Shopping List
1 lb ground beef
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can corn
1 can green beans
Mashed potatoes (great way to use Thanksgiving leftovers!)
1 bag grated cheese (I like montery jack or sharp cheddar)
Seasoned salt
Italian seasoning
If the mashed potatoes are already made, start about 45 mins before you want to eat. Brown the ground beef. You brown ground beef by putting it in a frying pan over medium heat. As it
cooks, break it up and move it around the pan, making sure to scrape the
meat off the bottom of the pan so it doesn't burn. I find a fork to be
the easiest thing to do this with. You don't have to stir it constantly,
but you do need to do so about every 2-3 minutes. Once you can't see
any more pink, the ground beef is cooked. Drain the grease.
Add the can of cream of mushroom soup, 1-2 tsp (teaspoons) of seasoned salt and 1 tsp Italian seasoning. Stir to combine. Dump ground beef into an 8x8 casserole dish and spread around evenly. Open the can of corn, drain it, and dump it on top of the ground beef spreading it around evenly. Drain the can of green beans and dump it on top of the corn, again spreading it around evenly. Top with the mashed potatoes. Spread the grated cheese (about half the bag) over the top.
If you want, you can put a few squares of butter on the top - it helps the cheese to brown.
Bake at 350* for 30 mins.
Monday, November 26, 2012
Monday, November 12, 2012
Shredded Beef Enchiladas
My husband requested that I type up this recipe. He has decided it is now one of my "signature" dishes. I've only made it twice, but apparently it's his very favorite recipe ever :) It is also one of the easiest recipes I make :)
Shopping List
Beef roast (about 2 lbs)
1 large can enchilada sauce (I use Old El Paso Mild, but you can pick a spicier one if you like heat)
1 can beef broth
1 bag shredded cheese (I like sharp cheddar or a Mexican blend)
8 tortillas (I use flour, but you could use corn if you prefer)
Start about 8 hours before you want to eat (you're using the crockpot - it takes a while). Put the roast in the crockpot. It's ok if it's frozen (if it's frozen, I sometimes need to put it in the sink and run hot water over it long enough to get the paper mat thingy off the bottom). Dump the can of enchilada sauce on top. Add the can of beef broth. Plug in the crockpot (if you forget this step, it doesn't work very well. It also makes you mad when you've been looking forward to the meal all day and it's still uncooked). Cook on low for 6+ hours (if you cook it longer, that's fine too).
Scoop the roast out and put it in a bowl. Cut it up/shred it (by this time it's tender enough that a butter knife and fork can easily cut it). Add a couple of scoops of the sauce from the crockpot. This will be the filling for your enchiladas, so add sauce until it's as saucy as you want. My kids don't like it horribly saucy, so I only add a few scoops. Stir in half the shredded cheese.
Spray the bottom of a 8x8 casserole dish with pam (not necessary, it just makes serving and clean up easier). Preheat oven to 350*. Grab your tortillas and put a good sized scoop of the beef and cheese mixture (about 1/8 of it - you can add less filling and make more enchiladas if you like more tortillas and less meat in your enchiladas) in a line down the middle of one. Roll it up and put it in the casserole dish (if you turn it so the ends are down, it will be more likely to stay rolled up). Repeat with the rest of the meat and tortillas.
When you're done rolling the enchiladas and your casserole dish is full, top them with sauce from the crockpot. You can put just a little or you can smother them in it - depends on how much sauce you like :) Top with the rest of the shredded cheese. Bake for about 20 mins or until the cheese is melted.
Shopping List
Beef roast (about 2 lbs)
1 large can enchilada sauce (I use Old El Paso Mild, but you can pick a spicier one if you like heat)
1 can beef broth
1 bag shredded cheese (I like sharp cheddar or a Mexican blend)
8 tortillas (I use flour, but you could use corn if you prefer)
Start about 8 hours before you want to eat (you're using the crockpot - it takes a while). Put the roast in the crockpot. It's ok if it's frozen (if it's frozen, I sometimes need to put it in the sink and run hot water over it long enough to get the paper mat thingy off the bottom). Dump the can of enchilada sauce on top. Add the can of beef broth. Plug in the crockpot (if you forget this step, it doesn't work very well. It also makes you mad when you've been looking forward to the meal all day and it's still uncooked). Cook on low for 6+ hours (if you cook it longer, that's fine too).
