Paul Bunyan Burgers

A little twist on what my mom used to make when we were kids.  They're bigger and juicier and really yummy.

Paul Bunyan Burgers

1 lb ground beef
1 egg
1 Tbl Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic salt
Dash of pepper

Ketchup
1-2 Tbls diced pickles
1-2 Tbls diced onion
Cubed or sliced cheese

Mix first 6 ingredients well.  Divide into desired portions.  (I divided in half.)  Pat each portion out on wax paper into a big circle- about 6 - 8 inch across.  Spread with abt a tablespoon of ketchup.

On half of circle sprinkle pickles, onion, and cheese. Lifting wax paper, fold the uncovered half on top of filled half.  Press edges together- make sure they are still pretty thick.

Grill over low heat or broil for 5-10 minutes to desired doneness. Serve bunless with ketchup.

Makes 2- 1/2 lb burgers.

Sloppy Joes

Made these for FHE last night-- super easy and yummy!

Sloppy Joes

Recipe adopted from Rachael Ray

Serves: 4 super sloppy sandwiches

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon oil
1 pound ground beef
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons steak seasoning blend, such as McCormick brand Montreal Seasoning (I actually had some of this in my cupboard.)
1/2 large onion, diced
1/2 med red bell pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 to 2 tablespoons mustard
2 cups tomato sauce
2 tablespoons tomato paste
4 crusty rolls, split, toasted, and lightly buttered

Directions:
Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add oil and meat to the pan. Spread the meat around the pan and begin to break it up. Combine brown sugar and steak seasoning. Add sugar and spice mixture to the skillet and combine. When the meat has browned, add onion and red peppers to the skillet. Reduce heat to medium and cook onions, peppers, mustard and Worcestershire sauce with meat for 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce and paste to pan. Stir to combine. Reduce heat to simmer and cook Sloppy Joe mixture 15 minutes.

Using a large spoon or ice cream scoop, pile sloppy meat onto toasted, buttered bun bottoms and cover with bun tops. Have plenty of napkins on hand!

Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Pot Pie

1 lb boneless chicken breast cubed or 2 cups cooked

1 c sliced carrots

½ c sliced celery

1 c frozen peas

1/3 c butter

1/3 c diced onion

1/3 c flour

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper

¼ tsp celery seed, optional

1 ¾ c chicken broth

2/3 c milk

2-9 inch pie crusts

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 

Slice carrots and celery and steam until tender.  Add to peas and cubed chicken. 

Make sauce in a small sauce pan by melting butter in pan on medium to medium high heat.  Add diced onion. Cook onions in butter till translucent.  Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed.  Slowly stir in broth and milk.  Stir frequently until bubbly or thick. 

Put one pie crust in bottom of a 9 inch pie pan.  Pour mixture of chicken and veggies into pan.  Add hot liquid mixture.  Cover with top pie crust.  Seal around the edges. Vent.

Bake 30 to 35 min.  Until pastry is golden brown.

Chicken Cordon Bleu with Brown Rice and Creamy Sauce

Wow!! I haven't made this in forever, but I whipped out the old recipe again and it was incredibly yummy, besides you know me, I can't pass up a great chicken and rice meal:) Trevor couldn't get enough of it.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 thin slices deli ham(we just use the ham that you would put on sandwhiches)
4 slices swiss cheese.
1/4 C. melted butter
1 box seasoned coating mix (like the shake and bake stuff, but I used great value brand, it worked great. You won't use all of the coating so plan to use about 1/2.

Flatten chicken, place ham and cheese down the center of each;roll up and secure with a toothpick. Brush each ckn breats with butter and then sprinkle on the coating mix on each side. Put in a pan and bake at 350 degrees for 40 min.

I served ours over brown rice and a cream sauce made of 1 can cream of chicken soup and 1/4 C. sour cream.

Hamburger Soup

My mom made this when we were kids, and we loved it. I even got Claire to eat a little bit of it.

