Rice & Lentil Casserole

from ball p. 127

Notes: Good. We definitely all like lentils. I may have added a touch more rice and water but I can't remember for sure.

Ingredients;
3 c. chicken broth
3/4 c. uncooked lentils
1/2 c. uncooked brown rice
1 sm. onion chopped
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
3/4 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
Mix all ingredients except the cheese in a casserole dish. Cover and bake at 300 for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or until all the water is absorbed; top with cheese 20 min. before baking is over.

Lemon Dill Chicken Pasta Salad

from Ball p.77

Note: Good served a little warm or chilled. I was surprised the girls liked this too. I added a bit extra lemon last time and learned not to do that :)

Ingredients:
4 c cooked bow tie pasta
1 lb. cooked chicken or shrimp
1 c frozen peas
1/2 c. chopped green onions
1/4 c. minced fresh parsley
1 c. plain yogurt
1 c mayo
1/4 c lemon juice
1 T dill weed
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the pasta, chicken or shrimp, peas, onions, and parsley. In a small bowl, combine the yogurt, mayo, lemon juice, dill, salt and pepper. Pour over pasta mixture and toss gently. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

Cream Peas and Potatoes

from Ball p. 115

Note: These were always something I looked forward to from things we grew in the garden growing up.

Ingredients:
new potatoes/red potatoes
new peas or bag of frozen petite peas
1/2 c flour
1/2 c butter
2 c milk or half and half (ended up using a lot more milk, maybe 2 qts?)
1/2 tsp sugar
shake of dry mustard
dash nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt or to taste
1/2 tsp pepper

Directions: boil potatoes and cook peas. Melt butter on medium heat and whisk flour in so it doesn't lump. Slowly add milk or half and half while stirring. Then add spices. Thicken and add salt and pepper to taste. Add vegetables heat through and serve.

Three Beans and Sausage

from Ball p. 129

Note: This can be stove top or crockpot. I didn't have any white beans, so I used Garbanzo beans instead and was good.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb. smoked sausage, cut into 1/2' pieces
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can white beans, rinsed and drained
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 c. water
1 c. chopped onion
1 can tomato sauce
2/3 c chopped celery
1 tsp. chicken bouillon granules
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. dried thyme (used 1/8)
Hot cooked rice, was good with brown rice

Directions (slow cooker):
In a slow cooker, combine all ingredients except rice. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 4 1/2 hours or until heated through. Discard bay leaf. Serve over rice.

Directions (stove top):
Brown sausage, garlic and onion in large skillet. Add rest of ingredients and simmer 1/2 hour or so (adding water as needed to not dry out or burn) and then Serve. Discard bay leaf before serving.

Zucchini Brownies

Used to love how moist these stayed as a kid. And how chocolate they were. Wonder how it would be if you tried to blend up the zucchini before adding it? These could easily be made a day ahead. Frosting makes them pretty rich.

from Ball p. 399

Ingredients:
 brownies
2 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 C vegetable oil
1 1/2 C white sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 C shredded zucchini (blended?)
1/2 C chopped walnuts (optional
frosting
6 T unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 C margarine/butter
1/4 C milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan.

2. In a large bowl mix flour, 1/2 c. cocoa, baking soda, and salt; in a separate bowl mix sugar, oil,
    and 2 tsp vanilla until well blended. Then combine both wet and dry mixtures together.

3. Fold in the zucchini and nuts (optional). Spread evenly into the prepared pan.

4. Bake for 25-30 min. in the preheated oven, until brownies spring back when gently touched.
     Allow to cool before frosting.

5. Frosting: melt together the 6 T cocoa and margarine; set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, blend together the powdered sugar, milk, and 1/2 tsp vanilla. Stir in cocoa mixture.

6. Spread over cooled brownies before cutting into squares.

Pudding Brownies

from Ball Family Cookbook p. 381

Ingredients:

1 sm. instant chocolate pudding mix
1 3/4 C milk
1 pkg Devils Food chocolate cake mix
2 C chocolate chips (tried mint chips and they were great)

Directions:

1. Mix the instant pudding and milk.

2. Mix in dry cake mix.

3. Stir in chocolate chips.

4. Grease and flour a 9x13 pan. Spread mix evenly in pan.

5. Cook at 350 for the time it says on the cake mix.

Easy, fast, and good!

