Categories
Bases & Stored Food Preparation Dessert Side Snack

Applesauce/Apple Butter

Ingredients

  • 6 lb. apples (~18 medium apples), peeled, cored, and sliced
  • 1 c. apple juice or apple cider
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • ¼ – ½ cup brown sugar
  • Optional ingredients (to taste—probably start around 1 tsp):
    • cinnamon (required for apple butter)
    • nutmeg
    • allspice

Directions

  1. Combine all ingredients and cook over medium heat for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
    • For apple butter ingredients should be put in a crock pot and cooked on low for 6+ hours until there is minimal moisture left.
  2. Blend the mixture in a blender until smooth.
    • If you prefer applesauce that isn’t fully smooth you can mash with a potato masher instead and then mix with a hand mixer (that method takes longer)
Categories
Breakfast Main Dish

Stuffed hash browns

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs hash browns
  • 3 eggs
  • 4 tbsp flour
  • 1½ tsp salt
  • ¾ tsp pepper
  • Lunch meat
  • Shredded cheese

Directions

  1. Mix hash browns with eggs, flour, salt and pepper.
    • If using frozen hash browns make sure they are thawed (10 minutes in the oven at 200° should do it)
  2. Fry a hash brown sandwich (hash browns topped with meat and covered with hash browns) for 3 minutes over medium heat on each side.
  3. Place the browned patties on a cookie sheet and top with a layer of cheese.
    • If using uncooked meat such as chicken breast filets bake at 350° for 15 minutes before topping with cheese.
  4. Bake at 350° for 10-15 minutes.
Categories
Main Dish

Germanic Meat Loaves

Ingredients

  • 1½ lbs ground turkey
  • 1 medium onion finely chopped
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • 1 cup uncooked rice
  • ½ lb shredded lettuce
  • 2 eggs
  • 1-2 cups bread crumbs

Directions

  1. Boil rice for 5 minutes (no need to be fully cooked).
  2. Mix meat, onion, garlic, eggs and shredded lettuce.
  3. Mix in rice once it is partially cooked.
  4. Form meat mixture into small loaves (no larger than a fist).
  5. Coat loaves with bread crumbs and place in a baking dish.
  6. Bake at 375° for 15-20 minutes (dries out and hardens the loaves).
  7. Top with a sauce of choice and water or sauce to keep loaves moist.
  8. Bake for another 30 minutes at 375°

We learned this recipe in connection with yellow veggie cream sauce but they can totally be made with another sauce of choice. They are too dry to be made with no sauce.

Categories
Bases & Stored Food Preparation

Yellow Veggie Cream Sauce

Ingredients

  • 1 medium onion diced
  • 1-2 carrots shredded
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 lb sour cream
  • Salt
  • Pepper

Directions

  1. Saute diced onion, garlic and shredded carrots in oil for 5 minutes until tender.
  2. Whisk sour cream together with a quart of water.
  3. Pour sour cream mixture into sauteed vegetables and simmer for 10 minutes.

This sauce turns a bright yellow from the carrots as it simmers. We’ve used it to cover and marinate mini meat loaves by placing veggies on top of the loaves and pouring the rest of the sauce over the top.

Categories
Casserole Main Dish Quick Prep

Carbonara Casserole

Ingredients

  • 2 bottles Alfredo
  • 1½ lbs spaghetti
  • 2 cups frozen peas
  • 2 tbsp bacon bits

Directions

  1. Mix Alfredo with an equal amount of water
  2. Cook spaghetti in Alfredo mix until liquid has been absorbed
  3. Mix in peas and bacon bits with spaghetti and let sit to absorb moisture and warm the peas
Categories
Casserole Main Dish Quick Prep

Chicken Pasta Casserole

Ingredients

  • 2 cans Cream of chicken soup
  • 1 lb spaghetti
  • 2 cups frozen peas
  • 2 tbsp bacon bits
  • Milk

Directions

  1. Mix milk and soup mix
  2. Cook spaghetti in soup until liquid has been absorbed
  3. Mix in peas and bacon bits with spaghetti and let sit to absorb moisture and warm the peas
Categories
Dutch Oven Lunch Main Dish Quick Prep Sandwich

Pulled pork

Ingredients

  • 2-4 lbs uncooked pork (roast, tenderloin or any other boneless favorite)
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • ¼ cup mustard
  • 1 cup barbeque sauce
  • 1½ cups Dr. Pepper (other colas will work or use water if you prefer)

Directions

  1. Mix everything except the pork together
  2. Cut pork into into 2″sections (to make sure the flavor goes all the way through)
  3. Combine pork pieces and sauce in a pressure cooker
  4. Cook on high for 60 minutes and release pressure
  5. Pull out pork pieces and shred them with a fork—they should come apart easily
  6. Pour some of the cooked liquid over the pork to keep it moist (½ to 1½ cups depending on how much meat)
  7. Add more barbeque sauce to pulled pork as desired

Pulled pork pairs well with coleslaw, mashed potatoes, or mac&cheese. 2 lbs of pork should make a decent meal while 4 lbs should serve a larger group. This can also be done in an oven or show cooker but that would take several hours at 300° and probably requires more water due to evaporation (I haven’t tried it myself).

Categories
Casserole Dutch Oven Main Dish Quick Prep

Pasta Casserole

Ingredients

  • 1 lb Rigatoni (other pastas probably work but we like rigatoni)
  • 48 oz marinara sauce (~4 cups)
  • 2 cups water
  • 20 meatballs (1-1½ lbs)
  • 1 cup finely shredded mozzarella
  • 1 cup shredded parmesan (we’ve also used parmesan/romano/asiago mix)

Directions

  1. Combine pasta, pasta sauce, water, and chopped up meatballs in 9×13 pan
  2. Cook at 425° for 20 minutes
  3. Mix shredded cheeses in a bowl
  4. Pull casserole out of the oven and mix in half of the cheese mix then cover with the remaining cheese
  5. Cook for another 5 minutes in the oven to allow the cheese to melt on and through the casserole
Categories
Dutch Oven Main Dish Quick Prep Soup

Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs ground beef
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 1 small head of cabbage, chopped
  • 1 large (28-ounce can) diced tomatoes
  • 1 can (398ml) tomato sauce
  • ¼ cup white vinegar
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 cup beef broth
  • 1½ tbsp paprika
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cracked black pepper
  • 1 cup rice, uncooked (or 2 cups cooked)

Directions

  1. Start rice cooking if it is not already cooked.
  2. Brown ground beef and onions then transfer to a pot.
  3. Add cabbage, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, white vinegar, brown sugar, beef broth, paprika, minced garlic, salt and black pepper to the pot and mix.
  4. Bring to a boil then simmer covered on low heat for 20 minutes.
  5. Stir in rice and serve.
Categories
Breakfast Main Dish

Tater-tot quiche

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs tater tots
  • ¾ lb sausage
  • 1 cup shredded cheese
  • 12 eggs
  • Salt & pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Bake tater tots on a baking sheet at 375° for 30 minutes
  2. Cook sausage like hamburger
  3. Crack eggs into a bowl and mix with shredded cheese, salt and pepper
  4. Add cooked sausage to egg and cheese mixture
  5. Pour tater tots into 9X13 baking dish
  6. Pour egg mixture over tater tots and mix lightly
  7. Bake at 425° for 30 minutes