Tater Tot Casserole

This is another very easy and fast dinner that ANYONE can do. It's one that I grew up on as well. I would have to call my best friend every time my mom made this so she could come over for dinner. It was her favorite.

You will need:
1 lbs ground beef
1/2 medium onion or dehydrated onion
2 cream of mushroom soup
1 lbs frozen tater tots
1/2 cup milk
pepper
1 cup colby jack cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

 Brown 1 lbs of burger with onion on a medium heat.  If you have a dutch oven or pot that can be used on the stove and baked in the oven that would be best!  If not no worries.  Use whatever pan you normally brown burger in.

 While still on the stove stir in Mushroom Soup.

 Then dump the Tater Tots in.

 Now have your three year old man cub stir it really really really good (if you don't have a three year old man cub use some kind of substitution,  this is what works best at my home!)

 Okay stir a little better that this picture shows.  Cover and place in oven.  Bake for about 30 minutes or until Tots are thoroughly hot. 

Sprinkle cheese over the top, let melt, and serve. 

If you enjoy this only half as much as my dear friend does, you will love me!

Slow Cooker Roast

Okay, I know that most people only cook beef and I love beef but I had an inquiry about preparing Elk. I also love Elk. I've heard all my life, Elk & Deer (game meat) are so "gamey" and hard to cook and taste good. Well, I've a lot of both. Elk is far less "gamey" than deer and I've substituted it in every meal I make. If it calls for beef I've tried it with Elk and you can too. "Why would I want to use Elk in place of beef?", you ask... Elks fat percentage is naturally almost nothing! And you and or your husband, father, brother may enjoy hunting which makes it very inexpensive. So, feel fee to use elk our beef for this. You will need: 1 elk or beef roast, thawed Water French onion soup mix Beef bullion Garlic Powder Onion Salt Pepper Carrots Potatoes Brown the outside of the roast in a frying pan sprayed with cooking spay on high, so the entire outside of the roast is brown. Place in slow cooker with about 24 oz. of water. Sprinkle onion soup mix, garlic powder, and a bit of salt and pepper over the roast. And let cook for an hour or two.

Next slice up some onion and place over the roast then let them cook until transparent. At this point make sure you still have enough liquid in the pot, if not add more water.

Now put the largely chopped potatoes & carrots in and cook for about an hour or until done but not mushy.

Slice roast and place on serving dish with potatoes and carrots and enjoy.

Canned/Bottled Oranges

Here in Utah you pretty much don't get any good fresh produce during the winter months.  So, my husband & I have been buying Fresh Tree Ripened Oranges straight from California and selling them.  They are SO yummy and such a treat to have.  Anyway, we LOVE to can, so... we decided we were going to bottle and dehydrate some oranges.  We peeled and separated about 30 lbs.  I am a little particular about getting all of the nasty white stuff off the oranges, whereas my husband is not.  He did the oranges to be bottled and I did the oranges to go in the dehydrator. 
I tried the bottled oranges but could only taste the bitterness of all that white crud.  Needless to say I am bummed.  I am assuming they would be better but I don't really know that they would be super delicious like I was hoping or worth all the work of peeling, scraping crud, and separating. 
The dehydrated oranges were kind of a flop too... they're not good for a treat like dried Watermelon is (oh this is so yummy) they will be good to put in a pot of sweet smelly stuff to boil on our wood burning stove.
The moral to this story is:  I don't think I will try preserving oranges again.

Sweet Little Pigs

This is one of my family & friends favorites!  I make a plate of these and they are gone in five minutes... literally.  And I have requests for them regularly.

You will need:
2 packages of Hillshire Farms Little Smokies (I've tried other brands, I don't recommend it)
2 lbs. bacon
2 cups of brown sugar
tin foil
tooth picks

Preheat oven to 400.
While preheating, cut the pound of bacon lengths into thirds. 

Dump some toothpicks onto your counter or in a bowl.  This is so you don't cross contaminate and get all of your toothpicks gross with bacon.  Measure out the brown sugar and place in a bowl, a cereal bowl works great.  Line a cookie sheet with sides with tin foil, trust me if you skip this part and just bake these babies on your cookie sheet, you will regret it when it's time to wash your dishes!

Wrap each Little Smokie in a piece of bacon and secure them with a took pick.  Then dredge them in the bowl of brown sugar.  The more the brown sugar the happier you and your guests will be.  And place on the tin foil.  Repeat this until all of the little smokies and bacon have been used... if you need more than 2 cups of brown sugar, use more. 

Place in the oven, it usually takes about 20 minutes but I've never set a timer for this... because everyone likes their bacon cooked differently.  I like mine to start to get a little crispy.  I know they're done or just about done when I smell the delicious aroma filling my kitchen. 

