Archive for the ‘# Buster Approved’ Category
Peanut Butter Pretzel Toffee Cookies
This recipe is my daughter Samantha's creation and is well liked by her and her friends and it comes highly recommended for cookie aficionados. Samantha has a unique way to make cookies, she scoops them out onto a large baking sheet, freezes them then places in containers. This way she can take out what she wants for the day in the morning, bakes them and goes to work with fresh baked cookies. How ingenious is that?
Equipment
- Electric Mixer
- Oven
- Baking Sheets
- Parchment Paper
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 cups quick cooking rolled oats
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups butter, softened, (1½ blocks / 3 sticks)
- 2 cups brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1⅓ cup peanut butter
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1⅓ cup pretzels, coarsely crushed
- 1⅓ cup milk chocolate toffee bits, (8 oz / 226 g bag of Hershey's Heath bits)
- pretzels, broken, as needed for the top
- coarse sea salt, as needed, optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180° C (350° F), get out a baking sheet and leave ungreased, or line with parchment paper to make clean up easier.
- In a mixing bowl, add the first 4 ingredients and mix together, then set aside.
- In another mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar for 5 minutes.
- Then mix in the peanut butter, then mix in the eggs one at a time, and finally, mix in the vanilla.
- Add about ⅓ of the dry flour mixture to the batter and gently mix in, then add another ⅓ and gently mix to combine, and finally, add the remaining flour to the batter and mix in.
- Now mix in the pretzels and toffee bits.
Bowl to Oven
- Use a small ice cream scoop and scoop out onto a prepared baking sheet, placing cookies about 2 inches apart. Top each cookie with a few broken pretzel pieces and optionally, just a light sprinkle of coarse sea salt.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven, allow to cool 5 minutes, then place on a wire rack to cool.
- Serve and enjoy.
Bowl to Freezer (Samantha's preferred way)
- Use a small ice cream scoop and scoop out onto a large ungreased baking sheet, placing cookies close together. Top each cookie with a few broken pretzel pieces and optionally, just a light sprinkle of coarse sea salt. (Photo provided by Samantha.)
- Plate the sheet in the freezer, once the cookies are frozen, place them in containers, label, and return to the freezer.
- When you want fresh baked cookies, preheat your oven to 180° C (350° F), remove cookies desired and place on a prepared cookie sheet about 2 inches apart and bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven, allow to cool 5 minutes, then place on a wire rack to cool.
Notes
Variant: 1. Just use the entire 8 oz / 226 g bag of toffee bits, will be nearly 2 cups, works very well.
Easy Taco Pie
This comes from a friend and sounds very good, certainly on my to cook list! Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 500 grams ground beef, (1 lb)
- 1 packet taco seasoning mix, OR make from a shortcut
- 3/4 cup water
- 6 eggs, chicken or duck
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded
Optional Toppings
- sour cream, OR make from a shortcut
- fresh tomatoes, chopped
- fresh avocado, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180 C (350 F) and grease glass pie dish with butter and set aside.
- Heat a large non stick pan and brown the beef until no pink is visible. Break up the beef as it cooks with the spatula. Just starting with the beef here.
- Add the taco seasoning and water and reduce heat, cook for a few minutes to reduce the liquid and makes a thick sauce.
- Add the beef to the prepared pie dish and spread to make an even layer.
- In a mixing bowl, add the eggs, cream, garlic, salt, and pepper, mix together then pour over the beef. (Yes, I was making two pies.)
- Top with the cheese.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until the egg is set and the cheese starting to brown. Let rest for 5 minutes before slicing.
- Serve with toppings of sour cream, chopped tomatoes, chopped avocado, or toppings of your choice. Enjoy.
Notes
Figure about 125 Baht for the beef and about 90 Baht for the cheese. For 6 servings, this is about $1.05 per serving.
Shortcuts: Taco Seasoning Mix, Sour Cream.
Variant: 1. Use ground pork in place of beef.
Recipe provided by good friend, Patty J. Fike, and the original recipe is here.
