Toasty Cheese Bake*

We first made this in August of 1993....

INGREDIENTS:

• 16 slices white bread (or very light/fluffy wheat bread)
• Butter
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup chopped celery
• 2 Tbsp. prepared mustard
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1 and 1/2 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard

DIRECTIONS:

1. Toast bread, butter both sides.  Set aside.
2. Cook meat, onion, celery, prepared mustard and salt/pepper until meat is brown and the onion and celery is tender.  If there is visible fat in the pan, pour it off.
3. Grease or spray 9x13" pan/dish. 
4. Alternate layers of toast, meat mixture and cheese. 
5. Pour mixture of eggs, milk and dry mustard over the top.  Bake uncovered for about 40 minutes at 350-degrees.

*I doubled this recipe which was contributed by Irene Zoromski and found in the Thorp Centennial Christian Women's Cookbook (1893 - 1993).  This is a thick 520 page recipe book and so full of  'GOOD'ness with recipes for cooking, baking, canning, freezing, pickling, jelly-making, etc. I found this book in 1993 through a write-up in our AGRI-VIEW farm paper-- it sounded like a winner at $15, so I ordered it through the mail, and I am glad that I did. 

Farmers' Pizza Casserole

This seems like a kind of comfort food-- it could 
be because I'm recalling how often we relied 
on casseroles during our busy 
(and often unpredictable) dairy farming days.

Servings 10-12

INGREDIENTS:

• 8-12 oz. egg noodles, cooked just until tender
• 1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained
• Salt according to preference
• 1 tablespoon green pepper, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 14 oz. jar or can of pizza sauce (You could make your own with the same amount of tomato sauce and oregano or Italian seasoning.)
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS:

• Brown beef with chopped onion and chopped pepper. 
• Add pizza sauce.  Set aside.
• While the meat is browning, cook the noodles just until tender.  Set aside.
• In med. sized bowl, combine sour cream, cottage cheese and softened cream cheese. Set aside.
• Place just one-half the cooked noodles in a buttered or sprayed  9x13" baking dish. 
• Cover with the cheese mixture.  As shown below, I first dropped dollops of the cheesy mixture on the noodles and, after the heat of the noodles warmed up the dollops, they were easy to spread out... 

• Next, add the remaining cooked noodles...

• Top with beef mixture.
• Cover top tightly with foil, and bake at 350-degrees for 40 minutes.
• Sprinkle the Mozzarella cheese on top and return to oven, uncovered, for 5-10 minutes, or until cheese is evenly melted.  Like this...

Enjoy!

Hamburger 'n Rice Balls Casserole

This recipe is a combination of my favorite meat loaf recipe 

and a recipe I have for porcupine balls...

INGREDIENTS and DIRECTIONS:

A.  Cook 2 cups rice (white or brown).  You will probably end up with about four cups cooked rice.  Set cooked rice aside until it is time to incorporate some of it in Step B, and again in Step C.

B. In a mixing bowl,  mix together with clean hands and set this hamburger mixture aside until 'bottom layer' is in dish.

1 pound lean ground beef, raw
1 medium onion, (finely chopped)
1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt (or plain salt)
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 of 10 oz. can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1 of 10 oz. can ABC vegetable beef soup, undiluted
3/4 cup quick or old-fashioned oats (dry)
1/2 cup milk
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 cup of the cooked rice.

C. Bottom Layer: Combine the following and put in the bottom of a large greased or sprayed casserole dish (I've used a 9x13" Pyrex baking dish).  Sometimes, though, I bake this recipe in two smaller casseroles for two different meals.

2 of 14 oz. can diced tomatoes, with juice.
Remaining 3 cups of cooked rice.
1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning.

D.  Using a cookie scooper, OR with your hands, form the hamburger mixture into balls the size of a golf ball and place them on top of the tomato/rice/broth layer in the casserole dish.  You'll probably have enough for a full layer.  

E. Cover tightly (or use aluminum foil) and bake in preheated oven at 325-degrees for 1 hour.  Then,... remove cover so that the meat balls can brown and bake for another 15-20 minutes OR until the center of the meat balls are completely done and everything looks like you want it to.  (By removing the foil after one hour, you also let excess liquid escape for a while.

F. Remove from the oven and sprinkle shredded cheese over top.  Let sit until cheese is  a little melty OR all melted. Serve.  Some enjoy this with a squirt of ketchup; others with a dollop of sour cream.  

♥  I think it would be tasty to incorporate shredded cabbage into this recipe.  ♥