Archive for the ‘#1 Go-To Recipes’ Category
Vanilla Custard Cups
This recipe comes from my Mom and she makes this every year, and she even made it today.
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups milk
- 6 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180 C (350 F). Get out six 6 oz (175 ml) baking cups and a baking pan large enough to hold them.
- In a mixing bowl, mix together the eggs, milk, brown sugar, and vanilla, until well blended.
- Pour mixture evenly into the 6 baking cups, and sprinkle each cup with nutmeg.
- Arrange the cups in the baking pan and pour in 1 inch of hot water around the cups.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a butter knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove to a rack and allow to cool.
- Serve and enjoy.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Provided by my Mom, Joann Thayer, who has been making this for probably 40+ years.
United States.
United States.
Andouille Sausage, Peppers & Mushrooms
Just a twist on the classic Sausage, Peppers & Onions. I had some Andouille sausage today (16 Oct 2019) and I really enjoyed that, very enjoyable. I put this dish together on a whim and it turned out perfect.
Ingredients
- 1 ring Andouille sausage, (about 396 g / 14 oz)
- 3 bell peppers, 1 red, 1 green, 1 yellow
- 250 grams button mushrooms, (8 oz)
- olive oil, as needed
- black pepper, as desired
Instructions
- Prep the ingredients by slicing the sausage into 1/4 inch pieces, slice the bell peppers into strips, and slice the mushrooms.
- Heat a large pan on medium to medium high heat and add the sausage. Cook and stir the sausage occasionally until browned and cooked through.
- Remove the sausage to a plate with a slotted spoon, draining as much fat as you can.
- Wipe out the same pan and place back on medium heat and add the bell peppers. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the peppers are tender yet crisp.
- Add the mushrooms and stir into the peppers. Season with black pepper as desired. Continue cooking, stirring often to work the mushrooms through the bottom of the pan, until the mushrooms are starting to wilt and release their water.
- Add the sausage back to the pan and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are fully wilted and the sausage heated through. Serve with rice, enjoy.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Just a different take on a classic dish.
Noodles Romanoff
No, this is not a Russian dish but it is a tasty egg noodle dish. Serve this as a side dish as written, or toss in some smoked ham or smoked sausage to make this a nice main dish casserole. Link to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 250 grams egg noodles, (8 oz)
- 1/3 cup onion, finely diced
- 1 container Cottage cheese, (500 g / 16 oz), Shortcut
- 1 container sour cream, room temperature, (500 g / 16 oz), Shortcut
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Heat a pot of salted water to a boil, then add the egg noodles and cook until just tender. Drain well.
- Preheat your oven to 180 C (350 F), grease a 12x7 baking dish with butter.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the well drained egg noodles and all remaining ingredients except the Cheddar cheese. Mix together.
- Pour into the prepared baking dish, cover with foil, and bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove from oven, remove foil, sprinkle on the Cheddar cheese and place back in the oven for another 5 minutes to melt the Cheddar.
- Serve and enjoy.
Notes
Low cost per serving in the US, can be costly in Thailand just based on the cottage cheese and sour cream unless those are made from shortcuts.
Shortcuts: Cottage Cheese, Sour Cream.
Variants: 1. Add some diced smoked ham or smoked sausage to make this a nice casserole. 2. Add some peas to add a little color.
Adapted from a recipe found in a 1980's recipe booklet from a pasta manufacturer.
Homemade Smoked Hocks (Pressure Cooker)
In Thailand, I have never seen smoked ham hocks, but uncooked hocks are widely available. These are called pork side leg or pork leg in Tesco, and are quite large, bonus is they are cut through the bone in several places on the large hocks. This recipe produces smoked hocks using liquid smoke and a pressure cooker, not a smoker. I will use my 9 liter (9½ quart) stove top pressure cooker with a pressure of 80 kPa (12 psi), so this will work with a electric pressure cooker as well. Follow all safety precautions for your model of pressure cooker.
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 1-2 kilos pork side legs, (2-4 lb)
- 2 quarts water, (8 cups)
- 1 tablespoon black peppercorns, heaping
- ½ teaspoon liquid smoke
Instructions
- Place a rack in your pressure if you have one. Add the hocks on top of the rack. (For this I used just over 2 kilo (4+ lb) with 4 thick side leg pieces and 1½ feet which were already cut in half.)
- Add the water, peppercorns, and liquid smoke.
- Place the lid on the pressure cooker and lock in place, add the weight to the lid. Place on high heat.
- When the weight (jiggler) starts to vent pressure and move a little, reduce heat to low or medium low, but maintain the pressure venting and movement on the jiggler. Set your timer for 35 minutes.
- When 35 minutes have passed, turn off the heat and move the cooker to an unused burner. Allow a natural pressure release, meaning you don't need to do anything, just let the pressure cooker cool until all pressure has vented, and the lid lock device indicates that zero pressure remains inside the cooker.
