Cheesy Ground Beef Enchiladas

     I lost my camera before I was able to upload them here for this recipe. Really sorry. But, you can check out the pictures over at The Pioneer Woman. Sorry about that. I HATE cooking something when I don't have a visual to look at. It makes me not want to cook the meal. I love to see what the finished product should look like, so I know if I did something wrong. Plus, the picture is what makes me decide if I want to cook the meal or not. Sometimes the ingredients are questionable, but if it looks really yummy in the picture, I'll give it a shot. So, ultimately, sorry for the mishap. But really, we should all be more sorry about the fact that I lost my camera... sad day. Let's all take a moment of silence for my poor camera, out there in the world, thinking that it's owner has abandoned it. I can't talk about this any more...


     I was in the mood for a little something different, so I chose to use flour tortillas instead of corn this time. Definitely different than corn enchiladas, but they were still really good, kinda chewy and very soft, which we liked.


Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb ground beef
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 7oz can chopped green chiles
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp Mexican oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp coriander
20 medium flour tortillas
8oz freshly grated cheddar cheese
8oz freshly grated monterey jack cheese

Sauce:
1 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp flour
1 28oz can of your favorite enchilada sauce
2 C chicken broth
salt and pepper

Directions:
For the sauce: In a saucepan over medium, heat the oil and flour for 1 minute (not 2), and whisk together continuously so as not to burn it... like I might have done one, two, maybe three times. Add the enchilada sauce, broth and salt and pepper, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 30 minutes or so.

Brown the ground beef and onions and drain. Add the green chiles and all of the seasonings. Mix well and sautee for several minutes to let the goodness seep into the meat and make it all flavorful. This step is important, and made a big difference in the outcome of my enchiladas, as compared with previous efforts.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Shred the cheese and mix together (Freshly grated cheese is super important here people... I am now a firm believer, I have been converted to block cheese, it's pretty much all I use now!)

Spread some sauce on the bottom of a pan (I used a baking sheet, like you would use for cookies. It's a Paula Dean, and I think it's a little bit bigger than a typical cookie sheet and the sides are a teensy bit higher, and it works perfectly for enchiladas).

Make your enchiladas: Hold your tortilla in one hand, and pour 2 -3 tbsp of the meat into the center, making a line. Sprinkle 2 tbsp cheese over the top. Pour 2 tbsp sauce over the top and roll tightly. Place in the pan and continue to make the rest of the enchiladas. Pour sauce over the top and bake for 15 minutes.

Take the enchiladas out and* sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top and continue to bake for another 5 to 10 minutes.

*Next time I would pour a small amount more of sauce over the top of the enchiladas because they looked a little dry. They weren't dry, they just looked it, probably because I didn't dip them in oil before I assembled the enchilada. But it was okay, they didn't taste dry at all, they were super cheesy, super soft and chewy.

Recipe Adapted from: The Pioneer Woman

Asian Ground Beef Lettuce Cups

    

     When we're looking for a starchless meal, I always go to Lettuce Cups. They're super easy, and full of flavor. I typically use chicken, and cut it up into small pieces. I found a new recipe that looked pretty good and thought I'd give it a shot, but, I didn't have any chicken, only ground beef. Still, I thought I'd try it and hope for the best. Well, my wishes were realized as this dish was super tasty! 

     The first time I made it, I didn't measure my soy sauce, and it was super salty. The second time I made sure to measure my soy sauce and it turned out much better. It was still really good the first time, just really salty. So, just make sure to measure that bad boy out.

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp oil

1/2 - 3/4 C shredded carrots

1 celery rib, finely diced

1/2 red bell pepper finely diced

15 sugar snap peas, finely diced

1/2 C red onion

1 - 1 1/2 ground beef

Iceberg lettuce leaves (I usually use butter lettuce, but this was good too)

2 tbsp diced scallions (green onions)

Sauce:

1/2 C soy sauce

3 tbsp minced garlic

3 tbsp minced ginger

3 tbsp sambal hot sauce

3 tbsp apricot preserves

1/4 C rice vinegar

3 tbsp hoisin sauce

1 tsp minced cilantro

2 tsp sesame seeds

1 tsp sesame oil

(Mix ingredients together and stir well before serving)

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, brown the ground beef. Drain the beef and set aside. 

