Tamale Pie

We could have this dish at least once a week,

it's THAT GOOD

recipe from Joan Arrington (from Apache Park Ward)

1 lb. hamburger
1 chopped green bell pepper
1 chopped onion

1 clove garlic, minced
16 oz. can diced tomatoes
6 oz. can tomato paste
12 oz. can corn, drained
1 can sliced olives (optional)
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2-3 tsp. chili powder
Dash of pepper
1 ½ c. sharp American cheese, grated
3 c. cold milk

1 c. yellow corn meal
1 tsp. salt


Brown the first four ingredients together. Drain the fat and add tomatoes, tomato paste, corn, olives, sugar, salt, chili powder, and pepper. Simmer heated through. Add cheese and stir until melted. Pour into 9 x 13 inch baking dish.

Make corn meal topping by heating milk to a boil. Remove from heat. Add salt and quickly stir in corn meal with a whisk (use a silicone coated whisk if you have non-stick pans). Mix completely. Spread over top of meat mixture. Bake at 400* for 30 minutes.

*For Kid Friendly, just use 1 tsp of Chili powder or omit it entirely. We just add Cholula hot sauce to the adults' plates and it's so GOOD!

In the photo, I ran out of green bell pepper so I improvised with zucchini instead. Tasted Great!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are SUPER EASY!

1 box Spice Cake Mix

1 can pumpkin puree (14oz) not pumpkin pie

1 bag milk chocolate chips

* Walnut/Pecans optional, chopped

Empty dry cake mix into a bowl. Add canned pumpkin puree. That's it! Do NOT add the other ingredients on the box to make a cake. Mix well. Add chocolate chips and stir. Drop onto cookie sheet and bake for 18 minutes at 350 F.

YUMMO!

**This is a vegan recipe too Becks, especially if you make it with cinnamon chips that you can special order at Hershey's website (they're not available in stores.) I got this recipe from my friend Charmaine and have made it several times!

Cheesy Stuffed Shells by Kraft

1 container (16 oz.) Low Fat Cottage Cheese
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained
1 cup 2% Milk Shredded Reduced Fat Mozzarella Cheese, divided
1/4 cup 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
20 jumbo pasta shells, cooked, drained
1 jar (26 oz.) spaghetti sauce
1 large tomato, chopped

PREHEAT oven to 400°F.

Mix cottage cheese, spinach, 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning until well blended. Spoon 1 heaping Tbsp. of the cheese mixture evenly into each pasta shell.

COMBINE spaghetti sauce and tomatoes; spoon half of the sauce mixture into 13x9-inch baking dish. Place shells, filled sides up, in baking dish. Spoon remaining sauce mixture over shells. Cover with foil.

BAKE 25 min. or until heated through. Uncover; top with remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese. Bake, uncovered, an additional 2 min. or until cheese is melted.

KRAFT KITCHENS TIPS
Make it Easy Spray foil with cooking spray before using. Place, sprayed-side down, on casserole to prevent sticking.

Make Ahead Prepare as directed except for baking; cover. Refrigerate up to 24 hours. When ready to serve, bake, covered, at 400°F for 35 min.

*This one is from Kraft and is super easy and YUMMY! Healthy because it's made with cottage cheese and spinach too! The girls loved this, didn't even mind the green stuff! Very economical too!

You should hop on over to www.kraftfoods.com

They have a recipe search, tons of pics (because I won't make anything unless I've seen a pic of it first) and you can even make grocery lists, menu plans, find nutritional content, etc! Even formulate your own exercise/meal plan with calories or whatever. Really useful site!

Comforting Potato & Ham Soup

This is truely a "warm you up" or "cuddle with someone you love" soup. You can be very approximate with the veggies, adding more or less depending on what you have in stock or love to eat.

Potato & Ham Soup
3 cups diced potatoes (you can peel them if you want, but I leave the peel on for more vitamins)
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup chopped celery
1 onion
1 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
1 cup Ham, fully cooked, chopped into small bite size pieces
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups milk
1-2 cups mozarella or cheddar cheese

In a large saucepan, combine first 6 ingredients. Add water into the pan until it just barely becomes level with the veggies. Bring to a boil. Cover with a lid and reduce to simmer, stirring occasionally until tender.

Meanwhile, add butter to a large saucepan and melt over med-high heat. Stir/whisk in flour until smooth. The flour mixture will start to bubble. Slowly add the milk, about 1/4 cup at a time. Whisk each addition of milk into the the flour until smooth and becomes thicker from bubbling. Stir in cheese until melted. Add to the soup and stir until completely incorporated.

