Beef Barley and Vegetable Soup

It's very possible that I've shared this before but I don't know that it's been this exact version that I made last week. 

You see, I'm in a cooking rut. R-u-t. It's bad. 

And we have a friend visiting and staying with us. 

So this means, in an effort to not serve chicken sausage and pizza two days a week (you know those are my go-to dinners), I'm trying to branch out. On this particular day, it was so rainy and so gross outside. It was cold and miserable. Yay for spring break, I suppose. I figured soup was my best bet. 

I made a loaf of beer bread to go along with this. 

Beef Barley and Vegetable Soup

1 pound of beef stew meat, thawed

3 oz of tomato paste (half a can)

1 can diced tomatoes (14.5 oz, don't drain)

1 T. Montreal Steak Seasoning

1 t. sea salt

1 t. pepper

8 cups beef broth or stock (bone broth would be great but I didn't have any so I made broth with the cubes and hot water)

Whatever vegetables you like: I didn't do any chopping for this, but you can use fresh, canned, or frozen. 

I used 1 1/2 cups each of frozen corn and frozen green beans. You can do diced/chopped carrots, celery, onions...I wouldn't use potatoes, in case you want to freeze the leftovers and potatoes don't freeze well.

 2 cups of cooked barley (to add later)

Directions:

In a large stockpot, heat a few tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. 

On a cutting board, season the meat with the salt, pepper, and steak seasoning. Make sure it's thawed out; this isn't quite like putting it into a crockpot.

Once the oil is hot, add the meat and brown it. You may have to turn up the heat, but watch it closely. 

Once it's browned, add the tomato paste, canned diced tomatoes, and broth. Bring to a boil (you'll have to turn the heat down to low at this point).  Stir well to scrape up the browned bits at the bottom. 

^This is when you can transfer everything to a crockpot if you want to and cook on low all day. I usually just leave it on the stove and simmer for 1-2 hours. 

After an hour or so (give it at least an hour), add the vegetables. If you have fresh vegetables you'll need to continue cooking longer. If frozen or canned, it'll be ready sooner.

Heat it through and basically it's ready to go, but you can cook it all day if you'd like. I started it around noon and we ate at 5pm. 

Barley:

If you think you may want to freeze the leftovers, don't add the barley all in at once. You can cook it in the soup, but I make it in a separate pot, like oatmeal and just add it to each bowl. Cooked barley isn't going to freeze well. 

It's one-to-one, like oatmeal. The directions are on the package and it's super easy. Promise. 

Beef Vegetable Soup

NOTE: Today is a snow day.  I started this last night but apparently have no follow-through.

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I swear I want to blog.  I have dozens of half-written posts.  Ideas for more than that. Lots I could share. But something happens on the weekend...I've been treating my weekends like to-do lists and I've really been stressing myself out (that's one of those half-written posts you may never see). If I don't have blog posts written and ready by noon on Sunday...there will be no blog posts.  So, as I type, it's 6:51pm on Monday, and I'm contemplating a shower, 15 minutes of Pilates, and bed by 7:45.  Though...it IS Monday, which means Jane the Virgin. And I do still have to watch OUAT from Sunday.  And I do have tests to grade.  But I'm hoping for a snow day tomorrow. 

Jane will be on the DVR for tomorrow evening (or, better yet, during my snow day).  I introduced my teammate at school to the show.  After we discussed for awhile (while we were supposed to be planning or something), I asked: Team Michael or Team Rafael? She said Team Michael.  I'm Team Rafael.  I don't think she and I can be friends anymore. 

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Recipe challenge, week forty-three (but really there's going to be more than one recipe per week sometimes because I'm counting recipes more than I'm counting weeks at this point because I'm running out of time).

(Who am I kidding...there will be a solid week of just recipes at the end of December just so I can get them done with and posted.)

(Carry on.)

Believe it or not, I started this recipe months ago and thought that I wrote it down and then I realized I didn't and then I realized I lost the recipe my mom gave me years ago and then I needed to start over again so I've been putting it off.

