Recipes For Real People

The most popular recipe on my Recipes for Real People blog, the one that gets searched for and looked at the most online, is this one. Everyone loves it!

Crockpot Creamy Cream Cheese Corn

1 stick butter or margarine
6 to 8 ounces reduced fat cream cheese
4 to 6 cups frozen corn, thawed

Melt butter and cream cheese in the microwave. Add to corn in the crockpot or slow cooker; stir. Cook on low for 2 hours. Stir well and serve.

Read the story behind the recipe on my blog here.

Are your breakfast habits a victim of the morning rush? How about a muffin to go? No excuses if you use this recipe. It's quick and easy, the results are portable, and you can make it ahead and freeze if you prefer.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. each baking soda and salt (I use less salt)
1 egg
1/2 cup Miracle Whip or mayonnaise
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup chocolate chips

Mix flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Beat egg in small bowl. Stir in Miracle Whip. Add to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened. Stir in bananas. Spoon into greased or paper-lined muffin tins. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. Makes 12 muffins.

(This is one of the recipes in one of the many bonus e-books that come with Supermarket Savings 101.)

Rather have banana bread? Here's my easy banana bread recipe.

LILY'S EASY GREEK FISH FILLETS

1 pound blue hake fish fillets or other firm white fish, about four pieces, partially thawed
1 to 2 tablespoons Athenos Greek with Feta Cheese salad dressing (one good squirt right out of the bottle)

Squirt the salad dressing into a 10 inch sauté pan. Begin heating over medium heat. Add the fish fillets, turning to coat the fish and spread the dressing around in the pan. Sauté for about three minutes then carefully turn, further coating the fish. Continue cooking for another three to five minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish, until fish flakes easily with a fork. Serve with a lemon wedge.

Read more about this recipe here.

This is my number one favorite comfort food recipe.

Sausage Macaroni and Cheese

1 pound roll sausage
8 ounces elbow macaroni
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup grated mild cheddar cheese
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup flour
2 cups milk
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook macaroni as directed; drain. Pan fry sausage; remove and drain. Put sausage and macaroni in a 2-quart casserole dish sprayed with cooking spray. Prepare sauce: Melt butter, blend in flour and cook for a minute or two. Stir in milk and seasonings. Bring to a boil, stirring. Boil for 1 minute; remove from heat. Add cheese and stir until blended. Pour sauce over casserole mixture and bake for 15 minutes.

Again, increase the quantities and use a larger cooker if you're serving more people.

Easy Crockpot Stuffed Peppers Mexican Style

two red (or green or yellow) bell peppers
about a pound of lean ground beef
about half of a medium onion, diced
about a cup of frozen cut corn, thawed (or use a can of Mexicorn, drained)
one can enchilada sauce

Wash the peppers and cut them in half; remove seeds and the white membranes. Mix the ground beef, onion, and corn together. Use the mixture to stuff the peppers, then place in the crockpot or slow cooker, setting them upright. Pour the can of enchilada sauce over the peppers. Cover and cook until done. I have a small slow cooker, so I let them cook for about three hours on high then reduced the temperature to low until we were ready to eat (about another half hour). Of course you can increase the number of peppers and use a larger crockpot or slow cooker to feed more people. This was more than enough for the two of us.

If you want to heat it up a bit more, add some chili powder to the meat mixure.

I often use my small slow cooker, similar to this one, when I'm just cooking for two. You can also find it in my Recipes for Real People Store along with cookbooks and other great items for your kitchen.

While I admit that soup out of a can tastes mighty good in a hurry, homemade is so much nicer. Here's a recipe for French Onion Soup that's easy and really doesn't take a lot of time at all.

FRENCH ONION SOUP

3 Tbsp butter or margarine
2 large onions, sliced
2 cans beef broth
3 beef bouillon cubes
4 thin slices French bread, lightly toasted
4 slices Provolone cheese

Heat the butter or margarine in a 3-quart pot or Dutch oven until melted; add onions. Cook the onions until very soft, about 30 minutes. (Enjoy that wonderful onion aroma!) Add the beef broth and the bouillon cubes and heat soup well.

