Meaty Manicotti

This is the first time I've ever made manicotti, don't know why, but my family loved it so I am sure I will make it often now. This one was super easy to make and has pretty basic ingredients in it that I typically  have on hand. I made all 14 which is an entire package of noodles and it was too much for my family of four. Just one filled me up and my husband only ate 2, so super filling!

INGREDIENTS:

14 uncooked manicotti shells

1 pound Italian sausage (I like sweet the best)

3/4 lb. ground beef

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese

3oz. cream cheese, cubed

1/4 tsp. salt

4 cups of meatless spaghetti sauce, divided

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cook manicotti shells according to package. Meanwhile in a large skillet, cook sausage and beef over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Add garlic and cook 1 minute longer, Drain and remove from heat. Cool for 10 minutes.

2. Drain shells and rinse in cold water. Stir mozzarella, cream cheese, salt, and meat mixture together. Spread 2 cups of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. 

3. Stuff each shell with about 1/4 cup of meat mixture, arrange over sauce. Pour remaining sauce over top and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

4. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake and additional 5-10 minutes or until bubbly and heated through.

Shredded Beef Tacos

I love these tacos! I have been making our beef tacos this way for the past couple of years and they never disappoint. I have posted them here on my blog before with a yummy garnish that is worth trying too. It's an easy crock pot meal that requires very little ingredients. You can also substitute the beef for chicken and the beef broth for chicken broth with great results too.

Ingredients:

beef tip roast

2 packets of your favorite taco seasoning

1 can beef broth

1 small diced onion

Directions:

Pour beef broth in crock pot and mix in taco seasonings with a whisk. Place roast in crock pot and cook on low for 8-10 hours. Remove roast from juices and shred. Serve in warm tortillas with toppings of choice!

Recommendations:

• I love the uncooked tortillas from Costco, once you try them you'll never go back.
• My favorite toppings- lettuce, tomato, sour cream, cheese, this salsa, avocado or guacamole 
• I've used low sodium beef broth and low sodium taco seasonings and it still turns out great
• This rice (pictured above) makes the perfect side dish, but this one is good too!

Skillet Tamale Pie

My sister bought me the 10 year Complete America's Test Kitchen cookbook for Mother's Day and I have been going through it like a mad woman marking the millions of recipes I want to try. This was one of them. First off, I love any meal that only uses one pan! The tamale filling was full of flavor and perfectly accented with a homemade cornbread topping. The meal came together pretty quickly and created little mess. Definitely a keeper!

Ingredients:

TAMALE FILLING:

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 medium onion, minced

2 Tbsp. chili powder

table salt

2 medium garlic cloves, minced

1 lb. ground beef

1 15oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 14.5oz. can diced tomatoes, drained

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 Tbsp. minced fresh cilantro ( I used probably 2-3 times this much!)

CORNBREAD TOPPING:

3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup yellow cornmeal 

3 Tbsp. sugar

3/4 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

3/4 cup buttermilk

1 large egg

3 Tbsp. butter, melted and cooled

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2. TAMALE FILLING- heat the oil in a 12 inch oven-safe skillet (I used my hutch oven) over medium heat. Add onion, chili powder, and 1/2 tsp. salt. Cook until onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, cook till fragrant, about 30 seconds.

3. Stir in the ground beef, bean, and tomatoes, bring to a simmer and break up meat with a wooden spoon, for about 5 minutes. Stir in the cheddar cheese and cilantro and season with salt and pepper. 

4. CORNBREAD TOPPING- whisk the flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the buttermilk and egg together. Stir buttermilk mixture into flour mixture until uniform. Stir in the cooled butter until just combined.

5. Dallop the cornbread batter evenly over the tamale filling, then spread into an even layer. Bake until the cornbread is cooked through, about 10-15 minutes. 

Grilled Ribeye with Blue Cheese & Onions

This meal is always by request of my husband. He absolutely loves this steak. I am not a personal fan of blue cheese so I usually pull out a few sauteed onions to put on mine. This recipe is from the Pioneer Woman, so if you like blue cheese, there's no doubt it's going to be good. She is one amazing cook!

