Family On A Budget

One my favorite recipe books is the Great American Favorite Brand Name Cookbook. Pages are falling out of this book due to its continued use. Santa Fe Casserole Bake is a family favorite.

1 pound lean ground beef
1 package (1.25 ounces) Lawry’s Taco seasoning
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup dairy sour cream
1 can (7 ounces) diced green chilies
1 package (11 ounces) corn or tortilla chips
2 cups (8 ounces) grated cheese Monterrey Jack or cheddar
1/2 cup sliced green onions with tops

In medium skillet, brown meat and stir until crumbly; drain fat. Add Taco spices and seasonings; blend well.

In small bowl, combine broth and flour. Add to meat mixture; bring to a boil to slightly thicken liquid. Stir in sour cream and chilies; blend well.

In a 13x9x2″ lightly greased glass baking dish, place 1/2 of the chips. Top with 1/2 of beef mixture, 1/2 of the cheese and 1/2 of the green onions. Layer again with remaining ingredients ending with green onions.

Bake uncovered, in 375F. oven for 20 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting.

Makes 6 servings.

Need a recipe to use up that leftover Easter or Christmas Ham? Here is a family favorite. I got it from my mom’s friend Judy. Her family loves it too.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons shortening
1 egg
Milk

1 large chopped Onion
2-3 carrots, chopped
Left over ham. Cubed
Ham Bone
Water
5 Russet potatoes, cut into 1 inch slices

Directions:

Put ham bone in large Dutch Oven pot and fill 3/4 full with water. Bring to a boil, uncovered, cook for 2 1/2 hours, turning bone and pulling off meat as it softens at least every half hour.

After 2 1/2 hours remove bone, gristle and fat, cut up any remaining meat. Add chopped vegetables and ham from the bone as well as extra cubed ham. Cook for 10 minutes.

Mix together flour, salt, baking powder and shortening until crumbly.

Put egg in cup; fill cup to 1/2 cup with milk. Add to dry ingredients. Mix as for pie dough and roll out thin. Cut dough into small squares and add to ham broth/vegetables. Bring broth to boil; reduce heat and cook over low heat until done (about 10 minutes).

Looking for a low calorie way to use ham leftovers? Inexpensive and easy to make, Ham, Cabbage and Potatoes is a favorite of mine. I don’t pay attention to the exact measurements.

1 to 2 cups of Ham (I normally make this with leftovers)
2 or 3 bay leaves
fresh ground pepper
1 head of cabbage
6-8 potatoes
chopped onions (1/2 cup) or dehydrated onions (1/4 cup)

Chop the ham into bite sized pieces. Add to a stock pot with about 4-6 cups of water. Add the bay leaves. Cook on medium heat for about an hour. I normally keep the pot covered at this point.

Chop up the cabbage (remove the hard inside core) into large chunks. Larger pieces take longer to cook so pick your own size depending on how much time or how large your like your cabbabge. Add to stockpot with the onions and cook till tender (about an hour). I usually uncover about half way through this process. You want enough water left over to cook the potatoes, but not too much to be soupy.

Peel and chop the potatoes into bite sized pieces and add to the stockpot along with the pepper. Cook about 20 minutes until the potatoes are tender but not mushy.

Who needs those boxes of Hamburger Helper when you can make a better casserole from scratch. Hamburger corn bake is a recipe that my mom used to make and I continued serving to my own family. The original recipe came from the Better Homes and Gardens Casserole Cookbook dated 1973. It was actually a “Casserole for a crowd recipe”, but we have adapted it for single family use. The original recipe called for the addition of pimiento and MSG but we eliminated that.

Hamburger Corn Bake

1 1/2 pound ground beef. (I like to use a 90/10 ground round instead)
1 cup onion
1 can of whole kernel corn
1 can of condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 can of condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream (I use fat free)
salt and pepper to taste
3 cups cooked egg noodles
Optional: 1 c soft bread crumbs and 3 Tablespoon of melted butter.

Lightly brown ground beef (I usually drain and rinse my cooked beef to remove any extra fat). Add onions and cook till tender. Add the corn (drained), the soups and sour cream to the meat. Stir in the cooked noodles.

My oldest offspring is on her own in college. She is now broke towards the end of the semester and needs some food advice. While not the cheapest, I thought of Italian Roast Beef sandwiches as something she can cook. She doesn’t really know how to cook, has very little time between study breaks and doesn’t have a large supply of staples like spices and extra canned goods so I figured Roast Beef was a good place to start. I have included my comments to her to help any other new cooks or broke college students out there.

Italian Roast Beef

• 2lb to 3lb Chuck or Bottom Round Roast. Find whichever one is the cheapest per lb. Watch for pieces that don’t have a lot of fat. Chuck is more fatty and cooks faster, Bottom round will give you a firmer textured roast beef and takes a bit longer to cook. I like both.
• 1 packet Good Seasons Italian Dressing. It is a dry packet of spices and you will find this in the salad dressing isle.
• Hard Rolls. This probably makes 4-8 sandwiches depending on how large the buns are.