Old Fashioned Dressing

 

       Please overlook the photo of my dressing. It tastes much better than it looks! Of course, I forgot to get a picture of it on my plate with the fixings and before cutting into it.....and so there you have it, maybe I can get a better picture of it next time I make it and I'll try to update the photo when I make it again. At the request of my oldest son.... here's the recipe....

First, cook a small chicken or hen in a large pot with a little bit of salt and pepper and covered with water, ( I used a cornish game hen, it was frozen and I thawed it in the refrigerator a couple of days before I needed it).  Bring it to a boil and then slightly cover the pot and reduce the heat until it is at a slow boil, cook it for about 40 minutes or so, or until when you poke a fork into the thigh there is no blood, when done, set broth aside for the dressing. 

 While waiting for the chicken or hen to cook,  you can cut up 1/2 cup onion and 1/2 cup celery and cook in about 1 to 2 Tablespoons of butter, until tender, set aside, you will add this to the Dressing. (tip: you can cut up onion and celery a day ahead and keep in the refrigerator. 

Next make the Egg Bread, Preheat Oven to 375 degrees 

For The Egg Bread You Will Need:

• 4 eggs
• 2 cups Pollard's Fine White Corn Meal ( or Hoover's White Corn Meal)
• 2 cups buttermilk
• sprinkle of salt

Mix above ingredients and bake in a greased iron skillet or baking pan for about 50 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool. Then crumble the egg bread into an extra large bowl, use a biscuit cutter or fork to crumble it up well. 

Now You Are Ready To Make The Dressing

For The Dressing:

Add the cooked celery and onion to the bowl of crumbled egg bread, add a little salt and pepper to taste, add in some of the chicken (or hen) broth slowly and a little at the time, until it is a little bit soupy, season more the taste. Tip: If mixture gets too soupy you can add in some crumbled white bread to absorb some of the broth. Next, pour it into a 13x9 inch greased casserole dish or baking pan and bake at 375 degrees for about 45-55 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve with the chicken that you boiled, or turkey or ham and all the fixings!

Enjoy! 

     This recipe is a 5th generation recipe... it goes back to my Dad's Mama's Mama. I got it from my Grandma C. (dad's mama), in 2013, when she was 86 years old. She is now 93 years old. I am so happy to have this delicious dressing recipe. Grandma didn't have an actual recipe to give me, because she's always just made it the way her mama did... and she'd learned by watching her mama make it.... but she gave me instructions over the phone and I wrote everything down according to her instructions and she'd say,  "put in about this much and about that much." She had just done it so many times, I don't think she really measured it. But anyhow, the instructions she gave to me makes it turn out great and it's not hard to make. 

     My grandma was a simple cook and she taught me how to cook back when I was a teenager, (many years ago). I spent a lot of time with her in her kitchen and I will always cherish the time spent with her way back then. I hold those days very close to my heart.  She is a beautiful, sweet and humble lady. She's precious....one of the most soft spoken, and patient people that I know. Below I've included a scanned picture of her when she was a young lady. I'm so glad to have this picture to include with the recipe.

I'm so happy to have this recipe to pass down to the next generation so that they can cook it too! 

Banana Bread

 

You Will Need:

• 1 stick butter (softened)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs beaten
• 1 cup chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts)
• 2-3 ripe bananas (mashed)
• 2 cups  all purpose flour (sift after measuring)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease loaf pan. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add beaten eggs. Add mashed bananas to the sugar mixture, alternately with dry ingredients. Add nuts and vanilla extract. Pour mixture into a greased loaf pan bake 1 hour or until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle of loaf. 

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookies With Coconut

 

You Will Need: 

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 stick butter (softened)
• 1 stick margarine (softened)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips semi-sweet
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 375 degrees,  line cookie sheet with parchment paper,  combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl, set aside, in a large bowl combine butter, margarine, sugars, until smooth, add vanilla extract, and eggs, stir well until blended, add flour mixture, when blended well add mini chocolate chips and coconut. Drop by Tablespoons onto lined cookie sheets, cook 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on cookie racks. 

Makes about 36 cookies

Enjoy!

Italian Chicken and Bean Soup Slow Cooker

 

You Will Need:

• 1/2 stick of butter
• medium yellow onion
• 3 tsp. minced garlic (or 3 garlic cloves chopped)
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 15 oz. can petite diced tomatoes (undrained)
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 1/2 tsp. dried parsley
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4 (15 oz) cans white kidney beans (cannellini beans) drained and rinsed
• 1 1/2 lbs. chicken breast tenderloin strips
• 3 cups fresh spinach
• grated parmesan cheese to garnish

In a skillet saute the onion and garlic in butter, place chicken in slow cooker add onion and garlic and other ingredients, (besides the spinach and parmesan cheese). Cover, cook on high 15 minutes then reduce heat to low and cook 5 hours, take out chicken strips and shred with two forks, add it back to slow cooker, then add the spinach, cook another hour or so, until the spinach is cooked and tender. Salt and pepper to taste, place in bowls and top with grated parmesan cheese. 

Serve with buttered Italian or French bread or toasted garlic bread

Enjoy!

