Bisquick Mix

Save money and make your own bisquick mix! I love this because I never use a full box of bisquick mix before I need to toss it.

• 4 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup shortening

Combine dry ingredients in a food processor and pulse a few times to mix. Add shortening and pulse until it is combined with the dry ingredients.

Use as you would regular Bisquick mix! Check out Betty Crocker's website for tons of recipes.

Shepard's Pie

This is a really easy meal that you can prep the day (or two) before and pop it in the oven when you get home. I usually defrost about a pound and a half of ground beef and make something like tacos with part of it and Shepard's Pie with the other part. I've even gotten away with 1/2 pound of ground beef in this recipe. Or, you could make a double batch of the meat mixture and freeze for later but do not freeze mashed potato, it doesn't fare well.

Adapted from Simply Recipes

• 1 lb of ground beef, or a little less if you do what I do above.
  
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 cups vegetables - chopped carrots, corn, peas, green beans... whatever you have.
  
• 2 tablespoons butter
  
• 1/2 cup beef broth
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 - 3 cups or so of mashed potatoes, I cheat and use instant (ssshhh). You could make it from scratch and you'll need about 4 potatoes depending on their size.
  
• Salt, pepper, other seasonings of choice

Cook the ground beef and drain the fat off, set aside. In the same pan melt your butter and saute your onions until tender. Add back the ground beef and stir in the vegetables. If you are using carrots add them when you start the onions, any other veggies are added after the onions are cooked. Add salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and beef broth. Simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes, longer if carrots need to cook more.

Transfer meat mixture to a baking dish and top with mashed potatoes. Cook in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes and then turn the broiler on for 3-5 minutes to brown the potatoes.

Serves 4 - 6 generous portions.

Pumpkin Banana Bread

This is moist and delicious AND low fat :)

Ingredients

• 3-4 very ripe bananas
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree

Mash banana's in a bowl. Beat the egg and add to banana mixture, mix well. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake at 325 degrees for 50-60 minutes.

If you just want regular pumpkin bread use 3 tablespoons of applesauce + 2 tablespoons melted butter in place of the pumpkin puree.

Chocolate Pumpkin Biscotti

My first attempt making biscotti and holy cow that was easy! I cannot believe I've ever paid nearly a dollar a piece for these things at coffee shops. Never again! I found this lovely fall version on Simply Recipes and because I've never made biscotti I didn't get brave so no alterations. Well, other than I used crystallized ginger because that's what I had. Oh, yeah, and the chocolate. They looked lonely without chocolate. I just melted some in a double boiler and spread over the tops of my biscotti. I threw them in the fridge to set.



It is not too early for Christmas. Ever.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups of flour
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
• Pinch of ginger
• Pinch of cloves
• Pinch of salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup of pumpkin purée
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Method

1 Preheat oven to 350°F. Sift together the flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, and spices into a large bowl.

2 In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin purée, and vanilla extract. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture. Give it a rough stir to generally incorporate the ingredients, the dough will be crumbly.

3 Flour your hands and a clean kitchen surface and lightly knead the dough. Lightly grease a baking sheet or line it with parchment paper. Form the dough into a large log, roughly about 15-20 inches by 6-7 inches. The loaves should be relatively flat, only about 1/2 inch high. Bake for 22-30 minutes at 350 F, until the center is firm to the touch. (Feel free to also form two smaller logs for cute two-bite biscotti; just cut the baking time to 18-24 minutes.)

So, when they say "log" they are using the term very loosely. Actually, I think they don't want people to know to make biscotti so they can continue to charge $1 a cookie. By log they really mean a rounded, 1/2" thick, rectangle. Like so:

Ignore my baking pan, it's been loved... a lot. This is after the first baking process so you can see how to cut the biscotti too, on a bias.

4 Let biscotti cool for 15 minutes and then using a serrated knife cut into 1 inch wide pieces. Turn the oven to 300 F and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes. Cool completely.

Biscotti may be still a tad moist and chewy, so if you prefer it crisp let it sit uncovered overnight in a dry space. Serve and enjoy.

Makes approximately 15 cookies.

Simply delicious pancakes

Everyone needs a simple pancake recipe. This one is very good and produces very fluffy pancakes that just soak up the syrup. Throw some bacon in the oven (375 for about 25 minutes) and you've got a wonderful breakfast with very little effort... or clean up! This recipe is good for 2 adults and 2 small kids, double for more people.