Add a tbsp oil to the skillet and add the vegetables and saute for a few minutes. 

Add the ground beef and mix together.

Add the Apricot Sambal sauce and scallions and let simmer for a few minutes so that the juices get all yummy together in the meat and veggies.

Add the beef mixture to a bowl. Place your lettuce leaves onto a plate and serve. 

I serve this out of one bowl, and give each of us a plate for our lettuce leaves. It makes it really easy to dish up, rather than trying to split the mixture between two plates, then one might want more or less than I served,  so one bowl works well for us. 

I know I said I use lettuce cups as starchless meals, but with this one I did make some white rice. I layered my rice then the beef mixture into the lettuce cup, rolled it up and chowed down. The rice helped to cut the saltiness of the soy sauce. It was really good. 

Super easy, super good, super flavorful! 

Recipe Courtesy of: Guy Fieri

Taco Salad

     Game night at church is the second Friday of every month. And I love it! I love getting to meet up with people from church and chat with them and catch up on things we don't have time to talk about on Sunday morning. But, the best part: the food everyone brings! I always try to change it up and bring something fun and interesting. Even though I love to bake, usually we have a ridiculous amount of dessert, so I am resigned to bring a dinner type of dish each month; which is great, because it allows me to find new recipes to try that I normally wouldn't.
     Last month I was looking for something fun and different, and I came across a Taco Salad recipe. We love taco salad. When I started dating Grant he introduced me to the addition of Catalina dressing poured on top of the salad. I thought it might be kinda weird at first, but because I love Catalina dressing, I was all about trying it... and it was SO delish! I will never go back to having a normal taco salad!
     What I like about this recipe though, is that it adds a little something I didn't used to include, beans. Duh, Meghan! I don't know why I never thought of it before. Needless to say this recipe is super delish, and I could not have received more compliments throughout the evening on it.
     So, the next time you are looking for something easy and fast, yet still not skimping on taste, try this one out!

Ingredients:
2 lb ground beef (We like things meaty, so I added the extra half pound)
2 packets of taco seasoning mix (I just use my McKormick seasoning container from Costco!, and A LOT of it! Season that meat up baby! Make it tasty!)
1 bag shredded lettuce
2 Cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 Cup chopped tomatoes
2 Cup chopped onions
1 medium can of sliced olives (I give them a rough chop)
2 15oz cans Ranch style beans (1 used S&W, and they're exact title is Chili Beans in a Zesty Tomato Sauce)
1 bag of corn chips (I used the small ones to make it more bite size)
1 16oz bottle Catalina dressing
1 12oz jar salsa

**This makes a pretty good amount of salad, so if it's just for 2 people, I might cut it in half. Although, every time I make it I wish there were leftovers, so I would probably make this amount and save it for meals later. Obviously, don't mix it all together though or some of the ingredients will be soggy and wilty.

Directions:
Brown the ground beef and onion, and drain. Add the Taco seasoning mix and 1 C water and simmer for roughly 10 minutes or until the meat has soaked up all the water, making it all kindsa juicy!

Add the beans with some of the juices to the pan and continue simmering for however long you like, I simmered for about 10-15 minutes.

In a bowl, add the chips, the ground beef and bean mixture, tomatoes, lettuce, olives, Catalina dressing, and salsa. Mix this delish concoction together until everything is married together with screams of joy! Sprinkle cheese on top, dish and devour!

You could even add sour cream as well, but I chose to stick to the recipe this time, and it was really tasty!
You will not be upset about trying this one folks!

