Easy Chili

2 lb browned hamburger meat or vegetarian "meat" crumbles
4 cans chili beans
2 packs dry chili mix packets
2 cans tomato paste or tomato sauce

Combine all ingredients and simmer. Serve with crackers, sour cream and cheese! This recipe is just for a simple basic chili. Of course you can add things to make it your own!

Quick and Easy Calzone

The great thing about this recipe is that you can use whatever vegetables you have on hand. There are many different variations to the Calzone. The original recipe I found was for a broccoli and cheese calzone using simply ricotta cheese, cooked broccoli, and mozzarella. I decided at the last minute not to go this route and to make the calzone my own. Traditionally, however, Italians would make calzones using leftover vegetables from the day before. So use your imagination and put your own spin on this easy to make recipe!

1 can refrigerated Pillsbury pizza dough
1/4 cup of Ricotta cheese (more or less depending on your taste)
1 cup of marinara sauce or pizza sauce
1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 roma tomato sliced
1/4 cup sliced mushrooms
4 thinly sliced cloves of garlic
1/4 cup of diced ham
2 tbs of melted butter

Heat oven to 425. Roll out the pizza dough onto a pizza stone or pan. Spread Ricotta cheese over the dough leaving an inch of dough around the edges. Spread pizza sauce on top of the ricotta. Add garlic. Add tomatoes, mushrooms, ham, and/or other toppings of your choice. Sprinkle liberally with mozzarella. Carefully fold over and bring the edges up and pinch together to keep sealed. brush top with melted butter and bake for 15 minutes.

Stuffed Peppers

1 lb ground beef
6 Bell Peppers (any color)
2 tbs chopped onion
2 cloves finely chopped garlic
1 cup rice
15 oz of marinara/spaghetti sauce
1 tsp salt
1 cup shredded mozzarella

Heat oven to 350. Brown beef with onion. Add garlic, salt, rice, and 1 cup of sauce. Stir over med heat until hot. Meanwhile, cut the tops off the peppers and clean them out. Add them to boiling water and cook for 5 mins. Place peppers into an ungreased pan and fill with beef mixture. Pour the rest of the sauce over the peppers and top with mozzarella. Bake for 1 hour. Enjoy!!

Note: to make this vegetarian you can substitute beef for crumbled boca burgers and firm tofu. I followed the same recipe to make 2 vegetarian peppers except I browned the crumbled tofu (half a package) with 1 crumbled boca burger. Then I added rice, garlic, and sauce. And continued to follow the rest of the recipe.

Cheesy Broccoli Rice Casserole

1 can of cheddar cheese
1 can of cream of mushroom (or cream of broccoli)
2 cups cooked rice
1/2 bag of frozen chopped broccoli (cooked)
1/2 cup of milk
1 cup of cooked diced chicken or Quorn chik'n tenders
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp soy sauce (optional)
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups shredded cheddar

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all the ingredients except shredded cheddar together in a bowl and place in a lightly greased casserole dish. Bake for 25 mins, top with cheddar, bake another 10-15 mins until cheese is melted and casserole is bubbly.

*Thanks to Joyce for helping me tweak and correct this recipe!*

Hashbrown Quiche

Hash Brown Quiche

3 cups, shredded frozen hash browns, thawed and drained 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, melted 3 large eggs, beaten 1 cup half-and-half 3/4 cup diced Morning Star sausage patties 1/2 cup diced green onions 1 cup shredded Cheddar Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Gently press the drained hash browns between paper towels to dry them as best as possible. In a 9-inch pie plate, toss the hash browns with the melted butter into the plate. Press them into the bottom and up the sides to form a crust. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown and starting to crisp.

Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. When the hash brown crust is ready pour the egg mixture over it and return to the oven.

Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for about 30 minutes until the quiche is light golden brown on top and puffed.

Homemade Hummus

hummus recipe:

1 can of a chick peas1/2 cup of tahini sauce (i find a wide selection on the mediterranean aisle at wegmans) 1/4 cup of water1 teaspoon of sea salt or regular salt1 half of fresh squeezed lemon2 or 3 cloves of garlic (depends on how garlicky you like it!) dash of pepper or crushed red pepper (depending on how spicy you want it.)

mix all of these ingredients into a blender & puree until it is smooth. i prefer to chill mine before eating too.

to make different kinds of hummus add one red bell pepper or a handful of kalamata olives etc.

homemade guacamole

guacamole recipe:

i always squeeze my avocados to make sure they are soft but not mushy. i will buy hard ones if i am not planning on making the guacamole for a few days. the life span of an avocado is limited so you have to pick them wisely.

cut 3 (depending how much you want to make, you can add less or more avocados) avocado into fours then peel the skin back. place the pits aside & put all the halves into a bowl. mash with a hand masher to the consistency you like. i like mine a bit smooth with some lumps. you could use a blender if you want it really smooth.

dice one large tomato or 6 grape tomatoes add to the bowl.

dice a half of red (purple) onion add to the bowl.

add some salt & pepper.

mix all ingredients with a spoon.

wash off a pit or two until you get all avocado chunks off of it. dry them with a paper towel.

place the pits gently in the guac & push them down a bit. it looks nice & supposedly the pits keep the guacamole greener longer.