Crockpot Beef Stew
use a 6 quart crockpot

Beef stew meat, 1 pound (It can be frozen, but should be cut into 1 inch chunks if you haven't bought it that way. Trimming the fat is also a good idea.)
1 t. salt
1 t. pepper
4 cups cold water

Put all of those ingredients in the crockpot for about 2 hours on high.

Then add:

2 cans beef broth or stock
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, grated or minced
1 can corn, or 1 cup frozen corn
1 can green beans, or 1 cup frozen green beans
1 can diced tomatoes, with juice
2 T. tomato paste
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced celery

Turn the crockpot to low and let it slow-cook all day, 6-8 hours. You could let it go for much longer too if you need to. This batch cooked for about 10 hours total.

If you are freezing this soup, let it cool first, skim any fat off the top, and then divide into Ziploc freezer bags and lay flat to freeze.  I got 3 bagfuls of this, so that's 3 separate meals.

(A link to) Mexican Stuffed Shells

Recipe challenge, week thirty-four. Kind of.

I can't lie. I haven't cooked in awhile.  In fact, grocery shopping isn't even fun anymore. In fact-in fact, I stopped at Chick-fila for dinner the other day when I knew Scott wouldn't be home until late.  I really just wanted a giant unsweetened tea, but I figured a chicken wrap would hold me over as I hunkered down to two hours of paperwork on a Thursday night.  How boring, right? The dogs weren't happy about it, but someone has to work to buy all those treats....

In fact, I've taken a step back from social media in general because I like to be intentional with things and right now I'm busy being intentional with things other than blogging.  Mostly school stuff.  But I've been insisting on half an hour of Pilates (at least) every day. It takes an extreme amount of forethought to put a workout into a busy day, and I'm the first one to admit that I've been going to bed too late.  However, dinner has barely been getting made because by the time I leave school, drive 30 minutes home, and I feed/walk/play with the dogs, it's almost 6pm and I have stuff to do and I end up putting something together for Scott and I just eat whatever.  It's not a practice I recommend.  If I'm lucky, I keep up with the laundry and dishes as the week goes on. Which means not often.

However, I made these stuffed shells weeks ago and took them to my friend who'd just had a baby.  I made a double batch so we had dinner for two nights too.  I do love freezer cooking and this is a great example of something you can make, wrap up tightly, stick in the freezer, and pull out on a busy day.

 It's not my recipe;  I googled "healthy Mexican stuffed shells" and this is what came up.  So I don't know if this counts because I didn't invent it. But it IS new and I DID make it and it's not like I'm writing a cookbook or plagiarizing, right?

I'll just post the link.  Just in case.

Company Chili

Recipe challenge, week four.

There's some things I just don't talk about on this blog.  Sometimes I feel like my whole world is out there for all to see, but I actually do keep a lot to myself. Bloggers, I think, need to draw a line somewhere because you never know who is reading.  Plus, we shape peoples' perception of who we are.  Putting it all out there isn't something I tend to do with this space.  In fact, sometimes I don't know what to write about because my thoughts aren't necessarily what I feel like putting on the internet.

This is kind of an example of that.  Last year, my aunt passed away at a relatively young age.  She was the first person to ever comment on this blog and she read it regularly.  She gave me this chili recipe when I got married because I was marrying into the military and, given her own experience, you needed to be able to cook for large groups of people.  With the recipe, came a giant stockpot, which she'd picked up in Spain.  It's called Company Chili because the blue stockpot (when full) would definitely make enough for an entire army company.

I've made chili with my aunt's secret ingredients several times and it never disappoints.  Scott loves it.  Last summer, my friend needed a recipe for a chili cook-off and I gave her this one.  Now, I don't know how many people were in this contest, but she did win Best American Chili, so it has to be kind of good, right?  My favorite way to eat it is baked in the oven with a spread of cream cheese and cheddar over the top, a la chili cheese dip.  I also freeze servings of it in Ziploc bags for busy days. It'd be perfect for a get-together, including any upcoming Superbowl parties.