United States.
United States.
Pinto Bean & Ground Beef Stew (Pressure Cooker)
I found this recipe yesterday, had everything on hand, tested out by the family, this is overwhelmingly tasty!!! This is for a stove top pressure cooker. Counting on the natural pressure release, you can have this on the table is under an hour. You can cook the beef and other prep while the pressure cooker is doing its thing. Follow all safety precautions for your model of pressure. This can also be prepared on the stove top using canned ingredients.
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry Pinto beans, sorted and rinsed
- cooking oil, as stated in instructions
- 4 cups water
- 500 grams lean ground beef, (1 lb)
- 1 onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano, Mexican oregano if you have that
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon dried cilantro
- 2 cups chicken stock, fresh or from powder
- 1 cup liquid, from cooked beans
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 can diced tomatoes, with juice
- ½ cup spring onions, sliced, white and green
- ½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
For Stove Top using Canned Items, change only:
- 1-2 cans ground pork, (1½ lb can)
- 3 cans Pinto beans, (15 oz cans)
Instructions
- Add the rinsed and sorted beans to your pressure cooker, add the 4 cups of water, and 1 tablespoon of cooking oil, the oil is to prevent the beans from foaming. Depending on your size of pressure cooker, do not fill more than halfway.
- Place the lid on the cooker and lock closed. Place on high heat until the pressure cooker comes to full pressure, meaning the jiggler is moving and making some noise, this is when you start timing. Turn the heat to low but maintain full pressure. Time the beans for 22 to 27 minutes depending on if like them firm or softer. (I time for 25 minutes.)
- While the beans are cooking, heat a non stick skillet and cook the ground beef until cooked through, drain the beef well and set aside. Photo shows the beef cooking while the pressure cooker is working on the beans.
- Same pan, heat a splash of oil and cook the onion until starting to turn brown, then add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes,
- Then add the oregano, cumin, and dried cilantro and cook for about 2 minutes more. Set aside.
- I added a variant, I used a handful of Shiitake mushrooms, photo shows before I removed the stems and chopped them.
- Saute the chopped mushrooms until starting to brown up. Set aside.
- After the time is up on the pressure cooker, turn off the heat and move to another unused burned. Allow the cooker to release pressure normally, about 10-15 minutes.
- When the pressure is fully released, open and ladle out 1 cup of liquid, set that liquid aside, drain the beans in a colander and rinse well and return the beans and the 1 cup of liquid from the beans, tomato paste, and diced tomatoes with liquid, the cooked beef, onion mixture, and mushrooms if using, to the cooker.
- Close and lock the pressure cooker lid and bring to high pressure and cook for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let pressure release naturally, about 10-15 minutes.
- When it is safe to open, remove the lid and stir in the spring onion and most, not all, of the fresh cilantro, and lime juice. Return to heat without the cover and simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Serve and sprinkle the remaining cilantro on each bowl for garnish.
For Stove Top using Canned Items
- Drain the canned ground pork. Open the beans, retain 1 cup of juice from the beans then drain and discard the rest of the juice.
- In a pot, heat a tablespoon of olive oil, when hot, add the onion, saute until just starting to brown, then add the garlic, saute for another minute.
- Add the pork and break up and heat through. Add the cumin, dried cilantro, and dried oregano. Mix with the pork and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
- Add the beans, the reserved 1 cup of bean juice, chicken stock, tomato sauce, and diced tomatoes. Heat and simmer for 1 hour or so until the liquid level is to your liking. About 10 minutes before serving, stir in the chopped cilantro, lime juice, and spring onion.
- Serve and enjoy.
Notes
The beef will cost about 120 Baht for 500 grams. For 6 servings, this is about 88 cents per serving.
Variants: 1. Sauté a handful of chopped mushrooms and add to the cooker after adding the beef and onion. 2. Use mushroom stock instead of chicken stock. 3. Replace the cilantro with chopped celery tops or parsley. 4. Serve with saltines or oyster crackers. 5. Use ground pork, fresh or canned, in place of ground beef. 6. Add ½ can of tomato sauce in place of the tomato paste. 7. Top a serving with shredded Cheddar cheese (highly recommended).
