This is a favorite of all my children. My mother gave me the original recipe and I’ve adjusted it so that it can bake in the oven instead of cooking on the stove. Also, I like to serve this dish with mashed potatoes and use the sauce as a gravy so I usually double the sauce recipe. Good side dishes for this meal (in addition to the mashed potatoes) are corn or green beans.
Porcupine Meatballs
My version of Mom’s
Meatballs:
1 lb Ground Chuck
1/2 cup Minute Rice
1/2 cup Water
1/3 cup Onion, finely minced
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Celery Salt
1/8 tsp Garlic Powder
1/8 tsp Pepper
Sauce:
1 small can Tomato Soup
1 cup Water
1 T Worcestershire Sauce
Mix ingredients for meatballs in a large bowl. Shape into approximately 20 ping-pong ball shaped meatballs and place in a 9×13 baking dish in a single layer.
Mix ingredients for sauce and pour over meatballs. Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 40 minutes.
This is something that we learned to love living in Tennessee. The Petro is a dish that was first developed for the 1982 World’s Fair in Knoxville. In keeping with the theme of the World’s Fair that year, the inventor thought it would be funny to name the dish after petroleum since the beans in the chili produce a kind of gas. There was a place in the Food Court at the West Town Mall called Petros Chili and Chips. Now they have a restaurant on Kingston Pike. The dish is basically chili served over Fritos corn chips and topped like a taco.
To make the Petro, place Frito corn chips in the bottom of a bowl. Top with a scoop or two of chili. Then add lettuce, diced tomato, shredded cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream.
Here’s my famous Chili recipe. It once won an award at a chili cook-off for Wimpiest Chili but I have to say that every drop of the huge kettle I made was gone by the end of the cook-off event. The chili that won 1st place? Too hot for most people to want to eat more than a taste so there was plenty of it left over at the end of the day.
Mom’s Wimpy Chili
Virginia
1 lb Ground Beef
1 large can Crushed Tomatoes
2 small cans Bush’s Chili Hot Beans
1 small can Pork-n-Beans (remove any pork chunks)
1 small can Light Red Kidney Beans, drained
1 pkg McCormick Mild Chili Seasoning
Brown ground beef in large pot; drain grease.
Add all ingredients to pot. Stir and cook until heated completely over medium heat - about 30 minutes.
This is an old recipe that I dug out of my recipe box. I’m not really sure where it came from originally. It’s very tasty and pretty healthy too. You can make it even more low cal by using chicken instead of beef. Also, this recipe freezes well so I made a double recipe and froze half for a future meal.
Steak Fajitas
Virginia
Marinade:
2 T Lime juice
2 T White Wine Vinegar
1 tsp Oregano (dried)
1/2 tsp ground Cumin
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1 T Oil
Fajitas:
1 pound sirloin, flank or skirt steak
1 large Onion
3 Bell Peppers (green, yellow, and orange or red)
6 Flour tortillas
Mix marinade ingredients in a large ziploc bag. Cut steak into thin strips and add to bag. Marinate in refrigerator for at least 1 hour. (If you’re making a double batch, freeze half at this point)
Cut onion and peppers into thin strips. Keep onion separate from peppers.
Heat 1 T of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add steak strips and cook until desired doneness (I like mine a little past medium). Remove meat from skillet and set aside.
Add onion to the skillet. Cook until soft and slightly caramelized. Add steak strips and peppers to the skillet. Continue cooking until the peppers are tender. Remove from heat.
Serve with flour tortillas and toppings of shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, shredded cheese, and sour cream.
My mother-in-law gave me these recipes. It is one of her favorite meals to serve when she is having company over for an informal get-together. She makes the beef on the stove (and I’m including those directions too) but I like to toss it in the crock pot to slow cook all day. This is a good meal all year long. For an even simpler summer version, substitute cold Pork & Beans and Potato Chips or Potato Salad for the side dishes.
Shredded Beef Sandwiches
Marge Englebert
Large Chuck Roast
2 T Butter
1 small onion, diced
Salt & Pepper
1 can Beef Consume
Cut Chuck Roast into small pieces, removing fat.
Stove-top method: Brown meat in oleo. Cover meat with water (just enough to cover). Add small onion, diced, and salt and pepper. Put cover on and cook until meat falls apart. You may need to add water during cooking. ½ hour before serving, add 1 can Beef Consume and continue cooking
Crock Pot method: Put 1 can Beef Consume, butter, onion and meat pieces in crock pot. Cook for 6-8 hours. Drain excess liquids. Shred meat with fork.
Serve on buttered hamburger buns. I like to get the buns from the deli/bakery. A dill pickle spear is a nice accompaniment.
Baked Beans
Marge Englebert
4 slices Bacon
1 lb 5 oz Van Camp’s Pork-n-Beans
¼ c Ketsup
1 ½ Tbs Brown Sugar
1 ½ Tbs finely chopped Onion
¼ tsp Dry Mustard
1 ½ Tbs Molasses
Fry bacon. Crumble into 1 ½ quart casserole dish. Add other ingredients; Mix. Bake covered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for another ½ hour.
Potato Casserole
Marge Englebert
*8 oz shredded Cheddar Cheese
*8 oz Sour Cream
*1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
*1 small Onion, diced
*1 lg bag frozen Hashbrowns, defrosted
*Salt & Pepper
Crushed Cornflakes
¾ cup melted Butter
Mix starred (*) ingredients together. Pour in greased 13 x 9 pan. Put crushed cornflakes on top. Drizzle with butter. Bake 50-60 minutes at 350 degrees.
