Hired Hand Macaroni Casserole

For Flash Back Friday, I'm bringing back a favourite casserole.

Harv's Mom always made it for supper when Dad hired a local man to help him.

For the full story you can go back and read my original post.

I made it recently for my brother in law and it brought back warm memories.

• 3 cups macaroni
• 1 lb. hamburger
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped red pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped green pepper
• salt and pepper
• 2 teaspoons basil
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 213 ml tin tomato sauce
• 1 234 ml tin tomato soup - undiluted
• 1/2 cup ketchup or bottled chili sauce
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 cups (or more) grated cheese - cheddar and/or mozzarella

1. Cook macaroni in salted boiling water. drain.
2. While macaroni is cooking,brown hamburger in a fry pan, draining excess fat and place in large bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste and set aside
3. Add onions and peppers to the pan and sautè until wilted. add to hamburger in bowl.
4. Add cooked macaroni, soup, sauce and ketchup, basil and oregano and mix well with hamburger and vegetables.
5. Spoon into large casserole dish or two smaller ones.
6. Top with grated cheese (be generous)
7. Bake at 350º for 1/2 and hour or until casserole bubbles.
8. Serve with a green salad.

Note: If you like, you can make this in 2 casseroles, eat one now and freeze the other for a night when you don't have time to cook.

Peanut Butter WOW Cookies

These are for all you peanut butter lovin' people. But, for those of us who have a nut allergy we can still enjoy these cookies by changing up the peanut butter with WOW BUTTER which is a toasted soy spread. It really does bake up exactly the same as when using the real thing, and they taste like the real thing too.

Yields 3 dozen cookies.

• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup peanut butter OR 1 cup WOW butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 1/2 cup white flour

1. Cream together first 5 ingredients until well blended.
2. Add baking soda, baking powder and vanilla. Beat well.
3. Add flour and mix just until incorporated.
4. Roll dough into 1 1/2" balls and place onto baking sheets. Flatten with a fork in a criss cross pattern.
5. Bake in 350º oven for 8-10 minutes.
6. Allow to sit on pans for 1 minute and then remove to cooling rack. (these freeze well)

Amy's Dill Relish

Recently I posted a recipe for 1000 Island Relish. A comment was left by Valerie, requesting a dill relish version that was not so sweet. My daughter Amy prefers Dill relish over a sweet relish and I thought I would share her version for this recipe. It is very tasty, I hope you give it a try and enjoy it too. Picture credit goes to Amy. She used fresh dill instead of dill seed in her version of the recipe which I believe really enhanced the flavor. 

This recipe makes 6 or 7 1 cup jars. 

• 9 pickling cucumbers or 3 lbs
• 2-3 onions, (depending on how large the onions are)
• 1/4 cup course pickling salt
• 3 cups white vinegar
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 4-5 cloves of garlic, (depending on how big the cloves are)
• 3 tablespoons fresh dill, minced*
• 2 teaspoons mustard seed
• 2 teaspoons celery seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

1. Coarsely cut up cucumber and onion to fit into food processor. 
2. In the food processor add first the amount of cukes that it will hold and pulse until finely chopped. 
3. Continue with the remaining cukes and then onion with the garlic. 
4. Sprinkle with the all the salt and let stand for 1 hour, stir well. 
5. Drain  and rinse the mixture well. Repeat the process a couple of times. 
6. Squeeze out excess moisture. 
7. In a large pot add vinegar, sugar adding the celery seed and mustard seeds bringing it to a boil. Do not add fresh dill or turmeric at this time. 
8. Add the cucumbers, onions and garlic. 
9. Bring back to a boil, reduce the heat and cook for 10 minutes. 
10. Dissolve the cornstarch in a bit of vinegar. Add to the cucumber and cook until thickened. This only takes a few minutes. 
11. Take off the heat, Now add the turmeric and fresh dill. 
12. Pour into sterilized jars. Seal with the lids and rings. Place into a water bath and boil for 10 minutes. 

* may use two teaspoons dill seed in place of fresh dill. For the cooking process add with the celery seed and mustard seeds and proceed with the recipe directions omitting the fresh dill at the end. 

Peach Jam Filled Biscuits

A simple shortcut for an easy breakfast treat or snack.  I used peach jam but any jam will do. Just make sure the jam is on the firmer side otherwise the jam wants to seep out of the edges. No problem if it does seep a little. If you like you can make your own biscuit dough from scratch. Check this blog for biscuit recipes.
Recipe adapted from Pillsbury.