Basic Salmon Patties
When I was growing up, these were a common staple for a dinner. Here is Thailand, the large cans of salmon are very high priced, so I will work this up with frozen salmon that I steam and will come up with a cost per serving when I make this. Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 1 can salmon, drained, (14¾ oz / 418 g), Shortcut
- ½ small onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped or 1 teaspoon dried
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs, or regular breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup mayo
- 1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- salt and pepper, to taste
- olive oil, as needed
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a mixing bowl.
- Mix together, season with salt and pepper as desired.
- Divide mixture into 4 sections, form into 4 patties and place on a plate.
- Heat a large skillet with a splash of oil, when the oil is hot, cook the patties about 4-5 minutes per side or until nice and golden brown.
- Turn patties over and cook another 4-5 minutes or until golden brown. Remove patties to a serving plate.
- Serve with sides of your choice, enjoy.
Notes
In Thailand, I will price this when I steam some salmon and prepare this. For those in the US, a store brand of canned salmon would make this about 70 cents per serving and a Best Value.
Shortcuts: Steamed Salmon, Breadcrumbs.
Classic Green Bean Casserole
Been a long time since I have enjoyed this side dish. I remember this dish from when I was just a wee boy growing up and was a common side dish. This is a low cost dish as long beans are very inexpensive, and you can use shortcuts to make the soup and french fried onions. Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 4 cups fresh long beans, cut into 1-1 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup, Shortcut
- 1 1/3 cups french fried onions, Shortcut
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- black pepper, as desired
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180 C (350 F).
- Cut the long beans into 1 to 1 1/2 inch pieces, steam until cooked but crisp, about 3 to 5 minutes, drain.
- In a mixing bowl, add the cooked or canned (and drained) beans, soup, milk, soy sauce, black pepper, and 2/3 cup of onions.
- Stir together.
- Pour mixture into a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish and spread out evenly.
- Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly, stir, then sprinkle with the remaining french fried onions, and continue baking for another 5 minutes.
- Serve as a side with any main dish.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Shortcuts: Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup, French Fried Onions.
Variants: 1. Replace the milk with whipping cream. 2. Pressure cook the beans. 3. French cut the long or green beans. 4. Use 2 cans of drained French cut green beans. 5. Add some diced red bell pepper. 6. Add 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese. 7. Add 1 cup of sauteed mushrooms.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
This is a 2 in 1 recipe, Creamy Soup, and Regular Chicken Soup. Sounds great as I love a good chicken noodle soup. Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 6 cups chicken broth, fresh or from powder, Shortcut
- 5 cups water
- 3-4 chicken thighs, skinless, bone in for more flavor
- 1 medium onion, finely diced
- 3 medium carrots, see Step 1
- 2 stalks imported celery, or a handful of Thai celery, finely chopped
- 2 cups dry pasta, egg noodles, spirals, or wide Fettuccine would be good
- 1 can corn, drained, or 1 1/2 cups fresh cooked
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped, or 3 teaspoons dried
- 1 teaspoon Mrs. Dash Seasoning, Shortcut
- salt, as need and to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- For the carrots, shred 2 carrots with the largest holes on a box shredder and thinly slice 1 carrot, halve that one if it is large. Now prepare all the rest of the ingredients so everything is ready. For the chicken, just remove the skin if using bone in, do not trim the fat, fat is flavor. (I made the broth from scratch, and when letting the broth and chicken cool, I prepped the vegetables.)
- Bring a large pot with the broth, water, and 1/2 tablespoon salt to a boil. Add the thighs, continue to boil for 20 minutes and spoon off any foam from the surface.
- While the chicken is cooking, heat the olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the onion and cook until soft and starting to turn translucent, raise the heat to medium high and the celery and only the shredded carrots and cook for about 6 minutes or so until soft and beginning to brown, stir often.
