Mom's Chili

This is our mom's recipe for Chili.  It isn't a thick soup but it is delicious!  We always used to have summer sausage sandwiches & apple slices with this as kids.... mmmmmm!!!

ingredients:
2 lb hamburger
1 package of celery
1 large onion
can of black beans, drained & rinsed
can of chili beans
2 large cans of tomato juice
28 oz diced tomatoes
Chili Powder or Wahoo! Chili Seasoning to taste

Brown hamburger.  Cut up the celery & onion into small pieces.  Put all ingredients into the crockpot and cook on Low for 8-10 hours.  You can also make this on the stovetop, just boil everything until the onion & celery are tender.

Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole

I forgot to take a nice picture of this.... so here is the leftovers I took to work the next day!  This casserole was SO GOOD!  (and easy!)

ingredients:
1 lb hamburger
1 can cream of celery soup
1 lb frozen hashbrowns
2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon minced onion (or you could use real onion)
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1-2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce
6 slices of bacon, fried & crumbled

Brown hamburger & onion. Mix in bacon, pepper, soup & Worcestershire sauce. Layer half the potatoes in the bottom of a 2 qt baking dish that is sprayed with non-stick spray.  Layer 1/2 meat mixture and half the cheese and repeat.  Cover and bake 45 mins. at 400 degrees.  Enjoy!

Cheesy Chili-Mac


1 spray(s) cooking spray  
2/3 pound(s) uncooked lean ground beef 
2 medium uncooked onion(s), chopped  
29 oz canned stewed tomatoes, Mexican-style (undrained) 
2 1/2 cup(s) canned tomato juice  
4 oz canned green chili peppers, diced, drained 
2 tsp chili powder  
1 1/2 serving(s) uncooked macaroni, elbow-size  
31 oz canned pinto beans, rinsed and drained  
1/2 cup(s) low-fat, shredded Cheddar cheese  

1. Coat a large skillet with cooking spray; set over medium-high heat. Cook beef and onion until meat is browned, stirring and breaking up meat with a spoon as it cooks, about 10 minutes; drain off fat.

2. Stir in undrained tomatoes and their juice, tomato juice, chili peppers and chili powder; bring mixture to a boil.

3. Stir in macaroni and beans; return to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until macaroni is tender, about 15 minutes. Spoon chili into bowls and sprinkle with cheese. Yields about 1 cup chili and 1 tablespoon cheese per serving.

 Weight Watchers Points Plus= 7  (makes 12 servings - servings size is 1 Cup of chili w/ 1 T cheese)

Turkey Bacon Breakfast Ring

1 can of reduced far crescent rolls (8 count)
1 1/4 cup of Egg Beaters or 5 large eggs (eggs with change PointsPlus value)
1 cup of shredded Weight Watchers cheese
8 slices of turkey bacon


1. Preheat oven to 375 F degrees. Scramble your eggs on stove top. Lay out crescents on a parchment lined pizza pan.

2. Cook bacon and add place it on top of crescent rolls.

3. Add about 1/3 of your cheese.

4. Add your eggs and a third more of your cheese and fold crescents over.

5. Add the rest of your cheese to this top and bake for 17 minutes or until crescents are done and golden brown.

6. Serve hot. You may also garnish with fresh salsa if desired.


Serves 8 -- 5 Points Plus per serving

Calories - 365

Carbs

- 18

Protein - 18

Fiber - 6

Tator Tot Nachos

This was made up out of not knowing what to make for supper. It turned out pretty good, everyone seemed to enjoy it!

1 lb of Ground Beef
1 can of Chicken Gumbo Soup
1/2 bag of Tator Tots
1-2 C. Shredded Cheddar Cheese

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake tator tots until done. 
• Meanwhile...
• Brown beef and drain. Add chicken gumbo soup to meat and drain off excess liquid.
• Take tator tots out of oven and spread the beef mixture on top and sprinkle with shredded cheese.
• Place in oven until heated through and cheese is melted.

Beefy Nacho Soup

1 lb lean (at least 80%) ground beef

1 tablespoon Old El Paso® 40% less sodium taco seasoning mix (from 1 oz package)

1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed nacho cheese soup

1 can (10 oz) diced tomatoes and green chiles, undrained

1 1/2 cups milk

1/4 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (1 oz)

1/2 cup crushed corn tortilla chips 

 

• In 2-quart saucepan, cook ground beef over medium-high heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thoroughly cooked; drain. 
• 2 Reduce heat to medium. Stir in remaining ingredients except shredded cheese and tortilla chips. Cook 8 to 12 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring frequently. Top individual servings with shredded cheese and tortilla chips.

**Betty Crocker Recipe**

Makeover Easy Does It Spaghetti

Got this recipe out of Taste of Home's Healthy Cooking Magazine, it was really good. The serving size was pretty big too!

1 lb. lean ground beef
1 3/4 C. sliced fresh mushrooms
3 C. tomato juice
1 (14 1/2 oz.) can diced tomatoes
1 (8oz.) can tomato sauce
1 T. dried minced onion
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. ground mustard
1/4 tsp. pepper
6 oz. uncooked multi-grain spaghetti, broken into pieces
Parmesan cheese, optional

In Large Skillet, cook beef and mushrooms over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add the tomato juice, tomatoes, tomato sauce, onion, salt garlic powder, mustard and pepper.

Bring to a boil. Stir in spaghetti. Cover and simmer for 12-15 minutes or until spaghetti is tender. Garnish with cheese if desired.

Yields: 4 servings 1 1/2 Cups (calculated without cheese) 414 Calories, 10 g fat, 1126 sodium, 48 Carbs, 6 g fiber, 33 g protein.

Single Serving Cake!

I saw this on the myfitnesspal.com community recipe site and had to share!

