Archive for the ‘#1 Go-To Recipes’ Category
Yummy Zucchini Brownies
My Dad found this recipe searching the internet for zucchini recipes, and comes from the Farmers' Almanac. I made these on 28 Aug 2021, and the family absolutely loved these! Highly recommended to use up some of that zucchini from your garden in a very delicious way. This is an egg free recipe.
Equipment
- Box Shredder
- Oven
- Baking Pan (9x13 inch)
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh zucchini, shredded
- ½ cup walnuts, chopped
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- 1½ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1½ cups sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Shred zucchini with a box grater to make 2 cups, packed down just a little. Measure out the walnuts.
- In a mixing bowl, add the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together.
- Preheat your oven to 190° C (375° F), get out a 9x13 inch baking pan and grease with butter or cooking spray, and flour it.
- In another mixing bowl, add the oil, sugar, and vanilla. Mix together.
- Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and mix together, it will be quite dry.
- Add the zucchini and walnuts, mix together. it will seem a dry, just keep mixing and it will come together with a shiny or wet appearance. If your mixture is drier than what this photo shows, mix in a tablespoon of water. The mixture will be much drier than a regular brownie mix, as it cooks, the zucchini will release moisture.
- Spread mixture into prepared baking pan evenly.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the top springs back up after gently pressed.
- Cut into squares, serve and enjoy.
New England Creamed Codfish
This recipe is from a cookbook titled Casserole Cook Book by Better Homes & Gardens, printed in 1961. Easy recipe that comes together rather quickly, a basic dish of a homemade white sauce and steamed fish. Add a couple of sides and you have a delicious meal. This recipe was written originally using salt cod, I have changed the recipe to reflect the use of any whitefish, and the unsalted variety of cod as well.
Ingredients
- 500 grams whitefish, cod, pangasius, or barramundi would be good, (1 lb)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cups milk
- 2 egg yolks, beaten
- 2 tablespoons onion, grated
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- toast, for serving
Instructions
- Steam the whitefish your preferred way, I use my rice cooker for this. For a rice cooker, simply add 1-2 cups of water to the pot, place the steamer tray on top and cover with the lid. Press cook, when the water is boiling, remove the lid and place fish in the steamer tray and cover with the lid.
- Steam until cooked through, about 5-10 minutes.
- Remove fish, drain, flake apart meat, remove any bones or skin.
- Melt butter in a medium saucepan, stir in flour until smooth, slowly stir in milk, cook and stir until thickened.
- Add a small amount of sauce to the egg yolks and stir together, then add all the egg yolks to the sauce and stir in.
- Add the fish, onion, and lemon juice. Heat through.
- Serve over toast points, enjoy.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Homemade Jiffy Yellow Cake Mix
Jiffy Yellow Cake Mix, is the small box of mix and is basically half of a standard box mix. Commonly used to make a single layer cake. The Jiffy yellow cake mix is used in several recipes on this site as an ingredient in other recipes. This is the base mix, what the box contains, recipe. This mix is not yellow like the boxed version. I made this on 2 Sep 2021 to test out the cake made from this, this mix works perfectly.
Ingredients
- 144 grams all purpose flour, (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons if no scale)
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1¾ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Whisk all ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to one month, or use right away to make a Jiffy yellow cake.
- This mix equals 1 box of store bought Jiffy Yellow Cake Mix, which is the small box, and will make a single layer 8 inch round or square cake or 12 cup cakes.
- Use in any recipe that calls for a box of Jiffy Yellow Cake Mix.
Notes
Used in Recipes Listed on this Site:
- Homemade Jiffy Yellow Cake, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Easy Fruit Crumble Bake, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Fruit Magic, made it, GO-TO recipe.
Homemade Jiffy Yellow Cake
This recipe uses the Homemade Jiffy Cake Mix, which is the small box and only makes a single layer 8 inch round or square cake or 12 cupcakes. This cake will not be yellow like the boxed version. I made this cake on 2 Sep 2021 to test out the Jiffy cake mix, and this is very good cake!
Equipment
- Electric Mixer
- Oven
- Baking Pan
- Parchment Paper
Ingredients
- 1 recipe Jiffy Yellow Cake Mix, Shortcut
- 1 egg
- ½ cup cold water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Instructions
- For the Baking Pan, feel free to use one 8 or 9 inch round pan, a 8x8 inch pan, or a cupcake pan with 12 cells.
- Preheat your oven to 180° C (350° F), get out the appropriate baking pan you want to use. Grease the pan with butter or cooking spray and then coat with flour, line bottom with parchment paper if not serving from the pan. For cupcakes, grease and flour cells or use cupcake liners.
- Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl, use an electric mix on low speed for 30 seconds, then 3-4 more minutes on medium speed. Or beat by hand for 5-6 minutes.
- Pour batter into cake pan or fill cupcake cells ½ full.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes for 8 inch round pan.20-25 minutes for 9 inch round pan.20-25 minutes for 8 inch square pan.15-20 minutes for cupcakes.Cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool on a wire rack 10 minutes, and then if not serving from the pan, remove cake from pan and cool completely on a wire rack. Frost cake as desired after the cake is completely cooled.
- Frost as desired, serve and enjoy.
Notes
Shortcut: Homemade Jiffy Yellow Cake Mix.
Hash Peppers
I prepared these on a suggestion from my Dad, and that idea was tasty! The bell pepper and hash go together very well, excellent flavor.
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking Pan (7x11 inch)
Ingredients
- 3 bell peppers, any color you want
- 2 cans corned beef hash, (14 oz / 397 g cans / about 2 cups)
Instructions
- Keep in mind the sizes of bell peppers can vary so you may need more than 2 cans of hash for 3 large peppers. I used 3 medium or smaller peppers.
