Recipe Round-Up 3/10/09

When Scribe wrote our first family newsletter, he included a column called "Recipe Round-Up." So, that's what we'll call these posts when we share several new recipes that we love. This past week, we managed to try out three new ones, and they were all well-liked.

This first one was actually inspired by Caity and Marissa. When they came over as mother's helpers, they generously left me a bag of shell macaroni. When I was making tacos one evening, I was searching for something different to make with the meal for our not-so-picky-eaters. I found a great recipe on Allrecipes called "Taco Bake" which used shell macaroni. I've changed the recipe so much that we'll call it "A Little Bit of This and A Little Bit of That Taco Bake." :) (no connection, of course, to our Little Bit..) Scribe and Mountain Man especially enjoyed this, and now we have even more variety for our Mexican dinner nights.

1 lb. taco meat

8 oz. pkg. of shell macaroni, cooked and drained

1 small onion, chopped

1 (15 ounce) can of tomato sauce

1-1/2 c. frozen corn

1 can diced tomatoes (14.5 ounces), undrained

1 can black beans

1 can (4 ounces) diced green chilies

2 c. shredded Mexican cheese, divided

Mix all ingredients, except for 1/2 c. of the cheese, together and pour into a greased 2-1/2 qt. baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until heated through.

***

The next two recipes came from a series of cookbooks that are as beautiful as they are full of great recipes. The first adds some variety to our baked potato nights when we make a meal of potatoes and salad. Here's Mountain Man's official review of "Garden Stuffed Potatoes"...

"Oh my!" "MMMM....Man!" Need I say more?

4 russet potatoes

2 T. butter

1 small onion, chopped

1 c. chopped cooked broccoli

1/2 c. ranch salad dressing

1 c. shredded cheddar cheese

kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Bake potatoes. Slice off potato tops, scoop out pulp, keeping skins intact. Mash pulp in medium bowl. Melt butter in small skillet over medium heat, add onion, and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the onion, broccoli, salad dressing, and cheese to the potato pulp. Mix well. Spoon into shells and season with salt and pepper. Bake potatoes at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes or until heated through. (I bake our potatoes for an hour at 450....the author suggests piercing the potatoes, spraying them with vegetable oil spray, and microwaving for 15 minutes. Then, bake in oven at 425 degrees for an additional 15 minutes.)

~from Goodness Gracious by Roxie Kelley and Shelly Reeves Smith

This next recipe satisfies the sweet tooth. I made a version of this "no bake" cookie before, and it was terribly dry and crumbly, but this recipe was great. (If they don't harden enough to your liking, you can try refrigerating them for a bit.) Mountain Man, who isn't a chocolate fan, even enjoyed these since they have oatmeal, and there was a rumor circulating in the Poff home that Scribe was stashing some away....

"No Bake Cookies"

2 c. sugar

1/4 c. cocoa

1/2 c. milk

1/2 c. margarine (I used butter)

1/2 tsp. vanilla

pinch of salt

1/2 c. peanut butter

3 c. rolled oats

Mix sugar, cocoa, milk and butter in a saucepan. Stir over medium heat until it boils. Remove from heat and cool for one minute. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto wax paper, allowing to cool completely before removing.

~ from Just a Matter of Thyme by Roxie Kelley and Shelly Reeves Smith

***all of Ms. Kelley's cookbooks can be found at Amazon.com