• 1 can refrigerated biscuits, dough for 10 biscuits
• Peach jam
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1. In a small bowl mix sugar and cinnamon and set aside.
2. Gently separate each biscuit halfway into 2 layers. Spoon approx 1 teaspoon jam into center of each biscuit. Pinch edges to seal.
3. Brush each biscuit with melted butter and dip into the sugar/cinnamon mixture. (If you have sugar/cinnamon mixture leftover use it on cinnamon toast:)
4. Place on parchment lined baking sheet, bake in 400º oven for 12 to 14 minutes.
5. Serve warm or cold.
6. Yields: 10 jam filled biscuits

Quick Shake Fruit Cobbler

At a recent baby shower, my niece's mom-in-law brought a family favorite. The recipe she shared most likely comes from a Tupperware party, for reasons you can see. It literally is a quick shake in a gravy making container, using the lid for a measuring cup. Her recipe called for sliced apples sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and she served it with a caramel sauce. Today I'm shaing it with sliced stone fruit, served plain with ice cream.

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 1 quick shake seal of sugar (3/4 cup)
• 1 quick shake seal of flour
• 1 quick shake seal of milk
• 1 quick shake flip lid seal of oil (1 tsp)
• 2 tsp baking powder

Method:

1. Grease a pie plate and line with about 2 - 3 cups of sliced peaches, apricots and or nectarines. (canned peaches, drained, are good too)
2. In quick shake place egg, sugar, flour, milk and oil. Shake until well mixed. 
3. Open and add 2 tsp baking powder. Shake mixture about ten times and then pour over fruit. (It is important to just add the baking powder at the end like this. The first time I made this I added it with the flour in the beginning and the seal exploded with the shaking.) 
4. Bake at 350 F for 30 - 40 minutes until nicely browned and crisp on top.
5. Serve warm, with ice cream. I flip it upside down to serve. Makes 4 generous servings.

P. S.  The flip lid is the actual cup shaped lid while the seal is the tiny tunnel where the small, attached lid flips opens.
I have the old style (2 cup meas) shaker with the large top lid to measure with. If you have a new one with a flatter kind of lid, use a regular measuring cup.

Flash Back Friday - Corn Cheese Bake

Corn season is here so I'm sharing my corn cheese bake again for Flash Back Friday. You can use all green or all red sweet peppers if that is what you have. To make it look more appealing I like to use both. This time I used hot sauce instead of crushed red pepper and increased the sweet peppers from 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup.

• 2 cups corn, cooked and drained
• 2/3 cup milk
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup cheese, grated
• 1/4 cup sweet green pepper, chopped fine
• 1/4 cup sweet red pepper, chopped fine
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 4 drops hot sauce..optional, you can add more or less as to your liking.
• 1/2 cup (approx 12) crackers, crushed (crushed cornflakes is an option)
• 2 tablespoons butter

1. In a medium sized bowl whisk together corn, milk, eggs, cheese, sweet peppers, salt and pepper. Pour into a greased baking dish. (6 1/2" x 6 1/2" x 2")
2. Add melted butter to crushed crackers and stir until crumbly.
3. Sprinkle cracker crumbles on top of corn mixture.
4. Bake in 350º oven for 40 minutes.
5. Serve hot as a side dish.
6. Serves: 4 to 6

Shrimp and Mango Wraps or Tacos

Spicy shrimp, sweet mango and crispy slaw. A simple and delicious light summer meal.

Sauce:

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2-3 tsp hot sauce
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp chopped cilantro OR parsley
• 2 tbsp green onions, cut into small pieces
• juice from 2 limes
• 1/2 tsp pepper

1. Mix together, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. 

Filling:

• 25-30 shelled shrimp
• olive oil
• Cajun spice
• 2 mango's cut into spears
• 3 cups ready made or your own slaw mix 
• 1/2 red or orange pepper, cut into small cubes
• 1/4 cup cilantro, optional 
• wraps or taco shells

1. Rinse shrimp. Drain well. Pour a little olive oil over to just coat shrimp. 
2. Sprinkle with Cajun spice. Let sit in refrigerator for 1/2 hour.
3. Cut up mango.
4. Place slaw mix, cut up pepper and cilantro in a bowl. Toss.
5. Cook shrimp in a fry pan either on your grill or stove top. Cook until pink and cooked through. About 3-4 minutes.
6. If using wraps lay on grill to warm just until you see grill marks. OR, warm in oven.
7. Fill wraps with filling and top with sauce.