Scoop the roast out and put it in a bowl. Cut it up/shred it (by this time it's tender enough that a butter knife and fork can easily cut it). Add a couple of scoops of the sauce from the crockpot. This will be the filling for your enchiladas, so add sauce until it's as saucy as you want. My kids don't like it horribly saucy, so I only add a few scoops. Stir in half the shredded cheese.
Spray the bottom of a 8x8 casserole dish with pam (not necessary, it just makes serving and clean up easier). Preheat oven to 350*. Grab your tortillas and put a good sized scoop of the beef and cheese mixture (about 1/8 of it - you can add less filling and make more enchiladas if you like more tortillas and less meat in your enchiladas) in a line down the middle of one. Roll it up and put it in the casserole dish (if you turn it so the ends are down, it will be more likely to stay rolled up). Repeat with the rest of the meat and tortillas.
When you're done rolling the enchiladas and your casserole dish is full, top them with sauce from the crockpot. You can put just a little or you can smother them in it - depends on how much sauce you like :) Top with the rest of the shredded cheese. Bake for about 20 mins or until the cheese is melted.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
How to Roast a Turkey
Shopping List
Frozen turkey (about 1 lb per person, plus a few extra)
Turkey-sized baking bag
Seasoned salt
Pepper
Garlic powder
Butter
Lemon Juice
1 Tablespoon flour
Roasting pan (they sell disposable ones if you don't have room to store one)
(also ingredients for stuffing if you're planning on stuffing it - see previous post for stuffing info)
Start 24 hours before you need to cook the turkey as you will need to thaw it. To thaw the turkey, put it in your sink and cover it with cold water. Leave it overnight. Yes, you can thaw it in the fridge, but that takes several days and I've never had very good results trying to thaw them in the fridge. One year my turkey was still so frozen, even after 4 days in the fridge, that we had to use a hair dryer and hot water to try and thaw it enough to get the neck and giblets out of the cavity . . . makes for a great story, but a stressful holiday :) So use the cold water method. Leave it in the packaging while thawing it. Don't leave it in the water for more than 24 hours though - stick it in the fridge if you end up not cooking it the next day. And make sure it stays covered with cold water.
Drain the sink and cut off the packaging (leave the turkey in the sink while doing this). Pull out the neck and giblet bag (a paper bag that will either be in the large cavity or in the fold of skin at the other end). Throw away the neck (unless you are planning on using it to make turkey stock or something) and the giblets (unless you want to eat them or have pets you want to feed them to - in that case, set them aside).
Go over the turkey and pull off any feathers that were missed. Pat it dry with a paper towel.
Remove all but one tray from the oven. Move the last tray to the lowest position in the oven. Preheat the oven to 350*. Take out one of the turkey-sized baking bags. Put 1 T (tablespoon) of flour in it, hold the top shut, and shake it around until the inside of the bag is covered. Put the bag on it's side in the roasting pan. Have someone else hold it open while you put the turkey in the bag (or vice versa).
Spoon the stuffing into the turkey (if you're stuffing it - if not, skip this step). Once the turkey is full, shake seasoning salt, pepper, and garlic powder all over the skin. I don't measure this, so I don't know how much I use. I'd guess 2-3 tablespoons of seasoned salt, 1 tablespoon ground pepper, and 2-3 tablespoons of garlic powder. Squirt a couple squirts of lemon juice on the turkey. Cut up a stick of butter into slices and place on the turkey. Close the bag with the tie provided (usually inside the cooking directions in the bag).
Put the turkey into the oven and figure out how long to cook it for by weight - the directions inside the baking bag box will tell you how many mins per pound - note that the times are different if you stuff the turkey.
