family recipe

Family Recipe: Chow Mein Hotdish

Abby H.
My mom made some recently and sent some home with me!

OK, so growing up we used to have this like once every few weeks. It’s quick, it’s easy, and I swore that it was a family recipe.

When researching this recipe, I then found out that apparently, this is a hot dish that’s made all over the Midwest. And according to my mom, it’s in tons of church cookbooks.

This recipe is pretty simple, and it’s delicious, and it is kind of weird. And definitely not at all Asian.

Chow mein hot dish 

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1 tablespoon of dehydrated toasted onions, or 1/4 diced white onion
  • one can of cream of mushroom soup
  • half a can of cream of mushroom soup filled with water
  • One cup of uncooked rice
  • Two ribs of celery, diced
  • 1/2 cup of water
  • 1 small can of water chestnuts slices, drained and rinsed
  • 1 can of chow mein noodles

Directions

  1. In an electric skillet over medium heat, cook and crumble ground beef and onion.
  2. Add all remaining ingredients except chow mein noodles.
  3. Cook on medium stirring often until rice is tender.
  4. Remove from heat, top with chow mein noodles, and serve immediately.

Serves 6.

If you want to add extra veggies, add 1 cup sliced mushrooms when cooking the meat and onion.

You can cook this on the stove, but I’ve always cooked the majority of my hot dishes in an electric skillet. I’m not sure why. Probably because my entire family does.

Some people like this served with a little bit of soy sauce, but I find that the condensed cream of mushroom soup is salty enough as it is.

Family Recipe: Calico Beans

Abby H.
Beans, Beans…

This recipe is one of my favorite Fourth of July favs.

Calico Beans. Easy to make, so good, gets better as leftovers (if there are any).

This will be one of the few recipes I will not change, so vegetarian/vegan/GF friends, scroll on.

Calico Beans -Makes a crockpot full

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. ground beef, crumbled, cooked, and drained
  • 1 package (12 ounces) bacon, chopped, cooked, and drained
  • 1/2 onion, diced (Or use 1/4 cup dehydrated onions)
  • 2 large cans of Campbell’s Pork & Beans
  • 3 cans of beans, your choice (Great Northern, Black Eye, Cannelli, Kidney, Butter Beans are all solid choices) DRAINED AND RINSED
  • 1/4 c brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup ketchup
  • 1 Tablespoon yellow mustard
  • 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

  1. Put all of the ingredients into a crockpot.
  2. Stir to combine.
  3. Cover with a lid and cook on low for 4-6 hours.

These beans are amazing. They are so filling, and taste like summer (at least to me). A friend of my grandfather always brought these beans to potlucks and swore it was a special secret family recipe.

It’s not. This recipe, or a variation is in almost every midwestern church cookbook. Gatekeeping family recipes is a no-no in my book. If you don’t share recipes, the food is lost to your family and friends when you pass. Share the recipe and your memory and the happy memories of eating your food will live on!

 

 

The Best Potato Salad Recipe- PERIOD!

Abby H.

There are literally hundreds of ways to make Potato Salad. However, none of them should involve raisins (That’s an internet thing, I’ve never actually seen it in person).

This is my great grandmother Tootie’s Potato Salad Recipe, and I think it’s the best. Luckily for me, we’ve gotten all of the veggie ingredients in this week’s Yasukochi Family Farms CSA box.  And because they sell eggs too as an add-on, you can get most everything you need without leaving home.

This recipe is pretty simple.

Tootie’s Potato Salad

Ingredients

  • 4 cups peeled, cut-up potatoes (bite-size pieces)
  • 3 ribs of green celery, cut into bite-size pieces- I slice each rib in half and into small pieces.
  • 1/4 cup Italian Dressing- I like Wishbone
  • 1/2 cup Full Fat Mayo. I like Best Foods/Hellmans, but Dukes is good too
  • 3 eggs, hard-boiled and chopped
  • Salt and pepper
  • Chives or parsley to garnish- optional

Directions

  1. Boil potatoes in water until they are fork tender, about 15-20 minutes.
  2. Drain potatoes, do not rinse.
  3. Chill potatoes in the fridge (30 minutes to 1 hour-ish).
  4. In a bowl, combine the salad dressing and mayo, pour over cooled potatoes, and stir. You want to coat the potatoes in the mixture.
  5. Add in the celery and eggs. The egg yolks will break down and combine with the dressing/mayo mixture, turning light to medium yellow.
  6. Chill in the fridge at least overnight. If the salad is too dry, add a few more tablespoons of mayo and dressing (a 2-parts mayo to 1-part dressing mixture).
  7. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.
  8. Prior to serving top with chives or parsley if desired.

