Archive for the ‘#1 Go-To Recipes’ Category
Chili con Wiene
This recipe is from a cookbook titled Casserole Cook Book by Better Homes & Gardens, printed in 1961. I made this on 2 Sep 2021, and even my parents liked this, and when my Dad reaches for seconds, it is good! Very easy to prepare and delicious. Links to the Shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 500 grams ground beef, (1 lb)
- ½ cup onion, diced
- 1 can chili, with beans, (16 oz / 454 g / 2 cups), Shortcut
- 8 hot dogs, cut at an angle, ¼ to ½ inch thick slices
- 1 can condensed tomato soup, (10½ oz / 298 g), Shortcut
- ½ cup chili sauce
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup green bell pepper, diced
- 6 hamburger buns, split, toasted, for serving
Instructions
- In a pot, and the ground beef and onion, cook and brown the beef, breaking up the beef with your spatula. When no more pink is visible, drain off excess fat.
- Add the canned chili, hot dogs, soup, chili sauce, and salt. Heat through.
- Mix in the bell pepper a few minutes before serving.
- Serve over toasted buns. Enjoy.
Notes
Low cost per serving if using the shortcuts. Feel free to use your favorite homemade chili, several shortcuts are given for chili that I like to make.
Shortcuts: Condensed Tomato Soup, Basic Chili I, Basic Chili II, Pinto Bean Chili.
Weiner Bean Pot
This recipe is from a cookbook titled Casserole Cook Book by Better Homes & Gardens, printed in 1961. I made this on 9 Aug 2021, very quick to put together and the dry soup mix gives an excellent flavor.
Equipment
- Oven
- Casserole (1½ quart)
Ingredients
- 2 cans pork and beans, (16 oz / 454 g each)
- 1 envelope onion soup mix
- ⅓ cup ketchup
- ¼ cup water
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon prepared yellow mustard
- 500 grams quality hot dogs, sliced, (1 lb)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180° C (350° F), get out a 2 quart casserole.
- Add all ingredients to a large mixing bowl. I did use chicken hot dogs, still turned out great.
- And mix together.
- Pour into the casserole.
- Bake for 1 hour. And I totally forgot to get the 'out of the oven' photo.
- Serve and enjoy.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Ham & Potato Scallop
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
- Mandoline
- Casserole (3 quart)
- Oven
Ingredients
- 5 cups potatoes, peeled, thinly sliced
- ½ cup onion, diced
- ¼ cup green bell pepper, diced
- 2 cups cooked ham, cut into ½ inch cubes
- 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup, (10½ oz / 298 g), Shortcut
- ¼ cup milk
- dash black pepper
- 1 tablespoon butter
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180° C (350° F), get out a 3 quart casserole.
- Peel and slice the potatoes (a mandoline works perfect for slicing), and dice the onion, bell pepper, and cube the ham.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together the soup, milk, and black pepper.
- Add the potatoes, ham, onion, and bell pepper. Mix together.
- Pour mixture into the casserole, dot the top with the butter. I also added some black pepper as well.
- Bake uncovered for 1 hour. Cover and bake for another 45 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. This is after the cover was removed, perfect golden brown color.
- Serve and enjoy.
Notes
Scalloped Potatoes with Sausage
This recipe is from a cookbook titled Casserole Cook Book by Better Homes & Gardens, printed in 1961. This is an easy dish to prepare and can be tailored in many ways to suit your taste. Recipe doubles well, which is how I prepared this and the photos reflect that and that I used some Variants as well. Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Notes section.
Equipment
- Oven
- Casserole (1½ quart)
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked potatoes, cubed
- ½ cup onion, diced
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 can condensed cream of celery soup, (10½ oz / 298 g), Shortcut
- ⅓ cup milk
- ¼ cup green bell pepper, diced
- 2 tablespoons pimento, diced
- 500 grams smoked sausage links, such as Little Smokies, (1 lb)
- ¾ cup Cheddar cheese, shredded, or American
Instructions
- Peel and cube the potatoes, boil until tender, about 10 minutes, drain.
- While the potatoes are cooking, prep the sausage links by slicing half the sausage, bell pepper, pimento, and onion. (I used chicken cocktail sausages, yellow bell pepper, and omitted the pimento.)
- Cook onion in the melted butter until soft but not browned.
- Stir in the soup and milk, heat through. (I used condensed chicken mushroom soup as variant.)
- Preheat you oven to 180° C (350° F), get out a 1½ quart casserole. (I did double the recipe so I used a 3 quart casserole for this.)
- To the casserole, add the drained potatoes, bell pepper, pimento, and the sliced sausage, toss together.
- Pour soup mixture over the top of the potatoes.
- Top with the shredded cheese.
- Arrange remaining sausage links on top.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- Serve and enjoy.
Notes
Fair cost per serving based on the smoked sausages, which I have seen at Macro and I need to price them again.
Shortcut: Condensed Cream of Celery Soup.
Variants: 1. Use Condensed Cream of Chicken Mushroom Soup in place of celery soup. 2. Use any bell pepper color you like. 3. In the US, the Little Smokies would be perfect in this, in Thailand, the chicken cocktail sausages work very well. 4. Use Japanese Arabiki sausage (cooked) in place of cocktail sausage.
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.