Confetti Cornbread Salad

This salad looks and sounds a little interesting but it tastes really good. It makes a large bowl so I make it for potlucks or company.

1 box Jiffy Cornbread (prepared as directed on box)
10 slices bacon (crumbled)
2 cans Pinto Beans (drained)
1 can Black Beans (drained)
2 cans corn (drained)
1 red pepper, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
3-4 medium tomatoes, chopped ( I use roma)
½ cup green onions, chopped
2 cups cheese, grated
cilantro (opt.)

Dressing
1 cup sour cream
1 cup mayo
1 packet dry Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing

Mix all of the above ingredients. Crumble the cornbread with your hands into fine grain. Add the dressing last and mix.

Olive Garden Salad and Dressing

I made this for some women that came over to my house and it was a HIT!

Olive Garden Salad Mix - CopyCat

1 bag American Blend Dole Salad
4-5 slices Red Onion
4-6 Black Olives
2-4 Banana Peppers
1/2 cup Croutons
1 small Tomato quartered
Freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
Olive Garden Salad Dressing (see recipe below)

Chill one salad bowl in freezer for at least 30 minutes. Place bag of salad in bowl. Place on top of lettuce red onion, black olives, banana peppers, tomatoes, and croutons. Add some freshly grated Parmesan cheese if you like, and add plenty of Olive Garden Salad Dressing on top.

Olive Garden Salad Dressing - CopyCat
1/2 cup Mayonnaise
1/3 cup White Vinegar
1 tsp. Vegetable Oil2 Tbsp.
Corn Syrup2 Tbsp. Parmesan Cheese
2 Tbsp. Romano Cheese
1/4 tsp. Garlic Salt - or one clove garlic minced
1/2 tsp. Italian Seasoning
1/2 tsp. Parsley Flakes
1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
Sugar (optional)
Mix all ingredients in a blender until well mixed. If this is a little to tart for your own personal tastes please add a little extra sugar.

Chewy Apple Squares

¼ C margarine
½ C brown sugar
½ C white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
Melt margarine. Beat in sugars, egg, and vanilla.

Stir in:
1 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp cinnamon
½ C chopped tart apple
¼ - ½ C chopped walnuts

Spread in greased 8x8 pan. Sprinkle with a mixture of cinnamon/sugar. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.
These are yummy alone but I like to add ice cream and caramel for company.

Red Chicken Enchiladas

2-3 chicken breasts cooked and shredded

8 oz package cream cheese

1 C salsa (I like Pace Picante, medium)

Mix together. Spread on flour tortilla shells. Roll.

(I usually use 2 normal size chicken breasts and it will make about 8 saucy enchiladas)

1 can Rosarita enchilada sauce (10 oz)

1 small can tomato sauce

Mix together and pour a little in bottom of 9x13 dish. Pour the rest over tortillas and sprinkle with cheese. Bake 375 for 15 minutes or till hot and bubbly. Can serve with lettuce.

Sweet 'n' sour chicken

Preheat oven to 325.

Ingredients:

1/2 to 1 pound uncooked chicken, cut into chunks. (I think 3 large chicken breasts work great!)

1 t. garlic salt

1/2 t. black pepper

1 beaten egg

4-6 T. cornstarch

Sweet and Sour Sauce

3/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. vinegar

1/2 c. chicken broth

3 1/2 T ketchup

1 T soy sauce

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1 bell pepper

1 onion

1/2 can pineapple chunks.

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Directions

In medium bowl, combine garlic salt, pepper, egg and cornstarch. Coat chicken pieces in this mixture and brown chicken in skillet with 1 T. oil.

In separate bowl, mix sugar, vinegar, chicken stock, ketchup and soy sauce until well blended. Pour into 9x13 pan. Add browned chicken and veggies to pan and stir slightly to coat chicken. Bake for 1 hour, turning chicken halfway through cooking time. Add pineapple when there are only five minutes left until finished.

Fruit 'n' Nut Tossed Salad

Dressing:

1/4 c. olive oil

2 T. plus 2 t. sugar

2 T. white vinegar

1 T. parsley

1/4 t. salt

dash hot pepper sauce

whisk and refrigerate.

Salad:

toast 1 c. pecan halves in 2 T. butter in a skillet for a couple min. then sprinkle with 4 T. sugar and cook a couple more min. pour onto a greased, foil-lined baking sheet to cool.

4 c. torn,fresh spinach

4 c. torn romaine

1 can manderine oranges, drained

2 celery ribs, chopped

1 c sliced fresh strawberries

4 green onions, shopped

just before serving, drizzle with dressing, toss to coat and top with pecans.

makes 8-10 servings

i got this recipe from taste of home -- but i just used bagged salad (although i'm sure it would've been way better with the kind it calls for), and i didn't have any hot sauce so i used a (very small) dash of my garlic chile sauce. it still was yummy. you'll come to know that i am the queen of improvising in recipes. i don't like to have to wait to make something until i go buy all the special ingredients. also: funny how the pictures in the recipe book looked way better than the one i took.