After the turkey is done, take it out and let it sit for about 15 mins. in the bag. This will allow the juices to drain to the bottom of the bag. Put a medium sized pot in the sink and have someone help you hold the turkey up using the handles on the pan (the bag isn't strong enough to hold the turkey on it's own). Angle the pan so one corner of the bag is down lower than everything else and the juices can drain into it. Position that corner over the pan and carefully cut a hole in the corner so the juices drain into the pan. Watch out because the liquid is HOT!
You can use the juices to make gravy. Add about 1/3 cup of flour to the juices and whisk until smooth. Heat over medium heat, whisking almost constantly, until it thickens. It will get thicker as it cools, so take it off the heat just before it is as thick as you want it. If you like thicker gravy, add more flour before cooking; if you like thinner gravy, add less.
After you're done draining it, set the pan back on the counter, cut open the bag, and scoop out the stuffing. Slice the turkey and serve it.
Frozen turkey (about 1 lb per person, plus a few extra)
Turkey-sized baking bag
Seasoned salt
Pepper
Garlic powder
Butter
Lemon Juice
1 Tablespoon flour
Roasting pan (they sell disposable ones if you don't have room to store one)
(also ingredients for stuffing if you're planning on stuffing it - see previous post for stuffing info)
Start 24 hours before you need to cook the turkey as you will need to thaw it. To thaw the turkey, put it in your sink and cover it with cold water. Leave it overnight. Yes, you can thaw it in the fridge, but that takes several days and I've never had very good results trying to thaw them in the fridge. One year my turkey was still so frozen, even after 4 days in the fridge, that we had to use a hair dryer and hot water to try and thaw it enough to get the neck and giblets out of the cavity . . . makes for a great story, but a stressful holiday :) So use the cold water method. Leave it in the packaging while thawing it. Don't leave it in the water for more than 24 hours though - stick it in the fridge if you end up not cooking it the next day. And make sure it stays covered with cold water.
Drain the sink and cut off the packaging (leave the turkey in the sink while doing this). Pull out the neck and giblet bag (a paper bag that will either be in the large cavity or in the fold of skin at the other end). Throw away the neck (unless you are planning on using it to make turkey stock or something) and the giblets (unless you want to eat them or have pets you want to feed them to - in that case, set them aside).
Go over the turkey and pull off any feathers that were missed. Pat it dry with a paper towel.
Remove all but one tray from the oven. Move the last tray to the lowest position in the oven. Preheat the oven to 350*. Take out one of the turkey-sized baking bags. Put 1 T (tablespoon) of flour in it, hold the top shut, and shake it around until the inside of the bag is covered. Put the bag on it's side in the roasting pan. Have someone else hold it open while you put the turkey in the bag (or vice versa).
Spoon the stuffing into the turkey (if you're stuffing it - if not, skip this step). Once the turkey is full, shake seasoning salt, pepper, and garlic powder all over the skin. I don't measure this, so I don't know how much I use. I'd guess 2-3 tablespoons of seasoned salt, 1 tablespoon ground pepper, and 2-3 tablespoons of garlic powder. Squirt a couple squirts of lemon juice on the turkey. Cut up a stick of butter into slices and place on the turkey. Close the bag with the tie provided (usually inside the cooking directions in the bag).
Put the turkey into the oven and figure out how long to cook it for by weight - the directions inside the baking bag box will tell you how many mins per pound - note that the times are different if you stuff the turkey.
After the turkey is done, take it out and let it sit for about 15 mins. in the bag. This will allow the juices to drain to the bottom of the bag. Put a medium sized pot in the sink and have someone help you hold the turkey up using the handles on the pan (the bag isn't strong enough to hold the turkey on it's own). Angle the pan so one corner of the bag is down lower than everything else and the juices can drain into it. Position that corner over the pan and carefully cut a hole in the corner so the juices drain into the pan. Watch out because the liquid is HOT!
You can use the juices to make gravy. Add about 1/3 cup of flour to the juices and whisk until smooth. Heat over medium heat, whisking almost constantly, until it thickens. It will get thicker as it cools, so take it off the heat just before it is as thick as you want it. If you like thicker gravy, add more flour before cooking; if you like thinner gravy, add less.
