Tortilla chips

Ok, maybe I'm the last person on earth to figure this out, but in case not, I thought I'd share. They turned out pretty good and saved me a trip to the store when I wanted them as a side dish.

Ingredients:

1 pkg corn or flour tortillas cut into wedges

1 quart of oil for frying

1. Heat oil in a large, heavy sauce pan to 375. (Try to keep it at this temperature to avoid oversaturating the chips, or burning them)

2.Fry the tortilla wedges in small batches until crisp. Drain on paper towels. Serve warm.

Meat Loaf Cups

I love this idea, meat loaf cups! It's a lot fast to cook than meat loaf and easy to freeze!

This is a recipe for a pizza meat loaf, Johnny loved it!

1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup pizza sauce (I used tomato sauce and added a little more Italian seasoning)
1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs (I used oatmeal)
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

In a bowl, combine first four ingredients. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Place in greased muffin tin, press onto the bottom and up the sides. Fill center with cheese.

Bake 375 for 15-18 minutes or until meat isn't pink. Serve immediately or cool and place in freezer bags for 3 months.

To use frozen pizza cups: thaw in refrigerator for 24 hours. Heat in microwave 2-3 minutes.

Makes 2 dozen

Sloppy Joe

So I've been making a lot of freezer meals lately to get ready for baby. So I'm going to share a few of them.

This was super yummy. We ate half and froze the other half.

2 lbs. ground beef
2 medium onions, chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups ketchup
1 cup barbecue sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 Tbs. prepared mustard
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. pepper
Hamburger buns

In a large skillet, cook beef, onions and garlic over medium heat until the meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in ketchup, barbecue sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, mustard, Italian seasoning, onion powder and peeper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered for 20 minutes.

Serve about 1/2 cup meat mixture on each bun. Or cool and freeze for up to 3 months.

To use frozen sloppy joes: thaw in fridge, place in a saucepan and heat through. Serve on buns.
Yield: 12 servings (about 6 cups)

Cake Mix Cookies

This is one my favorite super quick dessert recipes, and I can't believe I haven't shared it before! Since I can often get cake mixes for less than $1 at the commissary, and even at the super walmart sometimes, I keep a stock of them on hand for last minute dessert requests. Ingredients:
1 cake mix any flavor ( This particular mix was chocolate fudge cake)
2 eggs
1/2 cup of oil
chocolate chips (the ones in the picture are peanut butter chips)

1. Preheat the the oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix all ingredients together
3. Roll into balls and place on baking sheet
4. Bake for 5-10 minutes -watch them until they look right to you. - These particular cookies took 10 minutes.
5.Enjoy!

Easter Bunny Bread

Here is the Easter Bunny Bread I made last year. Thought I would share the recipe with you before Easter this year incase you want to try it out. Happy Easter!

The recipe is a little hard to follow. Click on the picture to enlarge it and get a better idea.

2 loaves (1lb. each) frozen bread dough, thawed
2 raisins
2 sliced almonds
1 egg, lightly beaten
lettuce leaves
dip and veggies of your choice

Cut a fourth off of one loaf of dough; shape into a pear to form head. For body, flatten remaining portion into a 7 in. x 6 in. oval; place on a greased baking sheet. Place head above body. Make narrow cuts, about 3/4 in. deep, on each side of head for whiskers.

Cut second loaf into four equal portions. For ears, shape two portions into 16. in. ropes; fold ropes in half. Arrange ears with open ends touching head. Cut a third potion of dough in half; shape each into a 3 1/2 in. oval for back paws. Cut two 1-in. slits on top edge for toes. Position on each side of body.

Divide the fourth portion of dough into three pieces. Shape two pieces into 2 1/2 in. balls for front paws; shape the remaining piece into two 1 in. balls for cheeks and one 1/2 in. ball for nose. Place paws on each side of body; cut two 1 in. slits for toes. Place cheeks and nose on face. Add raisins for eyes and almonds for teeth.

Brush dough with egg. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30-45 minutes. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Place bread on a lettuce-lined 16 in. x 13 in. serving tray. Cut a 5 in x 4in oval in center of body. Hallow out bread, leaving a 1/2 in shell. Line with lettuce and fill with dip.

Mexican Casserole

I was looking for something quick and easy for dinner the other night and found this on allrecipes. I adapted it a little and it turned out really good.

• 1 (16 ounce) can refried beans
• 3/4 onion, diced
• 5 (10 inch) flour tortillas---I only used 3
  
• 1 cup salsa
• 2 cups shredded cheese
• tomato
• olives
• 2 green onions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Spray a 9-inch pie pan with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In a saucepan, cook refried beans and onions (to soften them) on medium-high heat for about 5 minutes.
3. Place one tortilla in the bottom of the greased pan. Spread about 1/3 cup of the bean mixture over it. Layer a few tablespoons of salsa over this. Then, place another tortilla over the salsa, and add more of the bean mixture. Follow the beans with a big handful of cheese, spreading evenly. repeat layers, spreading the ingredients evenly over the tortillas. On the top layer, make sure to use lots of salsa and cheese!
4. Bake until the cheese is melted, approximately 15 to 20 minutes.

**I put a tomato, olive and cheese between each layer and green onions on top. **

Partytime Beans

This is so yummy! A must try! We made this for Johnny's parent's, everyone loved it.

Makes a lot: 16 servings
good over rice the next day or put into a tortilla.

1-1/2 c. ketchup
1 med. onion, chopped
1 med. green pepper, chopped
1 med. sweet red pepper, chopped
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 bay leaves
2-3 tsp. cider vinegar
1 tsp. ground mustard
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 can (16 oz) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15-1/2oz) great northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15-1/4 oz) Lima beans
1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (15-1/2 oz) black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained

In a 5 qt. slow cooker, combine first 10 ingredients. Add beans and peas; mix well. Cover and cook on low 5-7 hours (Ours was more like 3 hours) or until onion and peppers are tender. Remove bay leaves. Enjoy!