Carefully take them out of your oven.  Using some tongs place the sticky sweet little pigs on a serving dish and serve warm.  They're not near as good when they cool off. 

Check it out... Meal Makin Momma was featured on a super awesome SPUNKY blog!  So EXCITING!

Orange You Happy You Are Going To Make This Delicious Banana Orange Bread

 This is my Great Grandmothers' Banana Bread Recipe that I've spiked with orange flavoring... I was a little worried about this experiment but I am SO happy I tried it... It is DELISH!  And for a twist on your Plane Jane bread loaves I've decide to bake it in canning jars for a fun way to gift them, this also allows you to bake more at a time if you'd like.

You will need:

• 1/2 cup of vegetable shortening
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups flour
• 3 medium ripe bananas
• 4-5 teaspoons orange zest
• 4-5 wide mouth pint canning jars

First preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Cream the shortening, sugar, and brown sugar.  Then add the eggs one at a time and mix well.

Measure in baking powder, baking soda, & salt.  Slowly while mixing add the flour.

 And mix well.

 Next peel and break up the bananas into a bowl.

 With a fork mash the bananas well.

 Wash and zest an orange with micro grater or the smallest holes on your cheese grater.  I like my micro grater! 

 Dump bananas and zest into mixture and mix again.

 Spray your clean canning jars with Pam or Crisco spray.  You will need 4-5 jars for this recipe.

 Fill them 1/2 full with the batter...DO NOT FILL FULLER!  Wipe off the threads and top of the jar so they are clean.

 Now place in your preheated oven directly on the oven racks.  They may not bake evenly if you bake them on a cookie sheet.  Just make sure there is space between them.  Bake for about 40 -45 minutes.  Be sure to use a toothpick to check them.  While baking, start simmering the canning jar rings and lids. 

I am not taking any other picture of the inside of my oven... It's as clean as I could get it, I promise and it's probably twenty years old.

Once your bread is cooked take them out of the oven and immediately place lids and rings on the hot bottles.  This should seal them as they cool. 

Once cooled complelty decorate till your little hearts desire.  (Mod Podge cute paper around them, wrap with a ribbon and put a bow on top,... whatever you can imagine.) 

Stick a gift tag on it and gift it away.

But don't forget to keep one for yourselft!!!


They will slip right out of the jar with no problem.

Stuffed French Bread

This is something my mom made growing up and now I make for my family.  It is easy & pretty fast as long as you're not having a night like I did making this... you will see I had a few issues.

Ingredients needed:

1 loaf of French Bread (the fatter the better!)

1/2 medium Onion, chopped

1 Tablespoon butter

1 lbs. Ground Beef

Garlic Powder to taste

Season Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup

1/2 cup Evaporated Milk

1 can Mushrooms (OPTIONAL!!!)

1 1/2 cup Mozzarella Cheese

Preheat your oven to 350.  Start out by Sauteing your Onion in the butter over a medium high heat.  Once you have the onions going good add your burger and start breaking up.  When it starts browning season with Garlic Powder, Season Salt, & Pepper.

While the meat is cooking cut the end off of the French Bread then with your fingers begin to hallow it by pulling out the insides.  The entire loaf needs to be empty.  This is why the fatter the loaf the better.  This loaf was not so thick so I ended up cutting it in half to be able to hallow it entirely.

When the meat is fully cooked mix in the Cream of Mushroom Soup, Evaporated Milk, & Mushrooms if you wish... I DO NOT WISH.  Also, break up some of the bread's guts you have pulled out and mix them in the meat mixture.

 I will tell you something that I wish my family did not know about me... I have a phobia.  Apparently it is called Mycophobia, it is the fear of mushrooms.  Why do I wish my family didn't know about this??? Because they are ruthless and chase me around with them or stick them in my face to make me cry... this does NOT help with my fear, it only makes it worse.

 Now, please, please, please add the cheese! I forgot to add the cheese and started stuffing the bread.  But I did notice and had to dump it out into the pan, add the cheese, and re stuff the bread.

 This is when you will want to start stuffing the loaf.  Use a large spoon, it's not too hard.

 This is what you don't want to see! My husband made a MESS in my oven (I know it's gross!) and I forgot about it.  There was smoke billowing out of the vent and door... So, I turned the oven off, opened a window, and started the BBQ.

Now once the loaf is stuffed wrap it in tinfoil and stick it in your oven (or BBQ).  You're not cooking it you're just warming the bread. 

 While it's in the oven clean up... start out with what is left in the pan.

It's quite yummy so make it disappear!

Yep, lick the spoon.

Viola!

About 10 -15 minutes is good in the oven.  Serve with some cooked veggies!