So Sunday after church, the Hubs hurt himself… he managed not to break his foot, but has a deep muscle sprain and is in a boot and a fair amt of pain… thereby making my restful weekend not so restful… so another slap-bash meal as I didn’t want to cook and the kids were upset about how daddy’s foot put a cramp in their plans and cried and carried on about every piddling thing imaginable… so I needed it to be simple but happily eaten, since at the time I had high hopes of getting them to bed early… HA!

a yummy soup when you are the only physically capable of fetching more for the entire family, not the best laid plan... plus your soup goes cold as you do so...

Ravioli Soup
1 lb ground meat (again, I used veal because it was on sale cheaper than beef)
seasonings (salt/pepper, dried herbs–rosemary and other italian type seasonings, garlic pwd)
1 lb frozen green beans
1 lb can campbell’s tomato soup (slightly bigger than usual size)
2 (15 oz) cans diced italian style tomatoes
2-2.5 c frozen cheese ravioli
grated parm (opt)

Brown the meat with the seasonings and stir in the frozen beans… Add the tomato soup and 2 canfuls of water, and the tomatoes… bring up to a boil and taste for seasoning, and adjust… reduce the heat to med-med low, add the ravioli and simmer until they float… top with parm to serve…

[Quick Reminder: Make sure to scoop low to get meat as well as it sinks while the pasta and veg float...]

brown the meat and add the frozen beans...

step two add everything and bring to a boil...

when the raviolis float to top it is done...

See making soup can be almost as easy as 1, 2, 3… and the slight guilt I felt making another slap dash so soon after the last, passed quickly as everyone started needing this and that and I realized I couldn’t sit down long enough to think let alone eat… and in the midst of all this flurry, I also forgot to start the washer so I had to stay up another hour after getting everyone to bed… : (

The baby’s finger food b-day dinner (from last month’s catch up, obviously)…

Pitty Pat’s B-day Polenta
1 lb ground pork + lots of seasonings (if you aren’t concerned about the salt/sodium you can just use a ready made sausage–but I you know babies/salt)
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/2 c finely snipped or diced dried tomatoes (dried but a bit moist, like raisins, and preferably not in oil)
1 roasted bell pepper, skinned, seeded, and diced (I did green but if you aren’t making your own, the red ones are fine)
2 c cornmeal
about 2 T sea salt (might be a little shy of this really, as I don’t officially measure, but the point is it’s kind of a lot… if you undersalt it before you cook it you won’t be able to redo it and hence will never have the chance to bring out the flavor of the cornmeal again… but if you’re a learn-the-hard-way type try boiling cornmeal in unsalted water just for kicks, and when you’re ready to eat you’ll know what you should do next time…)
2 qts – 9 c water (I reckon you could use some broth if you want, and if you use canned or salted broth you can obviously cut back on the salt a bit… but frankly salt water is cheaper, and you’ll have plenty of stuff in this so flavor won’t be a problem…)
1-2 jars of italian marinated mushrooms, drained (or undrained the liquid can replace some of the water if you’d like, but add the liquid at the same time as the water)

Mix up the pork and seasonings and test a pinch of your sausage (ie. cook it up a taste it)… if it’s ok, finish cooking the rest with onion (otherwise tinker and test another pinch, etc…) once all the sausage is well browned and the onions translucent… add your liquid and let it start to come to a boil… meanwhile, chopped and add the tomatoes and peppers… when the liquid is boiling, reduce to medium low and mix it the polenta S L O W L Y and let simmer stirring as often as you can until it thickens up and pulls from the sides, around 20-30 mins… Then add your drained mushrooms, butter and parm and turn out onto a pan or into a casserole dish and let cool a bit to set up and then slice and serve (or slice and fry/bake/grill and serve)…

[Disclaimer: still catching up on September's meals... this one is from the middle of the month...]