Cheesy Potato Casserole Supreme

I got this recipe from a Betty Crocker cookbook and put my own spin on it. It was REALLY good. One of the household members described it as "cheesy potatoes in awesomeness". It originally calls for 1 can of cream of chicken soup but I replaced it with 1 can of cheddar cheese sauce. And I also added chopped Quorn Chik'n Tenders.

Prep: 15 min; Bake: 50 min

1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can cheddar cheese sauce
1 (8-ounce) container sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 (30-ounce) package frozen shredded hash brown potatoes (I used O'brien potatoes)
8 medium green onions, sliced (1/2 cup) (I omitted the green onions since I used the O'brien potatoes)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (4 ounces)
1 1/2 cup of diced cooked chicken or Quorn Chik'n Tenders (optional)

Heat oven to 350°. Grease rectangular baking dish, 13 x 9 x 2 inches. Mix soups, sour cream, milk and pepper in very large bowl. Stir in potatoes and onions. Spoon into baking dish. Bake uncovered 30 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake uncovered 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown on top and bubbly around edges.

Notes: You could also add chopped broccoli or carrots or other veggies to sneak veggies into your kids' dinner. I would recommend making this with frozen O'Brien potatoes since it has onions and bell peppers already added. It adds great flavor and color to the dish and saves you an extra step!

NUTRITION FACTS: 1 Serving:; Calories 325 (Calories from Fat 135); Fat 15g (Saturated 8g); Cholesterol 40mg; Sodium 1,060mg; Carbohydrate 39g (Dietary Fiber 3g); Protein 9g % DAILY VALUE:; Vitamin A 10%; Vitamin C 10%; Calcium 16%; Iron 6% DIET EXCHANGES:; 2 Starch; 2 Vegetable; 3 Fat

From "Betty Crocker's Complete Cookbook, Everything You Need to Know to Cook Today, 9th Edition." Text Copyright 2000 General Mills, Inc. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Cowboy Stew

2 lb. ground chuck
2 large onions
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 cans Ro-Tel tomatoes
2 cans cream-style corn
2 cans mixed vegetables (drained)

Brown ground chuck and onions together. Drain any excess grease. Add all other ingredients. Simmer on stove medium heat for 90 minutes or in crockpot on low for a few hours. Serve with crackers.

*Variations- You can also add two cans of Spanish rice if you like, I prefer it without the rice though. For you veggies out there you can use the ground "meat" crumbles.

My mouth is really set for this soup but it's just too hot right now! The first cold snap we have I am making this!

Baked Spaghetti & Meatballs / Baked Vegetarian Spaghetti

It's been a rough week for me this week and after eating out or ordering in way too much I decided to whip up something for dinner last night. I've been meaning to make Spaghetti and Meatballs for about a month but didn't have the ground beef and kept forgetting to pick some up. So now that I was equipped with some fresh ground beef I decided to go ahead and make it. But I didn't feel like spaghetti...I was actually more in the mood for a lasagna, of course I lacked the lasagna noodles so I compromised. Here's what I did...and remember I'm also cooking for a vegetarian so that meant I was cooking two seperate meals. However, this meal is so simple that it didn't make a difference.

Meatballs:

1 1/2 lbs of beef
2 eggs
1/4 cup of milk
1/4 cup of dry bread crumbs
1 tbs parsley
3 cloves of finely chopped garlic
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Heat oven to 400. Saute garlic in olive oil. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and roll into 1-1.5" balls and place into a lightly greased pan. For this recipe I recommend 1" balls. Place into oven for 15-20 minutes or until no longer pink in the center.

Spaghetti:

1 package spaghetti

While cooking meatballs cook the Spaghetti noodles as directed on the package.

Sauce:

1 jar of your favorite marinara or spaghetti sauce (reserve 1/2 cup)
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 cup of Ricotta cheese
1/2 cup of parmesan cheese
2 cloves of finely chopped garlic
1 tbs Olive Oil
1 1/2 cups of your fave brand of "meatless" crumbles (optional)
2 cups grated Mozzarella

Set oven to 325. Saute garlic in olive oil. If you are going for a vegetarian dish you can add the crumbles and saute with the garlic and olive oil and omit the meatballs. Once the noodles are cooked thoroughly drain the noodles and combine with all the sauce ingredients except the mozzarella and 1/2 cup of marinara. Mix well and transfer to a baking or casserole pan. Place the meatballs onto the mixture and nestle them into the spaghetti. Pour remaining sauce over the spaghetti and meatballs and top with the mozzarella cheese. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until bubbly.