- When no pressure is in the cooker, keep your face pointed generally away from the cooker and open the lid.
- Scoop out the hocks and any meat that may have fallen off the bones. (This is the side leg pieces, the feet halves were placed on another plate.)
- For the broth, drain through several layers of cheesecloth into a pot, then pour into 1-2 quart jars. Allow to cool to room temperature, cover and place in the fridge. When chilled, remove most of the fat from the top. Now you have pork broth to use for making a pot of beans. This may keep in the fridge for 3-5 days.
- Serve the hocks as is with side dishes of your choice, or use as an ingredient in a hocks and beans recipe of your choice.
Notes
Pork side leg in Tesco will cost about 61 Baht/kilo or $1/pound, basically low cost per serving and you get pork broth for use in other recipes.
Ham Hocks & Beans (Slow Cooker)
Sounds like a good hock and bean recipe, bonus is any beans can be used. I made this on 15 Oct 2019, using 1 lb of Great Northern Beans and three smoked hocks that weighed a total of 2 1/4 lbs, cooked on Low for 6 hours and the beans and hocks were perfect, this recipe is a keeper.
Ingredients
- 500 grams dry beans, your choice, (1 lb)
- 2-3 smoked ham hocks, (1-1 1/4 kilos / 2-2 1/2 lbs)
- 1 onion, diced
- 6 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1-2 quarts chicken broth, (4-8 cups)
- salt and pepper, as desired, to taste
Instructions
- Sort the beans and remove and discard any foreign debris, rinse, then place in a large bowl. Add water to cover by 2 inches. Cover and set aside to soak overnight.
- When you are ready to start cooking, rinse the smoked hocks and place in your slow cooker.
- Drain and rinse the beans, then place in your slow cooker. I am using Great Northern Beans for this batch then add the onion, garlic, oregano, and pepper.
- Pour in 1-2 quarts of chicken broth so the broth is about 1 inch over the beans.
- Turn your slow cooker to Low setting and set your timer for 6 hours, cooking until the beans are tender and hocks are falling apart. If the beans are not tender, continue cooking and check each hour afterwards. Six hours was perfect for me.
- When the beans are soft, remove the hocks, use forks to remove the meat, discard the bones, skin, and fat.
- Chop the meat and return to the slow cooker.
- Taste, season with salt and pepper as desired, serve and enjoy.
Notes
This is Low cost per serving in the US, and for Thailand, I have never seen smoked hocks but I will come up with some recipes to prepare these as Thailand has excellent raw hocks, called 'pork side leg' at Tesco, for a very reasonable price.
Variants: 1. Stir in a can of drained diced tomatoes at the end of the 6 hours, heat through for 15 minutes, highly recommended. 2. Use smoked turkey legs in place of the hocks, also highly recommended.
Peanut Butter Pudding
This is a layered dessert that is simply delicious! This will make two 9 inch pies or a 9x13 baking pan. Highly recommended and Buster approved.
Ingredients
- 1 box vanilla wafer cookies
- 1 package Cream cheese, softened, (225 g / 8 oz)
- 1/3 cup peanut butter
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tubs Cool Whip, thawed, (8 oz each)
- 2 2/3 cups cold milk
- 1 box instant chocolate pudding mix, 4 serving size
- 1 box instant vanilla pudding mix, 4 serving size
- mini Reese cups, quartered, as desired
Instructions
- Line the bottom then the sides of two pie dishes with the vanilla wafer cookies. This will be the crust.
- To a mixing bowl, add the cream cheese, peanut butter, and powdered sugar. Use an electric mixer and beat until smooth.
- Fold in 1 tub of the whipped topping.
- Spoon evenly over the cookies in the pie dishes.
- Rinse and wipe out mixing bowl. Add the milk and both pudding mixes, whisk for 2 minutes. Let set for 2 minutes or until just starting to set up.
- Spread pudding mixture evenly over the cream cheese mixture in the pie dishes.
- Spread 1 tub of whipped topping evenly over the two pie dishes.
- Sprinkle with the quartered Reeses cups. Cover and place in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
- Slice, serve, and enjoy.
Notes
Low cost per serving in the US, use store brand items as well for savings.
Variants: 1. Use ginger snap cookies in place of vanilla wafer cookies. 2. Use a 9x13 baking pan with vanilla wafers placed on the bottom for the crust. 3. Use chocolate, dark chocolate, or peanut butter chips or any combination, in place of the Reeses cups. 4. Mix in 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips to the cream cheese filling before adding to the pie dishes.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
"Canned" Chili
The title comes from the use of canned items, even the meat, which is both convenient and low cost depending on where one is. And this is versatile as well.
Ingredients
- olive oil, as needed
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 can ground pork, or beef, drained, (750 g / 1½ lb)
- 1 packet chili seasoning mix
- 1 quart tomato juice, (4 cups)
- 3 cans dark red kidney beans, drained, (425 g / 15 oz each)
Instructions
- Heat a tablespoon or so of olive oil in a large pot. When hot, add the onion. Cook until softened and translucent.
