Pinto Beans and Pork Over Rice

  1 lb dry pinto beans, soaked and cooked

12 - 16 ounce pork tenderloin, 

4 Tablespoons butter

1 large onion, chopped

3 stalks celery, chopped

2 carrots, grated

1 cup whole corn

2 teaspoons garlic powder

Salt and pepper to taste

Grated cheese, optional

Heat four tablespoons butter in large skillet. Add chopped vegetables and cook several minutes until the are slightly tender. Add cubed pork, and cook until well browned. 

To the soaked, cooked beans add the corn, garlic powder, salt, pepper and meat and vegetable mixture. Add water if needed. 

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cook for 20+30 minutes. 

Add grated cheese or sprinkle over top when serving if desired.

Serve over hot cooked rice.

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Banana Carrot Bread

2-3 very ripe bananas, mashed

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 1/2 cups melted butter

4 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

3 cups finely grated carrot

Beat together bananas, brown sugar, melted butter and eggs. Stir together all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add to banana mixture, mix well. Fold in carrots. Spoon batter into two greased and floured loaf pans. Bake in preheated oven at 350° F for 45-50 minutes or until done.

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Sausage Corn Chowder

This is a delicious comfort food perfect for cold snowy days like we are having here in Virginia today!

SAUSAGE CORN CHOWDER

 1lb ground sausage

1 stalk celery, diced

1 onion, chopped

1 carrot, peeled and grated

6 cups water

2 1/2 cups milk, divided

2 cups frozen corn

2 cups shredded cheese (cheddar,etc)

4 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon parsley

1 teaspoon garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

In a large soup pot brown sausage with celery, onion, and carrot. Add the water, 1 1/2 cups milk, and corn. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Combine remaining 1 cup milk, flour and seasonings in a small bowl. Whisk until smooth. Pour the flower and milk mixture into the simmering soup, stirring continuously. Cook on low heat for 10-15 minutes more. Remove from heat and stir in shredded cheese. 

This recipe is simple to adjust to fit your preferences. From the flavor of sausage (or even use turkey sausage), to the kinds of vegetables, to the seasonings, and even the kind of cheese, the ingredients are very flexible. So make it your own and enjoy!

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Banana Cookies

Almost every week I buy lots of bananas. Some weeks the kids eat them all up in the first few days and other weeks they just sit on the shelf until they start to turn brown. This was a sit on the shelf and turn brown week so I ended up with a lot of bananas to find ways to use. So I made a batch of these banana cookies for the kid to eat for snacks. Here's the recipe

Banana Cookies

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 very ripe bananas, mashed
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour*
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. (180 degrees C)

Cream butter, add brown sugar, beating well. Add eggs, vanilla and bananas, beating well.

Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. Add to creamed mixture; mix well.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoons full on top greased cookie sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 12 minutes. Place on wire racks to cool.

*I replaced 1/2 cup of white flour with wheat flour.

I also used a bunch of bananas in this Banana Berry Bread.

A few other good things from the kitchen recently were Veggie Tuna Noodle Casserole, Homemade Bread, and Cheese Pizza.

READING AROUND THE WEB

12+ Healthy Breakfast Ideas

One Pot Chili Mac and Cheese
30 Frugal Meal Ideas (For When You're Broke)


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Scrambled Egg and Sausage Casserole

Our wonderful little feathered friends have been gifting us with 9-12 eggs daily. It's so much fun to go find these little treasures and bring them in. And I'm kept busy finding good recipes to use all these delicious eggs in. Here is one that I made recently that Doug said was really good. In fact, he said this one needs to go on the blog. So, without further ado, here it is.

1 lb ground sausage

2 dozen eggs

1/2 cup grated parmasan cheese

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

3/4 cup milk

4 slices buttered bread, cubed

Brown sausage. Drain off excess grease. Add eggs, parmasan cheese, garlic powder and salt and pepper to eggs. Scramble until set but not overdone. Spread into a greased 9x13 inch pan.  Mix 3/4 cup milk with can of cream of mushroom soup. Pour over top of eggs. Cube the buttered bread and place cubes on top of eggs and soup. Bake uncovered in 350 degree preheated oven until heated through and bread is browned.

Enjoy.

Other Egg Recipes You Might Enjoy



Oven Scrambled Bacon and Eggs


Zucchini Egg Bake


Bacon Swiss Breakfast Pizza


Bacon Cheese Pie

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Slow Cooker Cheeseburger Soup

On Tuesday evenings Amanda does volunteer work at the SPCA and I go with her. Since I'm not home to make dinner that evening I like to have something in the slow cooker so we can eat as soon as Amanda and I get home. I found this recipe for Crockpot Bacon Cheeseburger Soup, made some adaptations and put it in the slow cooker this morning. 

1 lb ground beef, browned

2 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes

1 onion, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

3 carrots, diced

2 potatoes, diced

1 cup frozen corn

8 oz cream cheese

4 beef bouillon cubes

4 cups water

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

Mix all ingredients in slow cooker and cook on low for 7-9 hours.

Ten minutes before time to serve add . . . 

1/4 cup flour

1 cup milk

2 cups cheddar cheese.

