ThriftyFun Recipes - March 5, 2007

We have lots of food requests today. Please look them over and see if you have any advice to offer.

Thank you for Robin, LRP, Connie, Christi, Judy, Diamondee, C.J. Cox, meoowmom and Dave today's recipes!

Featured Cateogry: Pizza Recipes

View 25 Pizza Recipes on ThriftyFun

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Susan

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Recipe Requests:

• Vinegar In Soup
• Crockpot Lasagna
• Almond Biscotti Recipe
• Making a Dish Less Salty
• Wheat Free/Dairy Free Dessert Request

Today's Recipes:

• Greek Lemon Chicken
• Mu Shu Pork
• Ground Beef Casserole Dish
• Saucy Seafood Pizza
• Cherry Chocolate Kisses Cookies
• Onion Soup Mix (dry mix)
• Crockpot Pinto Beans Recipes
• Creamy Bacon Bites

Vinegar In Soup

How does vinegar improve the flavor of soup? Any specific type of vinegar?

Thanks,
Holly from Richardson, TX

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Crockpot Lasagna

I am looking for a recipe called crockpot lasagna. I believe it was posted once. Unfortunately, I am unable to find the recipe I had saved.

Ncgirlnga from NORCROSS, GA

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Almond Biscotti Recipe

I'm looking for a traditional almond biscotti recipe that is light and crunchy but not a "lite" recipe.

Thanks for sharing ;)

Melanie from CANADA

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Making a Dish Less Salty

How do I make my dish less salty?

Fred from Newark, DE

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Wheat Free/Dairy Free Dessert Request

I'm planning a joint birthday party for my son (7), my brother and my mom. They all have birthdays within 6 days of each other in March. My sister and nephew are coming and her family is on an exclusion diet for allergies. They are on a wheat free/gluten free/dairy free diet. I am planning on having a couple of soups with cheese and such on the side for lunch but am baffled what to serve as a birthday cake substitute. It doesn't have to be "cake" as my son is having a kids party with his school friends and will get his fill of cake then.

Any ideas for a festive dessert without wheat or dairy? Thanks!

JS

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Greek Lemon Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. dried whole oregano
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 3/4 cup water
• 3 lbs. chicken breasts, thighs, and legs, skinned
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 3 - 4 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• Lemon slices

Directions:

Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl; stir well. Add chicken; cover and chill 8 hours. Remove chicken from marinade; reserve marinade. Place flour in a plastic bag; add chicken, and shake to coat. Heat oil in a large skillet; add chicken, and brown on all sides. Drain chicken on paper towels. Place on a 9x13 inch baking dish; pour marinade over chicken, and cover with foil. Bake at 350 degrees F for 50 minutes or until tender. Transfer chicken to a serving dish; garnish with lemon slices.

By Robin

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Mu Shu Pork

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb. pork strips
• 1 Tbsp. dry sherry
• 1 tsp. soy sauce
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 Tbsp. cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp. chicken flavor instant bouillon
• 1 Tbsp. butter
• 3 beaten eggs
• 1 cup thinly sliced cabbage
• 1/2 cup fresh bean sprouts
• 1/2 cup fresh sliced mushrooms
• 1 small onion diced (1 inch length)
• 8 tsp. hoisin sauce
• 8 tortillas

In medium bowl, combine pork, sherry, sugar, and soy sauce. Mix well. Refrigerate from 1/2 hour to 6 hours. In small bowl, combine water, cornstarch and bouillon (set aside). In skillet, add butter until melted and add egg. Cook until firm (turning once). Remove egg and cut into strips. Cook pork in skillet (about 3 minutes until no longer pink). Add cabbage, sprouts and mushrooms and cook about one minute (until crispy). Add cornstarch and mix. Cook until thick and bubbly. Add eggs and onions, stir gently and remove from heat. Spread 1 tsp. of hoisin sauce onto tortillas. Place 1 Tbsp. pork mix spread on tortillas and roll them.

By LRP from Lowell, MA

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Ground Beef Casserole Dish

Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cups tomato juice
• 1 small package noodles

Fry ground beef and onion together. Cook noodles in water, drain. Mix together, put in casserole dish. Bake 20 minutes in 350 degrees F oven.

