Our Recipes

Mom's Spaghetti Sauce

2009-02-16T11:13:00.001-08:00

There's a little bit of foolishness going on over at Facebook about my spaghetti sauce. It is probably overrated. Definitely Americanized. And altered from the version I got from my mother, who actually once said she liked mine better (Thanks, Mom). So here is her list of ingredients:

1 pound hamburger, browned
1 quart tomato juice, 1 onion, and 1 green pepper, blended until smooth
2-3 bay leaves
Handful of Italian seasoning, rubbed in hand
3 shakes Worchestershire sauce
1 can tomato soup
1 can mushroom soup
Mushrooms
Pinch of sugar
Jag of catsup
1 package spaghetti seasoning mix

Mine differs in that I brown the hamburger in the onion and drain the grease, forgo the green pepper and the blender, and use 1 quart of tomatoes instead of juice. I use mushroom-flavored spaghetti sauce mix and a small can of mushrooms.
Mom used to add the spaghetti sauce mix at the last hour. I simmer everything together for 3-4 hours, then cool for at least a couple of hours and reheat to serve. It's really better the next day.
Serve over cooked spaghetti noodles (really!? Who'd have thought!) and pass grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.
I usually make a triple or quadruple batch and freeze it in quarts. That way I don't have to take all day every time I want to make spaghetti sauce.

Broccoli and Cheese Soup

2008-10-29T22:27:00.000-07:00

When it starts to get cold outside, this soup hits the spot. Mmmmm.

Ingrediants:

6 bouillon cubes, chicken

4 C water

1 med. onion, chopped

20 oz. broccoli

1/2 C butter

1 C flour

1 tsp. dry mustard

2 dashes pepper

4 C milk

2 C cheese, swiss or cheddar

Dissolve cubes in water, add chopped onion and broccoli. Cook till tender. Make white sauce with remaining ingredients except the cheese. Cook until thickened and add broccoli mixture. Stir in grated cheese until melted.

Trifle X 3

2008-09-29T17:33:00.000-07:00

I am usually the designated dessert creator for our monthly family get-togethers. As such, I am often on the prowl for something really yummy.
A dessert I have always liked is English trifle. And since I happen to have a clear salad bowl with straight sides, it looks really pretty.
Notes

A typical trifle bowl holds 4 quarts.
All of these desserts are for a pretty large group. You can cut them down, if desired.
If you cook the pudding, it must cool completely before you can use it to create the trifle.

The first time I made berry trifle I did the following:

2 bags frozen berries
2 packages vanilla pudding
3/4- 1 cup sugar
12 packages Twinkies
2 Tablespoons corn starch
1 small container whipped topping

Thaw the berries. Sprinkle with sugar. Set aside, but stir occasionally. After a couple of hours, when the sugar has brought the juice out, drain the berries. Put the drained juice into a saucepan. If needed, add up to 1/2 cup of fruit juice. Add the corn starch and cook until thickened. Return berries to the thickened juice.
Make the pudding according to the package directions.
Cut Twinkies in half lengthwise and line the trifle bowl, or cut them into bite-size pieces and use 1/3 of them to cover the bottom.
Layer 1/3 of the pudding, 1/3 of the berries; then start over with the Twinkies and repeat until everything's in the bowl. Top with whipped topping. Refrigerate immediately.
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Now, I'm a chocoholic, as are most of my family, so I wanted to make a chocolate version. Here's what I came up with:

1/2 package chocolate sandwich cookies, broken into large pieces
1 package chocolate candies such as M&Ms
miniature marshmallows, if desired
2 packages chocolate pudding
12 packages chocolate Zingers
1 large container whipped topping

Mix cookies, candy and marshmallows together. Make pudding according to package directions.
Cut Zingers in half lengthwise and line the trifle bowl, or cut them into bite-size pieces and use 1/3 of them to cover the bottom.
Layer 1/3 of the pudding, 1/3 of the cookies/candies; top with a thin layer of whipped topping. Then start over with the Zingers and repeat until everything's in the bowl. Top with more whipped topping. Refrigerate immediately.
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The last time I opted to make a fruity dessert, my husband found another version of the berry trifle. It uses fresh fruit, which often tastes better than frozen, but we had to throw out at least 1/3 of what we bought because it had molded in the container and we couldn't see that when we bought it. I think frozen would work just as well. And I might try it without the sour cream. As a general rule, I prefer my desserts a bit on the sweeter side, and the sour cream, for this concoction anyway, struck me as a bit too tangy. Everybody else said no, though:

