Smithson learned to cook from great grandmother

Angelin Smithson of Bruce learned to cook from her great grandmother of Tennessee, who always prepared meals for the entire family.
Therefore, Angelin is also used to cooking for many, and says she loves to cook for people.
One of her favorite things that her great grandmother made was meatloaf. She has continued the tradition and she makes it a lot. “People love it,” she said.
Biscuits and milk gravy are also a favorite from days with her great grandmother. “I’m not good with dough, but I have managed to make her gravy after several tries,” she said.

She loves home cooked food–good country dinners, she said.
Her family likes the chicken noodle soup. “It has a good flavor,” she said.
The kids, especially daughter Layla, like the Ramen stir fry.
The skillet queso, she calls better than Chili’s, is a favorite of husband, Casey.

Their girls–Layla, 11; Chloe, 4, and Jasey Reigh, 3, always want to help her in the kitchen.
“A lot of my stuff comes from Pinterest,” but added that she usually changes up a recipe.
She likes to try different seasonings and she loves grilling.
She recently decorated cookies with turkeys for her daughter’s K4 class. “I worked for Baskin Robbins and learned to decorate the ice cream cakes,” so that is how her icing projects began.

Growing up, her family always did a Christmas breakfast, a tradition that she continues.
This Christmas she will host the big family dinner.
“I will have to cook a lot,” she said. Her plans are to serve ham, sweet potato casserole, dressing, strawberry pretzel salad, and she might even make the meatloaf, she said.

Meatloaf
2-3 lbs. ground beef
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 bell pepper, finely chopped
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1(14.5 oz. can) tomato sauce
Plain oats
Topping: 1 (14.5 oz. can) tomato sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 dash worcestershire
1 squirt mustard
Preheat oven to 400°. In large mixing bowl, combine beef, onion, bell pepper, eggs, milk, tomato sauce. Once combined, add plain oats and mix until no longer soupy. Once mixture is firm, place in 9×13 oven safe dish. Cover with foil and put in preheated oven. Allow to cook 30 minutes. Remove from oven and drain grease from dish. Re-cover and return to oven and cook additional 30 minutes or until cooked through. While cooking, mix topping sauce ingredients in bowl. Mixture should be sweet to the taste. Once meatloaf is cooked through, remove from oven, drain grease from dish. Cut meatloaf into pieces, pour sauce over pieces and place back in oven uncovered about 10-15 minutes. Remove and enjoy.

Chicken Ramen Stir Fry
Sauce:
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 cup chicken broth
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
3 Tbsp. garlic (freeze dried)
Stir Fry:
2-3 pkgs. Ramen noodles (discard flavor packet)
2 Tbsp. cooking oil (divided)
1 lb. boneless chicken, chopped
8 oz. broccoli florets
In small mixing bowl, whisk together soy sauce and corn starch until there are no lumps. Add chicken broth, brown sugar and garlic. Whisk together. Put Ramen noodles in large bowl. Pour very hot tap water (let hot water run for a minute to get steaming hot.) Set aside to allow noodles to soften. While noodles soak, toss chicken with salt/pepper. Heat wok or non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 Tbsp. oil and then chicken. Saute until chicken is cooked through. Set chicken aside. Return pan to medium-high heat. Add 1 Tbsp. oil and then broccoli. Saute until bright green, then continue cooking until broccoli is tender. Whisk sauce once more and add to pan. Toss to coat broccoli. Continue cooking until sauce thickens. Drain noodles and add to pan. Toss to coat. Add chicken and toss. Remove from heat and serve.

Chicken Noodle Soup
2 Tbsp. olive or vegetable oil
1-2 carrots, peeled and sliced thin
1 cup diced onion
2 Tbsp. garlic (freeze dried)
64 oz. chicken broth, more if desired
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. pepper, or to taste
2 cups shredded chicken (I boil and save broth to add to soup as needed)
3-4 Tbsp. parsley
Salt to taste
In large pot, add oil and heat over medium heat. Add carrots and onion. Saute about 7 minutes or until carrots begin to soften. Add garlic and saute 1-2 minutes more. Add chicken broth, bay leaves, thyme, oregano, pepper, and bring to boil. Allow to boil gently about 5 minutes. Have plenty extra broth available to add if you like it more ‘brothy’, the noodles will absorb broth. Add noodles and cook 10 minutes or until they are cooked through. Add broth as needed. Adjust salt level at the end. Add chicken and parsley. Boil 1-2 minutes to allow chicken to warm. Remove bay leaves and serve.

Skillet Queso
(Better than Chili’s)
16 oz. Velveeta cheese
1 cup milk
2 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper ground
15 oz. can Hormel no-bean chili
4 tsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. lime juice
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
Cut Velveeta into cubes. Combine cheese and all other ingredients in cast iron skillet or medium sauce pan over medium heat. (I use iron skillet.) Stir frequently until cheese is melted.