The more I think about it, the reason I'm sharing this now is because I don't want you to not know about it.  Does that make sense?  I'm sharing this specifically because I want you to have my chili recipe.  

Company Chili

by Kristin Darhower

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: at least 1 hour

Ingredients (serves 6)

• 1 can Bush's ChiliStarter beans
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 packet chili seasoning (like McCormick)
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 1 can diced tomatoes, with juice
• 1 small can tomato paste OR tomato sauce
• 1 pound ground beef, turkey, or chicken
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (freshly grated is best)
• Handful semi-sweet chocolate chips
• Optional: Broth (chicken, beef, vegetable, etc)

Instructions

Brown the meat in a pan with some olive oil and drain any excess fat. Over medium heat, add in the pepper and onion and cover for 5-10 minutes. Stir and add the beans, chili seasoning, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce/paste, smoked paprika, and nutmeg. Let it simmer together for about an hour. At this point, if you want your chili to be thinner, add some of the broth (I always end up with a different consistency). A few minutes before serving, stir in the chocolate chips and let them melt.

Serve with sour cream, cheese, tortilla chips, etc.

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Easy Cheesesteak Pizzas

I've never been to Philadelphia, so I really know nothing about cheesesteaks.  Most Pennsylvanians, if you ask them, will tell you that Philadelphia is not "Pennsylvania".  It's "New Jersey".  We're not proud of the place.  In fact, if the Keystone State could figure out a way to sell good ol' Philly to New Jersey, I'm sure we would.  And I'm sure they'd take it.

I do, however, love the combination of ingredients that go into a cheesesteak.  No mayo, marinara, lettuce, or tomato for me, though.  This is about grilled peppers, sweet onions, thinly cut steak strips, and cheese.  I've used mozzarella, parmesan, provolone, swiss, a combination of these....it doesn't really matter!  I don't prefer American cheese, but I hear that can be on authentic Philly cheesesteaks.

I made this "pizza" two years ago and, ohmygosh, was it good!  Like, I would eat the whole thing by myself (and I did a couple of times).  This is a lighter version of that.  I made these Cheesesteak Pizzas a few weeks ago (since we're now addicted to Greek flatbread), and I can see them becoming a regular in our meal rotation.  Let's face it, I'll eat anything in pizza form anyway.  This is just another way to incorporate pizza into the weekly menu.

As for the steak, I used thinly sliced flank steak, seasoned with a little salt, pepper, steak sauce, onion powder...the usual suspects.  I think a marinade of some sort would make this steak extra tasty, but I didn't plan far enough ahead for that.  Next time!

Easy Cheesesteak Pizzas

Greek flatbreads or pitas
thinly sliced onion (cooked until soft and brown...or you can caramelize them)
thinly sliced bell pepper (cooked until soft)
thinly sliced steak, cooked (I do mine in a frying pan, but leftover grilled steak is even better!)
Whatever kind of cheese you prefer

Line a baking sheet with foil and heat oven to 400 degrees.
Lay out the flatbreads on the foil and top with steak, onions, and peppers.  Sprinkle on the cheese.  Bake until the flatbreads are crispy and the cheese is melted.

Enjoy!

Steak and Quinoa Salad (Plus a guest post!)

Today, I'm sharing some baking over at Adventures of E.  E is a fellow Army wife.  She's stationed in Hawaii.....

.....

Yeah.  I'll let you think a minute on about how I feel about that.


SO, anyway.  Go check out her blog.  I know you want to know more about our secret army wife world...
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Sometimes I think that I'm the laziest person in the world.  It always hits me on Sundays.  Oh, and Monday and Tuesday nights.

Last Sunday was sunny and bright.  I got up early, crawled out of bed and over the pile of clean clothes that inhabits every inch of my bedroom floor, took a shower, went to Kohl's, went to the grocery store, went to church, went to meet creepy egg guy, and then I proceeded to sit on the couch.

