"Good Time Casserole"

Family!  Gotta love them, whenever we get together during the summer each family takes turns making meals.  Normally, there are the family favorites that get chosen and requested each year.  Aunt Margo's "Good Time Casserole" is one of those!  I guess it's a Canadian favorite but we enjoy it just as much in the states!  This hearty casserole is reminiscent of lasagna with the layers of noodles, meat and cheese.  I've served it when expecting guests and always get compliments!

 

Ingredients: (serves 7)
4 cups cooked noodles
2 pounds ground beef
4 7 1/2 ounce cans tomato sauce
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic salt
2 teaspoons sugar
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cups sour cream
5 green onions, sliced including tops
2 cups medium Cheddar Cheese, grated

Directions:

1. Prepare noodles as directed on package. Drain. Spread in bottom of 4 quart casserole.
2. Brown the beef in frying pan, stirring to break up chunks. Drain the oil
3. Add tomato sauce to meat. Measure in salt, pepper, garlic salt and sugar. Stir; bring to boil and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Spoon over noodles.
4. In bowl, mash cream cheese and sour cream. Stir in green onions. Spread over meat layer. Sprinkle cheese on top.
5. Bake uncovered in 350F oven for 35 minutes.

Note:  Pioneer Woman has a similar recipe that doesn't include the sugar and uses cottage cheese instead of cream cheese.  Her recipe uses 1/2 c. Sour Cream and 1 1/4 c. Cottage Cheese.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Chip Pretzel Cookies

I've made these so many times in the past couple of weeks because they are so good!  My kids and husband love pretzels so we often have them in the house. In fact we buy them by the tub for now we need even more then before because of my obsession with these cookies!  I would suggest making sure you have some hidden or you won't get any.


Recipe: Chocolate & Peanut Butter Chip Pretzel Cookies
Makes 48 cookies

 

Ingredients:

3 cups of all purpose flour
1 tsp. of salt
1/2 tsp. of baking soda
1 cup of butter at room temperature
1 cup of tightly packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup of granulated sugar
2 egg (beaten)
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups milk chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter chips
1 cup broken up pretzel pieces
Pretzel Salt or Sea Salt

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a larger bowl, beat the butter and sugars together on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). On low speed, slowly add the beaten eggs and vanilla extract. Beat to combine, scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Add the flour mixture and beat just until there are no more streaks of flour. Stir in the chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and pretzels.
4. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop out well rounded tablespoonfuls of the dough and sprinkle with pretzel salt. Leave about 2 inches between each ball. Bake for 10 minutes. If you prefer crispier cookies increase the baking time by 1-2 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before removing.

Note: One time I had a few toffee pieces left over and I dumped them in, fabulous.

Zucchini Banana Bread

It is the time of year when zucchini is in abundance but not everyone likes zucchini.  This bread has a more banana flavor with the moistness provided by the zucchini!  This recipe is from the Avrie Cooks blog and she included a recipe for icing which I'm sure is wonderful but I didn't have time for it.  I took 2 Tbs of buttercream icing from a can and threw it in the microwave for 10 seconds and stirred to make it more of a glaze.  It was fabulous drizzled over the bread since the bread is not super sweet.

Zucchini Banana Bread

Makes one 9-by-5-inch loaf (Note: I made as one 9-by-5-inch loaf but you may wish to divide batter among two 8-by-4-inch loaves and reduce baking time by about 10 minutes; or bake as 3 or more mini loaves, bake in a 9-inch square pan, as 10-cup Bundt cake, or as muffins; adjusting baking times as necessary)

Ingredients: 

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted (half of one stick)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 large egg

6 ounces vanilla or plain yogurt (one standard-sized small container; Greek yogurt preferred, or sour cream may be substituted – do not use fat free or light yogurt or sour cream)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 3/4 cup grated zucchini, loosely packed

1 to 1 1/4 cups mashed bananas (1 large or 2 small very ripe bananas)

one 3.4-ounce box vanilla instant pudding mix (not Cook ‘n Serve), optional see notes below

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt, optional and to taste

Preheat oven to 325F, spray pan (s) with cooking spray with flour or grease and flour the pan(s)s; set aside.

In a large microwave-safe mixing bowl, melt the butter, about 1 minute on high power. To the melted butter, add the sugars, egg, yogurt, vanilla, and whisk to combine. Add the zucchini, bananas, and stir to incorporate.

Add the dry pudding mix, and stir to combine (Note: You are not making pudding; simply add the mix as a dry ingredient. You don’t have to use pudding mix but it creates wonderful moisture and flavor in the bread. If omitting, you may wish to add an additional 1/4 cup granulated sugar and an additional 1/4  to 1/3 cup flour, based on taste preference and how your batter looks). Add the flour, baking soda, salt, and stir until just combined, taking care not to over-mix or bread will be tougher as the gluten will over-develop. Pour batter into prepared pan(s) and bake for about 60 to 65 minutes (this is for one 9-by-5-inch loaf), or until top is golden and set, and a wooden skewer, cake tester, or knife inserted in the center comes out clean. If bread is browning a bit fast on the top, you may wish to lower your oven temperature to 300F midway through cooking, at about the 30-minute mark if your oven runs hot or tent the pan with foil in approximately the last 20 minutes of cooking. Allow bread to cool in the loaf pan for at least 30 minutes before removing from the pan and transferring to a rack to finish cooling.