Whenever I see a company pushing recipes that incorporate their particular ingredients, I’m always curious how they will work out. Are the recipes actually any good or are they just an excuse for the product maker to sell more goods.

Campbell’s® has really taken this idea to another level by setting up an entire web site full of recipes using their products. Enter the Campbell’s Kitchen and you are presented with countless options. For this test, I decided to give a recipe a try that sounded like it could be trouble. Find out if my suspicions were right or if I was just being too skeptical of good ol’ Campbell’s.

Ingredients:

•    1 pound ground beef
•    1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell’s® Condensed Tomato Soup  (Regular or Healthy Request®)
•    1/2 cup salsa
•    1/2 cup water
•    6 flour tortillas (6-inch), cut into 1-inch pieces
•    1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:

Cook the beef in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until well browned, stirring often to separate meat.  Pour off any fat.

Stir the soup, salsa, water and tortillas in the skillet and heat to a boil.   Reduce the heat to low.  Cook for 5 minutes.  Stir the beef mixture.  Top with the cheese.

Creamy Mexican Fiesta: Stir in 1/2 cup sour cream with the soup.

Ranchero Style: Use corn tortillas instead of flour tortillas and shredded Mexican cheese blend instead of Cheddar.

It’s a cold, snowy football Sunday and I decided it was time to fix up some snacks. After receiving a recipe from a twitter follower for some jalapeno poppers, I jumped in the car and picked up the goods. While I was out, I figured I could use some Chex Mix as well.

Intrigued by the new microwave method of preparation, I simply had to give one of the new Chex Mix recipes a try. In this case, I settled on the cheesy ranch variety. Does the microwave method hold up to the traditional oven bake method? Only one thing would give me the answer for sure. A Chex Mix experiment.

Jalapeno Poppers

Ingredients:

• 4 washed jalapeno peppers
• Cream cheese
• Bacon

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

Halve jalapenos and remove seeds. Remove all seeds for mild, leave some seeds in for more heat.

Fill jalapeno halves with cream cheese.

Cut bacon in half

Wrap cheese-filled peppers with bacon.

Place poppers on a baking sheet or in a baking pan with foil liner for easy cleanup.

Bake at 450 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the bacon is crispy and well done.

Remove poppers from baking dish and allow to drain and cool on a paper towel.

Cheesy Ranch Chex Mix

Ingredients:

• 9 cups Chex cereal (your choice)
• 2 cups bite-size pretzels
• 2 cups bite-size cheese crackers
• 3 tablespoons margarine
• 1 package ranch mix
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan

Directions:

In large microwavable bowl, mix cereal, pretzels and crackers. In small microwavable bowl, melt butter and pour over cereal mixture. Stir until evenly coated.

Stir in ranch mix and cheese until evenly coated.

Microwave uncovered on high for 3 minutes, stirring after each minute. Spread on foil to cool.

Day two of holiday cookies is here and so is the recipe for Oreo Fudge Bars. Equally simple in their preparation and full of chocolaty goodness, you can’t go wrong with this creation when in need of a quick sweet dish.

If you didn’t see yesterday’s episode showing how to prepare a family classic be sure to check it out. Episode 20 – Papa Vern Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 16 ounce package of Oreo cookies
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (I used Fat Free)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional, I didn’t use)
• 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips (could use another 1/2 cup semi-sweet chips if you like)
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325.

Line a 9×13 pan with foil and lightly spray with PAM.

Set aside 6 Oreo cookies for the toppings.

In a small food processor grind the rest of the cookies. If you don’t have a food processor, just pound with a rolling pin until the cookies are fine crumbs. Add the salt to the crumbs and stir to combine.

Melt butter and gently stir together with the cookie crumb mixture.

Press firmly into the bottom of the prepared pan.

Coarsely chop the remaining cookies into chunks and set aside.

Over a double boiler or in the microwave, melt 3/4 cup semi-sweet and 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips together with the condensed milk and vanilla.

Stir frequently until smooth.

Spread evenly over the prepared cookie crust.

Sprinkle the mini chocolate chips and the Oreo cookies chunks over the top of the filling.

