Walking Taco Casserole!

If you are not familiar with the 'Walking Taco" concept,  it's an ingenious idea of taking a small bag of corn chips or Doritos and opening it up and putting seasoned taco meat over the chips along with your favorite taco topping...lettuce, taco sauce, tomatoes, onions, cheese on top.  You can then walk around eating this right out of the bag with a fork!  

This skips the whole eating out of the bag idea and turns the same thing into a casserole.   I actually prefer the casserole myself if you are serving this at home.   The true "Walking Taco" in the bag is great for selling at concession stands at ballgames and things like that. 

This casserole is a great idea for teen or preteen gatherings!  It will disappear fast! 

Here is what you will need:

1  1/2 lbs.- 2 lbs. ground beef

1  (1 oz.) pkg taco seasoning

3/4 cup water

1 (15.5) oz. pkg Fritos

3 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese

taco toppings of your choice...taco sauce, diced onions, olives, diced tomatoes, sour cream, guacamole

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9"x13" baking dish with nonstick spray.  Spread half of the Fritos in the bottom of the dish.

In a skillet brown the ground beef, add the taco seasoning and water and mix until blended.  Place 1/2 of the seasoned ground beef over the corn chips and top with half of the shredded cheese.

Repeat the layers, Fritos, taco meat and ending with the rest of the cheese.  Place in a 350 degree oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted.  To serve set out taco toppings of your choice and let everyone garnish their own serving! 

 

It's delicious!

 

Cheesy Skillet Pizza Casserole!

 

This "Cheesy Skillet Pizza Casserole" is one of those one skillet meals that I just love, because they are so easy and cleanup is a breeze.  Sometimes, we just need something easy we can do in a short time and not mess up the whole kitchen doing it!   This one doesn't even require a separate pan for the pasta and the results are so good!  

 Here is what you will need:

 

1 lb. ground chuck or beef

1 medium sweet onion, diced

1/2 green or red bell pepper, diced

1 (32 oz.) jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp. Greek seasoning (optional)

1 tsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1 Tbs. sugar

2 cups (around 8 oz.) dried rotini or penne pasta (not cooked)

2 cups water

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese

1 cup pepperoni slices

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

 

Brown the ground chuck or ground beef, you all know I only use ground chuck, in a large, oven proof skillet that has a lid.  Add the onion and green pepper and saute until they are soft.   Drain any excess grease.

 

Add the spaghetti sauce, seasonings and sugar.  I like the flavor of the Greek seasoning in this, but if you don't have it, it can be left out.  You might add a pinch more garlic powder and salt.   I always add sugar to any tomato based sauce, it just cuts the acid some. 

 

Add the pasta, uncooked and the water.   Stir well and bring to a boil.  Turn the heat down low and cover.   Simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes until the pasta is just tender.  If it seems too thick add just a bit more water.  This depends on the pasta you use to some degree.

 

Sprinkle the top with the Parmesan cheese and then the Mozarella cheese.  Evenly lay the pepperoni slices over the cheese.  Sprinkle the top with the cheddar cheese.  

 

 Place in a 350 degree oven, uncovered for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the cheese is just starting to brown.

 

Serve with salad and maybe some garlic bread and dinner is served!  Wasn't that easy?

 

 

 





Bacon Cheeseburger Soup!

 

 

 This is "Bacon Cheeseburger Soup" and it is as delicious as the name indicates it might be!  If you have a family that is hard to fill up with just soup alone, this one might be the answer. 

It's hardy and with some good bread and maybe a salad or fruit, it's a meal!  This really stretches a pound of ground beef also.   I like it because you can have it on the table in less than an hour and if you are lucky enough to have leftovers, it is just as good the next day!    

 Here is what you will need to make this soup:

 

 

12 slices bacon cut in 1" pieces

1 lb. ground chuck  (can use ground beef)

1 medium sweet onion diced

1/2 cup carrots, diced or cut in matchsticks

1/2 cup celery, sliced thin

2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. spicy brown or Dijon mustard

4 Tbs. butter

1/4 cup flour

4 cups chicken broth (can use 4 cups water with 2 Knorr chicken bullion cubes)

4 cups potatoes, peeled and diced

1/2  tsp. seasoned salt

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 lb. Velveeta cheese, cubed (can use cheddar cheese)

3 cups half and half cream

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese for garnish

1 cup sliced green onions for garnish

 

 

Fry the bacon in a skillet until crisp.  Remove to a plate.  The bacon will be used to sprinkle on each serving before serving. 

 

Drain all of the bacon drippings except about 1 Tbs.  Saute the ground chuck, carrots, celery, an onion until the beef is browned and cooked through and the vegetables are tender.   If there is a  lot of excess grease, drain.    Add the Worcestershire sauce and mustard to the beef mixture. 

 

In a large soup pot or Dutch oven,  melt the butter.  Whisk in the flour and cook for a minute or two.  It will form a paste or light roux.  

Whisk in the chicken broth and bring the mixture to a boil whisking to make sure it's smooth and no lumps form.  Add the potatoes and all of the seasonings.   Cover and cook on low until the potatoes are fork tender.  This take about 15 - 20 minutes.  Stir halfway through to be sure they aren't sticking.   When the potatoes are tender, add the Velveeta and the ground beef mixture and stir.  Cover and leave on low heat for about 10 minutes or just until the cheese has melted.  Stir in the half and half cream, cover and heat through for about 5 or 10 more minutes.   Give it one last stir and it's ready to serve!

Garnish each serving with bacon, shredded cheddar cheese and green onions!  

 

 

Country Beef Stew!

There is nothing any more comforting and wonderful tasting as a big pot of beef stew on a chilly day!  We just love it!  I just use the basics in my beef stew, stew meat, carrots, onion, potatoes and celery.  You can add green peas or corn if you like though.  This is one you need a good two hours to cook low and slow, but the results are well worth it.

So here is what you are going to need for the beef stew.  Some recipes I see called beef stew have all kinds of mixed vegetables and tomatoes or tomato sauce in them.  That is not beef stew, that is vegetable beef soup where I come from.  This is beef stew:

2lbs beef stew meat or round steak cut into cubes, onion, 4 stalks of celery, a bag of tiny baby carrots, potatoes, beef stew mix, seasoned salt, Nature's Seasoning, and pepper.

Place 2 cups flour in a shallow dish or pie plate.  Sprinkle with  1 tsp of seasoned salt, 1 tsp. Nature's Seasoning, and 1/2 tsp black pepper.

Mix thoroughly with a fork.

Heat 1/2 cup vegetable oil in a dutch oven.

Toss the beef stew meat in the flour coating lightly.

Place in hot oil and brown well.  This will stick if you don't keep moving it around.  You will need to brown the meat in batches because it will be too much for one pan full. Remove the first batch and place on a plate, then move to the next batch.

 

On the last batch, chop your onion (not too fine, just a rough chop) and add to the browning meat to soften it. 

There will be browned bits stuck to the pan when the meat has browned.  Keep the heat up on medium high and pour a cup of water into the pan to deglaze using a rubber spoon or spatula which won't scratch your pot. Get all of this browned flour off of the bottom of the pan or our stew will stick.

Now add your package of stew seasoning mix and 3 cups water.  Mix it up well. The package of stew seasoning might say 2 cups water but it won't be enough.

This is the consistency you have.  Cover and turn to medium low.  Cook for 1 hr., but stir this every 20 minutes and make sure you scrape the bottom so it doesn't stick.  It will stick and burn if you do not do this.

 Wash chop your  celery, potatoes and carrots (I like to use the baby carrots).  Add them to the pot and stir with 3 more cups of water or more if needed, cook for 1 more hour.  Taste at this point and you might need to sprinkle with a little more seasoned salt and pepper to your taste.

Make some cornbread and slice some sweet onions and you are ready to serve!  It's delicious and the leftovers are just as good the next day!

Ingredients:

2 lbs stew meat

5-6 potatoes

3 cups carrots or bag of tiny baby carrots

1 medium yellow onion

4 stalks celery

1 pkg beef stew seasoning (I love the Kroger brand, but any will do)

about 6 -7 cups water

1 tsp Nature's Seasoning

1tsp seasoned salt

1 tsp. black pepper

2 cups flour

1/2 cup oil to brown meat

Hamburger Steaks!

"Hamburger Steaks" is another one of those recipes that many of us grew up with.  I don't know if it's particularly a 'southern thing', but I do know we had it fairly often at our house and I continued on with it in my own family.   If they are done right, they are actually quite delicious!  

