Black Bean Pizza

Okay so you know by now that I use a lot of beans. They are a cheap alternative to meat and when you cook every single day a girl just has to mix things up. If you are watching your weight I think you could make this very healthy by using a low fat cheese and maybe a whole wheat crust but what do I know about it? This pizza was really good. I got the recipe from Lynns Kitchen Adventures. She has lots of recipes I have tried and thought were very good. I made just a few changes from her recipe.

pizza crust, unbaked

2 cups black beans

1 14 1/2 ounce can rotel, partially drained, I drain about 1/2 the liquid off

black olives, sliced

1 packet taco seasoning

2-3 cups Mexican cheese, cheddar, or a mix of cheddar and jack (basically whatever you like)

Mix taco seasoning and tomatoes. Spread on crust. Sprinkle with green chilies, black beans, olives, and then sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 400 for 12-15 minutes or until done.

Coffee Cake

This is a coffee cake but I thought it was very good as a dessert. If you like spice cake type recipes you will like this. If you made the apple cake and thought it was good then I think you will also like this cake.

Ingredients:
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups sifted flour
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup chopped pecans lightly tossed in 2 TBS. of flour
3/4 cup coconut

Preheat oven to 350. Beat sugars, eggs, oil and vanilla until creamy. In a bowl combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, baking powder and soda. Alternately add the dry ingredients and buttermilk to sugar mixture. Blend well. Add flour-coated pecans and coconut. Bake in a greased and floured bundt pan for 45 to 50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan for 20 minutes.
This recipe is linked to The Grocery Cart Challenge.

Pioneer Woman Cornbread

I know that everyone knows the Pioneer Woman and all her loveliness but when I make one of her recipes I like to post it so that you can see what it looks like when a regular gal makes it. And so I can give my thoughts on the taste. Now here at the Reid house we eat beans and cornbread a lot. Especially in the winter. We always had it growing up at my Moms and I hated it. I guess I want to make sure my children are given the same opportunities in life that I was given. That includes the chance to grow to hate beans and cornbread. Seriously, if you are cooking on a budget you should try to think back to things you had growing up or even ask your Grandma for recipes. Chances are they weren't eating a lot of super expensive meals and you probably remember that food tasting the best. As you can see I use a lot of Jamons Grandmothers recipes because they are so delicious and also very frugal. People just didn't go out and spend a ton of money on food back then. Anyway back to the cornbread. Normally I use Jiffy with a few additions. I will post that little trick later. But I was out so I decided to try this. Now my husband believes that cornbread should be super sweet so he wasn't in love with this. If you don't believe a bunch of sugar belongs in cornbread then you will think this is a tasty treat. Click here for the recipe.

Mary Alice Rolls

These rolls are a staple in our house. This is Jamons grandmothers recipe. Also know on this blog as Mama. This is his grandma not to be confused with his Momma. I like this recipe because it doesn't have to rise and you just use as much as you want and store the rest in the fridge and use it as needed. It works perfect right after you have mixed it or after it has sat in your fridge for two weeks.

2 Cups warm water
1 package yeast
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup oil
1 egg
4 cups self-risisng flour

Here is how I do it. Pour the water into a bowl and add the yeast. Let it set for a minute to dissolve some. The add the sugar, oil and egg and stir it up until blended. Add the flour and stir. Once it's all mixed up it will not look like regular bread dough. It will be more moist and easy to stir. The first time I made it I thought surely I had made a mistake. Then put into a greased muffin pan. Just fill maybe 3/4 full. You will have to cook these in a muffin pan because of the batter. Bake at 400. It takes me 20 minutes but I use that stoneware so if you are using a metal pan I would check them after 15 minutes. Just take them out when they are to the brownness you like. Jamon likes bread almost raw so if you ate these at my house they were just barely browned. You can cover the leftover batter and keep it in the fridge. I don't know for how long. The longest I have gone is 2 weeks and Jamon and I both thought the rolls actually tasted better after that time. I think these are best served as a dinner roll but my friend Heather thinks they are best served at breakfast with chocolate gravy but she is a ding-dong so you should just take my word for it.

Fettucine Alfredo Larusso

This goes so good with the Porcupine Meatballs. I know it seems weird but they do go together. This recipe also came to me from the Beaver clan.
Ingredients:
4-6 ounces fettuccine noodles (I use more)
4 tbs. butter
2-3 ounces of heavy cream (really about half a small carton is about right)
1 tbs. sour cream (if you use more noodles do 2 tbs.)
2-3 tbs. Parmesan cheese
1 beaten egg yolk

When noodles are almost boiled, melt butter in a shallow frying pan. Add cream and sour cream. Mix and maintain over low heat. When hot, add drained noodles and toss well.
Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over noodles and toss. Mixture will thicken. Add a bit more cream if mixture becomes too thick. Turn off heat and add egg yolk. Mix well. Top with additional Parmesan cheese and freshly ground pepper.

Porcupine Meatballs

I have neglected this blog for several months and decided I either needed to stop doing it or start posting some stuff! I wanted to keep it because it is handy for me to have all my recipes in one place and hopefully you all enjoy trying some of them. I realized that I am only posting meatball recipes under beef which is weird since I use beef a lot. I will get some more options under the beef category! These are my very favorite meatballs on the planet earth. They are so tasty. My friend Heather makes these for her family all the time and her mother-in-law brought them to me after Benjamon was born. They make a huge batch and freeze great. One batch makes three meals for my family. We eat the first ones and then I seperate into two freezer bags for later.

1 package Beef Rice-A-Roni
1 package Chicken Rice-A-Roni
2 lbs. ground beef
2 beaten eggs
2 1/2 cups of water

Combine rice mix from both packages with ground beef and eggs. Add beef seasoning packet to meat and rice. Shape into meatballs. Brown in a large skillet or electric skillet. Combine contents of chicken seasoning packet and water. Pour over meatballs. Cover and simmer 30 minutes OR if you are making these in your electric skillet you can put the lit on and cook on the lowest setting for a few hours.