If you like green onions (my mom doesn’t like raw onions so she doesn’t add them), you can add 1-2 sliced green onions to the salad during step 5.  I grew up without it, but they are really good in this salad.

This salad is good in the fridge for up to a week and is perfect for the 4th of July or other summer celebrations.

Dietary options: It’s already vegetarian, but I’m not sure it could be made vegan unless you use veganaise and omit the eggs (in my opinion it needs).

Family Recipe: Baked Red Pesto and Roasted Veggie Pasta

Abby H.

This recipe is easy to make, and amazing. It uses Red Pesto, which has a tomato base. It’s warm, filling, and comforting.

The first thing you need to do is roast some veggies. Check my recipe here. I roast 5-ish lbs of veggies each week, so we usually have some in the fridge.

 

Baked Red Pesto and Roasted Veggie Pasta

Ingredients:

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Boil salted water and cook pasta per package directions. As you drain, reserve some of the pasta water (about 1/2 cup).
  3. In a large baking dish (11×13) mix roasted veggies, pasta, red pesto, and add pasta water a little bit at a time, until all the pasta is coated. You may not need all 1/2 cup.
  4. Mix in 1/2 of the cheese.
  5. Smooth the mixture down into the baking dish, and bake for 20 minutes covered.
  6. After 20 minutes, top with the remaining cheese and continue to bake uncovered for 10-ish minutes until the cheese is brown and bubbly.
  7. Serve with garlic bread and a green salad.

Serves 6-8. This re-heats well, if there are any leftovers.

Notes:

  • This dish is vegetarian, but not vegan. This is a vegan red pesto, but I’ve not tried it. To make it vegan, use a vegan red pesto and vegan Italian Cheese blend.
  • Pesto is not a nut-free product! If you have a nut allergy, be careful!
  • Feel free to use your favorite pasta (high protein, gluten-free, made from soy, etc). I do not recommend shirataki noodles- They have a weird texture and smell (seriously).

 

12/6/2021 Weekly Meal Plan

Abby H.

0a5e9dab796cea8a07eabe4eb4795b9e.jpgLast week’s meal plan didn’t work out as I had planned. We got busy, stuff came up, and we ran out of eggs mid-week. I didn’t have time to run to the store, so…

We’re starting fresh this week. I did some meal prep yesterday, including some egg-free baking (banana bread and chocolate chip cookies). I hit the store for eggs, milk, and butter this morning. We’re ready to go!

With a reorganized pantry, I’ve got some great meals planned for the week.

And I’ve been getting a lot of really great freebies from Social Nature lately too. It’s fun to try new foods.

For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101 style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.

I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge done (I try to update it after every shopping trip), so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste. If you are looking for a kitchen inventory printable, I have made my own and you can find them for sale here on my Etsy Store.

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day.

Breakfast: Coffee with 1/2 and 1/2  for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids. They are also into fruit and bagels for breakfast. The Ancient Grain bagels from Einstein Bros. are the current family favorite. I pick them up on Mondays when a dozen is only $7. I slice them and freeze them to keep them from going bad too quickly.

Lunch: I have a plastic tote in the cupboard full of self-serve snacks. I buy treats and snacks in bulk and fill up snack-sized zip-top bags. I’m back to packing lunches again. However, school lunches are free this year, but so far, there is nothing on the menu that appeals to the kids.

Dinner: I am planning some great meals this week. I did some batch cooking yesterday, and got the fridge organized.

  • Monday: Nuggets, fresh fruit (orange and apple slices are on tap), cheese, and crackers
  • Tuesday: Grilled Meatloaf sandwiches (grilled cheese for the kids), fruit, Salad
  • Wednesday:  Vegetarian Enchilada casserole, salad
  • Thursday:   Breakfast burritos (eggs, cheese, potatoes, grilled veggies, bacon or sausage, salsa), fruit
  • Friday: take out (Usually pizza and Chinese food)
  • Saturday:  Leftovers
  • Sunday:  Shakshuka, garlic bread, salad (since we didn’t have it last week)

Please stay safe you guys!

11/29/2021 Weekly Meal Plan

Abby H.