The person who makes the absolute best "Hamburger Steaks" in our family is my sister, who is an excellent southern cook.    You know how every cook has those things they are just known for or they make and nobody else's compares?  That would be my sister and her "Hamburger Steaks"!     So, we went to her for this recipe, and while it's really good, hers still taste better to me...lol!   

I did add an optional mushroom and onion topping just because I like it that way!  That is just up to you and your families tastes! 

 Here is what you will need:

3 lbs. ground chuck

1/2 cup uncooked oats

1/2 cup water

2 eggs, slightly beaten

2 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce, divided

2 tsp Montreal steak seasoning (or whatever steak seasoning you use)

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

4 Tbs. butter, cut in pats

Mushroom topping

3 cups sliced mushrooms

1 medium sweet onion, diced

1 Tbs. butter

1 Tbs. olive oil

2 tsp. soy sauce

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

dash of black pepper

dash of garlic powder

Mix the ground chuck, oats, water, eggs, 1 Tbs. of Worcestershire sauce, steak seasoning, and black pepper in a mixing bowl.  Don't over mix as this can make them dry. Also, use the ground chuck, they are just much tastier when you do.

  Shape in oblong shaped patties.  This will make 10-12 patties, depending on how big you like them.  If you are cooking for a smaller family, you can easily divide this in half.  Place them on a foil lined baking sheet or in a 9"x13" baking pan.  Sprinkle each with a little garlic powder, add a pat of butter to each and drizzle with the rest of the Worcestershire sauce.

Place in a 375 degree oven for 40-45 minutes! 

To make the mushroom topping, saute the mushrooms and onions in a skillet in the butter and olive oil until tender.  Add the soy sauce and worcestershire sauce.  Sprinkle with black pepper and garlic powder.

Serve plain or...

with the Mushroom Topping!





Mississippi Roast!



My sister found this roast on Pinterest originally and they really liked it, so I thought I would try it for the blog.  The recipe is a whole like what I do to make my Spicy Italian Beef, except that you use Ranch Dressing mix instead of Italian and less of the spicy seasonings. This recipe makes a really good beef gravy that is perfect with mashed potatoes or you could serve it with egg noodles or even rice.    The results were wonderful and you do it in the slow cooker.  You throw it all in the night before or in the morning before you go to work and it's ready when you get home.  As far as I can determine this recipe originated on a blog called Laurie's Life http://lseo.blogspot.com/.    I certainly want to give credit where credit is due and Laurie has a hit here.  

You will be surprised to see how few ingredients you need for this:

Roast (I used about a 4 lb chuck roast,.  I do think the chuck roast works best. )

1 envelope of ranch dressing mix

1 envelope of au jus mix

1 stick of butter

pepperoncini peppers  (the original recipe used about 4 or 5 whole peppers, I used the pepper rings and mixed some pepperoncini and jalapeno rings)

I added a sprinkling of black pepper and a sprinkling of seasoned salt, but that is very optional.

Spray your slow cooker with nonstick spray.  It makes clean up so much easier.  Place your roast in the slow cooker and sprinkle with a little black pepper and a little seasoned salt.  Sprinkle the top with the ranch dressing mix and the au jus mix. 

Place peppers on top of mixes.  I used a mixture of jalapeno and pepperoncini peppers.  I like the pepper rings because they disintegrate in the cooking process and just become part of the gravy.  My family is not big on peppers and they never see them this way.  Don't leave these out though, because they really add flavor to this. If you don't use too many, they don't even add noticeable heat.



Add the stick of butter on top!  The butter is what makes the gravy in this soooo good!  Set your slow cooker to 8 hours on low and forget it. You do not add any additional water to this!  Your roast will be tender and delicious and will have made it's own gravy!   I served with mashed potatoes, but you could serve with egg noodles or for our deep south folks, rice.

Add the stick of butter on top!  The butter is what makes the gravy in this soooo good!  Set your slow cooker to 8 hours on low and forget it. You do not add any additional water to this!  Your roast will be tender and delicious and will have made it's own gravy!  

This is great served with mashed potatoes, egg noodles, or for our deep South friends, rice! 













Baked Spaghetti!

We love pasta and casseroles made with pasta, especially anything Italian.  This casserole is a great diversion from the usual spaghetti and sauce we all rely on a few times each month when we are trying to feed a family.   The great thing about this is also that it can be made ahead and baked later or even frozen.   Sometimes when we are having a spaghetti dinner, I just cook about double the usual amount and make this baked spaghetti for another dinner later in the week or freeze it for a day when I don't have time to cook.  