1 lb. ground beef
5 cups water
1 (16 oz.) can tomatoes
1 med. onion, chopped
2 med. carrots, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
1/3 cup pearl barley
1/4 cup ketchup
1 Tbsp. beef bouillon
2 tsp. seasoned salt
1 tsp. dried basil
1 bay leaf

In soup pot, brown ground beef. Drain. Add remaining ingredients. Stir. Cover and simmer for 1 hour.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

This is delicious. We served it over rice, and the kids loved it, and so did Chad. I promise you won't be disappointed!!
Ingredients
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into chunks
1 cup plain dried bread crumbs
1 cup oil for frying
8 ounces Swiss cheese, cubed
8 ounces cubed ham
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup milk
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Beat egg and 1/2 cup milk together until combined. Stir in the chicken chunks to coat, then drain, and coat with bread crumbs. Heat oil in a large skillet to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Fry breaded chicken cubes in hot oil until golden brown on all sides, then remove, and drain on paper towels.
Place chicken cubes in a glass baking dish, along with the Swiss cheese, and ham. Stir together the soup with 1 cup milk, pour over casserole.
Bake in preheated oven until golden brown and bubbly, about 30 minutes.

Shrimp Fra Diavolo with Vermicelli

This was yummy!! I didn't have vermicelli so I just used spaghetti and I didn't have fresh parsley so I used dried. I also used fresh, chopped and crushed tomatoes with tomato sauce. Don't you love how I always change and substitute stuff?

I got the recipe from delish.com.

Shrimp Fra Diavolo with Vermicelli

Ingredients

2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 c canned crushed tomatoes in thick puree (one 16 oz can)
1/4 tsp dried red-pepper flakes
1/4 c water
1/4 c chopped fresh parsley
3/4 tsp salt
1 lb med shrimp, shelled
3/4 lb vermicelli

---

Directions

1. In a large frying pan, heat the oil over moderately low heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, 30 seconds longer. Stir in the tomatoes, red-pepper flakes, water, parsley and salt. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Add the shrimp and cook, covered, just until the shrimp are pink, about 4 minutes.
2. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the vermicelli until just done, about 9 minutes. Drain the pasta and toss with the tomato sauce and shrimp.

Pizza Pasta Casserole

We found this recipe in the Taste of Home Best Church Supper Recipes Book. The girls LOVED it and Annie even had seconds. I loved how fast it came together :)

2 lbs ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
2 jars (28 oz each) spaghetti sauce
1 pkg (16 oz) spiral pasta, cooked and drained
4 c. (16 oz) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
8 oz sliced pepperoni

In a large skillet, cook beef and onion until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in spaghetti sauce and pasta.

Transfer to two greased 9x13 pans. Sprinkle with cheese. Arrange pepperoni over the top. Cover and freeze one casserole for up to 3 months.

Bake the second casserole, uncovered, at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until heated through.

To use frozen casserole: Thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until heated through.

**I cut the recipe in half (because I only had one spaghetti sauce) and then put it in 2 8x8 pans. Perfect.

Creamy Italian Slow Cooker Chicken

2-3 lbs chicken (4-6 pieces boneless skinless chicken breasts)
1/2 to 3/4 cup Italian dressing (to taste)
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
8 oz cream cheese

Place chicken in bottom of slow cooker. In a separate bowl, blend- Italian dressing, soup and cream cheese. Pour over chicken. Cook on low for 6-8 hrs. Serve over your favorite pasta.

Wraps!

Wraps are so yummy and so easy to adapt to anyone's tastes.  We've been making them lately and feeling a lot healthier- but that's probably all in my head as some of the stuff we put on these isn't the most healthy.   There are so many different ways to make a wrap- here is what we've been doing lately:

Ingredients:

10 in. tortillas-  Regular, Garden Spinach Herb or Tomato Basil
Cheese
1 can black beans
Cream cheese spread
Avocado sandwich spread
Broccoli slaw
Peppers- green, yellow or red
Meat-- sandwich or grilled chicken, turkey, or ham
Bacon bits
Olives

First I shmear the tortilla, usually I like to eat the Garden Spinach one, with the cream cheese and then the avocado spread.  Next I slice up some cheese, I've used Munster and cheddar- both are delicious, and put them down the center of the tortilla.  Then I pile everything on top, wrap it up and enjoy!

