Perfect Pot Roast

Pioneer Woman cooked this up yesterday on her food network show.  I watched it and went out and bought a roast right away for our Sunday dinner.  I am definitely not new to roasts...I'm a rancher's daughter and we pretty much had roast almost every Sunday dinner and I've definitely cooked my fair share of them in the last 10 years of marriage.  And they've always been...ok.  I cook them more out of tradition than for the taste (sad, I know).  This recipe.....WOW!  Do everything she says, EXACTLY as she says and you will have an AMAZING roast dinner.  I've had to stop myself from picking at the roast after already eating two helpings of it!  SO GOOD!!!

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/09/2008_the_year_of_the_pot_roast/

Meatballs with Cream Sauce

This recipe was on our menu to try on Thursday. Well, as sometimes happens, I got a little antsy and last night's menu item didn't sound as good as Thursday's. So I switched it up.

Holy cow! So yummy.

Everyone licked their plate clean. My youngest son and husband licked their plates clean twice. And, my adopted teenage son/brother cleaned his plate 3 times. Then, this morning, my youngest begged me to reheat the leftover meatballs for him for breakfast.
I'd say that was a success. And so easy! Seriously... YUM!

photo and recipe credits go to Mel's Kitchen Cafe

MEATBALLS:
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup milk
2 T. ketchup
1 t. Worcestershire sauce
3/4 cup quick oats
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1 1/2 lb. lean ground beef
3 T. flour

CREAM SAUCE:
2 T. butter
3 1/2 T. flour
1/4 t. dried thyme
1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. pepper
14 oz. can chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
2 T. minced fresh parsley

1 12oz package egg noodles

In a bowl, combine all of the meatball ingredients EXCEPT the beef and flour. Add beef and mix well. Shape into balls. Roll in flour, shaking off excess. Place 1 inch apart on cookie sheet and bake, uncovered, at 400 for 10 minutes. Turn meatballs, bake 8-10 minutes longer or until no longer pink.
Meanwhile, start the water to boil for your pasta and once boiling, throw your noodles in to cook.
While your noodles and meatballs are cooking you can make the sauce. For the sauce, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour, thyme, salt and pepper until smooth. Gradually add broth and milk; bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes, until slightly thickened.
Drain meatballs on paper towels; transfer to a serving dish. Top with sauce and parsley. Serve over egg noodles. (You can also serve over rice if you would like, but when I mentioned that as an option my husband said "I don't know why you'd ever do that. The noodles were so good with that." In fact, the vote was unanimous so this will always be served over noodles at our house.)

Chili Mac

Do you know how sometimes things just look good and you have no rhyme or reason as to why?

Well the other day I was food blog surfing and came across a recipe for chili mac.

Umm... sounds kind of hamburger helper doesn't it? I don't know, maybe it's this baby inside me, but I knew, with every fiber of my being that I HAD TO HAVE chili mac.
I don't understand.

But you know what, strange as it sounds, this was the most satisfying meal I have had all week.
I set out to follow a recipe, and 2 steps in I realized I didn't have a single one of the spices required. That never happens to me... it must have been fate I suppose because I just had to wing it. And the end result was something easy (like might even be easier than hamburger helper itself. I don't know though, I don't think I've ever made hamburger helper) and super delicious that everyone of my children LOVED. (Especially the one currently residing inside me)

So, if you're adventurous enough to try something so humble, give this a go.

Chili Mac: (image and inspiration from here)
Serves 6-8

1 Tbs vegetable oil
1 lb ground beef
I onion, minced
1/2 chili packet - roughly 2 TBS (we used McCormick I believe, it was what was in our pantry)
1/2 tsp salt
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs brown sugar
2 8oz cans tomato sauce
2 cups water
2 cups elbow macaroni
1 cup frozen corn

In a large skillet over medium heat, saute ground beef, onion, chili packet, and salt in oil until the hamburger is no longer pink. If necessary, drain off any excess fat. Add brown sugar and garlic and cook until fragrant (about 30 seconds) Stir in tomato sauce, water, and macaroni. Cover and cook, stirring often, until the macaroni is tender 12-20 minutes.
Stir in the cheese and corn. Remove from heat. The left over heat from the chili mac should be enough to warm the corn and melt the cheese.
Sit down and enjoy.

Cola Pot Roast

Recipe and photo courtesy of allrecipes

This is a slightly nostalgic meal for us. Back in the early days of our marriage we were very poor. We lived away from family in the "middle of nowhere", had no internet, no tv, no long distance... all we had for recipes were these 5 allrecipes cookbooks my mom had given me for Christmas. This recipe (and several other sentimental and family favorites) came from those books.

