Taco Soup

 

 This is one of my favorite soups! You can even do it in the crockpot.

1 lb ground beef
2 cups salsa
2 soup cans water
1 (15 oz) can corn
1 Tbsp taco seasoning
2 (14 oz) cans tomatoes
1 (10 oz) can tomato soup
1 (15 oz) cans pinto beans
1 onion, chopped
1 Tbsp chili powder

Brown beef and drain grease.  Ad remaining ingredients and stir. Bring to slow boil, reduce heat and simmer 1 hour. Suggested toppings: fritos, cheese, avacado, sour cream, olives.  Enjoy!

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Birthday Pot Roast, Asparagus, and Garlic Bread

My husband requested this meal for his birthday two days ago, so this is why "Birthday" is in the title :) I was just going to post the recipe to the pot roast, but the side dishes were very easy and tasty too! So there are three recipes with two pictures below.

Crock Pot Chuck Roast

1 chuck roast

1 package of lipton beefy onion soup mix (make sure it's beefy! I used two paskages because we had a huge roast)

1/2 cup water

Salt to taste

Poke holes in the roast with a knife. Place in a crock pot. Pour in water, soup packet, and salt. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. Enjoy!

Oven Roasted Asparagus

1 bunch of asparagus

1-2 Tbsp. Olive oil

Garlic Salt to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Rinse asparagus and snap off ends. Place in small baking dish and drizzle oil over them. Sprinkle garlic salt (sometimes I will do fresh minced garlic, thyme, and salt. This is much easier though). Lightly stir so each asparagus has oil and garlic salt. Bake in oven for 30-40 min, testing with a fork for tenderness.

Garlic Toast

1 loaf of French Bread

Butter

Garlic powder

Parmesan cheese (grated or powdered)

Preheat oven to 350. Slice bread to desired width and place in cookie tray. Spread butter onto bread. Sprinkle with garlic powder, then Parmesan cheese. Bake for 15 minutes or until tops are golden brown.

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Meatball Subs

Meatballs:
1 cup unseasoned bread crumbs or crushed saltines
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan or mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup low-sodium beef broth
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 tablespoons dried oregano
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
2 teaspoons dried basil
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
2 pounds ground beef or ground turkey

To dredge the meatballs:
1 1/2 cups flour in a shallow baking dish

In a large bowl, mix all of the meatball ingredients together EXCEPT the meat. Let the mixture sit for 10-15 minutes so the breadcrumbs/crackers can soak up the liquid a little bit. Add the meat and mix well with your hands until all the ingredients are combined.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and lightly grease the foil. Form golf ball-sized meatballs and dredge them in the flour until lightly coated. Place the meatballs on the baking sheet about one inch apart. Bake for 20 -25 minutes until the meatballs are completely cooked through.

When the meatballs come out of the oven, let them sit for about 15 minutes. Gently scrape off any fat and place the meatballs in a 9X13-inch baking dish (or similar size). Pour the hot tomato sauce over the meatballs.

Sauce:
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes (or tomato sauce) 
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon sugar (this helps cut the acidity of the tomatoes)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine the sauce ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a low simmer. Simmer for 10-15 minutes on low. Keep warm until the meatballs are finished baking.

To assemble the sandwiches, slice the buns in half. Place 3-4 meatballs on each bun and cover with desired amount of sauce, top with Mozzarella cheese, sliced or shredded. Serve immediately with lots of napkins.

*Note: When I make these, I often prepare and bake the meatballs earlier in the day. To reheat, I place the meatballs in the pot with the simmering sauce and let them warm up together. And since I know someone will ask, the meatballs freeze great. Freeze them, unbaked, on a baking sheet. Once frozen, they can be placed in a freezer-safe ziploc bag. Bake them (without thawing first), adding 6-7 minutes to the baking time. Incidentally, they also freeze great after they have been baked. Freeze them in a freezer-safe ziploc bag and reheat them in the simmering sauce until they are warmed through.