This is so simple and fresh. I just love the broccoli slaw.  It's an easy way to get veggies and adds a yummy crunch. The black beans are so filling and are good for you, plus they're cheap.  We've only had sandwich meat to make these but I think cubed grilled chicken would be fabulous.

So be creative and enjoy a wrap tonight!

Slow Cooker Pot Roast and Gravy

I made this yesterday. Taletha and I LOVED it. I've never made a roast in the crock pot and I was skeptical about my abilities and the taste but was really, really yummy.

Slow Cooker Pot Roast and Gravy
4-5 lb roast (I actually used a 2.5 lb rump roast)
1 pkg onion soup mix
2-4 c. water
1/4 c. flour
1/3 c. cold water

Put roast in crock pot. Sprinkle with onion soup mix. Add water-- enough to come about 1/2 way up sides of roast. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Remove roast and put in microwave or oven to keep warm.

Turn drippings up to high. Mix flour and water in small bowl until smooth. Add to crock pot mixture. Mix until smooth (mine had a few lumps but they went away). Cover and let thicken. (The thickening part was taking a while so I added more flour/water. It took about 1/2 hour to get the right consistency.)

Baked Chicken

1 chicken, cut up (I used chicken breasts)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 soup can of milk
1 small can mushrooms
Egg, flour, salt, pepper and paprika
Potato chips

Combine flour, salt, pepper and paprika. Coat chicken with egg and dip in flour mixture. Place in casserole dish and dot with butter. Bake at 425° for 15 minutes.

Mix chicken soup, milk, and mushrooms. Warm mixture and pour over chicken. Crush potato chips and over chicken. Cover and bake at 250° for 45 min to 1 hour.

This is easy to make and I'm sure could be altered to suit taste very easily. I made mashed potatoes and used the chicken soup mixture as gravy. It worked well.

Cornmeal Enchilada Pancakes

Fun new twist for enchiladas :) Brad and Annie both liked this one. Annie called them "lada pizza" Whatever works to get her to eat it! :)

Enchilada sauce:
1 lb hamburger
1 can tomato soup
1 qt. stewed tomatoes
1 tsp chili powder
1 onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced (I only used about 1/4 of a green pepper)
1 cube beef bouillon, dissolved in 1 c. water
1/2 pkg enchilada sauce mix (I used the whole thing)

Brown hamburger and onions; add remainder of ingredients. Simmer 10 minutes. Serve over cornmeal pancakes.

Cornmeal pancakes:
2 c. cornmeal
1 c. flour
2/3 c. oil
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
Add milk until thin (like crepes)

Fry on hot skillet and serve with enchilada sauce, shredded lettuce, sour cream and top with a black olive. Serves 6.

Sweet and Sour Meat Balls

Stacey had this for us when we went down to hike Mt. Timp. Chad made it and it was DELICIOUS!

1 1/2 lbs ground beef
3/4 c. oatmeal
2 eggs
1/2 onion chopped
1/2 c. milk
1 tsp salt
dash of pepper
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Mix & form into bite sized balls. Brown in a frying pan. Put cooked meatballs into a 9X13 pan.

Sauce:
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c. vinegar
1 tsp. mustard
1/2 c BBQ sauce
2 tsp worcestershire sauce

Mix sauce, simmer for 10 min. Pour sauce over meatballs and cook for 30 min @ 350 degrees. Serve with rice.

