What-a-burger Wednesday - Italian Beef & Pasta

My darling husband is somewhat against tomato based sauces. This has effectively ended my go to meal- spaghetti.  He'll eat it red sauces, but he doesn;t enjoy them. So, what's the point?

On another hand I have a friend in TN that is pregnant with twins, and tomato sauce just isn't appealing to her right now. So I asked for some ideas. Her mom had done this a few days ago, and I'm sure I didn;t do it quite right, but it came out good.

Ingredients

• 1 cup frozenseasoning blend
• 2-3 garlic cloves, or 1 heaping teaspoon of minced garlic
• splash of olive oil
• 1 lb lean ground beef or turkey
• 1/2 tsp Original Mrs. Dash seasoning
• 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning
• 1/4 tsp dried basil*
• 1/4 tsp dried thyme*
• another splash of olive oil
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 lb whole grain pasta in your choice of shape. I used spaghetti.
• 4 beef bouillon cubes

Directions

1. Saute frozen seasoning blend and garlic in olive oil for a few minutes.
2. Add in ground meat & brown breaking into small pieces.
3. Drain any fat from meat if necessary and return to pot.
4. Add dried herbs and.another splash of olive oil.
5. Stir well to distribute herbs and oil.
6. Cover and reduce heat to low
7. Meanwhile prepare a pot of water for boiling pasta, add boullion cubes and 1tsp of salt.
8. When boiling add pasta (breaking if you prefer) and cook until al dente, as per package directions.
9. Do not pour pasta cooking broth out, but drain pasta by using a slotted pasta spoon and add to meat mixture.
10. Toss to combine, adding a few ladles of pasta cooking broth to add moisture.
11. Serve with garlic bread and if you prefer add more broth to individual bowls.

Carbs & Protein... perfect comfort food!!

Even Mr. Picky loved this and Kaelyn ate two servings. I also meant to add some peas into the dish and forgot.. NEXT TIME!!



*Note: If you use fresh instead of dried herbs, use 3-4x more and add them at the end of thge cooking process.

What is What-a-burger Wednesday?

Wednesday is burger night. I have class Wednesday night so dinner has to be filling, fast, and easy to clean up. What can be better than burger? Now that's not to say that we're going to eat a burger every Wednesday, but there will be burger IN the recipe for Wednesdays.

Tonight? Crock Pot Red Beans & Rice. These have to be started the night before so the house already smells great!!

Crock-Pot Red Beans
(start this the night before for the perfect pot!)

• 1 lb Camilla's Red Kidney Beans (I just LIKE these better)
• 1/2 tablespoon Salt ( I know it sounds like a lot, trust me)
• 1 lb lean ground burger (turkey or beef)
  
• 1 cup frozen Seasoning Blend
• 1 lb lean sausage (try"Healthy Choices" turkey), sliced in 1/2 moons
  
• Seasonings (Tony's, pepper, salt, garlic powder) to taste
• Lots of water

1. On the stove brown ground burger and seasoning blend until meat is cooked through and crumbly.
2. In crock-pot add beans, salt, and all meat & seasoning blend.
3. Add enough water to generously cover by at least 2-3 inches.
4. Cook on low setting for 10 hours (overnight)
5. After it returns to warm (in the morning), re-add enough water to cover by 1 inch.
   
6. Taste for seasoning. You'll probably find that with the large amount of water and ingredients that the salt is a faint background taste. Add your favorite seasonings as necessary.
   
7. Cook on high for 4-6 hours to ensure flavors blend and beans are tender.

Serve over rice :)

Cheesyburger Mac

What you need:

• 1 lb. ground meat
• 2-3/4 cups water
• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 2 cups elbow macaroni, uncooked
• 1/2 lb. (8 oz.) American Cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1/3 c milk
  

What you do:

1. Brown meat in large skillet; drain.
2. Add water, ketchup and onion powder; mix well.
3. Bring to boil.
4. Stir in macaroni; cover.
5. Simmer on medium-low heat 8 to 10 min. or until macaroni is tender.
6. Stir in cheese & milk; cook until melted, stirring occasionally.