- Cut the tops off the bell peppers, remove the seeds and membranes from the insides. (I dice the tops for use in other recipes.)
- Place the peppers in a saucepan and fill with water just to the tops of the peppers. Bring to a boil then reduce to medium heat, time for 5-6 minutes once the water boils. Drain the peppers and place in a baking dish.
- Preheat your oven to 180° C (350° F). Scoop out hash from the cans and pack into the peppers, round the tops. For extra hash left over, just pack into the pan next to the peppers.
- Bake for 45 minutes. During this time you can prepare side dishes of your choice, I fried up some yellow zucchini.
- Serve and enjoy.
Notes
I will say Low cost per serving as this can be a leftover dish made with homemade hash.
Shrimp Newburg
This recipe is from a cookbook titled Casserole Cook Book by Better Homes & Gardens, printed in 1961. This recipe sounds very good, on my to make and taste list.
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cups half and half cream
- 4 egg yolks, slightly beaten
- 4 cups cooked shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails removed
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup dry white wine
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- toast cups, or egg noodles, for serving, Link in Notes
- paprika, for garnish, as desired
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large non stick pan, stir in the flour until smooth. Slowly stir in the cream, stir continuously until sauce thickens.
- Lightly beat the egg yolks. Scoop out a little bit of sauce and stir into the yolks, then add the yolks to the sauce and stir until completely blended in, about 1 minute.
- Add the shrimp and salt, stir to mix, heat through.
- Stir in the wine and lemon juice.
- Spoon into Toast Cups or over hot buttered egg noodles. Sprinkle lightly with paprika to garnish, serve and, enjoy.
Notes
Fair cost per serving depending on where you source the shrimp from.
Additional recipe: Toast Cups.
Updated on 5 September 2021.
Crab Meat Pie
I found this recipe on the internet. This can be made with canned crab, fresh cooked and picked crab, or imitation crab. I made this on 25 Aug 2021 and used imitation crab. Excellent flavor, highly recommended.
Equipment
- Oven
- Pie Dish (9 inch)
Ingredients
- 1 unbaked pie crust
- 226 grams crab meat, canned - drained, or fresh cooked, or imitation - chopped, (8 oz)
- 1 cup celery, finely diced
- 2 tablespoons onion, grated
- 2 tablespoons green bell pepper, diced
- ⅔ cup mushrooms, sliced, fresh sautéed or canned (4 oz / 113 g can, drained)
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 cup mayo
- ½ cup dry bread crumbs
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ cup Cheddar cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180° C (350° F). Get out a 9 inch pie dish and place pie shell in the dish, flute the edge as desired.
- In a mixing bowl, add the crab meat, celery, onion, bell pepper, eggs, mayo, salt, lemon juice, ½ the mushrooms, and all but 1 tablespoon of bread crumbs.
- Mix lightly together.
- Pour into the prepared pie dish and spread out evenly.
- Add remaining mushrooms to top.
- Sprinkle with remaining bread crumbs and the Cheddar cheese.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or firm and browned.
- Slice and serve with sides of your choice. Enjoy.
Notes
Low cost per serving if using imitation crab, fresh - picked, would depend on where you source the crabs from.
Fruit Magic
This recipe comes from a box of Jiffy Yellow Cake mix, the tiny box of cake mix, and it is delicious, this is an excellent cobbler. Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking Pan (8x8 inch)
Ingredients
- 1 can fruit pie filling, any flavor, (21 oz / 1 lb 5 oz / 595 g)
- 1 box Jiffy yellow cake mix, (9 oz / 255 g), Shortcut
- ½ cup nuts, chopped, optional
- ¼ cup butter, softened, (½ stick / ¼ block)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180° C (350° F), get out a 8x8 inch baking pan.
- Add the pie filling to the baking pan and spread out evenly. I used blueberry filling.
- In a mixing bowl, add the cake mix and nuts if using and mix together. I used roughly chopped pecans.
- Cut in the butter.
- Sprinkle cake mix over the pie filling.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.
- Serve and enjoy.
Notes
Shortcut: Homemade Jiffy Yellow Cake Mix.
Variant: 1. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Company Ham in Sour Cream
This recipe is from a cookbook titled Casserole Cook Book by Better Homes & Gardens, printed in 1961. I made this on 20 Dec 2023, quick and easy, and I served this over my homemade Rice A Roni, simply delicious! Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked ham, cut into cubes or short strips
- ¼ cup onion, diced
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup sour cream, Shortcut
- 1⅓ cups mushrooms, sliced, canned drained or fresh sautéed
- hot cooked rice, for serving
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large non stick pan, add the onion and ham. Cook until the onion is tender.
- Sprinkle in the flour and mix together. Stir in the sour cream.
- Stir in the mushrooms. Stir and cook until mixture just thickens.
- Serve over hot cooked rice, enjoy.
Notes
Fair cost per serving, depending on where the ham is sourced.
Shortcut: Sour Cream.
Easy Fruit Crumble Bake
This recipe comes from a friend on the Just a Pinch recipe site and it is delicious. This can be easily tailored depending on the pie filling you use. Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking Pan (8x8 inch)
Ingredients
- 1 box Jiffy yellow cake mix, (9 oz / 255 g), Shortcut
- 1 can fruit pie filing, any flavor, (21 oz / 1 lb 5 oz / 595 g)
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180° C (350° F), get out a 8x8 inch baking pan, and grease with butter.
- Sprinkle ½ the cake mix on the bottom of the pan.
- Pour pie filling over the cake mix.
- Sprinkle remaining cake mix on top of the pie filling.
- Drizzle the butter all over the cake mix.
- Bake for 45 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.
- Serve and enjoy.
Notes
Shortcut: Homemade Jiffy Yellow Cake Mix.
Variant: 1. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.