I contemplated trying out a run around the neighborhood.  ....then I didn't.  The only thing that allows me to live with myself on Sundays is that I work out every OTHER day of the week. (And seriously, if I could find a class on Sunday, a lot of this laziness would go away.)

Scott and I tend to fall into this laziness pattern on Sundays once in awhile every week.  What happens is that the other person is there to kick the lazy person in the butt and drag him or her off the couch.  When you don't have anyone there to tell you to GET OFF THE COUCH JOIN THE WORLD OF THE LIVING AND, FOR THE LOVE OF *BLEEP*BLEEP*BLEEP*, YOU'VE SEEN THIS EPISODE OF MAD MEN 12 TIMES, it's really hard to get yourself moving.

So then I made fudge and ate it.

The thing worse than laziness on a Sunday, when you have like 12 hours of awake time to procrastinate, is laziness on a school night.  That's when, after the gym, I've got roughly 2 hours til bedtime.  Some nights I don't make dinner at all.  Some nights I eat candy, drink margaritas, and call it a day.  (Wednesday nights are special.  They are my "comb-the-sales-racks-at-Target-after-Turbokick" evenings.)

Other nights, I make a healthy dinner.  This was a healthy weeknight dinner.

Where the ambition came from, I have no idea.

Flank Steak and Quinoa Salad
 makes 4 servings

2 cups dry quinoa
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups water

1 lb. flank steak, marinated as your prefer (This is my favorite.)

Tomatoes, bell peppers, sweet onions, cucumber, or whatever veggies you have on hand

Cook the quinoa according to the package instructions.  This means, boil the water/stock, add in the dry quinoa, cover, and cook on low for 15-20 minutes (or until all the water has absorbed).

Under broiler (or on the grill if you know how to work it, as I do not), cook the flank steak for 5-8 minutes on each side until it reaches the done-ness you prefer.  Let it rest on the countertop before slicing, thinly, against the grain.

Rinse, chop, and combine your veggies.  Put your quinoa on a plate, top with slices of steak, and a spoonful of the veggies.  I season this by sprinkling garlic salt and onion powder over the top.  You could use your favorite salad dressing though.  Enjoy!

Chili Cheese Dip

Last chance to enter the Alaska Chicks Headband Giveaway!

I don't think you could:  A) mess this dish up, or B) displease anyone by making this dish.

Nope.  Not even a vegetarian.  You can use vegetarian chili.  And vegan cheese, if dairy isn't a part of your diet.

So there a recipe that can suit just about everyone.  You're welcome.

I made chili and then needed to do something with some of the leftovers.  Chili containing a pound (or more) of ground beef would feed both of us for dayssss.  I like to cook too much to be eating leftovers everyday.

I used my extra large ramekin, but an 8x8 pan would also work.  You can double this as easily as you could quadruple it.  There are no real measurements.  I put it together in 90 seconds, popped it into the toaster oven (oh yes, it was during that two-week period), and it was ready to go.

Chili Cheese Dip
makes an 8x8 pan

1 - 8oz. block cream cheese, softened
2-3 cups of leftover chili (or a can of chili)
1 cup of shredded cheddar or Mexican-blend cheese

Spread the cream cheese into the bottom of your pan.  Layer on the chili and then sprinkle with cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  Broil for a few minutes until the cheese on top bubbles.

Serve with tortilla chips or crackers.

*You could also adapt this recipe by just tossing everything into the Crockpot and letting it all heat through and melt together.*

That's me cooking dinner in a hat and scarf because..well, you know.

Shared at:
The Stuff of Success

Spinach Lasagna Roll-Ups

I desperately needed Scott to come home from Louisiana.  Not only to pay the bills and cut the grass (two things I'm apparently incapable of doing well), but to prevent me from existing on something other than chocolate chips, peanut butter, and marshmallows.

What's that you say?

No, not graham crackers actually.  I threw half a package of those away.  Averaging three s'mores a night meant that I had to be stopped. 

