It’s difficult to live from food you’re getting from the prison system. Theoretically (!) they should provide 2,400-2,700 calories per day, but it doesn’t mean it has to be in a tasty or yummy way. The bread might be moldy, the meals are under- or overcooked, whatever they serve you as an inmate, it doesn’t make a difference as long as it has the calories they have to serve. So the inmates came up with their own recipes and they are quiete tasty, because they are using the things they can get from the commissary store in the most creative way. Here are some of the recipes, if you ever wondered how they do it.
(If you cooked one of the following dishes, please feel free to send us a pic of it, so we can post it here)
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Batman’s chicken Alfredo
Ingredients: 1 pk. chunk chicken (crushed up in bag), 4 chicken soups, 1 pk. cream cheese, 1 pk. dry milk, ½ spoonful onion powder, ½ spoonful garlic powder, dry four-cheese potatoes, for garnish
Directions: In an empty jar, mix dry milk, cream cheese, two packs chicken soup seasoning, garlic powder and onion powder. Add hot water slowly and whip until smooth and creamy. Open the crushed up chunk chicken and add sauce; stir well and heat in hotpot for 15-20 minutes. In two bowls cook two soups in each; then drain water. Pour the chunk chicken mixture over the soups in the two bowls; sprinkle four-cheese potatoes on top like parmesan cheese; add salt and pepper if desired. Enjoy! Makes two servings.
(Credit goes to Brandon Noack – Goodman Unit)
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Chicken cordon bleu
Ingredients: 1 pk. Chunk chicken, 2 pks. SPAM (diced, or substitute summer sausage), 3 pks. Cream cheese, ¼ bottle squeeze cheese
Directions: Mix all ingredients in a cooking bag and cook in a hotpot for 30 minutes, stir, then cook for another 10 minutes. Serve over prepared rice, pasta shells or ramen noodles; or eat by itself with crackers or chips!
(Credit goes to Kenny Purtell – Polunsky Unit)
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Creme of tomato soup
Ingredients: 1 can V8 Juice; 1 pk. cream cheese; 10 snack crackers (crushed); 1 pk. soup seasoning (chicken or vegetable); 1 pk. soup noodles (cooked, optional); Salt and pepper (optional)
Directions: Shake V8 can, open the pull tab and place in hotpot to heat; heat for 15-20 min. While V8 is heating, put all ingredients in a white bowl. Remove V8 with a dry washcloth and pour carefully into bowl; mix. Add water to desired thickness, if needed. Add salt and pepper to taste, if desired.
(Credit goes to N. Gelber – Hobby Unit)
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Dragonfire hot sauce
Ingredients: ½ bottle squeeze cheese, 1 bottle hot sauce, 5 jalpenos (finely diced), 1 pk. Chili soup seasoning, 2 orange sport drink
Directions: Combine all ingredients into squeeze cheese bottle, shake well and enjoy.
(Credit goes to Matthew Curry – Eastham Unit)
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Exotic red rice and fish
Ingredients: 1 bag instant rice, 10 jawbreakers, 1 jalapeno (diced), 2 pks. mackerel fillets, 1 pk. peanuts (crushed), 1 heaping spoonful garlic powder, 1 heaping spoonful onion powder
Directions: Melt jawbreakers in a half-filled insert cup – heat in hotpot until completely melted. Open rice bag, pour jawbreaker juice over top and cook until rice is done. Pour cooked rice in a bowl, add remaining ingredients and stir. Enjoy! Makes one big bowl.
(Credit goes to Lawrence M. Allen – Allred Unit)
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Go broke nachos
lngredients: 2 hot pots, 1 squeeze cheese, 1 tortilla chips, 1 chicken chili, 2 chicken chunks, 2 black beans (sub 1 prepared instant chili beans or refried beans), 1 bottle salsa, 3 pks. ranch dressing
Directions: Preheat cheese in hot pot so it is easily blended into ingredients later. When cheese is ready, mix it and all pouches into two separate cooking bags (such as empty large chip bags). Add ¼ insert cup of hot water to each bag then blend ingredients thoroughly. If mixture is still too thick add hot water in small amounts until satisfied. Close off bags, place in separate hot pots, and heat 1-2 hours. When mixture is hot, carefully remove from heat then knead (push ingredients around inside closed bag) to remix rnixture for easy spreading. Prepare a layer of chips in three white bowls. Pour bean/cheese/meat rnixture evenly over chips. Evenly pour salsa and ranch over chips. Serve hot. Enjoy! Makes three full bowls of nachos.
(Credit goes to Kadaron Sledge – Robertson Unit)
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Healthy Summer Pasta
Ingredients: ½ bag pasta shells, ½ pk. cream cheese, 1 pk. ranch dressing, 1 pk. salmon (or substitute with mackerel fillets, hot tuna), ½ spoonful strawberry preserves, ½ spoonful salt-free seasoning
Directions: Cook pasta in hot water for three minutes; drain and rinse with cold water. Pour pasta in a white bowl, sprinkle in no-salt seasoning. In a separate bowl mix in salmon, cream cheese, strawberry preserves and ranch dressing. Mix well, then toss in with pasta shells. Enjoy with a cold sugar-free tea!