Recipe Adapted from: Taste of Home

Beef and Mushroom Lasagna

         There was one dish that my Nana would always make whenever we would drive the ten hours to visit her and my grandfather in Weed, CA; and that was lasagna. It was her signature dish. I remember it would take so long to make, and no one was allowed in the kitchen while she was cooking... it was agony. Of course I just wanted to go into the kitchen since I wasn't allowed... I was just one small little person right?
     I remember loving lasagna back then. I've come to realize that I think I loved the idea of my Nana spending so much time putting her love into that lasagna for us much more than I actually loved the lasagna. I've had many different types of lasagna, and I've made it myself many times, and I never feel overjoyed after eating it. Ever.
     I'll be honest, I actually do like some lasagna... you know, the frozen kind? Embarrassing right? Oh well, I admit it. So, that leads me to tonight's recipe... Corned Beef and Cabbage... Just kidding, Lasagna. While I didn't think it was the best thing ever, I do think that it was pretty good for what it was... a quick lasagna that didn't take a lot of prep, using fast ingredients. But, I do think that with a couple changes, I could make it into something that I'd love. I will probably make my own Bechemel sauce next time instead of using the Cream of Mushroom, and I'd add sauteed mushrooms. I would also probably spring for a jar of sauce that was a richer in taste, and probably use more than just one jar (for leftovers, it wasn't sauce-y enough for me).
     While I didn't think it was the best, Grant thought it was really good, and went back for seconds. He didn't mind the Cream of Mushroom taste. So I guess that's a good sign. (Although, once I made a super fancy lasagna, using wine and everything, and he hated it... he doesn't really care for super fancy foods. He tends to like simple comfort foods, like the time I made him Beef Stroganoff... again, that's for another time)

Ingredients:
1 can of Campbell's Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/2 C Milk
1- 1 /12 lb Ground beef
1 jar Spaghetti sauce (I used Marinara, I might use something different next time)
1 box of Barilla No Boil Lasagna noodles
8 oz Mozzarella, shredded
Italian seasonings
Garlic Powder or fresh garlic
dash of salt
dash of crushed red pepper for a little spicy kick if ya like

Directions:
If using regular lasagna noodles, prepare those. Otherwise, get started:

In a medium skillet, brown the ground beef. Drain any fat and add your seasonings: Garlic powder, salt, red pepper, and Italian Seasonings.

In a medium bowl, mix together the Cream of Mushroom Soup and 1/2 C milk.

When finished, add the jar of spaghetti sauce, saving just a little to lightly cover the bottom of your 9x13 baking pan.

In your baking pan (that has a little bit of sauce on the bottom), overlap 4 of the No Boil Noodles (or 3 regular noodles). Spread half of the ground beef mixture on top of the noodles. Lay another layer of the noodles on top.

Spread half of the Cream of Mushroom soup over the noodles, and top with half of the cheese and another layer of noodles.

Repeat the last two steps one more time.

Place in the oven at 350 for 45 minutes. The outside of the noodles won't look completely finished, but the inside will be done. (In an effort to avoid this, next time I would soak the No Boil noodles in some water for 5 minutes or so, shedding the cooking time).

So while I would make a few changes, this wasn't too bad. Especially if you're looking for something quick and easy. I think this could be just a launching pad for all different types of fast and easy lasagnas. It was great because once the lasagna was in the oven and I turned around to clean things up, I noticed I didn't have a load of crap to clean... and that was the best part of this dish!

Recipe Courtesy of: Kitchen Daily

Sloppy Joe Stuffed Bell Peppers

     Sometimes you run across a recipe, and you wonder why you never thought of that before yourself! This is one of those... although, I don't make sloppy joe's all that much, it just seemed like such a genius idea, I was a little upset with myself for not thinking of it first. I adapted this recipe that I found from No Reason Needed, and the link can be found at the bottom.