I spent a week thinking I should make these roll-ups and freeze them.  It was a week of:  staring at lasagna ingredients, stomach growling for real nutrients, and then reaching for the white chocolate chips instead.  This happened approximately seven 3 times.  Eventually, with the realization that Scott would soon be home and maybe, just maybe, would expect dinner at least one night a week, I put them together.

They make an excellent freezer meal and I would've went completely vegetarian with it.  

I added ground beef because my silly husband is one of those who believe a meal should have protein.

I don't think white chocolate chips have protein.

Spinach Lasagna Roll-Ups

1 lb. ground beef
1 jar spaghetti sauce (or homemade)
2 cups fresh spinach roughly chopped (think "big parsley")
1-15 oz. container part-skim ricotta
1 cup shredded mozzarella, separated
1 cup shredded parmesan, separated
1 t. onion powder
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. Italian seasoning
1 egg
1 box lasagna noodles (about 16 of them)

Cook the ground beef.  Add the sauce to the beef and set aside.

Cook the lasagna noodles according to the package instructions.  Strain and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combined ricotta, spinach, egg, seasonings, and 3/4 a cup each of the mozzarella and parmesan.  Stir well to combine.

On a cutting board, lay the lasagna noodles out flat.  Spoon about 3 T. of meat/sauce and 3 T. of cheese mixture (really just a big scoop of each) onto each noodle.  Spread thinly.  Roll each noodle up and place seam side down in a 9x13 pan.  They should about fill up the pan.

Top with remaining shredded cheese.  Freeze for up to 2 months, if wrapped well, or bake right away.

To bake right away:  Bake covered with foil at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.  Take the foil off and bake for another 10-15 minutes until bubbly on top.

To bake after freezing:  If still frozen, bake covered with foil for at least 1 hour at 375 degrees.  Take the foil off and bake for another 10-15 minutes until bubbly on top.

Sweet Indulgences Sunday
Melt in Your Mouth Monday
Savory Sunday
Friday Food 

Caramelized Onion and Steak French Bread Pizzas

I don't care who you are, what you do, or how hard you think your job is.  There is nothing on God's green Earth that will suck the energy and life out of you like being a teacher on the First Day of school.

This is what I made for dinner that day after I came home and collapsed for a few hours.

I called it "pizza" because I wasn't sure what else to call it.  That's really what it is, right?

A few notes about this recipe:
-This was to originally be quesadillas, but it was raining and I wasn't going to the store.
-If I wasn't going to the store for quesadillas, I sure wasn't going to the store for French bread.  I had one of the Pillsbury cans of French bread in the fridge.  That stuff is delicious.  It worked wonderfully.
-You really should add mushrooms to the onions.  I had mushrooms but they had been in the crisper drawer for one week...two weeks...okay, a month.  Why disturb them now???
-The process is what's important here, not the quantity of ingredients.  We all know that I never really bother to measure anything anyway.  Plus, it's not my business to tell you how much cheese to put on your pizza.  Does anyone ever really measure shredded cheese anyway??  So I'm not listing amounts.  Just suggesting ingredients.
-This is one of the best things I've ever eaten.  That's why you should make it. 

Caramelized Onions and Steak French Bread Pizzas

French bread, sliced lengthwise
caramelized onions (it took me 40 minutes to caramelize these onions.  it was worth it.)
leftover steak, diced
shredded mozzarella
shredded Parmesan

Place your bread, cut side up, on a cookie sheet or pizza pan.  Stick under the broiler for a few minutes to get it crispy.  Top with the onions, then the steak, then the cheeses.  Broil again until brown and bubbly.

Look at that cheese melting!

This is SO good.  The onions make it super-sweet and have a creamy texture.  It would also be great with some roasted garlic spread on the bread before topping with ingredients. 

Shared at:
Jam Hands Recipe Sharing Monday
Melt in Your Mouth Monday
Mingle Monday 
Miscellany Monday
Tasty Tuesday@Naptime Creations  
Totally Tasty Tuesdays 
Cast Party Wednesday

Grilled Steak Salad

So there's a mountain in Palmer, Alaska called Lazy Mountain.

