BAKED POTATO BAR

We did a baked potato bar at the church the other night,
thanks to new friend Maddie
who wanted to work at the church with us. 
The potatoes were on sale and I hoped with extra hand to help,
we could get them all scrubbed and baked within 4 hours. 
We did the meat sauces in advance to save time.
For those who wanted to top their
potatoes with meat, we offered
Grilled Chicken in Alfredo Sauce, Beef Chili &
Shredded BBQ Chicken--shown above.
We offered cheeses, broccoli, bacon bits, onions, tomatoes,
corn, beans, sour cream, ranch dressing, butter, chives, etc...
for other toppings.

Baked Potatoes for a Crowd
Scrub Potatoes. Wipe dry.
Poke a fork into each potato, 4-8 times.
Roll into olive oil.
Sprinkle with Italian or Pizza Spice
(Maddie's suggestion & we liked it!)
Place on foil-lined baking sheets. 
Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes,
turn potatoes and then continue
to bake another 30 minutes or until potato
feels soft inside, but crisp on the outside.
We did 60 pounds for 100 people. We had plenty.

Easy Shredded BBQ Chicken

3 pounds of raw chicken breasts or tenderloins
8 ounces chicken broth
1-2 cups of BBQ sauce, to your liking

Cook chicken and broth in 5 or 6 quart slow cooker
for 4-6 hours. When fully cooked,
shred with forks and add BBQ sauce. 
Heat through for about an hour and serve.

                                    WRAP IT UP!

 Last night we did a salad bar/wrap bar at the church. 

We cooked up pulled pork (recipe on another post),
taco-flavored, shredded beef and
rotisserie-flavored shredded chicken
(on another post also). 
To go with we offered wraps or taco chips,
rice, beans, corn, lettuce,
tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, sauces & dressings, etc... 
I think it went well, thanks to

friends Melinda, Maddie and Austin and all their work! 

 

Shredded Taco Beef

 

3 pounds of stew meat

8-12 ounces of broth of choice

1-3 packets of taco seasoning,
depending on how spicy you like it

 

Put in the crock pot on low for 8-10 hours or
until you can shredded it apart. 

Serve immediately or freeze.

 

 

YUMMY HAM BALLS!

I am posting two different Ham recipes. 

One was grandmas. I have updated it a bit. 
Grandma did not glaze her ham loaves.  I insist on it!

 I grind my own ham with the Kitchen Aide attachment,

but you can check with your butchers or grocery stores.
I even found one pound packages of ground ham at
Lunds/Byerly's stores, which I had never seen before.

Some stores will and some won't grind ham.

The loaves freeze well before baking. 

The balls freeze well after baking for about 40-45 minutes and then cooling.

I put them in the freezer for 30-45 minutes and then toss

them into a freezer bag.  When needed, I put them into a crockpot

and cover with the glaze.  Cook on low for 3-4 hours or until ready.

 

 

Updated Ham Balls or Ham Loaf

 

                  2 and 1/2  - 3 pounds ground, fully cooked ham                   

2 and 1/2 - 3 pounds of ground beef and/or pork

3 cups of graham cracker crumbs

2 cups or more of cream or whole milk

4 or 5 eggs

 

Put crumbs, milk and eggs in a bowl and mix well.  Let sit for 5 minutes.

With very clean hands or disposable food service gloves or in a good stand mixer,

mix the meats together. Add the soggy crumb mixture to the meats

and mix thoroughly. Place in greased loaf pans,

depending on size of pans, you will need 3-6 pans. 

Bake for 30 minutes and then spread the glaze on top and

bake 45 - 60 minutes more, depending on size of loaf pans.

Or roll into 1 inch balls and bake for

about 30 minutes on greased 9 x 13 pans at 375 degrees. 

Add the glaze and stir well. Bake for 30 minutes more.

