Phoena’s Awesome

1 can of fruit cocktail (drained)
1 bag of mini-marshmallows (you probably won’t use the whole bag)
1 container of whipped topping
Cinnamon seasoning (optional, but it won’t be awesome without it)

Mix them all together and serve.

I LOVE to make a huge Thanksgiving dinner (even if it’s just for the two of us) and no Thanksgiving is complete without this! This is almost the easiest part of the whole dinner! (Cranberries are the easiest part.)

Credits: Old family recipe.

(Another big recipe, but we’re big on leftovers. You may want to halve it. YOU figure out how to do that!)

Even my husband, who claims he hates spinach, likes this. I guess all the fattening cheese and alfredo sauce hides the spinach taste!

8 oz frozen chopped Spinach, thawed
13 oz Alfredo Pasta Sauce
4 tbsp milk
9 dry lasagna noodles
3/4 c Ricotta cheese
1 egg
3 oz of canned mushrooms
1/2 c mozzarella cheese (shredded)

Preheat to 350.

For novice cooks, you’ll find the Ricotta cheese in the dairy case with cottage cheese. It’s in a similar tub. Add Ricotta cheese to thawed spinach. Beat an egg and add that to this mixture.

In a separate dish, mix the alfredo sauce with the milk.

Spread half the alfredo sauce on bottom of casserole dish. Place three uncooked noodles on top of the sauce. Spread half the spinach mixture on top of the noodles. Sprinkle with half the mushrooms. Place three more uncooked noodles on top. Spread the rest of the spinach mix, mushrooms on top. Three more noodles on top and then spread the last of the alfredo sauce on top of that. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 50-60 minutes.

CREDITS: I think I got it from allrecipes.com.

This is for 6-8 people, so halve it or be prepared for leftovers the next day. (Hubby likes the leftovers!)

1/3 c chopped green onions
1/4 c Italian seasoned bread crumbs
3 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1 pound hamburger
1 loaf of Italian bread or something similar
1 pkg cream cheese, softened
1/4 c mayonnaise
1/4 tsp pepper
8 oz of sliced mozzarella cheese
28 oz of spaghetti sauce
1 c water

(The original recipe warned against using fat free or light mayo. Personally, I don’t like mayo much at all, so I use half the recommended amount and used Miracle Whip.)

Cut the bread into 1 inch slices. Mix onions, bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Add the (uncooked) hamburger and mix well. Shape into meatballs and cook at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes until they are no longer pink. (Pink = bad.)

Mix the softened cream cheese with the mayo and pepper. Place the bread slices into a casserole dish. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the bread. Sprinkle half the cheese over the cream cheese mixture and bread. When meatballs are done, mix them with the spaghetti sauce and water. Pour this mixture over the bread and sprinkle with more cheese.

Bake for 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

CREDITS: Apparently I got this from the “Quick Cooking March/April 1999 Magazine.”

I love this recipe, but it’s big (so either halve the recipe or be prepared for leftovers). Also, you’ll need to plan a day ahead for this recipe so it’s a little more detailed and time consuming than most of my recipes.

1 pound of hamburger, browned
1 can refried beans
2 ½ tsp chili powder
1 ½ tsp of dried oregano
1 pkg (8 oz) manicotti shells
2 ½ c water
1 jar (16oz) picante sauce
16 oz sour cream
4 oz of shredded cheese
¼ c green onions, chopped
Sliced black olives (optional, but I love them!)

The night before (or early the morning of) combine the (cooked) hamburger with the refried beans, chili powder, and oregano. Spoon them into the manicotti shells until the shells are full (slightly time consuming) and then place each filled shell into a baking dish.

Combine the water and picante sauce and then pour over the shells. Cover the baking dish with tinfoil and place in the fridge overnight or all day. They need to sit for several hours but not more than 36 hours.

Later, remove from the fridge and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Cover with cheese, green onions, olives and sour cream and then let it cook another 5-10 minutes or so until the cheese melts.

Enjoy!

CREDITS: I have no idea where I got this recipe, but probably some magazine or recipe book.

1 can of Grands (or similar) biscuits (8 biscuits)
Refried beans
Salsa
Sliced black olives (optional, but I love them!)
Shredded cheese of your favorite variety
Sour cream

So here’s what you do. Put the biscuits on a greased baking sheet. Punch them down to flatten them out a bit. Cover each with refried beans, then salsa, then sprinkle the black olives and cheese on them. Cook at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or so. Top with sour cream if desired and eat! This is enough for two or three people.

You’ll have extra refried beans and salsa because you won’t even use half a can/jar of either. But maybe you’ll want to make more Mexi-Mini Pizzas later in the week!

CREDITS: I don’t know. I stole the idea from some recipe magazine.

1 packet of Carnation Instant Breakfast (whatever flavor)
1/2 of fruit (your choice)
1 cup of milk
2-3 ice cubes
Cinnamon to taste if desired

Usually I use bananas as the fruit, but sometimes I like to use peaches or mango, depending on the flavor of Instant Breakfast I have. Banana goes well with anything — Rich Milk Chocolate, Classic Chocolate Malt, Strawberry Sensation, or Classic French Vanilla!

