Mini Meat Loaf

It always cracks me up when someone thinks I'm some mega chef: I simply am not! The biggest reason my family generally has a home cooked meal is because it's frugal. I don't generally spend a lot of time fixing dinner, but a nice dinner doesn't have to take a lot of time to prepare! This recipe came about when I was experimenting with meat loaf recipes... trying to scale them back and simplify the process. A success was born! Feel free to be creative with this recipe and add your own touch. It's not unheard of for me to add a carrot or two, finely shredded, in with the meat. What they don't know won't hurt them! Oh, and I double the recipe for my family. These make great left overs/snacks!

Enjoy!

Mini Meat Loaves

1 lb. ground beef, ground turkey, or a mixture of both
1/4 c. Italian bread crumbs
1 egg
ketchup or bbq sauce to taste
3 sticks string cheese

Mix ground meat, bread crumbs, and egg until very well blended. Shape into approx. 1/3 cup size balls. Place in sprayed cupcake tins. Top with a little bit of ketchup or sauce. Cut string cheese sticks into 3 pieces each. Put one chunk of cheese in the middle of each mini meat loaf. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes, or until no longer pink.

Sour Cream Enchiladas

No pictures today, just a delicious recipe I hope you enjoy!

Sour Cream Enchiladas
1 Whole chicken or 3 chicken breasts (cooked and cut into bite size pieces)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 pint sour cream
1 ½ teaspoon minced onion
1 or 2 cans (4 oz. each) mild green chiles
1 dozen flour tortillas
2 cups grated cheddar or sharp cheese

Put chicken, soup, 1 cup sour cream, onion, ½ of the cheese, and chiles in a bowl. Mix together. Soften tortillas in microwave. Place 2 heaping tablespoons of chicken mixture in each tortilla and roll up. Place in oiled 9x13 inch pan. Add remaining cheese and sour cream to remaining chicken mixture. Use as a topping over the enchiladas. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Hamburger/Corn Casserole

One of my all time favorite comfort foods, this recipe has sadly been neglected by me over the years. Thankfully, one of my dear friends from childhood reminded me of this recipe the other day; she said it's now one of her family's favorites and that she thinks of me every time she makes it! How sweet!

When my hubby and I were first married, I was basically known as the "casserole queen"... they are easy, inexpensive, and very versatile so I made them a lot. This was one that I loved the most!

Let's get cooking!

In a skillet, brown 1-2 lbs. ground beef.
Season to taste and drain off the fat. (I use garlic salt and lemon pepper.)
While the meat's cooking, cook one package of elbow (or other) macaroni according to package directions.
You will need 2 cans cream of mushroom soup and one pint sour cream ...
and one package of frozen corn.
Drain cooked pasta and return to large pot.
Add to the pot your drained ground beef.
Add the frozen corn,
as well as soup and sour cream.
Mix until well coated.
Transfer ingredients to a 9x13 casserole dish.
Cover with shredded cheddar cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes and enjoy!
Hamburger/Corn Casserole

oven 350 degrees

1-2 lbs. ground beef
1 package of elbow macaroni
1 package of frozen corn
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 pint sour cream
1/2 lb. cheddar cheese, grated

Brown, season, and drain ground beef. Cook pasta according to package directions. Return drained pasta to large pot; add ground beef, corn, soup, and sour cream. Stir until well coated. Put pasta mixture in 9x13 inch pan. Cover with grated cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Enjoy!

Troy's Awesome Wraps

Troy fixed the BEST wraps I've ever had! I loved them so much that I thought I'd share his recipe with you.

Troy's Awesome Wraps
Take a tortilla of your flavor preference. Spread a thin layer of cream cheese or ranch salad dressing on one side. Cover the cream cheese or dressing with lean turkey and lean ham. Top the meats with shredded cheddar cheese and Romaine lettuce. Top with green grapes, cut in half. Roll up and enjoy!

*Note: I enjoyed my wrap with cream cheese: Troy had ranch on his. They were seriously delicious!

Chicken and Pasta Salad

This salad is one of our family's ultimate favorites. My sweet heart's mother introduced this deliciousness to me several years ago, and I've adapted it to our family's tastes. It is just as yummy as a left over as it is the first day (and may I add, one of the very few left overs my hubby will ever eat). Because of the chicken and pasta, this salad can easily be a side or main dish.

Let's get cooking!

Heat a skillet sprayed with non-stick spray. Put a tenderized boneless, skinless chicken breast on the hot skillet. Season with seasoned salt and pepper, or as desired.Cook the chicken on both sides, assuring that it is no longer pink inside.
Remove from heat and let it cool.

Cook one small package of desired pasta according to package directions. Drain and cool.
While the chicken and pasta are cooling, chop and prepare your other ingredients.

Chop up about 1/4-1/3 cup onion and put it in a large mixing bowl.
Wash and stem 2 bunches of grapes. We like the red grapes best in this particular salad, but any grapes work fine.Chop a head of lettuce. I prefer using Romaine for its hardiness and color. Set the lettuce aside.Put the cooled, drained pasta in the large mixing bowl.Put the grapes in the large bowl.Transfer the cooled chicken onto a cutting board.
Chop the chicken into bite sized pieces. Assure that it is completely cooled. If needed, let it sit while you prepare the dressing.Find your favorite ranch dressing, Miracle Whip, grated Parmesan cheese, and seasoned salt.In a small-ish bowl put about 1 cup of Miracle Whip. If you like your salad more moist, add more Miracle Whip.Add about 1-2 Tablespoons ranch dressing.Add 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese.Add 1-2 teaspoons seasoned salt.(Remind me to get a new scraper! Yikes!)