0a5e9dab796cea8a07eabe4eb4795b9e.jpg

Kids are back to school and I am back to work this morning!

After a week without any trips to the store, last night I broke down and did a big shop. I found some really cool spice blends at Grocery Outlet and 99 Cents Only, so we’ve got some yummy stuff planned over the next few weeks.

Now that the fridge is working, I’ve been buying a few condiments every trip. This week it was Salsa and Chili/ketchup.

I am pulling everything out of the cupboard this week to do an end-of-year overhaul/purge. Anything that is not expired that we won’t eat I’ll be donating. There is a blessing box about a mile away, and I’d love to fill it up. And of course, anything expired will get pitched. We have a super narrow and deep cupboard, so sometimes stuff gets pushed towards the back and forgotten about.

And I’ve been getting a lot of really great freebies from Social Nature lately too. It’s fun to try new foods.

For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101 style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.

I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge done (I try to update it after every shopping trip), so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste. If you are looking for a kitchen inventory printable, I have made my own and you can find them for sale here on my Etsy Store.

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day.

Breakfast: Coffee with 1/2 and 1/2  for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids. They are also into fruit and bagels for breakfast. The Ancient Grain bagels from Einstein Bros. are the current family favorite. I pick them up on Mondays when a dozen is only $7. I slice them and freeze them to keep them from going bad too quickly.

Lunch: I have a plastic tote in the cupboard full of self-serve snacks. I buy treats and snacks in bulk and fill up snack-sized zip-top bags. I’m back to packing lunches again. However, school lunches are free this year, but so far, there is nothing on the menu that appeals to the kids.

Dinner: I am planning some great meals this week. I’ll try and batch cook tomorrow morning (sides, roast veggies, cookies) before work.

  • Monday: Nuggets, fresh fruit (orange and apple slices are on tap), cheese, and crackers
  • Tuesday: Meat loaf, mashed potatoes, garlic bread, veggies
  • Wednesday: Beans, Rice, quesadillas, fruit or salad
  • Thursday:   Vegetarian Enchilada casserole (I’ll post a recipe this week)
  • Friday: take out (Usually pizza and Chinese food)
  • Saturday:  Leftovers
  • Sunday:  Shakshuka, garlic bread, salad

Please stay safe you guys!

Family Recipe: Fruit Salad

Abby H.1 Comment

The other day I was chatting online with a group of friends and I mentioned making fruit salad. One of my younger friends asked, “Can you send me the recipe for that?”

I’ve never really thought about writing a recipe for fruit salad, since I’ve been making it since I was a kid. It was always a staple at family dinners with my maternal grandparents. My Grandma was known to make a literal punchbowl of fruit salad for parties.

This recipe does not make a punchbowl full.  The nice thing about fruit salad is that you can put any kind of fruit into it, and if you don’t eat it all in one meal, it keeps in the fridge for a few days.

I change it up based on what comes in our CSA box each week, and based on which fruits are in season.

Grammie’s Fruit Salad

Ingredients:

  • 2 Apples (any kind but red delicious, those are awful)
  • 2 oranges
  • 2 bananas (not overly ripe or they fall to mush)
  • 3 cups berries, your choice (I recommend 2/1 ratio, sliced strawberries and blueberries)
  • 1 ripe pineapple, cored and skinned. You can also use a can of pineapple tidbits in juice (juice drained off and fed to a kid) if fresh pineapple isn’t available.

Optional, but tasty when in season:

  • 1 cup fresh peaches, skin removed
  • 2 kiwis sliced, skin removed
  • 1 mango, peeled and removed from the pit/core

Note: I don’t like melon in my fruit salad. If you do, add 1-2 cups of your favorite melon (Cantaloupe or Honey Dew hold up well in a fruit salad).

Directions:

  1. Clean, Chop/slice all of your fruit (not needed for blueberries). I try to make each kind of fruit bite-sized, but a different shape. That way it makes for a nice presentation.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the fruit. If you omit the oranges, add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice and toss the fruit to coat. This keeps the apples from browning.
  3. Serve fruit salad cold as a side dish for any meal. If you like it spicy, serve it with Tajin on the side.
  4. Store any leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days in a covered container.

Talk Back: What are your favorite fruits to include in Fruit Salad? 

New Recipe: Banana Bread in a Cake Pan!

Abby H.
These bananas are perfect for making banana bread!

