Congo Bars - A Blast from the Past

Oh how we loved congo bars!  I really don't know the derivation of the name; but nonetheless, these bars were a childhood favorite!  I had forgotten about them until I was perusing my Mom's recipes in order to compile a cook book of her favorites.  So, for the first time in many moons (ages really!), I am making these chocolate chip blondies!  Some congo bars/squares recipes include coconut; I am guessing that since my sisters and I didn't really care for coconut as children, Mom left it out.   I love coconut now and think it would be equally as good with coconut as it is without! These are so yummy that I am going to have to either hide them from myself or give them away as gifts!

INGREDIENTS:

1 ½ sticks margarine, melted

1 box light brown sugar

3 eggs

2 ¾ cups flour

2 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup chopped nuts

1 large package chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

Melt margarine and pour over sugar. 

Stir to combine and cook slightly.

Add eggs, one at a time and mix to combine.

Add dry ingredients and blend well.

Add vanilla, nuts, and chocolate chips.

Pour in a greased 10x14” pan

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
Cool and cut into bars or squares.

Skillet Mexican Street Corn

Servings:  About 6

I just love taco night every now and then... and tonight is the night!  I wanted something other than Mexican rice to serve with our tacos; so I found a recipe for Mexican street corn online that I adapted to our taste.  Verdict?  Easy and yummy!  Another staple for Mexican cuisine dinners at our home! (If you have left-overs, this would be a great addition to taco or tortilla soup).

 

Ingredients

·        1 package frozen corn kernels

·        1 Tablespoon butter

·        1/2 cup light sour cream

·        1 Tablespoon lime juice

·        1 4-ounce can chopped green chilis

·        1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese  

·        1 Tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped

 

Instructions

1.     Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.  Add the corn and mix well.

2.    Next add the green chilis, sour cream, and lime juice.

3.    Continue to simmer for 5 minutes or so.

4.    Season to taste with fresh ground pepper and/or cayenne pepper.

5.    Place in a serving bowl and top with parmesan cheese and cilantro.

Chicken Meatball Stew

I was in Costco during the holidays and picked up a package of Amylu Kickin' Cranberry Meatballs to serve as an appetizer.  Can you believe that we never used them?  These meatballs are found in the refrigerated section and are vacuum packed; as such they have a long expiration date but with less than a month before expiration, I figured that it's time to use these tasty sounding morsels!  Being a cold, wet, Tar Heel basketball kind of day, a stew sounded perfect.  So a meatball stew concoction was born!  You could use any kind of meatballs.  Because I had such a large package of meatballs to use fairly quickly, I made a large batch; but it can easily be downsized.  We loved this stew so it's on my "keeper" list.

INGREDIENTS:

1 42-ounce package Amylu chicken meatballs

  (I used Kickin’ Cranberry meatballs from Costco)

1 38-ounce can green beans, drained

1 20-ounce package Simply Diced Potatoes with Onion

2 15-ounce cans crushed tomatoes

1 26-ounce jar pasta sauce

½ package matchstick carrots

¼ cup beer

Fresh ground pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Add all ingredients to 6-quart slow cooker and stir to combine.

Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

Serve over rice or orzo pasta or just by itself!

Note that this recipe can easily be halved.

Use your favorite pre-packaged or frozen meatballs or make your own!