New Recipes of the Week ~3

Vegetable Barley Salad

The vinaigrette dressing gave this salad good flavor, but the chewy texture (not to mention gray color) vetoed this recipe. Unfortunately, we are not a pasta salad, bean salad, grain salad eating family.

Taco Bake

Super easy and tasty. 

When I was a child, my mom fixed a similar dish called Chili Mac. This was rated 8 on a scale of 1-10, so it stays in the recipe book. However it is nothing gourmet.

1 lb. ground meat

1 onion, chopped

3/4 c. water

1 package taco seasoning

15 oz. tomato sauce

8 oz. macaroni, cooked & drained

4 oz. green chilies, chopped

2 c. shredded cheese

Brown meat and onion. Add water, seasoning, and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in the macaroni, chilies, and half of the cheese. Bake at 350* for 30 minutes. Top with remaining cheese. I used 13 oz. macaroni and 1/2 c. more tomato sauce, then skipped the baking and warmed it in the pan.

Banana Muesli 

3 c. oats

3 c. yogurt

3 bananas

1/2 c. raisins or 4 dates

3/4 tsp. vanilla

Soak oats in yogurt overnight. Add the rest in the morning. Stir. Or stir all together just before ready to eat. I used more oats and added a couple cups of water to make a larger amount.

I love muesli recipes because they are so forgiving. You can stir them up to set overnight or mix in the morning for an extremely fast, filling breakfast. This recipe came from the THM ladies before they became Trim Healthy Mamas! 

Southwestern Chicken Barley Soup

1 onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 Tbsp. oil

1 can whole kernel corn

1 can black beans

15 oz. tomato sauce

15 oz. diced tomatoes

14 oz. chicken broth

1/2 c. pearl barley

4 oz. chopped green chilies

1/2 Tbsp. chili powder

1 tsp. ground cumin

2-3 c. cooked, shredded chicken

Saute onion & garlic in oil. Add the next 9 ingredients. Bring to a boil. Simmer for 45 minutes. Stir in chicken. Heat through. I used home canned tomato juice in place of the sauce and diced tomatoes. 

Great spicy flavor!

Make Ahead Meatball Subs 

We made meatballs from 4 pounds of deerburger, put some on trays to freeze and bag, and the rest were baked on baking day. Once that part is done making these subs is a snap. I prefer a different meatball recipe than this that has more garlic and onion.  

Poptarts

Fun to try once! These took more time than they're worth with a whole wheat crust. Hot from the oven they were crisp, but after cooling, they turned chewy and bland.

Baked Oatmeal

A friend passed this recipe on for me to try. It was sweet and filling, but we prefer the crunchier baked oatmeal that bakes up much quicker than an hour. 

Individual Pizzas

No recipe, just assorted goodies to top your own homemade crust. I put 2 layers of cheese on mine... Mmm.

Buffalo Ranch Popcorn

1 Tbsp. Ranch Dry Mix

1 Tbsp. celery salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp. sugar

1/8 tsp. cayenne 

1/4 tsp. vegetable oil

6 quarts popped pocorn

In a small bowl stir ranch mix, celery salt, garlic, sugar, and cayenne. Drizzle oil over popcorn, sprinkle seasoning on, and toss.

I clipped this from our local electric co-op magazine. We have a spice container we keep filled with homemade Ranch Mix, so this recipe is quite quick and very musty (must have more)!

A couple more dishes we tried this week were Mock Pasta Alfredo and Beefy Taco Joes. I didn't get snapshots of these, but they're not keepers anyway. I am filing my rejected recipes together if you'd like to try them. I can get you the directions.