Meatballs (for Homemade Spaghetti Sauce)
Ingredients:
-1 pound ground beef (or turkey, etc.)
-1 cup fresh bread crumbs
-1 cup fresh bread crumbs
-1 tablespoon dried parsley
-1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
-1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
-1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
-1 egg, beaten
-1/2 cup olive oil
Directions:
In a large bowl, combine ground beef, bread crumbs, parsley, Parmesan, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, garlic powder and beaten egg. Mix well and form into 12 balls.
Pour olive oil into a skillet. Cook meatballs over medium heat until browned on all sides. Add to Homemade Spaghetti Sauce.
Irish Beef Stew
I was looking for a fun meal to make for my family for St. Patrick’s Day, and there’s just something about corned beef and cabbage that sounds overwhelmingly unappealing to me. I found this recipe for Irish Beef Stew on SimplyRecipes.com. My husband says it was the best beef stew I’ve ever made (and I’ve tried a few different recipes in the crock pot — good, but nothing like this one.) The sauce is wonderful because of the Guinness and red wine.
This also pairs wonderfully with the recipe for Irresistible Irish Soda Bread.
Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour, 50 minutes
Serves: 4 – 6
Ingredients:
-1/4 cup olive oil
-1 1/4 lbs. well-marbled chuck beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch pieces. (Not extra-lean)
-6 cloves garlic, minced
-6 cups beef stock or canned beef broth
-1 cup Guinness beer
-1 cup fine red wine (Kristen’s note: I used burgundy cooking wine, and it turned out great.)
-2 tbsp. tomato paste
-1 tbsp. sugar
-1 tbsp. dried thyme
-1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
-2 bay leaves
-2 tbsp. butter
-3 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces (about 7 cups)
-1 large onion, chopped
-2 cups carrots (peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces)
-Salt and pepper
-2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
Directions:
1. Heat olive oil in heavy, large pot over medium-high heat. Lightly salt the beef pieces. Working in batches if necessary, add the beef (do not crowd the pan or the meat will steam and not brown) and cook without stirring, until nicely browned on one side. Use tongs to turn pieces over. Repeat until all sides of the meat are browned, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute 1 minute. Add beef stock, Guinness, red wine, tomato paste, sugar, thyme, Worcestershire sauce, and bay leaves. Stir to combine. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, then cover and simmer 1 hour, stirring occassionally.
2. While the meat and stock is simmering, melt butter in another large pot over medium heat. Add potatoes, onions, and carrots. Saute vegetables until golden, about 20 minutes. Set aside until the beef stew in step 1 has simmered for 1 hour.
3. Add vegetables to beef stew. Simmer uncovered until vegetables and beef are very tender, about 40 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Tilt pan and spoon off fat. Transfer stew to serving bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with parsley and serve. (Can be prepared up to 2 days ahead of time. Cool slightly. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, then cover and refrigerate. Bring to simmer before serving.)
Sloppy Joe Biscuit Cups
Ingredients:
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1/4 cup finely chopped celery
- 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
- 1/4 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
- 1/2 cup prepared barbecue sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 can (2 oz.) refrigerated flaky buttermilk biscuits
- 5 slices (1 oz. each) cheddar cheese, quartered
Directions:
Preaheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a large, nonstick skillet over medium heat, brown ground beef, celery, onion, and bell pepper 6 minutes, or until outside surface of beef is no longer pink, breaking beef up into 1/2-inch crumbles. Pour off drippings. Stir in barbecue sauce and salt.
Simmer, uncovered, 2 to 3 minutes; stir occasionally.
Meanwhile, place 1 biscuit into each of 10 ungreased standard-size muffin cups; press dough firmly onto bottoms and up sides of cups. Spoon about 1/4 cup of beef mixture into each biscuit cup.
Bake in 400 degree oven 10-12 minutes or until edges of biscuits are golden brown. Arrange 2 pieces of cheese on top of each biscuit cup. Continue baking 1 to 2 minutes or until cheese is melted. Let stand 1 minute. Loosen edges of biscuit cups before removing from pan.
