Company Casserole ~ by Kelsey

This is from my "A Taste of Oregon" cookbook.  I am going to post the recipe as it is written in the book, but I will note the changes I made when I prepared it.  This was SO good.  Even Grace ate it, and she NEVER eats what I cook for dinner.  I completely left out the butter this recipe calls for, and it was still very rich!

Ingredients:
4 cups uncooked egg noodles
2 pounds ground beef ( I used 1.5 lbs since that's how ours is packaged)
1 tablespoon butter (again, I left out the butter)
4 8-oz cans tomato sauce
1 cup cottage cheese
1 8-oz package cream cheese
1/4 cup sour cream
1/3 cup chopped scallion or onion
1 tablespoon chopped green pepper (Now this confused me.  One tablespoon?  Seemed like a typo.  I used one whole green pepper)
2 tablespoons butter, melted (again, omitted by me)

Cook and drain noodles.  Saute beef in large skillet, using one tablespoon butter, until brown.  Stir in tomato sauce and remove from heat.  Set aside.  Combine in a bowl the cottage cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, scallion, and green pepper.  Using a 3-quart casserole, spread half the noodles, then cover with the cheese mixture.  Add the rest of the noodles. (I found it hard to spread the cheese on the noodles, so I ended up just mixing the cheese with the noodles.)  Pour two tablespoons of melted butter over top of noodles.  Cover with meat mixture.  Bake uncovered for 30 minutes at 375.

Wendy's Chili ~ by Aunt D

Have you ever eaten Wendy's Chili? From the Wendy's fast food? It is my ABSOLUTE favorite. Corny maybe, but cheap and easy I am. When my friend Megan G. at work posted on her FB that she had the recipe I was salivating! And to make it even better it was 21 degrees out and clear today in beautiful Maple Valley. So off to the market I went in search of the basics I was missing. Side note: I also made a pan of Marie Callendar's Southwest Corn Bread, the variation that adds a can of corn to it. GREAT side dish for this.

*2 lbs of ground beef, browned

*one 29oz can Tomato sauce

*one 29oz can of Kidney beans (drain liquid)

*one 29oz can of Pinto beans (drain liquid)
*one 29oz can of diced tomatoes

*1 cup diced onion

*1/2 cup diced canned green chilies

*1 cup of diced celery

*2 tsps cumin powder

*3 TBSP of chili powder

*1 - 1/2 tsp black pepper

*2 tsps salt

Brown meat and drain off fat. In a large kettle combine beef, celery, onion, and green chilies.  Sweat them for 5-10 min.  Add all other ingredients and simmer over low heat, stirring every 15-20 min for 2-3 hours.

Mouthwatering!