Super Cheap & Quick Meal #1

This is a delicious, filling meal that is cheap on time and your pockets. It's easy to make and the kids will love it!

INGREDIENTS

1 box macaroni and cheese (either dry or sauce will work)

1 6oz can tuna in water, drained

1 tablespoon butter/margarine/spread

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup peas, broccoli, or spinach

INSTRUCTIONS

Prepare macaroni and cheese according to package.

Mix in tuna and peas, stir until well mixed.

Heat on medium for about 1 minute.

Serve and enjoy!

Cheese and Spinach Stuffed Shells with Meat Sauce

This recipe is too easy.

INGREDIENTS

1lb ground turkey and/or turkey italian sausage

1 small onion, diced

1 tablespoon seasoned salt

1 tablespoon italian seasoning

1 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon granulated garlic (or) 1 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

1 28oz jar spaghetti sauce

1 tablespoon sugar

3 cups, plus one cup mozzarella cheese

1 15oz container ricotta cheese

1 10oz pkg frozen spinach, thawed and drained well

1 12oz pkg jumbo pasta shells, cooked and drained

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 13x9 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray or butter/margarine.

Brown ground turkey or turkey italian sausage with onions and seasonings until done. Drain, pour into medium sized bowl.

In bowl, mix browned ground turkey with spaghetti sauce and sugar.

Prepare pasta shells according to package directions, only cooking the shells until they're al dente. Be sure to run cold water over the shells to keep them from getting overdone. Gently toss them with a little olive/cooking oil so they won't stick together.

Combine 3 cups mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, and spinach in large bowl, stir until well blended.

Stuff shells with cheese and spinach mixture. Arrange in baking dish, open side up until all shells are stuffed.

Spoon ground turkey/spaghetti sauce mixture over shells.

Sprinkle remaining cup of mozzarella on top of sauce mixture.

Cover and bake for 1 hour or until cheese is melted.

You may take the cover off and let the cheese brown a little.

Sweet Potato Cheescake

A nice change from sweet potato pie, this cheesecake is delectable! You can serve it with whipped cream on top or plain.

For the sweet potato puree I use a 29oz can of yams and puree them in a food processor or blender. Be sure to drain the water before you puree. You should have a little under 2 cups of puree which is fine.

You may also substitute canned pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling!) in place of the sweet potatoes. It's still delicious.

INGREDIENTS

CRUST
1 & 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 stick melted salted butter

FILLING
3 (8oz) pkgs cream cheese, room temperature softened
2 cups pureed sweet potatoes
3 eggs +1 egg yolk
1/4 cup sour cream
1 & 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

For crust:
In medium bowl, combine crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. mix until thouroughly combined.
Add melted butter, stir until all crumbs are coated with butter. Press along the bottom and sides of springform pan.

For filling:
Beat cream cheese until smooth.

Add sweet potato puree and remaining ingredients. Beat until smooth.

Pour into crust, spreading mixture evenly. Place in oven for 1 hour. Remove from oven and let stand for 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap or waxed paper and refrigerate for 4-5 hours or overnight before serving.

Strawberry Cheesecake Cookies

I ran across this recipe on the web while looking for new cookies to send to my brother during his 2nd tour in Iraq. He requested lots of cookies and I loved baking them for him. His request resulted in about 6 or 7 dozen cookies being mailed to the middle east every few weeks. The boxed cookies smelled so good, the mail clerk at the post office requested a few. Lol. I was more than happy to oblige. :-) Besides, I like receiving my mail. AND she knows where I live. Lol!

These cookies can be prepared without fruit topping. They're still just as delicious.

Ingredients

1/2 cup cream cheese, softened at room temperature
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup all purpose flour
strawberry jam/preserves (or whatever flavor you like)

you'll also need parchment paper and toothpicks

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line a baking (cookie)sheet with parchment paper. Be sure to cut to fit so that the paper isn't hanging over the pan.

In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese together; about 1 minute.

Gradually beat in sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy.

Add egg and salt to mixture and mix well. About 1-2 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk together baking powder and flour.

Using a low speed or mixing by hand, gradually add flour mixture to cream cheese mixture.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking (cookie)sheet.

