Category — Main Dishes

I made this crock pot corn chowder recipe yesterday.  It’s very savory; after a day in the crock pot, you can really taste all the flavors in this stuff!  It’s sort of a hybrid recipe- I read through several corn chowder recipes, and morphed them into one.  This easily makes enough to serve 4.

Crockpot Corn Chowder

• 1 onion, chopped
• 6 slices bacon
• 20 oz. frozen whole kernel corn
• 1/2 cup carrots, finely diced
• 1 can creamed corn
• 1 chicken bouillon cube
• 1 cup of water
• 2 cups potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 tsp.  Worcesterchire sauce
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• Pinch of garlic powder

Coarsely chop bacon, and fry in a large skillet until crisp.  Remove bacon from skillet, and set aside.  In bacon drippings, saute onion and potato for 3-4 minutes.  Discard bacon drippings.  Combine all ingredients in slow cooker.  Cook on high for 1 hour, then reduce temperature to low for 3-5 hours.

In the last hour of cooking time, scoop half of chowder into a blender, and pulse until smooth.  (Careful-very HOT!)  Place blended mixture back into crock pot, and stir.

Optional:  Just before serving, stir in a little butter, and about 1/2 cup of half and half.

I’ve just added this great new toaster to my most wanted kitchen gadgets list.   The Back to Basics Egg ‘N Muffin Toaster will toast a muffin, and poach an egg…at the same time.  I see 3 big benefits here.  First, there’s no skillet or egg poacher to wash.  Second, I think older kids could do this themselves. Third, it’s faster than doing things separately.

The Back to Basics egg and muffin toaster makes a muffin (and egg) in 4 minutes.  There are switches to turn off the toaster or the poacher if you just want to use one feature.   The toaster will also hard boil up to 4 eggs at one time, and it shuts off automatically.  I found the egg and muffin toaster combo at In Cooking.

This is one of my favorite chicken casserole recipes.  It’s one I’ve adapted to suit my family’s tastes over the past couple of years, and it just seems to be getting better.  If you’re a garlic lover, feel free to add a couple more teaspoons.

Garlic Chicken Mozzarella Bake

• 2 cups chicken, cooked and cubed
• 2 cans diced tomatoes, do not drain
• 4 cups dry elbow macaroni
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 2 tablespoons chopped garlic, more or less to taste
• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• Salt and pepper
• 3/4 dried bread crumbs
• 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Cook macaroni, drain in a colander, and place back in pot.  In a large skillet, cook onion and garlic in 2 tbsp. of olive oil until softened, and beginning to brown. Add chicken to skillet, and continue to cook for 1-2 minutes.

Add onion, garlic, and chicken mixture to macaroni and stir.  Then stir in mozzarella, undrained tomatoes, and salt and pepper to taste.  Pour mixture into a 9×13 baking pan, or casserole dish.

Topping:  With a fork, blend together 2 tbsp. olive oil, Parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, and a pinch of salt.  Sprinkle over casserole.

Bake at 375 degrees F for 45-50 minutes until bubbly on the edges, and golden brown on top.

Covered casserole dishes are always convenient for this recipe.  When the meal is over, just pop the lid over the leftovers, and place in the fridge.  The casserole dishes above are available at World Market.

Whenever I get the chance, I like to go to a local diner for a bowl of their loaded baked potato soup.  Occasionally, I even make my own, which I think comes in pretty close to the diner’s recipe. Some people use flour or cornstarch to thicken their potato soup, but I like to sprinkle in some instant mashed potato flakes for thickening it up when needed.

This is a very rich soup, so….uh make it when you’re not dieting.  Everybody has to splurge once in awhile, right?

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

• 2/3 cup butter
• 3/4 cup flour
• 4 cups cubed, baked potatoes, peeled
• 8 cups milk
• 1/2 cup thin sliced green onions
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup of sour cream
• Several slices of bacon, cooked, drained, coarsely chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in a large soup pot or Dutch oven, then little by little stir in flour until smooth.  Gradually add milk and stir over low to medium heat until thickened.  When mixture has thickened, add potatoes and green onions, and continue to cook until soup just reaches a very gentle boil.  Add remaining ingredients and serve hot!

There are a million ways to make this soup.  Here are lots more potato soup recipes.

Football practice and dance lessons make Monday nights at our house pretty crazy, so I’m always looking for easy recipes that will make a busy night just a little bit smoother.   Last night I made these easy enchiladas from a recipe my mother-in-law gave me.  They’re fast, and you can adapt the recipe to include whatever meat and/or cheeses you have available.

Monday Night Enchiladas

• 1 package of corn tortillas
• 2 cups of shredded cheese (Mexican blend, cheddar, mozzarella, or queso blanco will work)
• 1 big can red enchilada sauce ( approx. 28 oz.)
• 2 cups of meat, chopped or shredded (ground beef, chicken, or pork)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil

Brush both sides of each corn tortilla with oil, and place in 400 degree oven for 5 minutes, and remove.  Pour half of enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9X13 baking dish, and smooth to coat.  When tortillas are cool enough to handle, fill with your desired combination of meat and cheese.  Remember to save some cheese for topping.  After filling, roll tortillas, fold under the ends, and place seam-side down in baking dish.

Top enchiladas with remaining red sauce and cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes.

If you want to make vegetarian enchiladas, you can replace the meat in this recipe with black beans.  If you’re concerned about fat content, you can make skinny enchiladas by omitting the oil, and softening the tortillas with water.

This recipe got me thinking about making homemade tortillas with a tortilla press.  It’s definitely not a Monday night activity, but I’m still anxious to try it.

With the economy in crunch, many of us are looking for ways to save on food expenses.  One of the best ways to save a buck on meals without sacrificing quality is to dig out all your favorite casserole recipes, or find some new ones.

