# Recipes from the box......REALLY what are your favs



## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

Pumpkin pie from Libbys pumpkin can
Fantasy Fudge...hey, covered with toasted walnuts
Quaker Oatmeal cookies with currants and orange zest thrown in
*This is really gross and if you tell anyone I'll deny it but I love tuna noodle casserole with cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, peas, green onions tuna and noodles
Shoot I do the grown up version and stick in dillweed and black pepper.

SOOOOO which are your favorite back of the box can package recipes....it's OK we all have comfort childhood favorites...


----------



## chefjohnpaul (Mar 9, 2000)

Shroomgal, I like baked chicken and rice made with cream of mushroom and cream of celery soup. I also have to have kraft Mac N'Cheddar every once in a while, but I sprinkle it with imported smoked paprika from Spain, so I still feel like a gourmand..


----------



## cookm (Aug 8, 2000)

I like tuna casserole with Velveeta. Except I can't eat fish anymore cause of an allergy. But I still think about it.


----------



## pete (Oct 7, 2001)

Okay! I admit it. I love Kraft Mac & Cheese with a can of tuna and tons of Crystal hot sauce. As for Tuna Casserole, as long as it is topped with potato chips Im in.


----------



## greg (Dec 8, 1999)

Kraft mac&cheese, with a little extra milk and soy sauce (fusion!). I'll eat tuna casserole only if my Mom makes it.


----------



## katherine (Aug 12, 2000)

I make my Kraft macaroni and cheese up substituting sour cream for both the margarine and milk in the sauce, and adjust the seasoning with some sherry, a little white pepper and some nutmeg.


----------



## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

Heavens are we really into Kraft Mac and chesse or what? We must all be sortof the same age and I guess that was what we were feed on busy nights.Kraft has a product noone has come close to replicating, is this blatant product endorsement or what.

I just remembered this is not off a pkg. but my mom used to spilt hotdogs top them with real mashed potatoes (no box) and a slice of cheddar then bake them....I make this 2-3xs a year when I really need a kid moment.

Pete, How could I have forgotten the chips on top....That is absolutely the best part.


----------



## mezzaluna (Aug 29, 2000)

I second the Libby's pumpkin recipe, but I add more spices. Tastes like home to me! That tuna casserole sure sounds good....


----------



## chefjohnpaul (Mar 9, 2000)

I think I may have to go to culinary theropy because I grew up in an Arab/American household and had Kraft Mac & Cheese but also veal spinal cord on Ritz crackers. IMO(imitation sour cream)/pinapple pie on a hideous store bought crust, but also raw calves liver on pita with red onion & mint. Armour Vienna sausages & Velveeta, but also lamb shanks braised in yoghurt with bulghar pilaf. I think this is enough to make anyones stomach churn............


----------



## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

boy aclamating to box food must have been difficult for your mom.....the spinal cord thing is really gross, is there a name for that. 
How about the ubiqutous green bean casserole with the fried onions on top...I didn't get this as a kid but it is a St. Louis fav...
Not mine mind you I'll just do tuna casserole....hey does anyone remember spice cake with canned tomato soup or chocolate cake with mayo in it? 
What about King Ranch Casserole....canned soup chicken tortillas, chilis, cheese...creamy cheesey spicy corny chickeny casserole....What do you think will casseroles resurface or are they gone forever?

[This message has been edited by shroomgirl (edited October 02, 2000).]


----------



## mezzaluna (Aug 29, 2000)

Casseroles will never die as long as there are Midwestern pot luck suppers! I think they're called 'hot dishes' in Minnesota, but they're quite popular here in the Badger State as well. The more exotic cooks actually use what are for them adventurous flavors, such as cumin! But you'll still find those canned soup and chow mein noodle dishes with water chestnuts, too. It's very entertaining trying to guess what's been combined in each one, and in what quantities. Ever eat a beef casserole with Coca Cola in it?? You'd never forget it....


----------



## lynne (Oct 6, 2001)

I'll ditto most of those; didn't grow up with box mac and cheese but it's a quick easy fix with some grown-up additions...

Tuna casserole always a favourite--if--it has the potato chip topping. Speaking of will they rise again? Look how many chef's are doing just that-(sorta). There are so many "grown up versions of mac and cheese out there and I have seen several variations on the tuna noodle casserole idea (using fresh tuna with a homemade mushroom sauce).

Shroom Girl - my mom did the hotdog thing with mashed potatoes too; only we top 'em with peas and parmesan...

One of my favourites was a mandarin jello salad. I think it was clear gelatin with mandarin juice, cottage cheese and cream cheese "squished" in the blender and of course manadrin oranges. It was always a sign of spring!

I recently did a family cookbook with all the "faves" and traditional recipes in it -- its funny how many of them start with a can of soup! It's funny- we've always gone to Grandma's house for Christmas and always had the same menu: 1st night Kielbasa w/sauerkraut and real italian sausage and homemade spaghetti sauce (got to get in all the ethnic background); macaroni and cheese and the start w/ a can of mushroom soup-green bean casserole! etc.

