The Classic Rigatoni

I cannot claim personal credit for this recipe. It is an old family favorite. I'm mainly putting this up for a friend who wants some freezer meal ideas. This one is great--always a crowd pleaser, very quick and easy to make, and equally easy to make a double or even triple batch as a single--an important quality in a freezer meal, because I can make a huge batch on a normal day and put away a meal or two for later.

The Classic Rigatoni

1 pound rigatoni pasta
1 pound ground beef
1 can tomato soup
1 can *cheddar cheese soup
1 can tomato sauce
2 TBSP Italian Seasoning
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (if freezing, 3 cups, separated)

1) Cook pasta according to package directions in boiling water. NOTE: if freezing, undercook your pasta by about 2 or 3 minutes. Make sure it is on the firm side of al dente.
2) In a large skillet or saucepan, brown the ground beef.
3) Drain excess liquid from the ground beef and add all remaining ingredients. NOTE: if freezing, set aside the extra cup of cheese for the topping.
4) Mix cooked pasta with the sauce and serve!
5) IF FREEZING: line a 13x9 pan with foil. Spray with cooking spray. Pour in Rigatoni. Sprinkle with 1 cup of cheddar cheese. Freeze until solid. Remove foil pouch from pan and store for long- term. To use: return foil pouch to 13x9 pan and thaw for 1-2 hours on counter. Then cook at 350 until hot and bubbly all the way through. Depending on how thawed the casserole was, this could take any where from 30 minutes to an hour and a half. Enjoy! Serves 6-8 people (big batch... but yummy leftovers.)

*Cheddar cheese soup is in the pasta aisle. If you don't want to use it, you can do this: once the beef is browned, push it to one side of the pan or set aside on a plate. Place 4 TBSP of butter in the pan and let melt. Whisk in 4 TBSP of flour and cook for 1 minute, whisking away any lumps. Then whisk in 2 cups of milk. Bring to a boil to thicken. Add other ingredients as normal, but add an extra 1/2 to 1 cup of cheese.

Notes: You can also make this recipe with ground turkey or chicken, or even chicken cubes. To up the veggie content I've also added chopped onion or grated carrots--both are super yummy! Just add the vegetables with the ground beef at the beginning so they can cook a bit.

Shepherd's Pie, my way

This may not be as fast as the ground beef-green beans-tomato soup-mashed potatoes combo, but man, is it good! Good news: just like the last recipe, it can also be frozen in individual meal sizes and just heated up the night you want it.

Super Delicious Shepherd's Pie
mashed potatoes:
6 potatoes
4 tbsp butter
3 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

beef filling:
1 pound ground beef
1 small onion (1 half big)
2 carrots, grated
1 cup frozen peas
1 can tomato soup
1 tsp dry rosemary
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (for topping)

1) Peel, dice, and boil potatoes until soft.
2) Brown the ground beef mixed with the chopped onion and grated carrots. Cook until beef is all brown and onions and carrots are soft.
3) drain any excess fat from the ground beef, then add the tomato soup, peas, and seasonings. Warm thoroughly.
4) When potatoes are soft, drain and add in the other mashed potato ingredients (butter, cream cheese, milk, seasonings). Mash with a masher or a hand mixer until nice and fluffy.
5) Spray a 13x9 pan with cooking spray (if freezing, line with foil first). Pour the beef filling on the bottom, then top with the mashed potatoes. Cover with cheddar cheese. Bake at 450 degrees for about 5-10 minutes, just long enough to melt cheese and crisp the top. Enjoy! (if freezing, don't bake, just put straight in the freezer. When solid, remove from the pan and store it just in the foil until ready to use. The day of eating it, put it back in the pan, thaw on the counter for about 30 minutes to 1 hour, and then bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.)

Stuffed tomatoes

I went on vacation and came home to find my tomato plants so loaded with red tomatoes that they had knocked over their tomato cages and were lying on the ground. I'll be making salsa later this week, consequently, but today I enjoyed making these tasty stuffed tomatoes. Because store bought tomatoes can be expensive, this might not be something you want to make unless tomatoes are in-season.