- Remove the thighs from the pot and set aside to cool slightly. Skim off any remaining foam from the chicken then add the cooked celery, onion, and carrots.
- Add the dry pasta, the sliced carrot, and the corn to the soup and cook on a low boil to cook the pasta until tender, about 15 minutes. Spoon off any excess oil on the surface if you want a lighter soup, but keep in mind, the fat adds great flavor. (Showing the soup right after adding the veggies and egg noodles.)
- Shred the chicken with forks or just use your hands, discard bones and excess fat. Add the chicken back to the soup.
- For the REGULAR version of this soup, just go right to the last step. For the CREAMY version of this soup, continue here. In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat then whisk in the flour and whisk continuously until just starting to turn brown, about 1 or 2 minutes. Remove 1 cup of broth from the soup and add to the flour butter mixture, whisk until blended and the mixture is smooth, then whisk in the cream until blended and stir this into the soup until mixed in well.
- Season the soup with Mrs. Dash Seasoning and salt to taste. A touch of black pepper would work well also. Add the fresh dill and return the soup to a boil for 30 seconds, then remove from heat. Serve with bread and enjoy.
Notes
For the chicken thighs, 4 thighs are probably less than a kilo, so I will estimate 60 Baht for the chicken. For 8 servings, this is about 23 cents per serving.
Shortcuts: Chicken Broth (Pressure Cooker), Heavy Cream.
This recipe for Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup is from Natasha's Kitchen.
Slow Cooker Cuban Pork
This sounds really good and is a must try for me.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1/2 cup lime juice
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 7 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 1 onion, sliced thin
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 1/2 kilo pork shoulder, (3 lbs)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, juices, salt, cumin, oregano, red pepper flakes, pepper, and garlic.
- Make slits in the pork with a knife and place the pork in the juice mixture and rub liberally all over with the oil mixture.
- Place pork in the slow cooker, along with the onion and bay leaf. Poor the remaining juices from the bowl over the pork.
- Cover and cook on low for 7 hours, if the meat shreds easily, it is down, if not done, cook another hour and test again. Using two forks, shred into thick chunks in the pot then use a large slotted spoon to serve it with.
- Serve with mashed potatoes with some of the juice spooned over the top.
- Serve in a tortilla with Cheddar cheese.
- Serve with cilantro lime rice and black beans.
Notes
Pork shoulder runs about 100 Baht/kilo, for this recipe this would be 150 Baht for 1 1/2 kilo. For 6 servings, this is about 75 cents per serving, great value.
Variants: 1. Use pork loin in place of the pork shoulder. 2. Use a pork roast in place of the pork shoulder.
Provided courtesy of good friend, Stephen Connell.
United States. Variant 1 tested by Tina Nolan, with excellent results.
United States.
United States. Variant 1 tested by Tina Nolan, with excellent results.
United States.
Ultra Creamy Mac & Cheese (Slow Cooker)
This is by far the best Mac & Cheese I have ever made, and actually, a low cost meal as well. This is a slow cooker recipe. Link to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Equipment
- Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 2 cups dry macaroni, any bite size pasta works here
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon mustard powder
- 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup, Shortcut
- ½ cup sour cream, Shortcut
- ½ cup mayo
- ½ teaspoon course ground black pepper
- 4 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded, (500 g / 1 lb)
Instructions
- In a pot of boiling water, cook the macaroni until just near tender, do not over cook, basically under cook it by a minute or so. Drain and rinse under cold water, the cold water will stop the cooking process. Add the pasta to your slow cooker.
- Add the onion powder, mustard, soup, sour cream, mayo, and black pepper to the slow cooker.
- Give the slow cooker a stir to mix everything together.
- Add the cheese and mix that in.
- For a Variant, I added to the slow cooker about 500 grams (1 lb) of cheese stuffed smoked sausage that I had sliced.
- Mix the sausage in. Cook on Low setting for 3 hours.
- Stir once or twice during the cooking but quickly so not all the heat is let out of the cooker.