Mix the dressing ingredients together until well incorporated.If you haven't already, add the cooled chicken to the grapes and pasta in the large bowl.
Pour the dressing over the ingredients in the large bowl and mix well.Here's the fun part: mix the lettuce into the pasta. It doesn't have to be well coated, and actually won't wilt as quickly if it isn't saturated in dressing.Enjoy!Chicken and Pasta Salad

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast (cut in two and tenderized)
seasonings for chicken
1 small package pasta (cooked and drained according to package directions)
2 bunches grapes
1/4-1/3 cup chopped onion
1 cup Miracle Whip
1-2 T. ranch dressing
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1-2 t. seasoned salt
1 head lettuce

Cook chicken. Cool and chop into bite sized pieces.

Put cooked, drained, and cooled pasta into a large mixing bowl. Add grapes (washed and stemmed) and onion to pasta. Add chopped and cooled cooked chicken to bowl.

Mix Miracle Whip, ranch dressing, Parmesan cheese, and seasoned salt in a small bowl. Pour over ingredients in large mixing bowl and incorporate well.

Add chopped head of lettuce to large bowl and stir.

Refrigerate or serve immediately. Stores well in covered container in refrigerator for up to four days.

Bagel Pizzas

Okay, so it's been a while.

So my cutie pie pre-teen talked me into blogging this super easy recipe, and I hope that you enjoy it as much as we do. Or did. They're gone. Snarfed down without a trace.

Start with a bagel. Today we chose whole wheat bagels, but onion, garlic, sesame seed, poppy seed, jalapeno, or plain bagels also work great.
Slice it in half.Spread cream cheese on each half. Be generous here; you want to cover up that pesky hole in the middle.
Now add a scoop of spaghetti sauce over the cream cheese layer.
Top with desired variety of cheese. We were boring today and used cheddar. (It's my ultimate food weakness right now... I just can't get enough cheddar cheese!)
Top it off with a giant slice of pepperoni. (Or don't.) We also used sliced ham, but really go crazy here according to whatever your tastes dictate.
If you're making lunch for a bunch of ravished people, repeat the process on lots of bagels. We can always count on everyone eating two halves. They're that good.
Stick the bagels on a cookie sheet and place on the middle rack of your oven under broil. Watch these pizzas, because they cook fast!

This is what 3 minutes looked like:

...and they were delicious!

Bagel Pizzas
oven: broil

1 bagel per person
cream cheese
spaghetti sauce
shredded or sliced cheese
toppings of your liking

Cut bagel in half. Spread with cream cheese. Top with sauce. Add desired cheese and toppings. Broil until cheese is melted and beginning to turn golden brown. Enjoy!

Sweet Apricot Chicken

Sometimes simplicity is the key ingredient. This dish is one of the easiest dinners you could possibly make. Sweet Apricot Chicken came about one evening when I had nothing in mind for dinner, and a freezer full of apricots and apricot jam. Our family really likes this dish, but let me warn you that it is very sweet. However, the tartness that the apricots provide seem to balance out the dish nicely.

Let's get cooking!

In a large skillet, place 2 cans drained chicken or 3 cups of left over chicken.Add 2-3 cups of apricots. I use my frozen apricot that have defrosted in the fridge or been zapped in the microwave.
Melt 2 cups (yup--that's a lot) of apricot jam. It needs to be runny...
Stir the jam into the apricots and chicken. Simmer on medium heat for about 10 minutes.
Serve hot! We usually choose to serve it over hot rice and with a salty veggie like green beans.
One of the easiest dinners ever!

Sweet Apricot Chicken
serves 6-8

2 cans chicken, drained
2-3 cups apricot halves
2 cups melted apricot jam

Simmer and serve with hot rice, pasta, or on a bed of salad greens.

Meatloaf

Once a staple of the American family's weekly menu, it surprises me whenever I learn that so many of my dear readers don't know how to make meatloaf. Let me ease your fears when I tell you that it is truly one of the easiest dinners to make!

Let's get cooking!

In a large bowl, put your ground meat. You may use ground beef, ground turkey, ground sausage, or a combination of these. One pound of meat makes 4 hearty servings. We're feeding 6, so I used 2 lbs. of meat. Besides, this is one leftover no one at my house complains about!Add one egg for every pound of meat used.
Add 1/4 cup of plain bread crumbs for every pound used.
Now this is where you can personalize the meatloaf to your family's tastes: herbs and seasonings. My family was looking for a simple meal, so I simply used some dried parsley from my garden.
(Excuse the poor quality of the picture...) I also used my old stand-bys: freshly ground pepper and garlic sea salt.
Incorporate all the ingredients well-- using a hook, a giant spoon, or clean hands. Put the meat in a loaf pan.
Cover the meat with your choice of ketchup, bbq sauce, or salsa. Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour, or until the meat is no longer pink.

Meatloaf

oven 350 degrees

1 lb. ground meat (beef, turkey, sausage, or a combination of any)
1 egg
1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
herbs and seasonings to taste
ketchup, bbq sauce, or salsa

Combine meat, egg, crumbs, and seasonings until well incorporated. Shape and place in a loaf pan. Cover with ketchup or other sauce. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until no longer pink.