     Who doesn't love a good sloppy joe... and who doesn't love a good stuffed bell pepper? Why not combine them? Although, I will say that while I make a good sloppy joe, I'm still trying to master the stuffed bell pepper. Stouffer's makes such a great stuffed pepper, that I've been trying to recreate it, but with no success so far. If you haven't tried their frozen stuffed bell pepper dish yet, you should. Well, only if you like green bell peppers stuffed with ground beef, rice, and submerged in a healthy amount of tomato sauce... then heck yes. And if you're looking for a healthier frozen meal, that's it, I can tell you that much!

     I thought this meal was pretty good actually, however, my husband was too lazy to cut the pepper into pieces and eat it TOGETHER!, instead he just ate the sloppy joe part out of the pepper, and then sucked the pepper dry, maybe taking a bite of it here and there... eesh! He said he would prefer it over a bed of rice next time... Why not just in a bun like an actual sloppy joe?! I don't know, he's crazy!

     I don't think I have ever said this before, and I doubt I'll ever say it again... but I actually could have done without the cheese on this dish... WEIRD! I know. For some reason it just didn't jive with the sloppy joe part for me. Thankfully I didn't mix it in... which might have made it better, I don't know.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1/2 large onion, or one small onion, diced
4 green peppers (make sure the bottoms will sit flat)
1 clove garlic
1 tsp Chili powder
1 tsp Paprika
salt
2 Tbsp Molasses
1/2 C Ketchup
2 Tbsp Yellow Mustard
3 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar, or White vinegar is fine too
2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1/2 C shredded Mozzarella and Cheddar cheese, or whatever cheese floats your boat

Directions:
Slice the tops of your green peppers off, but reserve the tops and dice them up.
Bring a large pot of water to boil, and add your bell peppers. Boil for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, saute the diced onion and green pepper tops in a tbsp olive oil and garlic.

These are the ingredients you will add; except that I forgot to picture the brown sugar.

Add your ingredients, and it will look like this. Now, I'm all about seasoning that meat up as much as possible, so I always like to add my seasonings to meat first, let it soak it, and then add any liquids.

After adding in all the ingredients, including the liquid, here's what it will look like:
It doesn't necessarily look totally appetizing, but it tasted good.

Once the peppers are done boiling, take them out and drain them while the meat finishes cooking.
When the meat is done, put foil in the bottom of an 8x8 baking dish and place the peppers standing up in the dish.
Scoop the meat mixture into the peppers, there was just enough for the 4 peppers.

Place a handful of cheese on top of each pepper and place in a 350 degree oven for roughly 15 minutes.

Recipe Courtesy of: No Reason Needed

Tamale Pie

     Grant's mom makes tamale pie. And he loves it. Which means that if I make it, it's gotta be good. Because she's a good cook. She's one of those comfort food, Weight Watcher, Taste of Home, recipes-you-never-would-have-thought-to-try-but-are-delicious kinda cooks! Thankfully, I have a husband that doesn't feel like he can't like my cooking just because he likes his mom's so much. Awesomely enough, he really enjoys my food, most of it, at least that's what he continues to tell me. There was one time that an experiment went awry... so awry that we couldn't even pretend to finish it and had some PBnJ on stale bread b/c anything would be better than what I dished up. But that's for another time.

     So, when I asked Grant what he wanted for dinner when I was making the menu for last week, he promptly said: Tamale pie! And the hunt for a great recipe began! I searched for hours that day just trying to find the perfect recipe! I couldn't find the perfect one, so I combined a couple that turned into my own version... and it became the perfect Tamale Pie recipe! (You can find the link to the two recipes that I adapted mine from below.) Let me tell you... I unfortunately don't have a picture, but I can tell you that it was super delish and you should go to the store right now and get the ingredients to make this for dinner! Do it!


