Sunday, August 28, 2011

Mexican Lasagna


This picture makes this dish look so-so...but it's one of the hubb's favorite!! I am horrible at taking decent pictures of food...oh well. You really need to try this one though, it is SOOOO good and, again, EASY! And I know some of the ingredients dont have exact measurements. Its just kind of a dump in kind of recipe that's really hard to mess up!
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Mexican Lasagna
(recipe adapted from Kraft)
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1 lb. ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
1 small green pepper, chopped
2 tsp. chili powder
frozen corn (I use somewhere between 1-2 cups depending on how much you like corn)
bottled (not fresh) salsa (I use Pace's but any bottled salsa/picante works!)
sour cream
shredded cheese
3 large flour tortillas (could use corn, I just prefer flour)
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Brown ground beef, onion and green pepper until meat is done. Add chili powder and cook 2 minutes. Add corn and salsa. Just dump some corn in and keep adding salsa until its all really moist (I'd guess about 2-3 cups of salsa). In an 8x8 or 9x9 square pan layer 1/4 of the meat mixture, sprinkle on some cheese, and add a tortilla. Add another 1/4 of the meat mixture, a little layer of sour cream, cheese, and tortilla. Then 1/4 of the meat, cheese, tortilla. Finish with the remain 1/4 meat. Cover with foil and bak 375 for 25 mintues (note: pan will be FULL but it's okay!). Remove from oven, sprinkle on cheese and bake another 5 minutes uncovered for cheese to melt.
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Note: When I layer on the tortilla, I usually trim it to be a square that will fit the pan and take the strips I cut off the round sides and layer them on with the tortilla. Hopefully that makes sense. If not, just layer on the tortilla :). Another note, my dad doesn't like sour cream, so I've left it out before with equally delicious results.

Homemade BBQ Chicken


I found this recipe online, and it has become a favorite..especially since I always have the ingredients on hand. I experimented once and added onions to the sauce (as in the picture). It was good, but totally optional. To be honest, I usually make it without the onions, but it's good either way. My favorite thing to do is make this chicken with baked potatoes and use the extra sauce in the pan to drizzle on my potato! Yummy!! (This recipes doubles/triples/etc. well, I double it when making about 3 lbs. chicken.)
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Homemade BBQ Chicken
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2-3 chicken breasts, cut into strips
1/2 c. ketchup
1 T. mustard
1 T. worchestershire sauce
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 T. lemon juice
1/4 c. water
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Place chicken strips in a 9x13. Combine all sauce ingredients in a pan, and bring to simmer. Pour over chicken making sure all chicken has been coated in sauce. Bake on 350 for 35-45 minutes, or until chicken is done.

Banana Bread


Banana bread is a comfort food. And there are maybe half a million recipes out there for it. I can't say I've tried all of them, because I stopped at this one. It is the best banana bread I've ever tried. But you can certainly make it and decide for yourself. It's so flavorful and moist and definitely a keeper!
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Banana Bread (makes 3 loaves)
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2 c. sugar
1 stick butter
4 eggs
3 c. mashed ripe bananas (I just use 8 med-lg bananas)
1/2 c. sour cream or plain yogurt
6 T. milk
2 tsp. vanilla
4 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
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Blend sugar and butter. Mix in eggs. Add in bananas, sour cream, milk and vanilla. Mix well. Mix in flour, baking soda and salt. Pour evenly in to 3 greased loaf pans. Bake 350 for 1 hour.

Better Than __insert favorite thing here__ Cake


I know this cake goes by all sorts of names, and regardless of what it is called, its just down right delicious. And easy. And did I mention delicious.
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Better Than _____ Cake!
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1 box German Chocolate cake mix and any ingredients called for on box
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 jar ice cream topping carmel
1 container cool whip
1 package toffee bits or heath bar bits
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Bake cake according to directions on box. While cake is warm (not hot!) poke holes all over with a butter knife. I actually kind of just make slash marks all over it. Pour sweetened condensed milk and carmel all over cake. I babysit it for a while making sure it soaks in evenly. Once cool, sprinkle half the bag of toffee bits on the cake. Then frost with cool whip and sprinkle the other half of the bag of bits on top. IF you have leftovers, make sure you keep them in the fridge!