Simple & Delicious No Bake Enchilada Pie

I really love simple ingredients... they make the best meals!  I fixed this simple No Bake Enchilada Pie using meat left over from our Football Taco night yesterday.  I love getting two meals out of one....that makes me a happy momma!  I love that this recipe does not call for baking and it is so simple and delicious that it tastes as if you spent hours in a hot kitchen :-)

Simple & Delicious No Bake Enchilada Pie

1lb of Ground Turkey or Beef

1 Packet of Taco Seasoning (I use my homemade taco seasoning)

1 Onion Diced

1 Can of Mushroom Soup

1 Can of Diced Tomatoes with Chili Peppers

1 Can of Tomato Sauce

Bag of Spicy Doritos (you won’t need the entire bag)

1 Cup of Shredded Cheddar Cheese

1 Small Can of Sliced Black Olives

Cook up your meat (drain if it is ground beef) then add your taco seasoning and mix well, add chopped onion, soup, diced tomatoes and tomato sauce and mix well and cook until mixture bubbles.  Add Doritos by pushing them into the meat mixture until you can’t add any more, turn heat to low and let simmer for 10 minutes or until Doritos are soft then turn off heat.  Sprinkle cup of cheese on top and then sliced olives and cover,  let sit for 5 minutes until it firms up.  Serve with sour cream or sub sour cream for plain yogurt and sprinkle with a little lettuce.

Homemade Black Bean Burgers

 I at least try to prepare one or two meatless meals throughout the week for my family.  I am not a big fan of store bought bean burgers that are on the market so I decided to create my own.  With a few simple ingredients from my "Grandma's Pantry" and some added fresh veggies I was able to whip up this meatless meal for my family.

This black bean burger is flavorful and is a great replacement for a traditional burger.  Just add your traditional burger condiments to these burgers and be amazed at how good they taste!! 

Homemade Spicy Black Bean Burger

Black Beans (in a can or cooked dry black beans)
½ of each green, red, yellow and orange peppers diced
½ diced onion
2 cloves fresh garlic diced

Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Garlic powder to taste (not garlic salt)
Onion powder to taste
Cumin to taste
Chili powder to taste
Essence Spice (to taste) *link to recipe included below
1 medium egg
1 cup corn meal or so (just enough to thicken and make it dry)
1 cup flour or so (just enough to thicken and make it dry)
Olive Oil

Follow directions on the package of dry beans plus add a half onion. If using can beans rinse the beans. Once the beans are cooked, mash them into they turn into a thick paste.

Saute veggies in olive oil into they are translucent then add it to mashed beans, season it and add egg and mix then add corn meal, flour (make sure the mixture is a little thick and dry but not too much) To make the patties take a spoonful of mixture and roll into a ball and place on a oiled baking sheet and then press down with your palm (you may need to wet your hands in between rolling the mixture into balls) and oil a baking dish and bake in oven (turn periodically so that they don’t stick or burn to the pan)

You can fry these if you choose in olive oil.

You can get the recipe for the Essence Seasoning Here
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/emerils-essence-creole-seasoning-recipe2/index.html

Plain Eggless Muffins

 My family love these eggless muffins, they are soooo delicious and are the perfect cure to having a homemade baked good when you don’t have any eggs.  These muffins use simple ingredients, so you probably already have most of these ingredients in your own “Grandma’s Pantry”.   I like to add a cream cheese frosting (recipe included) to these moist and just plain ol good muffins!

Plain Eggless Muffins 
2 cups of flour
1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Salt

1 Cup of Sugar
1 1/2 Teaspoons of Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon of Nutmeg
1 1/2 Cups of Whole
1 Tablespoon of White Vinegar
1/3 Cup of Canola Oil
1 1/2 Teaspoons of Vanilla Extract (the real stuff)

Mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl and whisk well. In another bowl mix all wet ingredients and whisk well...then pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix well. Pour batter into oiled muffin pan or muffin liners and bake at 375 degrees until when inserted with a fork or toothpick it comes out clean.

