Recipes
for the aspiring foodie. By: Olivia Sisk
Traditionals Mom’s Spaghetti
Ingredients: 2 lb. hamburger meat 1 lb. pasta (of choice) 1 can tomato sauce 1 can petite diced tomatoes 1 can tomato paste 1 can mushrooms (optional) 1 whole onion, diced 1 tbsp. oregano 2 tbsp. olive oil
To start, it is best to begin browning the hamburger meat. Use meat that is 80% lean and 20% fat because that ratio is good for getting the meat to crumble, which is what you want in this case. Next, chop the onion and grab the minced garlic. The onion and garlic add flavor and texture. After making sure the meat is thoroughly cooked, add the onions and garlic so that they can soften and their flavors can blend with the meat. As the meat mixture simmers, now is a good time to prepare the pot of water for the noodles. It is always a good idea to add a small amount of extra virgin olive oil to the water as it boils so that when the noodles are added, they won’t stick together. Once the water has reached a rolling boil, break the noodles in half and add them to the water. Now it’s time to finish the sauce. Sauce preferences are different, so eyeball the proportions of the ingredients depending on taste and how many people you plan to feed. To the meat mixture, add one can of petite-diced tomatoes, one can of tomato sauce, and one can of tomato sauce. To complete the sauce, add mushrooms and oregano for flavor. Let the sauce simmer on low heat until the noodles are done, that way the flavors of all of the ingredients can blend well nicely. Once the noodles have softened, but are still al dente, strain them using a colander and give them some time to drain fully and rest.
Traditionals Green Bean Casserole Ingredients: 1 (10 3/4 oz.) can Cream of Mushroom Soup 3/4 cup milk 1/8 tsp. black pepper 2 (9 oz. each) pkgs. frozen cut green beans, thawed*
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1 1/3 cups French’s Original or Cheddar French Fried Onions
Directions: Mix the soup, milk and pepper in a 1 1/2 -qt. baking dish. Stir in beans and 2/3 cup French Fried Onions. Bake at 350°F for 30 min. or until hot. Stir. Top with remaining 2/3 cup onions. Bake 5 min. until onions are golden.
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Hoppin’ John Ingredients: 1 lb. of sausage 2 cans of black eyed peas 2 cans of chicken broth ½ onion (chopped) Celery (finely chopped) 2 cups of rice (uncooked)
Brown the sausage in a pan. It’s important to make sure that the meat is cooked separately so that you’re sure it is all cooked thoroughly. While you’re waiting for your sausage to brown, it’s a good idea to go ahead and chop your onion and celery. You want to chop these pretty finely so they don’t take over in flavor or texture in any particular bite. Add these after your sausage is done so they can begin to soften and soak up flavors from the sausage. Let the sausage, onion, and celery simmer together until all the vegetables are soft. Next, add in the canned black eyes peas and chicken broth so the black eyed peas can soften and soak up flavor. This is a good time to taste test so know if your mixture needs salt or pepper. After your mixture has had a few minutes to simmer together, add in the rice. Once you’ve done this, you’re done! All you have to do now is to wait for the rice to soften and remember to stir periodically so nothing sticks.
Traditionals Broccoli Casserole
Ingredients: 3/4 cup of rice (dry, uncooked) 2 cans (10 ¾ oz.) of Cream of Mushroom soup 21 ½ oz. of water 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese 1 bag (16 oz.) of chopped broccoli
Preheat your oven to 350°. First, in a mixing bowl, stir together the Cream of Mushroom soup and the water. Instead of worrying about measuring out 21 ½ ounces of water, you can easily just refill the cans the soup came in with water. This not only gives you the amount of water you need, but it cleans the content of the can so you can get as much flavor out as possible. It’s important to make sure the soup and water are mixed thoroughly so that later, when you add the rest of the ingredients, everything gets a good coating for moisture and flavor. After you’ve obtained a good creamy mixture, you can fold in the rice, broccoli, and cheddar cheese. As you fold these ingredients in, you want to make sure that everything does get coated evenly. This way, when the casserole is in the baking process, nothing gets too dry. The soup and water act as a binding agent so that everything sticks together and cooks evenly. After everything is mixed together, take a spoon and spread the mixture evenly into a 9 x 13 casserole dish. This helps ensure that it cooks thoroughly all the way through. Pop this in the oven at 350° for about 45 minutes or until bubbly all over. The edges will be brown and the top with be golden.
Desserts Ingredients:
Peanut Butter Pie
1 (9 in.) premade chocolate graham cracker crust 1 (8 oz.) package of cream cheese, softened ½ cup creamy peanut butter ½ cup confectioner’s sugar 1 (16 oz.) container Cool Whip 20 Reese’s cups, unwrapped
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Directions: Blend together the peanut butter, sugar, and cream cheese until smooth. Fold in half of the container of Cool Whip. Stir until well blended. Next, crush 10 of the Reese’s cups into small pieces and fold them into your filling. Spread this mixture into the chocolate graham cracker crust until the top is even. To finish, spread the other half of the container of whipped topping over the top. Cut the remaining 10 Reese’s cups into small bits and garnish the top. Chill for 1-2 hours or overnight before serving.
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Peanut Butter No-Bake Cookies Ingredients: 2 cups sugar ¼ cup cocoa ¼ cup butter or margarine ½ cup milk 2 ½ cup regular oats, uncooked ¾ cup crunchy peanut butter 2 tsp. vanilla extract
In a sauce pan, combine the sugar, butter, cocoa, and milk. Mix well until there are no lumps and the mixture is smooth. Bring the mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil for one minute. Once the mixture has boiled for a full 60 seconds, stir lightly. With a rubber spatula, quickly fold in the oats and peanute butter. Add in the vanilla extract.
Stir the mixture until all the ingredients are well blended. Make sure it doesn’t stick. Spoon out the mixture in 1 inch portions onto wax paper. Spread the spoonfulls out about an inch because the cookies will spread as they relax and cool. Wait until the cookies have stiffened before serving.
Drinks Sweet Tea Ingredients: 4 Tea bags 1 Gallon of Water 2 Cups of Sugar Pot or kettle Jug or pitcher Wooden or plastic spoon
First, boil the water in a kettle until it comes to a full rolling boil. Once it boils, pour the hot water in a pitcher with 4 tea bags. Different brands may brew weaker or stronger than others, so which ever brand you chose, you may have to try this a few times to get the proportions how you like them. Let the tea bags steep for a bit until the tea has cooled but is still warm, then remove the bags. Finally, add the sugar.The amount of sugar you use is completely up to you. It’s best to add the sugar while the liquid is still warm because the heat allows the sugar to dissolve better, so you can avoid having grains of sugar sit at the bottom of the pitcher. Stir until you can’t see any grains of sugar at the bottom, and done!