Archive for the ‘#1 Go-To Recipes’ Category
Old-time Stuffed Peppers
This recipe is from a cookbook titled Casserole Cook Book by Better Homes & Gardens, printed in 1961. I made these for the family and they are very well liked, these are excellent peppers! I halved the recipe but still made 5 peppers. If you like stuffed peppers, these are highly recommended.
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking Pan (9x13 inch)
Ingredients
- 8 medium green bell peppers
- 1 kilo ground beef, (2 lb)
- ½ cup onion, diced
- 1½ cups canned corn, drained, or fresh cooked and drained
- 1 cup seasoned tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon MSG
- 2 cups sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded, (8 oz / 227 g)
- 1 cup soft breadcrumbs
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
Instructions
- Cut the tops off the peppers, remove seeds and membrane. I halved the recipe when I made this so I started with 4 peppers but ended up using 5.
- Place the peppers in small amount of boiling salted water, cover, and steam for 5-10 minutes, drain. Sprinkle insides with salt.
- In a large non stick pan, brown the ground beef and onion.
- To the pan, add the corn, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and MSG, simmer until heated through, about 5 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 180° C (350° F), get out a 9x13 inch baking pan. If cutting the recipe in half, use a 8x8 or 7x11 inch baking pan.
- Add the cheese to the beef mixture and stir until melted.
- Fill peppers and place upright in the baking pan. Mix together the bread crumbs and melted butter and sprinkle on top of each pepper.
- Bake for 40 minutes or heated through.
- Serve and enjoy.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Variants: 1. Use ground pork in place of beef. 2. Use fiesta corn in place of regular whole kernel corn.
Shrimp Stuffed Peppers
This recipe is from a cookbook titled Casserole Cook Book by Better Homes & Gardens, printed in 1961. I made these on 7 Aug 2021 and was pleasantly surprised, easy to put together and very nice flavor. I also updated the recipe with my findings as well.
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking Pan (7x11 inch)
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked shrimp, diced
- 6 small green bell peppers, or 3 medium
- 1 can seasoned tomato sauce, (15 oz / 435 g)
- 2 cups cooked rice
- 1 cup mayo
- 2 tablespoons onion, diced
- salt and pepper, as desired
Instructions
- For the shrimp, I used 2 bags of Walmart brand, frozen, cooked, large, peeled, deveined, tail on shrimp. I thawed them, removed the tails, and chopped them. This was just a bit over 3 cups, each bag was 12 oz / 340 g.
- Cut the tops off the peppers, remove seeds and membrane.
- Place the peppers in small amount of boiling salted water, cover, and steam for 5 minutes, drain. Sprinkle insides with salt.
- Preheat your oven to 180° C (350° F), get out a 7x11 inch baking pan.
- In a mixing bowl, add remaining ingredients except the tomato sauce. Mix together and season with salt and pepper as desired.
- Fill peppers and place upright in the baking pan. Spoon the tomato sauce around the peppers.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- Place peppers on a serving plate, spoon sauce over them, serve and enjoy.
Notes
Fair cost depending on where you source the shrimp from.
Variant: 1. I am planning on making this first as listed, then I am going test out using various cooked seasoned rice in place of the cooked rice. List of seasoned rice is here for rice cooker recipes and here for stovetop recipes. I will report my finds here as well. 2. Use 1 cup diced shrimp and 1 cup of boneless skinless white fish, both cooked. 3. Use a combination of shrimp, fish, and crab meat.
Updated on 7 August 2021.
Indian Corn Casserole
This recipe is from a cookbook titled Casserole Cook Book by Better Homes & Gardens, printed in 1961. This is excellent corn! I made this on 7 Aug 2021 and the family loved it. Highly recommended.
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking Pan (7x11 inch)
Ingredients
- 3 eggs, well beaten
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 cup sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded, (8 oz / 226 g)
- 2 cans whole kernel corn, drained, (16 oz / 454 g each)
- 10 slices bacon, cooked, crumbled, (about 8 oz / 227 g)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180° C (350° F), get out a 7x11 inch baking pan.
- In a mixing bowl, add the eggs and beat, then add the flour and sugar. Beat together.
- Add the cheese, corn, and ¾ of the bacon. Mix together.
- Pour mixture into the baking pan, sprinkle remaining bacon on the top.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Serve and enjoy.
Ham 'n Egg Divan
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. Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking Pan (7x11 inch)
Ingredients
- 1 package frozen broccoli, cooked and drained, (10 oz / 283 g)
- 6 hard boiled eggs, peeled, Shortcut
- 3 tablespoons mayo
- 1 tablespoon onion, minced
- 1 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard
- ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- salt and pepper, as desired, to taste
- 1 can deviled ham, (4¼ oz / 120 g)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup milk
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded, (4 oz / 113 g)
Instructions
- Add the cooked and drained broccoli to a 7x11 baking dish.