Stuffed Tomatoes
4-6 beefsteak tomatoes
2 cups of cooked rice
1/2 lb of ground beef or bulk (no casings) sausage
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350. In a skillet, cook the ground beef of sausage with the onion until the meat is browned completely. Turn off the heat and drain off any excess liquid. Add everything but the tomatoes and stir to combine. Set meat mixture aside.

Take your tomatoes and cut off the tops. If they roll around a lot, you can also cut a shallow slice from the bottom to stabilize. Take a spoon or a knife and gently cut out the seeds from the inside, leaving the sides about 1/2 inch thick. Stuff the now hollow tomatoes with the meat mixture. Place stuffed tomatoes in a baking dish and bake at 350 for 20 minutes, or until the outside of the tomato is wilted and they are hot completely through. Serve as a complete meal, garnished with shredded basil leaves, if desired.

Variations: You can stuff nearly any vegetable with the same meat mixture listed above. Hollowed out peppers, acorn squash, zucchini, or eggplant would be fantastic here. You will need to modify the cooking time. Peppers are about the same, but squash and eggplant need to be cooked until they are soft. Cover the dish in foil first, and then bake for about an hour or even longer, until a knife inserted in the flesh of the vegetable is soft. If you want to get even more adventurous, try stuffing apples. Make the same mixture, but make sure you use sausage. Then hollow out your apples just like the tomatoes and bake them for about an hour, again until they are soft.
You can also try topping the stuffed tomatoes with cheese before they bake.

Note: This makes a lot of the meat mixture, so you can save leftovers the freezer or the fridge for a different dinner. I've found that filling vegetables with yummy stuff is a fun way to get your family to eat more healthy foods.

Meat Marinades 101

Time for Lisa's Soap Box again. Today's subject: marinading meat.

A marinade is a flavorful liquid that you soak meat in. It tenderizes the meat, adds juice, and really affects the flavor. Wonderfully, marinades can be incredibly tasty while being incredibly healthy as well. Plus, they are relatively simple to create, and make you look like a rock-star on the grill.

Marinades have 3 basic parts: an acid, an oil, and seasonings. Unlike salad dressings, the ratio doesn't have to be very precise. I'd do about a 2-1 acid to oil ratio, though. Add as much or as little seasoning as you like.

Acids: Help to break down connective tissue and tenderize the meat, as well as driving other flavors into the meat deeply and quickly.
-Vinegar (red wine, rice wine, apple cider, balsamic--anything except distilled)
-Juice (lemon, lime, orange, apple, etc)

Oils: Lubricates the meat and prevents sticking or burning. Also adds to a juicy mouth feel.
-Vegetable oil
-Extra-Virgin Olive oil (my favorite)

Seasonings: Time to get super creative!
-Salt and Pepper are a must.
-Garlic or garlic juice
-pull out your spice cabinet! ginger, cardamom, cumin, chili flake, or paprika are all classic
-Worcestershire sauce
-soy sauce (careful, this is salty)
-honey or molasses
-hot sauce
-herbs like thyme, rosemary, oregano, sage, or basil

Try to pick things for your seasonings that compliment each other and compliment your acid. Last night we did an asian-inspired marinade: orange juice, olive oil, soy sauce, fresh oregano, and ginger. It was fantastic.

Assemble your marinade and pour into a ziploc bag. Add the meat. Any kind of meat--chicken breasts, pork chops, steaks--can benefit from a good marinade. Depending on how much acid you use depends on how long it will need to sit. I'd shoot for no less than 30 minutes, though up to 4 hours is fantastic. Then grill up the meat on a grill or under a broiler. DISCARD ANY REMAINING MARINADE. Leftover marinade is not for basting, and is most definitely not a sauce. It has done its job, and you will not be sorry for using it, I promise.

Meat temperatures are this, and I would not recommend grilling without an insta-read thermometer. They are very cheap and can be purchased at most grocery stores. Ground beef, chicken, pork, fish: 160 degrees Farenheit. Beef Steak: 140. If you go over these temperatures by more than 10 degrees, you'll really start to notice a difference in juiciness. If you've always had overcooked meat, you're really missing out! Properly cooked meat should be quite juicy. And don't freak out if you've never eaten pink steak before. Brown steak is burnt. End of story.