Ingredients:

4 pounds beef sirloin roast

3 carrots, chopped

3 stalks celery, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 (.75 ounce) packet dry brown gravy mix

2 tablespoons water

1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix

1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream

of mushroom soup

10 fluid ounces

cola-flavored carbonated beverage

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Place meat in roasting pan and sprinkle carrots, celery, and garlic around. (I like to add a little onion as well...)
In a separate bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients. Pour this mixture on top of the roast.
Cover and cook for 1 hour in preheated oven.
Reduce temperature to 225. Cook for 2 hours. Turn the roast over and continue to cook covered for at least another 2 hours. Let meat rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

Carne Asada Tacos

from Tyler Florence

Tacos:

• Steak (skirt steak, flank steak, whatever. Brandon went to the store and actually picked up "carne asada" sliced steak)

• Mojo sauce (recipe below)
• avocados
• onions, small dice
• cilantro, chopped
• lime wedges
• queso fresco
• corn tortillas

Marinate the steak in the mojo sauce for 1 - 8 hours (don't go longer than 8 hours or your meat will get mushy) Preheat your grill (or grill pan). Pull your steak out of the marinade and season with salt and pepper. Grill to the desired doneness and then pull of grill and let the meat rest for a couple minutes before slicing.
Prepare your taco according to your tastes and devour.

Mojo:

• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 jalapeno, minced
• 1 large handful fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 limes, juiced
• 1 orange, juiced
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 1/2 cup olive oil

Mash together the garlic, jalapeno, cilantro, salt, and pepper to make a paste. (I did this in my food processor) Add the lime juice, orange juice, vinegar, and oil. Use as marinade.

Steak Tacos

Last night B and I had steak tacos. We used this marinade recipe from Tyler Florence. Delicious!

Ingredients

Marinade:

• 1 orange, juiced
• 2 limes, juiced
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 3 chipolte chiles, in adobo sauce (this makes it SUPER spicy. I recommend 1-3)
  
• 3 tablespoon roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/4 pounds skirt or flank steak, trimmed of fat cut into thirds or 8-inch pieces (okay we used regular sirloin steaks... because that's what I had and it was DELICIOUS!)
  
• Salt and pepper

Directions

Combine all the marinade ingredients. In a blender, puree the marinade until smooth. Transfer to a re-sealable plastic bag and add the steak, seal and shake to coat. Refrigerate the beef for 2 to 4 hours to tenderize and flavor the beef.

Preheat a ridged grill pan on high heat.

Drain the marinade from the beef. Lightly oil the grill or grill pan. Season liberally with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Grill the steak over medium-high heat and cook for 4 minutes on each side and then transfer to a cutting board and let rest. (This is SUPER important: set a timer and cook for 4 minutes on each side- DO IT. It makes it deliciously perfectly medium.)

While steak is resting, heat up the tortillas. Turn any free burners on a medium low flame. Place a tortilla on each flame and let it char about 30 seconds to 1 minute, flip the tortilla and repeat on the second side. Once heated and charred remove the tortilla to a clean tea towel and wrap to keep warm. Repeat until you have warmed all of your tortillas.

You can also heat your tortillas in a microwave, lightly dampen a tea towel with some water, wrap the tortillas in the damp towel and heat in the microwave for about 1 minute. Check to see if they are warm, if not repeat the heating at 1 minute intervals until they are warm and pliable.

Thinly slice the steak against the grain on a diagonal.

To serve:

We ate ours with some diced onions and chopped cilantro. We also had avocado slices. The only thing I though was missing was some queso fresco. Tyler Florence recommends serving it with guacamole, sour cream, salsa, possibly cheese and then grilled peppers and onions if you want it fajita style.

Hearty Beef Stew

Ingredients:
1 Chuck or Rump Roast
1 large onion chopped
Some minced garlic
Several large carrots, chopped
Lots of red potatoes cut into one inch cubes
2 cups of good red cooking wine
4 cups of beef broth
1 can of whole tomatoes (diced) plus the juice of the can.
Spice (I used some fresh thyme, marjoram, garlic salt,

1. Cut up a rump roast or chuck roast into one inch cubes.
2. In large dutch oven pot brown meat in about 1 Tbsp of olive oil, salt & pepper the meat generously as you go. The point of this browning is not to cook the meat through, but to sear in the juices so I did this on high and it only took a few minutes with me flipping the meat frequently.
3. As beef is browning chop the onion. Just as the beef is seared, drain excess fat from pan (I used homegrown meat so I didn't really have any) and through in the onion and minced garlic and let those cook together for a few minutes. Also at this stage you can create a roux by adding in some cornstarch or flour to the oil and meat before you stir in the beef broth, but I like my stew brothy so I didn't bother with the roux.
4. Add in beef broth & cooking wine, bring the heat down to low and simmer for two plus hours (I did three hours on the lowest setting on my burner and the meat was amazingly tender and flavorful).
5. Add in red potatoes, and large carrots and any other veggies that strike your fancy (if you are a celery fan that would be good) and cook until potatoes are tender.
6. Add spices and whole tomatoes with the juice. Bring back to boil than stir and serve.

