Beef and Bean Burritos

Source:  Mel's kitchen cafe

INGREDIENTS

Rice:
• 1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 3/4 cup long grain white rice
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
Filling:
• 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 3 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 12 ounces extra lean ground beef or lean ground turkey
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 6-8 (10-inch) flour tortillas, white or wheat
• 5 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese (about 1 cup)
• 5 ounces shredded Monterey Jack cheese (about 1 cup)
• 6 tablespoons sour cream, light or regular

DIRECTIONS

1. For the rice, bring the broth, rice, garlic, and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook until the rice is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed, about 16-18 minutes. Remove the rice from the heat, keeping it covered, and let it sit while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. When ready to use, add the cilantro and fluff with a fork.
2. For the filling, combine the broth and half of the beans in a small bowl and mash with a fork until the beans are coarsely mashed with the broth (reserve the whole beans for later). In a large, 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat the vegetable oil until hot and rippling. Add the onion and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring often. Stir in the tomato paste, garlic, cumin, oregano and chili powder and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the ground meat and cook until no longer pink, about 8-10 minutes, breaking the meat into small pieces while cooking. Drain any excess grease if needed.
3. Stir the mashed bean mixture into the meat mixture and cook for 3-4 minutes until the mixture is thick and most of the liquid has evaporated. Stir in the rest of the whole beans, lime juice and salt. Remove from heat. If serving immediately, follow the instructions in the next paragraph. If freezing for later, let the beef and bean mixture and the rice cool to warm room temperature before proceeding.
4. Wrap the tortillas in between damp paper towels and microwave until the tortillas are soft, about 1 minute. Arrange the tortillas on the counter and divide the rice, beef and bean filling and cheese evenly among the tortillas. Dollop each tortilla with a tablespoon (more or less) of sour cream. Fold the sides of the tortilla toward each other over the filling while lifting the bottom edge over, rolling into a burrito shape. Serve immediately (if desired).
5. For freezer burritos, wrap each burrito in plastic wrap. Place burritos in a gallon-sized freezer ziploc bag. To reheat, unwrap the burrito from the plastic wrap and place on a microwave-safe plate. Microwave for 1-2 minutes. Poke the burrito with the tines of a fork all over and continue microwaving in 30-second increments until heated through.

Recipe Source: adapted from Cook’s Country April/May 2013

Shells

There is this dinner that my mom makes called shells. I love it A LOT!!! Here is the recipe:

Shells (serves 8-10 servings)

1 package (12 oz.) Jumbo shells, uncooked

4 cups (2 lb.) ricotta cheese

2 cups (8 oz.) shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 eggs

1 T chopped fresh parsley

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3 cups (about 28 oz. jar) spaghetti sauce

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Cook pasta according package directions. In medium bowl, stir together cheeses, eggs, parsley, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. In 13x9 baking dish, spread 1/2 cup spaghetti sauce. Fill each coked pasta with about 1-1/2 level tablespoons cheese mixture; layer one-half filled pasta in prepared dish. spread one-half remaining sauce over past; sprinkle with additional Parmesan cheese, if desired. cover with foil; bake 35 min. or until hot and bubbly.

Poppy Seed Chicken

Source:  Amy and Tendra (I combo'd the best of each of their recipes)



3 cups cooked rice
3 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
16 oz sour cream
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 tbsp lemon juice
Salt and pepper

1 sleeve Ritz crackers
2 tbsp melted butter
2 tbsp poppy seeds

Cover bottom of 9x13 pan with cooked rice. In a bowl, mix chicken, sour cream, soup, lemon juice,  and salt and pepper. Spread over rice.
Cover with crushed ritz crackers and sprinkle with poppy seeds.  Drizzle with butter.  Cook 25-30 mins at 350.

To freeze:  assemble everything except cracker/seed topping.  Top just before going in the oven  bake from frozen 300 for 3 hours.  or if thawed 350 for 25-30 mins

Chicken Taco Soup

Source:  Stephanie Hammer



2 chicken breasts, shredded
1 family size can of chicken with rice soup
3 C. chicken broth (use the water you boiled the chicken in)
1 can of corn, untrained
1 can Rotel diced tomatoes with lime and cilantro
1 can Texas style ranch beans

Heat all together in sauce pan or crockpot.
Top with cheese, sour cream, green onions, and Fritos or tortilla chips

Note:  double it and put half in the freezer for a busy day. :)
Also, you could make it without the chicken for a quasi-vegetarian meal.