- Serve and enjoy.
Notes
High cost per serving, but well worth it. The cheese is the costly part here, 180 Baht/250 gram block, two blocks are needed at 360 Baht. For 6 servings, this is about 1.88 cents per serving.
Shortcuts: Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup, Sour Cream.
Variant: 1. Add cubed ham or smoked sausage, highly recommended!
Best Slow Cooker Macaroni & Cheese
This is excellent mac & cheese, and the can of cheese soup is the key ingredient, and you can make that from a Shortcut on the site! Keep in mind, use block cheese you shred yourself, as packaged shredded cheese will not melt as well due to packaging to keep the shred separated. I made this on On 21 Mar 2021 and the entire family loved this! I used a variant and the steps/photos will reflect that. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Equipment
- Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 can condensed Cheddar cheese soup, (10½ oz / 298 g), Shortcut
- 2¾ cup half and half, or evaporated milk
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 500 grams uncooked elbow macaroni, (1 lb)
- 2 cups Sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded, (8 oz / 226 g)
- 1 cup Colby or Edam cheese, shredded, (4 oz / 113 g)
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
Instructions
- To your slow cooker, add the half and half (or evaporated milk), cheddar cheese soup, paprika, and black pepper, and whisk mix until the mixture is smooth.
- Into your slow cooker, add the uncooked macaroni, half of the shredded cheeses, and butter. Stir together.
- I added a variant and added 1 can of smoked spam that I diced, and I had some leftover cocktail sausages so I chopped those and added them as well.
- Mix the meats or other variants into the mixture.
- Top the mixture with the rest of the shredded cheeses. Put the lid on and cook on Low setting for 3 hours.
- At the 3 hour mark, turn slow cooker off, remove lid and give the mac and cheese a stir. If the mixture is too thick, stir in a spoon or two milk.
- Serve and enjoy.
Notes
The Cheddar cheese would run about 180 Baht, the Colby or Edam, another 90 Baht, the condensed soup about 90 Baht, same for making yourself but you will know what is in it. For 10 servings, this is about $1.06 per serving.
Shortcut: Condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup.
Variants: 1. Add chopped broccoli, chopped ham, chopped smoked sausage, chopped hot dogs, chopped smoked cocktail sausages (Little Smokies), cooked cubed chicken, diced Spam.
Chili Dog Casserole
When I found this recipe, the chili and cheese were both listed as processed, such as canned and packaged shredded. This recipe I am going to show here is a mix of recipes from the site. These are easy to make recipes. The cheese will be real as well. That leaves tortillas, which are packaged, and I have not tried to make yet. And the hotdogs, buy quality dogs, they do in fact make them in Thailand and are not the chemical laden import dogs. This recipe takes time in the planning but you can make several other dishes in between. I made this on 2 Aug 2016, excellent! I modified this for using some canned items I used while in the US in May 2020.
Ingredients
- 6 cups chili, see Step 1.
- 500 grams beef hot dogs, (1 lb)
- 8-10 flour tortillas, 8 inch tortilas are perfect
- 250 grams Cheddar cheese, shredded, real cheese, (1/2 lb)
Instructions
- You can make your favorite chili or use canned, with or without beans. I have made this with both. For canned, use two 24 oz (1 1/2 lb / 680 g) cans. When I made this in the US I used two 24 oz (1 1/2 lb / 680 g) cans of chili.
- I have also made this with my homemade Pinto Bean Chili.
- Preheat your oven to 200 C (400 F).
- Spread 1 can of chili and beans (OR 3 cups of homemade chili) in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Roll up franks inside tortillas and place in baking dish, seam side down, on top of chili and beans.
- Top with remaining can of chili (OR another 3 cups of homemade chili), and sprinkle with cheese to cover.
- Cover baking dish with foil, and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and allow to brown on the top, remove from oven and let rest 5 minutes, serve, and enjoy.
Notes
Low cost for the US and Fair to High cost per serving in Thailand based on quality hot dogs and quality cheese.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
