These are pretty fool-proof:

STUFFED GREEN PEPPERS (serves 4)
2 large green peppers
1/2 lb lean ground beef
1/4 cup uncooked instant rice
8 oz can tomato sauce, divided
2 TBL chopped onion
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tsp salt
1 TBL grated Parmesan
1/2 tsp Worcestershire
Dash of pepper
Cut peppers in 1/2 lengthwise & remove seeds. Combine meat, rice, 1/4 cup tomato sauce & remaining ingredients. Stuff peppers with mix & place in a greased baking dish. Spoon remaining tomato sauce over stuffed peppers & then sprinkle w/additional Parmesan. Cover & bake in a preheated 350 oven for 50-60 minutes.~~ You can mix mozzarella or cheddar into the meat mixture as well. From By Special Request

PORCUPINE MEATBALLS

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1/2 cup raw rice
1 cup chopped onion
2/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 can tomato soup
3/4 cup water

Mix first 6 ingredients together. Drop by tablespoons in a 9 x 13 pan. Set aside. Combine soup and water. Pour sauce over the meatballs. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil. Bake in 350 degree oven for one hour.~~

Here are a couple more:

NO PEEK STEW

2 lbs. Beef stew meat
1 pkg. dry onion soup mix
1 can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1 (2.5 oz.) can sliced mushrooms, drained
1 cup ginger ale

Throw all ingredients into a pot with a tight-fitting lid and bake at 350° F. for 2-1/2 to 3 hours. DO NOT PEEK! Yield: 6 servings. Serve over mashed potatoes, rice, or noodles.

EZ MUSHROOM PORK CHOPS

2 Tablespoons butter
4 1-inch large pork chops, boned
2 cups sliced button mushrooms
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 Tablespoon flour
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
4 Tablespoons heavy cream
Parsley, chopped to garnish

Preheat oven to 350° F. In a frying pan, melt butter and brown the chops on both sides. Transfer each one to a piece of aluminum foil large enough to enclose the chops loosely. Add mushrooms to the pan and sauté quickly. Pour in lemon juice. After 1 minute, stir in flour and cook for 1-2 minutes. Season the chops with salt, pepper and thyme. Spoon the mushroom mixture and then the cream onto the chops. Wrap chops securely in foil. Place the chops on a baking sheet or in a roasting pan and bake for 1 hour.

Source of Recipe: California Sizzles - Easy and Distinctive Recipes for a Vibrant Lifestyle. By The Junior League of Pasadena, Inc. and Art Center College of Design.

Here are a couple more:

NO PEEK STEW

2 lbs. Beef stew meat
1 pkg. dry onion soup mix
1 can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1 (2.5 oz.) can sliced mushrooms, drained
1 cup ginger ale

Throw all ingredients into a pot with a tight-fitting lid and bake at 350° F. for 2-1/2 to 3 hours. DO NOT PEEK! Yield: 6 servings. Serve over mashed potatoes, rice, or noodles.

EZ MUSHROOM PORK CHOPS

2 Tablespoons butter
4 1-inch large pork chops, boned
2 cups sliced button mushrooms
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 Tablespoon flour
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
4 Tablespoons heavy cream
Parsley, chopped to garnish

Preheat oven to 350° F. In a frying pan, melt butter and brown the chops on both sides. Transfer each one to a piece of aluminum foil large enough to enclose the chops loosely. Add mushrooms to the pan and sauté quickly. Pour in lemon juice. After 1 minute, stir in flour and cook for 1-2 minutes. Season the chops with salt, pepper and thyme. Spoon the mushroom mixture and then the cream onto the chops. Wrap chops securely in foil. Place the chops on a baking sheet or in a roasting pan and bake for 1 hour.

Source of Recipe: California Sizzles - Easy and Distinctive Recipes for a Vibrant Lifestyle. By The Junior League of Pasadena, Inc. and Art Center College of Design.

