Beefy Mac Casserole

I was stumped.  I had no clue what to feed the kids (or myself and hubby) so I took a recipe I liked the backbone of, then made it my own.  Here she blows:

1lb ground beef
1c chopped onions and green peppers
Cavender's Greek Seasoning - Salt free (you can use your fav spice blend)
1 10 3/4oz can of Tomato Soup
1 10 3/4oz can if Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 15oz can diced tomatoes (I used one with garlic and onion in it)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp crushed/minced fresh garlic
1 tsp minced basil, fresh.
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Several dashes of hot sauce
8oz elbow macaroni pasta
8-12oz shredded mozzarella cheese (2-3 cups)

Preheat oven to 350degrees Fahrenheit.
In a 4 quart dutch oven, fill pan with water and a teaspoon salt and boil.  Add macaroni and cook til almost al dente (usually about 2 minutes before the lesser time it asks to fully cook -- mine said 8-10 minutes, so I boiled for 6) .  Drain and set aside.
In a 12 inch skillet, brown meat, onions and peppers.  Add about 1/2 tsp or more (to taste) of Cavenders to meat and pepper mixture.  When meat is cooked through, drain and add back to pan. Pour undrained can of tomatoes, tomato soup, and mushroom soup, salt, basil & garlic and stir to combine.  Let it come to a boil and lower heat to a simmer, and simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  At this point, you may add the Worcestershire and hot sauce.  My estimate on the hot sauce is about a tsp. Stir to combine.  Once the 10 minutes has passed, dump your pasta in the mix and combine.  Add 1 cup mozzarella and stir. Pour into a 9x13" pan and top with remaining 1-2 cups (based on how cheesy you want it!) of cheese and place in oven, uncovered for about 30 minutes or until desired crunchiness/brownness is achieved on the cheese.  Let cool and serve!  Enjoy!
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Pulled Pork

My recipe is loosely based on this one: http://www.mommyhatescooking.com/2011/06/slow-cooker-pulled-pork.html
3lb pork butt
1 cup BBQ Sauce (Use a sweeter one like Sweet Baby Ray's or else it will be too dry and you will need to add some sugar)
1 can tomato soup
1 Tbsp Hot Sauce (I use Louisiana Hot Sauce)
One packet of McDonald's Spicy Buffalo Sauce, or add an additional Tablespoon hot sauce but don't be shy to ask for some next time you are at McDonalds!
2 Tbsp cider vinegar
Course Salt & cracked pepper

Take your roast and liberally smear salt and pepper on all sides.  Place in slow cooker and cover with tomato soup.

  In a small bowl combine all sauces and vinegar and pour over roast.

Cook for abut 5 hours on low or 3 on high.  Remove roast and take serving forks and pull meat apart and/or chop to desired size.  Add back to sauce and keep on warm until ready to serve.  Serve atop toast or on buns or even better, a toasted hoagie and enjoy!

Notes:
Since I am a bit of a food nerd, I thought I would share with you the reasons behind my ingredient choices.  First time I made this, I used a thick and kind of sweet barbecue sauce.  Second time I made it, I used a more vinegary one that actually had bourbon in it which made for a less rich sauce and the meat seemed dry if you can imagine since it was covered in sauce!  Secondly, I added the hot sauces not only to add spice and a kick, but the vinegar in the sauces and in the added cider vinegar help to tenderize the tough piece of meat and allow you to pull it apart much easier.  Lastly, I used tomato soup because the tomato's acidity also adds to the tenderization as well as the sugar, and the sugar content in the soup balances the spiciness.

Potato salad

So, I have always loved potato salad but never really figured out how to make a good one, so I texted my sister.  She had no clue, but googled along with me and we found some great ideas, and this is what I came up with.
You will need:
3 to 4 lbs of russet potatoes, washed and peeled.
Large stock pot of water with 2 Tbs white vinegar and 2Tbs Sugar and 2 tsp salt added to it.
Mayonnaise
Mustard
Seasoned Salt
Pepper
Relish (I use dill, you could go sweet though)
Finely chopped red onion (or whatever color you have on hand - red just has a zippy taste!)

Okay, so bring your pot of water to a boil.  While that is getting started chunk your potatoes up into bite sized pieces.  I found that unless your potatoes are all the same size, you should NOT boil them whole because some will be done before others.  Chop your potatoes into chunks that are all relatively the same size.  When the water is ready and at a HARD boil, add your potatoes.  Boil for about 10 minutes but not long enough to get them soft. You want them to slightly give when you fork them. I like to take one out and eat it to see how hard it is.  When the potatoes are done, drain them and set aside to let them cool.