But how good the idea of all of these make you feel...


----------



## chefjohnpaul (Mar 9, 2000)

Shroomgal, I had that greenbean crispy onion cassarole at my sister-in-laws this weekend, it had mushroom soup and waterchessnuts in it. I don't mind the green beans that overcooked if there are gooey and creamy, YUM! The spinal cord thing I believe is my Mom's idea of a canape.


----------



## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

Well you know don't mess with a good thing.

I wonder where that hot dog idea came from.

My dad was in the Air Force during Moon Shots
so I got space sticks, dehydrated foods, etc...

Mom made alot of pate choux and stuffed um with tuna or crab.
Do you guys remember eating dried beef with cream on toast?
Or stuffed tomatoes with tuna salad
Or yes Jello with pretzels, cream cheese and strawberries or apricots.
Jello cooked pudding....
We never did the hamburger helper but I vaguely remember shake and bake chicken.
Potlucks...I grew up Lutheran and they were a definate staple at our church. Boyscouts are also big into that. Unidentifiable foods
ooooo it's amazing there have been so few deaths atributed to church suppers.


----------



## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

Duh!!!! Rice Crispy treats, Tollhouse cookies, Hello Dollies, those butterscotch peanut butter chinese noodle marshmellow thingys ohhhhh so yucckkily wonderful
Don't pratice this on a regular basis but they sure are great when they come around....Who could think up chocolate chips, butterscoth chips, nuts, grahm crackers butter and sweetened condensed milk....ohhhhhhhhhh it's overload to think about it.

[This message has been edited by shroomgirl (edited October 05, 2000).]


----------



## mudbug (Dec 30, 1999)

Do bags count?

Krunchers - jalapeno
Pepperidge Farm cookies


----------



## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

Wellll not really the topic is recipes off of cans and boxes and bags...not just junk food consumed after opening....


----------



## wambly (Jul 22, 2000)

Key lime pie ... 
recipe came off of a can of Carnation sweetened condensed milk.


----------



## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

Good one!


----------



## cookm (Aug 8, 2000)

How about that dip that everyone used to make with Lipton's (I think) onion soup? I think I still like it!


----------



## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

Oh yeah....the spinach one with Knorrs veg soup, spinach, waterchestnuts, green onions sour cream and mayo all ground up together What party in the 80's did not include that gem......actully not too bad.


----------



## cookm (Aug 8, 2000)

A friend of mine kept bringing this broccoli, mayo, and American cheese dish to our *Fake Thanksgiving* dinners four years running. I finally told her I never liked it. That dish definitely sounds like a box creation.


----------



## momoreg (Mar 4, 2000)

A girlfriend of mine who styles herself as a great cook, once made a pie with a store bought crust, and filled it with a mixture of cool whip and fluff!!! I can't tell you how gross that was.

I have to agree, though, the Knorr mixes do make pretty good dip.

Another packaged food that's surprisingly good, is Rosti, which is made by Hero. Anyone ever try it? It's shredded potatos in a vac package, and you cook it up like a latke.


----------



## nick.shu (Jul 18, 2000)

without being too obtuse, i must admit that knorrs chicken broth (asian style) in the can, is one of the best out of the can chicken stocks i have used.

I actually use this stuff for chinese steamboats at home.

All of the advantages without the mess etc.

Great stuff.


----------



## m brown (May 29, 1999)

Obtuse, give this chef a mug!


----------



## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

I must have lost a post....tollhouse, rice crispy treats, hello dollies, white chocolate maccadamia nut cookies


----------



## m brown (May 29, 1999)

Libbys Pumpkin Pie with Cream in Place of Evaporated milk.
Toll house cookies. Rice crispy treats.
Waffles on the side of store brand Pancake mix with the addition of melted butter, vanilla and touch of baking powder for extra bounce.


------------------
bake first, ask questions later


----------



## chef david simpson (Sep 25, 2000)

My favorite out-of-the-box is Van de Camps Beer Batterd fishsticks or patties, when I'm on the run. And the almighty mac/cheese with some cream of mushroom soup and a little white wine.


----------



## chef david simpson (Sep 25, 2000)

I can't forget the tuna melt!!!!!


----------



## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

LOL if you read the ingrediants on the spam can it's just ham........


----------



## isa (Apr 4, 2000)

I've been trying to figure what recipes on a box I tried and couldn't recall one until I recall a certain pie. The pie from the graham cracker crumbs box. A custard pie with a meringue.....

Sisi


----------



## 724 (Sep 27, 2000)

"Cherry cake" A box of white cake mix prepared per box instructions and poured into a 13x9 pan. Then spoon a can of cherry pie filling on top and swirl it into the batter before baking. Delish served with Cool Whip!


----------



## cookm (Aug 8, 2000)

Oh my God!! I can't believe I forgot this! My mom used to make porcupine meatballs and then drown 'em in canned mushroom soup. One family story about these meatballs--my mom came home to find two neighborhood girls (family friends) eating our dinner of these meatballs. They were yummy!!


