The Best Nachos

The Best Nachos

Ingredients
1/2    pound ground beef
1/2    onion, chopped
1     (16-ounce) can refried beans
1     large bag thick corn tortilla chips
1.     tomato, diced
½.    Cup chili sauce

1    Cup of shredded Cheddar cheese.

½     cup salsa

¼      teaspoon chili powder
¼.     teaspoon cumin
¼      teaspoon paprika
¼      teaspoon salt
¼      teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 400°F.

In a large skillet on medium heat, add ground beef and chopped onion, stirring occasionally to brown the meat and cook the onions.

Add seasoning, as the ground beef browns. Drain excess grease.

Add the refried beans and stir into the ground beef. Add salsa. Stir ingredients until well mixed.

Add more cumin and chili powder, to taste. Stir and simmer 5 minutes.

Place the chips on a oven proof plate. Spoon and sprinkle the ground beef mixture over the chips.

Top nachos with diced tomato, sliced jalapenos, black olives, and the chopped bottoms of the green onions. Sprinkle the top with cheese.

Slide the plates into the oven and let cook approximately 15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the nachos heated through.

Remove from the oven.
Serve with sour cream, salsa.


P.S. I add milk to sour cream to make it spread easier.

Potato Salad

Potato Salad

3 medium red potatoes

2 hard boiled eggs

5 slices of bacon

5 chopped baby gherkins

Mayo

1 TBL white sugar

Cook potatoes until done, chop up all ingredence. Mix well and chill.

Enough for four adults

Soft White Sandwich Bread

Homemade Yeast Bread

3 tsp Yeast

Cup of warm water

3 TBSP White sugar

3 TBSP Vegetable oil

1 1/2  tsp kosher salt

3 cups Bread flour

Put yeast in water, let set for 6 minutes, Put flour, salt, and sugar in a bowl, and stir. Add oil, and yeast, turn on mixer for 3 minutes, then check how the dough looks, might need more flour or water, should feel like play dough. You should be able to pull the dough, if sticky add flour, add flour or water a teaspoon at a time.Turn mixer back on for 7 more minutes to knead. 

Grease a bowl, put dough in it, cover with a towel. Leave it for an hour or two to rise.

Put the dough into a greased bread loaf pan. No need to knead the bread, just shape the loaf, and cover it with cling wrap sprayed with pam, and the towel.

Bake the loaf 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Take out loaf of pan, check the bottom to see if done, will sound hollow if done. If not put back in oven for 5 minutes.

Sweet and Tangy Smoked Sausage

Sweet and Tangy Smoked Sausage

2 tablespoons yellow mustard

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon of honey

1 pound smoked sausage (such as Hillshire Farms)

Cut smoked sausage link evenly into 6-8 pieces. Slice each piece in half, lengthwise (I usually stop just short of cutting all the way through, then just “open” each piece like a little book). Arrange sausage pieces on a baking sheet, cut-side up (skin down).

Broil sausage in the oven until sizzling and starting to brown. 

Meanwhile, mix mustard, honey, and brown sugar; set aside.

Remove sausage from oven and baste with mustard mixture. Return sausage to oven and continue broiling until all pieces are browned and bubbly. Serve immediately. 

Taco Meat

Best Ground Beef Taco Meat

The absolute BEST ground beef Taco Meat! An easy to make homemade taco seasoning and a secret ingredient that makes this the most flavorful and juiciest taco meat EVER! Perfect for loading up on soft or hard shell tacos and topping with all your favorites!

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef (70-80% lean)

1 tablespoon Chili Powder

1/2 teaspoon Salt

3/4 teaspoon Cumin

1/2 teaspoon Dried Oregano

1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder

1/4 teaspoon Onion Powder

1/2 cup tomato sauce

Instructions

Cook the ground beef fully, drain grease, then add 1/2 cup tomato sauce and taco seasoning.

Allow to simmer for 5 minutes.

Add to tacos shells or use in any other recipes that call for taco meat.

