hidden art recipes

Easy and Inexpensive Meal Ideas

2009-09-16T19:19:00.000-07:00

Most of these are great for groups.

Chili: A big pot of chili, especially if you make it with dry beans, can go a long way! Add a bit of shredded cheese, hot sauce, and sour cream on the side and your set!

Meatball Soup: A big pot of meatball soup with broth and veggies with hot dinner rolls, shredded cheese, and sour cream to make complete.

French Onion Soup: Lots of onions, beef broth, seasonings, french bread, and cheese.

Chili Hot Dogs: Buns, hot dogs, chili, onions, relish, cheese.

Spaghetti and Salad: Spaghetti with a little meat in the sauce, seasoned well, with a Caesar salad and dinner rolls

Chicken Noodle Soup: from scratch chicken noodle soup with dinner rolls

Taco salad: chili beans with a little meat and all the fixings

Homemade pizza: pizza dough, sauce, toppings, and cheese

Fettuccine Alfredo: cream cheese, milk, sour cream, Parmesan cheese, barely steamed broccoli, chicken breast (optional), and fettuccine pasta.

Baked Ziti: super yummy and a bit easier and cheaper than lasagna. makes a lot!

Chicken Dumplings: crock pot chicken with homemade rolled/cut dumplings a little sour cream on the side

Spanish Rice: rice, a bit of meat, tomato sauce, green peppers, onions, seasonings

Lentil Soup with cornbread: follow directions on lentils package, add stewed tomatoes and caramelized onions for more flavor.

Beef Stroganoff: a bit of slow cooked beef (tough cuts are fine), thin slice chunks, egg noodles, sour cream, mushroom soup, mozzarella cheese, etc.

Spinach Dhal: Cheap, healthy Indian meal with rice

Zesty Chicken Tortilla Soup: 6 ingredients thrown together

Breakfast for Dinner Meals

Biscuits and Gravy: canned or homemade biscuits, sausage, flour, and milk, etc.

Texas Hash: sauted onions, green pepper, olives, chopped tomatoes, with eggs. scramble in a large skillet, topped with cheddar and covered, until cheese melt. serve with toast and fresh fruit

Breakfast casserole: bread, milk, eggs, cheese, sausage, and optional extras.

Easy Sides:

Italian green beans: italian green beans, olive oil, salt/pepper, sugar. boil and reduce.

Mac n Cheese: easy and cheap.

Baked beans: out of can

Corn pudding: cheap comfort food, heats up well.

Caesar Salad: romaine lettuce, croutons, parmesan, and croutons (onions, optional)

Sweet Peas: out of can or hot with butter, salt, and a pinch of sugar

French fries: frozen bag of fries, baked and hot

Spiced Potato Wedges: bag of potatoes, with plenty of spice and olive oil, baked hot.

Steamed Cabbage: steam or bake wedges. add butter, salt/pepper to taste. (pinch of sugar, good too)

Amish Sweet Bread

2009-03-12T09:13:00.000-07:00

Amish Sweet Bread

2 cups warm water
1/2 to 2/3 cup white sugar (depending on how sweet you want it)
1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
6 cups bread flour (all-purpose works fine)

1. In a large bowl, pour in the warm water and add the sugar, then stir in yeast. Let it "proof" by letting it set on the counter until it becomes a bit foamy (about 10 minutes).

NOTE: "Proofing" the yeast mixture is not really as necessary with Rapid Rise Yeast, as long as the yeast is not old and has been stored well.

2. Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time until it is nicely mixed.

3. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elasticy . Place in a well oiled bowl and turn the dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap. Let it rise until it doubles in bulk (about 1 hour).

4. Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes, then cut in half with a smooth blade knife. Shape into loaves and place into two well-oiled 9×5 inch loaf pans. Cover loosely with oil-sprayed plastic wrap. Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.

