Chalupa

This meal is probably the nearest and dearest to my heart.  Not because it's fancy or even the best thing I've ever tasted, but because of the many memories it holds.  Chalupa is the meal-of-choice of my mom's side of the family.  We ate it for holidays, birthdays or just as an excuse to get together and eat!  And laugh!  When I think of chalupa I can't help but think of my loud family gathered around tables in my Nanny and Papa's kitchen.  They sold their house more than a decade ago and my Nanny has since passed away, but eating chalupa is true comfort food to my soul.

Chalupa

2 lbs. ground beef, browned and drained
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup chopped celery (I usually leave this out simply because I don't like buying a whole bunch of celery just for 1 cup)
1 teaspoon salt (I usually season to taste)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons hot sauce (such as Tabasco, I usually add to taste)
3 teaspoons chili powder (I usually season to taste)
1 teaspoon ground cumin (I usually season to taste)
1 can Ro*Tel tomatoes, undrained
1 can petite diced tomatoes, undrained
1-2 cups pinto beans (tastes better if you soak and season dry beans, but a can of pinto beans also works)
tortilla chips
desired toppings (cheese, onion, lettuce, tomato, avocado, etc.)

Add all ingredients except chips and toppings to a Dutch oven or slow cooker.  If using a Dutch oven, simmer for 3-4 hours.  If using a slow cooker, cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Place chips on plate.  Crush them a little so that meat sauce will like flat (shouldn't look like nachos).  Top with meat sauce and desired toppings.

Note: This recipe freezes very well, so double or triple it when you make it!

Oreo Cake Bars

If you like Oreos, you'll love these easy cake bars!  By the way, I want to try these with Nutter Butter cookies and peanut butter chips instead of Oreos and chocolate chips.  Bet that would be good!

Oreo Cake Bars
Adapted from Picky Palate

1 box chocolate cake mix
1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, softened
1 egg
14 Oreo cookies (double stuffed certainly won't make this worse, and generic are just as good as name brand)
1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk
chocolate chips (original recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups, I used about 1/2 a cup)

Combine cake mix, butter and egg with a mixer.  Press dough into a 9x13" baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.  Crumble Oreos over dough.  Sprinkle chocolate chips over Oreos.  Drizzle sweetened condensed milk over all.  Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes.

Baked Beans

A recipe AND a picture?!  That's almost unheard of around here these days.  And guess what?  I have 2 more recipes with pictures that I need to post this week!  I guess life is finally slowing down just a tad.  Anyway, these beans turned out far better than I would have imagined.  That Paula Deen knows a thing or two!  I took her recipe and modified it just slightly.  I just expected your run-of-the-mill baked beans, but I think I could have had just beans for dinner and been happy.  I'll definitely be making these again (would be great for a pot luck!).

Baked Beans
Adapted from The Lady and Sons Savannah Country Cookbook

2 16-oz. cans baked beans
1 onion, chopped
6 slices bacon
4-5 tablespoons mustard
4-5 tablespoons ketchup
3-4 tablespoons brown sugar

Cook bacon in skillet.  Remove from pan to cool.  Sautee onion in bacon grease.  Crumble the bacon and mix all ingredients together.  (Use a slotted spoon to remove onions from grease if you don't want all the grease in your beans.)  Bake, covered, at 325 for 45 minutes to an hour. 

Pumpkin Spice Bread

My MOPS group has started meeting again for the new school year.  What does that have to do with you?  Well, we have a delicious potluck brunch at each meeting, which means I have the perfect opportunity to test out some new recipes!  I made this recipe as mini muffins for our first meeting and forgot to take a picture of how cute they were all piled up in a basket.  They smell heavenly while they're baking and it's impossible to eat just one!  The recipe comes from a lady at our church, Rhonda.  She gave us a loaf for Christmas last year and I had to have the recipe! 

Pumpkin Spice Bread
From Rhonda Wingo

3 eggs
3 cups sugar
1 cup oil
1 can pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup chopped nuts (optional - I left them out)

Mix eggs, sugar and oil.  Add pumpkin and vanilla.  In a separate bowl combine the other (dry) ingredients.  Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet.  Pour into loaf or muffin pans and bake at 350 until done.

Notes:
1. Rhonda says you can dump all the ingredients in a bowl and mix at once but I prefer mixing wet and dry separately.
2. Rhonda's mom used to make this recipe in 3 1-lb. coffee cans and those take about 1 hour to bake.  I made mini muffins and they took about 15 minutes.  

Orange Soda Ice Cream

I've been away for a while!  Life has just been crazy, but I'm hoping it will slow down again soon.  Funny how I used to wish time away and now I wish it would just slow down!

Anyway, this is about the easiest ice cream recipe you can think of.  Our church had an ice cream social last month with a contest for the best homemade ice cream.  This was the winning recipe!  I want to try it sometime with Coke or root beer to see if it tastes like a float.

Orange Soda Ice Cream

1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 2-liter of orange soda (I only used about half of it)

Pour the sweetened condensed milk into a bowl.  Add a little orange soda and stir.  Pour this mixture into your ice cream freezer and then fill the rest of the way with more orange soda.  Freeze according to your freezer's directions.  Place in freezer for a few hours to firm up.

Note: Next time I'll try adding a few teaspoons of vanilla extract.