Bud's Best Ever Fried Rice

 

You are going to love my Dad's fried rice recipe.  It's quick and easy, and it tastes so good!

1/3 of a 1 pound package of Bacon, chopped into small pieces.
6 large eggs.
1/2 of a small onion, diced fine.  Optional.
6 to 7 green onions, sliced fine.
1 small can of bamboo shoots, drained.
1 small can of water chestnuts, drained.
1 can of mini ears of corn, plain, not pickled, halved.
3 to 4 pints of steamed white rice.  You can get these
to go at any Asian restaurant.
1/3 cup of chicken broth (You can freeze the remaining broth in a zip lock bag)
Soy Sauce to taste

1.  Fry up the bacon pieces in a Wok pan or large non-stick frying pan.
     While the bacon is frying, scramble the eggs with a teaspoon of oil
     in a seperate frying pan.  

2.  When the bacon is crisp, toss in the onions through the mini ears of corn.
      Stir-fry the bacon and veggies for 4 minutes.

3.  Add the rice, breaking it up and stirring thourghly.  Add the chicken broth
     and a desired amount of soy sauce.  Stir-fry for another 4 minutes
     or until the rice is hot.  Add the scrambled eggs and stir the rice mixture well.  
     Serve with Soy Sauce on the side.  
 
     

Nana’s Walking Taco Casserole Recipe

 Nana’s Walking Taco Casserole Recipe 

1 and 1/2 pounds of ground beef 

1 Tbls of butter

1 medium onion, diced large

1 four ounce can of mild diced green chilies

2 ounces of cream cheese, softened                    

1 ten ounce bag of Fritos Corn Chips

3/4 cup of water

1 packet of mild taco seasoning 

1 and 1/2 cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 and 1/2 cup of shredded Monterey Jack Cheese 

Topping:  

1 and 1/2 cups of shredded iceberg lettuce 

3/4 cup of diced tomatoes

1/2 cup of diced green onions 

Ranch Dressing

Favorite Salsa

Brown the ground beef in a medium skillet over medium heat.  Add the water and taco seasoning.  Stir until well coated for one minute.  Place the cooked ground beef in a large bowl.  Next, place the butter and onions and cook on medium heat until just browned.  Add the green chilies.    Stir until they’re browned with the onions.  Turn heat to low and then add the cream cheese.  Stir constantly until the cheese is melted.  Add in the ground beef mixture and stir constant for 2 minutes.   Pre heat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 11 x 7 pan with cooking spray.  Place one layer of the ground beef mixture in the pan.  Top with one layer of the two cheeses. Top with half the bag of Fritos to cover the beef and cheese layers.  Top with remaining cheeses.  

Bake for 20 minutes.  Top with the topping ingredients . 

Just Like Grandma Evie Used to Make

 

Thank you for choosing Evie Rudolf's cookbook!  It is free at the four links below.

In 2013 I had the honor of helping my mother-in-law, Evelyn Rudolf, create a cookbook.  Over the years Evie's friends and family had asked her to put together a cookbook so she could share her wonderful recipes.  So she and I decided to do just that.  We both enjoyed gathering her favorites and making her dream of having her own cookbook a reality.  Evie and I hope you will enjoy her recipes and the helpful hints in her cookbook.  You can save and or print off Evie's cookbook when you follow the four links below.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mdXlhgyKf1uJE4HUoHv9kYhV2IzsRWPu/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Nsz_2NLCP-fpS2xk-yu52lij_gLOITJp/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hZq4F6izDeimTrJhyq66-VphcDlRzmul/view?usp=sharing 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MrQ8C81i6jvEVFPyifdJuHwAzbz85I_s/view?usp=sharing

 

Update 9-28-15.  For those of you who already have Evie's cookbook, there are a few corrections you can add to your cookbook.  With the exception of the Cucumbers for Freezer recipe, the rest were corrected already in the pages below.  So if you view or copy them, you will see where the corrections were made.  Below are all of the corrections made since the first printing. 

Page 3 ~ Cream Puffs.  Add 1/2 cup of butter to the boiling water.

Page 12 ~ Yellow Angel Food Cake.  Add 1 1/2 cups of sugar to the list of ingredients.

