Cornbread Chili Casserole

 I found the original recipe over at Mommy's Kitchen. And, of course I tweaked it to my liking and it turned out great. I totally forgot to take pictures while I was preparing this, so I only got a few pictures of it once I took it out the oven.

Cornbread Chili Casserole

1 lb. ground Turkey, browned, (drained)
½ cup chopped onion
1 can diced tomatoes (do not drain)
2 (15 oz) cans of Beans of your Choice (I used Ranch Style and Kidney Beans (drained the kidney beans)
approx ½ - tsp. Garlic powder
approx 3 - tsp. chili powder (I suggest you season to your liking)
approx ½ - tsp. garlic salt
salt & pepper
1 cup shredded cheese
1/2 cup or a little less, additional cheddar cheese for batter (optional)
2 - packages Jiffy Corn Muffin

Mix Brown turkey meat with onion and season. Add Tomatoes, Beans and additional seasonings (opt.)
Simmer for 15 minutes.

Put into greased 9x13 pan and sprinkle cheese on top of meat. Mix corn bread mix according to box directions. (I added some cheese in the corn muffin mix before pouring it on top)

Pour corn muffin mix on top of the chili and cheese cover completely. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Frito Pie Bake

This was the perfect Saturday dinner for my family this past weekend. It was good and easy to make, and just right for a Saturday meal. Of course everyone already knows how to make Frito pie, but when I came across the original recipe over at Pearls, Handcuffs and Happy Hour (cute name huh?) it stood out to me because it included beans and required baking. I must say that next time I make this I won't bake the chips with it, something about that texture I didn't care for but the meat mixture was delicious both of my girls loved it, so next time I will just pour the meat mixture over the chips. I made it with ground Turkey instead of ground Beef, so if your using beef be sure to drain your meat.



Frito Pie Bake

1 lb. lean ground  Turkey (or beef)

1 can pinto beans

1 can tomato sauce

1 can diced tomatoes

1 pkg. taco seasoning {I used McCormick’s}

1 cup shredded cheese

3 1/2 cups Frito's

1 1/4 cups sour cream

First brown the meat (drain it if using beef), return it to the pan, and stir in the beans, tomato sauce, taco seasoning, and 1/4 (I used a hand full) cup of the cheese.

 

 

Sprinkle 1 cup of the Frito’s on the bottom of a well greased 8x8 baking dish.

 

Cover the Frito’s with the meat mixture.

 

Bake at 350-400 for about 20 minutes and remove from oven. Now spread the sour cream over the meat mix and top with the remaining Frito’s and cheese.

 

Return to oven and bake for another 5-10 minutes.  Cover with foil and return to bake. The cheese will get a little crispy on top of the Frito’s if you don't cover it- Bake, and remove! I topped ours with Sour Cream, Salsa and Jalapenos and a side dish of corn .

 

Step By Step:

 

What you will need

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spanish Okra

I saw this original recipe over on Kelly's Korner. And since my whole family loves Okra and we all love Rice I decided to give it a try. Let me tell you it did not disappoint. Now this is my version of the recipe, I tweaked the orginal recipe I saw online to fit my families taste. My daughters ate it all and actually got seconds, so I'd say it was a hit. It makes a perfect weeknight dinner. Let me add I don't know why this recipe has the word Spanish in it, but thats what its called. I'm calling it Southern Spanish Okra

Southern Spanish Okra

Ingredients:

1 lb ground chuck beef
1 cup chopped onion
2 cups sliced okra
1 can diced tomatoes ( I used the basil & organo it gives it flavor) or you can use 1 fresh tomatoe
1 can tomato sauce
2 tsp worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp salt / pepper and any additinal seasonings
Hot cooked white rice (we eat our rice sweet so after its cooked I add butter and sugar-to me this made it perfect)

Brown meat and onion in a large skillet, Drain (I also season my ground meat here just a little)

Add Okra

Cook 5 minutes constantly stirring it around

Add diced tomatoes and stir, then add the tomato juice, Worcestershire sauce and salt & pepper (to taste)

Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until okra is tender. Serve over Rice

I served ours over sweet rice, and peas as the side!!

Meatball Sub Casserole

Meatball Sub Casserole

Let me start of by saying that this casserole was I think one of the best yet. My whole family really enjoyed this dinner. I found the original recipe over at Menu Musings so far I am loving all of the recipes I have tried from that site. Of course with all the recipes I find, I tweak them some to match my families taste and also what I have in my pantry. This one was no different in the original recipe I saw it called for Mayo, which I do not eat, so I used Sour Cream instead and it turned out perfect. This recipe really only calls for things that I'm sure that you already have on hand, so here it is.

Ingredients:

• Loaf of French bread
• 1 tsp of Butter/Margarine
• 6 oz Cream cheese, softened
• 2 Tbsp Sour Cream
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp or a little less- Italian seasoning( Mrs.Dash-original/ garlic/herbs, Parsley, garlic Powder)
• 1 bag of frozen meatballs, thawed out enough to cut in half
• 1 can spaghetti sauce (I used Del-Monte Traditional but you can use Hunts Brand)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese ( I used the Italian Blend)

Directions:
*Toast your bread first-you can do it in the oven or toaster*

In a casserole dish layer in the ingredients, starting with the semi-thick slices of French bread. Immediately rub the bread with the butter when you remove the bread from the oven/ toaster. The butter will actually start melting down into the bread, giving it a great flavor, then I sprinkled it with a little garlic powder.