Mix flour and milk together stirring until smooth. Stir this mixture and the cheese into the soup. Cover and cook for ten minutes or until cheese is melted. 

Serve and enjoy.

Austin and Amanda insisted that this should not be called Cheeseburger soup because they had never seen a cheeseburger with carrots, corn, celery or potatoes on it! But it was still given a nod of approval by most - Austin ate two bowls of it and asked me to make it again, CJ said it was good and ate two bowls of it, Michael finished his bowl of soup even though when he first saw it he said he didn't want any and Doug said it was fine to put some in his lunch tomorrow. Amanda on the other hand did not approve . . . but there are a LOT of foods Amanda does not approve of so I'm not taking that too seriously. 

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Taco Chicken Meatloaf

I found a good deal on ground chicken one of the last times I went shopping and bought ten pounds of it. Saturday I used some of that ground chicken in this meatloaf that my family loved. Because I knew I was going to be gone Saturday evening for Michael's sleep study and wasn't sure what time I would be back Sunday morning I made enough for two meals so I wouldn't have to worry about Sunday lunch. It was as popular reheated as it was the first time.

Here is the recipe for this meatloaf with a mild taco flavor.

3 lbs ground chicken

6 eggs
1 onion, chopped

4 cups bread crumbs

1 cup mild salsa

1 (1.25 ounce) package dry Ranch seasoning mix

1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease three loaf pans. 

In a large bowl mix together all ingredients. Pack into the prepared loaf pans.

Bake for approximately one hour. If desired top with ketchup for the last ten minutes of baking time.

Enjoy!

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Sweet Potato Fluff

This is really not a good picture but it's the best one I have. This doesn't stay around very long for me to photograph.

2 1/2 cups cooked and mashed sweet potato

1 banana, mashed

3/4 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1/4 cup margarine

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup flaked coconut

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup flour

1/4 cup margarine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix the mashed sweet potatoes, mashed banana, white sugar, eggs, 1/4 cup margarine, vanilla and flaked coconut. Place in 2 quart sized casserole dish.

With a fork mix the brown sugar, flour and remaining 1/4 cup margarine. Sprinkle over potato mixture. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.


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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake

I've seen several versions of this cake recently and love how simple it is to put together. So I took what I liked from several different recipes and made it my own.

1 (18.25 ounce) yellow cake mix

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 x 13 in. pan.

In a large bowl mix together cake mix, pumpkin puree, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves until smooth. Stir in chocolate chips.

Bake for 25 - 30 minutes in preheated oven, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Let cool. Frost if desired.

Since it is a very simple recipe I had the kids help me make it.  We had fun each taking a sniff of the spices and seeing if we liked how the smelled. I liked them all, the kids weren't so sure.

I didn't have a chance to take pictures while they were putting in the ingredients but was able to get some while they stirred.

And after everything was thoroughly stirred in, there is, of course, the fun of licking the spoons. Since there is no egg in this recipe I was happy to let them enjoy this.

A couple pictures of the finished cake. This cake was all gone (except for the piece I put in Doug's lunch for the next day) by that evening. I used Butter Frosting to add the finishing touch to this cake.

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Creamy Cucumber Salad

Our one cucumber vine is producing very well and today I picked eight cucumbers. So for dinner this evening I made this yummy Creamy Cucumber Salad. It was delicious so I thought I would share the recipe.

6 - 8 cucumbers, thinly sliced

1 onion, thinly sliced

1 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup vinegar

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dried dill weed

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

2 drops hot pepper sauce

Combine cucumbers and onions in a large bowl. Combine all remaining ingredients; pour over cucumber mixture and mix well. Refrigerate for several hours before serving

Enjoy!

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Pineapple Banana Cake

I baked this yummy cake earlier this week and it did not stay around very long. I like all the fruit it has in it.

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar (I think next time I'm going to try reducing the sugar to 1 1/2 cups)

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

3 large eggs, beaten

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup applesauce

1 6 oz can crushed pineapple (3/4 cup)

2 cups bananas

Mix flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together. Stir. Do not beat with a mixer. In seperate bowl mix eggs, vegetable oil, vanilla, applesauce, pineapple and bananas together. Mix the dry ingeredients with the wet mixture and pour into a well-greased and floured 13"x9" baking pan. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Enjoy!

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Bacon Cheddar Brunch Casserole

This recipe is an adaptation from Bacon Pie. I tried it for the first time this morning and my whole family agreed it was a success. - even Amanda, my picky eater. I used powdered milk and mixed it to equal four cups since we were out of milk this morning.

1 lb. bacon

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 small onion, chopped

4 cups milk

8 eggs

2 cups baking mix

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke

salt to taste

Heat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan. Place bacon in a large skillet and cook over medium heat until evenly browned. Drain, crumble and set aside.

Sprinkle bacon, cheese and onion in baking pan.

In a medium bowl stir milk, eggs, baking mix, pepper, garlic powder, liquid smoke and salt until blended. Pour into baking pan.

Bake 45 - 50 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

I forgot to take a picture before everyone dug in so here is a picture of one undisturbed corner of the casserole.