Beef & Potato Casserole

I was looking for something to make with potatoes, because I picked up a 10 pound bag for $2.88 the other day and had lots of potatoes on hand. I found this recipe, did my own thing to it, and here it is. Sorry I don't have a picture, but I was late getting dinner on the table and didn't have time to get a photo. It was VERY good though. Because I was doing this in a hurry, so I didn't take time to stop and measure some of this stuff for you ... so just do it to taste.

Ingredients

1 pound of ground beef (I used 97% lean)
3 to 4 baking potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (about 1/4" thick)
1 can of cream of mushroom soup (I used 98% fat free)
Worcestershire Sauce
1 clove of garlic, minced
Red cooking wine
Shredded Cheddar cheese

1. Put sliced potatoes in a medium sauce pan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Cook until just tender ... about 5 minutes and drain. Be careful not to over cook these because if you do, they will fall apart, and you want them to retain their shape and not be mashed potatoes.

2. While potatoes are heating to a boil (be sure to set your timer when they start to boil), brown ground beef with ground pepper and garlic. Drain if necessary (I didn't have to because the beef I used was so lean)

3. Add soup, about 1/2 c. of red wine, and a few dashes of Worcestershire Sauce to the ground beef and mix it until combined. Then add potatoes and gently mix to coat the potatoes with the meat mixture.

4. Pour the meat mixture into a 2 and 1/2 quart casserole dish that has been lightly sprayed with cooking spray. If you want to do a 9x13 dish full, I would suggest doubling this recipe.

5. Sprinkle enough cheese over the top to cover it, then bake it in a 350 degree preheated oven for about 25 to 30 minutes.

This amount will serve about 4 people.

I served this with fresh green beans cooked with butter and some drop biscuits brushed with garlic butter. The whole family plus our one dinner guest REALLY enjoyed it. Hope you do, too!

Crock Pot Enchilades

I made this recipe for potluck last Sunday. I was out of town all day Saturday, so I knew I needed something I could make ahead easily. I browned the meat and added the soups and seasonings, and then put the crock in the fridge Friday night. Sunday morning, I put the crock in the "pot" and heated it for about 4 hours and it turned out great.

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds of hamburger meat
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 can of cheese soup (any flavor)
1 can of golden mushroom soup
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 can of red enchilada sauce (mild or hot)
1 tsp. of ground cumin
1 four ounce can of chopped green chilies
12 corn tortillas

Brown hamburger meat and onions. Drain and put into a Crockpot you have sprayed with cooking spray. Add the rest of the ingredients except for the tortillas. Cook for four hours on low. One hour before you serve it, tear up the tortillas and add to the soup mixture in the crock pot. Cook an additional hour and serve.

Frozen Pot Roast

I'm sure many of you may have known this, but for those of you who don't, here's a super easy recipe. The other day I was planning to cook a roast for dinner, and I usually do it frozen in my crock pot and let it cook all day. I have a BIG crock pot, but the frozen 4 and 1/2 pound brisket/roast was too big for my crock pot. So, I found a recipe and then put my spin on it. It was easy, quick to get ready to go in the oven and was DELICIOUS!!!


Ingredients

Frozen roast/brisket

1 can of Golden Mushroom Soup

1 packet of dry onion soup mix

1/2 cup of red cooking wine (or if you drink wine, I'm sure a good red wine would be even better, but since we don't drink wine I just use the cooking wine you can pick up near the salad dressing in the grocery store)

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Spray a 9x13 roasting pan with cooking spray and put the roast in there fat side up. I put a little ground black pepper on top. Mix the soup, the soup mix and the wine together and pour it over the roast. Put a large piece of foil over the top of it with enough foil to make a tent. Cook it all day. I put it in about 10 AM and it was wonderful by 6 PM. It was actually ready to eat when I checked it at about 4:30, but I put it back in the oven until it was time to eat. I served it with Do Ahead Mashed Potatoes that I made using butter gold potatoes and some California Medley vegetables. The meal was a HUGE hit and so easy!

Elegant Lasagna

This is the BEST lasagna you will ever eat anywhere in the whole world!!! I made this for my family's Christmas gathering last year, because we were all tired of turkey. Everyone RAVED over it. There is nothing low fat about it, and don't try to make it low fat. Let it be an indulgence. You can easily make it ahead and freeze it or split the recipe and do two 8x8 pans and freeze one of them. This was submitted to Central's cookbook by Kate Hancock.

Ingredients

1 T. butter
1/2 lb. of hot sausage (I use Italian sausage)
1 lb. ground beef
2 cloves of minced garlic (use fresh on this)
3 T. of parsley flakes
1 T. basil
1 tsp. salt
28 oz. can of diced tomatoes
12 oz. tomato paste
1 T. oregano
10 lasagna noodles
32 oz. of cottage cheese (I'm not crazy about cottage cheese but it is perfect in this)
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp. of black pepper
3/4 c. Parmesan cheese
1 lb. of grated mozzarella cheese

Brown meats in butter. Add garlic, 1 tablespoon of parsley, basiz, 1/2 tsp salt, tomatoes, tomato paste and oregano. Simmer meat mixture as you prepare the noodles and the cheese mixture. Cook noodles according to package directions and rinse in cold water to prevent sticking. Combine cottage cheese, eggs, 1/2 tsp. salt, pepper, other 2 tablespoons of parsley and Parmesan cheese.

To assemble: Arrange a layer of 1/2 the noodles in a lightly greased 13x9 pan. Spread 1/2 of the cottage cheese mixture over the noodles. Add 1/2 of the meat mixture. Add 1/2 the mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or freeze. To bake it frozen, I would cook it about an 1 and 1/2, but check it at an hour. You could always take it out of the freezer the day before you want to cook it and thaw it in the fridge and then cook for 30 to 45 minutes at 375.

Hamburger Casserole

This is an easy, quick kid pleaser. Even my picky nephew likes this. It is a recipe from Central's cookbook and was submitted to the cookbook by Neicy Burleson. Enjoy!

1 pound hamburger meat
1 onion diced (I would use half that amount. It was a little too much onion for the kids' taste)
2 - 3T. chili powder (or to taste)
1 small can of tomato sauce
1 small package of cooked macaroni (drained) - any pasta you have on hand will work
1 can of golden mushroom soup ( you could use regular cream of mushroom but the golden is better)
2 Cups of shredded cheese of your choice (Cheddar, Mozzarella)

Brown meat and onion. Add chili powder and tomato sauce. Let simmer then add cooked macaroni. Pour the meat and macaroni mixture into a 9x13 sprayed baking dish. Spread one can of golden mushroom soup over top and place cheese over top of soup. Bake at 350 until the cheese is melted. The amt of cheese was left off the original recipe, so I'm just estimating how much I used.