 Here is what you will need for this: 

1  1/2 to 2 lbs. ground chuck

1 medium onion, diced

1 Tbs. garlic, minced

1 jar (24 oz.) marinara or pasta sauce of your choice

1(6 oz.) can tomato paste

1 1/2 cup water

1 tsp. seasoned salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. dried basil

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 Tbs. sugar

8 oz. spaghetti, cooked according to package direction less 1 minute (al dente)

2 Tbs. butter

16 oz. ricotta (can use cottage cheese)

1 cup sour cream

1 cup Parmesan cheese, divided

2 cups cheddar cheese

2 cups mozzarella cheese

Brown the ground beef, garlic and onion in a skillet.  Drain any excess grease.   Add in the pasta sauce, tomato paste and water and stir to mix well.   Add seasonings and sugar.  Cover and let simmer while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. 

 Mix the ricotta or cottage cheese, sour cream and 1/2 cup of Parmesan.   Mix the warm spaghetti that has been well drained with the 2 Tbs. of butter. I like to break the spaghetti in half before boiling it for this, so that it cuts out easier after baking. The butter keeps the spaghetti from clumping and getting dry while baking.   Spread the spaghetti evenly in a 9"x13" baking pan that has been sprayed well with nonstick baking spray.   Spread the ricotta cheese mixture evenly over the pasta.

 Sprinkle with 1 cup cheddar and 1 cup Mozzarella.  Ladle the sauce evenly over all.

Sprinkle with the other 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, 1 cup mozzarella and the other 1 cup cheddar.  Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.   Uncover and bake for an additional 25-30 minutes or until the cheese is just starting to brown and bubble.

Baked Spaghetti!

Cheese Stuffed Italian Meatloaf!

This "Cheese Stuffed Italian Meatloaf" puts a little different spin on the meatloaf and it is scrumptious!  It's meatloaf, three different cheeses seasoned with Italian seasonings!  What could be bad about that?  The kids tend to love this one, even those who turn their noses up at regular meatloaf.  Here is what you need for this meatloaf:

  

1  1/2 lbs. ground chuck

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup Italian bread crumbs

1 (.06 oz.) packet of dry Italian dressing  (Good Seasons make a good one)

2 Tbs. grated raw onion

1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp. seasoned salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, divided

1 (24 oz.) jar of spaghetti sauce, divided ( I used Classico Tomato and Basil)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. dried basil

1 tsp. dried oregano

6 slices provolone or mozzarella cheese

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, mix the ground chuck, eggs, Italian bread crumbs, the dry Italian dressing mix, grated onion, Worcestershire sauce, seasoned salt, black pepper,  and 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese.  I have just a word of advice on the meat you use for this.  The ground chuck  works best, because it has an 80/20 lean to fat ratio which is perfect.  Ground beef will too fatty and greasy and something like ground round will be too dry and tasteless.

Pour the spaghetti sauce in a bowl and mix in the brown sugar, garlic powder, basil and oregano.

Add 1 cup of the spaghetti sauce mixture to the meatloaf mixture.  Mix well, but don't over mix it.  That makes the meat loaf dry and too tight.   On a piece of parchment paper, shape the meat into a rectangle.  Pat it out to about one half inch thickness.

Lay the cheese slices evenly over the top of the meat.  Using the parchment paper, roll the meat loaf into a roll.  Roll this as tight as you can without it breaking.  

Place into a 9"x13" baking dish that has been sprayed with nonstick spray or lined with nonstick foil.  Tuck the ends of the roll in and under so they are sealed.  If you leave them open your cheese might run out while baking.  As long as you fold and seal it stays in nicely.  

Pour the rest of the spaghetti sauce over the top of the meatloaf, be sure all surfaces are covered in sauce.  Sprinkle the rest of the Parmesan cheese over the top.  Place in the preheated 350 degree oven and bake for 50 minutes.  After 50 minutes remove from the oven and sprinkle the shredded mozzarella cheese over the top.   Turn the oven up to 425 degrees and place back in the oven for about 10 minutes.

When the cheese is browned and bubbly it's ready to take out of the oven!  Allow to stand for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing so the cheese has time to tighten back up and it will slice nicer.

This slices really nicely!  See all of that cheesy wonderfulness!  It's ridiculously good!

The whole family will love this one y'all!