Beefy-Cheesy-Au Gratin potato casserole

Disclaimer: A relative dropped this super yummy casserole by when we were adjusting to life after bringing Katherine home from the hospital.  I am making it tonight for the first time but I promise you won't be disappointed!  It's easy to assemble and would be great for a quick, protein packed weeknight meal.

Beefy-Cheesy-Au Gratin potato Casserole
Whatcha Making Wednesdays

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 box Au Gratin potatoes
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 2 cups shredded cheddar

Directions

1. Brown hamburger.  You can add diced onions if you want.  Drain fat.  Add salt and pepper to taste and 1 teaspoon of oregano.
2. Sprinkle potatoes in bottom of a 2-quart baking dish, or a 9x13 pan.
3. Sprinkle cheese that came with potatoes over the bottom layer.
4. Distribute ground beef and then tomatoes over the pan.
5. Add 1 can of water over top.
6. Sprinkle cheese.
7. Cook uncovered for 25 minutes at 425 degrees.

Crock Pot Beef Carnitas

Whatcha Making Wednesdays: Crock Pot Beef Carnitas

(Eat.Live.Run)

This recipe is seriously awesome.  One of the best crock pot recipes I've ever tried and definitely a new favorite BEEF recipe of mine!  My friend Lauren shared it with my sister and I  and we ended up making it for my parent's joint birthday lunch in September.  It obviously is now making regular appearances in the Wright household.  Try it, you won't regret it!

Ingredients:

2 lbs flank steak (I want to try this with a top round steak aka London broil....I have a few in my freezer that need a destination!)

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped

for spice rub---

2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

for serving---

corn tortillas

avocado slices

cilantro

your favorite salsa

limes

Directions:

1.       Mix together all spices in a small bowl. Rub the spices all over your flank steak---be generous here! Then, place your steak at the bottom of your crock pot.

2.       Cover the steak with the chopped onions, bell peppers and jalapeno pepper. Turn heat on LOW and cook for 8 hours.

3.       After 8 hours, remove meat from crock pot and shred with a fork. It should be incredibly easy to shred. You can either stick the shredded meat back in the pot for another hour or serve as is.

4.       To serve, heat your corn tortillas in a skillet on the stove. Spoon some carnitas on a tortilla then top with salsa, avocado, cilantro and a squeeze of lime.

5.       Enjoy with a margarita for best result.

Time:

active time--10 min

total time---8 hours

Miscellany Monday

1.  I realized I haven't shared anything about our annual lamb sale...yet.  Kelly has been selling lambs he has raised for 20+ years but I'm not sure how long he has hosted a sale at the farm.  This year we sold 21 feeder lambs (feeder lambs weigh less than 100 pounds), four breeding ewes and three rams.  It poured rain early that morning - we were afraid it wasn't going to let up.  But it cooled things off nicely!  Here is a family picture, sans Katherine who was sleeping, with our Lot 1 lamb - we are pretty proud of him.

2.  I added an "About" page to La Ranchita.  You can check it out by selecting that tab which is right below the picture at the top of the main screen.  I am thinking about adding a Recipe Index page.  I didn't start my blog to share recipes but I've started posting them fairly regularly and cooking is definitely a passion of mine.  Thoughts?

3. I occasionally have a soapbox and I wanted to share this thought - I think the government regulates far too much including school lunch programs.  I don't even want to begin to imagine how much time has been spent debating how to provide (and fund) daily nutrition for American children.  As a parent I appreciate the concern, but do not think it is the job of the American government to provide breakfast and lunch, or even after school snacks for children.  At some  point parents should actually do their job.  I'm stepping off my soapbox now.

4.  If you are interested in what your child is being served in a public school lunch room, you may be interested in knowing that five new beef recipes have been develop and tested in schools and are now available.  To see more, including actual recipes, visit the newly updated Beef Nutrition website. Recipes include a beef wrap, chili, sloppy joes, Thai beef and rock and roll beef mash up.

