Real Recipes for Real People
Treasure In Your Recipe Books

I have been collecting cook books since I was a child. Once I became old enough to actually try some of the recipes in them, I found that there are cookbooks which are pretty, and contain recipes with wonderful sounding names (too expensive or unusual to really try), and there are other cookbooks- usually quite ordinary looking- which contain recipes used by real people every day. These books are the real treasures, because between their covers are not only great tasting recipes, but also memories, culture, history and economical good sense.

It is not too difficult to find this sort of recipe book- they are on the shelves at thrift shops, in boxes at yard sales, and in the making right now when your school, church or other local organization needs a fund raiser.

If you do not own one of these treasures, I urge you to keep your eyes open for one, and to begin one of your own. Start by purchasing an inexpensive binder at your local office supply store. My favorite ones have clear sleeves on the front and back, so you can slide your own cover sheet inside.

You will also need some vinyl sheet protectors to fill your binder- if you look around, you can find them for about $10 for a box of 200. Now, you have a great looking, wipe-able book to place all of your favorite recipes inside. You may want to add divider pages or index tabs to your book once you begin to accumulate favorite recipes.

When you add recipes to your book, add only tried and true recipes that your family loves. Slide them out of their protectors to jot down notes or corrections when needed. If you like, you can set aside a section in the back for recipes to try. And then once they have been tried and proven, you can add them to the front with your other favorites. The recipe below is one of my family's favorites, which I developed after we discovered we like the store bought 'Hamburger Helper' version, but did not like to be tied to the price, or needing to have the mix on hand when we wanted to make it. It is a good place to start when making your new recipe binder...

Busy Day Stroganoff

Recipe By: Real Food for Real People
Serving Size: 8
Categories: Beef, Main Dish, Pasta, Quick Meals

• 12 ounces Egg Noodles, un-cooked
• 1 1/2 pounds Lean Ground Beef
• 1 medium Onion, chopped
• 2 cans Cream of Mushroom Soup
• 1 cup Sour Cream
• 2 teaspoons Dill Weed
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper

In a large skillet, brown lean ground beef with chopped onion. Drain any grease from mixture, and set aside. Cook egg noodles in Dutch oven size pan, according to package directions for firm noodles (about 5 minutes). Rinse noodles, and return to pan. Add ground beef mixture and all remaining ingredients. Mix well, and heat mixture on low for 10 minutes to let flavors blend.

For more free, daily email recipes, such as this one, visit www.realfood4realpeople.com or subscribe by sending an email to: realfood-subscribe@onelist.com

Copyright 2000, Kaylin Cherry/Real Food for Real People All Rights Reserved.

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