Omlet biscuit cups

Since 2.0 was born we've been a fan of these for breakfast. Easy to make and they reheat well. Can customize to how you like your eggs. :) I made another batch this morning. Now if I could just get to eat one... I have a baby wanting to sleep on me or take 10-20 min naps again today. recipe. posting from my iPhone, so hopefully my HTML skills made a link back there. ;)

Peanut Butter Cookies

These are pretty much the easiest peanut butter cookies ever.  My Grandmother's recipe. Makes about 3 dozen if you do 1 inch balls. 

Preheat to 350

1 cup white sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla

Few tsp of flour for fork. 

Mix ingredients with hands until combined.  Roll into in inch balls and put on cookie sheet a few inches apart. Flatten with floured fork (make criss cross pattern). Bake 10-12 min. 

quick & easy stroganoff

I made a basic beef stroganoff for dinner tonight. It wasn't as yummy as the kind Mom used to make (sadly I don't have that recipe) but it fit the bill of beef and hearty. I used the base of this recipe from all recipes, Simple Hamburger Stroganoff, and tweaked it to what I had on hand. Overall impression is "meh", needs more flavor, even more than what I added to it. I had to add more garlic pepper and was tempted to add salt too while I was eating it (though I crave salt lately so its probably fine). Won't go out of my way to make it again but for a quick hearty dinner it was good. And I have leftovers for a few more meals since my hubby and Dad are both out of town this week.

Simple Beef Stroganoff
6 servings

Ingredients
1 (16 ounce) package egg noodles
1 pound lean ground beef (I used 96/4 and it turned out well)
1 (.75 ounce) packet dry brown gravy mix
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
2 ounces water
1/2 cup milk
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed golden mushroom soup
minced onion & garlic pepper
Directions
1.Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add egg noodles and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2.In a skillet over medium heat, brown the ground beef until no pink shows; drain.
3.Mix brown gravy, cream cheese and mushrooms with hamburger until cream cheese has given the mixture a whitish look. Add milk and mushroom soup to beef mixture, season with garlic pepper and minced onion. Add sour cream to noodles and mix. Toss hamburger mixture with pasta until combined.

Pot Roast

This is how my Mom made pot roast. It's yummy, and pretty easy. My sister got the recipe from me at Christmas and then dropped the card behind her gas stove. I e-mailed her a copy but figured yet another place to store it would save me from copying it for her a 3rd time. You need an electric fry pan like this to make this, or you can attempt it with a large dutch oven or covered dish in the oven.

Pot Roast
Serves 4-8 (depending on roast size)

Ingredients:
Round bone pot roast or larger boneless roast
Garlic pepper
Minced onion
Parsley
Basil
Chives
Pinch of salt
1 tsp kitchen bouquet
Baby carrots
Red potatoes quartered/diced
4Tbsp flour
1 cup water

Directions:
Pam electric fry pan, set to 350*
Place meat in pan, season with spices. Brown. Flip and season again. Brown meat.
Turn heat down to 200-225* (slow simmer). Add at least 3 cups of water to pan (surround meat with water) and cover it. Keep an eye on water level and let it simmer a few hours. Add kitchen bouquet to water, add baby carrots. 30 min later add potatoes. Simmer about an hour. Take out veggies and put in bowl, remove meat. Tent both with tinfoil.
Make gravy in a gravy shaker or a jar. Add flour to cup of water, garlic pepper & basil to taste. Shake so that flour & water mix. Slowly add to base in pan until it thickens (slow boil). May need to turn up heat to thicken.

Alternate oven directions: Brown meat as directed. Place in dutch oven and cook at 325* for 2-3 hours. Add carrots & potatoes (watch liquid level) during the last hour in the oven.

If we have leftovers we usually toss in some peas & corn with the gravy, cut up meat, and leftover veggies and eat it as beef stew. It freezes well.

my favorite baked mac & cheese

About 5 years ago this was on Allrecipes, I'm glad I printed it off when I did because Kraft pulled it (was a Kraft recipe). It's also not on Kraft's website, they have one with the same name but different measurements/ingredients.

Down Home Macaroni and Cheese
6 servings

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter, divided
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp salt
2 cups milk
1/4 lb Velveeta, diced up into cubes
8oz shredded cheddar, divided
2 cups elbow macaroni, cooked & drained
2 Tbsp seasoned dry bread crumbs

Preheat to 350.

Melt 3 Tbsp butter in large saucepan on low heat. Blend in the flour & salt; cook and stir 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk; cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. Add prepared Velveeta cheese and 1 1/2 cups of the shredded cheddar; stir until melted. Stir in macaroni.

Pour into lightly greased 1 1/2 qt casserole. Melt remaining 1Tbsp butter and combine with breadcrumbs. (optional, I've just sprinkled the breadcrumbs straight with the cheese). Sprinkle casserole with remaining 1/2 cup cheddar and bread crumb mixture.

Bake @ 350 for 20 minutes, or until thoroughly heated.

Baked Potato Soup

This is another one of my Mom's recipes, so good :)

BAKED POTATO SOUP

4 large baked potatoes, peeled and cubed
12 slices of bacon (drained & crumbled), or 8oz of small cubed ham
4 green onions, chopped, or 2 tsp of dried chives
1/3 cup margarine or butter
1/3 cup all purpose flour
7 cups milk
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
6oz shredded cheddar cheese
6oz Velveeta, cubed
1 cup sour cream

In a stock pot or dutch oven, melt the margarine over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Gradually stir in milk, whisking constantly until thickened. Stir in potatoes and onions. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.

Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Mix in bacon, cheese, sour cream, salt, pepper. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until cheese is melted.

Curried Pot Pie

Thanksgiving is weeks away, but just thought I'd share one of my favorite things to do with leftover turkey (also works well with leftover roasted chicken). Everyone's got a favorite pot pie recipe but most are sort of bland, this one uses curry. My Mom and one of our neighbors back in the 80s came up with this one. It's been a family favorite forever.

POULTRY POT PIE

1pkg – 2 round Pie Crusts (like the pillsbury ones)
1 quart chicken stock
5 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 can evaporated milk
2-3 cups cooked chicken or turkey, diced
1 to 1 1/2 cups frozen bagged veggies (i.e. corn/peas/carrots/green beans)

Preheat oven to 450 F.

Melt butter in medium sauce pan; sauté garlic and onion until limp. Add the flour and whisk together forming a roux. Add the curry powder, garlic powder, and chicken stock and whisk until thickened. Add the evaporated milk. Keep sauce warm.

In a large bowl, combine poultry meat and frozen veggies. Pour two cups of sauce over the meat/veggies and mix well. Place one pie crust into a 9” glass pie plate. Poke holes in bottom and sides of crust. Pour in pie filling. Cover with the second pie crust and crimp edges to seal. Cut slits in top of pie crust for venting while baking.

Place pie on cookie sheet in the middle of oven and bake at 450 for 25 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and bake an additional 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand for 15 minutes prior to serving. Serve with additional warm sauce.