- Add the meat and chop up with your spatula. Heat through and cook until lightly browned, turning occasionally.
- Add the chili seasoning mix and stir that into the meat.
- Add the tomato juice and beans, stir, reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 to 2 hours.
- Serve with oyster crackers if desired, enjoy.
Notes
Low cost per serving in the US, Fair to High Cost in Thailand. The juice costs about $2 and the spice packet 50 cents, for 6 servings, this is about 42 cents per serving.
Variants: 1. In place of Dark Red Kidney Beans, use Light Red, Pinto, Black, or a combination of the different types.Â
Peanut Butter Fudge
Just 5 ingredients for the basic recipe, and you can add a few more simple items to dress up the fudge as you desire.
Ingredients
For the Fudge
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 cup butter, (2 sticks)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 3/4 cups powdered sugar
Additional Items / Toppings, as desired, use any as you want
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
- 8 mini Reese cups, cut into thirds
- 15 mini Reese cups, cut in half
- melted chocolate/almond bark, for drizzling
- peanuts
- pretzels, broken
Instructions
- Line a 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper or foil and two sides, this makes it easier to get the fudge out. Set aside.
- Measure out all the ingredients, including any additional items you desire to use, the fudge goes together quickly so have everything ready for use. I used chocolate chips, mini Reeses cups, and melted chocolate.
- Add the butter, peanut butter, salt, and vanilla extract to a medium size saucepan, and put on medium low heat.
- As the butter melts, stir the mixture until nice and smooth and all the butter is completely melted. Remove from heat.
- Stir in the powdered sugar, it will all mix in quickly. I added chocolate chips and mixed those in until they just started to melt.
- Add the mixture to your prepared baking pan and spread out evenly. Here you can see the excess foil on each side of the pan, these will be used later to remove the fudge from the pan.
- I also used mini Reeses cups, cut into thirds, and simply placed those on top of the fudge and pressed them into the fudge.
- I then melted some almond bark and drizzled that on the fudge.
- Place the pan in the fridge to chill and set the fudge.
- After the fudge is chilled and firm, remove from the fridge. Cut along the two sides of the pan where there is no parchment paper or foil, then take the two ends that are coming out of the pan and simply lift the fudge out and place on a cutting board.
- Cut the fudge in half, then cut each half in half, resulting in 4 long pieces. Turn the cutting board 90 degrees, and cut in half again, and cut each half in half again, resulting in 16 pieces. Serve and enjoy.
- For this batch I simply cut some dark chocolate mini Reese's cups in half and added them to the top.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Inspired by Spend With Pennies and the link to this recipe is here.
United States.
United States.
Pumpkin Chip Cream Pie
Common ingredients, easy to prepare, and simply delicious!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup cold milk
- 1 box instant vanilla pudding mix, 3.4 oz / 4 serving size
- 2/3 cup mini chocolate chips
- 1/2 can canned pumpkin, (15 oz can)
- 3/4 teaspoon pumpkin spice
- 1 tub whipped topping, divided, (8 oz)
- 1 graham cracker crust
- slivered almonds, optional, for garnish
- candy sprinkles, optional, for garnish
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the milk and pudding mix for 2 minutes.
- Add the chocolate chips, canned pumpkin, and pumpkin spice and mix in.
- Fold in half of the whipped topping.
- Spoon mixture into pie crust and spread out evenly. Place in the fridge for at least 4 hours to set.
- Just before serving, top with remaining half of the whipped topping. Sprinkle with candy sprinkles if desired.
- Slice, serve, and enjoy.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Variant: 1. Use a regular pie crust that is blind baked first.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Orange Kissed Brownies
This recipe comes from a flavoring extract package and I will be trying this one soon. This recipe uses a store bought fudge brownie mix, which is perfectly fine, and using a store brand will be a savings. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 1 box fudge brownie mix, plus ingredients listed on the box, Shortcut
- 1 tablespoon orange extract
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven and prepare a baking pan as stated on the brownie mix box.
- Prepare the brownie batter as directed on the box then add the chocolate chips and extract.
- Mix in the extract and chocolate chips.
- Pour into the prepared pan and spread out evenly, bake as directed on the brownie box.
- Allow to cool, cut into squares, serve, and enjoy.
Notes
Several factors to determine cost per serving for this dessert. Cutting the brownies into 24 squares instead of 12 would reduce the cost per serving a lot, but who wants a smaller brownie. Based on location for pricing, the US would be Low cost per serving for sure, and using a store brand for the brownie mix will also help in reducing the cost. For Thailand, this would be Fair to High cost per serving if using a store bought brownie mix, using a homemade mix would reduce to the cost considerably even to Low cost per serving.
Shortcut: Gooey Fudge Brownies.
Adapted from a recipe on a flavoring extract package.
