Studio711.com – Ben Martens

“Tuna” and “casserole” are not two words which usually excite people, but for some reason it sounded good one night. I must say, it turned out to be quite delicious. The recipe comes straight from allrecipes.com and I didn’t make many modifications.

Ingredients

• 1 (12 ounce) package egg noodles
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 cup frozen green peas
• 2 (6 ounce) cans tuna, drained
• 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 (4.5 ounce) can sliced mushrooms
• 1 cup crushed potato chips

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente; drain.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

In a large bowl, thoroughly mix noodles, onion, 1 cup cheese, peas, tuna, soup and mushrooms. Transfer to a 9×13 inch baking dish, and top with potato chip crumbs and remaining 1 cup cheese.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheese is bubbly.

This is barely a recipe, but I’ll post it anyway because it was so delicious. Take a strip of bacon, cut off part of it and wrap it around a tater tot. I didn’t do this, but it might be a good idea to stick a toothpick through it to hold it all together. You might want to soak the toothpicks in water first so it doesn’t catch fire in the oven.

I used thick cut pepper bacon, but I think the thinner stuff would work better. Cook according to the tater tot directions and then finish it off with a blast from the broiler. Remove when the bacon looks cooked. You can spice it up a bit by adding a chopped jalapeno into the wrap.

I had some regular tots on the tray as well and they ended up cooking in bacon grease. Delicious but don’t eat too many or you’ll probably revisit them.

I was randomly flipping through food.com when I stumbled across this. It turned out to be delicious! The hardest part was finding canned plum tomatoes, but Tyla eventually spotted them on the store shelf.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 lb sweet Italian sausage link, casings removed,crumbled
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed dried red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup diced onion
• 1 1/2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can Italian plum tomatoes, drained,coarsely chopped
• 3/4 cup whipping cream
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 ounces pasta
• 1 1/2 tablespoons minced parsley
• grated parmesan cheese

Cook sausage and crushed red pepper in oiled skillet over medium heat until no longer pink. Add onion and garlic to skillet and cook until onion is tender and sausage is light brown. Add tomatoes, cream and salt. Simmer until mixture thickens slightly (about four minutes.) Cook pasta according to instructions and drain. Add pasta to sauce and cook until pasta is heated through and sauce thickens (about two minutes.) Serve with with parsley and parmesan cheese.

The in-laws got me a Dutch oven stand for my birthday and I was excited to give it a shot. The problem is that in my condo, the only place I have to do this is on the deck. Charcoal fires are against the rules but I thought I could get away with it… until I lit the charcoal and realized that that whole complex was going to smell like a campfire and the smoke from my balcony was a dead giveaway. I doused the flames and made dinner on the stove in a regular pot. I do think this would make a good Dutch oven recipe and you can find all the details on this website.

Even though I had to give up my Dutch oven dreaming for the day, it turned out delicious anyway!

Ingredients

• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• 1 lb. lean ground beef
• 1 large yellow onion; diced
• 1 large green bell pepper; diced
• 2 cloves garlic; minced
• 1 1/2 cups frozen whole kernel corn
• 1 cup fresh mushrooms; sliced
• 3 cups grated cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup olives; sliced
• 2 cans tomato soup
• 2 1/2 soup cans water
• 2 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp. salt
• 12 oz. bag pasta shells

Brown ground beef using 2 Tbs. olive oil in large pot. When beef has been browned, drain and then add onion, bell pepper, mushrooms, and garlic. Saute until vegetables are tender. Add corn, olives, tomato soup, hot water, paprika, cayenne pepper, and salt. Stir to mix well. Bring contents to a boil then stir in pasta shells.

Place lid on pot and cook for 25 minutes. Sprinkle cheese over top and cook for an additional 10 minutes until cheese is melted.

Serves: 6-8

I served it with some pumpkin bread that I made earlier in the day. Whip cream always tastes good on that, and it tastes even better when you make a design with the whip cream.

Mom sent me this recipe from Taste of Home. It’s a slow cooker soup recipe and it’s delicious!

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
• 2 teaspoons canola oil
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 envelope reduced-sodium taco seasoning
• 1 can (32 ounces) V8 juice
• 1 jar (16 ounces) salsa
• 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 package (10 ounces) frozen corn, thawed
• 6 tablespoons reduced-fat cheddar cheese
• 6 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

In a large nonstick skillet, sauté chicken in oil until no longer pink. Add water and taco seasoning; simmer, uncovered, until chicken is well coated. Transfer to a 5-qt. slow cooker. Stir in the V8 juice, salsa, beans and corn. Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours or until heated through. Serve with cheese, sour cream and cilantro. Yield: 6 servings.