Steak Bites

This recipe comes from pioneer woman cooks (so does the image) I'm sure y'all have heard of it, and if you haven't run right over there and take a looksy.
Just a simple sentence for this recipe: Best steak we've cooked to date.
(It's too simple to be so delicious... lucky you.)

Steak Bites

1 sirloin steak

or

1 pkg. pre-cut beef tips

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Butter

Trim off the large obvious pieces of fat that run along the side of the meat. Cut strips less than 1 inch wide. Rotate the meat and cut into small bite-sized pieces. If you see anymore large chunks of fat, gristle or long silvery membranes cut them off.

Sprinkle generously with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Toss the meat around a bit to thoroughly coat with the seasonings.

Turn on your ventilation fan overhead. Heat the skillet over medium high to high heat. As the pan heats, add about 2 tablespoons butter to the skillet. The point here is to allow the butter to melt, then brown, before you add the meat.

Place some of the meat in the pan in a single layer. It should sizzle loudly when it hits the pan - if it doesn’t, the pan isn’t hot enough. Don’t stir or disrupt the meat for 30 to 45 seconds. You want it to sizzle and brown on one side. Now scoop as many steak bites as you can with your spatula and flip them over. Repeat until all the meat is turned. Cook for an additional 30 seconds or so - just long enough to sear the outside of the meat but NOT cook the inside. (If you like it cooked more well done leave it longer. However, make sure to remove it before they are all the way done to your liking. Carryover cooking: it's a beast.)

Remove the meat to a clean plate. Add a little more butter to the pan and repeat the cooking process with the next batch just as before. Lastly when all the meat is nicely browned and removed to the plate pour all that browned/blackened butter all over the meat.

Pioneer woman has step by step instructions including pictures. Just a tip.

Chili Pasta Bake (or Mexican Lasagna if you prefer)

I found this recipe on a can and adapted it to use only ingredients I keep on hand and make it my own. It was extra quick, easy & hearty & we enjoyed it, hope you do too!

Servings: 6 Hearty portions

10 oz. penne pasta
1 lb. ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
2 T chili powder
1 can diced tomatoes with juice
1 can tomato sauce (those little cans)
1 jar salsa (I used our homemade pint jar.......so that is about two cups worth if you are using it from a big bottle)
1 c diced green chilies, drained
2 cups shredded Mexican cheese

**preheat oven to 350
1. Cook pasta & drain
2. Meanwhile brown meet, add onion
3. Once meat is cooked and excess liquid drained, add in chili powder, salsa, chilies & tomato sauce and cook 5 minutes.
4. Toss with pasta , spoon into 13 x9 pan and top with cheese. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.
5.

Sloppy Joes

I make a mean sloppy joe. I don't make them often...not exactly sure why... I guess sloppy joes just aren't my type of food?? Regardless, these are delicious! My husband sure loves them. Not your school lunch, manwich sloppy joe. My family found this recipe 10+ years ago in a Pillsbury "cookbook", we have never looked back. Yum!

1 lb hamburger

1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup ketchup

1 8 oz can tomato sauce

1 Tbs brown sugar

1 tsp dry mustard

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1 Tbs vinegar

1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce

In a large skillet, combine ground beef, bell pepper and onion. Cook over medium heat for 8-10 minutes or until beef is thoroughly cooked, stirring frequently. Drain well. Add all remaining ingredients and mix well. Cover; simmer 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Makes enough for 6-8 people.

Mongolian Beef

So, this is so EXACTLY PF Chang's mongolian beef it is ridiculous! No longer will we go there just for this menu item.(and pay $10 no less) Simple, quick, oh so delicious, and impressive. Can't go wrong! Did I mention delicious?!

