My Chili

I'm sure everyone makes their own chili in their own way, but I made some yesterday and it was pretty freakin' delicious, if I do say so myself.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs ground beef
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 large can chili beans (with juice)
• 1 14 oz kidney beans (drained)
• 1 14 oz pinto beans (drained)
• 1 14 oz can Rotel (drained)
• garlic salt & pepper, to taste

Directions

1.   Brown ground beef with onions (and a sprinkle of garlic salt), drain.
2. While browning ground beef, have beans & Rotel simmering.
3. Pour beef mixture into simmering bean mixture (gently!).
4. Season with pepper and garlic salt (or garlic powder & salt) to taste.
5. I highly recommend serving with cheese, sour cream, and yummy garlic bread.

Hot Pizza Dip

I did make quite a bit of changes for this recipe, but it was pretty awesome.  I'm really grateful for the Joelen for providing the idea for this dip.

Hot Pizza Dip

Ingredients:

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese,softened
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 small green bell pepper, finely diced
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 2 ounces pepperoni sausage, chopped
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup pizza sauce
• garlic bread for serving
• 1 lb ground beef (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Cook garlic bread according to package.
3. Brown grown beef (if using).
4. Saute butter, mushrooms, bell pepper, and onions.
5. Mix herbs and cream cheese.
6. Spread cream cheese mixture in the bottom of a 9 in oven-safe dish.
7. Sprinkle half of the mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses over cream cheese mixture.
8. Add ground beef.
9. Add pizza sauce.
10. Add the remaining cheese.
11. Add mushroom, pepper, and onion mixture.
12. Top with pepperoni.
13. Bake for about 10 minutes, until warmed through.
14. Serve with garlic bread.

My changes:

• I decided to add ground beef, because my husband firmly believes that it has to have meat in order to classify as dinner.
• I used about double the amount of mushrooms & pizza sauce as recommended.  
• I used peperoni slices instead of sausage.
• I used green onions.
• Instead of using parsley, basil, & oregano I decided to use a tablespoon of Italian seasoning because it was easier and what I had.

Update: So I think this is one of those recipes that you can't really screw up.  I made it again tonight but skimped on the pepparoni and green onions because I didn't have them.  I also cooked the onions, mushrooms, and butter with the ground beef and it was super yummy.  Highly reccomend and love the versatility.

Mom's "Goulash"

Mom's Goulash

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef/turkey
• 6 oz tomato paste
• 15 oz tomato sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp basil
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• Salt to taste
• 1 lb tubular pasta
• 1 cup sour cream
• 4 oz cream cheese (preferably softened)
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup green onions
• 4 oz shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 and lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish.
2. Brown meat in skillet & drain.
3. Stir in tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar, basil, oregano, and salt.
4. Cook pasta & drain.
5. Mix sour cream, cream cheese, egg, and green onions together in bowl.
6. Spread a thin layer of meat mixture on the bottom of the baking dish.  Top with half the pasta, then half of the sour cream mixture., then half of the remaining meat mix.  Repeat layers of pasta, sour cream mixture, and meat mixture.  Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top.
7. Bake for 30 minutes or until cheese is brown & bubbled.

My Changes

• I didn't have as much sour cream as suggested, so I used about 1/2 cup sour cream and roughly 7 oz cream cheese.
• I used about 3/4 cups of green onions.
• The original recipe called for 1/3 cup of water added to the meat mixture.  I missed this until typing it up just now...but it worked out fine without it.

Stuffed Shells

I have no recipe to link to for this, because I completely & totally made it up.  But it turned out pretty well.

Stuffed Shells

Ingredients

• 2 lbs ground meat
• 1 box large stuffed shells
• 2 can marinara/spaghetti sauce
• 1 can black olives, sliced
• 1 small can mushrooms (8 oz?)
• 4 oz parmesean cheese
• 2 cups shredded cheese (we used a combo of cheddar, mozzarella, & M. Jack because it's what we had)
• 1 small onion
• Italian seasoning & garlic powder to taste

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 375.
2. Cook shells according to package.
3. Brown ground meat in a skillet with onion, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder
4. Mix 1 can sauce, mushrooms, olives, and Parmesan cheese into meat & onion mixture
5. Once shells are cooked, lay them on a cutting board/in a casserole dish and spoon meat mixture into them.  
6. Pour remaining can of sauce over the shells.  Sprinkle remaining cheese over the top of shells.
7. Bake for 20 minutes.

