Family-Friendly Recipe Contest Winners

MOPS International received over 300 entries in the 2007 MOPS Family-Friendly Recipe Contest. Congratulations to all our winners who will be receiving an autographed copy of Once-a-Month Cooking.

Below are the winning recipes!

Breakfast Winners

Sopapilla Danish
Submitted by Michelle Stohler 
Spring, TX

• 2 cans of crescent rolls
• 2 blocks of cream cheese
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1 stick of butter
• Cinnamon sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Unroll one can of crescent rolls into the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Mix the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl and spread on top of the unrolled crescent rolls. Then unroll the second can of crescent rolls on top of the cream cheese mixture. Melt the stick of butter and pour over the top. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely as the cream cheese will be very hot.

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Blender Waffles
Submitted by Stacey Hawk
Monterey Park, CA

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 2 cups water
• 1 banana (sliced)
• 1 tablespoon sugar or 1-2 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients in blender. Blend until smooth. Pour batter into waffle iron. Enjoy with your favorite syrup or fresh fruit. Serves: 4

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Chuckle
Submitted by Jennifer Davis
Woodruff, WI

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup flour
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla (I use 2 tsp!)
• salt (dash)
• oil (to coat pan)

Place skillet on medium heat on stovetop, coat pan with oil. Mix all other ingredients and pour into heated skillet and let cook until edges start to look solid, (think of an extra-large pancake here) and then loosen edges and (attempt to) flip the entire "chuckle." Cook on that side until golden brown, (about 5 minutes), then cut into cubes. Cook cubes for another 5 minutes or so until all chuckles are golden brown. Serve with sprinkled cinnamon and syrup or cinnamon and applesauce. Serves: 2 adults and 1 three-year-old nicely!

Lunch

Pizza Sandwiches
Submitted by Andrea Keith
Braidwood, IL

• Thick sliced bread (ex: Butternut Texas Toast)
• Mozzarella cheese slices
• Pepperoni slices
• Butter (for toasting/grilling)
• Spaghetti sauce

Layer the cheese & pepperoni (as large or small as you would like) between slices of bread, and grill as a grilled cheese sandwich. Grill until toasted and cheese is gently melted. Warm the spaghetti sauce and serve with sandwich slices for dipping. The sandwiches can be halved or quartered, and are great for preschool-hands.

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Mama Ellen's Herbed Grilled Cheese
Submitted by Ellen Humphries
Houston, TX

• Sliced Italian bread
• Fresh or sliced mozzarella
• Basil leaves
• Sliced tomato
• Pepper to taste
• Olive Oil sprayed or drizzled

Heat pan and assemble cheese on both sides of bread with tomato, fresh basil and pepper in the middle. Either spray outsides of bread with olive oil or drizzle some in the pan. Grill sandwich and both sides and enjoy while dipping into Tomato Basil soup. Gooey Goodness!

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Curried Chicken Salad Papaya Boats
Submitted by Tally Flint
Denver, CO

• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cubed (in a pinch, use a cooked Rotisserie chicken from the supermarket)
• 1 cup finely diced celery
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
• 1 cup golden raisins
• 1 cup cashews (optional)

Mix all ingredients to form salad.

For dressing: Mix together and toss with chicken mixture-
1 C mayonnaise
1 1/2 t curry powder
1 T lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
To serve: Peel 2 papayas and slice horizontally in half. Scoop out seeds. Spoon salad into papaya "boats" and serve. Serves 4.

Dinner

Beef Tips and Rice
Submitted by Beth Trees
Harvest, AL

• 1 1/2 lbs. beef tips
• 1 can cream of chicken soup, undiluted
• 1 envelope dry vegetable soup mix
• 1 can drained mushrooms
• 3/4 cup cooking wine (any kind)

Rinse beef tips and trim off any fat. Cut into bite size pieces. Combine all ingredients in ungreased casserole dish. Cover and cook at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until meat is tender. Serve over rice. (Optional, throw all ingredients into a crock pot and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6-8.)

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Farmhouse Barbecue Muffins
Submitted by Janna Saavedra
Torrance, CA

• 1 tube refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Separate dough into 10 biscuits; flatten into 5-inch circles. Press each into the bottom and up the sides of a greased muffin cup; set aside. In a skillet, brown ground beef; drain. In a small bowl, mix ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar and chili powder; stir until smooth. Add to meat and mix well. Divide the meat mixture among biscuit-lined muffins cups, using about 1/4 cup for each. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from tin and serving. Yield: 10 servings

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Beef in a Covered Boat
Submitted by Beth Williams
Oil City, PA

• 1 small onion
• 1 can cheddar cheese soup
• 1 small green pepper
• Slice of cheddar cheese (or a cheese of your choice)
• 1 loaf Italian bread
• 1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
• 1/2 stick of butter

Fry onion and green pepper in butter, add ground beef and brown. Drain grease, add soup, cut off the top of the loaf of bread hollow out the inside (save the top). Add torn out bread to ground beef then fill bread with mixture of ground beef, soup and bread pieces. Place cheese slices across the top of bread and put top of loaf back on bread. Wrap in foil and Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Cool 5 minutes and cut into slices.

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Chicken Pesto Rollups
Submitted by MaryBeth Reed
Agawam, MA

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (pounded thin)
• 2 tablespoons pesto
• 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan Cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• Italian Dressing
• Seasoned Bread Crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pound chicken breasts thin (appx 1/4" thick). Mix together pesto, parmesan cheese and pepper. Spread in a thin layer on chicken breasts. Roll up and cover with Italian dressing and then roll in bread crumbs. Place rollups in a baking dish sprayed with non-stick spray. Cook at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes or until done. Serves 4.

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Asian Beef
Submitted by Renee Lacher
Ulen, MN

• 1 1/4 lbs. ground beef
• 2 packages (3 oz each) beef flavor instant ramen noodles
• 2 cups frozen vegetable mixture
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger (optional)
• 2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion
• 2 cups water
  

In large skillet, brown ground beef over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes or until no longer pink, breaking into 4-inch crumbles. Remove with slotted spoon; pour off drippings, if any. Season beef with one seasoning packet from ramen noodles; set aside.

In same skillet, combine 2 cups water, noodles broken into several pieces, vegetables, ginger and remaining seasoning packet. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 3 minutes or until noodles are tender, stirring occasionally.

Return beef to skillet and heat through. Stir in green onion before serving. Makes 4 servings; 400 calories per serving.