Category: Potluck

Mexican Stuffed Shells

Serve this delicious pasta dish with a good green salad and crusty bread and butter. And it really comes together quicker than one might think, plus, your family will love it! This recipe comes from Julie Wise of Ohio and I found it in a Gooseberry Patch cookbook called, In the Kitchen with Family and Friends.

12 oz. jar picante sauce, I used a mild Herdez brand
15 oz. can tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
1 pound ground beef, browned
4 oz. chopped green chilies
2 cups Cheddar or Colby Jack cheese, shredded and divided
2.8 oz. can French-fried onions, divided
12 lg. pasta shells, cooked and drained

In a small bowl, mix picante sauce, tomato sauce and water. Stir half of the sauce into the ground beef. Add chilies, one cup cheese, and half of the onions; mix well. Spread half of the remaining sauce on the bottom of a 9 by 13 baking dish. Stuff cooked shells with meat mixture. Arrange shells in pan and top with sauce. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Top with remaining onions and cheese. Bake uncovered 5 minutes.

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Chunky Vegetable Beef Soup

Sometimes, nothing satisfies like a big pot of healthy soup simmering away on the stove! This recipe is delicious and comes together quickly, plus it makes enough for a small army. You can feed the army right away, and then eat on it for a few days, or freeze it up to 3 months. This is a Southern Living recipe from their Make Ahead Meals Special Collector’s Edition magazine. This is a big batch, so grab your biggest pots!

2 lbs. ground chuck
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp. table salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
3 (14 oz.) cans reduced-sodium beef broth, I just use regular beef broth
3 (29 oz.) cans mixed vegetables with potatoes, drained and rinsed
3 (14 1/2 oz.) cans diced new potatoes, drained and rinsed (from the pic, you can tell I missed the diced part. lol)
1 (15 oz.) can peas
2 (26 oz.) jars tomato, herbs, and spices pasta sauce
1 (14 1/2 oz.) can diced tomatoes wit sweet onion

Brown ground chuck and onion, in batches, in a large Dutch oven over medium-high, stirring 5-8 minutes or until meat crumbles and is no longer pink. Drain well, and return to Dutch oven. Stir in salt, black pepper, and beef broth; bring to a boil.

Stir in mixed vegetables and next 4 ingredients. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer at least 20 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Garnish with a mix of shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheeses and chopped fresh basil.

Serves 8.

Easy Chocolate-Cherry Cake

This is another Paula Deen recipe that I love. It satisfies my need for chocolate in the most delicious way, plus, it’s extra speedy! It’s a dump cake in black forest fashion, so that means lots of cherries and chocolate and absolutely no mixing required! Woo hoo!

2 (21 oz.) cans cherry pie filling
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup sugar
1 (18.25) box chocolate fudge cake mix
1 cup finely chopped pecans, I skip the nuts
1 1/2 cups butter (12 T.), cut into teaspoon-pats
fresh whipped cream or ice cream, for serving

Preheat the oven to 350-degrees. Lightly grease a 13 by 9 baking pan.

Spread cherry pie filling over bottom of prepared baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with chocolate chips and sugar. Spread dry cake mix over sugar, covering pie filling. Sprinkle evenly with chopped pecans, if using. Place butter pats over cake mix, covering cake mix as evenly as possible. Bake 1 hour; let cool 30 minutes before serving. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream, if desired.

Betsy’s Dr. Pepper Cake

My good friend, Betsy, shared this recipe with me. It is soooo delicious! It’s a doctored up German chocolate cake mix with the yummiest, buttery, chocolate cream cheese icing, slathered all over the most moist cake. Creed was over at her house one day and had a piece of it. The first thing he said to me when he got home was, “Mom, you have to get the recipe and I want this for my birthday cake!”. Sure enough, each year rolls around, and Betsy’s Dr. Pepper Cake is part of the celebration! Happy 13th Birthday, Creed, and thank you Betsy for this awesome recipe!

1 box German chocolate cake mix
1 (3 1/2 oz.) box instant vanilla pudding mix
2/3 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 (12 oz.) can Dr. Pepper
1 tsp. vanilla

Frosting:

1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese
1 stick butter
1/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp. vanilla
1 lb. powdered sugar
1 cup chopped pecans, optional

Cake: Combine the first 3 ingredients, beating with mixer until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and Dr. Pepper and mix well. Pour batter into a greased 9 by 13 baking pan. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Frost when cool.

Frosting: Beat first 5 ingredients until light and fluffy. Mix in pecans, if using, and frost cake.

Coconut Cream Pie

Cool, creamy, light and delicious, I love this easy pie! It would be excellent to make and take to a friend, perfect served after a heavy meal, or just because it’s National Pie Day. Ok. That was two days ago, but still! Why can’t National Pie Day be everyday? I might just declare it so!

1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup sugar, divided
3 cups milk
3 T. cornstarch
4 egg yolks, separated and divided
1/2 T. vanilla extract
1/8 t. salt
1 1/4 T. butter
9-inch pie crust, baked
Garnish: flaked coconut

In a large heavy saucepan, bring coconut, 1/2 cup sugar, milk, cornstarch, 3 egg yolks, vanilla, salt and butter to a boil. Stir constantly with a whisk until the mixture thickens. Pour into cooled pie crust. Blend together 4 egg whites and remaining sugar. Cover pie with meringue. Sprinkle with coconut. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until top is golden. Cool before serving.
Makes 6 servings or 1 if it’s National Pie Day.