Ingredients:

2 ribeye steaks

butter

salt

pepper

4 Tbsp. butter

large yellow onion, sliced or diced

3/4 to 1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

Directions:

1. Butter each side of each steak and season with salt and pepper. Grill until medium-rare, or desired doneness.

2. Saute onion in 4 Tbsp. butter over high heat until dark and caramelized. Reduce heat to simmer and pour in heavy cream. Cook for 3-4 minutes, or until reduced by half. Stir in blue cheese until melted. Serve steaks on or over the sauce.

Secret Ingredient Burger

I've been meaning to share this tip on here for a while but I could never remember to take a picture when we had burgers. I finally remembered! My sister told me geeez...probably over a year ago to add a Tbsp. of Worcestershire sauce to a pound of ground beef before shaping my burger patties and it would add the best flavor. I've heard a lot of restaurants do this. So I did, she was right and we've done it ever since. Try it and see!

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef (I like to use 80/20 for burgers)

1 Tbsp. +/- Worcestershire sauce

garlic salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Combine ground beef and Worcestershire sauce in a bowl. Shape into hamburger patties then season with garlic salt and pepper, to taste. Grill to your desired done-ness (yes, I just made that word up).

Meatball Calzones

I found this pizza dough recipe on Lindsay's blog Our Family Treat a month or so ago and I love it! I have made both pizzas and calzones with it and it always turns out great. It's super simple to throw together and it only has to rise for 20 minutes so it's a quick meal to make. I usually divide the dough into four equal parts when making calzones and it makes 4 pretty large ones. Try it and let me know what you think. Stop by Lindsay's blog as well, she's got some great recipes!

Dough

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon Yeast

1 Cup 2 Tablespoons warm water

1 Tablespoon Sugar

Set aside and let grow.

2 Tablespoons Shortening

1 Teaspoon Salt

1 Teaspoon Sugar

3 Cups flour

Combine, and then add yeast mixture.

Once mixed well, let rise for twenty minutes.

Calzone Ingredients:

meatballs (I put approx. 4-5 meatballs, cut in half, in each one)

marinara sauce

4 slices mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Divide your dough into 4 equal parts. Roll each piece out into a small circle.

2. Put about 1 Tbsp. of marinara sauce on one side of the circle, top with meatballs, a slice of cheese, and 1 more Tbsp. of sauce. Fold over dough and seal edges with prongs of a fork. Repeat with each pizza dough.

3. Lightly brush the tops of the calzones with olive oil and cut a small slit in each one.

4. Lightly dust a pan with corn meal and place the calzones on it.

5. Place in a 400 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. (This is a lighter dough so it won't get too brown)

I also highly recommend Calzone Supreme too, it's my favorite but the kids don't usually go for it. I'll list the "inner ingredients" for any interested.

Calzone Supreme:

marinara

mozzarella cheese

thinly sliced red onion

thinly sliced green bell pepper

sliced black olives

pepperoni

meatballs

mushrooms

French Dip Sandwiches

Thanks to Teresa over at A Blog About Food for this yummy recipe! My family really enjoyed it and it was full of flavor. The house smelled great and it's always nice when dinner is ready with such little work involved. My husband says "it's a keeper" so I'm sure we'll be having this again soon. Thanks Teresa! (Be sure and check out her blog for other wonderful recipes too!)

Ingredients
1 (4 pound) boneless beef roast (Mine is often smaller than this, 2-3 pounds works fine too. And I usually cut it into a few pieces so it will cook faster/better.)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 beef bouillon cube
1 bay leaf
3 whole black peppercorns
1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon garlic powder (I used minced garlic)
2-3 cups beef stock
package of onion soup mix
French Bread or Rolls for sandwiches

Directions
Remove and discard all visible fat from the roast. Place trimmed roast in a slow cooker.

In a medium bowl, combine soy sauce, bouillon, bay leaf, peppercorns, rosemary, thyme, garlic powder, and onion soup mix. Pour mixture over roast, and add beef stock to almost cover roast. Cover, and cook on Low heat for 10 to 12 hours, or until meat is very tender.

Remove meat from broth, reserving broth. Shred meat with a fork, and distribute on bread for sandwiches. Used reserved broth for dipping.

