Fast, cheap, kid friendly dinner (meatless version and meat version)

[Guest guest]

This is a variation on the recipe I used to sneak TVP into the family. I made

this tonight, based on a dish I've made for the past 45 years. (mix corn

muffins, dollop on top.) Other than the hamburger, all the ingredients came from

our garden or food storage. I used TVP (texturized vegetable protein) rather

than hamburger, but burger would work well for those who eat meat. It is really

good and if you make it without celery, sweet peppers and onion, kids will

probably eat it. (Unless they don't like corn, in that case, forget the corn).

 

I'm giving both the meatless and with meat versions of this. I got the

family used to eating TVP by using dishes like this, substituting TVP

for some of the burger, then more TVP and less meat till after several

months we were totally off of burger. But for heaven's sake, don't tell

my kids. The baby might be in his 30's now, but if he knew that I had

been serving them TVP all those years, he'd get ill.

 

The cheddar-garlic biscuit mix I use is from our used bread store (thrift

store), the brand is SM (Southeastern Mills) and it has cheese, milk, soy and

wheat in it, but no lard or other meat stuff. This is one of the few mixes I use

- that is how much we like it.

 

The SM Cheddar and Garlic biscuit mix is like the

lovely cheddar biscuits from Red Lobster. They are 3/$5 at our local

bread thrift store and Carl and I will eat the entire pan of them in

one sitting. They also make good dumplings in vegetable stew.

 

 

 

 

If you cannot find SM Cheddar Garlic biscuit mix, call Southeastern Mills, Inc

in Rome, GA at 800-334-4468. They should be able to tell you where to buy it.

 

 

 

 

 

Taco Bake

 

2 pounds hamburger OR equivalent TVP (about 3-4 cups)

 

 

1 medium onion, chopped (optional)

 

1 small sweet red, yellow or orange pepper, minced

(optional)

 

1 stalk celery, minced (optional)

 

1 tablespoon olive oil (or other oil)

 

¼ cup Tone’s taco seasoning (more or less to taste)

 

 

1 cup water (add a little at a time, you don't want soup)

 

 

1 can corn, drained

 

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

 

2 packages cheddar cheese biscuit mix (I buy it at used bread store)

 

¾ cup milk

 

 

 

Sauté onion, peppers and celery in oil. Reconstitute TVP, drain and add to

cooked vegetables. (Or toss it into the casserole dish, add a little extra

water). If you are using hamburger, cook, stirring, until hamburger is cooked.

Drain

off fat.  Add taco seasoning (less if you don't want much spice) and water to

hamburger mixture, stir. It should not be soupy, so add water a little at a

time. Stir in drained corn.  Pour meat mixture into a large casserole dish

(more room for biscuit topping.) If you don't have Tone's taco seasoning (big

jar from Sam's Club is under $5.00), use a can or two of enchilada sauce, your

choice of heat, or a couple packages (more or less) of dry taco or enchilada

mix.

 

 

 

 

To dry biscuit mix, add 1 cup shredded cheese. Add milk to

biscuit mix, stir gently.  Put dollops of

biscuit dough on top of hamburger mixture. Sprinkle the rest of the shredded

cheese over the top. Bake at 350 until biscuits are cooked. My oven element went

out last night, so I cooked it on the top of the stove in my biggest frying pan.

I cooked it, covered, 10 minutes, then uncovered another 10 minutes on low heat.

 

Half a recipe was more than enough for us, but I served it with broccoli, tossed

salad and cantelope. (fresh, yummy!!)

Hugs, Jeanne in GA