*This tastes great with corn bread or with some homemade bread! We usually add pepper to our individual bowls since the girl's don't like things too spicy.

Easy Chicken & Black Bean Enchiladas

We were out of some ingredients for a new recipe that I was trying to make. So I improvised changing the beef to chicken, and adding a few more ingredients to make this completely ORIGINAL wonderful dish! I was quite pleased it turned out so well. The best perk is that this can be cooked in the microwave in 10 minutes!

Easy Chicken & Black Bean Enchiladas
3-4 chicken breasts, cooked
16 corn tortillas
1 can (15oz) black beans
1 can (28oz) diced tomatoes
1 can (10oz) enchilada sauce
1 can (4 oz) diced green chilies
3/4 bunch of fresh cilantro
1 white onion, chopped
2 cups part skim mozarella cheese
2 tsp. cumin
Lettuce
*Cottage Cheese

Chop/shred chicken and put in small bowl. Place tortillas in a stack and cut into 1-2 inch thick strips, set aside. Combine all canned ingredients and cumin into a large bowl. In a 9x13 dish, add 1/3 of the chicken to the bottom of pan. Pour enchilada mixture over bottom of pan until covered completely. Layer tortillas evenly across pan. Sprinkle 1/3 of the cheese and cilantro on top of tortillas. Repeat layers. Finish by covering the top with a layer of tortillas and sprinkle cheese on top. Bake in oven 375F for 30-40minutes. Serve over a bed of lettuce if you wish!

OR

Instead of 9x13 pan, use a VERY deep casserole dish (or Pampered Chef's deep dish baker, which I did). Anything that isn't metal and small enough to fit in your microwave. Cook for 10 minutes and it's DONE! I love that I can use my stoneware in the microwave instead of using the oven during the summer! It tastes GREAT!

*For a kid friendly recipe, add cottage cheese to their individual dish. This helps take away some of the spice!

Oatmeal Cinnamon Pancakes

For delicious, wholesome pancakes...LOOK NO FURTHER! This tastes more like a cinnamon apple muffin than a pancake! But the best part is, this is completely healthy!!! I have a hard time with regular pancakes and syrup because I get migraines from it's high sugar content. Finally, I can have pancakes again! The unsweetened applesauce is the perfect sub for syrup that my whole family enjoys!

Oatmeal Cinnamon Pancakes
Ingredients
4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
4 cups skim milk
8 egg whites
1/8 cup canola oil
1/2 to 3/4 cup dried fruit, such as currants, chopped dates, cranberries, or cherries (optional)
Chopped nuts are also good in these 'cakes (optional)
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup flour
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Topping

Unsweetened applesauce

Mix oats and skim milk in bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night.
The next morning, preheat a pancake griddle or skillet. Then mix all ingredients together. Batter will be thick. Drop by large cooking spoonfuls onto griddle until golden brown on both sides. Serve with unsweetened applesauce.
Serves: 8.

*We actually divide this recipe in half, which makes 10 pancakes, just enough for our little family.

**You can also omit the oil and sugar for even healthier pancakes.

Cinnamon Walnut Cupcakes

I just made this recipe tonight for the first time. I found it from Bettycrocker.

It is amazing! Especially for whenever you craving something sweet. I wanted to make something for a friend that was going through a hard time, as a little "pick-me-up". Hence, the cute ribbons added. Honestly, I didn't put anymore frosting on the rest of the cupcakes that we ate at home because it didn't change the taste at all, and it is just more calories that we could do without. It does make the cupcake look beautiful, however, if you give some away!

Enjoy!

1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® yellow cake mix
2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
8 egg whites

1 container (8 oz) sour cream (1 cup)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Frosting (optional)

1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla


1. Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Grease cupcake pan or use cupcake wrappers.

2. In large bowl, beat dry cake mix, applesauce, egg whites and sour cream with electric mixer. Spread half of the batter in pan. Stir together brown sugar, walnuts and cinnamon; sprinkle over batter in pan. Carefully spread remaining batter evenly over walnut mixture.
3. Bake 17-25 minutes or until done (inserted toothpick comes out dry). Stir powdered sugar, milk and vanilla until thin enough to spread. Spread powdered sugar mixture over cupcakes. Cool completely, about 1 hour. Store covered.

Yield: 24/30 cupcakes