Chalupa

This recipe came from a family cookbook I've had for a couple of years and finally just tried. It's basically taco salad with a kick. My husband and I really liked it but it was too spicy for the kids. You can substitute the remaining tomato sauce for the El Pato if you are wanting to tone it down. Thanks to my SIL Gayla for contributing this recipe!

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef or turkey

1 clove garlic, minced

1 Tbs. Mexican seasoning

salt & pepper, to taste

1 can tomato paste

4oz. (1/2 can) tomato sauce

4oz. (1/2 can) El Pato

1 cup cooked rice

Fritos chips

Toppings:

cheese

lettuce

tomato

olives

avocado

salsa

sour cream

Directions:

Brown and drain meat. Return to the skillet and add seasonings and sauces. Add enough water to make it about the consistency of tomato sauce. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Add rice to mixture just prior to serving. Serve mixture atop a bed of Fritos and top with desired toppings.

Dutch Oven Swiss Steak

I got this recipe from Shar's but I found it to be VERY similar to the Lion House recipe. My husband loves this dish and it makes the house smell so good! It's fairly simple, I even buy the pre-cut meat to make it even easier. Great comfort food for a cold day.

Ingredients:
4 lbs. beef round, cut about 1/2" thick
3/4 cup flour, divided
4-6 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. ground pepper
1/2 tsp. thyme
2 cups beef broth
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup green bell pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, diced
2 15oz. cans stewed tomatoes
1/2 lb. mozzarella cheese, grated

Directions:
1. Cut meat into 1" strips.
2. Dredge meat with 1/2 cup flour.
3. Melt butter in a large pot. Brown the dredged meat.
4. Stir in remaining flour and all seasonings. Slowly blend in beef broth.
5. Add vegetables and cook until slightly thickened.
6. Pour mixture into a dutch oven or if you don't have one, a roasting pan or casserole dish with lid will work.
7. Cover and bake at 325 degrees for 3 1/2-4 hours.
8. Remove and top with mozzarella cheese.

You can serve this over egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or rice as well. Whatever your family likes.

I cut this recipe in 1/2 for my family of 4 and it made plenty.

Slow Cooker Pepper Steak

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and new my family would love it. My husband loves anything with bell peppers in it. It did not disappoint and everyone enjoyed it. It is a super simple fix it and forget about it meal.

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds beef sirloin, cut into 2 inch strips (I used pre-cut stir fry meat)
  
• garlic powder to taste
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cube beef bouillon
• 1/4 cup hot water
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 large green bell peppers, roughly chopped (I used one red, one green)
  
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes, with liquid
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Sprinkle strips of sirloin with garlic powder to taste. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the vegetable oil and brown the seasoned beef strips. Transfer to a slow cooker.
2. Mix bouillon cube with hot water until dissolved, then mix in cornstarch until dissolved. Pour into the slow cooker with meat. Stir in onion, green peppers, stewed tomatoes, soy sauce, sugar, and salt.
3. Cover, and cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours. Serve over rice or egg noodles.
   

*I thought the gravy was a bit runny so I added ultra gel , a natural thickening agent.

Baked Mostaccioli

I found this recipe on Tasty Kitchen and thought it sounded good. I usually can't go wrong when I make a pasta dish. The kids love anything with noodles and my husband really likes Italian sausage so it was a winner in our house. It does make a ton though! There is 2 pounds of meat in this sucker so a little goes a long way. Next time I'll freeze half for an emergency meal. (By the way Tasty Kitchen is the Pioneer Woman's new recipe website and she recently finished writing her very first cookbook which you can pre-order now on Amazon. Just thought I'd share for those of you who love her as much as I do!)

