Speedy Brownies

I think everyone has a favorite brownie recipe in their stash.  Either it's been passed down from generation to generation, or from a favorite cookbook.

I've never really had one that I made consistently.  I have tried so many over the years, some infused with nuts and different flavors, some fudgey, some more cake like and I have certainly had my fair share of disasters when it comes to brownies too.

The recipe I'm sharing today, I can say that it really is the first one that I have kept on hand because of it's simplicity.  Dumping all the ingredients into one bowl and a sprinkle of chocolate chips is what I call easy....but don't be fooled into thinking they are less than stellar because these Speedy Brownies truly are delicious.

Speedy Brownies

Source:  Taste of Home

36 Servings 

Prep: 15 min. 

Bake: 30 min.

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup baking cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
5 eggs
1 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips


In a large bowl, beat the first seven ingredients. Pour into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips.

Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack.

Mexican Pasta

I shared the photo on the blog's Facebook page the other day but didn't get around to posting the recipe.  A few of you have requested it already, and I apologize for the delay....but here it is :)

This one comes from Noble Pig and I've adapted it slightly, or rather, left some things out to match the tastes of our family.  Very good pasta dish though and it makes a lot, it was more than enough for 8 people plus leftovers.

Mexican Bowtie Pasta Bake

Recipe adapted from: Noble Pig | Serves: Serves 8-10

1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 cups diced onion
1/2 cup finely diced pickled jalapenos
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
15 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
2 Tablespoons chili powder
1 Tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground oregano
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 pound ground beef (90/10)
2 cans (3 cups) evaporated milk
2 (11 ounce) cans mexicorn, drained
1 pound bowtie pasta, dry
2 cups shredded monterey jack cheese
2 cups shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
Garnish with cilantro, sour cream, avocado and hot sauce

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare 13 x 9 or 3 quart baking dish by spraying it with cooking spray. Cook pasta according to package directions.
In a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, add olive oil and saute onions until soft; about 5-8 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant; about 30 seconds. Add jalapenos, tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper. Make sure to incorporate all ingredients well.
Add ground beef and saute until slightly browned with other ingredients. Add milk and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in mexicorn.
Add pasta to the meat mixture and mix well. Place half of the mixture in your baking dish and top with monterey jack cheese. Place the rest of the mixture on top of the monterey jack and top with cheddar cheese.
Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Serve with cilantro, avocado, sour cream and hot sauce.

Portuguese 10 Egg White Cake - Bolo das 10 Claras

I don't even remember when I got this recipe, but it's always been one of my go to, easy cakes to make. Mainly because it always seems to turn out great and since I'm not a huge baker, I don't have to worry about messing it up.

You have no idea how much taking a cake out of it's mold, scares me. I have to talk myself into doing it LOL

I'm sure you've noticed that I don't have a huge collection of desserts on this blog.  Not like 90% of the other food blogs who are filled with yummy sugary goodies.

The reason is simple, not only am I not a huge baker, but I have always preferred salty to sweet, and I will take a plate of comfort food over a slice of cake, any.day.

Anyway, tonight the Pastor of our new church, is coming over with his wife to get to know us.  I'm not a very outgoing person, am actually quite shy and don't really care for people in my house.  Weird huh? LOL

But I decided that I should bake something instead of just giving them store bought cookies.  So after some thinking I narrowed it down to this cake, and so it is.

If you like pound cake, you'll enjoy this one, it's simple, plain but with a hint of lemon.

Bolo das 10 Claras

Portuguese 10 Egg White Cake

Source:  As Receitas la de casa

10 egg whites
pinch of salt
2/3 cup softened butter
1 and half cups sugar
3 tablespoons of milk
2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
Juice and rind of 1 small lemon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a cake pan with butter and flour.

Start by adding the egg whites to a big bowl, add in a pinch of salt and beat until firm.

In a separate big bowl, beat the softened butter and sugar until creamy.   Add the lemon juice and rind and the milk.  Mix well.  Add in the flour and the baking powder and mix until all ingredients are well combined.

Take a spoonful of the egg whites and add to the cake mix, slowly fold them in from bottom to top without beating.   Keep adding spoonfuls at a time and folding in gently until all the egg whites are mixed in.

Pour into the cake pan, sprinkle sugar on top to give it a nice crunchy crust and bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown and cake is done.

Remove from pan and serve.

Runza Casserole

A specialty from Nebraska, the Runza is quite popular in the State.  But if you're not from Nebraska, chances are you've never heard of it and didn't even know it existed.

I'm one of those people, I had no clue it existed until a friend of mine mentioned them.  So I went online, did a little search here and there and found the Runza's, which are originally a bread dough filled with a delicious meat filling featuring cabbage.

I LOVE cabbage.  Just wanted to get that out of the way.

After doing a little more searching I started seeing the Runza Casserole pop up all over the place and I just knew that I had to try it.

Let me tell you that my kids loved it and never even noticed the cabbage in there.  Definitely going on my Casserole List.

Runza Casserole

Adapted from:  Busy Bee

2 cans of crescent rolls
1 Pounds of Ground beef
2 Cups of Cabbage (I used shredded cabbage in a bag)
1/2 Cup of Onion
1 Can of Cream of Mushroom Soup
Garlic powder
Salt to taste
Shredded Mozzarella or Swiss Cheese


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Brown meat in large skillet, drain and return to skillet. Add cabbage, onion, garlic powder and salt, let it cook for a minute or two until cabbage is soft. Add the mushroom soup, stir well.

Grease baking dish, unroll one of the cans of crescent rolls and press into the bottom of the dish. Top with the ground beef and cabbage mixture. Sprinkle with shredded cheese.

Unroll second can of crescent roll, place over the beef mixture. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Cheese and Bacon Oven Baked Rice

This is a really good way of using up leftover rice, which seems to be quite a usual occurrence in my household.

I either make this oven rice as a side dish for another meal, or I make rice pudding.  One thing is for sure, rice never goes to waste in this house :)

Cheese and Bacon Oven Baked Rice

4 cups of cooked rice
4 slices of bacon, diced
parsley
3 tablespoons of parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar or any other cheese you have on hand
salt and pepper
2 eggs
1 cup of milk


In a bowl, mix the rice, bacon and parsley.  Transfer to a baking dish greased with butter.

In a separate bowl, mix the eggs, milk, cheeses and salt and pepper.  Pour over the rice.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown.