Homemade Hamburger Helper

There are a million recipes for this sort of dish. I really like mine, though. =]

Ingredients:
2 pounds ground beef
1 onion, diced
1 can diced, fire roasted, garlic tomatoes
16 oz elbow noodles, uncooked
2 Tbs smoked paprika
1 Tbs garlic powder
1 Tbs onion powder
Salt and pepper
8 oz block of cheddar, shredded
1 c. hot water
2 c. milk

For the roux:
1/4 c butter
2 heaping spoons of flour
cold milk

Directions:
Add a bit of olive oil to a very large hot skillet (or a large dutch oven) and toss in your onion. Saute onion until it begins to soften, add the ground beef and season with salt and pepper. Continue cooking until the meat is fully browned. Drain.

Turn the heat on the burner to high. Return the ground beef to the skillet, add the noodles, tomatoes, seasonings (with additional salt and pepper), water, and milk. Combine and bring to a boil. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes. You may need to add a bit more water. That's okay. Add it! =]

In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Once melted, whisk in the flour. Slowly add milk until you have a nice sauce. You don't want it too thick, but you want it thicker than milk! Add salt and pepper to the roux.

Add the roux to the beef and noodles, add the cheddar, combine. Taste. Make sure your seasonings are to your liking!

You guys know I don't measure, but I'm trying - so these are approximates... I'll get better one day. Maybe. =]

French bread pizza - sorta

I'm always looking for new ways to do old things. I mean, the same old foods can just get boring. Other than a few exceptions, I am almost always making something *new*.

I saw this recipe on PineTarPress and thought it was so clever, easy, and a new twist.

You will need:
8 hoagie rolls or small french rolls, unsplit
Pizza sauce
Pepperoni
Onion, diced
Garlic, minced - about 2 cloves
2# ground beef
2 cups (or so) of shredded mozzarella cheese

Heat oven to 375.




Heat a large skillet on the stove. Add the ground beef, onion, and garlic. Cook until the burger is no longer pink.While the ground beef is cooking, use a serrated knife to take off only the very top of the rolls. Once all the tops are off, dig out the insides of the bread, but be sure to leave a good bit along the bottom and around the edges. We don't want all the goodies to fall out or soak through.

Once your meat is cooked, drain and put it back in skillet. Add the pizza sauce to the bread "bowls" along the bottom and sides. Add a good bit of meat into each chunk of bread. As you see from the photo on the left, mine were pretty full. After the meat, add about 5 pepperoni to each pizza. Cover with cheese and bake for about 20 minutes.





This photo below was made for a "lite cheese" request, so you can see how full these are a little better.

                       






Depending on how done you want them, you may remove them after the 20 minutes, like these ones shown below.

If you want them a little more done, turn the oven to broil, prop the door open a bit, and let it brown to your personal preference.

The day I made this easy dinner, I was literally running out the door with one, in a paper towel, to eat on my way to church. I ate it, successfully, while driving, without making too much of a mess. Other than the bread crust crumbs, everything else stayed right in the bread. It was perfect!

I hope you enjoy it! =]

Tater Tot Nachos!

We are always looking for quick, easy meals that taste good, right? And ones that are familiar, but just a little bit different from the "same old, same old" combinations that we eat week after week.

I found a great balance of both those qualities! I really enjoy nachos, taco, burritos, pretty much anything that comes from the Latin culture finds happiness in my belly. Because of that, I literally could make Mexican or Latin inspired food every night of the week. Not everyone in my house would be okay with that... lol.

In an effort to mix things I love with a more American cuisine, I stumbled upon a recipe for Tater Tot Nachos on Half Hour Meals website. As with most dishes, the ability to be flexible and change it to suit your family is always a good option to have. Some dishes lend well to that, while others do not. This one is super flexible!

Tater Tot Nachos (adapted from Half Hour Meals)
Ingredients:

32 oz (or more) bag of frozen tater tots
2 lbs. ground beef
Taco seasoning
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 (or so) black beans (if you're using dried beans, be sure they are cooked first - perfect for leftovers. Or use 1 can, drained)
fresh shredded cheese
chopped tomatoes
lettuce
salsa
sour cream

Cook:
Prepare the tots according to the package directions, though I did cook mine for a bit longer because I wanted them to be nice and crunchy and not soggy under all the toppings. While those are cooking, toss your ground beef and onion into a hot skillet and brown. Of course, add some salt and pepper. Once that's all browned up, drain it. Good job! Almost done. Isn't this easy?! Add the black beans. I would've added some corn too. There are non-corn lovers at my house. Can you believe it?! Now add some taco seasoning - I use about two palmfuls and then I add in some water and mix it all in really good. Return to high heat and let it come to a boil for about 3 minutes, then turn it down to simmer for about 5 or 6 minutes. All done!

By now, the tots should be done. To serve, put the tots on the bottom and take it from there. Just lay out all the ingredients and toppings and everyone can make them however they want to eat them. It really was a simple, enjoyable meal.

Nothing glamorous. Just easy, quick, and good. Enjoy!

BBQ Smoked Sausage, green beans, and gnocchi!

Looks good, right?

This dish was so easy to prepare and I had to share it. The potato gnocchi was frozen, not fresh. It's okay... I haven't tried to make fresh gnocchi yet. It is on my to-do list, though!

When preparing the gnocchi, just follow the instructions on the bag. Once they were done, I added butter, salt, and pepper. That was it. Such an easy side dish.

For the green beans, I used frozen since we've run out of canned beans from last year and the fresh ones at the store in the cold months are just gross looking. I can't wait for green bean season. I really can't. To prepare those, I just steamed them for a few minutes until they were no longer frozen, and then drained them. In a skillet, I added some butter, thinly sliced onion, and the green beans. I cooked them for about 15 minutes. Of course, I seasoned them with salt and pepper.

The sausage was so easy! I'm partial to 100% beef smoked sausage. I know it's a processed food and I tend to stay away from those, but I just have a thing for sausage... and bacon... It's terrible, but worth it. =]~

I got this recipe from Taste of Home.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

As you see from the photo, I cut the sausages into about 2 inch pieces. In a separate bowl, I added a whole bottle (40 oz., I think) of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce and about 1/4 - 1/2 c brown sugar. Whisk it all together and pour it over your sausages.

The only modification I made from the original recipe was to lessen the sugar. The original called for two cups of sugar. YIKES! I couldn't do it! LOL! Once you have all the sausages covered in the sauce, put it in the oven, uncovered, for about 35 minutes. So easy. So good. 

Roasted vegetables and Italian sausage

I love anything roasted. Don't you? I mean, it's just so good!

Last night I made a simple roasted veggie and sausage dish. It was so hard to wait for it. I mean, smelling veggies roasting, with garlic and oil, oh mercy.

The inspiration for this dinner came from KayoticKitchen. I think I liked it because of her name for the recipe - Lazy Sunday Casserole. It sounded perfect to me! =]~

I only changed a few things, and of course, I didn't measure a thing. Hate me.

Ingredients:
5 russet potatoes, washed, unpeeled, and cut into chunks
5 carrots, washed, unpeeled, and cut into 1 - 1 1/2 inch sized pieces
1 red pepper, washed and cut into strips
2 onions, cut into wedges
Minced garlic
About 2 pounds Italian sausage
Kosher salt
Fresh ground, black pepper
Balsamic vinegar

Process:
Heat oven to 450 degrees. Throw all the veggies in a deep roasting tray. We have a pretty deep cookie sheet, and that's what I used. It gave all the veggies plenty of room to spread out. Once you lay the veggies out, drizzle a good bit of olive oil over the veggies, add the salt and pepper. Now toss with a set of tongs. I did add a bit of chicken broth into the pan, just so they would have some moisture while they were roasting. You might wanna do that, too! =]

Cover with foil and put the pan in the oven for about 45 minutes.

While that's cooking, heat a large skillet on the stove and sear all sides of the Italian sausage. Remove from heat and cut into 1 inch pieces. They won't be cooked all the way, don't worry! They'll finish off in the oven.

When the timer ends for the veggies, uncover and toss the veggies with a set of tongs. Add the sausage in strategic places all around the pan. Place the pan, uncovered, back in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, turn over the sausage pieces, drizzle the vinegar, and place back in the oven for about 15 minutes or until the sausage is done.

There ya have it!

The Real Campbell's Tomato Soup...

... and grilled cheese!

Today I wanted some good, old comfort. There's almost nothing that can say that to me more than a creamy tomato soup and grilled cheese.

To make the soup:

In a large pot over medium heat, add a couple tablespoons of olive oil and a couple tablespoons of butter. While those are melting down and together, chop one onion. It doesn't have to be diced too small, just a coarse chop. Once the butter and oil are melted, add the onion and continue to cook it over medium heat until the onion gets nice and soft. Don't forget to add a little salt and pepper - you know how I feel! =]~

While that's cooking, take about 60 ounces of whole tomatoes (if you can your own, you'd use about a quart), add it to a blender and pulse it a few times to break the tomatoes down. You will likely have to do this in two batches. Check your onions! Keep stirring them as we don't want them to brown or char, we just want them soft.