This is not a mountain for the lazy.  I'm pretty sure the lazy would die, actually.  The out-of-shape would flounder.  And then probably die too.  Because I'm pretty sure my feet almost died.  And my ankles.  And my calves.  It was not a pleasant experience and I can guarantee you all that I will not be climbing the vertical-stretch-of-muddy-torture-that-is-Lazy-Mountain again any time soon, if ever again at all.

I do not recommend it.  Scott actually took a lot of pictures of me towards the top of the mountain, but this is one of the only ones where I don't look thoroughly annoyed (i.e.  peeved) because I just wanted to go home.  I was tired and sore....and hungry.  I believe some "But I'm hungry" whimpering escaped my mouth several a few times.

Also, "I hate you" may have escaped Scott's mouth and been directed at me because I'm the one who suggested the hike.  It was said in love, of course.  

After we came back from what we thought would be a leisurely hike, I made steak salads.  Steak salads are amazing.  They don't make/sell/serve steak salads in Alaska.

Oh, but they serve them in Pennsylvania.  Everywhere.  With french fries and melted cheese and dressing on the side.  Oh my gosh, are they delicious. 

I saw a steak salad on a menu once here.  It was called a "Pittsburgh Salad".

I didn't add french fries and cheese to this salad simply because we didn't have any.  However, I highly highly recommend using both.  With ranch dressing or honey mustard on the side.

Grilled Steak Salads
serves 4

-1 lb. flank steak, marinated
marinade I used:
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1/2 T. grated ginger
2 cloves grated garlic

Let sit in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours before grilling.  After grilling to your preferences, let it sit for about 5 minutes before slicing at an angle. 

-Caramelized onions...do not skip this.  It's too delicious to skip.
Thinly slice an onion and put in a frying pan on LOW heat with a tablespoon or two of butter.  Stir often, but let it cook for about 20 minutes.  You'll end up with sweet, crispy deliciousness. 

-Lettuce or spinach
-Tomatoes
-Carrots
-Cucumbers
-Peppers
-Whatever salad fixins' you prefer

-Dressing of your choice

-Highly recommended:
French Fries (baked or fried)
Shredded cheddar

Assemble and devour!

Shared at:
Fresh Food Friday
I Heart Naptime 
Melt in Your Mouth Monday
More the Merrier Monday 
Cast Party Wednesday

Steak Fajita Quesadillas in the Crockpot

Well, obviously I didn't grill quesadillas in the crockpot.

Or did I?

No, I didn't.

I was going to make fajitas.

Then I got a little lazy.  Fajitas are one of those things you should just order at Chili's where they can bring you all of the fixins' and you don't need to worry about cleaning up the kitchen.

Chili's has always been one of my favorites for Mexican-like cuisine.  Sure, it's not completely authentic.  But the "authentic" places around here taste weird anyway.

This is probably my "most favorite-est" Mexican restaurant.  The margaritas are scrumptious.  I have limited access to Big Azz Mad Mex Margaritas these days, though.

This place boasts that they've been voted "best margarita" for the last 22 years.  I've tried their margaritas.  There must not be any a lot of competition.


Ouch.  I'm being kind of harsh.  I'll apologize.  "I'm sorry for you that your margaritas taste like Kool-Aid."

Sorry.  Margaritas are a deeply personal experience.  I like good ones.  I know you do too. :)

Steak Fajita Quesadillas
makes enough for 4-6 quesadillas
adapted from A Year of Slow Cooking

1 pound flank steak, very thinly sliced (can be frozen or thawed)
1 pack fajita or taco seasoning
1/2 cup water
1 bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 onion, thinly sliced

Shredded cheddar/Monterey Jack cheese
Flour or corn tortillas

Salsa
Sour cream
Lime
Guacamole
any other toppings you desire

*This can easily be doubled in a 4-quart Crockpot

Put steak, seasoning, water, onion, and pepper in Crockpot.

Cook on high for 4-6 hours or low for 8 hours.  I cooked mine on high for 4 hours and low for another hour or so.

