Dana Hamilton

Dana Hamilton of Bruce “adds Rotel to everything!” She adds it to tater tot casserole, sometimes meatloaf, uses it in a dish with noodles, cheese and chicken, and recently to taco chili she made for Super Bowl. A crockpot dish, the ingredients for the chili are ground beef, taco seasoning, can of whole kernel corn drained, pinto beans, hot chili beans with sauce and Rotel. She serves it with tortilla or corn chips, or crackers.

Another thing she made for Super Bowl was Stacy Hubbard McCormick’s buffalo wings dip.
Dana says she and husband, Brett, lived off of Hamburger Helper when they first married because that’s all she could cook. Baked potato casserole and tater tot casserole are now two of the main dishes she makes.
A no carb soup she makes includes boiled chicken, cut onion, two cans of hot Rotel, chicken broth, Italian dressing, mushrooms and peppers, and if desired, topped with Mexican cheese. A couple of other low carb sides she enjoys are a saute of squash, zucchini, onions, mushrooms and Italian dressing in olive oil, making it as crispy as you’d like, and the other is a mixture of cucumbers, tomatoes, onion, cubed cheese and Italian dressing in olive oil.

She makes candy like oreo balls and strawberry cake balls, but says she’s more of a baker. She says she’s usually the dessert maker for any gathering they might have or attend, saying she’s not afraid to try making a new dessert. Lemon crunch was also on her Super Bowl menu.

A chocolate chess pie is one of her favorites, “I will eat the whole pie!” The pineapple cake is a favorite of Brett’s, and the chicken and rice is an original recipe of his, who’s also the griller of the family. She got the baked potato casserole recipe from Barbara Swanson, and the meatloaf recipe from her mother, Gloria Howell.

Baked Potato Casserole
5-6 potatoes
Green onions
Bacon bits
Shredded cheese
Ranch dressing
Cut potatoes into cubes and boil until just starting to soften (don’t get too soft.) Drain potatoes. In casserole dish, put layer of potatoes on bottom, then sprinkle cheese, bacon bits, and green onions. Drizzle Ranch dressing on top. Then put the rest of the potatoes on top of that and sprinkle cheese, bacon bits, green onions and ranch dressing. Bake in oven at 350° until cheese is melted.

Brett Leigh’s Dirty Chicken & Rice
1 bottle Kraft Zesty Italian dressing
4-5 large chicken breasts (cut up or whole)
1-8 oz. Swanson’s chicken broth
1-8 oz. box Zatarain’s New Orleans Style Dirty Rice with cheese
1-8 oz. Tony Chachere’s Creole Dirty Rice Dinner mix
Salt and pepper
Two Brothers seasoning
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of celery soup
Season chicken with salt and pepper and Two Brothers, then cover chicken in Italian dressing for 45 minutes to one hour. Mix soups with three cans of chicken broth in large casserole or cake pan. Mix in rice. Drain Italian dressing from chicken. You can cut chicken into large bite size pieces or leave it whole. Put chicken in casserole dish. Make sure all rice is submerged as well as chicken in the broth. Cover with foil and bake at 388° for one hour and 10 minutes.

Meatloaf
1-1 1/2 lbs. hamburger meat
2 eggs with a splash of milk (whisk in bowl)
Salt and pepper
1 Tbsp. Dale’s seasoning
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire
In bowl, mix one cup salsa and 3/4-1 cup BBQ sauce with onion bits. Put half of this mixture in with meat. Put on 3-4 shakes of hot sauce, and two handfuls of Italian style bread crumbs. Put in pan and put the rest of salsa and BBQ mixture on top. Bake at 450° for 10-14 minutes.

Aunt Barbara’s Pineapple Cake
1 yellow cake mix
1 big can crushed pineapple
1 cup sugar
8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
1 box powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Bake cake as directed on box. Combine pineapple and sugar, and cook until sugar dissolves. Pour over cake as soon as it is done. Mix cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar and vanilla until creamy. Pour over cool cake.

Cheesy Enchilada Soup
1 1/2 lbs. ground chuck or Rotisserie chicken
1 onion, chopped
2-15 oz. cans tomato sauce
2-10 oz. cans enchilada sauce
1-16 oz. can chili beans, drained
1-15.5 oz. cans great Northern beans, drained
1-15.25 oz. can corn, drained
1-14.5 oz. can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese with peppers
In large Dutch oven, cook ground chuck and onion over medium high heat until beef is browned and crumbly. Drain well. Add tomato sauce, enchilada sauce, beans, corn, tomatoes, cumin and salt. Bring to boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer 25 minutes. Add cheese, stir until melted.