Easy and inexpensive chocolate cupcakes

Everyone, or nearly everyone loves cupcakes.  These are great for people on certain diets because there are no eggs or any animal products in these, yet they are moist and so decadent.  These cupcakes were very popular during WWII when things were rationed and eggs and some other products were hard to come by sometimes.  They are delicious with any flavor frosting you want to use.  Sprinkles optional too.


Recipe:

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup of salad dressing (Miracle Whip or any generic will do)

1 cup of water

1 cup of granulated sugar

3 cups of all purpose flour

2 cups baking cocoa or as chocolaty as you like it

Pour flour into large mixing bowl, stir in sugar, baking cocoa, baking soda, vanilla extract, salad dressing and water.  Stir until all ingredients are blended and nice and moist. 


Line cupcake tins with foil or paper cupcake liners.  Fill each one about 3/4 full.

Place in a 350 degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes.  Cool and frost.

Enjoy!  

Easy and economical dinner recipe

This is a delicious supper we like to have once in a while.  It is easy and so economical to make.  We like to have a baked potato and a small salad or green vegetable with it. 


Recipe:

1 can of flaky biscuits.............bake according to directions on can

1 pound of lean ground beef

2 or more cans of vegetable beef condensed soup

1/4 to 1/2 cup of water.......depending on how many cans of soup you use

Brown the ground beef in a skillet, drain if needed.   Combine two, or more (depending on how many you plan to feed) cans of vegetable beef condensed soups with the browned hamburger, mix, stir in the water and heat until bubbly.

This mixture is delicious poured over the biscuits or even over the baked potatoes.  

We love this dish at least once a month and it never goes to waste, never any left overs. 

Enjoy!


You can make your own biscuits but I like to use canned biscuits.  

Meatloaf for two

I buy my hamburger at BJ's Wholesale by the tube.  This way I can come home, slice the tube into 3 or four round chunks, freeze them in foil and use each chunk as I need them during the month.  This is recipe for meatloaf for two, or three, depending how thin you slice it.  It can be hard to know what to fix for only two people.  We like this recipe very much. 

Steve always mixes it up for me because for some reason his meatloaf slices hold together better than mine.  This is a restaurant quality, delicious meatloaf that I can cook in my electric toaster oven.  Cooking time, about one hour on 350 degrees.  We serve it with mashed potatoes, any vegetable or salad, rolls and sometimes I make brown gravy for it.  Enjoy!

Recipe:

1 pound lean hamburger

1 small onion, diced

1 cup of crushed, canned tomatoes

1 egg

1/2 cup of bread crumbs

1 tablespoon ketchup

1 tablespoon of mustard

Mix all the ingredients together and shape into a loaf pan.  We use a metal bread pan which seems to work very nicely.  

hamburger, onions, egg and bread crumbs mix

With mustard, ketchup,tomatoes & seasonings.  Mix by hand until all ingredients are well mixed.

Place in loaf pan and glaze top (brushing) with mustard and ketchup.  Bake for about 1 hour.

Finished product, sliced and ready to eat. 

Enjoy!