Beef Enchiladas

Recipe From: Pioneer Woman

For The Sauce:
1 tbsp Canola Oil
1 tbsp Flour
1 can (28 Ounce) Enchilada Or Red Sauce
2 cups Chicken Broth
½ tsp Salt
½ tsp Ground Black Pepper
2 tbsp Chopped Cilantro

For The Meat:
1-½ lb Ground Beef
1 Medium Onion (Finely Diced)
2 cans (4 Ounce) Diced Green Chilies
½ tsp Salt

For The Tortillas:
10 whole (to 14) Corn Tortillas
½ cups Canola Oil

To Assemble:
3 cups Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
½ cup Black Olives (chopped)
1 cup Green Onions (chopped)
½ cup Cilantro (chopped)

In a large saucepan over medium heat, add oil and flour and whisk together to make a paste, cooking for one minute. Pour in the red sauce, chicken broth, cilantro, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30-45 minutes. Brown the meat with onions in a skillet. Drain off fat. Stir in 2 cans diced green chilies and seasoned salt. Set aside. Heat 1/2 cup canola oil in a small skillet over medium heat. One by one, using tongs, fry tortillas in oil until soft, not crisp – about 30 seconds per side. Remove to a paper—towel lined plate. Repeat until all tortillas have been fried. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour ½ cup red sauce in bottom of baking pan. Spread to even out. Dip each tortilla into red sauce, then remove to work surface. Spoon meat, a little grated cheese, a little black olives, and green onions in the center of tortilla. Roll up and place, seam down, in baking pan. Repeat until pan is filled. Pour extra red sauce over enchiladas. Top with remaining cheddar cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly. Sprinkle cilantro over enchiladas before serving

Mini Meatloafs

Recipe From: Stephanie's Kitchen Blog

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 onion (chopped)
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 eggs (whisked)
2 tablespoons fresh parsley(chopped)
1/4 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp tomato paste
salt and pepper
ketchup

In a skillet, add olive oil and onions and cook until onions are soft, about 8 minutes. Add Worcestershire sauce and set aside to cool slightly. In a large bowl, whisk eggs. Add parsley, bread crumbs, cheese, tomato paste, salt and pepper. Mix together until well incorporated. Add ground beef and mix with hands just until combined. Do not overmix. Separate into 4 even patties and shape into loafs. Place on baking sheet (with foil underneath) and cover the tops of the loaves with ketchup. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 30-40 minutes.

Meatballs

Recipe From: Taste Buds
I had made these a long time ago and froze a bunch of them. We put them with spaghetti the other night and they were so moist and soft!

Ingredients:
4 lbs lean ground beef
2 eggs (slightly beaten)
1 cup dry Italian bread crumbs
1/2 cup onion (finely chopped)
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup Worchestershire sauce

Combine all ingredients. Blend well. Shape mixture into 1-1/2" balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake 25-30 minutes until brown. Remove immediately and drain on paper towels. Line on parchment paper on a cookie sheet and place in the freezer for about an hour. Once they are frozen, put in ziploc bags. Freeze and use within 3 months. Makes about 80 meatballs.

Skillet Lasagna

Recipe From: My Kitchen Cafe

Maybe more work than regular lasagna, but didn't need to turn on the oven...so that's a plus in the summer. I used fresh oregano and basil from the garden.

Ingredients:
3 (14.5 ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion (minced)
Salt
3 medium garlic cloves (finely minced)
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon dried basil
1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
1/2 pound ground pork
1/2 pound ground beef
12 curly-edged lasagna noodles (broken into 1 inch lengths)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup ricotta cheese

Pulse the tomatoes with their juice in a blender or food processor until they are coarsely ground and no large pieces remain. Heat the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring often, until the onion is softened and translucent, about 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the ground meat and cook, breaking apart the meat, until it is lightly browned and no longer pink, 5 to 6 minutes. Scatter the broken lasagna noodles over the meat and then pour in the ground tomatoes and tomato sauce over the pasta. Stir in the basil and oregano. Cover, increase the heat to medium-high, and cook, stirring often and adjusting the heat to maintain a vigorous simmer, until the pasta is tender, about 20 minutes.

Off the heat, stir in half the mozzarella and half of the parmesan. Dot heaping tablespoons of the ricotta over the noodles, then sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella and parmesan. Cover and let stand off the heat until the cheese melts, 2 to 4 minutes. Serve.

Turkey Cranberry Meatloaf

Recipe From: Katy Freezer Meals

Although I think ground turkey can be a little greasy, this had a good flavor.