Perfect for a treat with portion control!

Take 1 box of Angel Food cake and 1 box of whatever other flavor cake mix you want (I chose double chocolate) and mix them together in a big Tupperware container.

Take 3 TBSP cake mix
2 TBSP water

Mix in a coffee mug until saturated and microwave for 1 minute. (3-2-1!!!)
BAM! You have cake.

No dishes tonight!

Here is a recipe for you that requires no pots and pans! I'm telling ya, this is MY kind of meal!

Cheesy Burger Veggie Packets
1lb lean ground beef
3/4 tsp seasoned salt
1/4 tsp pepper
4 cups frozen hash brown potatoes
1 bag (24oz) Green Giant frozen broccoli, carrots, cauliflower & cheese-flavored sauce


1) Pre-heat your outside grill. Cut 4 sheets of heavy duty foil; spray center of each with cooking spray. In large bowl, mix ground beef, seasoned salt and pepper. Shape mixture into 4 patties, 1/2 inch thick. 


2) In center of each sheet of foil, place 1 cup potatoes, 1/4 of the veggies and cheese sauce chips and 1 beef patty. Wrap each packet securely using  double-fold seals, allowing room for heat expansion.


3) Place packets, sealed side down, on grill; cover grill. Cook with med heat 10 minutes. Turn packets over; cook covered 15-18 minutes longer or until cooked thru and veggies are tender.


4 To serve, carefully open packets to allow steam to escape. Stir to mix in cheese sauce.

Serves 4 - 344 Calories per packet (using 93% ground beef)

Sorta Salisbury Steak

I was going to try out a recipe in a Kraft magazine for Salisbury Steak but didn't have any mushrooms so I decided to get creative and mix it up. Turned out pretty good. Served them with some mashed potatoes.

Sorta Salisbury Steak

1 lbs lean ground beef

1 pkg. Stove Top Stuffing Mix for chicken

1 1/4 C. water

1/2 C. chopped onions

1-2 cans of green beans

1 can of cream of mushroom soup (used healthy request)

1/2 C. milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix meat, stuffing, water and onions until well blended. Shape into 6 oval patties. Place in baking dish. Drain green beans and put on top of patties. Mix milk and cream of mushroom soup together and pour over meat and green beans. Bake 25-30 min or until cooked through.

Serves 6 - 268 Calories per serving

Picnic Delight Spaghetti

If your in the mood for spaghetti but don't want to dirty up lots of pots and pans then try this recipe out. It has been in our family for a very long time. Its a nice twist on your regular spaghetti.

Picnic Delight Spaghetti

1 pound ground beef
1/4 C. onion (chopped)
1 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Pepper
1 tsp. Chili Powder
2 T. BBQ Sauce
1/4 C. Ketchup
2 (14 oz. each) cans of Chef Boyardee spaghetti in tomato sauce

Brown beef with onions, salt and pepper and chili powder. Drain and place back into skillet. Add remaining ingredients. Cook on low for 15 min.


Serves 6  -  219 Calories per serving

Using up your fresh produce from the garden

A friend told me she was putting a lot of her garden produce in her crockpot for supper so I thought I'd do the same! Everything was FRESH from my mom's garden! Thanks mom :)

Depending on what your family size is you can determine how many veggies you need. What I did was peel and cut up red potatoes in cubes, washed and snapped my green beans, cut up a fresh onion and placed ham slices on top. I added a cup or so of water and seasoned it up with some salt and pepper. Turned the slow cooker on for 4-5 hours on high or until everything was tender. It was pretty good and healthy :)

Dinner Rolls for the bread machine

These dinner rolls are very easy to make and they taste just like you worked hard kneading the dough but the bread machine did it for you!! My mom gave me this recipe.  I made mine a little bigger and used them as buns instead of rolls.

Dinner Rolls (using bread machine)

2/3 C. Milk
4 T. Butter
1 Egg
1 tsp. Salt
2 1/4 C. Flour
1/4 C. Sugar
1 pkg. Yeast

Melt butter and add milk, egg and salt. Heat to luke warm in microwave then put into bread machine pan. Sift together flour and sugar and put on top of liquid. Make a dent and add yeast. Start bread machine for dough cycle. Remove and shape into rolls and let rise until doubled in size. Bake for 15 min at 375 degrees.

Been busy making pickles!!

Its been awhile since the last entry. I have a few recipes to share that I just haven't had time to get put on here. My kids have taken over my computer and I'm soooo ready for school to start in a few weeks! I made Lime pickles this week and they turned out pretty good! Below are pictures of the long process. You can find the recipe on the back of a pickling lime package.

Soaking the cucumbers in lime overnight!

Giving the filled jars a bath :)

 Finished Product!!

Cheeseburger Pasta

I got this out of my Healthy Cooking magazine, it was really good. If your tired of the same old tomato sauce over pasta, try this! 

Cheeseburger Pasta
1 1/2 cups uncooked whole wheat penne pasta
3/4 pound lean ground beef
2 T finely chopped onion
1 can (14 1/2 oz) no salt added - diced tomatoes
2 T dill or sweet pickle relish
2 T prepared mustard
2 T ketchup
1 tsp. steak seasoning
1/4 tsp seasoned salt
3/4 cup shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese
chopped green onions, optional

1. Cook pasta according to pkg. directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Drain pasta; add to meat mixture.

2. Stir in tomatoes, relish, mustard, ketchup, steak seasoning and seasoned salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered for 5 minutes.

3. Sprinkle with cheese. Remove from the heat; cover and let stand until cheese is melted. Garnish with green onions if desired.

Nutritional Info:

1 1/2 cups equals 391 calories, 12 g fat, 759 sodium, 4 g fiber