This was just a rounding up of odd and ends that needed using… Tomatoes threatening to go soft, cabbage shamefully buried in the back of the produce drawer (discovered only when we couldn’t fit all the new produce in the bins), ground bison sadly still buried in the deep freeze from January and leftover bits from the weekend’s lasagna, plus a small amt of of corn that is too little for our big family and I had previously figured I’d throw in a soup or something (which I of course didn’t)… Oh and please forgive me on the name, I’m truly useless at these sorts of things… and I really was at a loss for a name, as I’m not used to naming my dishes (probably the second most cumbersome part of taking this blog on) and usually just take a name from whatever inspired it… Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option here… just slapped leftovers together and seasoned it to taste pleasant (though this got raves, even the girlie ate all of hers and bluejay asked for seconds–and my kids tend to give the evil eye to casseroles, so this is big deal–it really was tasty and very comfort food-ish)… I almost just called it Lasagna Roll-ups but figured it wasn’t just plain lasagna so that might be misleading…

Southwestern-ish Lasagna Roll-ups
1-1.25 lb ground bison
1/2 head of cabbage, shredded (leftover from the Mandarin Chicken)
3 romas, diced (I obsessively cut each one into 32 pieces, but do however you see fit)
1 c mexican stewed tomatoes (squeezed the tomatoes to break them up)
frozen corn (not sure how much as it was the end of the bag, at least a cup maybe 1.5)
1/2 c leftover salsa sauce (from the BB Lasagna)
8 2/3 softened lasagna noodles (soaked the BB Lasagna night)
1.5 tsp Southwestern Chipotle Mrs Dash
1/2 tsp ea: s/p, g/o pwd
1/4 tsp ea: celery seed, nutmeg

Brown the meat, stir in remaining and 1/4 c water and simmer 20 min or until most of the liquid is absorbed or mostly so… Use a slotted spoon to fill the noodles with drained filling…and roll them up lengthwise jellyroll-style and transfer to a baking dish (I placed them seam side down)…

cook it until it’s around this neighborhood of absorbsion or so…

then use a slotted spoon to add it to the softened noodles…

tuck the rolls in pan… (then top with sauce, forgot that pic)

Sauce
2 T ea: flour, oil
1.5 c milk
1/2 c ea: leftover filling from above and cottage cheese
1 c grated colby jack

Cook flour and oil together until well incorporated but still pale, whisk in milk slowly to avoid lumps. As it approaches a steady simmer add remaining and bring to a boil to thicken. Pour over the rolls (can line the base of the pan, under the rolls, with it too if you wish… and you don’t have to use all of it I suppose if you don’t want it so saucy, but creamy sauce equals comfort so I lay on…) and bake at 350 until warmed through or noodles are cooked if that is necessary…

[Note to self/spouse: Make this again! On purpose!]

apparently, this is chili mac (despite being chili free)...

according to the Hubs, it is important this be INSTANT potatoes not just regular old mashed potatoes...

This is the hubster posting some comfort food from my childhood. My mom called this grandma’s chili. Not really chile so to speak, more like chili-mac. I loved having this on cold winter’s nights, it always warmed me up and after everyone had their first bowl it was always a rush to get seconds. I would always put a pat of butter in the center of the mashed potatoes and I would eat around the mashed potatoes seeing how much I could eat, while still getting everything in a spoonful, without breaking into the center “filling” of melted butter. When I did, it was so much fun watching the butter ooze out of the mashed potatoes and adding more flavor to the dish. This dish just brings up warm memories for me and dinners with my family while growing up.

