Smothered Steak

Original Recipe from:  Bernie Thrush-Bowers

Aunt Bernie loved to share recipes.  She was a very generous soul and believed that whatever she gave would come back to her tenfold.  Her kitchen and dinner table were always a place of joy, full of love and laughter.  This recipe is for your Cock Pot.  Put all the ingredients in the Crock Pot in the morning and come home, after a busy day, to dinner ready to go right on the table.  Family dinner doesn’t have to be hard or time consuming…they should be full of love and laughter!  Enjoy!

Ingredients

1-1/2 pounds Chuck or Round Steak cut in strips

1/3 cup Flour

1 teaspoon Salt

1/3 teaspoon Pepper

I large Onion, sliced

1 Green Pepper, sliced

16 ounce can stewed or diced Tomatoes

4 ounce can sliced Mushrooms, drained

3 tablespoons Soy Sauce

10 ounce package frozen French Style Green Beans

Directions

Put Steak, Flour, Salt and Pepper in the Crock Pot.  Stir well to coat the steak.  Add remaining ingredients.  Cover and cook on high for 1 hour and then on low for 8 hours, or on high for 5 hours.  Serve with rice.  

Virginia’s Apple Bars

Original Recipe from:  Virginia Bowers-Johnson

Apples are my favorite fruit, and apple season is my favorite harvest.  I love trying new apple recipes as I have yet to find one that I didn’t like.  This is a great recipe from my mother’s collection.  It is easy to make, and low in fat and sugar….so that makes it a guilt-free dessert.  What could be better?  Make up a batch of these apple bars for your friends and family, I’m sure they will like them.  Check out the variations at the bottom of the recipe.  Enjoy!

Ingredients

6 medium Apples, diced or chopped (I use slices)

2-1/4 cup Flour, divided

1/2 cup Brown Sugar

3/4 cup Margarine

1/2 cups Quick Oats

1/2 Sugar

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

1 teaspoon Vanilla

1 cup Water

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Chicken Casserole

Original Recipe from:  Virginia Bowers-Johnson

This is a very quick and easy casserole from my mother’s recipe collection.  If you cook your chicken ahead of time, this recipe only takes a few minutes of prep time.  It’s perfect for a busy week night dinner.  Add a vegetable or two and you have an easy meal the family will love.  It’s also a great recipe to use left-over turkey during the holiday season.  Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 Chicken, cooked

2 cups Chicken Broth (from the cooked chicken)

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

1 cup Mayonnaise

1 package Stove Top Stuffing (chicken flavor)

Directions

Boil Chicken; reserve 2 cups of the Broth.  Take Chicken off the bone and cut (or tear) into chunks.  Place Chicken chunks in 2 quart casserole dish (spray bottom of casserole dish with oil spray). 

In a small mixing bowl, combine the Soup and Mayonnaise, blend together.  Pour over Chicken.  Add 1 package of Stove Top Stuffing Mix dry.  Pour Chicken Broth over top of stuffing. 

Bake in 325 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

Original Recipe from:  Doris Ann Griffin-Swiger and Margaret Johnson-Hendirx

I’m not sure who had this recipe first, but I do believe both my aunt and my sister deserve the credit for this recipe.  This is a very good…and easy….pot pie.  It’s also very budget friendly!  When I was a working mom, I would cook and prep as much as I could over the weekend so that during the week, I was just putting dishes together and cooking the meals.  If you boil a whole chicken and cut up the meat, you will find that you can get at least two casseroles out of one chicken.  With all of the prep work done, I actually had time during the week to put a home-cooked meal on the table for my family.  This is also a recipe that the kids can help with. Younger kids can help; teenagers can actually put it all together and do the cooking for you.  Studies have shown that the more involved kids are in the kitchen, the less picky they are about what they will eat.  Enjoy!

Ingredients

1-2/3 cups frozen Mixed Vegetables, thawed

1 cup diced, cooked Chicken (Note:  I use 2 cups for a meatier pie)

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

1 cup Bisquick baking mix

1/2 cup Milk

Directions

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix Vegetables and Chicken Soup in an ungreased 9 inch Pie Plate.  In a medium mixing bowl, stir remaining ingredients with a fork until blended.  Pour into Pie Plate.  Bake 30 minutes or until golden brown.  

Makes 6 servings.