Spaghetti & Meatballs

This is my sixteen year old's favorite meal. 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs ground beef

1 cup diced onion

1/2 cup diced bell pepper

3-4 cloves garlic minced

1 large egg

1/4 cup slurry of milk and crackers or crumbs

Splash of pasta sauce

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Salt & pepper 

5-6 cups marinara or 2 large jars

Pasta

Dash of oil

Salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In small dish mix crushed crackers or croutons with a splash of milk.  The goal is to have roughly 1/4 to 1/2 a cup of slurry. Allow it to sit and soak in the milk.  Chop onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Toss into large bowl. Add egg, splash of sauce, slurry, cheese, salt & pepper.  Mix well. Add in meat and mix by hand until mixture is completely incorporated into the meat.  Mold into balls and place on cookie sheet.  I make my balls about the size of an ice cream scoop.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. The meat will not be cooked at this point but it will be cooked enough to  hold its shape and for most of the fat and grease to have drained out.  Add your sauce or marinara to a tall pot. Remove the meatballs from the oven. Using a slotted spoon scoop the meatballs into the sauce. Simmer for about thirty minutes. You want it to be a slow simmer because once you add the meatballs you will not want to stir it much because it will cause the meatballs to break up. While your meatballs are simmering prepare your pasta. Don't forget to salt and oil your water. I serve it with garlic bread and Caesar salad.  It's also good with sautéed zucchini or spinach. 

Sloppy Joe's

Ingredients:

1  1/2 lbs hamburger meat

1/2 onion diced

1/2 bell pepper diced

1/2 cup ketchup

1/2 cup barbecue sauce

1 tbl mustard

I can Campbell's chicken gumbo soup

Salt & pepper

Directions:

Dice onion and bell pepper. Sauté onion, bell pepper, and beef until no longer pink. Salt & pepper to taste. Drain any extra grease.  Whisk together remaining ingredients in separate bowl and then stir into meat. Simmer about 15 to 20 minutes. 

Sorry I don't have a picture. 

Mediterranean Layer Dip

Hummus

Ingredients:

3 16 oz. cans chick peas, drained and rinsed

3 tsp minced garlic

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground cumin

2-3 dashes cayenne

In measuring cup juice of 5-6 lemons + 3/4 cup water

In measuring cup 9 tbs. tahini + 6 tbs. olive oil

Directions:

Add first five ingredients to processor and process on high about 20 seconds. Stop and scrape down bowl and process 10 seconds more. Then while processing pour in steady stream through food tube the lemon/water. Then stop and scrape down bowl and process for one minute. While processing pour tahini/olive oil in steady stream through food tube. Continue to process until smooth and creamy, stopping and scraping down bowl as needed. Spread in platter.  

This recipe is for layer dip but you can certainly have just the hummus.  Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with parsley and paprika. Serve with fresh warm pita bread.  As an alternative you may also drizzle with a balsamic vinaigrette and sprinkle with roasted pine nuts.  Or make an olive hummus by adding about 1/4 cup chopped olives and a splash of olive juice at the end and then garnish drizzled olive oil and top with more chopped olives. 

Pesto

Ingredients:

2 bundles of cilantro

2 tsp. minced garlic

4 tbs. pine nuts

4 tbs. chopped pecans

1/2 cup plus 4 tbs. extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions: 

Soak and rinse cilantro. Dry well with paper towels. Cut of majority of stems. Mince garlic. Combine in bowl of processor the cilantro, garlic, pine nuts, pecans, and 4 tbs. of oil. Process for about twenty seconds, stop, scrape down bowl and repeat. Then while processor running pour remaining oil in a steady stream through food tube. Stop and scrape down bowl whenever necessary. Transfer to bowl and fold in Parmesan cheese. 

Layer dip: 

Spread pesto over hummus. Top with any combination or all of the following and adjust to suite to your taste: sliced olives, peeled seeded diced cucumber, chopped red onion, cilantro or parsley, feta cheese, sun dried tomatoes julienned, sliced banana peppers. I like to drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette at the end. This layer dip will fill a large platter and serves a pretty large crowd you may need to half the recipe. 

King Ranch Chicken

Ingredients: 

3 large bone in chicken breasts

36 white corn tortillas

1/2 large onion diced

1 bell pepper diced

1/2 carton mushrooms washed and sliced thin

2 tbls olive oil + more to coat casserole dish

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can mild Rotel tomatoes

1/2 tbl chili powder

Salt & Pepper

3 cups shredded Colby jack cheese

1/2 can of olives sliced

Directions:

Simmer chicken breasts in water until cooked through about 1 hour.  While chicken is cooking... In bowl combine soups and tomatoes with chili powder and stir well, set aside. 

Clean and dice vegetables. Add olive oil to skillet and sauté on medium heat stirring frequently until onion and bell pepper are soft and mushrooms are starting to brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. 

When chicken is cooked, remove skin and debone. Coarsely chop chicken. Add chicken to a large bowl and add the sautéed vegetables and salt and pepper to the chicken and stir well. Then add less than half of the soup mixture to the chicken. Less is more, you only need enough sauce to moisten the chicken. 

