Fit-For-a-King Baked Beans

This is from my Christmas cookbook, the TOH one. I do have a love for baked beans, and these start with plain canned beans, so it's a lot faster than making them the traditional way when you have to soak them. I do take issue with the name of the recipe, because how many kings out there do you think are requesting baked beans, to necessitate a recipe so named? Also how many kings are out there, period? I don't think many...Jordan, sometimes England, Morocco...also this recipe was contributed to TOH by the Bean Education and Awareness Network. Can you believe there is such an organization? Crazy. If you feel like you need further bean education, here is the link: http://www.americanbean.com/index.htm

Fit-For-a-King Baked Beans
3 bacon strips, diced
2 small onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 1/4 tsp ground ginger
4 cans (15 1/4 oz each) great northern beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup apple cider or juice
1/2 cup salsa
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup gingersnaps, optional (what?? Since I didn't have any of these laying around, I left them out)
1 tbsp Dijon mustard (I didn't have this either so I used spicy brown)
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp ground allspice
2 bay leaves

In a large skillet, cook the bacon until crisp. Remove with slotted spoon to paper towels. Drain, reserving 1 tsp drippings. In drippings, saute onion, garlic, and ginger until tender.

In a large bowl combine the remaining ingredients. Stir in the onion mixture and cooked bacon. Transfer to greased 2 quart baking dish.

Cover and bake at 300 for 2 hours. Uncover; bake 30-35 minutes longer or until beans reach desired thickness. Discard bay leaves.

So if you left the bacon out of this (which some people might do but I would never do) this would be a vegetarian dish. So that's why I categorized it as such. These beans were really really good. E & N were a bit freaked out by the pieces of bacon in theirs, but ate the beans. The rest of us loved it. Definitely a keeper.

Aloha Burgers

This recipe is from the cookbook I got from my mom at Christmas, the TOH Cooking Through The Seasons one. I almost didn't make this one, because it has pineapple and bacon, 2 things Steve isn't crazy about, BUT I happen to love. So...he can pick off the pineapple and bacon, right?

Aloha Burgers
1 can (8 oz) sliced pineapple
3/4 cup teriyaki sauce
1 pound ground beef
1 large sweet onion, sliced
1 tbsp butter
4 lettuce leaves
4 sesame seed or onion buns, split and toasted
4 slices Swiss cheese
4 bacon strips, cooked

Drain pineapple juice into a small bowl; add teriyaki sauce. Place 3 tbsp in ziploc bag. Add pineapple. Toss to coat and set aside. Shape beef into 4 patties; place in an 8-in square baking dish. Pour the remaining teriyaki mixture over the beef patties. Marinate for 5-10 minutes, turning once.

Drain and discard teriyaki marinade from patties. Grill, covered, over medium heat or broil 4 inches from heat for 6-9 minutes on each side or until no longer pink. (I used my GF grill...hoping I can find a better one at a yard sale this year, but for now this will continue to serve...) Meanwhile, in a small skillet, saute onion in butter until tender, about 5 minutes; set aside.

Drain and discard pineapple marinade. Place pineapple on grill or under broiler to heat through. Layer lettuce and onion on bottom of buns. Top with burgers, cheese, pineapple and bacon. Place tops; serve immediately.

I told the kids this was a Hawaiian meal. Well, the lady who submitted the recipe to TOH was from there, so it is. So they were excited to try it and I told them to be careful not to turn into Lilo and/or Stitch. These burgers tasted really really good. For Emma and Nathan I just cut up the burger and gave them the pineapple on the side. Neither one of them liked the meat by itself. Emma said it had no flavor. I guess 10 minutes in a thick marinade like that really isn't that long. I suggested to Em that she have a bite of meat with a bite of pineapple. She did and she liked it that way. I made Nathan try a bite of pineapple and you should have seen his face. He acted like he was being tortured. He cried out in anguish, "I don't like the seeds!" I had to turn away because I was laughing so hard. So I don't think Nathan will ever want to have this again, but as for the rest of us, we all thought it was great. Unfortunately for Steve, he had a burger for lunch with a friend of his, so this was his second burger of the day. He said my homemade burger rivaled the restaurant burger (p.s. it wasn't fast food, it was a real restaurant). And that is why I love him (at least one of the reasons). Sam said he would rate it 7 stars out of 5. So I would say this recipe got rave reviews...next time we try it will be Steve doing it on the grill outside, instead of using the clunky unwieldy GF grill.