Spoon 1/4 teaspoon of jam on top of cookie dough and using toothpick, swirl jam around into cookie.

Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the bottom edge of cookies are barely brown.

Makes about 3 dozen.

Drunken Peach Cobbler

Rum, Brandy or Cognac gives this peach cobbler a distinct flavor. The peaches are allowed to marinate overnight in dark liquor and strained before using. (Don't panic; the alcohol evaporates while cooking so no one will get tipsy while eating your cobbler.)


INGREDIENTS

Batter

1 stick salted butter, for baking dish

1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
a dash of salt (about 1/8-1/4 teaspoon)
1 cup room temperature milk
1 egg

Filling

1 (28 oz) + 1 (15oz) can sliced peaches, drained
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

To prepare peaches the night before: strain the peaches and put them into a bowl. Add spices, stir BY HAND. Pour a shot or about 1/3 cup of alcohol (liquor) over peaches and stir BY HAND for about 2 minutes. cover peaches and place in refrigerator overnight (8hrs). *If by chance you wake up in the middle of the night, stir the peaches!* Why? So that the spices get to mix in and permeate the peaches while they're marinating.

COOKING DIRECTIONS

*Do not preheat oven*

Place butter in 9 x 13 inch dish and place in oven.

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

While the butter is melting, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

Check on butter in oven. Don't let it burn.

Mix in milk and egg on medium. Mix until batter is smooth (small, scattered lumps will still be visible).

Remove butter from oven.

Pour batter evenly over melted butter.

Spoon peach mixture evenly over batter-DO NOT STIR!

Bake 40-45 minutes or until cobbler rises and is medium golden brown.


Serve cobbler warm, in bowls with vanilla bean ice cream. simply delicious.

Supreme Baked Beans

This recipe is a combination of recipes from a couple of family members. I just tweaked it to make it mine. It's especially good for people who aren't too fond of baked beans. It has the right combination of beans, meat and flavor to please even the pickiest eater.

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup diced onions
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 lb ground beef or ground turkey
1 tablespoon seasoned salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 28oz can of baked beans
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbs ketchup
1 heaping tablespoon mustard
about 4-6 slices of bacon

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cook first 6 ingredients in large saucepan until ground beef or turkey is browned and there is no pink remaining. Turn stove off.

Drain and return to pan.

Stir baked beans into ground beef/turkey mixture.

Add brown sugar, ketchup, and mustard to saucepan and stir to make sure all ingredients are mixed well.

Pour baked bean/meat mixture into baking pan or baking dish.

Smooth baked beans out in pan and place bacon slices on top.

Place in oven, uncovered and bake until bacon on top is crisp and done, about 1 hour.

*If you don't want to put raw bacon on top, you can precook the bacon until almost done, then add them to the baked beans 1/2 way though cooking.*

About 4 servings

Pinwheel Appetizers

These little things are always such a big hit at family gatherings and potlucks. They're really easy to make and are even cuter on display. The original recipe called for diced black olives, but those didn't go over too well with my family. I've even heard of people adding onions, omitting the seasoning or going meatless, but I've never tried that. You can use different flavors of tortillas or lawash bread also. Lawash bread is something like a tortilla, only thinner. Actually, it's the kind of bread that's used for "wrap" style sandwiches.

Hey! During Christmas time, you could use the red tomato lawash and the spinach lawash bread to make these, then arrange them together on a platter for pretty Christmas color appetizers!

OK, I'm blubbering again. Here's the recipe:

1 80z brick of cream cheese (softened)
1 pack of hidden valley ranch dry ranch dressing
1 8oz bag of cheddar cheese
1 lb turkey or ham slices (lunchmeat)
10-12 tortillas or lawash bread

1. In a large bowl, stir together the cream cheese and ranch dressing until thoroughly blended.

2. Gently stir in cheddar cheese.

3. Place tortillas on flat surface, spread cream cheese mixture over one side of tortilla,

4. Place one (or two if you're using the big tortillas) piece of turkey or ham on top of cream cheese mixture.

5. Starting at one end, roll tortilla to the other end.

6. Slice rolled tortilla into 1 inch slices, secure with toothpick.

Arrange on tray and serve.