15 Recipes ~ 15 Minutes

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I’ve long believed that being a good cook isn’t about culinary art, it’s about picking a good recipe. I am completely capable of making more difficult dishes but I don’t very often, when I’ve got recipes the family likes that are done in the time it takes to brown the hamburger. The fifteen minutes doesn’t include baking time. These meals aren’t all DONE in fifteen minutes. It’s preparation time, which is what counts for me. For example, the French Dip Sandwiches cook in a crock pot all day. The only way I make roasts anymore, too. But my time spent in meal preparation is 15 minutes or less.
One note about the recipes. I've read them through several times and have tried my best to have them be correct. But...disclaimer time...if you see a recipe calling for one CUP of salt, or telling you to bake something at 3500 degrees, use your head. It's a typo!

Main Dishes
French Dip Sandwiches
1 rump roast
1 C. beef consommé (buy it canned in the soup section of the store)
1 can beef broth (canned)
1 C. water
1 pkg. Good Season’s Italian Dressing
Put in crock pot for 8 hours on low.
Slice meat. Serve on hoagie buns. Use liquid for French Dip sauce. Serve sauce in coffee cups or small bowls.

Lasagna
1 lb. hamburger (browned)
Stir into hamburger:
1 container cottage cheese
1 jar Prego spaghetti sauce

Lay uncooked lasagna noodles in bottom of 9 x 13 pan (3 or 4 noodles). Add layer of sauce, and layer of 1 C. mozzarella cheese (I use more)
Repeat for second layer, that’s all I ever make. Three layers usually runs over the pan. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top. Bake for in 350 oven for 45 minutes to an hour or until cheese on top is browned. Serve with garlic bread and salad.
Use a smaller baking dish, make half-sized lasagna, then freeze extra sauce—with meat and cottage cheese in it, in the cottage cheese container for even quicker lasagna next time.
Garlic bread, slice loaf of French bread the long way so it looks like a huge hotdog bun. Lay halves of bread side by side on a cookie sheet. Butter, sprinkle with garlic powder, sprinkle with mozzarella and/or parmesan cheese (I use both) and bake the last fifteen minutes with the lasagna.

Chili
1 lb. hamburger (browned)
1 onion (chopped and browned with meat)
1 can tomato juice
1 can chili beans
garlic, chili powder, sugar –seasoned to taste
*Add a can of tomato paste if you like it thicker
*I chop up a whole celery stalk, just slice through the whole stalk from top to bottom, then freeze it in zip lock bags so it’s easy to add to recipes. I pour some celery in with the browning meat and onions to a nice extra texture and color

Three Bean Hamburger Casserole
(we actually call it Moosehead – don’t ask me why)
1 lb. hamburger (browned)
1 can pork & beans
1 can butter beans
1 can kidney beans
I skip the extra beans most of the time and just use pork & beans. Otherwise the recipe is too big. Add:
½ C. brown sugar
½ C. catsup
1 T. mustard
Heat thoroughly, serve. The kids just love this. It’s probably because of the brown sugar.

Everything In The Garden Soup
1 lb. hamburger (browned)
Add:
Water to cover meat
2 or 3 potatoes (peeled and cubed)
3 or 4 carrots (peeled and cubed)
1 onion
Cook until tender. Add:
1 can corn
1 can green beans
1 can whole tomatoes
1 can tomato juice
Bring to boil. Serve.

Cheesy Chicken Soup
2 C. cooked chicken (canned works)
1 can chicken broth
1 tsp cumin
3 Tbl. butter
1 clove garlic (garlic powder works)
1 can creamed corn
1 can green chilis
1 cup cubed Velveeta
2 Cups Half & Half
1 can Rotelle tomatoes

Meat Loaf
1 lb. raw hamburger
1 slice bread
1 glub of milk
1 egg
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
½ C. cubed Velveeta cheese
Mix together. Use your hands. C’mon you can DO IT! We’re in a hurry here! Put in greased casserole dish, and grease the sides and the handles so it’s easy to clean.
Topping.
½ C. catsup
1 lump - ¼ C.? brown sugar
1 T vinegar or mustard or both
Stir topping ingredients together, spread over raw meat loaf.
Bake for one hour.

Enchilada Casserole
1 lb. Hamburger (browned)
Add:
1 can enchilada sauce
1 can green chilies
Layer in 9 x9 baking dish:
Flour tortilla
Meat mixture
1 C. cheddar cheese
Repeat -- two layers.
Bake 20 - 30 minutes until warmed through and cheddar cheese on top is melted.

Porcupines
1 lb. raw hamburger
½ C. uncooked rice
Mix together. Shape meatballs put in casserole dish. Expect them to look nothing like porcupines. Add:
Tomato juice to cover meat. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes in covered casserole dish at 375. It takes every minute of that time or the rice isn’t tender.

Goulash
1 lb. hamburger (browned)
1 small onion
Add:
1 C. cooked macaroni
2 C. tomato juice
1 T. sugar
Salt to taste


Quick Beef Stroganoff
1 lb. hamburger (browned)
1 or 2 C. noodles (cooked)
1 can cream of whatever soup
¼ C. milk

Hamburger Corn Bread Casserole
1 lb. hamburger (browned)
Onions and Green peppers if desired.
Add:
2 T. catsup
1 t. chili powder
1 t. salt
1 can tomato soup
Mix. Pour into casserole dish.
Top with unbaked prepared Jiffy corn bread mix. If you find a better recipe for corn bread let me know. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes. This is easy to underbake, then the cornbread is doughy and that’s gross so be careful

MAC Soup
1 lb. hamburger
1 onion (chopped. About ½ C.)
1 green pepper (chopped)
Brown first three ingredients. Add:
Seasoning packet from 1 pkg. Chili Tomato Hamburger Helper (It may have a different name now???). Mix well. Add:
5 C. water
Macaroni from Hamburger Helper
1 t. chili powder
½ t. garlic salt
¼ t. salt
1 lb. can of whole tomatoes
1 c. Black olives (halved)
1 can corn
Simmer until macaroni is tender, around 10 minutes.

Ham & Potato & Cheese Casserole
Leftover ham cubed (any amount)
Cooked cubed potatoes (any amount)
Cubed Velveeta cheese (any amount)
Milk to thin cheese
Combine all in saucepan. Heat until cheese is melted.

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Fast, Delicious Sweets

Connealy Crunch
2 pounds (about a package and a half) Almond Bark (melted)
Melt in microwave 1 ½ minutes. Stir. Melt 1 ½ minutes. That should be enough. You might need slightly longer. Almond bark doesn’t lose its shape when it melts so you have to stir it to see if it’s enough. Add:
3 C. Captain Crunch Peanut Butter Cereal
3 C. miniature marshmallows
3 C. Rice Krispies
3 C. mixed nuts
Spread out on waxed paper. Let cool. Break into bite sized pieces.

Baby Ruth Bars
½ C. white sugar
½ C. brown sugar
1 C. white syrup
Mix together in sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Boil one minute. Add:
1 C. peanut butter
Mix thoroughly. Pour over:
6 C. cornflakes
1 C. peanuts
Press into 9 x 13 pan.
Frosting:
1 C. chocolate chips
1 C. butterscotch chips
Melt in microwave. 1 ½ minutes, then stir. 1 minute then stir. Should be enough.
Spread over cornflake mixture.

Road To Romance Review

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My first on-line book review for Petticoat Ranch has appeared. And they liked it!