Cowboy Casserole

1/2 pound ground beef
1 small can whole kernal corn, drained
2/3 cup cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1/3 cup milk
2 Tblsp. sour cream
3/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. pepper
3 cups frozen tator tots

In a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink. Stir in the corn, soup, 1/4 cup cheese, milk, sour cream, onion powder and pepper.
Place 1 and 1/2 cups Tator Tots in a baking dish (I used an 8 x 8 dish) coated with cooking spray. Layer with beef mixture and remaining Tator Tots; sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake uncovered, at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until bubbly.

I just discovered this glorified version of Tator Tot Casserole in one of my Taste of Home magazines, we love it!

Ground Beef Pot Roast

2/3 cup milk
1/3 cup dry bread crumbs
1 pound ground beef
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tsp. salt
dash of pepper
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
onions, chopped
carrots, chopped
potatoes, chopped

Pour milk over bread crumbs; add beef, ketchup, salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. Pat into oblong shape and place in the center of greased baking pan. Place vegetables around meat loaf; season. Cover tightly and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until vegetables are tender. Remove cover and bake an additional 10 minutes to brown.

I found this recipe today, and thought it looked intriguing, so I made it tonight. It was very good, the only thing I would change is to add a little more of the bread crumbs to hold it together better.

Beef Taco Bake

1 pound ground beef
1 can condensed tomato soup
1 cup salsa or picante sauce
1/2 cup milk
6 flour tortillas (8 in.), cut into 1 inch pieces
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Cook beef until browned. Pour off fat.

Add soup, salsa, milk, tortillas, and half the cheese. Spoon into 2 quart shallow baking dish. Cover.

Bake at 400 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Beef and Bean Chimichangas

1 pound lean ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion

3/4 cup diced green bell pepper

1 and 1/2 cups whole kernal corn

2 cups taco sauce

2 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. garlic salt

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 (16 oz.) can refried beans

8 (12 inch) flour tortillas

1 (16 oz.) pkg. shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1 Tblsp. butter, melted

shredded lettuce

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Brown the ground beef with onion and bell pepper. Add the corn and cook a few minutes longer. Stir in the taco sauce, and season with chili powder, garlic salt, and cumin, stirring until blended. Cook until heated through, then remove from heat, and set aside.

3. Spread a layer of beans onto each of the tortillas. Spoon the beef mixture down the center, and then top with as much shredded cheese as you like (I left the cheese off of some). Roll up the tortillas, and place them seam-side down onto a baking sheet. Brush the tortillas with melted butter.

4. Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve with lettuce, tomato, sour cream, etc.

This makes a lot! They can be put together, and then frozen. Take out of freezer as needed, and bake. Very tasty!

Chili Cornbread Pie

1 pound ground turkey or lean ground beef
1 packet (1.4 oz) chili seasoning or taco seasoning mix (I made up a chili seasoning with some spices)
2 cans (8 oz each) no-salt added tomato sauce
1 can (15.25 oz) no-salt added whole-kernel corn, drained
1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained (I soaked and cooked dry black beans)
1 can (12 fl. oz.) Evaporated milk, divided
1 can (4 oz) diced green chilies, drained (optional)
2 boxes (8.5 oz each) dry corn muffin mix
2 large eggs
Sliced avocado, salsa, and/or sour cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 9x13 baking dish.

Cook turkey or beef in large skillet over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Stir in chili seasoning, tomato sauce, corn, beans, 3/4 cup evaporated milk, and chilies. Bring to a boil, reduce heat. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour mixture into prepared baking dish.

Combine corn muffin mix, remaining 3/4 cup evaporated milk, and eggs in medium bowl; stir just until moistened. Spread mixture over meat filling.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Serving suggestion: serve with chopped avocado, sour cream, and salsa.


*This is a tasty dish! I don't think it would be healthy to serve this often, but it's a good potluck dish. I strongly recommend the avocado accompaniment, and next time I'd probably leave the chilies out. We might be eating this all week -- it makes 10-12 servings, and we're on night #2.

Lasagna Toss

Do you love lasagna but hate the time it takes to make it? Have you ever wanted to make lasagna but hate heating up your whole house (especially in the summer time)? Well then this recipe is for you!

1 lb hamburger

2 green peppers, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 jar spaghetti sauce (26 oz)

1 2/3 cups water

1/4 cup Zesty Italian Dressing

12 oven ready lasagna noodles, broken into pieces (consider who will be eating it to determine noodle size)

1 cup mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Brown meat in large saucepan (I needed my dutch oven to make this recipe); drain. Stir in peppers, garlic, spaghetti sauce, water, and dressing; bring to a boil. Add noodles; stir. Cover. Cook on medium-low heat 10 to 15 minutes or until noodles are tender, stirring occassionally. Remove from heat. Sprinkle with cheese; cover. Let stand 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

This is great served with bread sticks and salad. My family really enjoyed this lasagna alternative. My notes: my box of noodles came with 16 but the recipe calls for 12 so throw in some extra water or spaghetti sauce. I like to use the chunky spaghetti sauce (it contains mushrooms, peppers, etc.--a little extra veggies has never hurt anyone!). A little extra water will not hurt. Also, this recipe would be great with cottage cheese or ricotta cheese mixed in but added before the mozzarella cheese. Again, this was AWESOME!! Dave does not care for lasagna but he really liked this.

Substitute: Substitute 12 regular lasagna noodles, broken into small pieces, for the oven ready noodles. Increase water to 2 cups and cook 30 minutes, stirring occassionally.

