Busy Day Casserole

Place a layer of peeled, sliced raw potatoes in casserole dish. Then a layer of onions. Over this, place one can cream style corn. Next, a layer of browned hamburger. Pour one can tomato soup over all. Cover and bake at 350 until done (about 1 and1/2 hours). Mix well before serving. Optional - top with grated cheese.

If you ever want something really easy, this is great (you just have to be around for the long cooking time). I have always eliminated cheese if a recipe calls for it, due to Monte's food allergies, but this time I put the cheese on Isabella and my portions because she is obsessed with cheese. It is SO good with the cheese (now I know what I've been missing out on all these years)! If you can't have cheese, though, it's still very good without, that's how I've always made it before.

Spicy Asian Chicken and Noodle Casserole

2/3 cup Thai peanut sauce
2/3 cup chicken broth
3 Tablespoons peanut butter
1 bag (1 pound) frozen broccoli stir-fry vegetables
1 package (7.31 ounces) refrigerated cooked stir-fry noodles, separated
2 packages (6 ounces each) refrigerated grilled chicken breast strips
1/4 cup chow mein noodles
1/4 chopped peanuts

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2-quart casserole with cooking spray.

2. Cook peanut sauce, broth, peanut butter, frozen vegetables, and noodles in 3-quart saucepan over medium-high heat for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring frequently, until hot. Stir in chicken. Spoon into casserole.

3. Mix chow mein noodles and peanuts; sprinkle over chicken mixture. Bake uncovered about 30 minutes or until mixture is hot. Let stand 5 minutes.

My notes:
If you like something a little spicy this is the casserole for you! When I made it I used 1 cup of chicken broth instead of 2/3 cups. I cooked up two packages of ramen noodles instead of buying the refrigerated cooked stir-fry noodles (I just omitted the seasoning packets from the ramen noodles). For the chicken I used up my leftover baked chicken breasts from the night before. I just cut it up into bite size pieces and mixed it in. I used a one pound bag of frozen snowpea stir-fry vegetables and I think it tasted great! I did not have any peanuts so I made the casserole without them and when I make it again I will probably do the same as Dave does not like to eat nuts.

Beef Jerky

1 lb. flank or round steak

1 tsp. seasoned salt

1 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. onion powder

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp. liquid smoke (optional)

Pat steak dry with paper towel. Slice thinly across grain. In a bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients. Place meat in bowl, making sure each slice is coated with marinade. Place in refrigerator for 24-48 hours. Drain meat on paper towels, blotting well. Place meat on oven rack and cook at 140 degrees for 3-4 hours, or until dried to your desired consistency. Store in refrigerator.

My mother and father-in-law raise cattle, so their Christmas present to us every year is stocking our freezer with a year's supply of beef! So that will explain why I might be posting a lot of beef recipes on here! Every year I usually don't know what to do with the round steak that we get, it's not exactly the greatest cut of meat. We really like beef jerky, so I was thrilled when I found this recipe a couple of months ago. Beef jerky is expensive to buy, so even if you buy the round or flank steak to make it, it still comes out quite a bit cheaper this way.

A few things I've learned - today was the third time I have made it, and it turned out to be the best yet.

*Marinating for the full 48 hours makes it A LOT better.

*My oven's lowest temperature is 170 (the recipe says 140), it still turns out good.

*You have to slice the meat while it is still mostly frozen.

*The recipe says to place the meat directly on the oven rack. I place it on a wire cooling rack, then place that on the wire rack in the oven. I also put a cookie sheet on the rack below to catch drips. I just cleaned my oven two weeks ago, and don't care to do that again soon!

Sweet and Sour Chicken

3 to 4 boneless, uncooked chicken breasts, cubed

1 bag frozen stir fry vegetables with peppers OR 1/2 bag vegetables and 1/2 bag frozen peppers

2/3 cup Western dressing

2/3 cup apricot preserves or jam

2 Tblsp. instant tapioca (this is fine to omit if you don't have any on hand)


Place chicken in glass casserole dish, along with vegetables and peppers. Mix Western dressing, apricot preserves, and tapioca, and pour mixture over chicken and vegetables. Bake at 350 for 1 to 1 and 1/2 hours (I cover it for most of the baking time, then take the cover off for the last 20-30 minutes), or until chicken is cooked through. Serve over Minute Rice.


This is one of our very favorite meals! In fact, it's on Monte's "top ten list" which is apparently the list he keeps in his head of his favorite meals I've ever made. Western dressing mixed with apricot preserves sounds gross, I know, but you have to try it to believe it! The great thing about this recipe is that you can change it to whatever your likes are. The original recipe just calls for the chicken and sauce mixture served over rice, which I'm sure would be good. I added the vegetables to make one easy, complete meal out of it. And if you're not a fan of peppers, just leave those out. I also added the tapioca because we like a thicker sauce. The best part about this meal - we have left overs for tomorrow night!

Welcome

Hi everyone, I'm excited for this new place to share recipes! For the contributers - please use the labels (label the main ingredient or the type of food - bars, cake, etc.) so we can have an index. I'll try to remember to do this, but am thinking I might have some problems. Also, if you could please email me a picture (if you want) and a few comments about yourself that would be great.