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 1/4 cups milk

Beat egg. Stir in butter and milk. Combine flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder. Stir into egg mixture. Lightly grease a griddle. Heat griddle to medium heat and drop about 1/4 cup batter onto griddle. When bubbles begin to appear around outside edge and break, turn with a spatula and cook the other side. Serve with warm syrup and butter.

Poblano Corn Chowder AND Rice and Chicken Poblano Corn Soup

My husband loves this soup they have at Sams club, only it is a bit pricey for what you get. So, I set out to recreate it. The 2nd soup is the recreation, but I actually love the chowder version better. So, I'm posting both. You could totally do a hybrid of the two as well and do potato, rice, chicken AND bacon. It would be good :) I'd just add another cup of broth if I did that. Anyway, both were a hit so I'm posting both.

POBLANO CORN CHOWDER

• 2 cans corn, drained
• 1 can creamed corn
• 4 ounces bacon, diced
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 large poblano chili pepper, roasted and chopped
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 lb potato, peeled and diced. I've used yukon, red and yellow.
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh chives or thinly sliced scallions
• Pepper
• Salt

In a large stock pot cook your bacon until crisp. Remove the bacon and set aside in a medium sized bowl, reserving a small bit for toppings later. Leave about 2 tablespoons of bacon fat in the pot. Add the butter, onion, bell pepper, seasonings and cook until the onion and pepper are tender. Add the vegetable mixture to the bacon.

Place the corn kernels, potatoes and stock in the pot and turn the heat on high. Cover and boil for about 10 minutes. Use a hand blender to puree about 1/2 of the mixture, or to your desired consistency, leaving some potato chunks in tact.

Add the vegetable mixture, poblano pepper and creamed corn to the stock pot. Reduce the heat to medium low and season with salt and pepper. Allow to simmer for about 20 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in the cream.

Do not refrigerate until the chowder has cooled completely.

Serve with chopped chives, bacon bits and cheese.


RICE AND CHICKEN POBLANO CORN SOUP

• 1 can corn
• 2 cans creamed corn
• 6-8 ounces roasted chicken, cut into chunks.
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 large poblano chili pepper, roasted
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 cup uncooked long grain wild rice
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Pepper
• Salt

Cook the butter, onion, bell pepper, and seasonings in a large stock pot until onions and peppers are tender. Add, rice, poblano pepper, corn and stock to the pot and turn the heat on high. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low and put the lid on. Allow to simmer about 15 to 20 minutes.

Add the creamed corn and cook an additional 5 minutes on medium heat to thicken. Season with salt and pepper and remove from heat to add the cream.

Do not refrigerate until the chowder has cooled completely.

Serve with a corn tortilla or crushed tortilla chips and cheese.

Spanish Rice

This is my made up, on the fly Spanish rice. And, I use it to make a lot of different meals, which I will post about.

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked rice
• 1 medium onion, chopped (I like onions so I used a large one)
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 small green bell pepper, chopped
  
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (I used olive oil)
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1 cup salsa
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 can black beans
  

Directions

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add rice, green pepper, garlic and onion and cook (about 5-10 minutes) stirring occasionally, until rice is golden brown and onion is tender. Stir in remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally until rice is tender.


So... what can you do with this rice?

Well, you can use it as a side dish obviously and make Fajita's

Or, you can make a really simple and easy casserole. I use the leftovers to make a southwest chicken skillet casserole. I've never written down exactly what I do so I don't think a new entry is in order but basically...

Southwest Chicken Casserole

Take your left over rice and add 1/2 a cup to 1 cup of sour cream. Mix it up in a skillet. This isn't an exact science just mix it up to taste. Then add a can of corn to the mix. Then add some chicken. I usually use leftover chicken from another recipe but you could just grill some up real quick too and season it with taco or fajita seasoning or whatever you want. Then I warm it all up in a skillet and serve. It's pretty darn good.

Stuffed Peppers

Another thing you can do is mix the leftover rice with hamburger meat, a can of tomatoes and a can of corn. Stuff some bell peppers with the mix. Mix up some tomato sauce with a bit of brown sugar and pour that over the top of the peppers. Bake them in the oven at about 350 until tender.

Burritos
Obviously you can also make burritos with the rice. I just mix the rice with refried beans and cheese and heat. Roll mixture into tortillas and top with sour cream and diced tomatoes.

Chicken and Spanish Rice Soup

Any other favorites for using up leftover Spanish rice? Share them in the comments!