Page 27 ~ Maple Sticks.  The flour should read 4 to 5 cups instead of the 8 cups. 

Page 53 ~ Cucumbers for Freezer.  The 1/2 cup white sugar should be changed from white sugar to vinegar. 

Page 64 ~ Evie's Meatloaf.  It should read 3/4 cup of ketchup. 

We apologize for the inconvenience.  Thank you! 

Here are a few more tips in the kitchen from Evie. 

1.  Add a tablespoon of lemon juice to Jello if you plan to use bananas.  This keeps them from turning dark.

2.  To make a boxed cake even better, add 1/4 cup of butter; softened, 1/2 cup of flour and 1 teaspoon of baking powder.  It really does make a superior cake. 

3.  When a recipe calls for greasing a pan, use the inside of the butter or margarine wrapper to grease the pan.  This idea Evie shared with me not too long ago.  It works wonderfully.

Quick Shrimp Scampi

             Photo by Diana Rudolf

Quick Shrimp Scampi

 ½ stick (1/4 cup) of margarine
1 cup of fat-free Italian salad dressing
1/2 teaspoon of Garlic Powder
Juice of 2 lemons or 3 tablespoons of lemon juice
Cracked pepper to taste
2 pounds of uncooked shrimp, cleaned

Melt butter in a 9 x 13 pan lined with foil.  Stir in the dressing, lemon juice, garlic powder and pepper.
Add the shrimp, stirring to coat with the sauce.  Bake at 325 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until the shrimp is done.  Stir occasionally.  Do not over cook.  Serve with steamed rice.  Try to get fresh shrimp.  If using frozen, thaw completely, drain well and pat dry before cooking.

Diana's Tuna Ranch Casserole

Tuna Ranch Casserole

8 ounces of cooked and drained Pennini Rigati
1 large plus 1 small can of tuna in water, well drained
1 1/2 cups of favorite ranch dressing
3/4 cup of milk
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp onion powder

Topping:
1/2 cup of seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 cup of grated Parmesan Cheese
4 Tbls of melted butter
Paprika
Directions:
 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place the cooked Rigati in a 2 quart casserole.
Stir in the tuna, ranch dressing, milk, seasoned salt and onion powder.
In a small bowl, combine the bread crumbs and cheese. Stir in the melted butter and sprinkle over the top of the casserole. Sprinkle with paprika.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until bubbly.

Quick and Easy Light Popcorn Balls

Quick and Easy Light Popcorn Balls

3  Three ounce bags of light microwave popcorn (make sure you get one with no diacetyl added).
1/4  cup of butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
1  (16) ounce bag of mini marshmallows
Cooking Spray

Pop the popcorn in the microwave according to instructions on bag.  Let cool.  Shake the bag so all the unpopped kernels go to the bottom of the bag.  Place in your largest bowl or you can do what I do and clean out your kitchen sink with garbage disposal and dry thoroughly with a clean dry towel.  Place stopper in drain.  This makes clean up easier.  Gently pour the popped popcorn into the bowl or sink being careful not to let any unpopped kernels get through.

Melt the butter in a large sauce pan over medium high heat.  Stir in the marshmallows.  Reduce heat to low and cook for 7 minutes or until the marshmallows have completely melted.  Stir frequently.  Remove from heat when creamy and add the vanilla and desired food color. 

Pour the melted marshmallow mixture over the popcorn and stir to coat the popcorn well.  Lightly spray your hands with the cooking spray and take a handful of the popcorn mixture and press into a small ball.  Place on a clean surface and repeat above with remaining popcorn mixture.  Wrap each popcorn ball in a small section of plastic wrap. 

Enjoy!

For the holidays, I use a small amount of food color to match.  Orange for Halloween, red or green for Christmas, etc.
You can also add candy corn for Halloween or cinnamon red hearts for Valentine's Day.  They're fun to make and the kids love them.

Watermelon Salsa

Watermelon Salsa

2 cups of watermelon, diced
15 1/2 ounce can of crushed pineapple
1 cup of diced red onion
3 tbls cilantro, chopped fine
1 tbls jalapeno pepper, diced fine
1/4 cup of lemon juice
Salt, pepper and sugar to taste

Combine above ingredients into a large bowl.   Let set in the refrigerator for one hour.  Serve with favorite chips.