TACO MAC CASSEROLE

1lb. ground beef

1 packet taco seasoning

2/3 cup water

1 box macaroni and cheese

4 tablespoons butter or margarine

1/3 cup milk

1/3 cup sour cream

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup salsa

Brown ground beef in skillet, drain grease. Add taco seasoning and water and simmer until most liquid is absorbed.

Meanwhile, prepare macaroni and cheese according to box directions using the butter and milk. Stir in sour cream to the macaroni and cheese. Spread half of the macaroni and cheese on the bottom of a 2 quart baking dish. Top with meat and sprinkle 1/2 cup shredded cheese. Add second half of macaroni and cheese.

Cover and bake at 400 for 15 minutes. Remove foil and spread salsa over top. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup shredded cheese over salsa. Bake an additional 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

GLASS BLOCK JELLO

SERVES 15

4 3-oz jello

2 pkts unflavored gelatin

1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk

Spray 4 small food storage containers (like Tupperware/Gladware/Rubbermaid) with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

Bring 5+ cups of water to a boil. Combine 1 c. boiling water with 1 package of Jello, stirring until dissolved. Place the dissolved Jello in one of the prepared containers. Repeat with the remaining packages of Jello. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferable overnight.

When the Jello has set, bring another 1 1/2 c. of water to a boil. While the water is heating, sprinkle 2 packets of unflavored gelatin over 1/2 c. of cold water. Allow to stand for about 4 minutes. When the water is boiling, pour 1 1/2 c. boiling water over the dissolved gelatin and stir to combine. Add the sweetened condensed milk and mix well. Allow to come to room temperature.

Lightly spray a 9×13″ pan with non-stick cooking spray. Carefully cut the colored Jello into cubes and gently toss to combine in the 9×13″ pan. Pour the cooled milk mixture over the colored Jello and, if necessary, rearrange some of the colored Jello to make sure it is evenly distributed and not sticking out of the white mixture too far.

Place the 9×13″ pan in the refrigerator and chill overnight. Cut into squares, rectangles, or various shapes with cookie cutters and serve.

CRANBERRY SAUCE

12 ounces cranberries

1 cup white sugar (can use 1 cup stevia)

1 cup orange juice

1 cinnamon stick

1 small pinch of clove

In a medium sized saucepan over medium heat, dissolve the sugar in the orange juice. Stir in the rest of ingredients and cook until the cranberries start to pop (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat and place sauce in a bowl. Cranberry sauce will thicken as it cools. You may want to halve this recipe unless you have a lot of cranberry sauce eaters.

APPLE PIE IN A BAG

6-7 apples peeled and sliced thin

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 C sugar

1/4 C flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp nutmeg

2 tbsp butter cut into chunks

1. Place butter chunks in freezer.

2. In a gallon freezer bag mix all ingredients except apples, butter and lemon juice and shake until combined.

3. Coat apples in lemon juice. Discard extra lemon juice.

4. Add apples to bag and shake to coat.

5. Add butter.

6. Remove air and lay flat and freeze.

TO USE:

Remove bag from freezer and lay on counter for about an hour to 45 minutes to defrost or in refrigerator overnight. Squish bag to mix well and dump into pie shell. Either cover with top crust or add a crumb topping.

CRUMB TOPPING:

¾ cup rolled oats

½ cup flour

½ cup brown sugar

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp cinnamon

6 TBL butter

BAKE:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Bake with edges covered for 25 minutes. Uncover edges and return to oven for 20 minutes.

FREEZER APPLESAUCE

Makes 3 ½ - 4 cups (1 quart)

Doubles & Triples very good.

8 cups of washed, peeled & chopped & cored apples

2/3 c. water

2 TBL lemon juice or Fresh Fruit

CROCK POT INSTRUCTIONS

Fill 6 quart crock pot to the top with peeled, sliced and cored apples

Add 2/3 cup water, mixed with 2 TBL of lemon juice

Cook on low 4-5 hours, stirring about every 90 minutes. Once apples are falling apart, use stick blender to puree. Can add Brown sugar or cinnamon if desired.

STOVE TOP INSTRUCTIONS

Put everything into large pot. Cook on medium heat until soft enough to puree, about could be anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours depending how soft your apples were to start. Puree up with stick blender, traditional blender or food processer.

Place in freezer containers. Let cool before placing in freezer, or you can just eat it right away. Oh, and no need for sugar, but if you like really sweet applesauce add 1/4 cup of brown sugar after you get it all mashed and pureed up. Can add ½-1 tsp. cinnamon also.

BEAN WITH BACON SOUP

2 cups of dried navy, great north American or cannellini beans

10 strips of bacon, cut into tiny pieces
1 medium onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp. (or more) of fresh rosemary, chopped
4 cups chicken stock
1 tbsp. tomato paste

1/4 tsp. liquid smoke (optional)
Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Soak your beans overnight covered in water. Drain the next day and set aside.

2. In a large stockpot, add bacon to the pan and cook until bacon pieces are brown and crispy. Remove and let drain on a paper towel.

3. If there's a lot of bacon grease in the pan, dump out all but 3 tbsp. of it.

4. Saute onion, garlic, and carrots in the bacon grease until vegetables start to get tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the rosemary and cook for an addition 1 minute.

5. Gently pour in the chicken stock, drained beans and 5 strips of the bacon, crumbled. Whisk the tomato paste in until all has dispersed and incorporated into the soup. Add liquid smoke if using.

6. Bring mixture up to a boil then cover and let simmer gently for 45 minutes to an hour, stirring occasionally.

7. When the soup is ready, carefully use your immersion blender and gently pulse the bean mixture until a desired creamy texture is achieved. If you're worried about blending too much, you can always ladle out a few scoopfuls of beans, blend the soup, then add the beans back in. Really, it's all up to preference!

8. Serve hot with remaining bacon pieces on top.

BEEFY SOUR CREAM NOODLE CASSEROLE

1-1/4 pound Ground Beef

1 can 15-ounces Tomato Sauce

3/4 t Salt

1/2 t freshly ground Black Pepper

1/4 t Seasoning Salt (I love Johnny's)

1/2 t Garlic Powder
1/4 t Dried Minced Onion

8 ounces Egg Noodles (1/2 of a package)

1/2 cup Sour Cream

1-1/4 cup small curd Cottage Cheese

1/4 t Dried Minced Onion

1/4 t Seasoning Salt
1/4 t Garlic Powder

Freshly Ground Black Pepper

1 cup shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Brown ground beef until thoroughly cooked, drain fat from pan.

3. Stir in tomato sauce, salt, pepper, seasoning salt, garlic powder & minced onion.

4. Simmer on low until ready to use in casserole.

5. Cook egg noodles according to just under al-dente according to  package directions, drain.

6. In large bowl stir to combine: sour cream, cottage cheese, minced onions, garlic powder, seasoning salt & pepper. Add in cooked egg noodles, stir together.

7. In greased 13x9 assemble in layers. 1st layer 1/2 of noodle mixture, followed by 1/2 of meat mixture, and then 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar. Repeat all layers.

8. Bake 20-25 minutes until cheese is melted and heated through.

9. Serves 6

You can bake half now in an 8x8 pan and freeze half the meat mix, cheese, cream mix before you add noodles.

When ready to cook, prepare noodles, thaw frozen mixtures, assemble in an 8x8 and cook.