Meatloaf

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
22 saltine crackers, crushed
1 medium onion, chopped
4oz. tomato sauce
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Sauce:
 4 oz. tomato sauce
1/2 c. water
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. vinegar
2 Tbsp. prepared mustard

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix the ingredients for the meatloaf together well; put in loaf pan. Place loaf pan in oven while mixing the sauce.

Mix all the ingredients for the sauce together in a small bowl. Pour over meatloaf. Continue baking meatloaf for 1.25 hours. Serve hot!

Recipe courtesy of Trudy Lund

Chocolate Cheesecake

Crust

Crust:
1 1/4 c. graham cracker crumbs
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. baking cocoa
6 Tbsp. butter, melted

Filling:
3 pkg. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
3/4 c. sugar
3 eggs
1 c. semisweet chocolate chips, melted

Filling

1 tsp. almond extract
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Topping:
1/4 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 c. heavy whipping cream
1 Tbsp. honey

In a large bowl, combine the cracker crumbs, sugar, and cocoa; stir in butter until crumbly. Press onto the bottom and 1-inch up the side of a greased 9-inch springform pan. Set aside.

Just out of the oven

In a small bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Stir in melted chocolate and extracts just until blended. Pour into crust.

Bake at 350 F for 45-50 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run knife around the edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate until completely cooled.

With topping

In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate chips, cream and honey; stir until smooth. Remove from the heat; cool for 5 minutes. Pour topping over the cheesecake. Chill for at least 4 hours or until topping is set. Refrigerate the leftovers.

From tasteofhome.com

Chicken Korma

1 large potato, peeled and diced

Korma cooking

1 large onion, chopped
1 cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
3 cloves, whole
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 lb. chicken breast, cubed
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. ginger root, minced
1/2 tsp. poppy seeds
1 tsp. salt
pepper to taste
1/2 c. sour cream
Hot cooked rice

Place potato in a small saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and cook for 10-15 minutes or until tender. Drain.

Korma with sour cream

In a large skillet, saute the onion, cinnamon, bay leaf, and cloves in oil until onion is tender. Add the chicken, garlic, curry, and ginger. Cook and stir 1 minute longer. Stir in the poppy seeds, salt, pepper, and potato.

Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Remove from the heat; discard cinnamon, bay leaf, and cloves. Stir in sour cream. Serve with rice.

From Tasteofhome.com

Ratatouille

2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 large onion, cut into rings
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 green peppers, cut into strips
1 medium eggplant, cut into bite sized pieces
1 zucchini, cut into bite sized pieces
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 bay leaf (I use dried basil if I don't have any bay leaves on hand)
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/4 tsp. salt
black pepper

 In a large skillet, heat olive oil. Saute onions and garlic until golden. Add green pepper strips, and cook for 2 minutes. Add eggplant, and cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add zucchini, and continue stirring and cooking another 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and seasonings. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Remove bay leaf. Serve immediately.

Maple Bars

Base:
2/3 c. butter, softened
1/3 c. packed brown sugar
pinch of salt
1 1/3 c. all purpose flour

Topping:
1/2 c. butter, softened
2 Tbsp. maple syrup
3/4 tsp. maple extract
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 c. confectioner's sugar 

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a bowl, beat together butter, sugar, and salt until fluffy; stir in flour. Press into parchment paper-lined 13x9-in. cake pan; prick all over with fork.

Bake  until golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool in pan on rack.

To make the topping: In a bowl, beat together butter, maple syrup, extract, and vanilla until creamy. Beat in sugar in 2 additions. Spread over base.

Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. Cut into bars.

German Pizza

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, diced
1 1/2 tsp. salt, divided
1/2 tsp pepper
2 Tbsp. butter
6 medium potatoes, peeled and finely shredded
3 eggs, beaten
1/3 c. milk
2 c. cheddar or mozzarella, shredded

In a 12-in skillet over medium heat, brown beef with onion, green pepper, 1/2 tsp salt, and pepper. Remove meat mixture from skillet and drain fat. Reduce heat to low. Melt butter; spread potatoes over butter, and sprinkle with remaining salt. Top with beef mixture. Combine eggs and milk; pour over all. Cook, covered, until potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes. Top with cheese; cover and heat until cheese is melted, about 5 minutes. Cut into wedges or squares to serve. Serves 4-6.