Classic Cocktail Meatballs

Not that we drink a lot of cocktails. Also there's no healthy way to make meatballs. They are just fatty and delicious and not good for you. So why put on airs? If you're going to make meatballs, then you might as well drench them in a sauce that combines grape jelly and chili sauce, instead of like fat-free or reduced sugar or whatnot. I wanted to make these when I saw the recipe in the Kraft Food & Family insert, but knew I couldn't make them for a family meal because it would make way too many. So I made these for home fellowship. Even though the Porters are vegetarians (I did thoughtfully text Brooke and tell her that I would make sure she was first in line for meatballs, even if I had to fight off every child there...) I thought they would still be a hit, because Tom likes meat at every event. Once at home fellowship we had a bunch of desserts (our usual fare) and then Tom fried up like 2 pounds of bacon. Surprising how tasty all that was together. Anyway now that none of you on a diet will ever want to come to our home fellowship, here is the recipe...

Classic Cocktail Meatballs
2 lb lean ground beef (I used grass fed...I only have 2 more of our original 25 pounds of this left...I told Steve to tell his friend to kill another cow...he thought he might suggest to his friend to do it the way Leon on Napoleon Dynamite did...)
1 pkg (6 oz) chicken flavored stuffing mix (weird, right??)
1 cup water
2 eggs
12 oz jar grape jelly
12 oz bottle chili sauce

Heat oven to 400. Line 2 jelly roll pans with foil; spray with cooking spray. Mix meat, stuffing mix, water, and eggs until blended. Shape into 50 1 1/2 inch meatballs (I got 58 using my PC medium scoop); place on prepared pans. Bake 16 minutes or until done (160 degrees). Meanwhile, bring jelly & chili sauce to a boil in large saucepan on medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add meatballs to sauce; stir to evenly coat.

I tweaked this a bit in that I made the meatballs the day before, knowing that I had to work Thursday night and that when I woke up I would be in no mood to make meatballs, and then cave and get chips on the way to HF. So then I put all the meatballs in my crockpot and poured the sauce over them this afternoon, then left it on low for maybe like 5 hours total by the time they were consumed.

These were a big hit. None left. I actually didn't even eat one, because my stomach does weird things when I only sleep 3 hours out of the last 42 (when I figured out those numbers I was shocked, but it's what happened for Thursday/Friday...) So I think this one is another keeper...if you were there and you ate one, feel free to give feedback (good or bad, I can take it!)

Simply Lasagna

So this might seem like something too basic. I have made several lasagnas in my lifetime. In fact, last month, my sister and I made a totally rocking one without any recipe at all. But believe it or not, I did not have a recipe for lasagna in my "keeper book." (That's the binder that all the recipes I call "keepers" goes in to...and then when I am doing my meal planning or having company over or whatever, I know whatever is in that book is a good thing to make.) This recipe was from that Kraft Food & Family insert that I referenced in my last posting. One thing I did like about it was that you don't have to boil the noodles ahead of time, so it came together pretty quickly.

Simply Lasagna
1 lb ground beef
2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
15 oz ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (I used 2 tbsp dried)
1 egg, beaten
1 jar (24 oz) spaghetti sauce
1 cup water
12 lasagna noodles, uncooked

Heat oven to 350. Brown meat in large skillet on med-high heat. Meanwhile, mix 1 1/4 cups mozzarella, ricotta, 1/4 cup parmesan, parsley, and egg until well blended; set aside.

Drain meat. Stir in spaghetti sauce. Add the 1 cup of water to the empty sauce jar; cover with lid and shake well. Add to meat mixture; stir until well blended. Spread 1 cup meat sauce onto bottom of 13x9 baking dish; top with layers of 3 lasagna noodles, 1/3 of the ricotta cheese mixture and 1 cup meat sauce. Repeat layers twice. Top with remaining 3 noodles, meat sauce, and cheeses. Cover with greased foil.

Bake 1 hour or until heated through, removing foil after 45 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting to serve.

Of course this was yummy, and of course I'll keep it. This was taller than the baking dish when I started, and once it was done baking, had flattened out quite a bit. But the noodles were soft and yummy. We had it with Emma's yummy garlic bread.