Sloppy Joes

Sloppy Joe

Ingredients

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan 

1 1/4 pounds ground beef sirloin 

1/4 cup brown sugar 

2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon steak seasoning blend, such as McCormick brand Montreal Seasoning 

1 medium onion, chopped 

1 small red bell pepper, chopped 

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar 

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 

2 cups tomato sauce 

2 tablespoons tomato paste 

4 crusty rolls, split, toasted, and lightly buttered 

Directions

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add oil and meat to the pan. Spread the meat around the pan and begin to break it up. Combine brown sugar and steak seasoning. Add sugar and spice mixture to the skillet and combine. When the meat has browned, add onion and red peppers to the skillet. Reduce heat to medium and cook onions, peppers, red wine vinegar and Worcestershire sauce with meat for 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce and paste to pan. Stir to combine. Reduce heat to simmer and cook Sloppy Joe mixture 5 minutes longer. Using a large spoon or ice cream scoop, pile sloppy meat onto toasted, buttered bun bottoms and cover with bun tops

Pioneer Woman Cinnamon Rolls

Pioneer woman Cinnamon Rolls

Mix 2 cups of whole milk, 1/2 cup of vegetable oil, and 1/2 cup of sugar in a pan. "Scald" the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point.) Turn off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour.
When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in 1 package Active Dry Yeast.
Let this sit for a minute so the yeast gets all warm and moist and happy.
Then add 4 cups of all-purpose flour.
Stir mixture together. Cover and let sit for at least an hour.
Now add 1/2 cup of flour...1/2 heaping teaspoon baking powder...
And 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and 1/2 heaping tablespoon of salt. Stir mixture together. At this point, you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it---overnight or even a day or two, if necessary. Just keep your eye on it and if it starts to splurge out of the pan, just punch it down. Or, of course, you can just go ahead and make the rolls.Sprinkle surface generously with flour.
Take the dough and form a rough rectangle.
Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape. Rectangle should increase in both width and length as you roll it out.Now drizzle 1 to 21 ¼ cups melted butter over the dough. Don't be shy; lay it on thick, baby. You know you want it.Now sprinkle 1/2 cup of sugar over the butter...
followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon.Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Some of the butter/sugar/cinnamon mixture may ooze out toward the end, but that's no big deal.
Next, pinch the seam to the roll to seal it.
Spread 1 tablespoon of melted butter in 3 round, foil cake or pie pans. Then begin cutting rolls approximately 3/4 to 1 inch thick and laying them in the buttered pans. This recipe makes approximately 3 pans of rolls.Let the rolls sit for 20 to 30 minutes to rise, then bake at 400 degrees until light golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes.

Smashed Red Potatoes

Smashed Red Potatoes

Begin by bringing a pot of salted water to a boil.
Add in as many red potatoes as you wish to make, and cook them until they’re fork-tender.
Next, generously drizzle olive oil on a sheet pan. This will mean the difference between the potatoes sticking and not sticking, so don’t be shy here.
When the potatoes are tender, place them on the cookie sheet…Next, grab your potato masher and gently press down on the potato until it slightly mashes…Then rotate the masher 90 degrees and finish flattening it. Of course, you don’t want to absolutely smash it into the pan—you want it almost to resemble a cookie.
Next, brush the tops rather generously with olive oil.
Next, grab some Kosher salt. You can use regular salt, but I’d really recommend using kosher. It adheres to the potatoes more easily and really flavors them nicely without getting too salty.
Be ye ever as generous with fresh ground black pepper.
Now, you can grab some chopped parsley and sprinkle it on top of potatoes.
Now throw them onto the top rack of a very hot (450-degree) oven, and cook them for 20-25 minutes…Or until they’re golden and crispy and sizzling

Grandma’s Moist Chocolate Cake

Grandma’s Moist Chocolate Cake
•    2 cups all-purpose flour
•    1 teaspoon salt
•    1 teaspoon baking powder
•    2 teaspoons baking soda
•    3/4 cup baking cocoa
•    2 cups sugar
•    1 cup corn oil
•    1 cup brewed coffee
•    1 cup milk
•    2 large eggs
•    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•    FAVORITE ICING:
•    1 cup milk
•    5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
•    1/2 cup butter, softened
•    1/2 cup shortening
•    1 cup sugar
•    1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1.    Preheat oven to 325°. Sift together dry ingredients in a bowl. Add oil, coffee and milk; mix at medium speed 1 minute. Add eggs and vanilla; beat 2 minutes longer. (Batter will be thin.)
2.    Pour into two greased and floured 9-in. round baking pans (or two 8-in. round baking pans and six muffin cups).
3.    Bake 25-30 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pans. Cool on wire racks.
4.    Meanwhile, for icing, combine milk and flour in a saucepan; cook until thick. Cover and refrigerate.
5.    In a bowl, beat butter, shortening, sugar and vanilla until creamy. Add chilled milk mixture and beat 10 minutes. Frost cooled cake. Yield: 12 servings