Once the onions are done, add in the tomatoes and about 4 cups of chicken stock. Add kosher salt and fresh black pepper and 2 bay leaves. Let all that come together, on low heat, for about 20 minutes.

Slowly add heavy cream to the soup until you've added about 1 1/2 - 2 cups. It's really a preference thing. I like my soup nice and creamy. Now, in our house, we sometimes need to make things stretch - feed the masses, yanno what I mean? So, to do that, I used a separate pot, boiled some elbow noodles and tossed them in the soup. It made the soup a little more substantial and even the pickier eaters enjoyed it because it had a little fun in it!

Then, for the sammiches... I used ciabatta bread that was fresh at the deli counter and American cheese and cheddar cheese sliced fresh from the deli counter. These are two important things. Too often we get caught in simple, old school grilled cheese. It's really easy to give it a fresh taste!

So, I cut the tops off the bread rolls like this...

In a small bowl, I added about 1/4 cup of mayo - not miracle whip - and some garlic powder, to taste. On one piece of the bread, I smeared a good bit of the garlic mayo. Then I added one slice of American and one slice of cheddar. Don't over cheese a grilled cheese. It's about using good, quality cheese and just enough to make it yummy. Close the sandwich up. I made 10 sandwiches, but had to go back and make some more mayo along the way. I buttered one side of all the sandwiches while they were sitting on the counter and the pan was heating up. You want to make grilled cheese over medium heat. This will give the cheese time to melt without burning the outside. Whatever you do... butter the bread and not the pan! As I got ready to add them to the pan, I held it carefully and buttered the other side.

Yes, this was a child's bowl. At least I grabbed a photo, right?

Cook until the cheese is melted and the bread is golden.

Now go eat! =]

Pizza Night!

I'm not a huge pizza fan, but there are times I just want pizza. Yanno? The other night was one of those times. I made three pizzas, all different.

Everyone has a dough preference. I typically buy dough balls and use them as my dough. As much as I'd like to make my own all the time, a weeknight meal, when I've been gone to work all day, isn't usually the best time to jump on the dough wagon. We gotta do what we gotta do...

Here is how I make my sauce. Take a 6 oz can of tomato paste, dump it in a bowl. Add salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder. Stir. Add some water. Stir. Taste. Adjust seasonings as needed. Add water if it's too thick. Stir. Taste. Stir. Add. Taste. Done! =]~ Really, this is how I do sauce every time.

The other night, I laid out all three crusts onto cookie sheets, one a little larger so the crust was thinner. And prebaked them at 400 for about 5 or 6 minutes. Once I pulled them out, this is how I topped them.

One had the tomato based sauce, pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, and diced ham. This was my thin crusted one.

Before

After

The second one I topped with a thin layer of apricot preserves, mozzarella cheese, diced ham, and crushed pineapple.









The third one was my favorite.

Before

I cooked some bacon, about 10 slices, then removed it to a plate. Chop when cooled. Then, drain a good bit, almost all of the grease from the pan.

After

I sliced an onion really thin and added it into the pan I used to cook the bacon. I wanted the onion to really be good and caramelized. It took about 6 or 7 minutes on medium heat. Add about 1 clove of minced garlic for the last minute or so. Remove the onions with a slotted spoon to a plate.

I took about 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes and halved them. And shredded about 8 oz smoked gouda cheese.

On the crust I drizzled olive oil, sprinkled some dried basil, then cheese, then the chopped bacon, onions, and tomatoes. Then I topped it with some kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper. Once it was done, I added from fresh chopped basil. Yum!

All the pizzas should be cooked at 400 until the crust is browned and the cheese is melted. About 12 minutes. Of course, if it's not ready just keep it in there and check it every couple minutes until it's done just the way you like it. Enjoy!

Swedish Meatballs!

Have you ever wondered what makes Swedish Meatballs Swedish? I mean, is there something to it that only Swedish people do? So, since I’m curious minded, I had to find out. It really is a traditional dish served in Sweden. I read about it here. The recipe I’m posting isn’t quite as authentic, but it’s still really good!

Since I’d never made them before, at least not that I remember, I had to find a base recipe. I did made a few changes, not because I thought the original is bad, it’s because I had to use what we had and adjust to our own tastes.