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Fresh Strawberry Cake

This strawberry cake is the birthday cake that Fallon requests on her special day. It is so hard for me to believe that yesterday, she turned 11! Pretty in pink, both Fallon and this cake, are layered with sweet surprises and sure to bring smiles. This is the Triple-Decker Strawberry Cake from Southern Living’s 2004 Annual Recipes Cookbook. It keeps best in the refrigerator.

1 (18.25 oz.) pkg. white cake mix
1 (3 oz.) pkg. strawberry gelatin
4 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh strawberries
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 milk
Strawberry Butter Cream Frosting, recipe below
Garnish: whole strawberries

Beat first 8 ingredients at low speed with an electric mixer 1 minute. Scrape down sides, and beat at medium speed 2 more minutes, stopping to scrape down sides, if needed. (Chopped strawberries should be well blended into batter.)

Pour batter into 3 greased and floured 9-inch cake pans. (I line the bottoms with parchment and spray with Baker’s Joy cooking spray.)

Bake at 350 degrees for 23 minutes or until cakes spring back when lightly pressed with a finger. Rotate your pans, halfway through cooking time.

Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely on wire racks.

Spread Strawberry Buttercream Frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake. Store in refrigerator. Garnish if desired. Makes 16 servings.

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

1 cup butter, softened
2 (16 oz.) packages powdered sugar, sifted
1 cup finely chopped fresh strawberries

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer 20 seconds or until fluffy. Add sugar and strawberries; beat at low speed until creamy. (Add more sugar if frosting is too thin, or add strawberries if too thick.) Makes 2 1/2 cups.

Maine Blueberry-Cream Cheese Pie

Cool and creamy, oh my goodness, this pie is so delicious! It has a dense cream cheese feel to it, that is absolutely addicting. The addition of fresh grated nutmeg (a must), in the sweet, but not too sweet cream cheese filling, is quite yummy! Plus, the crunch of the graham cracker crust and the fresh lemon juice in the pie filling, just send it over the edge to me. This is an awesome choice for RV cooking or any time you need a quick dessert that everyone will love!

2 (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. nutmeg, fresh grated
9-inch graham cracker curst
21 oz. can blueberry pie filling
1 tsp. lemon juice

Blend together cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and nutmeg. Spread evenly into crust; set aside. Combine pie filling and lemon juice; spoon over cream cheese mixture. Chill until serving time. I think this pie is best served after it has chilled at least 3 to 4 hours. Serves 6 to 8.

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Baked Meatballs with Mozzarella

This is another recipe from Mandy Rivers. She wrote the South Your Mouth cookbook series and I am really enjoying her books! She suggested serving these with a green vegetable and bread. I decided to make meatball hoagies with the Italian meatballs and, omg, soooo good!! The meat and marinara, with the gooey cheese and crusty garlic bread is a match made in Heaven. Pair this with her fried zucchini sticks. A terrific meal!

1 (24 oz.) jar marinara, I used Rao’s
20-24 Italian Meatballs, precooked (recipe below)
8 oz. mozzarella, shredded

Hoagie rolls, buttered (or spray with olive oil cooking spray), sprinkled with garlic salt, and toasted

Italian Meatballs:
1 onion, grated
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. Worcestershire
1 T. Italian Seasoning
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
2 pounds ground beef (80/20)
1/2 cup Italian dried bread crumbs

For the Baked Meatballs with Mozzarella, spoon half of the marinara sauce into a 9 by 13 inch baking dish. Arrange precooked meatballs in pan, then cover with remaining sauce. Cook, uncovered, 10 minutes at 375 degrees or until sauce is heated through. Remove from the oven, and top with mozzarella. Cook an additional 10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and starting to brown.

Serve with pasta or hearty green vegetables as suggested by Mandy… or…put them into your toasted hoagie rolls.
Serves 4-6 or yields 6 hoagie sandwiches.

For the Italian Meatballs, combine onion, eggs, Parmesan, Worcestershire, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and garlic powder, in a large bowl.

Crumble ground beef into mixture, and mix with your hands until just combined. Add bread crumbs, and continue to mix until just combined. Add more bread crumbs, if necessary, util the mixture holds together.

Turn mixture out onto a cutting board or clean counter, and shape into a rectangle. Using a sharp knife, cut mixture into 20-24 squares. Roll each square into a ball.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (for easy cleanup), and spray with cooking spray. Place meatballs onto baking sheet, and bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes.

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Jam Thumbprint Cookies

A favorite cookie of mine that I love baking at Christmastime….I’m rhyming and not meaning to be…this comes by way of the great Ina Garten from her book Barefoot Contessa Family Style. These are sure to bring a smile….haha, yes, see there! Just wait until you eat one.

3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1 egg beaten with 1 T. water for egg wash
7 ounces sweetened flaked coconut
Raspberry and/or apricot jam

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until they are just combined and then add the vanilla. Separately, sift together the flour and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the creamed butter and sugar. Mix until the dough starts to come together. Dump on a floured board and roll together into a flat disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough into 1 1/4 inch balls. (If you have a scale, they should each weight 1 ounce.) Dip each ball into the egg wash and then roll it in coconut. Place the balls on an ungreased cookie sheet and press a light indentation into the top of each with your finger. Drop 1/4 tsp. of jam into each indentation. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the coconut is a golden brown. Cool and serve.

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