In an omelet pan over medium heat, put down one tortilla.  Layer on 1/4 a cup of shredded cheese and then a ladle-ful of steak mixture.  Top with just a sprinkling of cheese for glue and then then another tortilla.  After about 3 minutes, carefully flip.  Cheese should be mostly melted by now.  When the second side is slightly browned, it's done.

Flip onto a plate and, for easy slicing, use a pizza cutter.

 Shared at Cast Party Wednesday@Lady Behind the Curtain 

and

Lazy Lasagna

We're moving.  Like in a couple days.  I'm terrified of not having everything together.  Or losing something.  Or desperately needing something that I haven't used in 18 months, but might just need in the next two weeks, only to find that it's packed in a box at the bottom of the pile.

I'm trying to use up the food we have.  I found this recipe for Spinach Lasagna Roll-ups in a cookbook.  And I thought, "I have spinach in the freezer!  And ricotta in the fridge!  That's what I'll make for dinner!".  Well, the ricotta was moldy, but I already had my mind set.  So I bought more.  Then we only had half a box of lasagna noodles, so I bought more.  Then, when I finally was home from running errands and was starving, I got lazy.  I didn't feel like messing with the spinach.  Or like cutting up garlic or onions.  So this is NO CHOP lasagna (I cut the parsley with scissors). 


Lasagna
1 pound ground beef
1 jar spaghetti sauce
16 lasagna noodles
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. onion powder
1 t. salt
1 t. pepper
2 T. fresh parsley
1- 16 oz. container of ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg

Cook the lasagna noodles in a big pot of salted boiling water for 10 minutes. Drain.
Brown the ground beef and then add the sauce to warm.
Mix everything else EXCEPT for 1 cup of mozzarella (set aside) in a mixing bowl.
Layer the sauce, noodles, and cheese, starting with the sauce in a 9x13 pan.  I did 4 noodles at a time, and ended up with 4 layers in the pan.
Sprinkle that extra cup of mozzarella on top.
Cover with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes.  Take the foil off and broil until the cheese on top is bubbly.

Beef Lo Mein

This stuff is SO good.  In fact, I came home from work last Friday exhausted and starving, and I didn't mind making this because it wasn't that much work.  Friday is usually that day when I pull out the last of that week's food reserves.  The very last choice of what I had on a potential menu plan for the week is created on this day. This week, the last of the food reserves was used up on Thursday.  Yesterday we ordered pizza.  However, last Friday I cooked. 

I didn't really start eating Chinese food until about 2 years ago.  My least favorite thing about going out for Chinese is that your clothes (and coat) will smell like a Chinese restaurant until you wash them.  We don't go out for it often, but I do make Chinese at home a lot these days.  Then I notice that my entire house (including my coat) will smell like oil and soy sauce for a day or two.

(Easy) Beef Lo Mein
(Serves 2)
6 oz. of dry spaghetti (almost half the box)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1T. vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups of chopped fresh broccoli
3/4 cup of thinly sliced onion
1/2 T. of grated fresh ginger 
2-3 garlic cloves, grated
1/2 pound of thinly sliced flank steak
3 T. of beef broth
3 T. of soy sauce
1 1/2 T. of brown sugar


*This is the recipe just about cut in half.  I also customized it a bit.  The original recipe can be found here.  I also forgot to take a picture of it.  I guess we were pretty hungry.  

Cook the spaghetti according to package directions.  After draining, put the noodles back into the hot pot and toss with the sesame oil.
Add the vegetable oil to a large frying pan with high sides.  When hot, cook the broccoli and onion for about 3 minutes.  Add the ginger and garlic, stirring constantly, and cook for another minute.  Add the sirloin and cook for about 5 minutes until it is no longer pink.  The thinner the slices, the quicker it cooks.
In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, brown sugar, and beef broth.
Add the sauce and pasta to the mixture in the skillet.  Cook for a minute or two until it is all heated through.