1 small box vanilla pudding
1 1/2 cups milk
1 individual container vanilla yogurt (6-8 ozs.)
8 ounces cream cheese, cubed
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tsps. vanilla extract
1 12 oz. container whipped topping
1 angel food cake, cut into cubes
3 pints berries (raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, etc.)

Mix the pudding with the milk.
In a separate bowl, beat the yogurt, cream cheese, sour cream, and vanilla until smooth. Add the pudding. Fold in 1 cup of the whipped topping.
Put 1/3 of the angel food cake cubes in the trifle bowl. Layer 1/3 of the pudding, 1/3 of the berries; top with half the remaining whipped topping. Then start over with the angel food cake cubes and repeat until everything's in the bowl. Top with more whipped topping. Refrigerate immediately.

Disgusting Cake (aka "better than sex")

2008-09-16T06:52:00.000-07:00

It's not. Either one. But it is good.

With small children around, when we first made this dessert we opted to call it the Disgusting cake (short for disgustingly easy and good) rather than have them hear the other name. Now that those children are grown, they'll have to worry about their own small pitchers with big ears. (grin)

If you do a search for the Better than Sex recipe, you'll find a ridiculous number of variations---some that aren't even cakes. The original cake, though, involves a yellow cake mix and pineapple. My husband brought the first chocolate version I tried home from a faculty luncheon. It used a German chocolate cake mix and caramel topping. Being the chocoholic that I am, I've experimented with it over the years to make it match my taste more. I even used chocolate whipped topping once, but found that I preferred the contrast of the plain flavor against the chocolate.

At one point, there was an incredible chocolate caramel sundae topping that was the best to use for this recipe. I haven't seen it in years. For a while I saw a Milky Way topping on the grocery store shelves that would probably have been good, but it disappeared before I could try it. Bottom line: I mix my own.

Okay, that's enough boring stuff. Here's the recipe I currently use.

1 chocolate cake mix (don't use milk chocolate, but fudge is okay)
Eggs, water, oil as required per cake mix directions
1 can sweetened condensed milk
5 ozs caramel sundae topping
5 ozs chocolate sundae topping (I use Hershey's syrup)
1 12 oz tub whipped topping
2 small toffee candy bars (such as Skor or Heath) broken into bits (I refrigerate them first so they break more easily)
1 small chocolate bar

Bake cake according to directions on box. Use a 13X9 inch pan.
While the cake is baking, mix sweetened condensed milk and both toppings.
As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, spray the handle of a wooden or plastic cooking spoon (to avoid sticking) and poke holes about an inch apart all over the entire cake.
Pour topping mix over cake. Let cool overnight.
Spread whipped topping over cake and grate the small chocolate bar all over it. Top with broken toffee bars.
Refrigerate any leftovers. (As if....!)

Fresh Salsa with Corn and Black Beans

2008-09-13T18:21:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite recipes in the world. Oooh, my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Recipe:
8 Roma Tomatoes

1 can of Shoe Peg corn drained

1 can of Black Beans

Green Onions chopped

2 Avocado's

Cilantro

1 package of Good Season's Italian Dressing made

water, vinegar, oil

Corn Chips

Combine all ingredients but the corn chips. Then chill and devour. At least that's what happens at our house. ;)

Getting Started!

2008-09-09T23:08:00.000-07:00

I have so many neighbors and friends that have the most wonderful recipes that I thought I would start a blog. Also, hopefully this will make me a little more organized with my favorites. My sister would agree that it would be nice not having me call all the time to read me the same recipes over and over again. 'What is that key lime pie recipe again?' :) If you have any ideas of what you want to see from this blog please let us know. Bon Appetite!