Archive for the ‘#1 Go-To Recipes’ Category
Homemade Yellow Cake Mix
Yellow Cake Mix, a standard when I was growing up, came in a box, added a few ingredients, bake, and you have a cake. Where I live, the city does have this boxed mix at a premium price as well. This is the base mix recipe.
Ingredients
- 2¼ cups all purpose flour
- 1½ cups sugar
- 3½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 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 yellow cake.
- This mix equals 1 box of store bought mix which will make two 8 inch rounds or one 9x13 pan.
- Use in any recipe that calls for a box of yellow cake mix.
Notes
Low cost.
Used in Recipes Listed on this Site:
- Peach Dump Cake II.
- Red Velvet Cake, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Pineapple Upside Down Cake, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Homemade Yellow Cake, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Peach Dump Cake I, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Cake Batter Milkshake, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Pig Pickin' Cake, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Dream Cake, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Orange Juice Cake, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Any Flavor Cake, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Cherry Dessert Cake.
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake, made it, GO-TO recipe.
No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
I remember my Mom making these when I was little. Very happy to have this recipe now. I made this on 31 Mar 2017 and these are exactly as I remember them, fantastic and easy!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter, this is 1/2 of a standard block
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 1/2 cup peanut butter, creamy
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups quick cooking rolled oats
Instructions
- Add the butter, sugars, milk, cocoa, and salt to a large sauce pan or pot.
- Bring to a rolling boil and hold for 1 minute. Remove from heat.
- Add peanut butter and stir until melted, then mix in the vanilla extract.
- Now mix in 2 1/2 cups of oats until completely coated, if it looks wet enough, add 1/4 cup at a time from the remaining 1/2 cup and mix in until coated.
- Drop the cookies by tablespoons onto wax paper or foil and let cool until set.
Notes
All readily available ingredients, low cost.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Stephen Connell.
United States.
United States.
Classic American Goulash
This was a staple growing up, and even served as lunch in schools. And just as delicious then as it was on 9 Feb 2017 when I cooked this, this is my go to recipe for goulash. Link to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 500 grams ground beef
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3-4 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 2 1/4 cups tomato sauce, OR make from a shortcut
- 1 can whole peeled tomatoes, drained, chopped, OR chop 4-5 plum tomatoes
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Worcherstershire sauce, OR 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning, OR make from a shortcut
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cup dry elbow macaroni, or maccheroni
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a large pot over medium-high heat, add splash of olive oil and add the garlic and onions and cook until softened.
- Add the ground beef , breaking the meat up as it cooks and mix into the onions, cook until the meat is no longer pink and has started to brown. Drain fat
- Stir water, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, Italian seasoning, bay leaf, and salt and pepper to taste into the meat mixture and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Stir macaroni into the mixture, cover, and simmer over low heat until the pasta is tender, about 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, remove bay leaf.
- Serve.
Notes
Figure about 100 Baht for 500 grams of beef, and you may have to grind it yourself (which is preferred), for 4 servings, this is 74 cents per serving.
Variants: Add diced green bell pepper, parsley, it is up to you to tailor this to your recipe.
Shortcuts: Tomato Sauce, Italian Seasoning.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Copycat Rice-A-Roni
Probably not something you would expect from a recipe site based in Thailand, but this is an excellent side dish and very inexpensive to make. This is the base recipe, you can tailor this many ways. I made this on 1 Feb 2017.
Ingredients
- ½ cup dry spaghetti, broken into 1 inch pieces
- ¾ cup dry white rice
- 2½ cups chicken stock, fresh or from powder, or beef stock
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- Everything ready, I used beef stock from the powder dissolved in hot water.
- In a non stick skillet on medium heat, heat the olive oil and add the spaghetti, stirring constantly until the spaghetti starts to brown.
- Add the rice, stirring to coat the rice with the oil remaining in the pan and browning the spaghetti just a bit more, carefully pour in the stock and reduce temp to a simmer, stir then cover, and stir occasionally until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender, about 20 to 30 minutes. If you run out of liquid and the rice is not quite done, just add a bit more stock as needed until the rice is tender.