My Tips

• I only used one can of sauce, and I wished I had more to cover the shells at the end which is why I said to use 2 in this recipe.
• I used ground turkey, but I'm sure beef or sausage would work just as well.
• The parmesean cheese may need to be adjusted, I just used what I had left from another meal.
• I think adding ricotta cheese to this would be amazing.  Maybe a small spoonful of it and a small spoonful of the meat mix, rather than one big spoonful of meat mix.
• If making for one, or if you don't like leftovers, half this recipe.  This made a TON of shells, we could have eaten it for like 3 days...except hubs bumped one of the casserole dishes onto the floor so we just let the dogs eat like kings and made do with the other half :)

Enchi-ritos?

Hola!  You are probably wondering WTH an "enchi-rito" is.  I certainly would have been if I were in your shoes.  I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com for "enchiladas," but according to the comments that is very untrue and somewhat offensive since true enchildas are made with corn tortillas, not flour tortillas.  I liked one commentator's description of an "enchi-rito" so I'm choosing to call it that- I can't help it, I have a thing for funny words.

Enchi-ritos

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 (1.5 ounce) package dry enchilada sauce mix
• 10 (10 inch) flour tortillas
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 (2.25 ounce) can sliced black olives, drained

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a medium skillet over medium high heat, cook the ground beef and onion until beef is evenly browned and onion is tender.
2. Prepare the enchilada sauce according to package directions. Pour 1/4 cup of the sauce into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.
3. On each flour tortilla, place an equal portion of the ground beef mixture and about 1 ounce of Cheddar cheese, reserving at least 1/2 cup of cheese. Then tightly roll the tortillas and place seam side down in the baking dish.
4. Pour the remaining sauce over the top of the enchiladas and sprinkle with the remaining cheese and olives.
5. Bake in a preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and cheese is thoroughly melted.

My Changes

• Per comments, I added 1/2 a pack of taco seasoning to the ground beef.
• We used canned enchilada sauce, both regular red mild & green.  B LOVED the green, I preferred the red.
• We also had refried beans and sour cream to add at the end, because that's what we like.
• We used about 1.4 lbs of ground beef to make 4 enchi-ritos, with enough for one more left over.  Maybe we just overstuffed them, because they were HUGE after cooking.  But delicious none the less. 
• I left out the olives, because I accidentally picked up green olives instead of black and that just didn't seem like good substitution.

Shepherds Pie

This is one of the first recipes I found using Allrecipes.com and a favorite in our house.  I've been craving it for several days and tonight is the night!  One of the reasons I like Allrecipes so much is because it allows members to review the recipe and make suggestions on how to improve or tweak it.  For that reason I will be posting the link to the recipes I get from there, as well as the original recipe here in my blog along with my personal changes.

American Shepherds Pie 

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed vegetable soup
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 3 cups mashed cooked potatoes
• 1 cup shredded Colby longhorn cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and lightly grease a 2 quart baking dish.
2. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, stir and cook ground beef, onion and celery until juices run clear. Drain. Pour mixture into baking dish with vegetable soup and thyme; stir well. Spread mashed potatoes on top.
3. Bake 20 minutes. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top and bake 5 minutes more, or until cheese has melted

My Changes

• I use 1.5-2.0 lbs of ground beef, we like our food meaty.  I also usually add garlic salt to the meat/onion concoction, because my husband thinks garlic belongs on everything.
• I don't use celery or thyme. Just not a favorite of me or the hubs.
• I use cream of mushroom soup instead of vegetable.
• I add a veggie layer on top of the meat layer: almost always corn, but lately I've been adding green beans as well.  Husband likes it when we use green peas, but I hate green peas so that's rare.  That's the beauty of this recipe though, it's SUPER easy to customize to your own preferences.
• We sometimes add biscuits to the top.  I had a revelation the other night when I made upside down pizza though, and I'm thinking of using crescent rolls instead.  I'll come back & update this post after I experiment with it.