Rub a little olive oil over casserole dish. Cut 36 round tortillas into squares and set the round edges aside (I fry these and make my own tortilla chips). 

Layer 12 tortilla squares  in the bottom of the casserole dish overlapping only slightly. Spread 1/2 of the chicken over the tortillas. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of cheese. Repeat layer with 12 tortilla squares, remaining 1/2 of chicken and 1/2 cup cheese.  For final layer use the last 12 tortilla squares and about half of the remaining soup mixture (you will have some left over) just enough to cover the tortillas.  You don't want your casserole to be too soupy.  Then sprinkle with remaining 2 cups of cheese and sprinkle olives on top. 

Bake at 350 degrees for thirty minutes. The cheese should be starting to brown on the edges.  I serve it with my homemade tortilla strips, sour cream and a side of yellow corn. 

This seems like a lot but you do all of your prep work while the chicken is cooking and the assembly does not take too long. I fry my chips while it is baking. This can easily be done with a rotisserie chicken. If you prefer spicier, you can use a medium or hot Rotel. 

Sausage and Tortellini Soup

This is hands down the best soup I have ever eaten/made. Amazing!

Ingredients:

1 pkg mild Italian sausage

2 yellow squash sliced into half rounds

2 cups baby spinach leaves

1/2 large onion chopped

2 large garlic cloves minced

2 green onion chopped

1 pkg dried cheese tortellini 

1/2 15 oz can diced tomatoes

1 can evaporated milk

2 knorr chicken home style stock (gel concentrated stock)

7 cups water 

Salt and cracked pepper

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp celery salt

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan 

Directions: 

Remove skins from sausage. Add sausage and onion to dutch oven and cook until sausage is browned. Add 1/2 can of diced tomatoes. Add spices and stir. Add water bring to a boil. While waiting wash and chop other vegetables. Add concentrated stocks. Reduce heat to low and cover for ten minutes. Add green onion, squash, and spinach. Add can of milk. Increase heat to medium in order to bring back to simmer and then reduce heat again if needed. Meanwhile in separate pot boil tortellini according to package instructions. Drain and stir into soup. Remove from heat. Stir in cheese. Enjoy!!

Chicken Enchiladas Verde

Chicken Enchiladas Verde

Ingredients:

Meat from 1 whole cooked chicken, chopped

18 yellow corn tortillas, steamed to slightly soften

1 block Colby jack cheese, grated 

1 block Monterey Jack cheese, grated 

1 pkg. McCormick chicken taco mix

1 15 oz. can green chile sauce

1 15 oz. can tomatillos 

1 small onion, diced

1/2 bell pepper, diced

1 clove garlic, minced 

Directions:

Dice onion and bell pepper.  In large fry pan, sauté in 2 tbs olive oil until softened about 7 minutes. Add chopped chicken.  Mix the taco mix with a little water and pour over chicken. Cook long enough for water to absorb.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.  Steam tortillas to soften them slightly so that they can be rolled without splitting. Grate both blocks of cheese and mix together. Mix the chile sauce and tomatillos together. Add a few spoons of chicken and a sprinkling of cheese to each tortilla and roll tightly, placing in casserole dish. Spoon chile/tomatillos over rolled tortillas.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. In like to have mine with a dollop of sour cream. 

Meatloaf

Please excuse the picture. It is a paper plate night. Meatloaf is my absolute favorite meal. I even have a meatloaf song that I sing (which my kids hate). But I can't help it, meatloaf just makes me happy. It also happens to be my husband's least favorite meal, so I always serve him up a nice ribeye steak while the rest of us eat meatloaf. He is really missing out. The meatloaf is way better!!

1 1/2 lbs hamburger meat

1small onion diced

3 stalks of celery diced

3 cloves garlic minced

1small zucchini diced

1 egg

Dash of ketchup 

1/2 cup crushed croutons or cracker

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp each of Salt, Pepper, garlic powder, Celery salt, Season salt

Dash Cayenne pepper 

4 slices bacon

3 dashes Worcestershire sauce

4 tbls brown sugar

14 oz can tomato sauce 

Combine crushed croutons or crackers and milk in cup and allow to soak to create slurry. Dice all vegetables and place in large mixing bowl. Add egg, ketchup, spices, and slurry. Mix well. You can improvise spices or vegetables to your liking. I like mine very chunky with lots of veggies. Add meat and mix by hand until fully incorporated.

Place in casserole dish and shape into loaf.  Combine tomato sauce, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce. Arrange raw bacon slices over the loaf. Pour sauce over loaf, making sure completely covered. Bake at 350 degrees about 1 hour and 20 minutes. I usually serve with either mashed or fried potatoes and corn. I just use a McCormick brown gravy packet but I add a few tsp of the drippings from the meatloaf to make the gravy taste a little richer. One of the many wonderful things about meatloaf is the leftover cold meatloaf sandwiches. Enjoy!