Easy Italian Chicken

4-6 chicken breasts
1 very large tomato
1 large bottle Italian dressing (fat free is ok too)
Grated Parmesan cheese (as much or as little as you like)

Place chicken in baking dish. Pour Italian dressing over top.Cut up tomatoes to bite size pieces and place on top of chicken. Add cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for at least an hour or until juices run clear. Serve white rice and pour juice over rice from the chicken. Source: SOAR

My way of making this:

I use skinless, boneless chicken breasts & cut each breast into thirds. Ive never used a whole bottle of Italian dressing. I like to sprinkle dried rosemary and dried basil over the chicken & tomatoes along with some garlic powder and dried red pepper flakes. I usually serve with vermicelli on the side. You can make everything the night before, cover with saran wrap and refrigerate until ready to bake.

Sweet Potato Casserole

4 large sweet potatoes
½ cup granulated sugar
½ stick butter
1 Tbsp Half & Half (or more if it needs thinning)
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
Walnut or pecan halves
½ cup Brown sugar
1/3 bag Miniature Marshmallows

Boil, peel & mash sweet potatoes. Add butter, granulated sugar, Half & Half. Then add vanilla. Whip potato mixture in electric mixer until smooth. Pour into casserole dish; swirl in brown sugar and about 1/3 bag of miniature marshmallows. Top with walnut or pecan halves.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. (Recipe can be made ahead and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before baking.)

Note: I have also added the miniature marshmallows towards the end of the baking time so that theyre partially intact/melted. This is delicious!

Thin Noodles with Bacon
This was a favorite supper of mine as a kid. Cook noodles or thin spaghetti or orzo until al dente. After draining and placing in bowl, I add butter and then parmesan (either grind up a wedge or get the Digiorno shredded in the little plastic container). Salt and freshly ground black pepper. (sometimes I squirt a little fresh lemon juice over the pasta at this point). Then I sprinkle with crisp bacon cut in bite size pieces . Serve this with a tossed salad with vinaigrette or Italian dressing. You might want to just start with the noodles, butter and bacon to see if your family likes it and add the parmesan on your own serving.

Meat Loaf
2 eggs
3 oz tomato paste
½ cup water
1 tsp salt
15 grinds fresh black pepper (probably should use way less )
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
2 lbs ground beef, 85-90% lean
½ cup plain breadcrumbs
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, pressed
Preheat the oven to 350. Whisk together the eggs, tomato paste, water, salt, pepper and cayenne in a large mixing bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and work together completely until all the ingredients are evenly distributed.
Place the meat mixture into a baking pan and shape into a loaf about 11" x 4" wide. The loaf should be in the middle of the pan. Blend some ketchup, a little chili sauce, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder and a little bottled BBQ sauce and spread over the meatloaf. Cover with foil. Bake 45 minutes, then uncover, and remove as much liquid as possible. Return to oven uncovered and bake another 15 minutes.

Source: I adapted this recipe from Dave Liebermans recipe, "Bubbys Meatloaf". You can cut back on the onions, black pepper and cayenne pepper a bit.--Ann

Great with whipped potatoes (I like to add butter, milk or Half & Half, salt & pepper and a little garlic powder, to boiled potatoes, then whip in electric mixer until very smooth).

Great! Thanks Ginger, Pat and Annova. I will definitely try these out. I really need to add to my repertoire of recipes and it is so frustrating to keep trying different recipes and not have any be keepers. Plus when you can only make a few different things, it gets repetitive and everyone gets bored and tired of them.

Are there any more favourite recipes out there? Keep them coming.

Joanne

I almost forgot to include my favourite recipe during the past 40 years. It's a real winner even for folks who don't care for meatloaf. I make it flat like a sheet cake about 2 - 3 inches high, so it never crumbles and everyone gets some of the crispy topping:

1 1/2 cups soft bread crumbs - (tear up soft sliced bread - don't use fine crumbs as for breading)
1 1/2 lb ground meat (beef or pork & beef) (about 700 grams)
1 beaten egg
1 onion chopped fine
1/4 teasp dry Colman's (or similar) mustard
1/8 teasp ground sage
1/2 teasp ground thyme
1 1/2 teasp salt

1/4 teas pepper
1/8 teasp nutmeg
1 chopped green pepper
1 tin condensed tomato soup (eg Campbells's)
3/4 cup grated celery
3/4 cup grated carrot

1) Mix meat with egg, add onion and seasonings and bread crumbs, greens and carrots

2) Add half the tin of soup and mix everything well. Turn into greased loaf pan or glass casserole dish 8.5 x 11 inches and pour remaining soup over the top, smoothing it evenly over all.