After you're done draining it, set the pan back on the counter, cut open the bag, and scoop out the stuffing. Slice the turkey and serve it.
Tastes Like Homemade Stuffing
Shopping List
2 boxes stovetop turkey (or chicken) flavored stuffing
1 lb ground breakfast sausage
1 onion
1 head celery
Craisins
Butter
Takes about 20-30 mins to prepare. If you're cooking it outside of a turkey, it will take another 20 mins to cook. If you're going to stuff a turkey with this, you can either make it right before you put the turkey in the oven or you can make it a day or two in advance. If you make it in advance, store it in the fridge - DO NOT stuff the turkey with it until right before you cook it! Leaving stuffing inside a raw turkey leads to salmonella poisoning.
Start by boiling enough water that you have enough to add the amount of water the directions on the stuffing calls for.
While the water is boiling, brown the sausage over medium heat. You brown sausage by putting it in a frying pan over medium heat. As it cooks, break it up and move it around the pan, making sure to scrape the meat off the bottom of the pan so it doesn't burn. I find a fork to be the easiest thing to do this with. You don't have to stir it constantly, but you do need to do so about every 2-3 minutes. Once you can't see any more pink, the sausage is cooked. I find the easiest way to drain it is to put two paper towels on a plate, then just empty the sausage (and grease) onto the paper towels. Then when I'm ready to use the sausage, I scoop it off, leaving the grease in the paper towels, which I can just throw away.
Cut up the onion and several stalks of celery into smallish pieces.
Melt 1 stick of butter in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and cook for about 5 mins, stirring occasionally. Add the craisins and cook for another 2 mins. Remove from the hot burner.
Dump the stuffing mix into a large bowl. Add the amount of water the directions call for (use the boiling water you heated in the first step). Stir until all the dry mix is wet. Stir in the sausage and the onion/celery/craisin mix.
If you are baking it inside a turkey or chicken, spoon it into the bird right before cooking. If you are cooking it on it's own, put in a casserole dish, cover (if the dish doesn't have a cover, tin foil works), and bake at 350* for 20 mins.
2 boxes stovetop turkey (or chicken) flavored stuffing
1 lb ground breakfast sausage
1 onion
1 head celery
Craisins
Butter
Takes about 20-30 mins to prepare. If you're cooking it outside of a turkey, it will take another 20 mins to cook. If you're going to stuff a turkey with this, you can either make it right before you put the turkey in the oven or you can make it a day or two in advance. If you make it in advance, store it in the fridge - DO NOT stuff the turkey with it until right before you cook it! Leaving stuffing inside a raw turkey leads to salmonella poisoning.
Start by boiling enough water that you have enough to add the amount of water the directions on the stuffing calls for.
While the water is boiling, brown the sausage over medium heat. You brown sausage by putting it in a frying pan over medium heat. As it cooks, break it up and move it around the pan, making sure to scrape the meat off the bottom of the pan so it doesn't burn. I find a fork to be the easiest thing to do this with. You don't have to stir it constantly, but you do need to do so about every 2-3 minutes. Once you can't see any more pink, the sausage is cooked. I find the easiest way to drain it is to put two paper towels on a plate, then just empty the sausage (and grease) onto the paper towels. Then when I'm ready to use the sausage, I scoop it off, leaving the grease in the paper towels, which I can just throw away.
Cut up the onion and several stalks of celery into smallish pieces.
Melt 1 stick of butter in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and cook for about 5 mins, stirring occasionally. Add the craisins and cook for another 2 mins. Remove from the hot burner.
Dump the stuffing mix into a large bowl. Add the amount of water the directions call for (use the boiling water you heated in the first step). Stir until all the dry mix is wet. Stir in the sausage and the onion/celery/craisin mix.
If you are baking it inside a turkey or chicken, spoon it into the bird right before cooking. If you are cooking it on it's own, put in a casserole dish, cover (if the dish doesn't have a cover, tin foil works), and bake at 350* for 20 mins.
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