Mexican Casserole

Adapted from Kelly Jones

4 cups rice, cooked

3 ½ cups Salsa, divided (replace ½ the water with salsa for the rice.)

1 large can Refried Beans

1 can Black Beans

1 can Corn

1 lb. Ground Beef, browned

Taco Seasoning

1-2 cups Cheese, shredded

Onions, diced *optional

Bell Peppers, diced *optional

Carrots, shredded *optional

Sour Cream *optional

Guacamole *optional

Cook rice, replacing half the water with salsa or picante sauce.

Brown beef and add taco seasoning.

If using onions, bell peppers and/or carrots, sauté them for a minute or two, until just softened.

Layer in a 9x13 pan: rice – beef – optional veggies - refried beans – black beans – corn – salsa – cheese.

Bake at 375 degrees until heated through and cheese is melted and bubbly.

Serve with Guacamole and/or sour cream on top and use tortilla chips to eat it.

*Make meatless, just season either the rice or beans with taco seasoning instead.

Kids love to eat this with chips!

Stroganoff Sandwiches

A twist on stroganoff - now as an open-faced sandwich! This is one of our favorites!

1 lb ground beef (cooked with onion, dry minced or fresh chopped)
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp garlic salt
pepper to taste
grated cheddar cheese
tomato, sliced(optional)
green onions (optional)
1 loaf french bread*

Brown hamburger with onion. Drain off grease and add sour cream, Worcestershire, garlic salt, and pepper. Heat until slightly bubbly, turn off heat and set aside. Cut a loaf of french bread*  in half lengthwise. Butter both halves and broil until golden. Take out and spread meat mixture on both halves. Add optional toppings if desired and top with grated cheddar cheese. Bake in oven at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Slice for individual servings

Serve with a steamed veggie

**Growing up my mom always made this with french bread and no additional toppings, just meat and cheese. Since I've started making it for myself, I usually buy hard rolls from the bakery and make individual servings instead of the entire loaf of french bread. That way I can make a fresh sandwich with the leftover meat and not have a soggy sandwich the next day. It is probably still easier to make it on french bread if you're feeding a whole family.

I still eat mine plain, but Paul really likes the optional toppings on his. In fact, most of the time I will add a small scoop of salsa over his meat instead of the tomato and green onions.

BBQ Beef Pot Pie

2 cans Pillsbury Pizza dough
Leftover BBQ Beef
2 Carrots, peeled and diced
2 Celery stalks, diced
1/2 onion, chopped and saute
3 potatoes, diced
1 can green beans
2 cups baby spinach
Salt and Pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Spray a 9x13 pan with Pam.
Shape one can of dough to bottom of pan, coming up the sides.
Mix all the other ingredients together, season to taste.
Pour mixture in pan over dough.
Place other can of dough over the top and then shape down the sides to "seam" the top and bottom crusts together.
Cut a couple of venting slits in the top crust.
Bake 30-40 minutes or until the crust is done and vegetables are fork tender.

Quick Beef lo Mein

Disclaimer: I got this off a blog/internet but didn't document from where. I've made it a lot and really like it.

3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon Oyster Sauce
1 Tablespoon Chili Paste with Garlic
1/4 teaspoon crushed Red Pepper Flakes
4 Cups cooked Whole Wheat Spaghetti noodles
2 teaspoons Dark Sesame Oil
1 Tablespoon fresh Ginger, peeled and minced
4 Garlic Cloves, minced
3 Cups frozen Broccoli Florets
1 medium Onion, cut in half and thinly sliced
1 lb. Flank Steak, trimmed and cut across the grain into long, thin strips
thinly sliced Green onions to garnish
toasted Sesame Seeds to garnish

Directions
In a small bowl combine the soy sauce, brown sugar, oyster sauce, chili paste and crushed red pepper flakes. Set aside.

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Combine pasta and sesame oil, tossing well to coat.

While pasta cooks, heat peanut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ginger, garlic, broccoli and onion and saute for 5 minutes. Add the steak and saute for 5 minutes or until done. Add pasta mixture and soy sauce mixture and cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated, stirring constantly.

Serve garnished with thinly sliced green onions and sesame seeds.

I don't use Chili Paste or Red Pepper Flakes because I don't like spicy food.

Ann's Dads Chili

This is actually Ann's Dads Chili, I am posting it though, cause I am making it this week! 

Dad’s Chili

2 lb. hamburger

2 medium or 1 large onion chopped

2 cans Garbanzo Beans or Chili Beans

2 cans Kidney Beans

2 cans Pork and Beans or Bush Beans

2 quarts diced tomatoes

1 shredded carrot (regular sized, not baby carrots)

Salt and Pepper

1 Tbsp Chili Powder (increase or decrease according to your personal preference for heat, if children are going to eat the chili cut the chili pepper in half)

Garlic Salt to taste

Cook 2-3 hours

Brown hamburger and onion, drain garbanzo and kidney beans, mix together in crock pot or large pot and cook 2-3 hours. If using fresh tomatoes, do not drain off the beans.