(Credit goes to Lily Archuleta – Murray Unit)
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Kash’s sweet heat honey mustard
Ingredients: 4 sweeteners, ½ bottle mustard, ½ bottle barbecue sauce, 4 green spoonsful onion powder, 4 green spoonsful garlic powder, 4 green spoonsful salt-free seasoning, 1 bottle hot sauce, 1 empty ketchup bottle
Directions: Combine first six ingredients (all but hot sauce) in an empty ketchup bottle end shake well. Add hot sauce to fill ketchup bottle to the top and shake well again. Enjoy!
(Credit goes to Jonathan Kash Wimberly – Holliday Unit)
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Monkey’s chicken enchilada casserole
Ingredients: 1 pk. chunk chicken, 1 pk. chicken chili, 1 pk. chili soup seasoning, ½ bottle salsa, Salt and Pepper (to taste), 1 jalapeno (diced), 2 pks. cream cheese, ½ cup jalapeno cheese, 2½ cups tortilla chips (cruahed), 1 can V-8, 2 large spread bowls, 2 pks. ranch dressing
Directions: Mix chicken chunks, chili, chili seasoning, salsa, jalapeno pepper, salt, pepper; cream cheese and jalapeno cheese. Stir well. Add crushed tortilla chips into mixture. Pour ¾ can of V-8 into mixture and mix until it is slightly soupy but not runny. Divide into two cooking bags, double bagging if necessary. Cook for 4 to 5 hours, so flavors can meld together. Pour into bowls, top with ranch dressing, and eat your heart out. Makes two servings. Also works well with beef or pork. For added deliciousness, spread chili over top with extra cheese.
(Credit goes to Monica Wilson – Crain Unit)
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Rhino hot sauce
Ingredients: 1 pickle (diced, juice reserved), 15 jalapenos (diced), 1 bottle picante sauce, 1 bottle ketchup, 5 bottles habanero hot sauce, 1 lemon/lime sports drink
Directions: Place diced pickle and peppers in an empty pickle bag, cook in hot pot for two hours. Pour pickle juice and picante sauce in an empty chip bag and cook 20 minutes. Place cooked pickle/pepper mix in an empty white bowl and crush well with the bottom of a hot pot insert or cup. In a separate empty white bowl, pour ketchup ahd two habanero hot sauces and stir. Place remaining three bottles of habanero hot sauce in the empty ketchup bottie and shake to mix with any residual ketchup and pour on top of crushed pickle/pepper mix. Add sports drink to both bowls and mix all ingredients back and forth between both bowis. Enjoy! Goes well with a big holiday spread or can be rebottled. Sauce keeps well.
(Credit goes to Sigfriedo Garcia – Allred Unit)
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Seven-layer hot shot
Ingredients: 2 chili soups (crushed fine), 2 chili soup seasoning packets, 2 pks. cream cheese, ½ cup refried beans (or substitute with instant chili beans), 1 summer sausage (diced fine), ½ bottle squeeze cheese, 2 Jalapenos (diced fine), 1 ranch dressing (optional)
Directions: ln a white bowl place beans, sprinkle with chili soup seasoning; layer cream cheese, summer sausage and chili soup noodles. Slowly add hot water until barely covered; cover and let stand for 10 minutes. Top with jalapenos and squeeze cheese; drizzle ranch dressing on top if desired. Enjoy! Makes one or two servings.
(Credit goes to Jeffrey P. Halstead – Lychner State Jail)
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Strawberry crisp in a cup
Ingredients: 1 strawberry jelly, 2 strawberry oatmeal, 1 pk. cinnamon granola, 1 pk. Cream cheese pound cake, 1 pk. dry milk, 3 sweeteners, 1 lime sports drink
Directions: For the cream mixture: take the dry milk, 3 sweeteners, 1 lime sports drink and ¼ insert cupful of water and mix in a white bowl. This should have a consistency of pancake batter – add a little more water if needed. For the assembly: In two empty insert cups place a cream cheese pound cake in each and smoosh down to fill the bottom; add a 1 inch layer of strawberry jelly; add a 3 inch layer of cream mixture, add a packet of strawberry oatmeal to each insert; add another 1 inch layer of strawberry jelly; top with cinnamon granola. Let sit or heat in hot pot for 20-30 minutes and enjoy!
(Credit goes to Sha’ri Eggum – Crain/Sycamore Unit)
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Sunshine citrus tea
Ingredients: 6 tea bags, 1 lime sports drink, 1 orange sports drink, 16 sweeteners
Directions: Fill a hot pot ⅔ full with water, add tea bags and cook for 20-30 minutes. Squeeze out and remove tea bags, then add sports drinks end sweeteners. Add cold water until hot pot is full; stir well. Pour some of the tea into an empty hot pot insert until it ’s ⅓ full, then pour the rest of the tea into two empty water or green tea bottles, Add cold water to the bottles until they’re full, and to the hot pot insert of tea until it is ½ full. Add ice, if available, end enjoy!
(Credit goes to Todd R. Carman – ECHO Staff)