Velveeta Easy Red Beans & Rice

Velveeta Easy Red Beans & Rice (adapted from Kraft Recipes, Servings: 5-6, Total Time: 30 minutes)

Ingredients

·         1 package Morningstar Farms Sausage Links, thawed, sliced

·         1 can  (15-1/2 oz.) kidney beans, drained, rinsed

·         1 can  (15-1/2 oz.) Diced Tomatoes & Green Chilies, undrained

·         2 tsp. chili powder

·         2 cups instant brown rice, uncooked

·         6 oz.  VELVEETA® 2%, cut up

Directions

1.      Cook sausage in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat 5 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally.

2.      Add beans, tomatoes and chili powder; mix well.

3.      Stir in 2 cups water. Bring to boil.

4.      Stir in rice and VELVEETA; cover. Reduce heat to low; simmer 15 minutes or until water is almost absorbed. Stir until VELVEETA is completely melted.

A simple dish that provides a lot on flavor.  This is not spicy, so my husband likes it, but has a nice Mexican flavor from the green chilies and chili powder.  The beans cook through during the process, they are still firm, but not overly hard.  The recipe above doubles the cooking time for the rice because I have found that the original recipe’s time (5-7 minutes) gets nowhere close to absorbing the liquid or cooking the rice.  The Velveeta adds a creaminess to the dish, but you could also use Taco or Mexican shredded cheese.  A tasty dish that I will make again and again.

Southwestern Corn Soup

Southwestern Corn Soup (5-6 servings, total time 25-30 minutes)

(adapted from KraftFoods)

This was a tasty soup, but I made it a tad too spicy.  My husband took a bite, said it was good but the slow heat blew him off his feet.  Guess I’ll be eating all of the leftovers! 

Ingredients

1 small green pepper, chopped

4 oz. 1/3 Fat Cream Cheese, cubed

½ lb. (8 oz.) Velveeta, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 can (14.75 oz.) cream-style corn

1-1/2 cups skim milk

½ can adobo peppers with sauce

2 Morningstar Farms Black Bean burgers, thawed, crumbled

1.)    Cook peppers in a non-stick medium saucepan on medium heat 3 to 5 min. or until crisp-tender.

2.)    Add cream cheese; cook on low heat 3 to 5 min. until melted, stirring frequently.

3.)    Stir in Velveeta, corn, milk, adobo peppers, and Black Bean Burger crumbles; cook 5 min. or until  Velveeta is completely melted and soup is heated through, stirring occasionally.

Although I though this dish was good and spicy (great for a cold day), next time I will use a can of diced tomatoes with green chiles (drained) instead of the adobo peppers.  I want it to be more pleasing for my husband to taste.  The green peppers lose most of their crispness when cooked with the remaining ingredients, but that did not detract from the dish at all.  Using lower fat substitutions helps reduce the calories and overall fat in the dish.  Adding the burgers increases protein, an important step for vegetarians!  The soup is really easy to make and the texture is very creamy, especially if you let it cool for a moment before eating (allowing the Velveeta to congeal slightly).  I definitely plan on making this delicious dish again in the near future.  I’ll let you know how it works out with the adobo pepper substitution.

Cheesy Beef Stroganoff

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/velveeta-cheesy-beef-stroganoff-57514.aspx

    
 I don’t think that I would call this dish Beef Stroganoff – more of a Cheesy Beef Pasta.  This is a very creamy, cheesy meal (not a bad thing).  It has a good flavor and a little “bite” from the pepper (I used cracked black pepper).  A filling meal, but will add mushrooms next time to add some vegetables.

 I tried to make this a bit more healthy by using Morningstar Farms Burger Crumbles, 2% Velveeta, and Reduced Sodium Cream of Mushroom soup.  I needed to cook the pasta for about 10-12 minutes instead of the suggested 8 – remember to taste a noodle to feel its firmness before adding the additional ingredients.  This received an A+ from my husband, who is a big meat an potatoes guy – no wonder, since it’s cheese and pasta!

Mac & Cheese with Hot Dogs

My mom made a cheese sauce a few years ago that I absolutely loved – velveeta, sour cream, and ranch dressing (or dry ranch dip mix).  I have been making it ever since and love to toss with pasta to make some Mac and Cheese.  You take about 8 oz. of velveeta, mix with about 1/2 to 1 cup sour cream and about 3-4 T ranch dressing (or 1/2 packet dry ranch dip mix).


I chopped some green peppers and added them to the boiling water for about one minute while cooking the pasta.  To up the protein, I added in a Smart Ones hot dog.  Yummy!  The cheesy/ranch sauce gives it a new twist – the only issue is that velveeta congeals pretty quickly, so you have to eat it fast J