Correctly used, marinades can really benefit your weekly cooking, and can change your eating and cooking habits. Plus, if you're just a beginner cook, or not very creative in the kitchen, marinades are a great place to start, because they're hard to mess up, and really taste great, and can turn a cheaper cut of meat into a really awesome dinner. Good luck, and be creative!

Crock Pot Cooking Class

I recently taught a class on cooking in a Crock Pot. Most of us own a crock pot, but may not use it very often, or we get stuck in a rut with the same four recipes that we use over and over again. Here's a few recipes to pump up your arsenal, and maybe get you back in the swing of crock pot cooking.

Crockpot Beef Stroganoff
1 1/2 to 2 lbs round steak (can also use beef rump roast, or even chuck roast if desired)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 onion, sliced
1/2 tsp garlic
2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 1/2 cups beef Bouillon
1 Tbsp catsup
1/2 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced, or a 4 oz can, drained
1/3 cup flour
1 cup sour cream

Cut meat into 1/4 inch strips. Coat with salt and pepper. Drop into bottom of crock pot with onion. Mix garlic, Worcestershire sauce, bouillon, and catsup. Pour over meat. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until tender. Turn to high. Add mushrooms. Dissolve flour in small amount of water. Add to meat mixture, stirring until blended. Cook on high for 15 minutes or until slightly thickened. Stir in sour cream, turn off heat. Serve with noodles or rice.

Crockpot Brownie Pudding

• 1 pkg chocolate cake mix
• 1 pkg instant chocolate pudding mix (4 serving size)
• 1 pint sour cream
• 3/4 C. oil
• 4 eggs
• 1 C. water
• 1 C. chocolate chips
• 1 C. pecans -- toasted and chopped (optional)

Directions:

1. Spray crockpot. Mix all ingredients and pour into crockpot.
2. Cook on low setting for 5 hours.
3. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Crockpot Senate Bean Soup

2 cans navy beans (or 1/2 pound dry, reconstituted with boiling water and left overnight)
1 onion, chopped fine
1 cup chopped ham
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 medium potatoes, chopped into 1 inch cubes
water

Layer in the Crockpot in the order given, pour in water just enough to cover the potatoes. Put on lid and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 4-5 hours.

Layered Enchilada Casserole

This recipe was inspired by my 2 1/2 year old son. He wanted to help cook dinner, so I had to think of lots of good jobs for little hands. He stirred together the sauce and loved tearing the tortillas into pieces and putting them into the pan. Choose any flavor or salsa you want. Corn tortillas would also work just fine.

Layered Enchilada Casserole

1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp taco seasoning
2 cups (16 oz) salsa
16 oz container sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can red kidney beans
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
15 taco-size flour tortillas

Chop the onion. In a small skillet, brown the ground beef and sautee the onion together. Add the salt, pepper, and taco seasoning. While that is cooking, mix, in a large bowl, the salsa, sour cream, soup, and kidney beans. In a 13 x 9 inch pan, tear up half of the tortillas and place on the bottom. Mix the salsa mixture with the ground beef mixutre. Pour half of the sauce over the bottom layer of tortillas. Sprinkle on half the cheese. Cover with the last half of the tortillas, torn, then the rest of the sauce, and cover with the cheese. Bake at 350 for 20 to 30 minutes. Serve with corn chips crunched on top, if desired.

Cowboy Mac n' Cheese

Macaroni and Cheese is always a favorite with kids, and this version adds protien and fiber. Your family will be sure to enjoy, and it is a snap to make.

Cowboy Mac n' Cheese

2 boxes of Macaroni and Cheese, any brand
1 lb ground beef
1 cup whole kernel corn (1 cup frozen, or use 1 can, drained)
1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup margarine or butter (half a stick)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese


Boil the noodles from the 2 boxes of macaroni until tender, then drain. Meanwhile, make the sauce: brown ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat. When it is done, add the remaining ingredients, including the 2 cheese sauce packets from the boxed macaroni (add dairy products last to prevent curdling). Toss in the noodles and serve while hot.