Cream Cheese Frosting

3 tbl spoons of softened butter
1/4 cup of cream cheese
1/4 cup of powdered sugar
Sprinkle of salt
1 to 2 tsp of Vanilla Extract (the real stuff)

Cream butter and sugar together then add cream cheese and cream all together, add sprinkle of salt and vanilla extract and cream together until smooth and fluffy.  Spread over your eggless muffin and enjoy!

Simple Russian Tea Cookies

 With my “Grandma’s Pantry” I am able to whip up yummy treats that are simple in ingredients but BIG on TASTE!  I SO love simple recipes that have great taste and require little time to whip up and these little darlings most definitely fit the bill. 

Russian Tea Cookies  

  2 sticks of butter

   1 teaspoon vanilla extract

   7 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

   2 cups all-purpose flour

   1 cup chopped walnuts (I used Almonds from out out of the mixed nuts can and crushed them very small) It was the only thing I had

1/3 cup confectioners' sugar for decoration 

*I added White Chocolate chips to the last bit of mixture I had and it came out DELICIOUS! I needed to find something to use my White Chocolate for.

1.   Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). 

2.   In a medium bowl, cream butter and vanilla until smooth. Combine the 6 tablespoons confectioners' sugar and flour; stir into the butter mixture until just blended. Mix in the chopped walnuts. Roll dough into 1 inch balls, and place them 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven. When cool, roll in remaining confectioners' sugar. I also like to roll mine in the sugar a second time.

Grandma’s Pantry

When I was younger I remember looking into my grandma’s pantry and cupboards and wondered to myself…”how was she going to feed everyone when there seem to be nothing to fix?”  When dinner time came I was amazed to see all the yummy food before me, she seemed to have whipped it up out of thin air…because I did not see any of those yummy things in her pantry or cupboard when I looked inside of it.

That is what you call being a industrious woman in the kitchen!  I now have my own “Grandma’s Pantry”…I have worked hard over the years to get to that point and it has been so rewarding because I can fix just about any good simple recipe in a minutes notice.

With a few important ingredients on hand in my pantry I can fix several healthy fulfilling home cooked meals. 

I don’t buy a lot of convenience food because they tend to be expensive and not very healthy to eat everyday especially if you also like to visit the restaurants once a week.  There are a lot of ingredients in those foods that are NOT HEALTHY at all and you pay in more ways then one when you stock up on convenience foods.  I have learned how to make a lot of the convenience foods from scratch and I store them for future use.  I save a lot of money on my grocery bill by doing this, plus they are healthier this way.

I LOVE TACOS!! It is my favorite food but I do not spend a $1 or whatever the cost is for a packet of taco seasoning.  I make my own homemade taco seasoning with (salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, paprika, dried onions, sugar, oregano, cumin).  I have total control of the taste and salt content of my seasonings.  The best part is I am able to use some of the same ingredients for my Chili Seasonings, Spaghetti Sauce, Seasoning of Meats, Stews, and Soups etc.  I could not do all of that if I was to purchase a taco seasoning packet, I would need to purchase more pre-packaged or pre-made foods to accomplish chili seasoning, spaghetti sauce, stews etc.

So as you can see you get less then what you pay for when you purchase convenience foods.

 I also do not use recipes that require me to purchase an item that I would only use for that specific recipe …ex: Dry Sherry, Hollandaise sauce.  These would not be beneficial to me and my dinner preparations because I would only use them once for that specific recipe.  I fix simple meals and use recipes that use simple ingredients it ensures that my food bill stays low.

With adopting the “Grandma’s Pantry” cooking techniques, I spend less money on my grocery bills and feed a family of 5 for $250 - $400 a month.  I use what I have and I have learned how to substitute certain things with what I have in my pantry.   

I will be posting more information on how to make your grocery bill dollars stretch without having to use coupons to save money.  I will also talk about the possible pitfalls of using coupons in a later post.

You can find out some of the ingredients I keep in my “Grandma’sPantry” by clicking the link.