linguine with Ham

Yay for leftover frozen ham from Easter. Split pea soup is on the menu this weekend.  But for today I made this. It has no known author, just a printed paper.

Linguine with Ham

1/2 on leftover diced ham

2 red, ripe tomatoes, optional

1/2 lb mushrooms

1.5 c peas

1/4 c olive oil

1 T minced garlic

Salt and pepper

1/2 c heavy cream or evaporated milk

12 leaves fresh basil, or dried

3/4 lb egg type noodles

Grated parmesan cheese for serving

1 beaten egg, optional

Chop ham into small pieces. Peel and core tomatoes and chop. Thinly slice mushrooms. Frozen peas should be rinsed under hot water and drained. Put water on to boil for pasta. Now you're ready to begin: heat oil in skillet and add mushrooms. Cook, stirring often, two minutes. Add peas, salt and pepper to taste. Add cream, tomatoes, and basil; stir. Bring to a boil. Meanwhile, cook pasta. Drain well. ( If you prefer, at this point you may out in the egg.) Add noodles to sauce and toss. Serve with grated parmesan cheese and garlic bread. A tossed green salad completes this meal. 4 to 6 servings.

We loved it. I didn't add mushrooms and we thought the tomatoes were unnecessary. We all loved it, even the little crazy.

This is a favorite. I'm glad, because good dinner recipes are kind of rare on this blog.

Healthy Oatmeal Chewies

This recipe is was written on an old recipe card, possibly from one of Mom's siblings. It was not Mom's handwriting, but it was similar. I find it interesting to see what was considered healthy 30ish years ago.

Healthy Oatmeal Chewies
2 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup oil (soy, if desired)
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 c coconut or wheat germ (I {whoever wrote the recipe} used both)

Combine oats and sugar with oil and let stand at room temp 1 hr. Add beaten egg, salt, vanilla, wheat germ or coconut or both. Place by tablespoons on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 325 degrees for 12-15 minutes. 2 1/2 dozen.

These are probably the ugliest cookie I have ever made, but they were uniquely good. They are kind of like a mix between a cookie and a granola bar. I used both coconut and wheat germ, and I enjoyed the taste they each gave. I also added a second egg because it seemed too dry (maybe because I added both coconut and wheat germ?). I didn't think they would end up resembling anything near a cookie, but they were okay. I guess they aren't cookies anyway; they are chewies.

Helpful hint: Grease the cookie sheet well, even if you think a nonstick pan is good enough.

Julia's Hot Cross Buns

I made these Easter morning. Jacob has never heard of them before, except the song.

Julia's Hot Cross Buns

From allrecipes

INGREDIENTS:

3/8 cup milk 3/8 cup water 1 egg 1 teaspoon salt 1/3 cup white sugar 4 tablespoons margarine 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon orange zest 3 cups bread flour 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast 1/2 cup raisins (optional) 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar 1 tablespoon water

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Place milk, 3/8 cup water, egg, salt, white sugar, butter or margarine, cinnamon, nutmeg, peel, bread flour, yeast, and raisins in the pan of the bread machine. Select the Dough setting, and Start.
2.	Form into 15 rolls. Place into a greased 13 x 9 inch pan. Let rise for one hour.
3.	Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool.
4.	Make icing with confectioners' sugar and 1 tablespoon water. Drizzle over buns in the shape of cross.

We liked them okay. They smelled like cinnamon rolls, but were less exciting.  Jacob needed frosting on the whole bun, and I don't blame him, I liked the more frosted ones better as well. I'd rather have some other sweet roll, but these were festive.

Bunny Rolls

To be honest with everyone who reads the blog, this Cupboard Recipe is kind of a cheat because Big Chubb and I added it to Mom's cupboard last year while we were there for Easter Weekend. It originally is from Big Chubb's mom and is the traditional Easter morning breakfast.

Bunny Rolls

With Easter approaching, I thought everyone might want to have this recipe.

3/4 c water (around 110 degrees)
1/4 c sugar
1 Tbs active dry yeast OR 2 1/2 tsp fast rise yeast
In large bowl soak yeast in warm water and sugar for several minutes, until dissolved and starting to grow.

Add
2 eggs
1/2 c soft butter or margarine
1/4 c dry milk.
2 tsp salt (1 tsp.)
1/4 tsp mace
grated peel from one large orange
Mix well.

