Beef n Potatoes super basic, but nummy

Okay, payday is still three days away, and we are running low on food in the cupboards.. of course... so did a quick search online for a recipe that included ground beef, canned tomatoes, and potatoes. Found one on cooks.com, but then of course, I embellished and made it mine... the kids loved it, so I guess it's a winner...
So this is sooo basic, but everyone seemed to like it!

what should I call it.. Beef n Potatoes..whatever

needed:
1 lb x-lean ground beef
1 can diced tomatoes
6 potatoes, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1-2 tbsp cooking (veg or olive) oil
onion powder
roasted garlic salt
thyme
pepper
2 tbsp Worcestershire (sp?) sauce

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.

Brown ground beef, drain if necessary and set aside
Heat oil in skillet, and add potatoes, onions and frozen peas. Sprinkle with Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, garlic salt, thyme, pepper. Cook until potatoes are soft and onions are golden. (about 10 minutes).
Spray bottom of casserole dish with non-stick spray.
Layer grilled potatoes and onion mixture, top with ground beef and then diced tomatoes.
Cover loosely with foil and bake for 30-35 minutes.

Done!

Lemon Cranberry Bundt Cake

Okay, so I have these great neighbors who welcomed us to the neighborhood by bringing us a friendship cake and sweet visit. I had their serving tray and wanted to return it with something homemade.. Okay.. it took a while, but I finally figured something out, not to mention, we didn't have many ingredients on hand since we are waiting for the dust to settle from our move.

Lemon Cranberry Cake

I did have lemon cake mix and cranberries though and I thought that would make a nice complimentary flavor, and pretty too, with the yellow and reds.

So, I googled it and found a recipe by a lady named Carol Junkins. OF COURSE, I didn't have EVERYTHING necessary to follow her directions but I did have some.  Here's my rendition. (Thank you Carol for a great launching point! - original recipe found at justapinch.com)

What you need:

Filling:
1 can whole cranberries (Ocean Spray works great)

Cake: (follow directions on the box - this is what mine required)
Lemon Cake Mix
3 eggs
1 1/3 c water
1/3 c oil

Topping:
1/2 c whole oats
1/4 c light brown sugar, packed
3 Tbsp melted butter
(nuts if you like them!)

Preheat oven according to box directions.
Spray-grease or grease bundt pan and lightly flour.
Prepare cake batter as directed on box.
Pour half the prepared cake batter into the bundt pan.
Mix up the contents of the cranberry sauce so it is like a jelly. Drop by spoonful evenly around the poured batter.
Pour the rest of the batter on top of the cranberry sauce (cover it thoroughly).
Mix the topping ingredients together, and sprinkle on top of the poured batter.

Bake according to directions on cake box - mine took about 35 minutes.

When cake is done, (test with fork, toothpick or knife), take it out of the oven and let it cool for about 10 minutes.
Flip out onto a cooling rack.
Slice and place on plate with garnish - I used sliced lemons - some mint sprigs would be nice too.

You can also drizzle a glaze over the cake - I found it was tasty and sweet enough without it.

glaze:
2 c confectioners sugar - sifted
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest

That's that! It's a good think that I gave most of this away.. my sweet tooth would SERIOUSLY take over here.

BLT Pizza

OH MY GOSH!!!!

Okay, so I found this recipe in a "Taste of Home" book a long time ago, but I never made it. My YD found it during her quest for a recipe to try this week, so we did it tonight.

First things first... here's the recipe and appropriate credits:

Here's the Pizza, all done.. then I will tell you what we did a little different:

Okay, so we pretty much followed the directions, but...

 instead of garlic powder we used about 1/2 tsp of roasted garlic salt. 

instead of 12 strips of bacon, 8 - low sodium

We like thin crust, so instead we used 2 whole wheat thin crusts that we found at Walmart.

We used only mozzarella cheese, because well, cheese is expensive right now.

This would ALSO be great for those who are trying to cut back on fats..
Prepare it without cheese! My ED is lactose intolerant, so we made one half of a pizza with no cheese, and she loved it!

Pizza is awesome, because you can really do whatever you want. 

Another variation would be to add chicken and marinated artichoke hearts. 