Recipe courtesy of Mama Hess

Taco Salad

Beef and onion cooking

1 lb. ground beef
coriander, cumin, black pepper, and garlic powder to taste
1 medium white onion, diced
1 can black olives, drained and sliced
1 4oz. can green chilies, drained
1 15oz can dark red kidney beans, drained
1 8oz. can whole kernel corn, drained
1 head green leaf lettuce, torn
2 large avocados, chopped
8oz cheddar jack cheese, shredded
1 15oz. package fritos corn chips

Dressing:
1 c. salsa mild or medium (I used green)
1/3 c. sour cream

Cook ground beef, onion, and seasonings until cooked. Put in refrigerator to chill.

Mix all other ingredients except salsa and sour cream. Add meat and onions to the salad. Toss. For dressing, mix salsa and sour cream together, and drizzle over salad. Serve at once.

Adapted from recipe courtesy of Mama Hess

Sausage and Sauerkraut Soup

Kielbasa and onion

1 lb. kielbasa sausage
6 Tbsp. chopped onion
1/4 c. flour
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. crushed thyme
3 c. milk
1 c. half and half
8 oz. sauerkraut with juice*
1 1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice, optional

Chop sausage coarsely by hand. Saute onion and sausage over medium heat in deep pan about 8 minutes until sausage is lightly browned. Combine flour, thyme, and pepper, and add to sausage and brown all together until mixture bubbles up (about 5 minutes). Add milk and half and half all at once and cook, stirring, until mixture again bubbles (about 5 minutes). Add sauerkraut and bring to a boil; the mixture will continue to thicken. Taste for tartness and add lemon juice if desired. Serve at once.

Ready to eat!

*I add a lot more sauerkraut, like 24 oz. for this recipe, but just not all the juice.

Also, this is a soup you must serve immediately. It is one of the only soups I've found that does not reheat well, so I make sure to make just enough. But it is delicious and one of my favorites!

Recipe courtesy of Mama Hess

Spam Musubi

My absolute favorite food in the whole wide world!

I apologize in advance for my lack of accurate measurements.

Spam cooking

Spam (as many cans as you want!)
Soy sauce
Hoisin sauce
Sugar
Hot white rice
Nori (seaweed)
Musubi mold

When you take the spam out of the can, slice it lengthwise. In one can, you should be able to get 10-11 slices. Don't cut them too thin. Put 2-3 Tbsp. sugar in the empty spam can and then fill the can almost half way with soy sauce. Stir to dissolve the sugar as much as you can.

Cooked spam

Put as many pieces of spam into your frying pan as will fit without them overlapping each other. Spoon soy sauce and sugar on the spam, and drizzle with hoisin sauce. Cook for about 10 minutes over medium heat (it may be longer). The first round of spam will always take the longest. While the spam is cooking, turn the pieces over from time to time so both sides cook evenly. The sugar can cause the soy sauce to become thick and gooey, so I keep a cup of water nearby to add to the pan because you don't want the sauce too thick; just a few tablespoons at a time. Sometimes it's hard to tell when the spam is done because they need to be dark, but the soy sauce can make it look like they are dark enough. When you think they're done, keep them cooking a little longer. As the spam cooks, remove the done pieces to a plate and set aside. Add the uncooked spam to the pan, and coat with soy sauce, sugar, and hoisin.

Nori

Musubi mold

When the spam is all done, you will need a clean open space to assemble the musubi. Take your nori and fold it in half the long way. Hopefully it is fresh, and it should break apart in the middle. Break as many sheets as you need. Lay one sheet of nori on the counter with the shiny side down, ridged and dull side up. Place your mold at the bottom end of the nori, leaving a little flap at the end. Fill the mold with hot rice and press down with the lid. Keeping the mold in place, place one piece of musubi on top of the pressed rice. Press down again with the lid, this time lifting the mold up. Now lift the little flap up and begin to roll the musubi. Make sure the nori is taut. You don't want it loosely rolled. When you're making the first few musubis, the seaweed should stick to itself when you're done rolling because of the heat from the rice. As you keep going, the nori doesn't stick as well, so I have a cup of water that I dip my finger in and wet the top flap of the nori to seal it. I usually slice mine in half, but you don't have to. Serve warm.

Nori before you break it

Delicious musubi

Cauliflower Cheese Soup

1 medium head cauliflower, broken into florets
2/3 c. chopped onion
1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
2 c. chicken broth
2 c. half and half cream
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
3/4 tsp. salt
pepper to taste
basil to taste
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese

In a saucepan, cook cauliflower in enough water to cover until tender. Drain and reserve 1 c. liquid; set aside.

In a large saucepan, saute onion in butter until tender. Add flour; cook and stir until bubbly. Add chicken broth; bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and stir in 1 c. reserved cooking liquid, cream, and Worcestershire sauce. Stir in cauliflower and seasonings.

Remove from heat. Add cheese and stir until melted. Makes 6-8 servings.

From Taste of Home Big Book of Soup