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Taco Stuffing

2 pounds lean ground beef or turkey
1 medium onion, chopped
6 cups water
1 cup rice (white or brown)
1 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 (8 oz.) cans tomato sauce
2 (6 oz.) cans tomato paste
1 (15 oz.) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained

In a large pot, brown the ground beef or turkey with the onion and garlic and cook until the meat is no longer pink and the onions are translucent. Drain any accumulated grease. Add the water, rice, seasonings, tomato sauce, tomato paste and beans. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat and simmeruncovered for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, watching to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot (if you are using brown rice, it may need to simmer for up to 60-70 minutes). The mixture will seem very watery at first, but after simmering, it will thicken to perfection as the rice absorbs water and all the ingredients meld together.

Serve as the filling in a taco, ontop of a taco salad, dip with tortilla chips, or freeze the leftover meat/rice mixture to defrost and reheat later.

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Chili Spaghetti

OK, don't look at the title and think "Hormel Chili" in a can, dumped on some spaghetti. It is soooo not that. This recipe comes from my mom, I'm not sure where she got it. It was my favorite meal growing up. I think she even made it for my birthday dinner once or twice! Anyway, it's super good. Pretty easy, too.

Start with these ingredients:

2 tsp EVOO

1 lb ground beef (missing from the photo)

1 med onion (chopped finely or grated)

2-3 garlic cloves (crushed or grated)

2 (14.5 or 16 oz) cans of tomatoes (Mom says whole, undrained and cut up. I say, let someone else cut 'em up! So I use diced whatever kind I have. Italian, chili ready, fire roasted, they're all good)

1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce

1 (6 oz) can tomato paste

2-3 Tbsp. chili powder

1/4 to 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

salt and pepper to taste

7 oz spaghetti broken in 3" pieces.

First, grate or finely chop your onion. I use a box grater, I hate cutting onions. PS- This method will still make you cry.

Start browning the hamburger with the onion.

And grate in the garlic cloves (or toss 'em in if you chopped 'em). See all that oil and greasy goodness? Yeah, we're gettin' rid of that soon.

After the hamburger is cooked through, drain off all the fat. I have a nifty trick. I find my colander and stick just ONE paper towel in the bottom and then drain the mixture in that (over the sink, I'm bad).

This next picture is upside down, I don't know how to flip it. But you get the idea, dump all the cans of tomatoes and sauce and paste in with the beef mixture.

Stir everything together.

Add chili powder (I never measure. Use this much, more or less, depending on how you like it to taste)

Same with the cinnamon.

Here is the beautiful Chili Sauce. I love it because it tastes like a normal spaghetti sauce, just kicked up a notch with chili powder. YUM.

NOW- let the sauce sit and simmer on low for as long as you want. The longer it sits, the yummier it is.

While the sauce sits, start boiling your water for the pasta.

Break the pasta into 3" pieces. Not really sure why, that's just what my mom's recipe says to do. So I do it :)

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Serve pasta with a big spoonful of chili sauce on top. I didn't feel like grating the cheese, but it would be really good on it!

Now if you make this, you may be saying to yourself, "Becca, this makes a ton of sauce. Like, enough for say, 8 people! What do I do with the rest?!"

Freeze it my friend. Save it for a rainy day :)

 Enjoy!

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Mom's Mexican Casserole

I love how quick and easy this dish is. It is probably miles away from "authentic mexican," but it was a fan favorite of my youth, and now my kids devour it too! Here's what you'll need:

1 pk. corn tortillas
1 1/2 lb. ground beef
1 onion, diced
salt & pepper
chili powder
1 small can kernel corn
2 small cans tomato sauce
sliced black olives
shredded cheese


Preheat your oven to 325. Brown the ground beef along with the onions. (I like to use frozen hamburger patties. I buy a ton, and they are easily measured out) Then drain the fatty fat fat.

In a large bowl, combine the beef, corn, olives, and tomato sauce, a dash of chili powder, salt, and pepper to taste. Stir well so that everything gets moistened. (disclaimer: in this pic, I was out of the little cans of corn and used a big can. If you like corn, it works fine. In fact most of this recipe is malleable to what you've got in your pantry)

Now grease a 9x13 pan and layer corn tortillas on the bottom. (I slice them in half to get a straight edge)

Then pour half of the meat mixture onto the tortillas. Top with some shredded cheese, and do another layer of tortillas, meat, then end with cheese.

Throw it into the oven, uncovered for 30 minutes. It is great topped with salsa, sour cream, and maybe even some shredded lettuce. Really, whatever you've got!

With love from craftyashley's kitchen!

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