----------



## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

Sure they were a hit....remember everything being on a toothpick or skewered or in a blanket....Like fruit and marshmellows interspersed on a skewer wiht a marshmellow whip yogurt jello dip thingy. Or in the same vein as the cherry cake swirl, holes poked in a done cake and pudding or jello (escapes me now) poured over the cake and it's refrigerated then COOL WHIP spread over for icing....


----------



## bakerbebe (Sep 13, 2000)

What about those little boxes of Jiffy muffin mix? My mom was always making those. What is up with those imitation dried blue things? (supposed to pass for blueberries). Oh, but we loved 'em when we were kids . . .


----------



## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

Did you have an Easy Bake Oven to bake them in? I had a chef that REALLY I WOULD NOT MAKE THIS SHTUFF UP wanted to use an EBO for a visual prop at the market for baking demos......did not happen.


----------



## momoreg (Mar 4, 2000)

The Easy Bake Oven was the best toy I ever had!!! I told my mother that if she hadn't sent me to my room every other day, I probably wouldn't be a pastry chef today. I developed my love for baking in those many hungry hours spent in my room!! Thanks, Mom! (It took so long to save up allowance money for those mixes, too!)


----------



## isa (Apr 4, 2000)

I remeber the Easy bake Oven. I wanted that thing so badly. I dreamed of it for weeks before Chrsitmas. Used all the mixes within a few weeks. Problem was the local stores never carried the extra mixes...


Sisi


----------



## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

That's what the jiffy mixes were used for....
anyone remember the edible creepy crawler machine....precurser to gummy bugs.


----------



## m brown (May 29, 1999)

ohmygowd! I loved creepy crawlers!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## lynne (Oct 6, 2001)

How 'bout Dirt Cake?

My mom used to make it with gravestones and gummy worms and a skeleton arm reaching out on Halloween...


----------



## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

I did a version of that for a client's 50th..
I'm not sure what to name it Most are just surprise.....
It was a dome (pecan cake lined bowl) with grandmarnier moose type filling with gelitin, white chocolate, egg whites (stiff) orange juice...
inside, it was creamy yet thicker so it would stand up to slicing....butter icing with roasted pecans as dirt....and a white chocolate tombstone (shaped by the styrafoam meat tray mold method) piped on verbage.


----------



## bakerbebe (Sep 13, 2000)

That is hilarious that a chef wanted to use an Easy Bake Oven for display! I have to admit though, at age 6 I was dying for one -- my mom thought they were ridiculous and never bought me one. So I learned on the real thing . . .


----------



## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

I had an EBO and as I recall it was radiant light bulb heat....seems like the mixes were only add H2O.....yummmmm


----------



## mezzaluna (Aug 29, 2000)

My mom also drew the line at the EBO, but did buy me little layer cake pans that took 1/2 batch of Jiffy cake mix each. I clearly remember making a cake for my dad's birthday with those pans. I must have been about 7 years old. The cake was chocolate; I iced the layers with aqua icing and wrote with orange icing. We carefully boxed it and took it to a fancy restaurant for the birthday dinner. I remember the waitstaff bringing his colleages over to see this, well, vivid creation! Worst part was, everyone went home with blue stains on their lips...


----------



## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

What we do for our kids........


----------



## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

I made them as a kid too....we also took olives and wrapped a bisuit cheese mixture around them and baked them...pretty tasty with cayene.


----------



## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

How about an apple horseradish dip with dry mustard...sorta like jezabel sauce without the pineapple preserves....I think apple bits could go weird in the sausage balls...just a hunch


----------



## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

I was checking out the toy catalogs and the EBO of our day has become a microwave....same light bulb different package!!!


----------



## lynne (Oct 6, 2001)

I think the apple would be great in the sausage cheese bites. I do a cheddar apple sausage ball (read meatball) that people always really enjoy. I know that they look better if the apple is sauteed first. That may help with appearances in the sausage cheddar bites.


----------



## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

By apple in the sausage balls going weird I meant to freeze and then bake they could have too much apple liquid to bake well.
Flavor wise I think it goes well.


----------



## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

OH YEAH licking the bowl and beaters was better than actually eating the cake...almost.

Well, those creapy crawler, edible thingys could burn....getting you ready for the kitchen....1960's right? 

How many of you made mayo chocolate cake or 7-up cake or gag tomato soup spice cake (Mom says she only made it that one time but it was memorable)?


----------



## lynne (Oct 6, 2001)

For us ut was the Amazin Raisin Cake--out of Better Homes and Gardens. It had mayo, raisins and apples in it is all I remember,\. I think it was supposed to be Hellmans).


----------



## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

Back of the Hellman's jar. The other sounds like waldorf salad cake.
My sister in law grew up in Utah and eats salad whip (not mayo but that other jarred stuff) hard to make potato salad for us both to enjoy. <scrunched face>
Did you ever make critters with salad foods...Bunny pears or rocket bananas seems like that was a big thing growing up making food look like ????whatever.


----------



## lynne (Oct 6, 2001)

Sure did--Raggedy Anne's and Pear Mice.


----------