For the next layer, combine the softened cream cheese, sour cream, garlic powder, and Italian seasonings. Spread this on top of the toasted bread.

On top of the cream cheese layer, add the thawed meatballs which you have cut in half.

On top of the meatballs, add the whole large can of spaghetti sauce.

On top of the sauce, add your cheeses(use the Parmesean first, then the Mozzarella/ Italian Blend. Sprinkle with just a little more of your seasonings if you'd like-I sprinkled a little Mrs. Dash (Garlic/Herb)

Bake covered for 30 min at 350-400 degrees depending on your oven. Then about 5 minutes or so uncovered just until the cheese is the perfect amount of melted! Enjoy

Step-By-Step



This is basically all you need to make this recipe

Slice your bread my casserole dish held about 8 slices, then Toast your bread and place it in the casserole dish, then butter them while its still hot and sprinkle a little garlic powder on them.

Combine the Cream Cheese, Sour Cream and Seasonings and spread this mixture on the buttered bread slices

Cut the Meatballs in half place them on top of the mixture, and pour the whole can of pasta sauce over the meatballs

Add your cheese, on top of the sauce starting with the Parmesean first then the shredded Cheese, and then sprinkle with a little Italian Seasonings.

Bake at 350-400 degrees for 30 minutes, Covered and then remove covering and bake an additional 5-10 minutes, Uncovered until the cheese is melted the way you want.

Serve right away, I made corn as a side dish with this.

Easy Mexican Bake

I made this recipe the other night and it was a hit, with everyone in the house. It was quick and easy to make really just about 6 steps, just what I like on a busy weeknight. And, to make it even better I had everything already, so no need to go to the grocery store. (I can't remember where exactly the orginal recipe came from so I will give you my version)

What You Need:

1lb-Ground Beef or Turkey-I used Turkey
2 Cups- Shredded Cheese-I used Colby/Monterrey Jack but you can use Cheddar also
1 pkg-Taco Seasoning ( I also added a little Garlic Powder)
1 can-Cream Of Chicken
6-6-Flour Tortillas
Optional Items:
1/4 cup or a little less of bell pepper/ onion (optional)
Sour Cream (optional)
Salsa (optional)
Oil (just a tad to brown meat)
Hand full of diced tomatoes/ or hand full of Rotel

Directions:

Preheat Oven to 350-400 Degrees
In a skillet over medium-high heat heat your oil and add your brown your ground beef/ turkey until cooked (if using ground beef drain, when crumbly & done). If using bell pepper/Onion add it in here and saute a little.
Stir in Taco Seasoning, Cream of Chicken, and 1 cup of cheese
Reduce Heat to low-(if using tomatoes add here) and simmer for about 2 minutes, stirring at about 1 minute
While that is simmering, spray a 8X8 inch baking dish with Pam.
Layer about half of the meat mixture across the bottom of the dish, spread out some tortillas over the top of the meat mixture (about 4, just play with it you want it to pretty much cover the meat)
Then add, the rest of the meat mixture.
Top with remaining tortillas (you want to cover the meat)
Finally, top this casserole with the remaining cup of cheese (I covered mine all the way with cheese)
Cover with foil and bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove foil and cook another 5-15 minutes until bubbly and cheese is slightly brown.

Remove from over and serve-I served ours with Sour Cream and Salsa on the side

Hawaiian Meatloaf

I added this meatloaf a few times on my family blog but I think I have perfected it. Every time I make this I tweak it just to make it right-and this recipe below is exactly how I made it. This sweet Meatloaf is always a hit at my house. I try to include meatloaf into our weekly or biweekly dinners at least once. It's a perfect weeknight dinner or even a good Sunday dinner.

Ingredients:
1 pound Ground Turkey (you can use ground beef)
1 Cup Plain Bread Crumbs (use a little bit more than 1 cup)
1 Egg
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder (a pinch of salt/ pepper/ seasoning salt opt.)
1 teaspoon of Worcestershire Sauce
1/3 cup Ketchup
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Crushed Pineapples w/just a little bit of juice-put the other juice to the side for the glaze)

Glaze:
1/4 cup Ketchup
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Crushed Pineapples w/ a little juice

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350-400 degrees. In a medium/large bowl, combine ground turkey, breadcrumbs, egg, garlic powder & seasonings mix well and then add the Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, brown sugar and crushed pineapples mix well and form into a loaf. Place in a lightly greased loaf pan and Cook for about 40-50 minutes until done.

Glaze: In a separate bowl combine ketchup, brown sugar and crushed pineapples. Stir and set aside.
Remove meatloaf from oven once it is cooked, and spread the glaze mixture onto the meatloaf. Put the meatloaf back in the oven for about 20 minutes.
Remove and EAT!!
This particular night I made Mac-N-Cheese and Green Beans as sides.