If you think casseroles are limited to boring tuna/vegetable concoctions like your mom used to make, you should do a quick search for casserole recipes.  It’s easy to find low-fat versions of old favorites, and ideas for satisfying even the most sophisticated tastes. Here’s a vegetarian casserole from Cooking.Com that I’m going to try this week:

Baked Rigatoni with Spinach

• 1 pound of rigatoni
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 (10 oz.) package frozen spinach thawed
• 2 cups ricotta cheese
• 5 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tsp. grated nutmeg
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper
• 1 1/2 cups grated fontina cheese

Preheat oven to 450 F.  Cook pasta until almost done, and drain.  Pour pasta into a large (9X13) casserole dish, and toss with 1 tbsp. of oil.

Next, squeeze all excess water from spinach, and place in a food processor with ricotta cheese, 3 tbsp of the Parmesan, nutmeg, salt, and pepper.  Puree.  Then, stir in half of the fontina cheese.

Stir the pureed mixture into the pasta. Top with remaining fontina cheese, Parmesan cheese, and oil. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until top is brown and bubbly.

The casserole dish shown above is the Emeril adobe clay covered casserole dish available at Holiday Decorations Direct. Com.

I always keep Ramen noodles around for an emergency meal or a fast lunch for the kids, but I didn’t know until recently that there are hundreds of Ramen noodle recipes floating around online. People put Ramen noodles in everything from cole slaw to Jell-O (yuck)!

I’ve recently tried this beef and broccoli recipe, and it has turned out to be a Friday night favorite at my house.  You can make it in a large skillet or a wok. It makes enough to feed 6 people and have some leftovers.

Easy Beef and Broccoli Recipe

• 3 cups frozen or fresh broccoli florets
• 1 1/2 lbs. thinly sliced top round steak
• 8 packages beef Ramen noodles
• 8 cups water
• 2 tbsp. olive oil

Saute beef with olive oil in a large skillet or wok until nearly cooked through. Add broccoli florets.  Saute for another 1-2 minutes, and then add water.  Bring to a boil.  Break Ramen noodle blocks in half and add to skillet. Add noodle season packets.  Cook until Ramen noodles are tender, and most of the water is absorbed.  Allow to sit for a few minutes before serving.

You can adjust this recipe to make as much or as little as you want.  Just use 1 cup of water per package of noodles.  Ramen noodle seasoning contains a lot of sodium, so if you like, just leave out some of the season packets, or purchase the low sodium noodle packets.  Baked ramen noodles are also available if you want to reduce the fat content of this recipe.

Homemade macaroni and cheese always disappears quickly at my house.  When the weather turns a little chilly, my husband and I both take our turns in the kitchen whipping up our respective macaroni and cheese recipes. Whether you make it in a casserole dish, a sauce pan, or even the crock pot, macaroni and cheese is the ultimate comfort food.

Here’s one of our favorite recipes for macaroni and cheese:

• 1 package elbow macaroni (8 ounces)
• 1 container cottage cheese (12 ounces, small curd)
• Shredded cheddar cheese (8 ounce bag)
• 8 oz. sour cream
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan
• 1 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Cook macaroni according to package directions, and drain well using a collander.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Then, in a  9X13 baking pan, mix together cooked macaroni, cottage cheese, cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, and sour cream.  In a small mixing bowl, combine melted butter and bread crumbs and sprinkle over macaroni mixture.

Bake for 35 minutes, or until top is golden and bubbly around the edges.

Sunday morning breakfast is a big tradition in our family, so I’m always looking for weekend breakfast recipes that are delicious and convenient.  This breakfast casserole recipe has to be my all-time favorite because you prepare it the night before and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight.  It feeds a crowd, too.  Plan on leftovers, or you can cut the recipe in half.

• 12 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 lb of sausage, bacon, or ham (fully-cooked and drained)
• 9 rectangular hash brown patties, frozen
• 1 cup of milk
• 2 cups of grated cheese (I like cheddar)
• Chopped onions, mushrooms, or spinach to taste (optional)

Use a wire whisk to gently blend the milk and beaten eggs in a large mixing bowl.  Spray a 13X9 baking dish, or stoneware baking crock with non-stick spray. Line the bottom of the dish with frozen hash brown patties.  Place cooked and drained meat over hash brown patties.  Place vegetables over meat.  Gently add egg and milk mixture to the casserole dish, taking care not to mess up the layers.  Sprinkle cheese over the top.  Cover with foil, and place in fridge overnight.

To bake:  Remove foil, and bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes, or until center is set.

Just a thought- this one doesn’t have to be just for breakfast.  I’ve been known to whip this up in the morning, and cook it for dinner.

Chili recipes are as diverse as they are plentiful.  From mild to three alarm spicy, and vegan to extra-meaty, chili is an economical and tasty way to feed a family.  Whenever I make chili, I use a large stockpot and grab some freezer containers for setting aside some easy lunches. It freezes and reheats very well. Here in the Midwest, we like to eat our chili with a peanut butter sandwich or grilled cheese.  Does anyone else do that?

Here’s a chili recipe I made last night:

• 2 1/2 cans tomato juice
• 3 pounds lean ground beef
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 large can chili beans (approx. 32 oz.)
• 3 envelopes of chili seasoning

Brown the ground beef with the chopped onion and drain.  Combine beef and onions with the remaining ingredients in a large stock pot.  Simmer for 2-3 hours. There are many chili seasonings out there. We like the hot ones, but there are plenty of mild varieties.  Using a ladle, pour chili into large soup bowls. Serve with grated sharp cheddar cheese on top.

Next time, I think I’m going to try this white chicken chili recipe because I love Monterey Jack cheese.  Also, here’s a vegan chili recipe that sounds savory.