Easy Crock Pot, Dump-and-Eat Taco Soup

I could already tell that today was gonna be one of those get-to-5-o-clock-with-no-dinner-plan days unless I took the bull by the horns. 

So I took the easy way out & dumped all these things in the crock pot and plugged it in. Easy. Tasty. No 5 o'clock rush. Win-win-win. 

Dinner will be ready at the time of my choosing and all I'll have to do is pull out the cheese, tortilla chips, and sour cream. YUM! 

In the crock pot, dump these ingredients:

• 1 & 1/2 pounds of ground beef (or pork) 
• 2 (15oz) cans diced tomatoes
• 1 envelop taco seasoning
• 1 can kidney beans
• 1 can black beans
• 1 lb. frozen corn
• 1-2 tsp cumin
• 2 c water or broth.

Set the crock pot on low for 6-8 hours.

Serve with crushed tortilla chips, cornbread, sliced avocado, or shredded cheese, & enjoy!!!

Crock Pot Recipe Round-Up

A few links from around the web that sound like great crock-pot recipes worth trying out:

• Creamy Chicken Enchiladas -- for this tasty recipe, all the sauce/meat/cheesiness cooks in the crockpot, then you spoon it into tortillas & bake 30 minutes before dinner-- so it's a partial-crock-pot recipe.
• Honey Sesame Chicken -- oh goodness, this sounds tasty over rice!
• Chicken Chili -- I normally do beef chili, so this might be worth a try
• Beef Stew -- Sounds simple and tasty, just right for cold weather!
• Crock Pot Salsa Chicken -- the blogger says this can be served as a soup, over tortilla chips and garnished with cheese, or if you strain with a slotted spoon, you can stuff tortillas or taco shells with it for a meal.  Sounds versatile & tasty!
• Chicken Noodle Soup -- the kiddos LOVE chicken noodle soup, so I definitely want to try this one.
• Chicken & Corn Chowder 
• Crock Pot Taco Soup
• French Dip Sandwiches -- YUM!!!
• Pulled Pork Sandwiches -- another YUM!  (Plus, her comments are funny to read.)

I need to be more diligent & efficient & put my crock pot to more frequent use!  Hope this gives you ideas too!

Beef n' Bean Taco Casserole

Tried this one tonight, and it was a hit.

Ingredients:

• 2 cans of crescent rolls, or 2 pie crusts, depending on the kind of crust you want.  
• 1 lb. ground beef, browned w/ taco seasoning added
• 1 (~15 oz) can refried beans 
• 1/2 cup salsa, if desired
• 8 oz. cream cheese (I used generic-brand reduced fat cream cheese and the taste was still excellent)
• Shredded cheddar cheese 

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Brown meat & mix in water & taco seasoning packet according to packet instructions.  Once seasoned, stir in 1 can refried beans, and salsa if desired.
3. Layer 9x13 casserole dish with either rolls or crusts, pressing with fingers to seal edges and to conform crust to dish.
4. Use a spoon to spread the cream cheese to cover the bottom of the crust.
5. Cover cream cheese with bean & beef mixture.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes @ 375 until crust is browned, then sprinkle top with cheddar cheese & put back in oven for 2-5 minutes until melted.

Yummy!

Lasagna Worth Making

This lasagna happens in several steps. Yes, it takes time to make lasagna... but I guarantee that this lasagna is worth making. Well, I think so anyway... and everyone I've ever served it to has said it's the best lasagna they've ever tasted. So give it a whirl, and tell me if you agree.

Lasagna Worth Making

Sauce Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef

1-2 yellow onions

olive oil

1 garlic head

5-8 large tomatoes (or 28 oz. in cans)

6 oz. tomato paste

2 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

pinch of red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp dried basil (or 1 Tbsp fresh, chopped basil)

1 bay leaf

2 cups water

1. Chop up your onions and garlic. Onions can be diced... garlic needs to be minced.
2. Sautee your onions in olive oil in the frying pan, just enough to coat the onions. Once softened, add in your beef and brown the meat.
3. While meat is browning, chop up your tomatoes.
4. Once meat is browned, add in everything else on the list above: (garlic, tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, red pepper flakes, sugar, basil, bay leaf, and water). Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to lowest setting. Simmer 45 minutes to 1 hour. Stir occasionally. Sauce will reduce and thicken.

While sauce is cooking, make the following:

Ricotta cheese filling:

8-10 ounces ricotta cheese (leave undrained)

2 large eggs, beaten

whole milk (maybe)

parsley (if you have it)

• Combine ricotta cheese with 2 beaten eggs. If thick, add a Tbsp or so of milk until it is a smooshable consistency. That's right, I said smooshable.
• If you have parsley, add in about 1 tsp of parsley. Fresh is even better. If not, don't sweat it!

Also, you'll need 1 box lasagna noodles (specifically, you'll need 12 noodles), 1 cup of water and roughly 1 pound shredded mozzerella or meltable white cheese (for those here in Turkey with me, I like the white cheese found at Bim... it comes in 1 kilo blocks, and has a mountain scene on the package. It's the best cheese I've found for general use like this).