Grandma’s Chili – Comfort Food
8 oz elbow macaroni uncooked
1 lb ground beef (73/27)
2 cans of dark red kidney beans undrained
1 med onion chopped
2 tsp garlic powder.
8 oz kethchup
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp basil
instant mashed potatoes (Make for six servings)
salt and pepper to taste

Cook ground beef and onions with salt, pepper, garlic powder, basil and oregano. In another pot cook macaroni until tender. Once beef mixture is cooked add kidney beans and kethcup with 1/2 to 1 cup of water mix together and simmer 5 minutes. Add macaroni to mixture and simmer 5 minutes more. While simmering make the mashed potatoes and spoon into a bowl, (add butter and salt to taste), then spoon chili over mashed potatoes. Leave as is or do as my sisters would do, (my 6 year old prefered it this way too), and mix it all together.

how it really looked when served (copius amts of pasta hide the mashed potatoes)...

while you can still see the potatoes underneath... (this mind you will not last)

Belatedly submitted to Joelen for the Family Favorites Read, Watch, and Eat (I was a bad wife and went to bed without doing it inspite of all the hubby’s efforts in making it and typing up the post, but that’s no shocker these days unfortunately) and don’t forget to check out the wrap up… And when I finish posting them, you can check out my dad’s red beans rice, or my g-ma’s rolls–hands down a most requested recipe ever, that I frankly tend to delegate because I’m so lazy–which we had with this chili dinner (major carb offense, I know) or Buttermilk Pie from my other grandmother for more of the weekend’s family classics…

This is a little too moist for a patty so you might want to use a little more breadcrumbs or a few oats to tighten it up if you want to use it for that… But this works fine as a loaf, that’s how I usually make it but the oven has been acting a little possessed and actually locked itself shut that night when I needed to make dinner… so in a hasty moment, patties it became–but I wouldn’t recommend it as a patty without some changes…

so-so as a burger... worked much better as a meatloaf though IMO...

Applesauce Meatloaf
1.25 lb Ground Turkey
1 c chopped onion, sauteed
1 c applesauce
1 c plain breadcrumbs (I just used progresso not homemade or anything)
s/p, garlic pwd, thyme
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 c parm

Straightforward really… Mix, shape into patties and pan fry…

Well, there’s been a ruckus about the Lazy Lady recipes (only one other is actually up here and it and the boxed mac get oodles of hits and searches) so I’m working on some more and we’ll see how that goes as the time passes but for know I decided to make a lazy lady version of stroganoff (there’s a skillet stroganoff that ATK made a little while back that got me to thinking about one, as I loved the one-pot-ness of it but wanted something even simpler but still tasty so tonight I tinkered… as it was nice not to be guesting in someone else’s kitchen…) Tonight’s version was made with ground meat as it was present and accounted for (but pre-cut tips could definitely be in a future revision…) so I guess this is sort of Hamburger Helper reminiscent… but another real meat version is coming at some point in the future…

mostly absorbed, aka. if you push it aside you can see the pan without liquid rushing to cover it...

Lazy Lady Beef Stroganoff (part 1-ground)
1 lb ground beef (I technically used the v word, since it was on sale cheaper than round)
s/p, garlic pwd, onion pwd
1.5 c sliced mushrooms
2 T powdered milk (could be skipped, could lose some broth in place of a bit of milk–whatever)
1/2 c hard cider (I guess sherry would have been better but again, I’m deeply motivated by the on hand)
1/4 yellow onion
3 c beef broth
3 c egg noodles
1/4 c snipped chives (again, what was here)
1/2-3/4 c sour cream

Season the ground meat and brown it. Using the rendered fat and more as and if needed (I needed and used olive oil) saute the mushrooms. Add the powdered milk and stir to coat the beef and mush, use the cider/sherry to deglaze the pan and reduce the heat. Put onion and broth in the blender and puree smooth, add to the pan along with noodles and herbs and cover with lid and let simmer until noodles are cooked (not sure how long but it was less than 10). Remove from heat and stir in sour cream.