5.  I started a new (to me) Beth Moore bible study in August on the life and ministry of the Apostle Paul.  Through the study I have been convicted about the ways I am beginning to teach my children about Christ.  I have begun asking myself about the ways I bring Jesus into our day - what am I doing to talk about Jesus and how am I teaching my children to begin praising Him?  I started playing a children's worship CD on a regular basis - not only is it soothing when my nerves are frayed but it has also been a sweet reminder of many songs I sang in Sunday School as a child.  I would love to hear your suggestions on incorporating teachings about Jesus into the routines you have with your small children.

Blessings as you start this week!

Meatballs

Whatcha Making Wednesday: Comfort Meatballs

For some reason I took a small hiatus from cooking much while Kelly was home on vacation this past month.  One would think I might cook more since he was home more; not true this time though.  We've had a lot going on in our home life with various family members and each situation took a huge toll on this pregnant mama.  Emotionally and physically.  I finally felt up to getting my hands dirty in the kitchen again last week so I made Pioneer Woman's Comfort Meatballs.  I've paged past this recipe in her first cookbook many a time, but never had I been interested until now. I had my doubts about how satisfying the meatballs would be because as you will read in a moment, the ingredient list is fairly simple.  However, PW did not let us down this time. 

Meatball Ingredients
(I changed the original amounts listed in the cookbook because I wanted to use two pounds of ground beef instead of 1 1/2)
-2 pounds ground beef
-1 cup quick oats
-1 1/3 cups milk
-4 T very finely minced onion
-2 teaspoons salt
-Plenty of ground black pepper

4 T canola oil
1/2 cup flour

Sauce
-1 1/3 cup ketchup
-2 1/2 T sugar
-4 T distilled white vinegar
-2 1/3 T Worcestershire sauce
-4 to 6 T minced onion

1. Combine ground beef and oats.  Pour in milk, diced onion, salt and pepper.  Stir to combine - or use your hands like I did! And unless you want to eat super dense, tough meatballs you'll want to use a gentle hand.  Roll the meat mixture into tablespoon size balls and refrigerate for 30-45 minutes - or as long as you need to feed your baby, change diapers, and put out any other "fires" among your children.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat the canola oil in a dutch oven over medium heat.  (I like using a dutch oven type pot because it helps contain the oil splatters better and makes for a quicker clean up.) Dredge the meatballs in flour and then brown them in batches until light brown.  Place browned meatballs in a baking dish such as a 9x13 baking pan or a rimmed baking sheet.

3.  Stir together the sauce ingredients and spoon the sauce evenly over the meatballs.  Bake for 30-45 minutes or until bubbly and hot.

PW's last step told me to feed this to ravenous nursing mothers because this is the same recipe for meatballs that she craved when she was nursing her children.  So...all my friends who live close enough to make me dinner, don't forget I'm about to have a baby in 2 1/2 weeks! 

Beef Taco Bake

Whatcha Making Wednesday: Beef Taco Bake

I love making tacos with ground beef!  Using an affordable cut of beef to make something tasty and quick is pretty close to success in my book!  This recipe came from Cook's Country magazine originally but I have included a few adaptations below.  Feel free to get your creativity going because tacos are so easy to change up based on what you like.

2 10-ounce cans of Ro-Tel tomatoes (drain and reserve 1/2 cup juice)
1 16-ounce can refried beans
1 T hot sauce (we like Cholula)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend (I never actually measure cheese, I just kind of throw it on until it looks good!)
2 pounds lean ground beef
1 package taco seasoning mix
10 taco shells
3 scallions or green onions, sliced thin

1. Heat oven to 475 degrees. Combine half of tomatoes, beans, hot sauce and cilantro in bowl. Spread evenly in 13 by 9 baking dish.  Sprinkle with 1 cup cheese.  (Katy's note: This tends to make your tacos soggy so I prefer to just spread the beans in half the dish so they can still be heated up in the oven but not result in soggy bottomed tacos.

2. Cook beef over medium-high heat until no longer ink.  Pour off fat (reduce the fat!!) then stir in taco seasoning, remaining tomatoes, and reserved tomato juice. Simmer over medium-low heat until thickened and nearly dry, about 5 minutes.

3. Spoon beef mixture and cheese into each taco shell.  Arrange tacos upright next to bean mixture, cover with foil and bake until bubbling, about 10 minutes.  Remove foil, top with remaining cheese and bake until cheese is melted, about another 4 minutes.  Sprinkle with extra cilantro and green onions and serve!