Better Baked Ziti

Source;  Mr. Food Cooks Pasta



1/2 lb ziti
15 oz ricotta cheese
3 c (12 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
3 c.  marinara sauce, divided
1/2 C. grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350.  In large pot of boiling salted water, cook the ziti until just barely tender; drain and place in a large bowl.  Mix the ricotta cheese and half of the mozzarella cheese with the ziti.  Grease a 9x13 pan; cover the bottom of pan with half the sauce.  Spoon the ziti mixture into the pan; cover with the remaining sauce.  Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese and top with the remaining mozzarella cheese.  Bake for 20-30 mins or until cheese melts and is lightly golden.

Great freezer meal

Lasagna

Source:  Kraft Foods

1

lb.  ground beef

2-1/2

cups  KRAFT Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese, divided

1

container  (15 oz.) POLLY-O Natural Part Skim Ricotta Cheese

1/2

cup  KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided

1/4

cup  chopped fresh parsley

1

 egg, beaten

1

jar  (24 oz.) spaghetti sauce

1

cup  water

12

 lasagna noodles, uncooked

make it

HEAT oven to 350°F.

BROWN meat in large skillet on medium-high heat. Meanwhile, mix 1-1/4 cups mozzarella, ricotta, 1/4 cup Parmesan, parsley and egg until blended.

DRAIN meat; return to skillet. Stir in spaghetti sauce. Add 1 cup water to empty sauce jar; cover with lid and shake well. Add to meat mixture; stir until blended. Spread 1 cup meat sauce onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish; top with layers of 3 lasagna noodles, 1/3 of the ricotta cheese mixture and 1 cup meat sauce. Repeat layers twice. Top with remaining noodles, meat sauce and cheeses. Cover with foil sprayed with cooking spray.

BAKE 1 hour or until heated through, removing foil after 45 min. Let stand 15 min. before cutting to serve.

Grandma Thomas's Sloppy Joes

People gasp when I tell them that one of my family's most favorite dinners is sloppy joe's.
They back away in fear.
They tell me they don't need dinner brought to them after all.



All I can figure is, they've never had my grandma's sloppy joe's.  Because they are YUM!  So yum, they will be making an appearance at our very special "Foods We are Thankful For" Thanksgiving this year!

2# ground beef
1 onion
Brown together
Then add:
2 cans tomato soup
2 tbsp Worchestershire sauce (I am generous with this)
2 Tbsp vinegar
2 Tbsp brown sugar (again, per grandma's directions I am generous here as well)

Mix and heat.  Put on a decent bun (not 88 cent winco cheapies.)
Ta-dah!
Sloppy Joe deliciousness will ensue.

Recipe in Grandma's handwriting

Fannie Farmer Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

Source:  food.com; courtesy of Fannie Farmer 1946 cookbook




Servings:  16

Recipe doubled!  Freeze half for later. 
Ingredients:
1 (16 ounce) package macaroni
8 tablespoons butter
8 tablespoons flour
2 cup milk
2 cup cream
1 teaspoon salt
fresh ground black pepper, to taste
4 cups shredded cheddar cheese,  good quality--Tillamook is good
1 cup breadcrumbs, buttered

Follow Directions in Order:

1.  Preheat oven to 400°F.  Grate cheese.
2.  In a large saucepan melt butter.  
2.5  Put water on to boil for pasta.  Get milk and cream ready.
3.  Add flour mixed with salt and pepper, using a whisk to stir until well blended. 
4.  Pour milk and cream in gradually; stirring constantly.
5.  Bring sauce to boiling point and boil 2 minutes (stirring constantly).
6.  Cook and drain macaroni according to package directions.
7.  Reduce heat and cook (stirring constantly) 10 minutes
8.  Add shredded cheddar little by little and simmer an additional 5 minutes, or until cheese melts.
9.  Turn off flame.
10.  Add macaroni to the saucepan and toss to coat with the cheese sauce.
11.  Transfer macaroni to a buttered 7x11" pan.
12.  Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and some melted butter.
13.  Bake 20 minutes until the top is golden brown.
14.  (You can also freeze this recipe in zip-lock bags for later use - once you have mixed the macaroni along with the cheese sauce allow to cool to room temperature before adding to your freezer - I generally pull it out the night before and allow macaroni and cheese to reach room temperature; I then add the macaroni and cheese to a buttered baking dish, sprinkle with bread crumbs and then bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until golden brown on top and bubbling.
  

Hannah and I decided we needed a really yummy homemade mac and cheese recipe--I had never really had a homemade version.  We tried several different recipes to somewhat sad results.  Not the creamy, deliciousness we had dreamed of.  We began searching the internet for a good recipe with some basic tenants--it had to be easy to make (I can't deal with 4 different kinds of cheese that are expensive or hard to prounounce), but still tasty.  When I saw this one online, it had me at "Fannie Farmer"  How could a recipe from that source not be delicious??  Add in that it came from a 1946 cookbook and we knew we had a winner on our hands!