Spaghetti Pie

Spaghetti and pie. Best combination ever.

Spaghetti Pie



This recipe is adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens Hometown Potluck Favorites cookbook. It was originally a pizza pie thing (It is titled "Pizza in a Bowl"), but I do not like pepperoni mixed with pasta very well. So, I adapted it to what you see below.




Ingredients
-2 cups thin spaghetti
-1 pound ground beef
-1 small onion, chopped
-1 14-ounce jar pizza sauce
-1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
-1 6-ounce can tomato paste
-1/2 teaspoon garlic pepper
-1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
-1/4 teaspoon onion powder
-2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook spaghetti and drain. Brown ground beef with onions until onions are tender. Drain fat if necessary. Stir in next six ingredients and warm. Stir in cooked spaghetti.
3. Spoon one third of the mixture into a casserole dish. Sprinkle with one third of the mozarella cheese. Repeat with remaining thirds, alternating spaghetti mixture and cheese.
4. Bake, uncovered, for 25 to 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and noodles on top are slightly crunchy.

Blueberry and Cherry Chocolate Chip Muffins

The high today was supposed to be roughly eleven. So far, it has not gotten beyond eight. It's a great day to stay inside and bake.

Blueberry and Cherry Chocolate Chip Muffins



I still had ten cups of baking mix after the waffles, so I thought I'd make some muffins. Today I made two kinds: Blueberry and Cherry Chocolate Chip. I am going to send most of them with Walter to his co-worker's house. The original muffin recipe came from the same site linked above with the baking mix.



Ingredients
-2 cups baking mix
-2 Tablespoons sugar
-1 egg
-2/3 cup milk (I used liquid non-dairy creamers instead. For the blueberry, I used French Vanilla. For the cherry chocolate chip, I used CoffeeMate's Black Cherry Struedel)
-1 cup blueberries/1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin or mini-muffin pans and set aside.
2. Combine first four ingredients and mix until smooth. Fold in blueberries or chocolate chips. Fill muffin pans 3/4 full of batter. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes at 400 degrees. Let cool 1-2 minutes in pan, then transfer to wire cooling racks to cool completely.

Hot Sauce Burgers

I had no idea what I wanted for dinner today. I looked in the freezer and saw french fries, so burgers and fries won out. However, I wanted to do something a little different.

Hot Sauce Burgers



These are my own creation, one of those "what do I have in the fridge that would taste good?" kind of dishes. As I have said before, if I can make something spicy, I do it.

Ingredients
-1 pound ground beef
-1/4 cup cayenne pepper sauce
-2 Tablespoons worcestershire sauce
-2 Tablespoons seasoned meat tenderizer
-1 Tablespoon garlic and pepper
-1 Tablespoon onion powder
-1/2 Tablespoon paprika

Directions
1. Combine all ingredients and knead beef until thoroughly mixed. Make into patties of desired size.
2. Cook burgers to your liking (I cook them medium well to well done on a griddle). If desired, place cheese slice on each burger about one minute before removing from griddle. Top with desired condiments and vegetables (I recommend sour cream for this recipe).

Waffles!

I received a waffle iron for Christmas. It is just a cheap 10 dollar one from Wal-Mart, but it does indeed make waffles.

Waffles



It did take a bit of getting used to the iron, knowing what amount of batter to put in and whatnot, but I eventually figured it out. The iron did not cook completely evenly, the center getting hotter than the edges, so they were a bit dark in the middle, but they tasted great. This recipe made about eight waffles.

I got the recipe from Joelen, and the baking mix recipe (which she also used) came from this site. I really liked Joelen's idea of using the French Vanilla creamer...it made it a lot sweeter, and I think that other flavors of creamer would be great too (and the creamers are non-dairy. The baking mix has dry milk in it, but the less lactose, the better). They would also be great with other fruits added, but Walter wanted regular waffles.

Ingredients
-2 cups baking mix
-1 egg
-2 tablespoons canola oil
-1 1/2 cup liquid French vanilla creamer

Directions
1. Combine all ingredients and mix until smooth. Pour into waffle iron and cook according to your iron's instructions.

Baking Mix
(Makes 12 cups)

Ingredients
-8 cups all-purpose flour
-2 Tablespoons baking powder
-1 Tablespoon salt
-2 teaspoons cream of tartar
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-2 cups dry nonfat milk
-2 cups shortening

Directions
1. Combine all ingredients except shortening and stir together. Combine shortening to the mixture half a cup at a time. The mixture should be mealy when completed.
2. Store in airtight containers either in the fridge or at room temperature for up to three months.