NOTE: If you want a matte finish like the bread above, leave as is. For a glossy finish, brush with a whisked mixture of one whole egg and 1 1/2 tsp. salt

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Once it comes out of the oven, let it set for 3-4 minutes in the pan, until placing it on a cooling rack. Bread can be eaten warm or left until room temp, before wrapping it in plastic wrap to keep soft and moist.

Enjoy!

Homemade Ciabatta

2009-03-09T10:48:00.000-07:00

There is something so profoundly earthy about baking your own bread from scratch. We decided to bake some artisan bread, Italian style. Ciabatta, has a light, crispy crust and a soft and chewy inside. Yum!

I'm thinking about making our next batch into smaller rounds for bread bowls...brimming with broccoli cheddar soup!

Amazing Cake Woman and Pastry Hero

2009-02-06T13:06:00.000-08:00

I am amazed at what this woman can do with cakes! Talk about time consuming and difficult work, not to mention outstanding creativity.

**Update: Now I see where she learned the genius! Can these actually be cakes?!

apricots & c-berries as they were meant to be

2009-01-03T23:31:00.000-08:00

Okay, as promised here are a few photos from one of my recent holiday recipes, originally made as a moist breakfast cake alongside steaming coffee, it disappeared faster than a bag of m&m's in a room full of hungry 3rd graders.

fresh cranberries (tart!)
fresh orange zest (zesty!)

the essentials

Hot out of the oven....Apricot-Cranberry Cake with Orange-Ginger Zest!
side note: this turned out tart and sweet and i cannot wait to make it again. will be typing up recipe very soon...currently now handwritten in my recipe notebook.

Pizza Casserole

2008-09-16T19:36:00.000-07:00

This is so simple, cheap and filling. This is such a filling dinner that a 13 x 9 pan, gave our family of 4, three nights of dinner plus my husband taking it in his lunch.
# 3 boxes generic Mac-n-cheese (prepared as directed)
# 1 jar spaghetti sauce (use the smaller size jar)
# 1/2 lb. sliced pepperoni
# 1 lb. shredded mozzarella cheese

While mac-n-cheese is still in pan (already prepared as directed) pour in the jar of spaghetti sauce and mix thoroughly. When you make 3 boxes at one time, the water does get a bit white and starchy, but it won't affect the outcome.

In a 9 x 13 pan, pour in 1/2 of the mac-n-cheese & sauce mixture and spread to cover bottom of pan. Top that with a single layer of pepperoni, and sprinkle 1/2 of mozzarella cheese on. Then spread the other half of the mac-n-cheese mixture carefully over the bottom layer. Again layer pepperoni and cheese.
Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbling. Serve this with dinner rolls or garlic bread for a really great meal. It will feed a lot so it's great for a family gathering or group. It's amazing and tasted just like pizza, so kids will love it as well!

Zesty Chicken Tortilla Soup

2008-09-16T19:25:00.000-07:00

Delicious, cheap and EASY zesty soup recipe that uses only 6 canned ingredients! Serve over tortilla chips, and top with shredded Cheddar cheese. Throw away the cans and no one will know that it is not from scratch!

Ingredients:

1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained

1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 (10 ounce) can chunk chicken

1 (15 ounce) can black beans (rinsed)

1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers, drained

Directions:

Open the cans of corn, chicken broth, soup, chunk chicken, black beans, and diced tomatoes with green chilies. Pour everything into a large saucepan or stock pot. Simmer over medium heat until chicken is heated through.

(from commenter on thriftfun.com)

Spinach Dhal

2008-09-16T18:00:00.000-07:00

1 onion, chopped
1 tin chopped tomatoes
red lentils - about 3 handfuls
spinach - I use frozen, but fresh is just as good - just don't add it til the end.
ready curry paste

Fry the onion til soft, add the curry paste or spices and stir in for about a minute. Add the lentils and stir again. Add the tomatoes & one can (rinse the tom. tin) of water. Cover and simmer for about 30 mins. Add the spinach about halfway through. Add more water if need be, but try not to stir too much or the lentils will go mushy. Serve with rice. Mmmm.