Mexican Chicken Casserole

My sister still gets Kraft Food & Family. I used to get it too, because it used to be free. Then they started charging something like $10 per year for it, and I got out. I mean sure, it's a nice magazine and all, but I'm not paying money for it. Especially if my sister is, and she just gives them to me when she's done. Ha ha. So she gave me last month's issue, and I swear it was like Mayonaisse Monthly. Almost every recipe had Miracle Whip, or some new Hellman's flavored mayo, like garlic and something, or chipotle. Also there is a new kind of Philadelphia cream cheese, called Cooking Creme, and there were a bunch of recipes in there for that too. I don't want to get used to a recipe that calls for an expensive ingredient right off the bat. So, surprisingly, I did not find any recipes in there that I wanted to make. However there was an insert with that mayo issue that is called Food & Family Best Loved: Quick and Easy Recipes. There are a few in there that I know I have made before, but a few that I don't think I have. So I am going to make a few of these over the next couple of weeks. Tonight's menu: Mexican Chicken Casserole. Because remember how I like Mexican food? Well, not real Mexican. If the scale of Mexican food ranges from Taco Bell to Miguel's (with Miguel's being actual Mexican food) I will stray toward the Taco Bell end every time. But I'm getting a bit better, I think.

Mexican Chicken Casserole
3/4 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 tsp ground cumin
1 green pepper, chopped
1 1/2 cups salsa
2 oz neufchatel cheese, cubed (now I have 6 more oz of this to use somewhere...)
1 can (15 oz) no-salt-added black beans, rinsed (I don't like canned things without salt...I think canning things robs the food of flavor, so why would I want to take away the salt, which redeems it somewhat?)
1 tomato, chopped
2 whole wheat tortillas (now I have to use 8 more of these somewhere...at least these aren't as hard to find a use for as neufchatel cheese...quesadillas later in the week for sure)
1/2 cup shredded mexican cheese, divided

Heat oven to 375. Cook and stir chicken and cumin in skillet sprayed w/ cooking spray on medium heat for 2 minutes. Add peppers; cook 2 minutes longer, stirring occasionally. Stir in salsa; cook 2 minutes. Add neufchatel; stir and (can you guess?) cook 2 minutes or until melted. Stir in beans and tomatoes.

Spoon half of the chicken mixture into 8-inch square baking dish; cover with 1 tortilla and half each of the remaining chicken mixture and shredded cheese. Top with remaining tortilla and chicken mixture; cover.

Bake 20 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with remaining cheese; bake, uncovered, 5 minutes or until melted. 4 servings

Obviously you would need to double this if you have big appetites or more than 4-5 eaters, only 2 of which are grown-ups.

So, I forgot to put in the cumin! I was talking to my sister on the phone, not overly distracted (I didn't think), but so focused on what to put in next and cutting green pepper etc that I forgot it. But it was still really good. Nathan didn't like it, but he did eat the chicken out of it. Everybody else really liked it. Mine was soupier than the picture, but I didn't use chunky salsa like they recommended, I used Pace, which is my absolute fave salsa. So anyway it's a keeper. It's already in the book...

Lemon Crumb Bars

Remember how I love lemon? Well this is the dessert I had planned to make for home fellowship tonight, but now we are not going to home fellowship due to this freak storm. But I decided to make the dessert anyway, because Steve said he wanted me to and also I wanted to. I don't think the kids are going to like this, so I will end up having to give some away so I don't eat it all.

Lemon Crumb Bars
1 pkg (18 1/4 oz) lemon cake mix
1/2 cup cold butter
1 egg
2 cups crushed saltine crackers (about 60 crackers)(almost 2 sleeves)
3 egg yolks
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup lemon juice

In a large bowl, beat cake mix, butter, and egg until crumbly. Stir in cracker crumbs; set aside 2 cups for topping.

Press remaining crumb mixture into 13x9 baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.

In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks, milk, and lemon juice. Pour over crust; sprinkle with the reserved crumb mixture. Bake 20-25 minutes longer or until the edges are lightly browned. Cool on wire rack. Cut into bars. Store in refrigerator.

So I thought this would be way to dry and crumbly, and I also thought cold butter would not incorporate well into dry cake mix and only one egg, but I was wrong. Using my Kitchen Aid mixer, it all came together nicely.

These tasted SO good. I just had an approximately 1 1/2 inch square of one (don't want to spoil my supper, of course) and they were great. Not to sweet, not too tart. I don't know if the kids will like them, I bet Sam will. But, as Emma has told me in the past, most of the time she doesn't like my home fellowship desserts. If these are too tempting I will be bringing them to Co-op on Tuesday...don't worry they will still be yummy because they are ones you keep in the fridge. The downside of this recipe is that I had to buy almost all the ingredients. The lemon juice and saltines I already had (although now I have to buy more to replace all the ones I crushed) but everything else I had to buy. Not ideal, but such a yummy recipe it's okay for once in a while.