**Scott thinks it's the ginger that makes this recipe great.  I think it's the sesame oil.  The ginger is a couple of dollars, but you can keep the whole hunk of it in the freezer for a long time, just grating off a bit when you need it.  The sesame oil was less than $2 and I use it ALL the time.  

*UPDATED 4/10/11*

A picture of the finished product!

Beef Stroganoff

This is one of the first meals that Scott made for me when we were dating.  It was so good!  So good, in fact, that he still refers to it whenever I make stroganoff.  However, every time I make it, it seems that it needs more flavor or something.  (Scott hasn't made it since that first time, in case you were wondering.)  But this is pretty close to perfect.  My only recommendation is make sure the sauce is either really thick before you add the sour cream or don't add so much sour cream.  It thins out the sauce.

Beef Stroganoff
1 pound of thinly sliced flank steak
1 package of sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 can beef broth
1 T. butter
1 T. flour
1/2 cup sour cream (I use light)
1 T. Grey Poupon
1/2 t. freshly grated nutmeg
Salt
Pepper
cornstarch
Hot cooked egg noodles

Salt and pepper the slices of steak and cook them in a deep frying pan in a bit of olive oil.  After about 5 minutes, add the onions and garlic.  After another 3-5 minutes, add the mushrooms, sprinkle in some salt, turn down the heat, and put a lid on it.  When the mushrooms are good and wilted, pour everything from the pan onto a plate and keep warm.

Back in the frying pan, melt the butter, add the flour, and cook for 2 minutes.  Add the Grey Poupon and nutmeg, and then all but 3 T. of the beef broth. Whisk everything in the pan and let it simmer, come to a boil, and thicken up.  Whisk that extra 3 T. of beef broth with about 2 teaspoons of cornstarch in a small bowl.  Slowly stir it into the pan.  Add the steak and mushroom mixture back to the pan and let it cook together for a few minutes.

Turn the heat off and swirl in the sour cream.
Pour over the egg noodles.

Incredibly Easy Pot Roast and Crash Hot Potatoes

I've been meaning to try a pot roast for awhile.  My new slow-cooker provided me with the opportunity.  I didn't put any vegetables in it because I had to go to the airport to pick up Scott in the last two hours of cooking time.  However, the recipe on Mommy's Kitchen explains how to cook the vegetables.  Maybe next time.  I did make Crash Hot Potatoes to go with the pot roast and I highly recommend them.  Everything that the Pioneer Woman cooks looks amazing though, so check out the site.

Pot Roast
One 2-3 pound beef chuck roast
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 packet dry onion soup mix

In a frying pan on the stove, heat 2 T. of olive oil and sear the sides of the roast for 3-5 minutes each.  Place in the slow-cooker and pour the soup and dry soup mix over the roast.  Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.  Stir the gravy at about the 2 hour mark.  It does make its own gravy, which is really convenient.

Beef Skillet Dip

And now something you could actually eat for dinner (aside from all the chocolate desserts I've been making lately).  I think this was originally supposed to be a casserole of sorts, but I made it into a dip.  It made a pretty filling dinner and was ridiculously easy.  Instead of just dipping tortilla chips like we did, you could also spoon it into hard or soft taco shells.  I'd also recommend it as an appetizer for a party or football Sunday.  So I shall probably make it again when the Steelers make it to the Superbowl!


Beef Skillet Dip
1 pound ground hamburger
1/2 of an onion, chopped
2 Tb taco seasoning OR chili seasoning OR fajita seasoning (whatever you have)
1 can condensed tomato soup
3/4 cup salsa
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream
tortilla chips for dipping

Brown the ground hamburger in a skillet.  Drain off the fat, if necessary, and add the onion and garlic. Cook for another two minutes or so.  Stir in the seasoning, tomato soup, salsa, and water.  Bring to a boil and lower the heat.  Cook for a few minutes until the sauce thickens a bit.  Sprinkle the cheddar on top and let it melt.  Top each portion with sour cream, if desired.  We just put the skillet on a potholder and ate it out of the pan.