Taco Casserole

3 cups leftover taco-seasoned ground beef (or you can use one pound)
1 can (16 ounces) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheese (whatever kind is your favorite for Mexican food)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
1-1/2 cups biscuit/baking mix
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
shredded lettuce
1 medium tomato, diced
1 can (2-1/4 ounces) sliced ripe olives, drained

Directions: In a large bowl, combine the taco meat and beans; spoon into a greased 8-in. square baking dish (or 2 quart casserole dish). Sprinkle with cheese. In another bowl, combine the eggs, milk and biscuit mix until moistened. Pour over cheese. **After I have everything combined and placed in the baking dish I use a knife and poke around to let some of the batter soak through. This way, when it bakes the crust will surround the meat mixture versus just being on top.**

Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned and a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Spread with sour cream. Top with your favorite taco toppings such as lettuce, tomato, and olives.

We also add extra cheese and taco sauce but use what ever taco fixings you like (omit the ones you don't). This is one of our favorite meals! I have been known to make taco meat just so we can eat this casserole.

You can either spread this casserole with sour cream and cover with toppings and then serve or you can cut out individual pieces and top.

Bacon Cheeseburger Roll-up

1 lb. lean ground beef
4 slices Bacon, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 lb. (8 oz.) VELVEETA, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 pkg. (13.8 oz.) refrigerated pizza crust

Heat oven to 400°F. Brown ground beef with bacon and onions in large skillet; drain. Return meat mixture to skillet. Add VELVEETA; cook until melted, stirring frequently. Cool 10 minutes.

Unroll dough onto baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Press into 15x8-inch rectangle; top with meat mixture. Roll up, starting at one of the long sides. Rearrange if necessary so roll is seam-side down.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

This is WONDERFUL!! Dave ranks this as one of his favorite meals. He was a little skeptical at first but he absolutely loves this. Depending on how you slice this you could serve it as an appetizer or as the main course of your meal. I usually serve this with veggies (did I say my kids love veggies) and a salad or two. MMMMMMMmmmmm!! Try it, you will love it!

Goulash

1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup water
1/2 cup ketchup
1 Tblsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp ground mustard
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 tblsp. flour
1/8 cup cold water
Hot cooked noodles

Cook beef and onion until meat is no longer pink, drain. Add the water, ketchup, Worcestershire, paprika, sugar, salt, mustard, and garlic powder. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes. In a bowl, combine flour and cold water until smooth; stir into the meat mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Serve over noodles.

Mexican Beef and Rice

I kind of accidentally came up with this recipe one night, and we have loved it ever since.

1 box Mexican flavored Rice A Roni
1 pound ground beef
chopped onions and peppers
tortillas

Brown the ground beef along with onions and peppers (I usually use green, red, and jalapeno peppers) and set aside. Cook Rice A Roni according to pkg. directions. Mix ground beef mixture together with cooked rice, spoon into tortillas and fold to close. Top with your favorite toppings (I usually put cheese, sour cream, and a little taco sauce or salsa on mine).

Hamburger Hot Dish

1 lb. hamburger

1 cup diced celery

1 onion

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 can tomato soup

8 oz. noodles, cooked

Brown hamburger, celery, and onion together. Mix together with rest of ingredients and place in casserole dish. Bake 25 minutes and add cheese (optional). Cover and bake 15 minutes more.

This is one of my new favorite hotdishes, even with the modifications I made. I didn't use cheese, and I used 2 cans of 98% fat free cream of celery soup instead of the cream of mushroom and chicken soups. I always use that substitution as the 98% fat free cream of celery has the smallest amount of dairy in it.

BBQ Meatballs

1 lb. hamburger

2/3 cup milk

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/2 pkg. dry onion soup mix (like lipton)

handful of crushed crackers

Mix into balls. Broil 10 -12 minutes. Put in crockpot and cover with following sauce:

1 and 1/2 cups ketchup

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Cook in crockpot on low until heated through.

We were outside most of the afternoon so I wasn't watching the clock. I forgot they had to go in the crockpot, but I just put them in the oven on 350 for 30-40 minutes, and they still turned out great. You could also make the meatballs ahead of time, and either freeze or refrigerate them. Then mix up the sauce and put in the crockpot another day for a very easy meal.

Meat Loaf

2 slices of bread, broken up

1 cup milk

1/4 cup grated onion

salt and pepper to taste

2 beaten eggs

1/4 to 1/2 tsp. sage

1 and 1/2 pounds ground beef

Mix together and spread in glass pan.

Top with the following:

1 Tblsp. mustard

1/4 cup to 1/2 cup ketchup (depends on how much sauce you like)

1 tsp. vinegar

3 Tblsp. brown sugar

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

This is our favorite meal, we have it a lot. It is even Isabella's favorite meal. It goes great with baked potatoes and a green vegetable. I always liked my mom's meatloaf when I was growing up, but then I met Monte and tried his mom's meatloaf (this recipe). Wow! We've even had a couple of friends who don't like meatloaf, but loved this meatloaf.

Busy Day Casserole

Place a layer of peeled, sliced raw potatoes in casserole dish. Then a layer of onions. Over this, place one can cream style corn. Next, a layer of browned hamburger. Pour one can tomato soup over all. Cover and bake at 350 until done (about 1 and1/2 hours). Mix well before serving. Optional - top with grated cheese.

If you ever want something really easy, this is great (you just have to be around for the long cooking time). I have always eliminated cheese if a recipe calls for it, due to Monte's food allergies, but this time I put the cheese on Isabella and my portions because she is obsessed with cheese. It is SO good with the cheese (now I know what I've been missing out on all these years)! If you can't have cheese, though, it's still very good without, that's how I've always made it before.