In a small bowl combine 1-1/2 cups of mayo with 2 Tbsp mustard.  I probably don't need to tell you that you may feel free to use whatever kind of mayo and mustard you like, whether "Vegenaise" or Miracle Whip or spicy mustard or Dijon. To the mayo/mustard mix add about 2 tsp up to 2 Tbsp of season salt, depending on your taste.  I probably used about 2 tablespoons just because it salts the potatoes too. Add about 1tsp (or more - again your preference) and combine. Add 1/4 cup relish to mix and blend. I drain my relish in a sieve to get any excessive juice from it.  I find that if you add the spices to the mayo it distributes it evenly in your salad and you don't have giant bites of spice! EEW! Add mayo mix to potatoes and gently fold in with onions.  I like using a whole onion because I like onion, but you could go less as well. The onion ended up being about a cup after chopping.  Combine and cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.  This melds all the flavors and lets the salt sink in and mellow.  It also cools the potatoes as well.

Slow Cooker Chili

So today I'm ucka-sick and not feeling up to much, but I figured why not make slow cooker chili? I'm gonna throw 48oz of water in my crockpot with two of knorr's homestyle stock concentrated stock thingies. They're jellied stock cups I guess? Idk but they make about 3.5 cups of stock per jiggler is what I'll call them because they remind me of jello jigglers.  Then put 2 pounds of raw ground beef in it the water.  I took a potato masher and broke the beef up to little pieces.  Put your favorite chili spice packet in, and place on high for about 4 hours or low for 8 hours.  If you like, you can add a couple cans of drained but NOT rinsed beans such as Great Northern, Kidney, or Black Beans. I have used all and they're great. If it is still not thick enough, then add about 1/2 cup warm water in a glass and add about 4 tablespoons of cornstarch or flour and dissolve then add to chili. (This post was originally started in Dec 5th but I just finished it!)

Mexican Cornbread

Ok, so I use a website a lot to find deals in my area, and on her site she features "Menu Plan Monday," where she gives you a list of recipes and coupons to go with ingredients.  Well, I had never used the feature until today.  I decided to look to it for inspiration, and here is this week's menu plan.  Please browse her site too.  Sarah Roe is awesome (she's the Money Saving Queen) and her sister does the menus/ recipes (Mommy Hates Cooking).
First off, I would not call this Mexican Cornbread.  I would call this cornbread casserole.  Second, I made some changes, and in the future will make more changes.  Recipe is found here.  I added a bit of my own blend of taco seasoning to the meat and I did not use jalapenos.  Also, when it says put half of the mixture at the bottom, that's a little under a cup and a half.  I am the kind of person that hates to eyeball things! It came out relatively bland, so next time I think I will either use more taco seasoning, or I will not use beef at all and I will use a mild or even hot breakfast sausage because this dish kind of reminds me of grits and makes me think of breakfast.  I will also add some hot sauce (whatever kind you like; I like Louisiana) to the cornbread mix to the tune of about a teaspoon. Also, the meat/onion/pepper mix really needs salt.  It doesn't specify what size of cast iron skillet to use, but I didn't have one, so I used my oven safe Caphalon pan that is about 10' wide and about 2-3 inches deep.  It only cooked for about 50 minutes and it was done.