Swedish Meatballs

Ingredients:

Meatballs:

3 slices whole wheat bread

1/2 cup milk

1 small purple onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

4 tablespoons salted butter, divided

1 pound ground pork

2 pounds ground beef

2 large eggs

About 1 Tbs. dried parsley*

Pepper

Kosher salt

Gravy:

2 tablespoons salted butter

Few Tbs. flour

Kosher salt

5 cups chicken broth

1 cup half and half cream (or ½ heavy cream and ½ milk – which is what I did because I had no half and half)

*Did you know that when you use dried herbs, you should mash them in the palm of your hand before adding them to the dish? It releases oils and other yumminess trapped inside! =]

Directions:

Cut the bread into small pieces. Put them into a large bowl and pour the milk over the bread – leave it sit for a while. Meanwhile, add some butter into a large skillet, once it melts, add your onions with a bit of salt. 

After the onions have softened and have some nice color, add the minced garlic and cook for another minute or so. Remember, garlic will burn very easy, so you want to keep stirring it and only cook it barely.

In the large bowl, with the bread, add onion and garlic, pork, eggs, parsley, salt, and pepper. Get your hands in there and mix it really good. I know – it’s kinda gross, but it’s kinda great, too – admit it! Finally add the ground beef by breaking it into small pieces and mixing after every addition. It should take you about 3-4 turns with adding beef and mixing.

Once the mixture is all good and mixed together, use a large cookie scoop (about a 3-4 Tbs. one) and scoop out the meat, roll it in your hands to form the meatball. I did this in batches so while some were cooking, some were being rolled.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in the large skillet used earlier – about medium-medium high heat. Let the pan get nice and toasty, you want a good sear.  Add a batch of meatballs to pan and cook, turning frequently with tongs, until browned on all sides, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the first batch to a large stock pot and move on to the next batch. I think I did about 4 batches, with 14 or so meatballs per batch. I use a really big skillet. You shouldn’t have to add any more butter, but keep an eye on it because it might need a tad more.

To the pans drippings, add 2 tablespoons of butter and let melt. Add flour and salt and whisk; you’re making a roux so you want it to thicken up. Add broth a little at a time, whisking constantly until smooth. Continue until all broth is added. You may find you need a little less. I made this last weekend, I don’t remember exactly how much I used. Add half and half at end and stir well. It should have a nice gravy consistency.

Pour the gravy over the meatballs waiting in the lonely stockpot and cook for another 5-10 minutes over medium-low heat. You’ll need to stir it so all the meatballs get a good gravy drench! =]

Serve with egg noodle. And peas. Cuz I like peas. Then invite me over for dinner. Thanks! 

Oh, and I didn't take a picture. How am I supposed to call myself a successful blogger if I never remember to take pictures of things? Bah! One day! 

Black beans and Sausage with rice!

I love Basmati Rice. Whew... there. I got that outta the way. I mean, really, you have no idea of the depth of my love for it! haha. It is my go-to rice for everything. On New Years Day, I made a pretty yummie, last minute dish and I wanted to share it. It was fairly simple, but also quite delicious!

I was cooking for 6 adults and 1 child and we only had a few leftovers for lunch the next day.

Ingredients:
12 Italian sausage links
1 onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
About 3 cups black beans (you can use 3 cans or a whole bag of dried beans that have been soaked and cooked)(If you use cans, don't rinse the beans, just lightly drain - you want some of the juice)
1 pint or can of diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cloves minced garlic
salt and pepper
Cooked rice (see note at bottom)

In a large skillet, add the whole sausage links and cook until every side has a nice sear. They don't have to be cooked through at this point, we just want a nice crust on the outside. Once that's done remove them to a plate or cutting board. Add the onions and peppers to the skillet, season, and saute until tender. Meanwhile, slice (on a diagonal) the sausage links into 1-2 inch pieces and add them back into the pan with the peppers and onions. Add garlic. Let them mix together for a couple of minutes, then add the beans and tomatoes and season again with a bit more salt and pepper. Finish cooking until the sausage is done in the middle and the beans are heated through, about 20 minutes.

Note about the rice: SEASON YOUR RICE. Yep, I said it. One thing that makes me crazy is food that isn't ready to eat when it gets on my plate. I don't wanna add salt, pepper, butter, etc... I want it all done and ready to go in my tummy! When you have nice flavorful food like the beans and sausage dish, but then add it on top of a rice that's bland, you end up with a bland dish.

Flavor + bland = bland
Flavor + flavor = flavor

Simple equation! =]

Also, you'll notice that I season at most every step. Even if it's just simple salt and pepper... every level of your dish should have attention. It shouldn't be ignored just because it's "only peppers and onions" - NO. Give it some love, man! I'm not saying you have to add a lot, but it does deserve some attention. =]

Ham and beans!

