Fajita Marinade

We used this yesterday. I would omit the salt and use half the cayenne next time (too spicy for some of the kids). The flavor was great, though. I used lemon instead of lime juice. We cut the raw chicken/beef in strips, marinated them for a couple hours, and then cooked them with the marinade on the stove.

Meatballs

These are easy and delicious--we used them for spaghetti and meatballs!

Mix all together:
1 lb. lean ground beef
2 TB dehydrated onion
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp kosher salt
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup bread crumbs
Italian seasoning, if desired

Shape into 1 inch balls (I use a cookie scoop) and place on a cookie sheet lined with foil and sprayed with Pam. Place under the broiler in the oven for 5-7 minutes or until the meatballs begin to brown.

Put your desired meatball sauce (we like Barilla spaghetti sauce the best) in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the meatballs and reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring often.

OR if you don't want to finish cooking them in the sauce, bake on the foil in a 350 degree oven until cooked through and then broil to desired crispness.

Meatloaf

I haven't met a homemade meatloaf I didn't like. Here are two recipes that I've tried.

I can't find this original recipe. When I transferred it to this blog I accidentally had too much milk in the list of ingredients. I think this is the right way now, but I'll have to try it again to see if it really deserves "perfected" status.

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease 5x9” loaf pan

Combine in a large bowl:

•  1 ½ pounds ground beef
•  1 egg
•  Minced onion (1/8 cup?)
•  1 tsp salt?
• 1/2 tsp pepper?
•  1 cup dried bread crumbs
•  1/2 cup milk

Place in 5x9” pan.

Sauce on top:
• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 1/3 cup barbeque sauce (or 2 TB brown sugar added with a little more ketchup)
• 2 TB prepared mustard
Bake at 350 for 1 hour (I did a little longer).

 

 

MEATLOAF MADE WITH STUFFING MIX (I had some stuffing mixes I had to use up)

2 eggs

1/2 cup water

1 (6 oz) pkg. instant stuffing mix

2 lbs ground beef
ketchup

In a large bowl, beat eggs and water. Add stuffing mix and contents of seasoning packet; mix well. Add beef; mix well. Press into an ungreased 9-in. x 5-in. x 3-in. loaf pan. Top with ketchup. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hours or until no pink remains and a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees F.



Another easy one to try:

Meatloaf

Ingredients:

•  1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup Ketchup
• 1/4 cup diced onion
• 1 egg
• 2 sliced bread – cubed (I usually use 1/2 cup crushed Saltines)
• 1 TBS Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp sale
• Chili Sauce (or alternately 1/2 cup ketchup and 2 TBS brown sugar, mixed together)

Directions:
Place meat in large bowl. Add al ingredients and mix with hands. Shape into a loaf (or desired shape, make a heart at Valentine’s Day!) With knife handle make 6 diagonal lines in top of loaf and fill with chili sauce (or alternate sweet ketchup). Bake 350° for an hour.

Skillet Lasagna

This is so easy and fast that I don't know when I'll bother to make a traditional lasagna again.

• ground beef/turkey/sausage, browned with onions, garlic, whatever (half and half beef and sausage is probably my favorite) and drained
• 16 oz pasta (I love bowtie the best), cooked and drained
• 1 can/jar pasta sauce (I sometimes puree it with spinach)
• 8 oz. ricotta cheese (half a small container)
• handful of mozzarella cheese (or more if you like it really cheesy)
• salt and pepper to taste

To crisp it up, put it all in a casserole dish and bake it to desired crispness. Otherwise, mix everything into the noodle pot, make sure it's nice and hot, and take the pot right to your table!

Beef/Turkey Stroganoff

This one's a winner at our house. Even Cohen. Yes, even Cohen. Enough said. (Oh, I like to use ground turkey lately.)

Taco Soup (slow cooker)

For those crazy get-everyone-to-their-activity days.