- Almost done, you can still see liquid and the rice not quite tender enough. Just stir and cover, if the burner is too hot, just move the pan off the burner for a few minutes at a time.
- Perfect consistency, rice is tender, serve as a side dish with any meal.
Notes
Variants: 1. Add cooked mushrooms, garlic, onion, ginger, turmeric, diced bell pepper, chopped spring onion, parsley, chopped broccoli, etc. 2. Add 2 cups of cooked and shredded chicken. 3. Add a good shake of black pepper.
Used in Recipes Listed on this Site:
Italian Seasoning
This is a shortcut to make your Italian seasoning instead of buying the ready made in the small bottles for a huge price.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons dried basil
- 2 tablespoons dried organo
- 2 tablespoons dried rosemary
- 2 tablespoons dried marjoram
- 2 tablespoons dried thyme
Instructions
- Add everything to a small container, mix, and store tightly sealed until needed. Use as you would the premade seasoning.
Notes
Used in Recipes Listed on this Site:
- Spam Pie, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Chicken Alphabet Soup, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Meatball Vegetable Soup, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Hamburger Helper Shortcuts, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Italian Chicken Bean Soup (Slow Cooker).
- Beef Alphabet Soup.
- Fusilli with Meat Sauce, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- String Cheese Manicotti, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Meatball Mostaccioli, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Easy Stuffed Shells, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Sausage Breakfast Casserole.
- Ham & Rice Casserole, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Eggplant Parmesan, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- One Pot Pasta with Chicken.
- Giant Meatball II.
- Catalina Dressing, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Broken Meatball Spaghetti, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Crockpot Shredded Chicken.
- Brian's Egg Frittata aka Egg Pizza, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Italian Pasta Salad.
- Ham, Egg & Cheese Breakfast Pizza.
- Easy Pasta Sauce.
- Crock Pot Bowtie Casserole.
Swiss Steak
My Mom can make a great Swiss Steak so this recipe interested me, and it is a slow cooker recipe which is a bonus, let the appliance do the work for you. I made this on 22 Jan 2017 and it is good! I modified the recipe slightly with my findings. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 1 kilo beef round steak, OR any beef just cut into large chunks
- 1 onion, sliced
- 1 green bell pepper, sliced into strips
- 2 1/2 cups tomato sauce, OR make from a shortcut
- 1 can whole peeled tomatoes, chopped and drained but retain juice
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Tenderize the steak with either a mallet type tenderizer or a needle tenderizer. Season the steak pieces with salt and pepper on both sides, arrange the pieces in your slow cooker. If using local sourced beef where you just get large chunks, slice into 3/4 inch to 1 inch steaks first.
- Place the onion and bell pepper on top of the meat, pour the tomato sauce and chopped tomatoes over the onions and bell pepper. Cover and cook on Low setting for 8 hours.
- At 8 hours on Low the beef should be fork tender, serve with mashed potatoes or egg noodles.
Notes
Local beef, not beef from Tesco will run between 150 to 260 Baht/kilo. Using the highest figure, for 4 servings, this is about $1.43 per serving.
Shortcut: Tomato Sauce.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Stephen Connell.
United States.
United States.
Chicken Liver, Bacon, and Eggs
In keeping with the traditional Thai cooking style of minimal ingredients, I put this together last night just to clean out the freezer. Actually quite good as well. I like quick, easy, and low cost meals, and this fits the bill perfectly. Serve as a breakfast or dinner.
Ingredients
- 200 grams bacon, (7 oz)
- 200 grams chicken livers, (7 oz)
- 3-4 eggs
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a cast iron pan heated with just a small splash of olive oil, add the bacon and the chicken livers. Separate the bacon as it cooks and turn the livers occasionally and cook until the bacon is just near crispy.
- Push the liver and bacon to one side and crack in the eggs, season with salt and pepper to your liking, and cover with a lid to cook the eggs.
- When the eggs are set and the whites cooked through, serve as a breakfast or as a dinner.
- Serve and enjoy.