Mujadarah (Arabic Lentils and Rice)

So I found this recipe on my friend Sunny's page and thought I would try it while Brad was gone today. I was kind of unsure if he would like it and thought I would do a trial run on just me and Annie first. Annie loved it! It's super easy and a good recipe to rotate through some food storage every once and awhile. If you go to Sunny's page there is also a salad to go with it but I didn't have any of the ingredients for that so we just ate some peas. (Definately have to have some sort of veggie as a side to give it some color :D) Oh, and I cut it in half and there was plenty of left overs with just 2 of us eating it today. Try it out and tell me how you like it :)

Mujadarah

1 c. brown rice
6-8 c. water
1 1/2 c. dried lentils
2 chicken boullion cubes
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp pepper
2-3 Tbsp olive oil or butter
1 large onion
salt to taste

* Place brown rice and water in saucepan. Cook over medium heat about 20 min.
* Add lentils, boullion, pepper, cumin, and cook another 25 min, or until rice and lentils are soft (add more water if needed)
* Meanwhile, sauté onions in oil or butter until brown and carmelized (allow a lot of time for them to carmelize).
* Add onions to the rice/lentil mixture a few minutes before it is finished.

Thanks Sunny for the fun recipe!

Grilled Salmon Marinade

I got this recipe from my girlfriend the other day, and tried it last night. Trev says it's definitly a keeper.

1 1/2 pounds salmon fillets
lemon pepper to tast
garlic powder to taste
salt to taste
1/3 C. soy sauce
1/3 C. brown sugar
1/3 C. water
1/4 C. oil
Season fillets with lemon pepper, garlic powder, and salt. In a small bowl, stir together soy sauce, brown sugar, water and oil until sugar is dissolved. Place fish in a large resealable plastic bag with the soy sauce mixture, seal and turn to coat. Marinade each side for 2 hours. Put in 9x13 pan lined with foil and bake at 425 for 20-25 min.

Creamy Chicken & Pasta

Calling all pasta lovers....You will adore this. I found this in a magazine the other day and made it. It is scrumptious. Try it out!!

8 ounces penne
3 small carrots, peeled and sliced into coins
2 cups broccoli flowerets
1 medium-size zucchini, sliced
1 cup frozen peas
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into pieces
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
pinch nutmeg
Cook penne in boiling salted water for 12 min. Add carrots, broccoli and zucchini for last 4 minutes of cooking time. Add peas during last minute. Drain.
Measnwhile, sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper.(i cook my ckn on my geogre forman) then cut into peices. Add cream, cheese, the remaining salt and pepper and nutmeg to skillet. Boil for 2 minutes. Toss with pasta and vegtables

Hamburger Gravy over Mashed Potatoes

Hey girls,
Here is a really quick and easy meal to do when you can't think of anything else to cook. We really enjoy it.

Mashed Potatoes(make as much as you would like)
1 lb. browned hamburger
1-2 cans cream of chicken soup(just depending on how much sauce you want to make)
1 can milk(or so, it may need a little more)
1 1/2 pkg's lipton onion soup mix

Combine all ingredients(except potatoes) and simmer over med heat until warmed through. Serve over mashed potatoes.

Chicken Roll-Ups and Cream Sauce

4 chicken breasts (cooked & diced)
1/2 c. green onions
8 oz cream cheese
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 pkg refrigerated crescent rolls
1/2 c. melted butter
1/4 c. parmesan cheese
1 c. Italian bread crumbs

1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz. sour cream
1 tbls worchester sauce

Mix together chicken, onions, cream cheese and garlic powder. Unwrap crescent rolls and place abt 2 Tbls of mix inside and roll up. Combine bread crumbs and parmesan cheese in a bowl. Dip crescent rolls in butter and then roll in bread crumb mixture. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake @ 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Cream sauce:
In sauce pan combine soup, sour cream, and worchester sauce. Add salt & pepper to taste. Heat until smooth. Serve over baked chicken roll-ups.

Creamy Fettuccine Alfredo

This is one of our favorites with chicken on the grill and steamed broccoli

8 oz. pkg cream cheese
3/4 c. Parmesan cheese
1/2 c. butter or margarine
1/2 c. milk
8 oz fettuccine, cooked and drained (we use penne noodles)

In large saucepan, combine cheese, margarine, and milk. Stir over low heat until smooth. Add fettuccine and toss lightly. Serve hot.