Beef Taco Skillet

One of Matt's favorite, SUPER EASY AND SUPER GOOD!

1 lb ground beef
1 can (10 ¾ oz) tomato soup
1 c chunky salsa
½ c water
8 flour tortillas (8 inch) cut into 1 inch pieces
1 c shredded cheddar cheese

Brown beef, strain off fat. Add soup, salsa, water, tortillas and half of the cheese. Heat to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat 5 minutes or until hot. Top with remaining cheese.

Yields 4

Tostada Pizza

We love the tostada pizza at California Pizza Kitchen and this was our best duplication with what ingredients we had on hand.

My favorite bean dip:

3 cans of beans -- any kind you like (black, ranch, kidney, whatever) undrained
1 can corn - drained
chopped tomatoes
1 packet Good Seasons Italian dressing -- made up

this is good with tortilla chips or pita chips, but -- since it makes a lot -- I always just make it w/ one can of beans(black) and 1/2 - 1 whole can corn and just poured some light Italian dressing from the bottle. ('cause I didn't have any mix)

Tostada pizza:

make the crust -- and i like to put a little olive oil down on the pan and then cornmeal. spread crust with ranch dressing and a little motzerella cheese and bake til done. then top with however much bean dip it takes, choped lettuce (pre-tossed w/ ranch if you like) and some more motz cheese if desired, and crumbled-up tortilla chips. avacado is good on it too.

My favorite Pizza Crust Recipe: (obtained from a '70's "how to make the best pizza crust video" -- must be credible)

Soak for 7 min:
1 T. yeast
1 3/4 c. warm water
pinch sugar

add:
1/8 c. sugar
1 T. oil
1/2 T. salt
2 c. flour

mix on high with mixer for 5 min. or so -- it will be soupy
stir in 2-3 c. more flour (only as much as it needs) and knead 8-10 min
let rest in oil-coated bowl, covered, for 10 min.
shape, top , bake 15-20 min at 425 til bottom of crust is done. makes 2, 15" crusts.

Super deLISHious Turkey Burgers

These are so yummy!

2 lbs. ground turkey
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 c. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained.
1 t. garlic powder
1/4 t. pepper
1/2 t. salt
2 T. worcestershire sauce

Mix all ingredients together. Make burger patties. Grill. Then make up your burgers however you normally would. We *love* ours on ciabatta rolls. Super delish.

(This makes about 6 man-size burgers.)

PS - I was going to take a picture tonight of these - but we had the missionaries over for dinner and I thought that would be kind of weird. Will take picture of my next creation. ;)

*Edited to add picture (yeah, we had leftovers tonight. ;))

Flank Steak/Tri-tip marinade

This is my favorite marinade for flank steak and Tri-tip. It's easy and delicious! I usually double it for Tri-tip.

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 Teaspoon garlic salt
small handful of fresh parsley

Mix everything in a small bowl. Pour over meat in ziplock bag at least 6 hours prior to grilling.

Welcome!

Yay! I'm so excited to get this blog started! I know that for me it is sometimes so hard to come up with something new to cook. Hopefully we can contribute to this frequently and also comment on recipes if we made them and liked them, etc. Pictures would be great too. I am imagining that taking pictures of food is much more challenging than taking pictures of people, but it would be fun to see what things look like. If you don't want to take the pictures - no big deal. So - welcome to the Come Hungry! blog.

La Madeleine's Tomato-Basil Soup

This recipe is so good. When I made it I cut it down by 1/4. This recipe is for a serving of 8. Now I don't usually like tomato soup, but this is so good. I didn't have fresh basil leaves, so I used just basil seasoning. And if you don't have heavy cream, you could use milk. DELICIOUS! (Sadie liked it too, which says a lot)

Ingredients:
4 cups tomatoes, peeled, cored and chopped, or canned whole tomatoes, crushed
4 cups tomato juice OR part tomato juice and part vegetable or chicken stock
14 washed fresh basil leaves
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 pound sweet, unsalted butterSalt to taste
1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper

Directions:
Combine tomatoes, juice/and or stock in saucepan. Simmer 30 minutes. Puree, along with the basil leaves, in small batches, in blender, food processor (or better yet, one of those handy hand-held food blenders, right in the cooking pan). Return to saucepan and add cream and butter, while stirring, over low heat. Garnish with basil leaves and serve with your favorite bread. Optional: Sprinkle with cheese.

Pink Stuff

This is a great "kids" recipe. Got it from my mother-in-law Terry! So yummy!

PINK STUFF

Need :
2 boxes of Rasberry (sp?) Jell-o (no Sugar-free stuff)
2 Rasberry Yogurts
2 tubs of Cool Whip (regular size)

Mix Jello using Jello directions, and refridgerate. When almost set (approx 2-3 hours depending on your fridge temp.) Use hand mixer to blend in yogurt and cool whip. Then put back in fridge for 3-4 hours.

Whenever I make this, I make it the night before, so it is good and set.

Garnish with a couple of rasberries and mint leaves.

So yummy and SWEET! Enjoy!