Press down gently into the chocolate topping.

Bake for 20-25 minutes in the oven.

Allow cooling on counter for 1 hour. Chill in fridge until completely cold and set before cutting into bars or it will make a big mess.

It’s that time of the year once again. You know, that time when everyone is inviting you to some kind of holiday get-together. Today I was hit with the timeless classic – the neighborhood holiday block party. Considering one neighbor thought I was married for the last two years and then worried I got a divorce and another apparently thinks my name is Ryan, I decided it was time to get to know them a little better.

That being said, you can’t show up empty handed to a gathering. Sure, I could bring a bottle of wine and take the easy way out but where is the fun in that? Instead, it’s time to turn to two timeless cookie recipes. The first is known in my family as Papa Vern Cookies. The recipe has many variations and names but that is what we learned to call them over the years after learning about the recipe from a family member – Vern himself.

The second recipe was a fan submission. Erin was nice enough to send me her recipe of choice for Oreo Fudge Bars. Sounding equally as convenient as Papa Vern Cookies I thought I would give that one a whirl as well. Why not set a good example with the neighbors by bringing two varieties of sweet delights? I know I would be pleased.

I will be splitting the recipes up over the next two days. First up, Papa Vern Cookies.

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 6 cups Rice Krispies
• 1 cup butter scotch chips
• 1 cup semi-sweet chips

Directions

Mix sugar and corn syrup in large saucepan.

Stir with wooden spoon until bubbles start to form on surface. At that point immediately remove from heat and add in peanut butter.

Pour Rice Krispies in and mix before mixture starts to harden.

Pour into greased 9 x 13 pan and spread out evenly.

While mixture in pan cools, take both types of chips and melt together over double boiler until fully melted. Be sure to stir regularly.

Pour over top of Rice Krispies with spatula. Wait for everything to harden. You can place in fridge to speed up the hardening process.

And now, a submission from a good friend. Itz Santa!

Cuisine Made Quick is back! After nearly seven months, I’m here just in time for the holiday season. First up on the list is a Jiffy Corn Bake. This is a recipe I first encountered about a week ago while enjoying an early Thanksgiving dinner with some friends. I figured I would check online and mesh together my own variation on this interesting dish.

The preparation is very minimal, the ingredients don’t cost much and you can even mix everything together early and pop it in the oven about 40 mins before needed. This is a great dish to bring to someone’s house if you are invited for dinner.

The ingredients are as follows:

• 1 can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 can creamed corn
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix
• 1 stick butter, melted (or 1/2 c. oil)
• 1 c. sour cream
• 1/4 – 1/2 tsp. garlic powder (opt.)
• Shredded cheese (opt.)
• 1/4 c. sugar
• Dash of cayenne pepper

You just mix all that up (minus the cheese) in a large bowl. Pour it into a 9” x 13” baking dish, sprinkle on the cheese and put it in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes. It really couldn’t be any simpler.

Hungry and getting ready to leave for vacation in a matter of hours, I check the fridge in an effort to get something quick and tasty to eat. Thankfully, I had some pita bread, humus and various condiments – all the makings of a delicious grilled pita panini.

The directions are simple. All you need is:

• Enough ham for a sandwich
• 1 piece of pita bread
• Slice of cheese
• 1 tsp humus
• 1 tsp sweet relish
• 1 tsp ranch dressing
• Dash of hot sauce

Fold pita bread in half and apply humus to one side of bread. Apply slice of cheese and then add ham. Then simply mix the relish and ranch dressing together and spread on the other half of the pita. Add cheese on top of ham and fold over pita bread to make a sandwich. Grill for a few minutes until browned and cheese is melty.

Continuing on with our chili theme, Elisabeth and I decided to fix some chili dogs for dinner. Quick and easy, this is a fantastic weekday recipe.

All you need is some reheated chili, shredded cheese, hot dogs and some good buns and you are set. We were definitely in a goofy mood for this one. Must have been the excitement for the dogs.

Be sure to check out our chili episode to see us make the chili used in this episode here.