 
The sauce not absorbed by the pasta is thickened by the pasta starches, thus no fussing with making roux or flouring the meat (which wouldn’t have worked out so hot with the ground meat, LOL) or anything either… Super easy, in hindsight I’d wished I’d popped a couple of cloves of garlic in the blender too… but all in all was mostly satisfied. Little Hawk: One could also use some of those dried miced onions and powdered beef boullion, and probably even some dried mushrooms if found on the cheap, to make your own HH-ish kit of the dried items and then just add the meat (which could be preseasoned and precooked, and popped in the freezer), some water (hot tap will thaw the precooked frozen crumbles), and the sour cream later when making… still just as easy but you’d have more control over the salt and other suchness…

Ok so I really didn’t want to make meatballs as getting the oldest to finish homework was draining so I skimped, you might as well bother making a regular meatball… but if you share my exhaustion these worked alright…

I served 4 meatballs per hoagie roll and topped with parm...

Meatball Sandwiches
1 lb ground beef (happened to be aged angus, probably how I got away with cutting corners as it started with good flavor)
1 T mrs dash tomato basil
1/2 T ea: s/p, garlic pwd, onion pwd
1/4 onion diced and sauteed with 2 cloves garlic
11 oz tomato puree (leftover from making tomato pie)
1 T: oregano
1/2 T: garlic pwd and onion pwd

mix first four, shape (I made 16, to use on 4 hoagie rolls) and brown on all sides… mix last three with 1/4 c water and pour over meatballs and allow to simmer until meatballs are cooked and sauce rethickened…

[PS. that's these potatoes in the pic with it...]

So this is basically 2 fluffy oven omelets with some sausage in them and cheese sauce between the layers and on the top… The only egg and sausage casserole I’d made before was a strata and, like with bread pudding, it’s best if you can let it sit awhile for the egg to absorb so not the best ‘I don’t want to make tonight dinner tonight’-substitute. So I dug this out of the old plaid, and improvised…

Sausage and Egg Casserole (adapted from ‘Fluffy Omelet’ from BHG New Cookbook 1953)
2 pork sausage patties **
1 lb turkey sausage, bulk (Honeysuckle White–as it was much lower in fat to pair off well with the pork grease)
6 eggs (you could probably stand to do 8), seperated
s/p, onion/garlic pwd
cheese sauce
1 c ea: milk and sharp cheddar
2-4 T ea: butter and flour
1/4 tsp salt
pinch of white pepper and nutmeg

Browned the pork sausage, draining off and reserving it; simmered the pork sausage in some water. Used the reserved grease to saute the turkey sausage, browned up and simmered. Fridged the pork sausage, put the turkey crumbles in the bottoms of 2 greased glass pie/cake pans. Preheated the oven to 350.

Whisk the yolks with seasonings until very thick and pale lemon colored. Beat the whites with an electric beater, unless you have mad whipping skills and want to do it yourself (if you want to use the same whisk as for the yolks make sure to either do the whites first or rinse it really really well as you want no yolk in the whites for beating), until frothy…then add 1/4 c water and a 1/4 tsp salt and beat until stiff. Fold the two egg mixtures together and put in pans gently leaving sides higher than center and bake on middle rack 15 min.

Cheese sauce: Make a blonde roux (use 2T ea for a medium consitency, 4T for thick), ie. melt the butter and flour together until well blended…add seasonings and then the milk, stirring constantly (it’ll go quicker if you preheat half the milk and add the cold to the roux first until blended and then stir in the hot) until thick and smooth. (If you think you will have trouble with the heat, or you want to be able to cover it and walk away for about 5 min after the milk is incorporated, you can fuss with getting out a double boiler. Otherwise stay with it and keep stirring so it won’t stick and clump at the bottom.) Add the cheese and stir until melted.

Take out the omelets, loosen around all edges. And plate up like a layer cake with cheese sauce in between (reserve a little bit for the top), add the remaining cheese to the top… chop up and rewarm the pork sausage a little (30-45 sec in microwave) and use it on the top center as a garnish.

** I cooked the turkey sausage in the pork grease to help appease the rest of the crew, and garnished with the pork sausage so that the pickers would taste that on its own and presume it was all the way thru. You by no means need to fuss with pork at all really… But coming off of Hubs’ Lentil Soup sausage laments and having had it specifically requested again I wasn’t sure the turkey sausage would silently pass as is.

