Cottage Pie

Ingredients:
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 onion, diced
3 carrots, diced
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 lb. shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. To make meat filling: Place a large skillet over medium heat. Crumble in ground beef and saute 1 minute. Add onion and carrot, then continue to saute until meat is no longer pink and onion begins to brown, about five minutes. Mix in flour, cinnamon, mixed herbs, and parsley.
3. In a small bowl, combine beef broth and tomato paste. Mix together, then add to beef mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste. Lower heat and simmer mixture for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until almost all of liquid has been absorbed. Spoon mixture into a 9 inch pie plate.
4. To make potato topping: Place diced potatoes in a medium saucepan. Cover with water and place over high heat. Allow to come to a boil. Boil for 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Drain.
5. Mash potatoes until smooth, then add butter or margarine, followed by milk. Whip until fluffy. Add salt and pepper to taste. Spread potatoes over beef filling. Sprinkle with grated cheddar cheese.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes, until top is browned and cheese is bubbly.

(Alternate instant potatoes for steps 4 &5 for a quicker preparation)

Hot fudge sauce (mom's)

1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. cocoa
1/2 c. canned milk
2 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla

Stir sugar and cocoa together in a sauce pan on stove over low heat. Don't let it melt! Add milk and butter. Bring to rapid boil for 2 minutes. Take off heat and add vanilla.

Yield: 2 cups

See's Fudge or Powdered sugar fudge

2 eggs well beaten
3 cups powdered sugar
pinch of salt
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 c. butter (one and a half cubes)
1 1/2 c semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Melt together: butter and chocolate chips.

Mix together: eggs, powdered sugar (one at a time), vanilla, and salt.

Add chocolate and butter mixture to egg mixture.

Pour into greased 9X9 pan and regrigerate 3-5 hours.

German pancakes

6 eggs
1 cup flour
1/2-1 cube margarine
1 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Put margarine in 9X13 pan. Put in oven to melt. Don't burn butter. Remove pan when buter is melted. Place eggs in mixing bowl and whip with an electric mixer. Add milk. Gradually add flour and salt. Continue to beat until oven reaches 425. Then pour quickly into pan. Put in oven for 20 minutes. Cut in squares and sprinkle with powdered sugar and syrup.

Mom's buttercream frosting

3 c. powdered sugar
1/2 cube butter
pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla or almond
4 Tbspt canned or regular milk as needed

Cafe Rio Tomatillo Dresing

1 pkg Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix
1 C Buttermilk
1 C Mayo
1 Tomatillo
1/2 Bunch of Cilantro
1 Clove of Garlic
1/2 Limes Juice
1/2 to 1 Small Jalepeno, seeds removed. For a little spicier add some of the seeds.

Blend all ingredients well in a food processor & refrigerate.

Pork Barbacoa (Cafe Rio)

If you throw all of this into your pressure cooker and cook for about 1.5 to 2 hours then it's much faster than using the crock pot the way this recipe suggests.

2 lbs. Pork
3 Cans of Coke or Dr. Pepper (not diet)
1/4 C. Brown Sugar
Dash of Garlic Salt
1/4 C. Water
1 Can Sliced Green Chilies
3/4 can Red Enchilada Sauce (I use whatever color sauce I have on hand and just use the whole can, it always is fine)
1 C. Brown Sugar

Put pork in a heavy Ziploc bag to marinate. Add a can and a half of coke and 1/4 C. of brown sugar. Marinate for a few hours or overnight.

Drain Marinade and put pork, 1/2 can of coke, water, & garlic salt in crock pot on high for 3-4 hours (until it shreds easily, but don't let it get too dry). Remove pork from crock pot and drain liquids then shred pork. In a food processor or blender, blend 1/2 can coke, chilies, enchilada sauce, & 1 cup of brown sugar. If the mixture is too thick add more coke little by little until desired consistency is reached. Place shredded pork and sauce back in crock pot and cook on low for 2 hours.

Serve however you like. I like it in a tortilla with cilantro and any other yummy goodness I have on hand like salsa, beans, rice, cheese, tomatoes, etc.

Marsala Cream Sauce (Macaroni Grill)

I recommend doubling this recipe. I found it barely made enough sauce for two generous servings. I ended up back in the kitchen trying to whip up another batch real quickly as we had dinner guests.

Ingredients
1 Shallot -- minced
1 tb butter
1 c Dry marsala wine
1 t Fresh thyme
1 c Heavy cream
2 tb butter -- cubed
Salt and white pepper -- to taste
1/2 c Grated parmesan (use the expensive stuff, you won't be sorry)

Instructions
Saute shallot in the butter, covered, for 5 min.
Add wine and thyme and reduce until only about 2 tbsp of liquid remain.
Add cream and simmer until reduced by half.
Add butter and stir continuously until fully emulsified.
Season with salt and pepper.
Stir in parmesan.
Keep warm until ready to serve. Serve over whatever kind of pasta you like.

I added sundried tomatoes and some sauteed orange and yellow peppers. So good!

Pasta Milano (Macaroni Grill copycat)

Ingredients:

12oz. bowtie pasta
1 Tbs unsalted butter
8oz. sliced mushrooms
1 1/2 cups fat free half & half* (regular half and half will make for a creamier sauce)
1 pkt. (1.6oz) Knorr garlic herb sauce mix
6oz. grilled chicken breast strips
1/3 cup sliced sundried tomatoes
1 Tbs grated parmesan
2 Tbs chopped parsley

Directions:

- Cook pasta
- Melt butter in large skillet. Add mushrooms, saute 5 minutes. Remove when tender.
- Add half & half and sauce mix to skillet. Bring to boil stirring often. Reduce heat and simmer 3 minutes until thickened.
- Stir in remaining butter, chicken, mushrooms, parmesan, tomatoes; heat through.
- Add pasta to sauce, top with parsley and serve.

Cheese Soup

In one pot:
4 Cups cubed potato
2 Cups celery
2 cups carrots
1 1/2 cup onion (chopped)
3-4 cups water
Simmer 20 min.
Boil then put on med-low

In a separate pot:
3 c cold milk
1 sq. maragarine/butter
6 chix bouillon cubes
1 Tbsp. dry mustard
1/3 c. flour
salt and pepper
2lbs. Velveeta cheese
Cook on Medium heat until cheese melts and sauce thickens

Add sauce and vegetables together (Do not drain veggies)
Add a package of frozen broccoli
Cook until hot and vegetables are tender.