- Cut eggs in half lengthwise, remove yolks to a bowl.
- Mash yolks and mix with the mayo, onion, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce, taste and season with salt and pepper as desired. Mix in ½ of the deviled ham.
- Place a small amount of deviled ham in each egg white.
- Divide yolk mixture among all the whites, and top each with another small amount of the remaining deviled ham.
- Arrange deviled eggs on the broccoli.
- Preheat your oven to 180° C (350° F).
- In a sauce pan, melt the butter, stir in the flour. Slowly add milk while stirring. Stir continuously until thickened.
- Stir in cheese and salt, stir until cheese is melted in and smooth.
- Pour sauce over eggs to cover them.
- Bake for 20-25.
- Serve and enjoy.
Notes
I will work on a Shortcut recipe for homemade deviled ham and will list that here.
Shortcut: Hard Boiled Chicken Eggs.
Deviled Egg & Ham Casserole
This recipe is from a cookbook titled Casserole Cook Book by Better Homes & Gardens, printed in 1961. I made this on 22 Aug 2021 for dinner with my parents. We loved this, excellent sauce, and the eggs really add to the overall taste of this casserole. The recipe was followed exactly with no changes made, and it was delicious! This will be a regular now. Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking Pan (7x11 inch)
Ingredients
- 6 hard boiled eggs, peeled, Shortcut
- ¼ cup mayo
- 1 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard
- ½ teaspoon salt
- black pepper, as desired, to taste
- ¼ cup butter, (½ stick / ¼ block)
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups milk
- 1 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 cup cooked ham, diced
- 1 cup frozen peas
- ½ cup dry bread crumbs
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- hot cooked rice, or toast points, for serving
Instructions
- Cut eggs in half lengthwise, remove yolks to a bowl. Mash yolks with the mayo, mustard, salt, and pepper. Fill whites with yolk mixture, arrange eggs in a 7x11 inch baking pan.
- Preheat your oven to 190° C (375°).
- Melt the ¼ cup butter in a medium saucepan, stir in the flour until smooth. Slowly stir in milk, cook and stir until thickened. Stir in cheese, stir until melted in. Stir in the ham and peas.
- Pour mixture over the eggs.
- In a bowl, mix together the bread crumbs and 2 tablespoons of melted butter, sprinkle over the top of the casserole.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
- Serve with rice or over toast points, and enjoy.
Notes
Low to Fair cost per serving depending on where the ham is sourced.
Shortcut: Hard Boiled Chicken Eggs.
Budget Crab Cakes
I found this recipe on a YouTube cooking channel and I absolutely love the use of imitation crab. I made these on 1 Aug 2021, this will be a regular for us now!
Ingredients
- 500 grams imitation crab sticks, chopped, (1 lb)
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 cup spring onion, sliced
- ½ cup mayo, and as needed
- 1 cup saltine crackers, crushed
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 cup dry bread crumbs
- vegetable oil , as needed, for frying
Instructions
- To a mixing bowl, add the first 6 ingredients.
- Mix together, if mixture is too dry, mix in mayo 1 tablespoon at a time until you get the consistency to shape mixture into patties.
- Set out a plate and add the breadcrumbs. Set out 2 more plates or a tray to place patties on.
- Shape mixture into 9-12 patties, roll each in bread crumbs and place on the parchment. Place in the fridge to chill for 1 hour. (I made 9 patties.)
- When you are ready to cook, heat some vegetable oil in a large pan, when hot, fry patties, working in batches.
- Fry until golden brown, turn them over and brown the other side. Drain on paper towels.
- Serve and enjoy.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Salmon Macaroni
This recipe is from a cookbook titled Casserole Cook Book by Better Homes & Gardens, printed in 1961. I made this on 18 Aug 2021, excellent mac & cheese! Very creamy, the salmon gives this a nice taste and the crumbs on top give a nice firm topping. This is highly recommend if you like salmon. Links to the Shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking Pan (7x11 inch)
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry macaroni
- ¼ cup butter, (½ stick / ¼ block)
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- dash black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1¾ cups milk
- 1½ cups cottage cheese, Shortcut
- 1 cup sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded, (4 oz / 113 g)
- 1 can salmon, drained, flaked, (16 oz / 454 g / 2 cups), Shortcut
- 2 eggs, beaten
- ½ cup dry breadcrumbs
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
Instructions
- Cook macaroni in a pot of salted boiling water until just tender, drain, return to pot, set aside.