Once the sauce is ready, you'll want to have all your ingredients around your 9 x 13 baking dish. To make your lasagna, do the following:

• First, take a serving spoon-ful of the liquidy sauce at the top of the sauce pan, and use it to coat the bottom of the baking dish. This will serve as your greasing of the pan.
• Then, you'll want to proceed in the following order, repeating yourself 4 times (so for each layer, you'll want to use approximately 1/4th of whatever ingredient you're pulling from.):

1. Lasagna noodles-- 3 across
2. Ricotta cheese-- use approximately one heaping forkful on each noodle. Then use your fork to smash down and spread across the noodles. It won't cover it, and that's fine, just get it to where it's evened out throughout the pan, across the noodles.
3. Sauce-- A few serving-spoon-fuls across the cheese mixture. Try to spread it out, but remember to just use about 1/4th of the sauce for each layer. It should almost cover the layer below. (This is where you get to be Madam Chef. If things look a bit dry, use some of that 1 cup of water to just pour over this layer. We want the noodles to fully cook, and so you can just add a splash of water here or there as needed in this layer. Have confidence in yourself... it won't likely mess up either way!)
4. Shredded cheese. Use slightly less than 1/4th of the cheese for each layer, so that you can completely cover the dish on the top layer.

That's it.

Then stick it in a 375 degree oven for 45 minutes, or until the top is nice and browned, and the sauce is no longer liquidy. This is one of my prized recipes, for company, and just for enjoyment by our family as well. I hope you enjoy it too.

P.S. - this meal is easily doubled and you can serve one to your family, and take another to a friend who just had a baby, just had surgery, etc. Lasagna is a classic meal for those circumstances, but homemade is even more of a treat!

MamaJo's Chili

We love this chili... delicious, and fairly easy to make:

• Sautee 1-2 lg. onions in vegetable oil.
• Then add & brown 1 lb. ground beef
• Add:
  

  1 minced garlic (not one clove, one garlic)
  1 Tbsp. chili powder
  1 tsp salt
  1 tsp cumin
  1 tsp oregano
  1 Tbsp cocoa
  1/2 tsp red pepper sauce (I never have this, so I add a good few dashes of red pepper flakes)
  16 oz. diced tomatoes (I just eyeball this, and dice up 4-8 good-sized tomatoes)
  *** I also add in about 1/2 c. tomato paste & 1-2 cups of water, but this is optional, and not part of the original recipe.***

• Bring to a boil, then let simmer one hour, stirring occasionally. Then add a 15 ounce can of kidney beans (don't drain it). Let simmer an additional 15-20 minutes, then serve.

Delicious by itself, with crackers, over hot dogs, over Fritos, or any other way you can dream up. Everyone but my dainty daughter loves this chili... and we can forgive her; her tastebuds aren't fully developed. :)

[UPDATE- as of 10/19/2012, even Maranatha loves this chili.  She called it "soup" but we can forgive her that too.  :) ]

Shepherd's Pie

1 pound, or more, of cubed beef

1 pound, or more, of trimmed, cubed lamb

salt & pepper

3 Tbsp. vegetable oil

2 onions, minced

2 carrots, peeled and sliced

1 Tbsp tomato paste

1 garlic head, minced

2 Tbsp flour

2 & 1/4 c. chicken broth (or 2 & 1/4 c. water w/ 2 chicken bouillion cubes)

1/4 c. dry red wine (we never have this, and thus never use it)

1 tsp. worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. minced dill

pinch of rosemary

Season meat w/ salt & pepper. Heat 1 Tbsp oil over medium heat, and brown beef in a dutch oven. Remove beef to metal bowl, and brown the lamb in the dutch oven w/ more oil. Remove lamb. Then add more oil, and cook carrots, onions, and salt until softened (approx. 5 mins). Stir in tomato paste & garlic, then add in flour & cook 1 minute. Whisk in remaining ingredients, and return lamb & beef to the pot. Scrape up any browned bits, and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat, and let cook approx 25-30 minutes.

Serve over mashed potatoes.

(You can do the whole, in a dish, over the mashed potatoes thing... but I'm too lazy. :) It's tasty just like this. And it goes great over rice if you have leftovers.)

Cream Sauce (to serve over steak)

We don't eat steak often, but when we do, I like to serve it with this cream sauce. It's easy enough to make, and it's made at the very last minute, once you have juice from the steaks to add in.

1 minced garlic head (yes, the whole head)

1 & 1/2 c. water w/ 1 beef boullion cube, and 1 chicken bouillion cube (or broths can be used in place of these ingredients)

5 Tbsp brandy (we never have, and thus never use, this part... I use pan drippings for this liquid)

1/4 c. heavy cream

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Instructions:

Remove steaks from pan, and put on plate (tent them with foil so they will remain hot while you whip up this sauce).

Reserve a Tbsp. or more of pan drippings from the steaks, and briefly sautee the garlic, less than 30 seconds. Add the water w/ boullions, and simmer about 5 mins. Stir together and add cream. Add in 1 Tbsp butter at a time, whisking to thicken. Then, remove from heat, add salt and pepper to taste, and serve over steaks.

Cream Sauce for Ikea Meatballs

This recipe uses a few simple ingredients and perfectly compliments the frozen Ikea meatballs. Plus, the kids loved it! Success!

Quick, Easy, and Delicious: Bowtie Lasagna

Here's another recipe via Pioneer Woman:

Billed as a "16-Minute Meal", BOWTIE LASAGNA lives up to the 16 minute promise. Even overseas! :)

Here are the things I changed:

*Because we don't have pre-made jars of marinara sauce available to us here (except at extremely high prices!!!), here's what I did to make the sauce: Instead of dumping in a jar of pre-made marinara sauce, I added an entire garlic head worth of chopped garlic (I like garlic!), and then added in about 1 & 1/2 cups of tomato paste, 1 & 1/2 cups of water, 10 leaves of chopped fresh basil, 1 & 1/2 Tbsp sugar, and garlic salt, pepper, and salt to taste. So, essentially, I made my own marinara sauce in the dish.

*In place of the sour cream, I used ranch dressing. This isn't an overseas change, just a personal preference. It worked great.

This is a yummy, easy recipe!