Nom Nom!

Thank you Marilyn Ruggles in Missouri for sharing this with Taste of Home magazine! 

My family loves you for it!

  

Try # 3 - Chocolate Cream Pie

Okay, I couldn't wait. Decided to try a recipe from www.food.com today.

Here's the link:

http://www.food.com/recipe/chocolate-cream-pie-43100

The cream got thick really quick, and I decided to make a meringue topping with the leftover egg whites. It's in the fridge right now, but will give you feedback tonight after it cools and gets gobbled down! :)

nom!
I have to say, I think this beats the recipe we found in ED's "Pie" book.

Fresh out of the oven:
Chocolate Cream Pie - topped with meringue 

So what's for dinner?  Ohh, something easy with ground beef. - Pie is for dessert!

Merediths in the KITCHEN, YO! Pie with ED - CHOCOLATE CREME PIE

So my daughters want to learn how to cook, and it's been a really long time since I've used any recipes.. normally I just sorta throw stuff together. Anyways, my daughters want to cook, so, why not? My eldest daughter wants to cook the pies from this book mentioned below, and my youngest daughter and I will be cooking from some recipe books that my grandmother gave me.


My oldest daughter will be referred to as "ED" and my youngest "YD" for the sake of privacy, not like it matters, if someone really wanted to know who we were, they could find out easy enough.

Pie by Sarah Weeks - a favorite of my daughter's

Okay so ED asked if we could make pies from this book "PIE" by Sarah Weeks. So, I committed to following one recipe each week until we made all the pies in the book.

Weeks, S. (2011). Pie. New York, NY: Scholastic Press.
page 86

Our first recipe was Chocolate Creme Pie...

So it worked pretty good, but for some reason the filling was still really runny. The flavor was FAB. Not sure what we are doing wrong. We did it two times but the filling was still runny. I still want to figure it out, so I will try again and post when I do. For now ED wants to try a new one...  More later!

Oh, yeah.. with the extra three egg whites, we made chocolate meringue cookies - using cocoa powder.. yummy!

Frittata - zucchini and broccoli

Mine didn't turn out this fluffy,
but I guess it could if I had used more eggs.
The one in the recipe is about 3/8" thick
 and more fully loaded
 with veggies!
The pan I use is about 14" diameter, but you get the idea.

Yummy breakfast and easy too!
What I really like about this recipe is that you can customize it by using any vegetable you can find in your fridge!
Today I used zucchini and broccoli. I got the recipe from my Italian artist friend, Shirley... ;)

2 small to medium zucchini
1 broccoli crown (no stems)
1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (or cooking spray)
6 eggs
1/3 cup milk
salt, pepper, garlic salt
cheese (whatever you like - I used cheddar because that is what I had)

Spray large skillet with cooking spray, or coat thoroughly with olive oil.
Dice zucchini and broccoli into pieces 1/4-1/2 inch pieces. Add to heated skillet and cover. Cook on medium to high for 7 minutes. Stir, then recover and cook for another 3 minutes, or until veggies are lightly browned.

While veggies are cooking, beat eggs and milk, grate cheese.

Pour egg mixture over veggies, sprinkle with grated cheeses. Add spices.  Cover and cook for about 10 minutes, or until eggs are firm and cheese is melted.
At this point I like to place under broiler until eggs are lightly browned on top, but this is not necessary.

Serve with muffins or scones.

Thank you Shirley for this great recipe! What a great way to start a day!

YUM!

Daddy's Chili

A good hearty meal for a cold day


4 types of beans

     pinto, butter, kidney, black (use what you like! we use them all!)

1 1/2 lb lean ground beef
2 tbsp oil (olive if you are trendy, veg works good too)
1 red onion
1 white onion
1 shallot
4 green onions
2 cloves garlic
4 kinds of peppers (as hot or not hot as you like!)
we used:
jalapenos
yellow wax
anaheim chili
bell pepper (red, yellow, and green)
chili powder
cumin
salt
pepper

brown ground beef, set aside
saute onions, garlic, and peppers
add beans and spices
simmer for at least 1 hour

optional: 
of course you can always add more hot peppers
grated cheese
tomato sauce or diced tomatoes or both