Tamale Pie


Ingredients
1 1/2 lb ground beef
1 C onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
2 8oz cans tomato sauce
1 15oz can corn
1 medium can of olives, sliced
1 small can chopped green chiles
1/3 C raisins (I was a little worried about this, but oh dear goodness it adds a subtle hint of sweetness that is too good to ignore!)
1 tbsp crushed garlic or 1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp pepper
6oz shredded cheddar cheese
Cornbread mix (and ingredients to make cornbread, usually milk and 1 egg)

Directions
In a skillet over med high heat, brown the ground beef and drain. Add onion and red pepper to ground beef and saute for a few minutes until soft.

Add cans of tomato sauce along with corn, olives, green chiles, raisins, garlic, and seasonings. Turn down heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375.
Pour mixture into a greased 9x13 baking dish and sprinkle generously with shredded cheddar.
(By the by, I've started lining every single baking dish with foil beforehand, and it's saved me so many hours of cleaning dishes! yah!)

Prepare the cornbread and pour over ground beef mixture. I poured several rows and then used a spatula to spread it out. The cornbread batter is thick, so I wouldn't pour it in one spot and then try to spread it from there, I don't think it would reach everywhere. I was worried that there wouldn't be enough batter in fact because I was having a hard time covering the whole casserole, but it worked out.

Bake at 375 for 40 minutes.

Here's all I have left for you:

Recipes courtesy of: Simply Recipes and All That Splatters

Chili to Calm the Spirit

     Grant asked for some chili this week, so I found a new recipe to try out: Dragon's Breath Chili from the Food Network. I was initially intrigued by the recipe because it calls for three different types of meat.


Dragon's Breath Chili


Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons bacon grease, or canola oil
• 2 red bell peppers, diced (about 2 cups)
• 2 jalapenos, minced (about 2 tablespoons)
• 3 Anaheim chiles, roasted, peeled, chopped
• 3 poblano chiles, roasted, peeled, chopped
• 2 yellow onions, diced (about 2 cups)
• 1 head garlic, minced (about 1/4 cup)
• 1 pound boneless chuck, trimmed and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
• 2 pounds ground beef, coarse grind (I used 1 lb, b/c I didn't have room)
• 1 pound bulk Italian sausage
• 2 teaspoons granulated onion
• 2 teaspoons granulated garlic
• 3 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons hot paprika
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 1 cup tomato paste
• 12 ounces lager beer
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 2 (15.5-ounce) cans pinto beans, with juice
• 2 (15.5-ounce) cans kidney beans, with juice
• Saltine crackers, for garnish
• 1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar

Directions
     There is probably a better way to do this, but to prepare the peppers, I put them on my small grill pan since I don't have a grill, and I grilled them for approximately 10 minutes (turn them over and allow each side to begin to blister). I didn't have a paper bag to put the peppers into so I just put them into a bowl and covered it to allow them to steam so the skin would separate. After 5 minutes or so, I peeled the skin off and chopped them up. I left the seeds in because we like it hot, and it wasn't really hot at all.


     In large stock pot over high heat, add butter and bacon grease (I just used canola oil). Add bell pepper, jalapeno, chiles and onion and cook until caramelized, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute a minute longer. Add chuck and brown. Add ground beef and sausage to brown and stir gently, trying not to break up the ground beef too much. Cook until meat is nicely browned and cooked through, about 7 to10 minutes. Add in granulated onions, granulated garlic, chili powder, paprika, cumin, coriander, cayenne, salt and pepper and cook for 1 minute. Add in tomato sauce and paste and stir for 2 minutes. Stir in beer and chicken stock. Add beans, lower heat and simmer for 2 hours.
     Garnish with green onions and shredded Cheddar. (I also added sour cream!)


     I did things a little different b/c I wasn't sure if I was able to fit everything into my pot. I browned everything up and put it in my crock pot to let it heat through. I accidentally added a little too much of the booze, so I added it back into my pot to cook off some of the boozy flavor.

     I also didn't add 1 can of kidney beans, 1 cup of tomato sauce, and 1/2 cup chicken broth, simply b/c I didn't have the space in my pot.