Dump all the incredients in the blender and mix it up until smooth! Serves 1 and it’s a great breakfast on the go!

Credits: I found this recipe on the back of the Canation Instant Breakfast packet.

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium green pepper, chopped

1 minced garlic clove

2 tsp of canola oil (or your choice of vegetable oil)

1 can corn

1 tsp minced chives

1 tsp parsley flakes

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

4 eggs, beaten

3 four torillas (10 inch or whatever size fits your baking dish)

½ c salsa (drained)

8 oz sour cream

4 oz shredded cheddar cheese

4 ox shredded mozzarella cheese

1 rounded cooking dish that is at least 2 inches deep. Three inches would be better.

Preheat to 350.

Sauté the onion, green pepper and garlic clove (unless you have an aversion to garlic. Heh heh) in the oil for about 3 minutes. Then stir in the eggs until the eggs are fully cooked.

Stir in the corn, chives, parsley, salt and pepper. Remove from heat.

For the size of the tortillas: They should be approximately the same size as your baking dish. Do the best you can.

Grease your baking dish. Place one tortilla on the bottom of the dish. Top with ½ of the corn mixture. Top with ½ the salsa (which should be drained or the whole thing gets soggy), ½ of the sour cream and 1/3 of the cheese. Place another tortilla on top. Then repeat the process. Put the final tortilla on top and put the last of the cheese mixture on top.

Cook for about 10 minutes and serve! The top shell is sometimes a little crunchy, but it’s still good.

NOTE: This is the “large” size recipe, for taking to a potluck or if you have a large family. It probably serves 6-8. If you don’t want that much, cut this in half or a quarter. Or make the large size recipe and have yummy leftovers!

1 pound of ground beef or turkey

Approx. 3/4 pound of tater tots (approx ¼ of a 4 pound bag)

2 cups of vegetables (you can use canned corn, peas and diced carrots, or you can get a bag of frozen mixed vegetables. I don’t recommend more than 2 full cans of vegetables. Just gauge the number of veggies so they are proportional to amount of meat and taters. Some people like more veggies, some like less.)

1 can of cream of mushroom soup

¼ onion, chopped (optional)

Your choice of shredded cheese (I like Colby Jack)

Defrost the tater tots. Usually I prefer to leave them out most of the day but if you forget to plan ahead, you can defrost them in the microwave.

Brown the beef and chopped onion (or if you don’t like beef, you can use some turkey substitute. I use beef). Rinse.

Preheat to 400 degrees.

Mix the meat in a large casserole dish with the cream of mushroom soup until the meat is coated. Then add the vegetables of your choice. Sometimes I used canned, sometimes frozen. It’s good either way. If you are using frozen veggies, thaw them out first. You can do this easily by rinsing them in warm water. (I don’t recommend this method for the tater tots. Perhaps I learned from experience!)

Mix in the tater tots. You can put them across the top, but I like to mix them all the way through.

Throw it all in the oven for about 30 minutes. Actually, I’m not even sure how long – when it smells good, it’s done. If you are hard of smelling, I’m sorry I can’t be more accurate. So take it out, throw some cheese on top and put it back in for a couple of minutes until the cheese is melted. If you want to save some calories, you can skip the cheese, but it’s not awesome without it!

I’m always surprised at people who have never heard this recipe before. It’s a big hit at the frequent church potlucks back in the middle of nowhere where I come from, so I’ve known this recipe my whole life. It might be the first thing I ever learned how to make!

Credits: All the women from back where I grew up, I guess.

1 ½ cups unsweetened applesauce

1 egg

1 c sugar

2 tsp butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 c flou

2 tsp baking soda

½ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp cloves

¼ tsp nutmeg

1 c raisins (optional)

Preheat to 350 degrees.

Just throw all the ingredients together and mix well. My husband doesn’t like the raisins so usually (when I’m feeling nice) I leave them out. Mix until it’s smooth. You might want to use a mixer but I just do it by hand – I’m too lazy to do extra dishes.

Pour into a greased bread pan. Bake for 50 minutes or until knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Easy!

Credits: A friend gave me the recipe 10 years ago. I don’t know who she stole it from.

2 cans (10 oz each) diced tomatoes & green chilis
1 can (15 oz) whole kernel corn, drained
1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed

Optional:
shredded cheese of your choice
sour cream

In sauce pan, combine tomatoes, corn and beans. Heat until it’s hot. Garnish services with cheese and/or sour cream if desired. Wasn’t that easy?!

There is some new product that I’ve seen in the stores and picked up a couple of times that goes well with this, but I can’t remember the name of it! It’s these salad topper things that come in bags, and they have one that is like seasoned tortilla chips, and that’s great with this. Next time I’m in the store, I’ll look for the product name so I can add it to this recipe.

CREDITS: Some recipe book or allrecipes maybe. I don’t remember which.