Italian Sausage Enchiladas – Don’t be afraid to substitute ingredients

Sometimes I make a recipe exactly as it’s written.  Maybe because I’m not familiar with the dish.  Or because it’s a baked good that will just work better if I follow directions.  Or because I like the results of that specific recipe.

But other times, I use recipes as a jumping off point.  I swap out ingredients for what I have in my pantry or fridge.  This is how I cook most often.  I love to read comments from readers that say something like, “I loved this recipe.  I used chicken broth instead of beef, added more veggies, skipped the green chilis and topped it with cornbread.”  It’s not the same recipe at all, but the reader loved it! She used her creativity and shopped her pantry to serve her family a meal that they all liked.  Success!

One reason I like enchiladas so much is that they are a prime candidate for substituting.  These enchiladas are a recent result of shopping my pantry and fridge for ingredients.  They are simple to make and my family loved them.

Here’s what you’ll need.  Feel free to substitute as needed.  The recipe makes about 9-10 enchiladas.  The picture above only shows part of the recipe. [Read more...]

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How to Make Lick-Your-Chops, Gnaw-the-Bone BBQ Ribs

I didn’t think I liked ribs.  I only made them because I had them in the freezer and I knew the men and boys in the house would like them.

But, oh my goodness!  These were delicious.  Perfect summer meal.  4-napkin meal.  Wow!

I asked all of you how to fix ribs back in May.  You came through with all kinds of great recipes and methods.  Check out the comments in that post.  Readers also emailed me and added recipes to Facebook.  Someone mentioned a dry rub from Pig Stand, a restaurant in Oklahoma.  My family was *this close* to making a detour on our Colorado trip in search of Pig Stand.

I took parts of many recipes to come up with this method of cooking the ribs.  It was easy, but does take several hours.  Here’s what you’ll need: [Read more...]

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Help! How Do I Cook This? (Pork Spare Ribs)

Sorry for the hunk of raw, frozen meat in the photo, especially if you’re having your morning coffee while blog reading.

I found this in the bottom of the freezer the other day.  We get 1/2 a hog from my sister’s kids’ 4-H project.  We’re getting down to the end of it.  The pork burgers and Italian sausage are all gone.  There are still many, many packs of bacon though.  I’m not sure what I’m going to do with all the bacon.

And there’s this piece of spare rib.  I have no idea how to cook this.   I could Google for a recipe, but that didn’t sound like as much fun as just asking you guys.  [Read more...]

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Sweet and Sour Pork Chops in the Slow Cooker or How to Make Dinner from What’s in the Fridge

Good news!  Just by rummaging through your pantry, fridge and freezer and creatively combining a few ingredients, you can have dinner tonight.

Here’s how it works.  Choose a meat from the fridge or freezer.  I chose boneless pork chops, but you might pick chicken or beef instead.

Check the fridge for a likely looking veggie or two.  I found a green pepper and onion.  Other candidates include red pepper, green onions, sugar snap peas, green beans, carrots – you get the idea.  Anything that you’ve got that sounds good. [Read more...]

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Honey Mustard Grilled Pork Chops

honey mustard grilled pork chops done

Please excuse the charred spots.  I’m not an expert griller.  These still tasted great though.

A few weeks ago, I shared on Facebook that I had totally ruined Jim’s birthday dinner of grilled pork chops.  That time I set the whole grill on fire.  Flames were shooting from the grill, black smoke billowed into the yard and children were screaming.  We ended up with pizza for dinner.

I did better this time though.  The honey mustard is easy to stir together and gave the meat a nice flavor.  You could do the same thing with chicken instead.

Here’s what you’ll need:

[Read more...]

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BBQ Ham Steak on the Grill

bbq ham done

In the quest for a quick summer meal, I don’t think you can do better than ham steak on the grill.  It doesn’t heat up the kitchen, there are very few dishes to wash and it’s quick.  You can even throw it on the grill frozen, which is great if you fail to plan ahead to thaw it out.

[Read more...]

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Red Beans and Rice with Ham

red beans and rice with ham done

This recipe is a great way to use leftover ham.  You could also make it with smoked sausage if you like.  I had grilled ham slices the day before and needed to use up the extra.  The recipe makes enough to feed about 8 people, so if your family is smaller you may want to only make half.

Here’s what you’ll need:

[Read more...]

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Pork Chops Topped with Pineapple, Green Pepper and Onion

I found this recipe on a homeschool forum.  Magistra said she put this in foil packets on the grill for about 20 minutes.  That was my intention too, but it was starting to rain the night I made them, so I popped them in the oven instead.  The meat was flavorful and very moist.  This is a great way to dress up pork chops. [Read more...]

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Tamale Sandwiches on Cornbread

You’re going to need a fork for these sandwiches.  They are a different take on pork bbq, using Mexican inspired flavors.  I found a recipe in the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day cookbook called Spicy Pork Buns.  The authors of the book explained that they wanted to create a sandwich that has the flavor combination of tamales.  That sounded like a good idea to me.

I altered the recipe in several ways.  First, they put the meat mixture into a yeast type cornbread and baked it with the bread dough wrapped around the meat.  That sounds awesome to eat and time consuming to make, so I decided to use my cornbread recipe instead and serve the meat over the top.  I also made a lot more meat and changed the filling ingredients a bit. [Read more...]

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Italian Sausage and Bean Soup

At the end of January I posted 19 Soup Recipes to Warm You Up.  I asked for your favorite recipes and several of you passed on good ones.  This recipe was shared by Connie.  It caught my eye for two reasons. 1) It uses Italian sausage and I have a freezer full of the stuff from my niece’s 4-H project. 2) It’s fast and easy.

The soup was delicious.  I admit to being skeptical when I poured in the can of butter beans.  I wasn’t too sure it looked good and I didn’t think my kids would eat it.  I was wrong.  The soup was wonderful and the kids loved it (except my child who hates all things sausage).  My youngest, very picky son even loved the butter beans.  The wonders never cease.  [Read more...]

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