Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

1 Duncan Hines Golden Butter Recipe Cake Mix
1 pkg small instant chocolate pudding
8 oz sour cream (if you use cream cheese by mistake, I've found it's also pretty good)
6 oz milk chocolate chips
1/3 cup water
1 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla
4 eggs

Mix all except eggs and chocolate chips. Add 4 eggs. Fold chocolate chips into mix. Grease and flour a bundt cake pan. Pour the mixture in. Bake at 325 for 1 hour. *This cake is better and more moist a day or two after you make it, so I usually plan to make it ahead.

Monkey Bread

The official name of this recipe is "Overnight Coffee Cake" but there is already a recipe named that on this blog. Plus this tastes just like Monkey Bread, but it's way easier to make than the other recipes I've seen.

1 pkg frozen rolls (24 rolls work best, I use Rhodes Rolls)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup white sugar
1 3.5 ounce package Cook N' Serve Butterscotch Jello (NOT Instant)
1/2 stick margarine or butter

Spray Bundt pan with Pam. Arrange rolls in bottom of pan. Combine next 4 ingredients and sprinkle over rolls. Cut butter into small pieces and place on top of rolls. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise overnight.

In the morning preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes. Place the Bundt pan on a cookie sheet so as to avoid spillover. Cover with foil after 15 minutes. When done place a plate over pan and invert. Serve warm.

Tabouli

This recipe is stolen from a place in Fort Worth call "Jazz Cafe"

1 box plain cous cous (It's called Far East or Near East)
1/2 a small bottle of olive oil
4 roma tomatoes
1 yellow onion
1 bundle cilantro (I leave this out)
1 garlic clove
3 jalapeno peppers (I leave this out)
juice from 1 lime


Put cous cous in a bowl. Fill the bowl with cool water until it covers the cous cous about 1/4 inch. Chop all vegetables and herbs intovery small pieces. Mix vegetables together and squeeze in lime juice to make a pico de gallo. After the cous cous has soaked up the water, mix it with the pico de gallo and add the olive oil. *The olive oil should just coat everything.

Can be served as tacos in warm white corn tortillas with black beans (canned) and cheese.

Shopping List Tool

HEB has a great online shopping list tool for those. You can even make a weekly list and add or subtract items.

It definitely makes shopping more organized and easier.

German Goulasch

1 lb. beef stew meat, cut into inch-sized pieces
1 lb. onion, chopped
3 tsp. cumin
4 tblsp. paprika
2 tsp. marjoram
2.5 oz. tomato paste
salt and pepper to taste

Brown beef stew meat in a pan with some canola oil. Place the browned beef stew meat and the pound of onions in a crock pot and add as much water to the crock pot until the meat and onions are barely covered. Then add the seasonings and the tomato paste and cook it on high for 3-4 hours, depending on how tender you want your meat to be.

This dish goes well with: any kind of potatoes, green beans, cooked red cabbage and salad

Sweet Beef

For those of you who like Asian meals, this is an easy, great one!

1 lb. ground beef
4 tblsp. soy sauce
3 tblsp. sake (rice wine)
2 tblsp. sugar
Rice

Brown 1 lb. ground beef and drain grease. Keep stove top on medium low heat and add the soy sauce, sake and sugar to the ground beef. Stir occasionally. Done.
Serve over rice.

Other sides that go well with it: salad with ranch dressing, any vegetable stir-fry, corn, and soups

Frito Pie

I had this at my mother in-law's and it was so easy and yummy!

1 can Ranch Style Beans
1 can Rotel
1 can Campbell Tomato Soup
1 lb. ground beef
1 bag of Fritos
optional sides: sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, black beans

Brown 1 lb. of ground beef and drain the grease. Add all three cans to the pan, stir and bring to a boil. Leave on stove simmering for 5-10 minutes. Done.
Arrange your plate with a layer of Fritos, then the ground beef mixture and add whichever of the optional sides you like on top (ie. sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese and/or black beans)