There are very dishes that welcome me into the fall season more than ham and beans with cornbread. First, it's SO comforting, isn't it? Second, it's just warm all the way through. Third, it's just good, dang'd it! =]

It's so easy to make, I promise.

Get out your crockpot (a sure sign that the weather has cooled down). And grab these couple things:

2 ham hocks
1# dry northern beans
Onion powder
Salt and pepper
6 c. water

Add everything into the crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours. Take out the ham hocks and pull the meat off, reserve bones and fat for dogs. =]

Put the meat back in and mix it all back up. That's it!

I always serve mine with cornbread - not the sweet Jiffy stuff, but real, honest to goodness cornbread.

Happy eating! =]

Beef and noodles

I have NO clue where this recipe fits into my childhood, but I remember eating it. Someone made it and I loved it. I don't know who or when... but I do remember the food.

Beef-n-noodles. Simple food. I had to figure it out.

This was my very first try and there are a few things I will do differently next time, but it was enough of the same that I knew I was on the right track!

Ingredients:
3# (or more) chuck roast
water, lots of it!
2 envelopes beefy onion soup mix

For the noodles:
2 c. flour (plus more for, well, you'll see why!)
2 eggs
pinch of salt
tad of melted butter (yes, tad is a measurement in my world - get over it! =] )

Place the roast in a crockpot on low. Add both envelopes soup mix and cover with water. Walk away. =]

After about 4 hours, you can begin your noodles. Just throw all the ingredients in a big bowl and mix it together - if it seems too thick, add just a bit of water. Once it's well mixed, flour a huge surface and begin to roll out your dough. You want it really, really flat. Continue to add flour to your rolling pin and the surface as needed.

I tried to cut mine two different ways, but I'm still not sure which way I prefer. I suppose, once I do it more, I'll have a preference.

One way was to use a super sharp knife and just cut thin strips while it's laid out on the surface. However, you don't want them that long, so you have to cut long ways and then cut the strips into smaller pieces.

Another way is to take your rolled out dough and roll it into a log, cut all the way down the length so you have two long pieces, and then cut into smaller pieces. 

Once your dough is all cut, add more flour to keep them separated. You can see that mine is all jumbled together, I wouldn't do that next time. I would be sure to have enough space to lay them out in individual pieces. Like I said, you will need a lot of room! Now just let them hang out for a little while. They need to rest.


When the meat is done, about 6 hours, remove it from the crock pot and shred. Now, this is where I ran into some problems, but I will conquer this! I, originally, put the shredded meat back into the crockpot and then threw in two full batches of noodles. I think it was way too much for the space and the noodles ended up clumping together and turned into more of a dumpling instead of individual noodles. Next time, I will put all the broth, along with some added water, salt and pepper, into a larger dutch oven on the stove and cook the noodles that way. Then add the meat back in for the little bit to heat it back up. When you add the noodles, you want a good bit of flour on them still because you actually want them to soak up most of the broth. This dish isn't meant to be soup, but it is meant to be beef with noodles and some gravy! When added to the crockpot, the noodles had to cook for about an hour. I'm not sure what the time frame will be when I try it on the stove.

I look forward to trying this again to see if I can master this simple, comfort dish that is so fondly burned into my memory.

Breakfast pizza for dinner!

Breakfast Tortilla Pizza

Want to know how to make two 6 year old girls very happy? Good! I like to know these things too! =]

Enter flour tortillas. They are so dang versatile, aren’t they?!

I wanted to make individual flat bread pizzas tonight for dinner. However, I didn’t feel great and didn’t stop at the store for the needed flat bread. I had enough for the big people in the house, but not for the little people. Time to make a crunch last minute decision!

Ingredients:

2 flour tortillas

Ground sausage

2 eggs

Shredded cheese, whatever kind you like

Cherry tomatoes, halved

Salt

Now let me say this… and it's really important - cuz I gots important things to say! =] If I were making this for grown folks, the ingredient list would be much larger. Also, if I had a more stocked fridge, it would be much larger. I had to work with what I had on hand to please the little mouths.

Brown the sausage in a skillet on the stove. Drain. Wipe *most* of the grease out, but leave a bit for frying the eggs. Add your eggs to the skillet and cook until almost done. Put your broiler on high. Lay the tortillas on a cookie sheet, top with the sausage, cheese, and add the egg in the center. Place the halved tomatoes strategically about and place in the oven. Don’t close the door all the way or they’ll get too done and that’s never good. After a couple minutes of constantly watching and the cheese is melty and the egg is done, pull them out. Sprinkle freshly ground salt over them and voila!