- In a saucepan, melt the ¼ cup butter, then stir in the flour, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Slowly add milk while stirring until thickened.
- Stir in the cottage cheese, shredded cheese, and salmon.
- Pour sauce and eggs into the macaroni and stir to combine.
- Pour mixture into a 7x11 baking inch pan greased with butter or cooking spray.
- Preheat your oven to 180° C (350° F).
- In a small bowl, mix together the soft breadcrumbs and 2 tablespoons melted butter, sprinkle over the casserole.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes or until set in the center.
- Serve and enjoy.
Notes
High cost per serving as canned salmon, which I have only seen once, is pricy. The shortcut will steamed frozen salmon fillets, which are available, that have been thawed, but is still Fair to High cost.
Shortcuts: Cottage Cheese, Steamed Salmon (Rice Cooker).
Zucchini Cheese Casserole
This recipe is from an extensive cookbook titled Favorite Recipes, compiled by the active and retired employees of Michigan Bell in 1981. I made this on 1 Aug 2021, absolutely delicious, and easy to prepare. Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking Pan (9x13 inch)
Ingredients
- 1 kilo zucchini, cut into ½ inch slices, (2 lb)
- ½ cup boiling water
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 cup cooked brown rice
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 500 grams cottage cheese, (1 lb), Shortcut
- ½ teaspoon dried marjoram
- salt and black pepper, as desired
- 1 tablespoon fresh chives, chopped
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Instructions
- Preheat you oven to 180° C (350° F), get out a 9x13 inch baking pan and grease with butter or cooking spray.
- Add the zucchini and boiling water to a saucepan on medium heat, cover and boil 5 minutes, drain well.
- In a mixing bowl, mix together the eggs, cottage cheese, rice, onion, salt and pepper as desired, marjoram, and chives.
- Place ½ the drained zucchini on the bottom of the prepared baking pan in an even layer.
- Top with ½ cottage cheese mixture in an even layer. (I jumped the gun here and added the second layer of squash over the cheese layer.)
- Repeat with the remaining zucchini then the last of the cottage cheese mixture.
- Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
- Bake for 45 minutes.
- Serve and enjoy.
Notes
Shortcut: Cottage Cheese.
Zucchini Tart
This recipe is from an extensive cookbook titled Favorite Recipes, compiled by the active and retired employees of Michigan Bell in 1981. I made this in 25 Aug, and it is good! Easy to put together with no peeling or parboiling, which is always a bonus. Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking Pan (9x13 inch)
- Box Grater
Ingredients
- 3 cups zucchini, shredded (no peeling required)
- 1 cup biscuit mix, Shortcut
- ½ cup onion, diced
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
- ½ cup Mozzarella cheese, or Cheddar, grated
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon seasoning salt
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- dash black pepper
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 4 eggs, lightly beaten
- ⅔ cup mushrooms, sliced, fresh sautéed or canned (4 oz / 113 g can, drained)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180° C (350° F), get out and grease a 9x13 inch baking pan with butter or cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, add all ingredients.
- Mix together. (And I forgot to take this photo.)
- Pour mixture into the prepared baking pan and spread out evenly. (I halved the recipe and used a 8x8 inch pan, worked perfect.)
- Bake for 35-40 minutes or until starting to brown.
- Cut into squares, serve and enjoy.
Notes
Shortcut: Biscuit Mix.
Updated on 25 August 2021.
Zucchini, Italian Style
This recipe is from an extensive cookbook titled Favorite Recipes, compiled by the active and retired employees of Michigan Bell in 1981. I made this dish on 9 Aug 2021, easy to put together and excellent flavor! Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking Pan (7x11 inch)
Ingredients
- 3-4 zucchini, cut into ¼ inch slices
- ½ cup water
- 4 slices bacon, diced
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 3 slices bread, cubed
- 1 cup Cheddar cheese, diced
- 1 can tomato sauce, (15 oz / 425 g), or 1½ cups with Shortcut
- salt and black pepper, as desired
- Parmesan cheese, grated, as desired
Instructions
- Cook zucchini in boiling water for 5 minutes or until tender, drain well.
- Brown bacon, onion, and garlic in a pan.
- Preheat your oven to 180° C (350° F), get out and grease a 7x11 baking pan with butter or cooking spray.
- To a large mixing bowl, add the drained zucchini, bacon, and all remaining ingredients except the Parmesan. Toss together until blended, season with salt and pepper as desired. When you first add everything to bowl it will be quite full, but it will all mix together well and will settle a bit.
- Pour mixture into the prepared baking pan and spread out evenly.
- Generously sprinkle with Parmesan.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Serve and enjoy.
Notes
Shortcut: Tomato Sauce.
