Texas Hash

A really easy casserole dish that I grew up on and loved. Texas Hash has a wonderful flavor, fills you up and is easily stored and reheated. When I found the recipe in my late mother's recipe book I was beyond excited - I thought the recipe would be lost forever! Silly man me! My mother never saw a recipe she didn't cut, clip or write down and such was the case with this easily prepared meal. What made this even more special was the fact that the recipe in my mom's book gave credit to getting it from my grandmother. I'm sure my grandmother likely came across it somewhere else too and I'm just thankful she did! 
So get your ingredients together and start cooking!
My notes are in red :)

Ingredients

2 large onions (sliced)

2 green peppers (cut)

1 lb. hamburger meat

2 tsp. Salt

2 cup tomatoes (1 can) I use tomato sauce & 1 small can stewed tomatoes cut up

1/2 cup uncooked rice

1 tsp. Chili powder

1/4 tsp. Black pepper

Directions

Cook onions and green peppers until onions are yellow. Cook hamburger meat till falls apart. (I cook meat first then sauce onions and peppers in skillet sprayed with pam- Charlotte [Charlotte was my mother]). Add tomatoes, rice, seasoning and then mix.

Put in oiled casserole dish, cover and bake in moderate oven (375°) for 45 minutes or till rice is done. If after 45 minutes the rice is not done, stir and then add in a half cup of water and bake another 10 minutes.

Notes:

I usually cook this in my small blue enamel oven roaster pan. I have also cooked in my crockpot too. In either case you'll want to grease the sides of the pan or crockpot with butter or oil to keep the ingredients from sticking to the side.

Toast will make a great accompaniment to this dish, but not just any toast. I like to put a couple slices of bread in my toaster oven and get them golden brown then lather them up in butter and lastly sprinkle a small bit of garlic salt on top. MMMMMM so good!

Dressing Up Shrimp Flavored Ramen Noodles

  Ramen Noodles are the staple of every college student and poor folk like me. What’s not to love? For a dollar you can buy five packets of this delightful bare necessity of life - that’s 20¢ a meal and sometimes you can find it even cheaper, especially if you buy in bulk. 

  But let’s face it, after a while just the plain Ramen Noodles can get a little boring no matter the flavor. I mean you can only eat so much of something before you’d trade your neighbor’s chrome hubcaps for a Big Mac and fries right? Well, to make your meal and life a little more interesting try dressing up your next meal of noodles.

Ingredients

1 pkg Shrimp Flavored Ramen Noodles

10-12 frozen small pre-cooked and de-veined shrimp

A pinch of Cayenne Pepper

Directions

  The Shrimp flavored Ramen Noodles are an excellent choice for upgrading because it is so versatile. Take some of your kids allowance money and buy a small bag of small frozen shrimp, the pre-cooked and de-veined kind. Follow the instructions on the noodles and cook them up being sure to add in the packet of flavoring that comes with them. 

  Now add 10-12 of the frozen shrimp, and the pinch of Cayenne pepper. Stir well. Continue to cook until shrimp are heated through. If you are using a microwave oven I usually cook it for an additional minute, on stove top it might take two to three minutes. 

  Now eat!

  If you would like you can also add a few slices of carrot and celery but you might want to boil those first to get them good and tender and then add them.

  Try it! You can buy a bottle of Milwaukee’s Best with the money you save by fixing this super cheap meal!

Triscuit hot d'ourves

 When I go to Italian restaurants my favorite part of the meal is the bread… but only when I can also get a saucer with olive oil and condiments on the table. With a little mixology of tabletop ingredients I concoct a delicious hors d’ourve. 

  At home for a tasty snack or to serve to guests (if I should ever have them!) I found an easy way to create a similar appetizer guaranteed to get ooh’s and ahh’s from your guest - or at least your belly! 

Ingredients:

Box of Roasted Garlic Triscuits

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 Cup Parmesan Cheese

1/3 Cup Garlic Powder (about 18 Tbspn)

2 Tbspn Crushed Red Pepper

2 Tspn Salt

1 Tspn Pepper

Directions:

  In a bowl combine Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper and mix thoroughly. Pour mixture into individual containers for serving, such as a cup or a saucer although if you are having guests you can use a single plate too if you don’t mind the occasional guest who “double dips”! If you’re unaware what “double dipping” is, it is when another person dips their chip or cracker in the communal dip or sauce or mix, takes a bite then dips the chip again - just give this person their own container of dip or sauce!

  Next pour the extra virgin olive oil into a separate container or containers. Make sure there is enough to allow the cracker to be partly immersed (or baptized! lol) in the oil. Finally place Triscuits on a plate or platter and serve. 

  To eat just dip a Triscuit in the oil (I like to let it drain a little before I take it out) then put it in the dry mixture making sure both sides are coated. There might be a little clumping of the mixture on the cracker but that is okay. Now chow down! 

  This is the mixture that I use although I encourage you to refine it to your own tastes - if you like less or more garlic powder or crushed red pepper then adjust to taste. Also, Triscuit brand makes many different flavored crackers so experiment and try some others. I think I’m going to try the roasted tomato and olive oil flavored ones next!

  

Cookie In A Cup!

  My friend Debra sent this to me on Facebook and it sounds like it's exactly the kind of recipe a dude would love. I'm going to try it this weekend!

INGREDIENTS:

1 tbsp. melted butter

1 tbsp. white sugar

1 tbsp. brown sugar

Pinch of salt

1 egg yolk

1/4 cup of flour

2 tbsp chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

Mix together in a mug and microwave for 30 seconds. Eat!

Note - I'm guessing you can add as many chocolate chips as you like - I'll try and let you know how it turns out!

Oh-oh! I just thought of something REALLY fantastic! Since the finished cookie doesn't fill up the entire mug - add a scoop of ice cream on top!!! Oh, I'm drooling now!

Bubble Pizza

  I must confess this is not my own but one I came across on Facebook. That being said though I plan to make this recipe as soon as possible because it just smacks of being a recipe for a dude!

Ingredients

1 can of biscuits (I used Pillsbury Grands Homestyle)
4 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
pizza sauce, your recipe, or use one 15 oz can/jar
pepperoni, diced or sliced (use as much as you like!), optional
1 tbsp parmesan cheese, grated
dried oregano, to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°.
Cut each biscuit into quarters. Place the biscuit pieces in a greased 8 x 8 glass baking dish.
Top with the sauce and the pepperoni.
Bake uncovered for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese on top. Bake for an additional 5 minutes. Sprinkle with oregano and let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

I'll let you know how mine turns out!