Note: covering the tacos with foil in the last step helps keep them from burning since the oven is at such a high heat.  It is also important to note that you sometimes burn the tacos when your almost 1-year old son stands up without holding onto something and walks across the kitchen and then you forget about dinner in the oven while you celebrate with him and shower him with kisses.  I made this note in my head for next time so hubby and I don't have to eat black tacos:)

Meatloaf & Time Saver Tips

Whatcha Making Wednesday: Meatloaf

I don't know about you but I LOVE meatloaf!  My mom developed my affinity for this gourmet delight and I still aspire to make meatloaf as well as her.  I have already posted one meatloaf recipe this year so I am only going to share that I made meatloaf last night and we had it again for lunch today.  (Side bar: HB also loves meatloaf.  He tore up lunch today - most of the meatloaf on his plate actually ended up and STAYED in his mouth as opposed to on my floor.  You gotta love helping a 10 month old learn to eat.)  I did try a different recipe out of a new cookbook that I have and it turned out fairly well.  A tad on the salty side but sometimes I go little crazy when adding salt and pepper.

As Baby Girl's due date looms on the horizon (11 1/2 weeks left...) I am starting to try to make and freeze a few meals that will make my transition from a household of 4 to 5 a tad less stressful.  I am not going out of my way to do this, but while making freezer friendly meals I try to double the recipe so we can eat one now and freeze one for later.  My gracious hubby helped me actually triple a lasagna recipe two weeks ago so we could eat one, freeze one and deliver one to a couple in Buckeye who just had their first baby.  Tripling the recipe sounded easy until I looked at the pile of dishes we had to do but in the end I was glad we did it all at once.  On this note of saving time, I ended up tripling my meatloaf recipe last night so we could do the same thing: eat one, freeze one and well, freeze a second one.  The cookbook I used suggested a variation of using the meatloaf for bell pepper stuffing and I thought that was brilliant.  So now I have two more meals frozen and ready to go post delivery of Baby Girl.

I am looking for your suggestions friends - what are some of your freezer friendly meals and time saving tips in the kitchen? 

Mini Diner Meatloaf

I've perused a few new blogs and enjoyed their various posts - I really liked one who posted "Whatcha Making" for dinner Wednesdays.  I thought I'd see if I could actually blog a few of my recipes weekly especially after the craziness of the holidays has subsided.  Today's recipes come from Cowboy Boot and Baby Booties.

My mom made an awesome meatloaf which I loved as a kid, both on the night it was originally served and cold the next day on a sandwich with mayo and onions.  The same holds true for my family - we love meatloaf!  I am excited about trying a new recipe and hope to cut down on some of the chaos that tends to happen around 5pm by making these during HB's afternoon nap and then popping them in the fridge until it is time to bake them later tonight.

Whatcha Making Wednesdays: Mini Diner Meatloaf
1 tsp olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped carrots (I've never tried meatloaf with carrots, but I'm thinking this is a great way to include another veggie in my family's diet!)
1 tsp dried oregano
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup ketchup, divided
1.5 pounds ground beef
1 cup finely crushed fat free saltine crackers (about 20)
2 T mustard
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp pepper
2 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 12 cup muffin pan and set aside.
2. Heat oil in skillet over medium high heat.  Add chopped onion, carrot, oregano, and garlic.  Saute 2-3 minutes.
3.  Combine onion mixture with 1/2 cup ketchup and remaining ingredients.
4.  Spoon the meat mixture into 12 muffin cups.  (I am going to pop this into the fridge at this point.)
5.  Top each meatloaf "muffin" with 2 tsp of ketchup and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Grandma Lucy's Corn Fritters
4 ears sweet corn, cooked (or 3 cups frozen)
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 T bacon drippings or veggie oil

Cut kernels from corn and place in medium bowl; stir in eggs and milk.  Combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in small bowl.  Stir into corn mixture and mix gently.

Heat bacon drippings or oil in skillet over medium high heat.  Drop batter by 1/4 cupfuls and cook until lightly browned turning to other side.  Serve with butter.  Makes about 1 dozen.

So, whatcha making for dinner tonight?