Ingredients:
1 pound Ground Beef
1 pound Italian Sausage
2 pinch(es) Garlic Sal, (I used 1 clove of garlic, minced)
45 ounces jar Spaghetti Sauce (I'm a Prego fan)
2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning (to Taste)
1 box(es) Mostaccioli Noodles
6 slices American Cheese
6 slices Mozzarella Cheese (get Slices, NOT Shredded)
6 slices Provolone Cheese

Directions:
1. Boil your noodles according to the box.
2. Brown the ground beef and Italian sausage and garlic.
3. Add spaghetti sauce and Italian seasoning to browned meat and let simmer for about 15-20 mins.
4. Preheat oven to 350F.
5. Grease a 9×13 glass dish and layer 1/2 of your noodles. Tear up 3 pieces of American cheese and3 pieces of mozzarella cheese, and place on top of noodles. (**placing the cheese on the noodles is a VERY important secret step)
Next pour 1/2 of your meat sauce over the cheese and noodles.
Now add the other 1/2 of your noodles and top with the other 3 slices of American cheese and 3 slices of provolone cheese.
Pour other 1/2 of your sauce over the 2nd layer of cheese and noodles, then top with remaining mozzarella cheese.
6. Place in oven on 350F for 45 mins.

Barbecued Beef

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups ketchup
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. prepared Dijon-style mustard
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. liquid smoke flavoring
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp.ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 4lb. boneless chuck roast

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except roast.
2. Place roast in a slow cooker, pour ketchup mixture over top. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.
3. Remove chuck roast from slow cooker, shred with a fork, and return to slow cooker for approximately 1 hour.

Mesquite Flat Iron Steak

My family is a big fan of flat iron steak. You can buy a large enough cut to feed the whole family and it is reasonably priced. I have yet to have one that isn't tender too. McCormick's had their marinade packets on sale at the grocery store last week so I decided to pick one up and try it. It was really good, lots of flavor, and the kids out-ate us!

Ingredients:
2 lb. flat iron steak
1 envelope McCormick's Mesquite Marinade
1/4 cup oil
1/4 water

Directions:
1. Mix marinade seasoning with water and oil. Reserve a small amount for basting. Place remainder in a large ziploc bag.
2. Rinse steak and pat dry. Place in ziploc bag with marinade.
3. Refrigerate over night.
4. Grill over medium heat, 10 minutes each side, brushing with reserved marinade.

Beef Stroganoff

This is pretty much a fix it and forget about it meal. Great for Sundays. I love that it has simple ingredients that I typically have on hand. This is always a family pleaser, anything with meat n' gravy over noodles usually is. Give it a try!

Ingredients:
2-3 pounds cubed beef stew meat
1 packet Au Ju mix
1 cup water
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 cup sour cream
1/2 pound sliced mushrooms
rice or noodles

Directions:
Mix Au Ju mix and 1 cup of water and place in a slow cooker. Add cubed beef and cook on low for 5-6 hours, or until meat is tender.
Once meat is tender add soups, sour cream, and mushrooms, and cook on high for an additional 15 minutes.
Serve over rice or egg noodles.

Mexican Pizza

If you've ever had a Mexican pizza at Taco Bell, then this is a simple take-off. My kids really like these, which is odd because they usually don' like tacos. Must be the deep fried tortillas! It's a super easy meal and is ready in less then 30 minutes.

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 pkt. taco seasoning
1 can refried beans
salsa
shredded cheese
chopped tomatoes
diced green onion
sour cream
8 small flour tortillas
canola oil

Directions:
Brown your ground beef over medium heat until no longer pink. Drain grease, add 1-2 Tbsp. water and taco seasoning and return to burner on low heat. Warm refried beans and cover to keep warm. Heat canola oil (enough to fill about an inch of the pan) over med-high heat. Once oil is hot, brown each side of the tortilla, making sure to pop any bubbles. The tortillas need to be as flat as possible.
Layer as follows:
browned tortilla
refried beans
meat
salsa
browned tortilla
then top with:
cheese
tomatoes
green onion (you can put the pizzas under the broiler at this point to melt the cheese, if desired)
sour cream

Philly Cheese Sandwich

This is one of my lazy day dinners. It is so quick and simple, and tastes great!

Ingredients:
1 lb. deli roast beef, shaved
1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
6 slices provolone cheese
6 hoagie rolls
mayo

Directions:
Heat chopped onion and bell pepper in a large skillet over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Add shaved roast beef to the skillet just long enough for the meat to barely brown (do not overcook or your meat will be dry and chewy). Turn off heat and place provolone slices over meat. Allow cheese to melt before spooning into hoagie rolls. Spread hoagie rolls lightly with mayo if desired.