Verdict: 4/5

     I thought this was super good. I wish I had had a big enough pot to put the rest of the beans, tomato sauce, and broth in. But, even without it, it was still really tasty. Once the boozy flavor cooked off, it was much better. I really liked the 3 different meats in it, it made for a very layered, rich texture and flavor. It wasn't as spicy as I had hoped, even though I added the seeds of both jalapenos. Next time, I might need to add an extra. For intense flavor, I always add more seasoning than it calls for. Again, I'm a big proponent of seasoning the meat and letting it cook for a while before I add the liquids; so instead of just 1 minute, I cook it closer to 5 minutes to really crisp up the ground meat and let the flavors absorb! And then, I added more seasoning once I added the liquids.
The recipe called for serving the chili over french fries, which sounded outstanding, (another idea was macaroni) but I thought that might be a little much taking into account my previous post. My plan was to split a baked potato and serve the chili over that, but I forgot to get one at the store. Instead, we ate the chili alone, but the flavor stood out on it's own and did great.

Taco Soup

• This recipe is so amazing! I love it with every fiber of my being!

• Hopefully you will think it just as delicious!

• There are many recipes out there like it.... this one... is FABULOUS!

• If you're looking for a quick, easy, scrumptious meal, pick this one!

• I usually make two batches, so I double everything, but to make it easy, I'll list it for one batch, and depending on how much you want to make, you can decide if you want to double it. I'm thinking it serves about 5-6 people maybe... one batch.

Taco Soup 

Ingredients

1. 1 lb ground meat (I usually use ground beef, but we've used ground turkey and ground chicken before.... all are good. Sometimes we'll use a pound of each if we are making a double batch!)
2. 1 onion, diced
3. 1 can each of corn, diced tomatoes, kidney beans, pinto beans, black beans (or any type of beans you want!)
4. 1 large can of crushed tomatoes
5. 1 small can of diced green chiles
6. 1 pkg each of taco seasoning mix, and ranch seasoning mix (And don't go for the knock-off brand on these... I've tasted knock-off brand Taco Soup... not as good... definite difference... it's a pkg of seasoning mix... spring for the $1.29 package.... you'll be thankful!)

• ALSO REMEMBER, if you are making a double batch, be sure to get double packets of the seasoning mix.... I've forgotten to do that... trust me, you don't want to make that mistake... the Ranch does wonders, you don't want to miss out on that!

• Optional, but definitely worth it: Sour Cream, shredded cheese, and tortilla strips.

Directions

• Saute the onions and ground meat together. Drain.

• I like to season my meat before adding to the soup, so I put my meat back into the pan and season it with some of the spices that are in the taco seasoning mix. They are spices you probably already have in your cabinet. I use Paprika, Cumin, Garlic Powder, salt and pepper, maybe a little cayenne if you'd like. Let the meat cook for a few minutes after you season it so it will absorb all the flavors... nothing is worse than flavorless meat! nothing!

• To a large stock pot, add the meat and onions, then open all your cans of vegetables, with juices, and empty them in the pot (I chose to add a can of crushed tomatoes to this recipe, so I didn't use the juice from the canned corn, and substituted the crushed tomatoes instead). Pour both seasoning packets into the pot and stir.

• Bring to a boil, then allow to simmer on low for however long you want! I try to let it simmer for at least an hour!

SERVINGPour soup in a bowl, top with a dollop of sour cream, some shredded cheese, and some tortilla strips! MASTERPIECE!

VERDICT: 4.5/5
Grant said that this would have been better had i added tortilla strips to it, I reminded him that I opted to save a little money by not purchasing the tortilla strips, and he liked my decision... so not bad! point is: it's great! He even opted for seconds!

This soup is soooo delicious! You MUST try it!I've tried a soup like it with olives in it, I'm not a huge olive fan anymore, but if you like olives, you might want to add them to this soup and see if it sparks your taste buds even more!