Beef Macaroni Casserole

This is nothing fancy, just a quick, easy, basic recipe to get dinner on the table!

1 lb extra lean ground beef
1 small onion chopped finely
8 oz tomato sauce
1 TB flour
1/2 cup water
s/p
1 cup macaroni noodles, cooked
1 cup shredded cheddar, or whatever you have

Brown the meat & drain off the fat.

Add the onion & saute for a couple of minutes. Then combine the flour & water in a bowl until there are no flour lumps & then add that to the pan. Let simmer about 5 minutes then add the cooked macaroni noodles. Stir it all together & pour into a casserole dish. Sprinkle with cheese & bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees.

Sweet & Sour Meatballs

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef (you don’t want the beef to be too high in fat because the fat will all pool at the bottom of the baking dish after baking
3/4 cup quick oats
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Combine all of the ingredients and mix well. Form into about 12 balls, each about 2 inches in diameter. Place in a casserole dish. Cover with sauce (below). Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Serve over rice.

Sauce:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon mustard
1/4 cup barbeque sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Combine ingredients and blend thoroughly. Heat in a small saucepan until combined and sugar is dissolved and pour over meatballs. (This dish is not overly abundant on sauce so if you enjoy things a bit saucier, double the sauce ingredients.)

To Freeze: After covering the meatballs with sauce, cover the pan with two layers of aluminum foil and freeze. To bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake covered without thawing for 1 hour. Uncover and bake 20-30 minutes more, until meatballs are cooked through.

Source: www.melskitchencafe.com

Skillet Chili Mac with Corn and Green Chiles

Don't let the title scare you away! It sounds a bit Hamburger Helper-ish, but this is waaay better!

1 TB veg oil

1 lb ground beef

1 onion, minced

3/4 TB chili powder

1/2 TB ground coriander (or ground cumin)

1/2 tsp salt

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 TB brown sugar

2 8oz cans tomato sauce

2 cups water

2 cups elbow macaroni

1 cup frozen corn

1 4.5 oz can chopped green chiles

fresh cilantro, chopped

2 cups shredded cheese (cheddar jack or mexican blend, whatever)

1. Heat oil in large non-stick skillet over med heat. Add ground beef, onion, chili powder, coriander or cumin, and salt. Cook until ground beef is no longer pink. Drain off grease.

2. Stir in garlic and brown sugar and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in tomato sauce, water and macaroni. Cover and cook, stirring often and keeping at a steady simmer until macaroni is tender, about 10-12 minutes.

3. Stir in 1 cup of the cheese, frozen corn, green chiles and cilantro. Sprinkle remaining 1 cup of cheese over the top. Cover and let sit off the heat until the cheese melts.

So yummy!

Source: http://www.mykitchencafe.blogspot.com/

Inside-out Stuffed Cabbage Meatballs

The original recipe said to stuff some of the cabbage inside the meatballs, but that seemed like an unnecessary hassle, so here's the recipe with that step taken out and modified:



3 tablespoons butter
2 pounds green cabbage, shredded
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
Salt and pepper
1 1/2 pounds meatloaf mix (ground beef, pork and veal)
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
One 16-ounce can whole-berry cranberry sauce




1. In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the cabbage and 1/4 cup water and cook, stirring frequently, until wilted, about 5 minutes. Stir in the maple syrup and 1 teaspoon caraway seeds; season with salt and pepper. Lower the heat to medium-low, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the cabbage is tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer cabbage to a bowl.


2. Meanwhile, in another bowl, combine the meatloaf mix, breadcrumbs, egg, allspice and remaining 2 teaspoons caraway seeds. Form into meatballs, ping-pong ball or golf ball size, and place in skillet you cooked the cabbage in over med-high heat. Brown meatballs on all sides.



