Please Share Your "Never Fail Recipe".

My favorite never fail recipe is not actually my own recipe, but I'll pass it along anyway. Everyone who has it LOVES it. The recipe is for meatloaf. Buy a box of the Beefy Onion Lipton soup mix. There is a recipe for meatloaf on the back of the box and it is very good. My only tip: The recipe on the box calls for 1 package of the beefy onion soup mix - I recommend using 2 packages of the soup mix. Also, you can dice green peppers and mix those in if you like green peppers.

I haven't found anyone who doesn't love Beef Burgundy... even my super picky hubby.

Any type of beef roast
2 small onions (we just use onion powder)
3 beef bouillon cubes
2 cans mushrooms
2 pkg beef gravy mix
1/2 C burgundy wine (optional, tastes great w/out it)
2 1/2 C water

Cut beef into pieces. Dice onions. Mix all ingredients in slow cooker. Cook 6 hours on low or 4 hours on high. (The longer it cooks the more tender the meat) Can be served over buttered noodles, potatoes, rice, etc. (We just serve it plain) Very yummy!

I make several things for families when they have a need for meals. Chicken breasts are always a huge hit. chicken marsala is great and freezes well

Chicken Breast tenderloins pounded flat (dredge in flour)
1/2 stick butter
2 cups mushrooms
2 T parsley fresh or dried doesn't matter
1/2 cup marsala wine

melt butter in nonstick skillet saute mushrooms for about ten minutes stirring often. put mushrooms in a dish but leave butter in the pan. put chicken breast tenderloins in and cook on each side till browned (I do about 10 mins on each side) you want them browned and cooked thru but not crispy if that makes sense. remove chicken and put the mushrooms back in the pan add marsala wine and parsley and cook for a couple minutes to heat through. pour mushroom / wine mixture over chicken. I serve it with garlic mashed potatos out of a bag and a salad. The chicken marsala freezes well.

My sister is very ill (brain cancer) and they have received food from so many families and everything is appreciated.

Some ideas:
Her kids are a bit tired of pasta bakes. While they are easy and can be frozen, I bet she has 10 in her freezer.

Always use a pan you DONT expect to get back. The last thing my sister and family want to deal with is figuring out where pans and dishes go.

A family favorite for them was when someone just ordered them a pizza/chinese so it was delivered paid for with tip included. I think it brought some sense of normalcy.

If it is a long term illness, is someone in charge of a calendar? My sister's friend actually had an internet calendar where people could sign up for meals and driving her to chemo 3x a week. (My bro in law still had to work)

Long term illness? Have the family set a cooler on the front stoop so meals can be placed in there. Jill got so tired of visiting with everyone. And some people feel more comfortable just dropping something off without having to talk. She eventually would put a sign on the fron door similar to a hotel sign: do not disturb...I am resting on one side and come on in on the other.

I know this sounds kind of "cold" but from watching a dear family member, it makes sense.

A soup that was good to share:
Chicken Chili:
2-3 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
2-3 cans great northern beans drained
16 oz sour cream
8 oz pepper jack cheese
1 can chicken broth
chili peppers and jalapenos to taste.
serve with tostito chips

heat in crock pot on low for 3-4 hours

Pasts bakes!!! They freeze well in case they cannot be eaten right away. I cook either shells, penne or rigatoni pasta, cover it with jar sauce (or make your own) and add parmesan cheese, then cover it will an entire bag of italian or mozzarella cheese. I usually use the disposable aluminum pans from the grocery. Bake for 30 minutes at 375*. I always make these for new mothers new neighbors, Etc. I deliver it with brownies or cookies for desert.

Cheeseburger and tots casserole--

2lbs hamburger- cooked, drained
1/2 lb velveeta cubed
1 can cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup
1 lrg bag frozen tots

cook meat and mix with the soup and velveeta chunks, spread in 9x13 baking dish, top with the tots and bake at 400 for 30-40 minutes til bubbly and tots are brown n crispy on top.