We left the beans out and increased the corn and chicken. I was a bit leery about the V8 but it all turned out delicious!

What is in those magic packets of taco seasoning that you get in the store? It’s probably stuff that you already have in your spice cabinet. I’ve started making my own and I love it because I can tweak the balance to be just what I want. I make up enough for three or four times and keep it in the cabinet. Here’s the basic recipe but you should adjust it to your liking.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

via AllRecipes.com

The slow cooker hasn’t been out of the cupboard for a while, but for some reason, cooler weather makes me want to fire it up. I found a recipe for beef stroganoff and decided to give it a shot. One of the reasons I love the slow cooker is because you simply dump everything in and wait for it to finish. This recipe turned out to be a bit more work than that but it was pretty good. This one is from the Taste of Home magazine.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs beef top sirloin steak, cut into thin strips
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 cup water
• 1 envelope (1.5 oz) beef stroganoff seasoning for the slow cooker
• 1 lb sliced baby Portobello mushrooms (that seemed like a lot so I only used have and it seemed about right to us)
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 3 Tbsp. butter
• 1/4 cup port wine or beef broth
• 2 tsp. ground mustard
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1.5 cups (12oz) sour cream
• Hot cooked egg noodles
• Minced fresh parsley, optional

In a large skillet, brown meet in oil. Add water and seasoning mix, stirring to loosen browned bits from pan. Transfer meat and drippings to a 3-qt slow cooker.

In the same skillet, sauté mushrooms and onion in butter until tender. Combine the wine, mustard and sugar; stir into the mushroom mixture. Add to slow cooker; stir to combine.

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until meat is tender. Stir in sour cream. Serve with noodles. Sprinkle with parsley if desired.

I whipped up some Mexican Lasagna a few nights ago and it was fantastic! I’ve made similar dishes before, but this time, the flour tortillas were really moist and almost had the texture of normal lasagna noodles. This recipe comes from the Taste of Home magazine.

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 lbs ground beef
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 can (14-1/2 oz) stewed tomatoes, undrained (I ran them through the food processor)
• 1 can (10 oz) enchilada sauce
• 1 to 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 egg beaten
• 1-1/2 cups (12 oz)  4% cottage cheese
• 3 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
• 8 flour tortillas (8 in) cut in half
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

In a large skillet, cook the beef, onion and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the tomatoes, enchilada sauce and cumin. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered for 20 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine egg and cottage cheese; set aside. Spread a third of the meat sauce into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Layer with half of the cheese blend, tortillas, cottage cheese mixture and remaining meat sauce. Repeat layers. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese.

Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Uncover; bake 10 minutes longer or until bubbly. Let stand for 15 minutes before cutting.

Tyla picked this one out of Taste of Home magazine and made it when her family came over for Father’s Day. It makes a TON. The recipe says 20 servings but it might even be more than that. You can’t eat much at one sitting because it’s so rich, but it is delicious!

Ingredients

• 1 fudge brownie mix (13×9 pan)
• 1 pkg (10oz) peanut butter chips
• 2 pkg (13oz each) mini peanut butter cups
• 4 cups cold 2% milk
• 2 pkg (5.1oz each) instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 4 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 cartons (8oz each) frozen whipped topping, thawed

Prepare brownie batter according to package directions; stir in peanut butter chips. Bake in greased 13×9 baking pan at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out with moist crumbs. Do not overbake. Cool on a wire rack; cut into 3/4 in pieces.

Cut peanut butter cups in half; set aside 1/3 cup for garnish. In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding mixes for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set. Add peanut butter and vanilla; mix well. Fold in 1-1/2 cartons whipped topping.

Place a third of the brownies in a 5-qt glass bowl; top with a third of the remaining peanut butter cups. Spoon a third of the pudding mixture over the top. Repeat layers twice. Cover with remaining whipped topping; garnish with reserved peanut butter cups. Refrigerate until chilled.

Mom was the first one to make this for Tyla and me, but we’ve added it to our rotation. It’s a great summer time meal and it’s super easy to make. I think the actual recipe from the magazine actually calls for pre-cooked chicken but I prefer to cook my own.

Ingredients

• 4 cups torn romaine lettuce or crisp leaf lettuce
• 1 large chicken breast, cooked on the stove or grilled, season to your personal taste
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• ~1 can (11oz) corn
• ~½ cup Mexican shredded cheese
• 1/2 avocado
• Ranch dressing
• Salsa
• 8 Tortillas

Toss romaine, chicken breast strips, tomatoes and corn in large bowl. Sprinkle with cheese. Spoon onto tortillas and add ranch dressing and salsa as desired. Makes about 8 wraps.

The photo is obviously pre-wrap, but I thought the bowl of food made a more appetizing photo.