3. Add the cabbage back to the skillet; nestle the meatballs in the cabbage. Add 1 cup water to the to the skillet. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, cover and cook, turning the meatballs once, until cooked through, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve the meatballs on the cabbage, along with the cranberry sauce. (I also served with mashed potatoes)



Source: original recipe from Everyday with Rachael Ray October 2009 page 112

Rigatoni

I think this is an official menu item at every western Pennsylvanian graduation party - at least that was the experience Justin and I had back home. Anyway, I was surprisingly unable to find a recipe, so this is how I made it tonight.

12 oz rigatoni noodles, cooked & drained
4-6 slices bacon
1 lb ground beef
1 can Hunts stewed tomatoes
1 tsp oregano
1 regular size jar Ragu Parmesan & Romano spaghetti sauce
handful of shredded mozzarella
3-5 slices provolone

1. Cook the noodles, but undercook them a little b/c they will cook more in the oven & you won't want them mushy & overcooked.

2. Cook the bacon & remove from the pan, then cook the ground beef in the bacon fat. Once the ground beef is cooked, drain off all the fat (we are just going for the underlying bacon flavor here, not the actual bacon...)

3. Add the stewed tomatoes to the pan & break up with a potato masher. Stir in the oregano and Ragu. Bring to a boil and simmer 10 minutes.

4. Combine the sauce & noodles. Stir in a handful of mozzarella and put in 2-quart casserole dish. Bake at 350 about 30 minutes. Top with slices of provolone and bake for 10 more minutes.

Taco Burgers

1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 jalapeno seeded & chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 TB chili powder
1 tsp cumin
2 scallions, chopped
salt & pepper
large white or wheat tortillas
taco sauce
shredded cheese
shredded lettuce
1 tomato, chopped

1. Combine meat, jalapeno, garlic, spices, scallions, s/p. Shape into hamburger patties (4-5).
2. Cook patties in a pan or on the grill until done.
3. warm the tortillas, place lettuce, tomato, taco sauce & cheese in center of tortilla. Top with burger. Fold the tortilla around the burger. To serve, cut on a diagonal.

What I did: I only used about 1 lb of meat and cutting them on the diagonal kind of made them fall apart, so you might just want to wrap it up in the tortilla and eat it. I mixed up the meat and formed the patties before church, then after church we just had to grill them and dinner was ready really quickly.

Source: original recipe Rachael Ray's "taco pockets"

Pepperoni Pizza Burgers

I had this one on my list of things to make and it kept getting put off b/c I wasn't all that excited about it, but it turned out being pretty good.

1 lb lean ground beef
2 oz pepperoni, chopped (I used the less-fat turkey pepperoni)
1 beaten egg
1/4 cup fine dry bread crumbs
1 8 oz jar pizza sauce
1/2 tsp dried basil or oregano, crushed
salt & pepper
hamburger buns, split & toasted
shredded mozzarella cheese

1. In a medium mixing bowl combine ground beef, pepperoni, egg, bread crumbs, 2 TB of the pizza sauce, basil or oregano, S & P. Mix well. Shape into 6 patties

2. Grill burgers directly over medium coals for 14-18 minutes or until center reaches 160, turning once halfway through grilling.

3. Meanwhile, heat the remaining pizza sauce. Place burgers on bottom half of buns, top with sauce and some mozzarella cheese.

Source: www.bhg.com

Cincinnati Chili

Sorry its been so long since I posted a recipe. We were on vacation and then none of the new recipes I tried since have been worth sharing. So here's one of my old stand-by's.

1 lb ground beef
1 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 TB chili powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans tomato soup
1 15 oz can kidney beans, undrained
1 TB vinegar
cooked spaghetti
shredded cheddar

1. In a 4 qt sauceapan over med-high heat cook beef, green peppers, onions, chili powder and garlic until beef is browned and vegetables are tender. Spoon off the fat.
2. add soup, undrained kidney beans, & vinegar. Heat to boiling, reduce heat to low & simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Serve over cooked spaghetti and sprinkle shredded cheddar on top.

Not being big fans of spaghetti or chili, Justin was not so much excited about this the first time I made it, but after trying it he really liked it and it got the approval to be made again. The recipe comes from a roommate I had in college.