I’ll admit: I don’t have a loaf pan. I did, but it died. It was metal, and after 10+ weeks of weekly use… ::Sad Trombone:: I know I should buy a glass one (I have my eye on this one), but until then, I’m making do with what I’ve got.

And what I’ve got is a glass cake pan. Specifically a 9×9 glass cake pan, like this one. I looked online for some ideas about baking times and temps and reworked my usual recipe. The best part of this recipe is that the bread is moist, fluffy/airy with a good crumb.  It is not dense or heavy at all.

Banana Bread

Ingredients:

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, spray 9×9 glass baking dish with spray release.
  2. In a small dish, mash up bananas, set aside.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter/coconut oil for about 30 seconds-1 minute until light and fluffy.
  4. Add sugar, beat until combined and fluffy.
  5. Beat in eggs one at a time.
  6. Add bananas and vanilla, and blend until the wet ingredients are all incorporated.
  7. Add baking soda and Kodiak Mix. Stir to combine.
  8. Pour into the prepared 9×9 glass baking dish.
  9. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Test with toothpick in the center of the bread for doneness.

This recipe makes 1 9×9 cake pan, which is approximately 9-12 servings, depending on how big you like the pieces.

My kids like this bread toasted with either butter or cream cheese. It never lasts long.

New Recipe: Baked Tortellini

Abby H.

00169 (1).jpgThis recipe is dead simple. Make it as complicated as you want. Use jarred sauce, make your own from scratch, or take a jar of sauce and church it up yourself. Whatever.

Frozen pasta, fresh pasta, heck, you can even use the shell stable/dried tortellini. You could use ravioli if you wanted.

You can make this Vegetarian, Vegan, Chock Full o’ Meat, Gluten-Free, it’s up to you.

This is one of those recipes that’s a big hit at potlucks too. It’s pretty inexpensive, and we always have the ingredients in one form or another to make a batch.

Baked Tortellini

Ingredients:

  • 6-8 cups of Red Pasta Sauce.  I usually make a big batch of this sauce and portion some out just for this recipe. If you use jarred sauce, I recommend  you add 3-4 cups of veggies (carrots, onions, celery, bell peppers, zucchini, chopped/diced tomatoes, etc.)
  • 22-30 ounces of Tortellini/Ravioli, cooked per the package directions (this will probably take a couple packages)
  • 2 Cups Italian Cheese blend

Directions:

  1. Cook the pasta per the package directions. Drain.
  2. Pour pasta sauce into a baking dish (I use a 9×13), toss cooked pasta in sauce.
  3. Sprinkle cheese on top.
  4. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-ish minutes until food is bubbly, and cheese is brown and delicious looking.
  5. Serve with hot French Bread or Garlic Bread and a green salad.

This serves 8-10 people as a main.

 

If you are vegan, substitute in filled pasta and cheese that works for you.

Family Recipe: Cocoa Brownies

Abby H.

01389.jpgI love this brownie recipe- it is so versatile, and if you bake at all, you probably have all of the ingredients in your pantry.

This recipe is so frugal, so much less than the $3-$5 for a brownie mix.

You can add chocolate chips, mint and chocolate chips (my kids favorite), and they are so moist and rich, there is no need for frosting!

Cocoa Brownies (makes 1 8×8 or 9×9 pan)

Ingredients

  • 1/2 c. shortening or room temp. butter ( DO NOT USE SPREAD/MARGARINE/OLEO*)
  • 1 c. white sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 T. Vanilla
  • 2 T. Milk
  • 2/3 c. AP Flour
  • 1/2 c. Cocoa powder
  • 1/2 t. Baking Powder
  • 1/2 t. salt
  • Optional: 1/2 c. chopped nuts, chocolate chips, mint/chocolate chips, peanut butter chips (your choice)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8×8 or 9×9 inch baking dish and set aside.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, beat the fat (shortening/butter) with an electric mixer until it’s fluffy, approximately 1-2 minutes.
  3. Add sugar and beat until combined.
  4. Add one egg at a time until combined well.
  5. Add remaining ingredients and mix until combined. Stir in any mix-ins (nuts or chips).
  6. Pour into the greased baking dish and bake 20-30 minutes. 20 for 8×8, 30 for 9×9.

Substitutions

  • If you are Gluten Free, you can use 1 for 1 GF flour
  • To make the dish dairy-free, use your favorite dairy-free milk.
  • The reason that spread/margarine/oleo isn’t used is because of its high water content. It will give the brownies a watery/smooshy texture.