Per serving: 265 calories; 14 g protein; 17 g carbs; 16 g fat; 43 mg cholesterol; 635 mg sodium.
Almost Lasagna
I had planned to make lasagna one night, and didn’t realize until the last-minute that I had zero lasagna noodles. This recipe definitely helped me out in a pinch, and was a good way to use all those noodles I find on sale at Publix.
Ingredients:
-1 pound elbow macaroni (or other similarly shaped pasta-like small shells), cooked
-1 pound ground meat; beef, turkey, chicken, sausage, or tofu crumbles, etc.
-2 eggs
-1 pound ricotta cheese (I used cottage cheese instead)
-1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
-salt and pepper to taste
-1 jar spaghetti sauce- 24 to 26 oz.
-2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
-2 cups or so veggies (e.g. diced zucchini, matchstick carrots, etc.). I totally skipped this step, mainly because I didn’t have anything like it on hand. Sounds tempting though.
Instructions:
1. – Brown meat and drain well, if necessary. While meat is cooking, stir together eggs, ricotta, grated Parmesan and salt and pepper.
2.- Mix cooked meat macaroni, sauce, and veggies. Add ricotta mixture and blend well.
3. – Coat a 9 x 13 baking pan with cooking spray or olive oil and spread half of macaroni mixture evenly over the bottom. Top with a cup of mozzarella and a healthy sprinkle of grated Parmesan. Add the remaining macaroni mixture and top with another cup of mozzarella and another sprinkle of Parmesan. Cover with foil.
4.- Place in refrigerator (to cook later), or heat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake covered for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 10 to 20 minutes until cheese is lightly browned and bubbly.
Source – Family Fun Magazine
Taco Soup (Crock Pot)
Shamelessly stolen from http://crockpot365.blogspot.com
Kristen’s note: This is really more like a chili than it is a soup. Makes for very yummy leftovers as well.
–stir.
Crusted Stuffed Meatloaf
**This is one of those “eyeball” recipes…you sort of eyeball the measurements. Measurements are approximate, but the recipe is pretty forgiving.**
-1/2 lb Ground Turkey
-1 stack saltines, crushed
-1 egg
-salt and pepper to taste
-chopped onion (1/4 cup or less)
-1 cup mozzerella cheese, shredded*
-1/2 Roma tomato, sliced into 1/4 inch slices*
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Mix ground turkey, crushed saltines, egg, salt & pepper together. Roll out on a sheet of greased tin foil. Work into a rectangle, roughly 13″ x 10″ (I’m guessing here!). Layer cheese, onion, and tomato in a 3-4 inches wide strip on the middle of the meat. Fold remaining edges of meat over the layers of filling to form a roll. Pinch ends and smooth out seams.
Bake on a greased baking sheet for 30 minutes or until brown.
*You can stuff this with just about anything you like. This is normally what we use.
Five Ingredient Lasagna
Serves 6
-8 oz. ground beef (or ground turkey)
-1 jar spaghetti sauce (usually Ragu)
-6 lasagna noodles, UNcooked
-8 oz. cottage cheese
-2 cups mozzerella cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In an 11″ x 7″ lasagna dish, spread a thin layer of sauce. Place two noodles on top of sauce, then layer ground beef, cottage cheese, mozzerella cheese, and sauce. Repeat layers, until ingredients are used up. (I usually reverse the sauce and mozzerella cheese on the last layer).
Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour or until done. Works really well as leftovers (even if it’s a little runny on the first night).
Slow Cooker Beef Roast
Serves 6
-2.5 pound roast
-2 carrots, cut up
-2 potatoes, cut up
-6 oz. mushrooms, sliced
-1 (10.75 oz.) can cream of mushroom soup
-1 can beef broth
-1 (1 oz) package of dry onion soup mix
-3 cloves of garlic minced
-2 tablespoons of olive oilIn a large pan, sear roast on both sides with the olive oil — which will give it a nice brown color on the outside. (No need to cook through.) Place the roast in the bottom of the slow cooker. Add veggies. Pour the soup mix, mushroom soup, and beef broth over the top. Scatter the minc ed garlic over the roast and then cook on low for eight to nine hours (or high for four to five hours).