Mexican Soup (Refried Bean Soup)

from Ball Cookbook p. 51

Ingredients (makes 2-3 servings):
4 slices bacon, diced
3/4 C chopped onion
3/4 C chopped celery
1/2 C chopped green pepper
1 clove minced garlic
1 (16 oz) can refried beans
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp chili powder
dash hot sauce (or a few, optional)
1 can chicken broth
shredded cheddar cheese
chopped tomato
crushed tortilla chips
chopped cabbage (optional)

Directions:
1. Cook bacon in microwave or preferred method (recipe says to cook in pan and then use grease to cook onion and co., but this made too strong of a bacon flavor in my opinion).

2. Saute onion, celery, green pepper and garlic in a pan until tender

3. Add beans, pepper, chili powder, and hot pepper sauce.

4. Stir in chicken broth and bring to a boil.

Serve with toppings.

Cafe Rio Pork

(Here are 3 different recipes for "Cafe Rio Pork". Each is just a little different, but I put them together to make it easy to compare and adjust)


 from Tara F. (Roastmypig.blogspot.com)

Ingredients:

• 5-6 lb. Pork Roast (I've used 4 lbs too)
• 1 Tbsp. cumin
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 20 oz. bottle coke (I use caffeine free and we still like it)
• 12 oz. Red Taco Sauce

1. Place roast in crockpot and cover half way up with water. Cook roast in crockpot on low for 12 hours or overnight.
2. Drain liquid.
3. Add remaining ingredients to roast and cook for an additional 4 hours.
4. Take out roast and shred. Put back in sauce and cook for an additional 2 hours (Or until it tastes good!).

A few notes: Use a dark cut of pork, like a shoulder, butt, or picnic roast. Bone and skin are fine if you remove them after the first 12 hours in the crock pot - just note that there will be less meat in the total weight. These cuts of meat are typically cheaper than the white cuts (loin) as well. I've also substituted salsa for the taco sauce for a spicier version.


Cafe Rio Pork (#2)
from Ball family cookbook p. 209

Ingredients:
1 pork roast or pork loin
1 1/2 cans coca-cola classic
1 C sugar
1 (7oz) can Chipotle Chiles in Adobo sauce
1 tsp. dry ground mustard (heaping tsp)
1 tsp cumin (heaping tsp)
1 tsp garlic, minced

Remove the chiles from the can of adobo sauce. (If you leave some of in it it is much hotter). Add all ingredients except pork in a blender. Rinse can of adobo sauce with coca-cola to get all sauce out. Blend until well mixed.

Place pork in crock pot and pour sauce over it. If you use more pork, double the sauce recipe). Cook on low for 7-9 hours or until the pork pulls apart with a fork.


Cafe Rio Pork #3
from Favorite Family Recipes

Ingredients:
 2 pounds pork (we use boneless pork rib meat)
3 cans Coke (NOT diet)
1/4 c. brown sugar
dash garlic salt
1/4 c. water
1 can diced green chilies
3/4 (10oz) can red enchilada sauce (I use Old El Paso brand, medium spiciness but any will work)
1 c. brown sugar

Put the pork in a heavy duty ziploc bag to marinade. Add about a can and a half of coke and about 1/4 c. of brown sugar. Marinade for a few hours or overnight.

Drain marinade and put pork, 1/2 can of coke, water, and garlic salt in crock pot on high for about 3-4 hours (or until it shreds easily, but don't let it get TOO dry) or on low for 8 hours. Remove pork from crock pot and drain any liquid left in the pot. Shred pork.

In a food processor or blender, blend 1/2 can Coke, chilies, enchilada sauce and remaining brown sugar (about a cup, you can add a little more or less to taste..). If it looks too thick, add more Coke little by little.

Put shredded pork and sauce in crockpot and cook on low for 2 hours. That's it!

Cafe Rio Pork #4
from Lizzy Writes 
Just made this one (2/2013) and enjoyed it. Think it is more like the original than with the salsa but both are good.  Looks pretty similiar to recipe from Ball cookbook. Definitely didn't put any chilies from the Adobo sauce in. Used caffeine free Coke instead of Dr. Pepper as couldn't find any caffeine free Dr. Pepper (does that exist?). I did cook it overnight in water the night before to make it super soft.