Notes
The bacon is 62 Baht per 200 grams, the liver is about 30 Baht. For 2 servings this is about $1.35 per serving, very reasonable.
Dill Pickle Pasta Salad
I do like a good pasta salad, and dill pickles, and this is nothing short of excellent! I made this on 14 Jan 2017, it is easy to make, and can be adjusted with what you have on hand. This is now my new standard pasta recipe. It was so good, I did not even get photos. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
For the Salad
- 250 grams dry elbow macaroni, or shell, spirals, or any bitesize pasta would work
- 3/4 cup dill pickles, sliced, OR make from a shortcut
- 2/3 cup Cheddar cheese, cubed
- 3 tablespoons onion, finely diced
- 2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
- 1/2 cup dil pickle juice
For the Dressing
- 2/3 cup mayo
- 1/3 cup sour cream, see Step 2
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 4 tablespoons dill pickle juice
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Cook the pasta in a pot of boiling water until tender, drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process and to cool it off. Toss the pasta with 1/2 cup pickle juice and set aside for 5 minutes then drain and discard the juice and place the pasta in a large bowl along with the rest of the Salad ingredients and toss to mix together.
- In a small bowl, mix the dressing ingredients together. If you do not have sour cream, start with the amount of mayo stated and add more mayo as needed to coat everything yet not be dripping with mayo either. Pour this onto the pasta in the large bowl and and toss to coat everything. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.
Notes
Low cost.
Shortcut: Quick Fridge Dill Pickles.
Inspired by Spend With Pennies and the link to this recipe is here.
United States.
United States.
Creamed Tuna on Buttered Toast
Absolutely delicious! I made this on 17 Jan 2017, very easy, very easy to tailor based on your preferences. And I make this often! The milk sauce is perfect. If making this for more than 2 people (even though listed as 4 servings) I would double this. Highly recommended. Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Notes section.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup butter
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 2 cups milk
- 1 can tuna, drained, or 1 cup fresh cooked tuna, (185 g / 7 oz), Shortcut
- 1 cup frozen peas, thawed, or peas and carrots, or mixed veggies
- salt and pepper, to taste
- bread, for toasting
- butter, for the toast, as needed
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a saucepan, then whisk in the flour, then whisk in the milk, whisk constantly to prevent lumps and stir until creamy. Add the tuna, peas, and salt and pepper to your taste and warm through.
- As the sauce is warming, toast your bread, figuring 1-2 slices per serving. I went with 4 slices of toast for me in this photo.
- When the bread is toasted and buttered, spoon the sauce over the toast and serve.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Shortcut: Tuna.
Variants: 1. Add a couple of fried eggs sunny side up on top of each serving. 2. Chop 2 hard boiled eggs and mix those in when you add the tuna.
Grandma's Goulash
This is an excellent version of goulash, made on 24 Dec 2017, hit with the family as well. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 1 onion, chopped
- 500 grams ground beef
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 1 1/2 - 2 cups tomato pasta sauce, OR make from a shortcut
- 1 can whole peeled tomatoes, chopped, drained
- 1/2 can tomato paste, this is the 170 gram can
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1 cup dry macaroni
- 1 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded
- salt and pepper, to taste
- olive oil, as needed
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat a splash of olive oil then add the garlic, onion, and bell pepper (I also added 3 Shiitake mushrooms, chopped) and saute until the onion and bell pepper are softened.
- Then add the beef and cook until no pink remains then drain off any fat.
- Add the pasta sauce, tomato paste, chopped tomatoes, seasonings, and water. Mix together, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. If you want a thicker goulash, simmer for a bit longer to reduce some of the liquid. If too thick, add some of the tomato juice from the canned tomatoes.
- Add the macaroni and mix in, cover and simmer until the macaroni is tender, about 20 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.
- Top with the shredded cheese if desired, cover and let sit for 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
- Serve.
Notes
Ground beef will cost about 100 Baht/500 grams, the cheese will cost 90 Baht for 1/2 block. For 8 servings this is about $1.40 per serving.
Shortcut: Pasta Sauce.
Inspired by Spend With Pennies and the link to this recipe is here.
United States.
United States.