(Adapted from Kraft Foods)

Mom's Four Bean Chili

This one was so easy in the crock. I prepped before I cleaned the kitchen the night before and it made it so easy the next morning. Use any canned beans you like.. these are my favorites :) These are just teh regular 12-14 oz cans, not the large ones.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb turkey burger
• 1 c seasoning blend
  
• 1 can black beans
• 1 can red kidney beans
• 1 can chili beans
• 1 can pinto beans
• 1 can mild Rotel
• 1 sm (4 oz) can tomato paste
• 2-3 sm cans tomato sauce (or 1 large)
• 2 T Chili Seasonings (I buy the 2 alarm chili kit and mix it all together -except I leave out the masa, salt, and dried herbs - then store it in a sealed can) or 1 packet of chili seasoning mix.
• 1 c shredded cheese
• 1/2 onion, diced
  

Directions:

1. Brown the turkey and seasoning blend and either add to crock or store till morning :)
2. Add all ingredients to crock pot.
3. DO NOT DRAIN THE BEANS
4. Mix well and set on low for 6-8 hours.
5. Serve with Shredded cheese and diced onion.

This week's Meal Plan

Mom's Diner Red Beans & Rice

Trying to adapt this for a crock pot so wish me luck!

• 1 lb Dry Red Beans
• 1 lb ground turkey sausage
• 1 /2 lb smoked link turkey sausage
• 1 c seasoning blend
• 1/2 t minced garlic
• 1/2 t salt free garlic & herb
• Pinch of Cayenne
• Tony's to taste
• 6 cups cooked rice for serving

1. Soak beans over night in 7 cups of water.
2. In morning drain and add twice the water needed to cover.
3. Cook on high set for 6 hours.
4. Saute seasoning blend and ground sausage with seasonings.
5. Add to crock pot.
6. When tender (I like it falling apart) serve over rice

This week's Meal Plan

Mom's Diner Corn Chowder

After tons of searching I couldn't find one chowder recipe I liked so I got a list of some basic ingredients and created my own. It was absolutely amazing and looked like a bowl of confetti!

Corn chowder is a dish you can make vegitarian if you wish, see alternate instructions below if you prefer a vegetarian meal.

feel free to put little hands to work stirring, grating, and pouring on this one. Both of mu girls (11 & 3) helped with this one which made eating it that much more rewarding for all of us!

Be sure to teach any children you'll have in the kitchen what they need to know about safety before asking them to help.

• 1/2 lb bacon chopped small
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 cup seasoning blend
• 2 medium coarse shredded carrots
• 3-4 sprigs thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 c 2% milk
• 2 c chicken stock
• 2lb bag frozen corn kernels
• 3 medium shredded potatoes
• 1/2 t dry parsley or 2T fresh chopped
• salt, pepper, Tony's to taste
• 1 T cornstarch + 1 T water (slurry)

Directions:

1. Render down the bacon until crispy and set aside on napkins to drain.
2. Remove bacon drippings from pan, reserving 1 T of the "grease".
3. Add butter, seasoning blend, and carrots, sauteing until vegetables are tender 5-7 minutes.
4. Add thyme sprigs, bay leaves, milk, and stock.
5. Watching carefully, bring just to a boil then turn heat down low enough to maintain a slow simmer for 15 minutes, stirring frequently.
6. Add potatoes, parsley, and seasonings.
7. Stir in slurry and allow to simmer another 5 minutes to thicken slightly.
8. If too thick you can add water, too thin add another slurry repeating 5 minute simmer if you do so.
9. Add corn and crisped bacon then simmer another 10 minutes.
10. Serves well with garlic bread, croutons, or crackers.

For a vegitarian version skip the bacon, use 1T butter in place of the bacon renderings, and vegetable stock instead of chicken stock.