Carefully stir in 3 (2 5/8) cups flour, one cup at a time. If dough is fairly stiff, turn out onto kneading area that has one cup flour sprinkled on it. (If not, add a little more flour until dough is stiff.) Knead for about 8 to 10 minutes, adding more flour if necessary, until dough is smooth and elastic. Grease bowl and put dough back in it. Cover with plastic wrap and a towel. Let sit in warm place until doubled in bulk and when you stick 2 fingers in it the holes start to disappear quickly when you remove your fingers. Knead again for a couple of minutes and then divide dough into small balls, about 24. Roll balls, one at a time, into snakes, pinch off a little bit from one end then twist the rest twice to form bunny shape, roll the saved piece into a ball and place on bunny for tail. Place bunnies on lightly greased pan, cover with towel and let raise again, about 1/2 hour. Heat oven to 375 degrees, bake bunnies, one pan at a time, for about 20 (15) minutes or until golden brown. Let cool only a couple of minutes then frost with glaze made from powdered sugar, vanilla, and water (sorry, I don't measure this stuff, I just mix until I have enough for all the rolls). Let glaze set, then cover with foil until time to eat them! Makes about 24 bunnies.

The picture is from last year, too.

We don't make them quite the same as the recipe says. Our changes are in red beside the original. We also mix the dough in the bread maker.

We LOVE these!!! We suggest you all try them because they are really good. And don't think you have to wait until next Easter. We made a second batch after Easter last year because we had to share the original batch with J&T and family and Mom and Dad, so we didn't get to eat as many as we wanted. If you end up having a couple that get a little stale, they make great French toast. Just slice it in half and proceed like normal French toast.

Asparagus Potato Soup

I don't love asparagus, but Brian does. I buy it once or twice a year when it is on sale for his sake. This was a pretty good use of it.

Asparagus Potato Soup

Ingredients

2 cups diced peeled potatoes

  1/2 pound fresh asparagus, chopped

  1/2 cup chopped onion

  2 celery ribs, chopped

  1 tablespoon chicken bouillon granules

  4 cups water

  1/4 cup butter, cubed

  1/2 cup all-purpose flour

  1 cup heavy whipping cream

  1/2 cup milk

  1/2 teaspoon salt

  Dash pepper

  12 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled

  3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

In a large saucepan or soup kettle, combine the potatoes, asparagus, onion, celery, bouillon and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in the butter.

In a bowl, combine flour, cream, milk, salt and pepper until smooth; add to the vegetable mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Garnish with bacon and cheese. Yield: 6-7 servings.

It did not yield 6-7 servings. I can only assume that like many recipes, the yield is for light eaters during a multi-course meal. Or we are just pigs.

The soup was good. It was very thick. I wanted to thin it out a little more, but Brian likes thick soups because he thinks they are more substantial. C and the little girl I babysit were forced to eat a few bites. It is an adult soup. I added a tiny bit of cheese and no bacon, and it was just fine. Yes, bacon is delicious, but I'm not in the habit of adding bacon (or meat in general) to dishes where it really isn't needed. The soup was plenty rich without it.

Quiche Lorraine

Albertsons put out a pamphlet Mom picked up called "the incredible Edible Egg". I like recipes that are meatless, so I tried one out. Turns out this one still had meat in it.

Quiche Lorraine

9 in our shell, chilled

1 T butter

12 slices of bacon

6 large eggs

1.5 c heavy cream

3/4 t salt

Pinch of nutmeg

Pinch of sugar

Pinch of cayenne

1/8 t pepper

1/4 lb grated Swiss cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.  Sprinkle butter over surface of our shell.  Try bacon until crisp; crumble into small pieces. Combine eggs, cream, salt, nutmeg, sugar, cayenne, and pepper with egg beater just long enough to mix thoroughly. Sprinkle bacon and Swiss cheese into bottom of pie shell; pour in egg mixture. Arrange six slices asparagus onto mixture (optional) . Bake 1% minutes at 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees, bake 40 minutes longer. Makes six servings.

We liked it, but both had the same comments.  We thought there was a ton of bacon in it and it didn't need cream, they both just added calories. We did think it was tasty, though. 

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Monday was not a fun day for us. It started out with a very hopeful interview near Indy and ended with the car being towed all the way back to Muncie many hours after it broke down.  We got back at 5:00 and I needed to make dinner still.  Luckily, this recipe was so easy I could still whip it up with the little energy I had left. And I knew it would be good, because it comes from Mary Murray.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Mary Murray

I did not use macaroni, just rotini I had hanging around

Serves 5-6
8 oz Macaroni, cooked
1 lb. Container cottage cheese
3/4 c sour cream
8 oz pkg. Shredded cheddar cheese
1 egg, beaten
1 t salt
1/8 t pepper

Combine all ingredients in a 1.5 quart casserole dish.  Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Yeah, we liked it. It's not your traditional macaroni and cheese with lots of cheddar cheese, but is more like a delicious pasta casserole.  Um, yum. It's not healthy by any means, but still good every once in a while.

This random picture shows the little kid's personality. After many trips to Wal-Mart where she carried this ball around the entire store, we spent a whopping $2 to buy it for her. She wouldn't even let it go to drive home.