Quick Meatballs
1.25 lb ground meat
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 c ketchup
3/4-1 c cornbread crumbs (or cracker crumbs)
2 tsp ea: poultry seasoning, italian seasoning, basil, garlic pwd
1 tsp ea: s/p, rosemary, onion pwd

Mix well and shape in small 1 T size balls. Add to sauce cut with 1/2 c water and simmer covered about 15 mins or so.

The kids thought these looked like cookie dough, and once they said it I did too.

This was my first ever Deb Mele flop, normally she rockas my socks, I so wanted to cry over the meatballs. They were a bit of extra work and ingredients and yet I found them a bit bland and dissappointing, turns out I should have just used hubby standard meatball recipe but I will toy with this (Had I not been baking them I would have made one and tasted it and known to adjust the seasoning and not had such a huge problem so I fell down on the job too) as the kids were very excited to see them looking like cookie dough before I cooked them, see pic.

Futhermore, they were way too soft for this application–even with the extra egg white–and some fell apart as I was stirring in the cheese…but that’s kinda what I was expecting anyway. So next time I make these, hopefully modified into deliciousness worthy of the labor, they will be appearing as Spaghetti and Meatballs or Meatball Sandwiches. But on to the recipe:

Meatball and Marscapone Baked Ziti
Deb Mele’s meatballs (I added the extra egg white from the prev alfredo, since I thought this sounded like it might be too soft)
1.5 qts red sauce (I used 2 jars of Classico Spicy Tomato Basil instead)
1 lb ziti
1 tub marscapone, seasoned generously but to taste with s/p, garlic, parm
8 oz shredded mozzarella

Shape into meatballs and brown on all sides (I shaped into 62 meatballs about 1T size and I actually baked mine, flipping part way, but I couldn’t tell you how long as I didn’t pay attention). Simmer meatballs in sauce. Simmer pasta in salted water, but pull a bit before it’s al dente while still a little chewy and add to meatballs with marscapone. Put in baking dishes (I made an 8×8 and two loaf pans) and top with mozz, bake until cheese is melty and a little golden.

Oh and for the record this wasn’t considered a flop by everyone else, as Bill and the kids just love having baked ziti…so they probably wouldn’t have complained if the whole thing had been bad since it’s one of their favorite meals. But I felt it was a lot of extra work for not much pay off, sometimes simple really is best.

“This one’s for the girls…” Martina moment aside, here’s the burgers for my fabulous sisters.

The ones to get: "Savory Seasoned" (look like this, in the freezer)

Maui Burgers (inspired from the back of the burger box when I pulled them out of the freezer)
Jennie-O preseasoned turkey burgers
1 can of pineapple slices, in juice
2-3 Tbsp olive oil or butter (or combo)
1 onion, sliced in half rounds
1 or 2 bell peppers, sliced
sweet and sour sauce (mine leftover from Eli’s takeout)
hot dog or hamburger buns

Thaw the burgers before cooking (especially if you will be grilling them, so as no rare poultry). Then put them on a preheated grill or grill pan (regular pan works fine too), straightforward enough cook them flipping once. Then for the rest: Saute the onions and peppers in a bit of olive oil or butter over MED heat stirring until the onions start to look a bit translucent (maybe about 5 min). Stir in a little salt and pepper and let them hang out over MED LOW stirring occassionally until everything else is done. Drain the pineapple, reserve the juice, and put it on the grill or pan to get a bit of golden or grill marks on it. Set them aside, on a plate if they look juicy enough or in the drained juices if they look dry. You can toast your buns if you like, but I’m a bread burner, and then assemble the burger with sweet and sour on both halves of the bun: bottom bun, pineapple on bottom, burger, onions and pepper another little drizzle of sweet and sour, and top bun–or however, you want really–and eat.