Steak Salad

1 Steak
1 tomatoe, cut into wedges
1 red onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 onion, thinly sliced
1-2 tbsp. Butter
Olive Oil
1 tsp. Molasses
Spinach or lettuce of choice
Dressing of choice, We really like Vidalia Onion Vinegarette by Virgina Brand, or as I call it the Sam's Club dressing.

You can make the steak two ways...the first is to cook it under the broiler on high to your preference. Rub with olive oil, place in pan as close to broiler as you can get it without touching. Cook for 4-6 minutes, turn and cook another 4-6 minutes, again depending on if you want it rare, medium, well done. Remove and season with salt and pepper. Let rest for 5 minutes then slice thinly.
Or you can slice your steak and brown in a skillet with olive oil, remove and set aside. Heat butter up in skillet, thinly slice onion and add to skillet. Saute until beginning to brown, add 1 tsp. of molasses (or more depending on how sweet you want it) and continue cooking for a minute or two more. Add steak back in and heat through.
Place spinach on plate, add steak and onions, tomatoes, red onion, and walnuts drizzle with dressing.
I've made this with and without the caramelized onions, I really prefer it with, but it is just great without too.
Makes 2 servings.

Taco Salad

1 lb. hamburger, browned and fat drained
2 cans kidney beans, drained
2 bags Lettuce (I like spinach)
2 tomatoes, diced
2 carrots, shredded
1-2 Cups Shredded cheese
Catalina dressing
1 bag Nacho Cheese Doritos
Taco seasoning

Brown hamburger, drain off excess fat and then add Taco seasoning, following package directions. I also add the kidney beans to the meat, but you don't have to.
Then layer your salad with what you want and then crush the Doritos over the top and add dressing.
This makes enough for 8 really big salads (Adult size)
Other topping ideas: avocado, cilantro, black beans, refried beans, rice cooked with salsa, salsa, tomatillo dressing, ranch dressing, chopped olives, cucumbers, corn, really anything goes. The Doritos and the Catalina dressing are really what makes this a bit different and yummy. It's also an easy recipe to make a lot or a little.
Stuff all the yumminess in a pita bread and you now have a yummy portable taco salad.

Meatloaf Cupcakes

1 pound hamburger
1 onion, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
4 eggs
3 slices Bacon, cooked crispy
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
1 tsp. Ketchup + for topping
1 tsp. Mustard
1 tsp. Italian Seasoning
Grated Cheese, aprox. 1 cup

Cook onion and hamburger, drain off fat. Mix meat and onions with eggs, celery, salt, pepper, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, mustard, ketchup and bacon.
Fill cupcake cups ¾ full.
Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees.
Cover with ketchup and grated cheese and bake for 5 more minutes.

Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches

2-3 lbs. Thinly sliced or shredded beef
1 Large Onion, thinly sliced
1 Container of Mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 Large Green Pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 Cup Worcestershire Sauce
8 slices Provolone Cheese
4 Hoagie Rolls/Deli Rolls
Lawry's Seasoning Salt
Butter

Melt 1/4 stick of butter in a heavy skillet. Add onions, green peppers and mushrooms, saute until caramlized. Remove from pan.

Melt 2 more TBSPs of butter in pan, add beef, season with Lawry's Seasoning Salt to taste, cook until nicely browned and cooked through or as desired.

Add 1/2 cup of Worcestershire sauce and 2 TBSP more butter and the onion/peppers/mushrooms, mix together. Cook down a bit

Halve and butter the rolls, brown them in another skillet.

Pile the beef/onion mixture onto the roll, layer generously with Provolone Cheese and microwave for a few seconds to melt the cheese. Or put under the broiler until bubbly and brown. Put on top half and enjoy.

Additions:
After browning the rolls, spread with cream cheese then assemble as above.
Add a layer of cheese in the middle of the meat/onions and then again on top.
I make a chuck roast in the crockpot so it's nice and tender and then use a 1/4 of it shredded for aprox. 4 hoagies.

BBQ Cupcakes

This was posted by Ann...Just so you know!

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef, cooked
1 cup bbq sauce or sloppy joe sauce, whichever you prefer
1 can of LAYERED refrigerated biscuits (not the little tiny packages, the bigger one. I use Grands.)
About 1-2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions:
Cook beef, drain, mix with bbq sauce. Set aside.

Carefully pull apart layers of biscuits, so that each biscuit is now in two pieces, like this:

Roll out layers with a rolling pin, until they make a 10-12" circle.

Spray the insides of a muffin pan. Insert one flattened biscuit into each cup, like this:

In each little pastry shell, spoon in about 1 tbsp of beef mixture. It will look this:

Afterwards, sprinkle cheese on top, because if a recipe doesn't say "sprinkle cheese on top", then you should run the other way:

Bake in a 350 oven for 8-12 minutes, take it out, and then you just tell me this isn't the cutest little thing you've ever seen:

I got this from Rocks in My Dryer, and it looked easy and awesome, so I copied it here.