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This week's Meal Plan

Easy Sheperd's Pie

This one was so easy all I did was chop the meat and make some mashed potatoes, Halie made the pie "filling" herself. She also typed her recipe :)

• 1/2 c seasoning blend
• 1/2-3/4 lb. beef ground or diced round
• 2 c cool mashed potatoes
• 4 oz cream cheese
• 1 c shredded cheese
• 2 cloves pressed garlic
• 4 c mixed veggies, thawed
• 1 c gravy (or sm. roux)

1. saute meat and seasoning blend until meat is brown
2. mix potatoes and both cheeses. set aside
3. stir gravy and veggies into meat. warm through
4. pour into baking dish
5. cover with potatoes
6. bake for 20 min
7. Enjoy!!!

typed by: Halie

This week's Meal Plan

Comfort Foods Dinner

Today's Menu
Mini Meatloafs and Parm Mashed Potatoes
with corn



Today is about comfort and flavor.
I'm in the middle of my finals and I decided
"SO WHAT" about a meal a little less healthy than usual.
I also make it big so this one is a little less budget friendly than others
but to me it is worth the splurge.

The Recipe
Mini Meatloafs

• 2 lbs 90% lean ground beef (2/$7.18)

pantry items (things I always have on hand):

• 1/4 c BBQ Sauce ( I used the stuff I made for the Cheyenne Burgers)
• 1/4 c bread crumbs
• 1 beaten egg
• Tony's, pepper, dried onion, garlic powder to taste
  

1. mix together lightly
2. divide into 12 equal portions
3. put in muffin tin one portion per well
4. press tops down lightly
5. bake at 350 for about 30 minutes

Parm Mashed Potatoes

• about 2 lbs potatoes ($1.50)
• 1/3 c parmesan grated cheese ($50¢)

pantry items (things I always have on hand):

• 1/4 c butter
• 1/3 c sour cream
• Tony's, salt, pepper to taste

1. peel and cube potatoes into 1" cubes
2. boil until tender
3. drain and return to pan
4. add parmesan, butter, and sour cream to pan
5. mash or mix (i use an electric hand mixer) until blended
6. instead of milk, if it seems too dry I add more sour cream.

Side:

• Canned Corn (62¢)

TOTAL: $8.30 + pantry...
It's so good I don't know how much will be left
at least ONE lunch LOL!

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Today's Menu: EASY Minestrone

So since I won't be shopping until after dinner tonight, I am going back to the Marinara/spaghetti sauce recipes. They are quick. They are easy. And I usually have all the ingredients on hand.

Easy Italian Minestrone
from Food Network's "50 things to do with Marinara"

#8 Minestrone Soup: Boil 1 jar pasta sauce and 5 cups water. Stir in cooked small pasta, chopped mixed vegetables, canned beans and grated parmesan cheese; cook until vegetables are tender.

And since I change everything... :)

Recipe:
My Revised Easy Italian Minestrone
1/2 lb Turkey Sausage link ($1.5026/lb- 1/2 lb= 75¢)
1 jar favorite pasta sauce (approx $1.50 jar)
2 cups chicken broth ($1.50/box - 1/2 box = 75¢)
1 bag frozen Italian veggies (12 oz. = $1.50)
1 can canelli/white beans (12 oz = 68¢)
1/2lb sm. pasta- mine? Gemelli ($1.26/box- 1/2 box= 63¢)
Water
I usually get AT LEAST 1 meal and a lunch out of this.. sometimes 2-3 lunches extra to freeze.. depends on how hungry everyone is.
Total Meal $5.81
with an italian sausage splurge you only add pennies!

Start boiling a pot of water for pasta. Remember to salt when boiling, add pasta and cook until just under "al dente".. take 1-2 minutes of suggested cooking time. Drain and toss with just a drizzle of olive oil, or any light oil if you're out.

In seperate pot:
Add sauce and broth and bring to simmer.
Slice sausage into thin 1/2 moons (half the slice)
Add sausage and frozen veggies and return to simmer.
Add enough water to make a soup consistency.
When all veggies thaw/warm through, add beans to simmer.

Add pasta and simmer until tender, adding water as needed to keep soup consistency. (Sorry I've never measured the water, lol)

Try serving with saltines. Garnish with any fresh herbs -- parsley, basil, minced onion or chives.

It's the little touches.. broth, fresh herbs, olive oil on pasta... that make the dish taste authentic and like you slaved all day. AND IT TOOK ME 25 MINUTES!

Enjoy!

This is my little one demanding in on the picture action
as she chows down on her minestrone, LOL!