Ingredients:
1 egg
1/2 cup chicken flavored stuffing mix
3/4 cup whole cranberry sauce (divided)
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 lb ground turkey

Mix egg, stuffing, and 1/4 cup of cranberry sauce. Add salt, pepper, and turkey and mix well. Bake meatloaf in loaf pan at 350 degrees uncovered for 55-65 minutes. Heat sauce in microwave and pour on loaf during last 15 minutes of cooking.

Meatball Sliders

Recipe From: Taste Buds Blog

These were really easy and fun to eat. More sauce the better.

Ingredients:
18 Meatballs (see recipe below)
18 1 oz rolls
18 slices mozzarella cheese
1/2 jar spaghetti sauce
fresh basil

Make the meatballs (see recipe below). Heat up spaghetti sauce, add meatballs, stirring to coat. Place one meatball on each roll and top with a slice of cheese. Place under broiler or in warm oven until cheese is melted. Top with one fresh basil leaf.

Meatball Recipe:
4 lb Lean ground beef
2 eggs (slightly beaten)
1 cup dry Italian bread crumbs
1/2 cup onion (finely chopped)
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 3/4 cups milk
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

Preheat oven to 375°F. Combine all ingredients. Blend well. Shape mixture into 1-1/2" balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake 25-30 minutes until brown. Remove immediately and drain on paper towels. When cooled put into Ziploc bags. Freeze and use within 3 months. Makes about 80 meatballs.

Pineapple Meatballs

Recipe from: Blog Chef

Meatball Ingredients:

2 lbs ground beef or turkey
2 large eggs
½ cup dry breadcrumbs
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
1 ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
¼ tsp garlic powder

Sauce Ingredients:
1 cup brown sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch
1 ¾ cups pineapple juice
¼ cup white vinegar
1 ½ tbsp soy sauce
1 ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 (14 oz) can pineapple tidbits

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Make the meatballs by combining all meatball ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well and shape into about 1” meatballs. Brown Meatballs in a non-stick frying pan and drain on paper towels (or if you want to save time brown in the oven on a cookie sheet while you’re making the sauce). Make the sauce by combining cornstarch and brown sugar in a sauce pan. Then add 1 ¾ cup pineapple juice and blend until the mixture is smooth. Add vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce and stir. Simmer uncovered on medium low until thickened (about 8 minutes - mine only took about 4 minutes to thicken). In a casserole dish pour sauce over meatballs and add pineapple tidbits. Lightly mix meatballs until they are coated with the sauce. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until fully cooked.

Lasagna

Recipe From: Amy Griffeth

I thought we would be eating Stouffer's frozen lasagna forever...but his recipe is really yummy. The extra work is worth it because this recipe made (3) 8x8 pans, so I froze 2 of them.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground Italian sausage
1 onion (chopped)
garlic (minced)
salt and pepper

Brown and drain fat. Add:

28 oz whole tomatoes (break with fork)
12 oz tomato paste
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp basil
Salt and pepper to taste)

Simmer, uncovered for 20 minutes.

Lasagna noodles (cooked and drained)
16 oz Ricotta Cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
12-16 oz mozzarella and cheddar cheese

Pour a little sauce on the bottom of the pan and then layer noodles, sauce, ricotta, cheese. Repeat layers. Sprinkle parmesan on the top layer. Bake, uncovered at 350 for 45 minutes.

Hula Joes

Recipe From: Rachel Ray

Not great, not bad...probably won't do again.Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/4 pound bacon (diced)
1 1/2 pounds ground pork (I used ground turkey)
1 sweet onion (finely chopped)
2 to 3 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
3 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup pineapple* (chopped)
salt and ground black pepper
4 Kaiser rolls (I used small dollar rolls)
cheddar cheese

Place a large skillet over medium-high heat with one turn of the pan of olive oil, about 1 tablespoon. Cook bacon in the pan until crispy, about 3-4 minutes, and remove it to a small bowl.

Return the pan with the bacon fat back over the heat, add the ground pork and cook until golden brown and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Add the onion and garlic to the pan and cook until soft, about 5-6 minutes.

While the pork and onions are cooking, in a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, red wine vinegar, Worcestershire and tomato sauce. Pour into the skillet with the pork and onion, cook about a minute, then stir in pineapple and bacon. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

While the filling is cooking, split open the rolls and toast them under the broiler.

To serve, place a bun bottom on a plate with a scoop of Hula Joe mixture and a sprinkling of cheese. Top with the bun cap.

*The recipe calls for fresh pineapple, but I used canned and it worked.

Meatloaf

Recipe From: Blake's Aunt Charlene

I LOVE meatloaf and Blake hates it. He is out of town on business, so tonight is meatloaf night! Sam is sure to love this only because she can dip it with ketchup.