Pioneer Woman's Beef Enchiladas

This is the Pioneer Woman's favorite enchiladas. I decided to give them a try for a couple reasons. 1- everything she makes is good, 2- cilantro!, 3- I've never made beef enchiladas before. These were very tasty! They do take some time to make as it is a three step process, but it's worth it.

The Pioneer Woman recently started another website called Tasty Kitchen. It's filled with wonderful recipes and has already become one of my favorite sites. Be sure and check it out!

Ingredients:

THE SAUCE

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 large (28-ounce) can enchilada or red sauce

2 cups chicken broth

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

2 tablespoons chopped Cilantro

In a large saucepan over medium heat, add oil and flour and whisk together to make a past, cooking for 1 minute. Pour in other red sauce, chicken broth, salt, and pepper, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30 to 45 minutes.

THE MEAT

1 1/2 pounds ground beef

1 medium onion, finely diced

2 4-ounce cans diced green chilies

1/2 teaspoon salt

Brown meat with onions in a skillet. Drain off fat. Stir in 2 cans diced green chilies and seasoned salt. Set aside.

TORTILLAS

10 to 14 corn tortillas

½ cup canola oil

Heat canola oil in a small skillet over medium heat. One by one, using tongs, fry tortillas oil until soft, not crisp—about 30 seconds per side. Remove to a paper-towel lined plate. Repeat until all tortillas have been fried.

Directions:

ASSEMBLY

Sauce (above)

Meat (above)

Tortillas (above)

3 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

½ cup chopped black olives

1 cup chopped green onions

½ cup chopped cilantro

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 bubble. Sprinkle chopped cilantro over enchiladas before serving.

Taco Puffs

I found this recipe over at Tried and True Cooking with Heidi a while back and was finally able to make it. I put this on our menu a couple weeks back but was unable to make it because the cans of crescents exploded in the car on the way home from the grocery store....that's our million degree AZ heat for ya'. Then I put it on the menu for this week and managed to drop one of the cans of crescents while putting groceries away and it popped open!!! So we had to have it last night so the dough wouldn't go to waste...AGAIN!
My kids don't typically eat tacos but they sure did eat these. They were really yummy and had a hint of sweetness from the crescent. We will definitely be making these again. Thanks Heidi!

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 envelope taco seasoning
2 tubes refrigerated crescent
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add the taco seasoning and prepare according to package directions. Cool slightly. Unroll crescents leaving 2 crescents together to form a square. Press seems together and place in a greased cookie sheet. Spoon 1/4 cup meat mixture onto each; sprinkle with 1/4 cup shredded cheese. Pull crescent dough around the filling and pinch edges to seal tightly. Bake at 400° for 13 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 8.

Garlic Toasted Spaghetti Bruschetta

Ingredients:
softened butter
french bread or Ciabatta Bread, cut in half lengthwise ( I recommend Ciabatta)
Lawry's Garlic Salt with Parsley
l lb of your favorite prepared spaghetti*
shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spread butter over cut sides of bread. Sprinkle lightly with garlic salt. Top with prepared spaghetti that's been cut into small pieces with kitchen scissors then sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and hot. Let cool for 5 minutes then cut into strips. Serve warm.

*I used Prego's Meat sauce as my starter sauce. I added Italian sausage (cooked), minced garlic, chopped onion, and chopped fresh parsley. Simmer for 30 minutes then pour over hot angel hair pasta.

Once again, this is a Picky Palate recipe, (I know, O.D.), you just can't go wrong!

Marinated NY Strip....on the grill

Ingredients:
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke flavoring
1 pinch cayenne pepper
2 boneless NY Strip or Rib-Eye steaks

Directions:
1. In a medium bowl, mix the vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, honey, olive oil, ground black pepper, Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, salt, liquid smoke, and cayenne pepper.
2. Place steaks in a shallow glass dish with the marinade, and turn to coat. For optimum flavor, rub the liquid into the meat. Cover, and marinate in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
3. Preheat grill for medium-high to high heat.
4. Lightly oil the grill grate. Grill steaks 7 minutes per side, or to desired doneness. Discard leftover marinade.