Preheat broiler. (I lightly toast the slices of bread under the broiler now, as it's heating.) Place four crocks on a baking sheet and fill with soup to within a half an inch of the top. Float a slice of toast on each and top with a slice of cheese. Place under the broiler and broil until the cheese is melted and starts to bubble and brown.

This is sort of a cake variation of pumpkin pie. Try it. You'll think you went to sleep, woke up and it was Thanksgiving!

MOM'S PUMPKIN CRUNCH

1 box yellow cake mix
1 can (15 ounces) solid pack pumpkin
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 cup butter
whipped topping

Preheat oven to 350. Grease bottom of a 9x13 inch pan (or spray with cooking spray). Combine pumpkin, evaporated milk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Pour into the prepared pan. Sprinkle dry cake mix evenly over pumpkin mixture. Top with pecans. Drizzle melted butter over pecans. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until golden brown. Cool. Serve chilled, topped with whipped topping.

These sweet-and-salty munchies are quick and easy to make and are nice snacks, as well as gifts, to have on hand for drop-in guests around the holidays. To give as a gift, just pack them up in a zipper bag of any size and top with a pretty bow or a colorful sticker. If you don't have any unexpected guests, you can always eat them yourself!

Vanilla Coated Pretzels

1 package white bark coating
1 bag pretzel twists

Melt coating as directed on package (or use 1 cup white chocolate chips melted with a teaspoon of solid shortening). Use a fork to carefully dip the pretzels into the melted coating. Drip off the excess then place on waxed paper to dry. If you're in the mood, sprinkle with colored sugar while wet to decorate, but the plain white ones are just as pretty. Store in a sealed container.

TIP: Buy a couple extra packages of the coating around Christmastime if your store doesn't carry it year-round and enjoy this tasy snack any time of the year!

Are you in a mealtime rut? Spending too much time in the kitchen and money at the grocery store? Grabbing fast food far too often? If you answered yes to any of those questions, let me introduce you to my new best friend, E-Mealz.

When I heard financial guru Dave Ramsey talking about E-Mealz, I knew I should check it out. (Dave knows how to save money.) What I found was a great menu-planning service WITH OPTIONS. Instead of a one-size-fits-all menu plan, I was able to choose a plan that perfectly suits my family of two. I wish I had had it when there were four of us at home. I know I would have saved money, wasted far less food, and spent a lot less time figuring out what to fix for dinner every day.

With E-Mealz, I log in weekly to print out my menu for the week - and the grocery list that goes with it. You can choose meal plans for a family of four to six people or, as I did, a meal plan for two. If you shop at a particular grocery store, you can choose a plan that uses items available at that store and lists them by brand name so you know you won't have to run all over town to find exotic ingredients. Vegetarian? Counting points? Eating low-carb? E-Mealz has a plan for you, too. Really!

Bet you're wondering about the recipes. They're great! I've been pleasantly surprised at how simple and good the recipes in my low-carb plan are. I've been able to introduce some variety into our menu (no longer in that rut) and we're thoroughly enjoying it.

It's free to check out E-Mealz. Click on the banner and choose a couple of free sample meal plans to print out and try. Then if you like it, for $1.25 a week, you really can't go wrong. If you try it, and I hope you will, come on back here and leave a message in the guestbook at the bottom of the page. I'd love to read your E-Mealz review.

CHEWY GOOEY BARS

20 oz. package refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough (or make your own)
2 cups miniature marshmallows
12 oz. package semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup caramel fudge ice cream topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice cookie dough into 1/2" slices and arrange in 15 x 10" pan. Press evenly into pan using floured fingers so dough covers bottom of pan. Bake crust at 350 degrees for 10-13 minutes until light golden brown.

Sprinkle crust with marshmallows and chocolate chips. Return to oven and bake an additional 8-10 minutes or until marshmallows are puffy and light golden brown. Remove from oven and drizzle caramel topping evenly over bars. Cool completely and cut into bars. 32 bars.

I have fond memories of my late nephew enjoying these bars. More about this recipe here.