Have a recipe you would like to see us try, send us an e-mail at recipes@cuisinemadequick.com or hit us up on twitter at cphadley, ebear6 or cuisinemq.

It’s Thursday night in the middle of a very busy work week and I look at the clock. The time is after 9 PM and I realize I have not eaten dinner. This seems to be a regular occurrence for me lately and I soon realized groceries were in short supply. I was going to eat some cereal but then came to the realization I didn’t have any milk. What I did have was corn tortillas, eggs, cheese and salsa.

Not wanting to make the full egg tortilla casserole again, I decided to make up some quick breakfast tacos given they only take about 10 minutes to make. These are even better when you have more fresh ingredients available for topping. I was a bit limited.

Ingredients and Directions:

• Put a small amount of cooking oil in a pan and heat to medium.
• While oil heats up, shred about 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese or whatever kind of cheese you prefer on your tacos.
• Crack two eggs and beat so they are ready to scramble.
• Mix in chili powder, black pepper, cumin, seasoned salt, red pepper and hot sauce.
• Once oil is hot, fry up two or three corn tortillas by placing in grease for about 15 to 30 seconds until hard but still a bit chewy.
• Let shells cool for about 2 minutes and then place eggs, cheese, hot sauce and salsa in shell and fold.
• Enjoy!

Take tortillas, eggs, salsa and cheese and before I even see a recipe, I know I’m in for a treat. Today’s dish is a perfect example of this wonderful combination of tasty ingredients. Some may argue this is not really a casserole but I tend to think of a casserole as a meal that ends up in one dish and that can be eaten directly from the pot or pan without the need for a side dish. Under my personal definition, this dish definitely fits the bill.

In what may be the easiest recipe (besides the Pizza Rolls) yet on Cuisine Made Quick, I fly solo in fixing one of my favorite Mexican breakfast feasts. In about fifteen minutes you can have yourself a hearty and spicy breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Elisabeth was home visiting family during the taping of this episode but she is not without appearance. The episode before this was supposed to be a recipe for a prosciutto and melon burger with sweet potato fries. Needless to say, things did not go as planned for that recipe. Some of the highlights of that failure can be seen in this episode.

As always, if you have a favorite recipe you would like to see us attempt, or if you have video preparing your favorite dish, please leave a comment or send an e-mail to recipes@cuisinemadequick.com.

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Ingredients:

• 3 or 4 eggs
• 5 corn tortillas
• 1 cup shredded cheese (your preference – I prefer sharp cheddar)
• 1 cup salsa
• Sprinkle of garlic powder
• Sprinkle of seasoned salt
• Multiple dashes of hot sauce (less if you prefer mild)
• 1 or 2 tsp. ground black pepper
• Enough olive oil to coat bottom of pot

Directions:

• Pour enough olive oil into the bottom of pot and place over medium high heat until oil is at roughly 350 to 400 degrees.

• While oil heats, break eggs into bowl and whisk with a fork. Add in the garlic powder, seasoned salt, black pepper and hot sauce.

• Cut about 5 corn tortillas into smaller wedges and place in pot covering bottom. You should have enough tortilla to soak up the cooking oil as they brown.

• While browning tortillas, bring a pan to medium to medium high heat and start to scramble your eggs. While they are still a bit undercooked take off heat.

• After a few minutes the tortillas should just be starting to get crispy. At that point add in the eggs and cover pot for 1 – 2 minutes.

• Add salsa and mix into the eggs and tortillas. Finally, move ingredients into a mound and top with shredded cheese. Cover pot for about 1 – 2 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

• Remove mix into large bowl and add any additional condiments (I like Tabasco Sauce).

I can’t get enough of Gregory Ng’s (the Frozen Food Master) Freezer Burns video podcast.  So when I found myself looking for a snack at 10 o’clock at night, I immediately went for the old standby – pizza rolls.

Greg did a “Fro-Down” of Pizza Rolls vs Bagel Bites back in January and I thought I would bring something new to the table.  Instead of cooking in the microwave or oven, I dropped the tasty morsels into cooking oil.  The results – delicious!

Be sure to check out Freezer Burns at http://freezerburns.com for some great frozen food reviews.