Glaze/Sauce

 2 or 3 cans of tomato soup

2 cups of light brown sugar

1/4 cup of vinegar, white or apple cider

1 tsp. of dry mustard or mustard of choice

 

 

Grandma's Ham Loaf
2 and 1/2 pounds ground ham
2 pounds ground beef
1 pound lean ground pork
3 eggs
2 cans tomato sauce

(I think this was like the 15 or 16 ounce size cans, Grandma never wrote that down)

Salt and pepper to taste
Cracker crumbs to hold mixture together

Mix all ingredients thoroughly together. Bake in loaf pans at 350 degrees
for 1 and 1/2 hours. This makes a large amount and can be reduced as your
needs fit. Can glaze if desired.

Layered Jell-O

 

Friend of the family Joanne, from church,

makes 7 layers of Jell-O and I love her recipe,

but I rarely take the time to make that many layers. 

Last week, I remembered one morning that I was supposed

to bring Jell-O to a holiday lunch.  Oops! 

 

Here's two layers with Cool Whip on top! 

Make more layers if you have time in a 9 x 13 pan! 

This was an 8 x 8 pan. We just could not get good pictures of this.

Sorry. Let each layer chill in the fridge for at least 45-60 minutes. Well worth it!

Spray the pan well. 

 

Jell-O and Milk Mixture Layer:

1 three ounce package of Jell-O dissolved with 1/2 cup boiling water,

1/2 cup cold water and 1/2 cup of sweetened condensed milk.

 

Jell-O and Water Mixture Layer:

1 three ounce package of Jell-O dissolved

with 3/4 cup boiling water and 3/4 cup cold water

Need a last minute holiday main dish or appetizer?
You can throw this together in a minute. :-)

Cranberry Meatballs
1 bag of frozen or homemade meatballs,
approximately 1 and 1/2 pounds or 50 meatballs
1 can of cranberry sauce
8 ounces of ketchup or chili sauce
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar

Throw all together in crock pot and cook
on low for 3-4 hours or until done.
Or bake at 350 degrees for an hour.
 

Italian Beef Sandwiches and
Rotisserie-flavored Chicken Sandwiches


18-quart roaster recipe
 Many-Cheese-Macaroni for 50

5 pounds of pasta, like elbow, penne or ziti
1-2  cups of chicken broth
3 sticks of butter, divided
1 large block of Velveeta
2 jars of alfredo sauce or white cheese sauce
32 ounces of sharp cheddar cheese
12 ounces of shredded parmesan or Italian cheese
16 ounces of mozzerella
2-4 cups of Whole Milk, or to your liking

Boil pasta in two large pots on the stove,
adding a bit of oil to the water, to prevent sticking.
In the mean time, heat up the roaster to 300
and place 2 sticks of butter in the
roaster with the chicken broth.
Add the Velveeta and when it starts melting,
add the alfredo sauce and the other cheeses.
Stir, every few minutes,
keeping an eye, so it doesn't scorch.
When the pasta is ready,
drain well and add to the roaster,
stirring in the milk....1 cup at a time,
to your preference,
Cook for 30 minutes in the roaster,
checking for scorching often.
May want or need to turn the temp down.
Each roaster varies,
so may need to cook more or less than this.



 

Simple Italian Beef for Buns.
It doesn't get any easier than this.
8 ounces of Italian Dressing
per pound of beef stew meat
in the crockpot all day
or until falling apart.
If you have time to brown meat first,
it does taste a bit better that way.
 

Our precious son Drew
has shown us how interesting and fun trains can be!
He has given me a whole new appreciation for trains
and the men who have run them through the years.
So, at Christmas time, we are thrilled if we can
find anything involving trains.

Are you lucky enough to have a
Holiday Train come through your town? 
We've been blessed to see the
Canadian Pacific Holiday Train with friends
for many years now as it arrives in our town each
December and collects food for the food shelves.
Dear church friends had us for
hot chocolate and cookies following
this years very cold Holiday Train event!

Jackson Street Roundhouse plans
Holiday events each December.
This year, friends Linn and Max joined us for the fun!