1 pound ground beef/turkey, cooked with onion
2 cans black beans, with liquid
1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, with liquid
1 can chicken broth
2 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes, pureed (my kids don't like tomato chunks)
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chile peppers
1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning mix

In a medium skillet, cook the ground beef/turkey/onions until browned over medium heat. Drain. Put everything in a slow cooker. Mix to blend, and cook on Low setting for 8 hours. Serve with chips for happy kids. Cheese and sour cream would be good too.

Chili the Way My Family Likes It

ground beef/turkey and diced onions, browned and drained
1 can diced tomatoes*
1 can stewed tomatoes*
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 to 1 TB chili powder (don't add all at once, especially if your tomatoes have any chilies in them; add to taste)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
garlic powder to taste

*The trick for my family is to puree the tomatoes in a blender before you add them in (our kids don't like tomato chunks). Then you may want to add water to the pot depending on how thick you like the chili and how much water boils off as it simmers. If you don't puree the tomatoes, you better add some water (and a small can of tomato sauce if desired).

Simmer on stovetop or put all ingredients in crock pot. Serve with chips and cheddar cheese.

(My family ate all of this quickly. I think I might need to 1 1/2 or double this next time for the 8 of us.)

Here's the best cornbread




Usually for our family: (Update: Hans thinks this is too much for our family now--back to the 2 cans of each rather than 3)
ground beef/turkey and diced onions, browned and drained
3 cans beans, rinsed and drained (usually black and kidney beans)
3 cans tomatoes, pureed (remember, stewed tomatoes have sugar in them and tomatoes with chilies are hot!)
1 TB salt
1/2 TB pepper
garlic powder
2 tsp chili powder (assuming you don't use tomatoes with heat in them already. If using tomatoes with chilies, taste before adding any chili powder)
Simmer in crockpot. Serve with chips.

Tin Foil Dinner Simplified

I want to add more photos to my recipes, but I'm not a photographer by any means and I'm not sure these pictures even look appetizing (especially since we were in the middle of eating it when I thought to take the picture :). But even Lincoln liked this very simple dish, so it's a keeper for us. I like it better than hamburgers and French fries (same ingredients, basically).

Simply chop up carrots, onions and potatoes and spread raw lean ground beef over the top (about 3 handfuls for a 13x9 dish). Salt and pepper the whole thing (adding any other seasonings you want--even an onion soup packet?), cover with foil and cook at 375 for an hour or less (until veggies are desired tenderness). Serve with ketchup.


(I mixed my diced onions with the raw meat and also added a touch of beef broth to the meat mixture in this photo. The result had more liquid than needed, so I don't think any extra liquid is required.)

Tater Tot Casserole

This is my favorite dish made with mixed vegetables (rotating some canned mixed veggies from our food storage!). Not the healthiest stuff out there, but a nice comfort food and extremely easy. Everyone in our family except Cooper gave it a thumbs up!

1 lb. (or less) ground beef, browned and drained
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 package onion soup mix (about 6 tsp.)
2 cans mixed vegetables, undrained, OR frozen vegetables + 1 1/2 cups water

Mix together and put in greased 9x13 casserole dish. Put a layer of frozen tater tots on top. Bake at 350 degrees for an hour and 15 mins.

(from Camille)

Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce

1 pound ground beef

1 pound bulk Italian sausage

1 medium green pepper, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

2 tsp. minced garlic

3 cans Italian diced tomatoes

2 cans (15 oz) tomato sauce

2 cans (6oz) tomato paste

1/4 cup sugar

2 Tab. Italian seasoning

1 Tab dried basil

2 tsp. dried marjoram

I tsp. salt

½ tsp pepper

Hot cooked spaghetti or small kid-friendly noodles like rotini

In a large skillet over medium heat, cook beef and sausage until no longer pink; drain. Transfer to a slow cooker. Stir in green pepper, onion, garlic, tomatoes, tomato sauce, paste, sugar, and seasonings; mix well. Cover and cook on low for eight hours or until bubbly. Serve over spaghetti. Yield 12 servings. (I've actually never made it in the crockpot. I just make it on the stove).

(from Melissa)