5 - 6 pounds pork tenderloin (or roast)
21 ounces Dr. Pepper (do NOT use diet or generic)
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
2 cloves garlic
1 (7 ounce) can chipotle chilies in adobo sauce
6 ounces medium red taco sauce
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Place pork in the crock pot and make sauce.

Here's the trick with the sauce: Remove chipotle chilies from the can and put in the measuring cup that you'll measure your Dr. Pepper with. Pour Dr. Pepper over them and remove the chilies (and throw away) just to get the sauce off and then continue pouring Dr. Pepper into the measuring cup until you reach the full 21 ounces. You'll also need to rinse out the chipotle can with the Dr. Pepper to get all the adobo sauce out. Do NOT use the chipotle peppers (I did this and it was killer hot). You can add 1 or 2 for a kick if you want.

Blend all ingredients together in either a blender or with an immersion blender until combined and pour over the pork. Cook on high for 5 hours or on low for 8 hours until the pork is easily shreddable. If you've never had a Cafe Rio Pork Salad, what you'll want to do to make this is take a flour tortilla and melt some cheese on it. From there, here's the layers:

Southwestern Grilled Cheese Sandwich

from Ball family cookbook p. 247

Ingredients:
crusty, crunch sourdough loaf (couldn't taste sourdough much)
1 jar roasted red or yellow peppers (or sauteed fresh peppers)
sliced pepper jack cheese
fresh guacamole
bacon (optional)

Slice bread in half lengthwise and on the bottom half add a layer of peppers, top with cheese. Toast bread with all the toppings and the other half of the loaf in the oven until cheese melts. Put the top on the sandwich and slice into serving pieces and top with guacamole.

Can be cut into bite sized pieces and speared with a toothpick for an appetizer.

Reuben Sandwiches

from Ball family cookbook p. 245

Ingredients:
12 slices rye bread
1/2 lb. sliced corned beef, or pastrami
mustard
6 slices Swiss cheese
1 (16oz) jar sauerkraut
butter or margarine

Directions:
Heat sauerkraut in saucepan or in microwave, then drain. Butter one side of each piece of bread. Lay 6 slices of bread on preheated griddle, butter side down. Warm corned beef on griddle as well.

Layer corned beef, cheese and sauerkraut on each piece. Top each sandwich with another piece of buttered bread, butter side up. When golden brown, flip and grill other side.

P.F. Chang's Lettuce Wraps

from Ball family cookbook p. 243

Ingredients:
            Filling:
3 Tbsp oil
1 (8 oz) can water chestnuts, chopped
3 Tbsp onions, chopped
1 head lettuce
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 C mushrooms
1 tsp. minced garlic

Filling Directions: Mince water chestnuts and mushrooms about the size of a small pea. (Chopper works well for this). Prepare the stir fry sauce by mixing all ingredients together in a small bowl. Bring oil to med-high heat in a large frying pan. Saute chicken breast for about 5-6 min. per side until done. Remove chicken from pan and cool When chicken is cool, mince into small pieces just like the vegetables.

Add another Tbsp. of oil to the pan. When oil is hot, add garlic, onions, mushrooms, chestnuts, and chicken to the pan. Saute 4-5 minutes. Add the stir-fry sauce tot he pan. Saute for a couple of minutes until completely warmed.

Serve mixture in lettuce cups and top with special sauce.

Stir Fry Sauce
Ingredients:
4 T soy sauce
1 tsp. rice vinegar
4 T browns sugar

Special Sauce
Ingredients:
1/4 C sugar
2 T soy sauce
2 T ketchup
1/2 C water
2 T rice vinegar
1 T lemon juice
1 T dry mustard (optional)
2 tsp. hot water (optional)

Make special sauce by combining the sugar and water in a small bowl, add soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup, and lemon juice. Mix well. Refrigerate this sauce until you are ready to serve.

Optional ingredients are only if you want it spicy.

Chicken Pesto

from Ball Family Cookbook p. 175

Ingredients:
3 C. uncooked bow tie pasta
2 Tbsp. butter or margarine
1 lb. chicken breasts, cubed
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 C. Pesto sauce
1/2 C. milk

Cook pasta.

Heat butter in skillet; add chicken and cook until browned. Add soup, pesto, and milk and bring to a boil.

Cook over low heat for 5 min. or until done. Stir in drained pasta and heat through.