Cincinnati Chili

Ok, let me first start by saying that I never knew such a thing existed before about a month ago when one of the games I play started this "face off" between foods in the game (Cafe World).  It wanted me to pick Cincinnati Chili vs Texas Chili.  Well, being an Oklahoman I picked Texas and was puzzled by the new dish I never heard of.  Days went by and I kept getting asked this question til one day I finally decided to Google it.  Turns out that Cinci chili, as some call it, is not really a chili at all, but more or less a spaghetti sauce.  I concur.  It is the Greek's version and it features some "sweet" spices (that's what I call them) in them rather than savory ones, although it has a few in there as well.  One of the most famous Cinci chilis is Skyline's chili.  Many seem to think it would have chocolate in it, but it doesn't.  Look on their web site and go to their food allergy list.  Since chocolate is a popular allergy, it would have to be included on the list of known allergens, which it is not.  Seeing the name Skyline when my search went on made me remember seeing something about this chili in my Top Secret Recipes book by Todd Wilbur.  Sorry, but I love this dude.  He's a food geek and a scientist in one fail swoop.  *swoon*  I digress.  So anywho, I had eaten my version of chili before, and I suppose it is Texas chili, but as Alton Brown would tell you, true Texas Chili con Carne has no beans, and the stuff I am used to does.  This chili however, has no beans, and tiny pieces of meat and was originally served many different ways.  Three way: spooned on spaghetti and covered in a heaping pile of fluffy shredded cheese.  Four way: add onions to that, or Five way: all that with rinsed, drained kidney beans on top.  All are YUM.  Here is a link to the recipe.  Only thing I did different was I used an 80% lean beef and put it IN the liquid before browning.  Reading through all the blogs and all the sites' comments, people say that this is the way "its done" and that is how the meat gets into tiny little pieces.  Todd Wilbur's version that you can buy a copy of or try this one that someone already posted to a site, so I don't get busted for copyright infringement.  HA :)  Enjoy.  Also, this chili is quite similar to the chili used at many Coney Islander's on their coneys.  If you don't like the sweet flair, I also modded the recipe to make it a savory hot dog chili.  Replace all spices with one Chili seasoning packet of your choice (don't omit anything else) and don't add the extra 1/2 cup of water.  Let it simmer for a long time, or until desired consistency, and you have "Better-than Wolf Brand" chili for your hot dogs! NOM!

Tips on how to save money on food

First of all, let me say that I get so frustrated when I go to other people's houses and see their pantry and there's a ton of food they will never eat in there! (I'll take it, please! LOL) I mean really, people! Make a list and stick to it. If you don't know what is in your pantry or cupboard then go through it, take inventory and donate the things you haven't used or won't use! There are people out there (like myself) that cannot afford but a tiny amount of groceries every week, and it would help them out tremendously. Another thing that makes me upset is leftovers. People have food leftover, they store it, then it never gets eaten. There's three things you can do to avoid this. A. Make only enough for you and your family to eat then B. EAT YOUR LEFTOVERS! And /or C. Make a care package for a friend or family member that would enjoy your leftovers. One more pet peeve about leftovers is that people that waste them. Example: you make a pot of chili and refrigerate the leftovers. Good for you! Next day, you heat it ALL up, but don't eat it all. Well, there are people think that if you heat something twice, it's all of a sudden bad, but that is just not true! Secondly if you do believe this silly rule, then OK, just get out what you will eat THEN and put the rest back in the fridge. Don't be silly and cook all of it and then throw it all out when you've only had two bowls and there's clearly enough for 10 people! It won't kill you to go back to the fridge for more if you need it. Better to have to go back for more than to waste it. That's money down the drain, folks!
Another way to save money, you've all heard of, is to buy in bulk. But don't just stop there, guys. Don't go through the trouble of buying bulk, and then come to find out your food is freezer burnt because of a cheap plastic bag, or WORSE you just left it in the saran wrapped package! Oh no! AHHHH!!! There's money down the drain too! Invest in a good vacuum sealer.  I bought one a few years back and never regret it. My husband might because he never sees me use it, but that's because we haven't had the money to buy stuff in bulk for a while now. Anyway, it is well worth it, and I would suggest the food saver brand. The others aren't as strong, and don't have the longevity, either. Follow the instructions for best results.  
TTFN -SpooSpa


Ok I thought of something else: KEEP YOUR REFRIGERATOR CLEAN! You can't see what you have and what is going south if theres crap upon crap piled in your fridge! If you have a knack for organizing and can keep things pretty tidy, you should only need to pull everything out and clean it about once every 6 months if not once a year. Now, if you are like so many people I know that don't know organization from Adam, then you should probably pull everything out for a detail clean once a month. Maybe if you do this you will realize the work that goes into it and you will keep your fridge cleaner to begin with.
OMG! Another thing! If you have raw meat or open packages of whatever, don't leave them that way! I saw someone open a bacon package and put it in their fridge OPEN! WTF People? Haven't you heard of food borne illnesses? Storing that open bacon next to that package of half used half open cheese WILL GET YOU SICK. Why can't you just use common sense and buy some dang ziplocs?? It will save your food from spoil and yourself from getting sick. And put your open hot dog packages in a ziploc too! They have juices that come out of the bag and get your fridge dirty! Yuck. 2 plus 2 is 4 guys, not 5! ;)