3) Bake 350 F (177 C) for 1 1/4 hours.

Source: American Pro Footbal Player's Wife in 1963

My Notes:

1) I use 'tomate frito' instead of the condensed soup. It's a rich fried Spanish tomato purée but otherwise condensed soup is good.
Never use ketchup !
2) I usually double the amount of the ground spices with the exception of salt.

SharonCb

I don't know if they're my family's favorites, but they're my faves to bake b/c they're so easy and so good:

FLOURLESS PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup CRUNCHY peanut butter

Combine all ingredients, mix well.
Roll into 1" balls.
Place on sprayed cookie sheet.
Press down w/ back of fork,
first in one direction, then in the opposite.
Bake for 6 minutes, then "deflate" cookies
by banging cookie sheet on oven rack.
Bake 2-3 more minutes.
*HINT: Sometimes you can fit more than 1 doz.
cookies on a sheet. Judge by the space
b/t your first cookies.

BEER* BREAD [1 loaf]

3 cups self-rising flour or Bisquick
3 T. [or less] sugar
1 can beer/*lite beer/or *lemon-lime soda

Mix all together and pour/dump into standard loaf pan.

Bake at 350 for an hour or a bit longer.

Try to resist slicing until it cools!

chery2

Italian Casserole

1lb ground beef
1 1/2 cans of Tomato Soup undiluted
8oz of wide Egg noodles
8oz of shredded Cheeder Cheese (we use sharp)
Parmesan Cheese
1-2 tsp Italian seasoning (or to taste)
1-2 tsp Franks Red Hot sauce (or more)

Boil noodles, brown beef then layer a 9x13 casserole pan with noodles, ground beef, Italian seasoning, pour soup over it then hot sauce. Sprinkle your cheeses on top then back on 350 for 45 minutes.

Yum Yum Salad

1 cup of Sugar
1 medium can of Crushed pineapple
1 package of Knox gelatin (flavorless)
12 oz of Coolwhip (1 ½ normal packages)
1 cup of Pecans chopped
1 pint (2 cups or 16 fl oz) of Cottage Cheese
Juice of 1 lemon

Drain pineapple juice, discard the juice.
Heat sugar, pineapple and lemon juice.
Dissolve gelatin in ¼ cup of water
Add to pineapple mixture.
Chill.
Then beat till foamy.
Fold in remaining ingredients.
Chill till set.

Robert Redford (George Clooney) Dessert

Crust:

2 sticks of butter - melted
1 cup chopped nuts (we use walnuts)
2 cups flour

Mix together and pat down. Bake at 350 for 20 to 30 minutes.

Toppings:

16oz Cool Whip
1 large box of instant chocolate pudding, prepared
8oz Cream Cheese
Chopped nuts
Hershey bar (regular size)

Mix 1/2 of Cool Whip with cream cheese and confectioners sugar. Put on top of cooled crust. Then add pudding. Put remainder of Cool Whip over top. Put finely chopped nuts on top and shaved Hershey bar if desired.

You can substitute butterscotch, lemon or your favorite flavor of pudding.

RAMEN MEAT FAVORITE

1 ½ pounds ground meat (ground beef, ground pork, ground chicken, or ground veal)
½ finely chopped yellow sweet onion
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 ¼ cups buttermilk or milk
2 eggs
½ cup Bisquick
1 package Ramen soup (use your favorite)
2 cups cheddar cheese
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Hot Sauce to Taste (optional)
Friend Onion Rings (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°. Start water boiling to cook Ramen noodles. Cook noodles for about 2 minutes and then drain. In a large skillet over medium heat, brown meat, add onion and garlic and Ramen flavoring packet and pepper. While cooking meat mixture, mix buttermilk, eggs and Bisquick and hot sauce. Continue cooking meat mixture until done. Pour Bisquick mixture over meat mixture in skillet. Top with cheese and cook in oven for 30 minutes. Five minutes before it finishes, top with friend onion rings.

Kids love this recipe, and it is so easy.