NOTES: Even though it's a lot of steps this actually didn't take much effort to make...and I was exhausted by the time I started. The best part is that you can make the meatballs ahead of time. This made one large pan of baked Spaghetti and meatballs and 2 small pans (bread pans) of vegetarian Spaghetti. What I did was combine the sauce with the noodles except for the meatless crumbles. I poured the mixture into the large pan then mixed in the crumbles and poured into the smaller pans. I put the extra small pan into the freezer along with a freezer bag of extra meatballs. This will help when I'm too tired to cook but too broke to order in.

Hearty Vegetable Stew

My plan tonight was to make vegetarian chili...but after talking to Steph she had me craving Vegetable soup. My problem was that it's the day before payday and I've already gone WAY over my budget for groceries this month. This recipe could also be called "End of the month whatever I have left over Vegetable stew". You can throw in whatever you have on hand...well almost ;). Normally I would use a broth as the base but I have a vegetarian in the house and all I had was either chicken or beef broth, no vegetable broth. So I compromised and it turned out great!

3 ribs celery
1 small onion
1/2 a poblano pepper
1 bag frozen veggies or 3 cups fresh veggies
5 cups of low sodium V8 juice or other vegetable/tomato juice
3 cups water
1 cup of barley
1 can pinto beans
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup frozen diced potatoes (I used O'brien hashbrowns)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp celery salt (optional)
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp onion powder (optional)
2 large bay leaves
2-3 cloves of garlic (crushed or chopped)
2 tbs of butter or olive oil
1 cup of morning star "meat" crumbles (optional)

Heat butter or olive oil over medium heat in a stock pot. Saute celery, onions, poblano pepper and other fresh veggies for 3 minutes. Add water and V8 juice and the rest of the ingredients except the meat crumbles. Set heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and allow to simmer for an additional 30-40 minutes until barley and veggies are tender. During the last 10 minutes throw in the crumbles. Taste and add spices as needed. Enjoy!!

Note: I'm also cooking for a toddler so I have to watch the heat...However, the rest of us love to heat up our dishes with hot sauce. So I simply put out the hot sauce for each person to add according to their taste. If this was an adult only meal I would have added several hearty dashes of hot sauce to the stew. Also, I actually probably added a lot more salt and pepper than I mentioned in my recipe. So you might want to play around with the spices and continue to check. If you used canned veggies you'll need less salt b/c of the sodium content in canned vegetables.

Speaking of spices...I know this recipe calls for a lot of different spices..and many of my recipes might. I'm always buying new spices to stock my rack so that I'm never lacking spices. lol, in fact I bribed the movers with Pizza to allow me to pack my spices when I moved from Germany. If you don't have all the spices, that's ok...use what you have and improvise. But I do recommend stocking up here and there with different spices or at least investing in a good spice rack that comes with the spices. You can find them for $20+.

Spinach Baked Pasta

• 1 box of penne or other pasta
• 1 box of Silken firm tofu...drained and crumbled
• 3 bunches of spinach blanced, drained, and chopped
• 1 jar of marinara (I used mushroom & ripe olive)
• 3/4 cup of diced onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• 1 cup of parmesan cheese
• 1-2 cups of mozzarella to top

Preheat oven to 350. cook pasta as directed on box. saute onion and garlic in olive oil. blanch and chop the spinach then add to onions. add crumbled tofu and saute for a couple minutes (add salt and pepper if you want). When pasta is cooked and drained add all ingredients together and mix well. Pour into pan and top with mozzarella cheese. bake for 20-30 minutes or until bubbly.

Notes: I threw this together tonight based on a lasagna recipe found on the box of tofu. I put my own spin on it. I didn't have 3 bunches of spinach...I had half a bag of prewashed baby spinach...and I didn't have mozzarella so I used the 4 blend Mexican cheese I did have...and I didn't have fresh garlic so I used powdered garlic. This made 1 large and 1 smaller pan. It was pretty easy to put together. Usually I would make baked pasta dishes with ricotta cheese but the tofu is perfect in it--and it makes it a healthier alternative! And if you made it with soy-based parmesan and omitted the mozzarella it would be a perfect dish for any vegans in your life.

I always say that most recipes are flexible. And this is one is no different. If you don't have spinach, oh well! You can use what vegetable you have that could be substituted based on your preferences. Squash or zucchini could be used instead of spinach, or even fresh or frozen peas. Don't be afraid to play around with recipes. You can really cut down your grocery budget by trying to use what you have on hand instead of heading to the grocery store when you see you're missing an ingredient.