Ingredients:
1 lb extra lean ground meat
1 egg (beaten)
3/4 cup bread crumbs or oats (I use 2 slices of whole wheat bread)
1/2 yellow onion (chopped)
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup ketcup (divided) (I use 8 oz tomato sauce)
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
salt, pepper, thyme, marjoram

Mix all the ingredients together (1/2 the tomato sauce/ketchup) and form a loaf. Place into a sprayed pan and cover with the remaining tomato sauce (or last 1/4 cup of ketchup). Bake for 1 hour at 350 or until cooked thoroughly. Serve with ketchup.

Spaghetti & Meatballs

Recipe From: My Mom

Yum

Ingredients:

1 lb thin spaghetti noodles
1 lb extra-lean ground meat
1 onion
2 cans tomato soup
2 cans tomato sauce
1 can water
salt & pepper
Italian seasoning & oregano

Cook pasta. Dice onion. Use 1/2 of it and mix with hamburger meat and salt/pepper. Form into meatballs. Sprinkle with italian seasoning and oregano. Cook in the broil on low. In a large saucepan combine: soup, sauce, water, and spices. Simmer and season to taste.

Mini Sloppy Joes

Recipe From: http://anne-marie.tastebuds.blogspot.com/

Everything is better when it is smaller. Of all the sloppy joes I've had in the past, none have brown sugar in them....genius!

Ingredients:

1 lb extra lean ground beef
1/2 yellow onion
2 8oz cans tomato sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tsp mustard
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 pkg dollar size rolls

Brown ground beef and onions. Drain off excess fat. Add remaining ingredients and cook over low about 10 minutes. Serve on dollar size rolls.

Meatball Sandwiches

My Original Recipe
Blake HATES meatloaf, but I love it. I figured why not just change the shape and put it on french bread...he'll never know the difference! I was right...he LOVED IT! I used my mom's meatloaf recipe as a base recipe and changed it up a bunch.

Ingredients:

1 lb extra lean ground beef

1/3 onion (diced)

2 slices whole wheat bread (torn into pieces)

2 eggs (beaten)

2 tbsp skim milk (might delete next time)

1 green onion (sliced)

8 oz can tomato sauce

3 tbsp ketsup

salt, pepper, thyme, marjoram

French Bread

Bottled Marinara Sauce

Fresh Mozzerella

Homemade Sauce:

8 oz can tomato sauce

1 can tomato soup

salt, pepper, thyme, marjoram

Combine all ingredients(except cheese & marinara) into a bowl and mix up. Because I wasn't following a recipe, I didn't really know what I was doing. It seemed a little too mushy when I shaped them into balls, but they tasted really moist and yummy. It made about 24 medium sized meatballs that I put in a 9x13 pan sprayed with Pam. Mix up and pour about 1/2 the homemade sauce over the meatballs and bake at 350 for about an hour. 1/2 way through, I turned them over in the pan and when there was about 10 minutes left I poured the rest of the homemade sauce on the top. Cut a 6" piece of bread, then cut in half and then slice open. Put a few meatballs in and cover with bottled marinara sauce and top with cheese. Melt the cheese in the broiler and enjoy!

Turkey Burger

Recipe adapted from: Mar-a-Lago Turkey Burger via Oprah.com
How can one resist making "the best turkey burger in the entire world!" I didn't do the pear chutney the right way and totally forgot the raisins. Doesn't matter how many times I read instructions, I always miss something. We ate this with corn on the cob, carrots/cucumbers with ranch dressing and chips/salsa.

Ingredients:

1 package (~1.4lbs) ground turkey

1 stalk green onions (thinly sliced)

1 stalk celery (finely chopped)

1 Granny Smith apple (peeled and diced)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp chiptole tabasco

1 lemon (juice and zest)

1 handful parsley (finely chopped)

1/4 cup chutney (I used mango/pappya)

Saute green onions, celery and apples in vegetable oil until tender. Let cool. Place ground turkey in a large mixing bowl and add sauteed items and the remaining ingredients. Shape into 6 burgers. Refrigerate for 2+ hours. Grill and top with pear chutney.

Pear Chutney Ingredients:

1 Anjou pear (peeled and diced)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups chutney (I dumped in the rest of the bottle - about 1 cup)

1/4 cup golden raisins

Preheat oven to 350. Toss the diced pears with the cinnamon and salt. Bake on a parchment-lined cookie sheet for 10 minutes. Cool and mix with chutney and raisins.

Sam prefers to eat her food 'dipped, ' so she ate tons of carrots and cucumbers with ranch dressing. And, of course chips and salsa are her favorite. Aunt Michelle snuck in a couple big bits of turkey burger that she ate, so I would call this meal a success. For dessert Sam dipped strawberries in Cool Whip.

Sam did not have the corn on the cob this time around and since Blake doesn't care for it, I may not do it again for awhile. But, here is a picture of Sammie eating corn 'just like mom' a few weeks ago.