Sweet Hawaiian Chicken With Coconut Rice

The chicken in this recipe is cooked in the slow cooker, the coconut rice is made on the stove top

You Will Need: 

• 2 lbs. chicken chicken tenderloin strips
• 1 cup pineapple juice
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 3 to 4 green onion (chop and separate white bottom from the green tops)

 Add chicken to slow cooker, stir together pineapple juice, brown sugar, and soy sauce, and whites of the onion in a small bowl, pour over chicken and stir. Turn slow cooker on high for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to low, cook for 5-6 hours. Shred chicken with two forks at the end of cooking. Before serving, add in the green tops of the onion. Serve with Coconut Rice (Recipe Is Below)

For Coconut Rice You Will Need:

• 1 cup jasmine rice (or other white rice) 
• 1 (15 oz.) can of coconut milk (unsweetened) 
• water (as needed) 

Combine can of coconut milk with rice in a medium pot, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 15 minutes, stir; if rice is not tender, add a little more water and continue cooking until rice is tender and water is absorbed, continue stirring frequently until rice is done).

 

Serve with savory bacon green beans and crescent roll.

Enjoy!

Ground Beef and Macaroni Skillet Dinner

You Will Need:

• 1 lb. ground beef or ground chuck
• 1/2  medium yellow onion (chopped)
• 2 small cans tomato sauce
• 1 small can kernel corn (not drained)
• 1 cup elbow macaroni
• 1 Tablespoon chili powder
• 2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup of beef broth (or water)
• sprinkle of salt and pepper

In a large skillet over medium heat, brown ground beef and onion, drain, return meat to skillet, then add corn, macaroni, tomato sauce, and broth (or water), cook covered for 30 minutes stirring occasionally. During the last 10 minutes or so stir in chili powder, garlic powder and sprinkle of salt and pepper. After the macaroni is tender, top with cheese and heat covered for about 5 minutes. 

Makes about 6 servings

This recipe came from one of the old cookbooks that my grandma gave me (mama's mother). It's easy and quick to make, and full of great flavor. 

Serve with salad or green beans and a slice of buttered white bread

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Italian Chicken and Vegetables

You Will Need:

• 4 boneless chicken breasts or 6-8 boneless chicken strips
• 1/2 medium red onion chopped
• 5 medium red potatoes (diced, leave skins on potatoes)
• 1/2 bag frozen yellow squash
• package Italian dressing mix (dried mix)
• heaping Tablespoon minced garlic
• drizzle olive oil
• 3 Tablespoons white vinegar
• 1/2 cup chicken broth or water

To a slow cooker crock pot, add chicken garlic, Italian dressing pack, vinegar, chicken broth or water, olive oil, the veggies and stir. 

Cook on high about 6 hours. 

This is full of flavor!

Serve with green beans or salad

Enjoy!

Mushroom Beef Patties

You Will Need:

• 1 pound ground beef
• can  cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup chopped yellow onion
• 1 egg beaten
• 1 Tablespoon oil
• salt and pepper
• small can mushrooms drained
• 1 Tablespoon worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup water 

In a large bowl, mix about a Tablespoon of soup with ground beef, bread crumbs, onion, egg and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Shape into patties, cook in a large skillet on medium-high heat until well browned on both sides. Remove from skillet. Reduce heat to medium, add oil and mushrooms and cook a couple of minutes, stir in remaining soup, worcestershire sauce and water and bring to a boil, return patties to the skillet. Reduce heat to low and cover, cook about 30 minutes or until patties are no longer pink. Add more water as needed to thin the sauce or for desired consistency.

Serve with mashed potatoes and a side of vegetables (green beans)

Enjoy!

Taco Salad

You Will Need:

• 1 lb. ground beef cooked and drained 
• 3/4 cup picante sauce 
• bag shredded lettuce 
• 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 can black beans (partially drain, and add water to cover beans in a small pot, heat until boiling, reduce heat and keep warm) 
• 1 can whole corn (bring to a boil, reduce heat and keep warm) 
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion
• 1 small tomato
• guacamole (optional)

Season cooked meat with 3/4 cup picante sauce, bring to a boil and keep on low until ready to put the salad together. Layer lettuce, cheese, warm beans, warm corn, onion, tomato and optional guacamole, on individual plates, top with beef, drizzle with dressing and optional guacamole. 

For the Dressing You Will Need: 

• 1/2 cup picante sauce
• 4 Tablespoons Sour Cream
• 2 Tablespoons Lime Juice

Makes 4 Servings

Enjoy! 

Tuscan Bean Soup w/ Bacon

You Will Need:

• 8 slices of bacon chopped and cooked
• 3 celery stalks chopped
• 4 carrots chopped
• 2 shallots chopped
• 4 tsp. minced garlic
• 4 cups chicken broth (32 oz. carton)
• 4 cans cannellini  beans (white kidney beans) (drain 2, leave 2 undrained) 
• 1/2 cup half/half or heavy cream
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (not the powdered kind) 
• sprinkle salt and pepper
• 2 rosemary sprigs
• 1 bay leaf
• sprinkle dried parsley

Chop vegetables and set aside, chop bacon and cook in a dutch oven large pot until browned, remove bacon with slotted spoon, cook shallots and minced garlic a few minutes, in a couple of Tbsp.of bacon grease. Add 1/2 of bacon (reserving some to top soup when serving), add veggies, beans, broth, rosemary, bay leaf salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, and cook until vegetables are tender about an hour or two, (the longer it cooks the better the flavor). Remove bay leaf, and rosemary sprig from pot. Add half/ half, parsesan cheese and dried parsley sprinkled stir and cook until cheese is melted. Place in bowls and top with reserved bacon and top with more parmesan cheese.  

Serve with jiffy sweet cornbread

NOTE: This can also be cooked in the crock pot slow cooker, cook bacon as instructed above, then follow recipe by placing ingredients in crock pot, cook 4-6 hours on low. Add half/ half and parmesan cheese and sprinkling of parsley during last 15 minutes of cooking. Top with bacon and parmesan cheese. 

Enjoy!