By Robin from Washington, IA

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Saucy Seafood Pizza

Ingredients

• 1 package refrigerated crescent rolls
• 1 package cream cheese (8oz), softened
• 1 tsp. dill weed
• 1 tsp. grated lemon peel
• 1/2 cup seafood cocktail sauce
• 1/2 medium cucumber, seeded and chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 4 oz. flake or leg-style imitation crabmeat, coarsely chopped
• 1 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley
• Lemon slices for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Unroll crescent dough; separate into triangles. Arrange triangles in circle on greased 14 inch pizza pan, with points toward the center and wide ends toward the outside. Pat out dough to 12 inch circle with fingers, pressing seams together to seal. Bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven; cool completely. In medium bowl, combine cream cheese, dill weed and peel; spread mixture evenly onto crust. Top with cocktail sauce. Sprinkle with cucumber, bell pepper, crabmeat and parsley. Garnish with lemon slices, if desired. Cut into wedges; serve.

By Robin from Washington, IA

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Cherry Chocolate Kisses Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
• 2 Tbsp. maraschino cherry juice
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• Red food coloring, (just a few drops)
• 2-1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt (I use sea salt)
• 1/2 cup maraschino cherries, drained and chopped
• 48 chocolate kisses, unwrapped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In large bowl, combine powdered sugar, butter, cherry juice, almond extract and food coloring; blend well. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. Stir in flour and salt. Add cherries and mix well. Form dough into 1-inch balls. Place 2-inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake in preheated oven 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly brown around edges. Remove from oven and immediately top each cookie with a chocolate kiss. Remove from cookie sheets and cool on wire rack. Makes 48 cookies.

By Connie from Oden, Arkansas

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Onion Soup Mix (dry mix)

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup instant minced onion
• 1/3 cup beef-flavor instant bouillon
• 4 tsp. onion powder
• 1/4 tsp. celery seed -- crushed
• 1/4 tsp. sugar

Combine all ingredients and store in an airtight container. Five Tbsp. = 1 package of onion soup mix. Use as commercial onion soup mix.

By Christi from Paducah, KY

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Crockpot Pinto Beans Recipes

Ideas and resources for cooking pinto beans in the crockpot.

Beans And Bacon

Wash beans, cover with warm water. Let stand over night, or several hours. Place beans in crock pot, add half pound uncooked bacon. (bacon can also be crisp fried, reserving fat. If you enjoy Cracker Barrel style pinto beans, use fried bacon. Put soaked beans into crock pot, add bacon, fill pot with water, add 1 tablespoon salt. cook on high until boiling. set on low, cook until beans are tender, and juice thickens. Add reserved fat . Stir well, simmer for 30 minutes, and enjoy.

By Judy

Fix It and Forget It

Go to your local library and check out a book or two for crockpots. "Fix it and forget it" is a great book to start with.

By Diamondee

Pork And Beans

This is triple cheap, triple easy, triple good. One pound of pinto beans, washed and picked through. Dump in crock pot with 1 lb. of pork neck bones (flavor is wonderful with beans) and 2 packages of Goyas 'Sazon' spice, available in Mexican food section at the store. This is not a hot spice, and should be about 79 cents a pack. Set on low, it will be ready by evening.

C.J. Cox

Beans And Hominy

About an hour before the beans are done in crockpot, I add some drained white hominy. Use 2 big cans of white hominy, rinse and add to crockpot. I serve with chopped onions and chopped cilantro and put out a bottle of Cholula sauce or salsa. Hominy is in Mex Food Section WalMart carries it.

I usually use an old ham bone and some ham, the best is cheap. Smoked hamhocks cooked with the beans are the BEST! Great, now I want some!

By meoowmom

Quick Soak And Slow Cook

I "quick soak" the pintos. Pick through them and bring them to a boil in a regular pot. Once there, cover, turn off the heat and let them sit that way for an hour. Then pour into a colander and rinse. You do NOT want to cook beans in the soaking water. Then, add them to the crock pot with fresh water, a ham hock and a little bit of salt. Cook on high for 2 hours or low for the rest of the weekend if you want. Serve with onion, tomato, corn bread and plenty of hot sauce.

By Dave

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Creamy Bacon Bites

Ingredients

• 1 package cream cheese (3oz)
• 4 bacon slices, cooked, drained and crumbled
• 2 Tbsp. chopped onion
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• 1 package refrigerated crescent rolls

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In small bowl, combine cream cheese, bacon, onion and pepper. Separate crescent dough into 2 rectangles; press seams and perforations together with fingers to seal. Spread cream cheese mixture onto rectangles; roll up, starting with longest sides. Press seams together to seal. Cut each roll into 16 slices; place, cut-side down, on greased baking sheet. Bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

By Robin from Washington, IA

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