Makes good leftovers, and the whole family loves it!

My friends and neighbors all love to do lasagna when someone needs some help with extra meals. Lasagna roll-ups are nice because you can take out just a few noodles worth, cover with tomato/pasta sauce, and heat only as much as you need instead of a huge pan of leftovers to get rid of. The only problem is, when my neighbor had a baby a couple of years ago--they got 4 pans of lasagna! The online calendar or just an email list with foods and scheduling offers would be great to keep that from happening.

Scalloped Potatoes and Ham -

Dissolve 1 t. cream of tartar in 1 cup water. (I use my 4c. mearsuring cup for this.) Peel potatoes and thinly slice them into this mixture, then remove and put in Pam sprayed crockpot. When crockpot is half full (4-6 potatoes depending on size), thinly slice a small onion over the potatoes, add 1/4 c. flour, 3 T. margarine sliced, and 1/2 can of cream of mushrrom soup and sprinkle with black pepper. Repeat. Cook on low until warmed through, about 3 hours. (If I was at home, I would cook about 6-7 hours and serve from pot, but if I am taking it to someone, do not want it to be totally cooked.). I then pour this into an aluminum disposable heavy duty pan that I have sprayed with Pam. Garnish with parsley flakes. Then place ham slices on top, and cover with foil. The recipient can bake it at 325 for an hour. It can also be frozen for a future meal.

I just wanted to add to the tator tot casserole recipes below. I also make this and love it but you can make it a little "healthier" and more complete by adding frozen mixed veggies (peas, carrots, green beans, etc). It's really good in it.

Cavatini--
1 lb penne pasta
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 lg jar sliced mushrooms
1 pk pepperoni (slice pepperoni slices in half)
1 lb ground turkey or beef
2 cups shredded mozzarella
Cook ground meat. Cook noodles. Combine pasta, meat, pepperoni, mushrooms, sauce, and 1 cup of mozzarella. Spread into a 9 x 13 pan. Cover with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 or 375 until cheese is melty.

Shredded Pork Sandwiches--
2 lb pork tenderloin
salt/pepper
Barbeque sauce
Whole wheat hamburger buns or sandwich rolls
Cook pork tenderloin, uncovered (seasoned with salt/pepper to taste) at 350 for 1 hour. Take out of the oven and wrap the meat tightly in foil. Turn off the oven and put it back in for another hour to cook in the foil. Take it out and shred the meat with a fork. Coat with the barbeque sauce. Serve on the buns/rolls.

One thing my family loves, and is pretty easy to do, is Tator Tot Casserole... I actually just made this for my girlfriend after her mom passed away. I love Janis L's suggestions though, the prepaid take out is a pretty good idea too. Anyway, I'm sure you'll get more recipes, but here's mine:

Tator Tot Casserole:
1 lb. Ground beef or ground turkey
Garlic salt/powder or Onion salt/powder OR
Chopped onion - just enough for taste (optional)
1 can Cream of Mushroom or Chicken soup
Frozen tator tots
Shredded chedder cheese (I use sharp)

- Preheat oven to 350.
- Brown Beef/turkey and Onion, or sprinkle Garlic/onion while cooking; drain.
- Put in bottom of casserole dish, layer Tator Tots on top.
- Spoon/spread undiluted Soup over tots, top with Cheese.
- Bake for 30 - 45 min. or until cheese is bubbly.

Chicken dumpling soup. Carrots, celery, onion, garlic, chicken (if you want), canned beans, and anything else you care to put in there. Add chicken stock (or water and chicken boullion) to cover with some to spare. Mix up some dumpling batter (I don't know the amounts, but I use flour, salt, pepper, baking powder, eggs, and milk). Spoon into the soup. Cover tightly and let simmer for 20 minutes. Done!

I say dumpling soup because noodles tend to almost dissolve if they are not eaten right away. Also, at the last minute you could throw in frozen peas or other frozen veggies to add more bulk to it.