Serves 2 (If doubling, see * at bottom)

30 min 10 min prep

2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon ginger, minced
1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup dark brown sugar (if you don't have dark brown sugar, use regular and add 1-2 Tbs of molasses)
vegetable oil for frying (about 1 cup)
1 lb flank steak (your steak slices thiner and easier if it is slightly frozen)
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 large green onions, cut on the bias in one inch pieces (I like a little bit more)

Make the sauce by heating 2 tsp of vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over med/low heat.
Don't get the oil too hot.
Add ginger and garlic to the pan and quickly add the soy sauce and water before the garlic scorches.
Dissolve the brown sugar in the sauce, then raise the heat to about medium and boil the sauce for 2-3 minutes or until the sauce thickens.
Remove it from the heat.
Slice the flank steak against the grain into 1/4" thick bite-size slices.
Tilt the blade of your knife at about a forty five degree angle to the top of the steak so that you get wider cuts.
Dip the steak pieces into the cornstarch to apply a very thin dusting to both sides of each piece of beef.
Let the beef sit for about 10 minutes so that the cornstarch sticks.
As the beef sits, heat up one cup of oil in a wok (you may also use a skillet for this step as long as the beef will be mostly covered with oil).
Heat the oil over medium heat until it's nice and hot, but not smoking.
Add the beef to the oil and sauté for just two minutes, or until the beef just begins to darken on the edges.
You don't need a thorough cooking here since the beef is going to go back on the heat later.
Stir the meat around a little so that it cooks evenly.
After a couple minutes, use a large slotted spoon to take the meat out and onto paper towels, then pour the oil out of the wok or skillet.
Put the pan back over the heat, dump the meat back into it and simmer for one minute.
Add the sauce, cook for one minute while stirring, then add all the green onions.
Cook for one more minute, then remove the beef and onions with tongs or a slotted spoon to a serving plate.
Leave the excess sauce behind in the pan.

* Because you leave the excess sauce in the pan, it is not necessary to double the sauce recipe.

Summer Shout Out! (and Ranch Burger Recipe)

Okay fellow piggies, here is the deal, Thursday (yes I know it is short notice) my relief society is having a recipe exchange at my house. All are free to come (although I am sure that since only I and one other little piggy, who will be new "baby-ing", live here, none of you will show. No matter.)
So, here's the deal, the recipe exchange "theme" is Favorite Fourth of July Fare, food fare, that is. I would like all of you to take the challenge and list out your faves here. (Meaning post the recipe sillies) I will do the same. So as that this wouldn't be a boring post with no fun food I am posting a little ditty we had last night. Yummy. I believe the homemade hamburger buns are definitely turning me into a burger girl. SHOCK!

Ranch Burgers: Super simple stuffed to the gills with flavor!

2 lbs ground beef
1 (1 oz) envelope ranch dressing mix
1 envelope onion soup mix

Mix all ingredients together. Form patties and grill. Then you eat them.

The original recipe was a little different, click here if you want the original. I followed the suggestions in some of the comments. Also, I only used about 1 1/2 lbs of ground beef, I didn't want to open a second package...


For a fast battered french fries follow this link. They were a little blad so I'm going to come up with a fun seasoning combination, but for now you can experiment as well. Really great crunch!

Game Day Burgers

I got this recipe from my allrecipes cookbook. (you can also go to allrecipes.com) So yummy. SO HUGE!! Not even kidding. Because these are a "stuffed" burger, meaning there is cheese and other yummy delights inside, the finished product ends up being a 4 in wide 1 1/2 in tall hamburger. WOW. Fun times, these have mushrooms in them, my husband had no idea. (by the way, this is only HALF of a hamburger...yeah, they were HUGE)

2 lbs ground beef
2 (1 oz) pkg dry onion soup mix (I only had dry french onion, go figure, tasted great. I'm not sure what the difference would be.)
1 large potato, peeled and shredded
1 cup shredded swiss cheese
1 cup diced fresh mushrooms (I used canned)

Combine beef and onion soup mix.
In a separate bowl, mix together potato, swiss, and mushrooms.
Form 6 large patties*. Make a pocket in each and stuff with filling mixture. Seal back up.
Cook 5 minutes on each side or until burgers are no longer pink.

*We halved this recipe and it still made 4 excessively large hamburgers. Also, I divided the meat into 8 equal portions and then made 8 really skinny hamburgers. Pilled the filling on half of them, topped each with another patty and then sealed the edges. (So I made a hamburger sandwich)

P.S. We found these easier to eat with a knife and fork.

Argentine Milanesa

My husband served his mission in Argentina. Today is his birthday and so we decided to try something special for him. He loves milanesa (it is breaded sirloin, like chicken fried steak or steak parmigiana). Imagine my surprise when he said it was so good and tasted EXACTLY LIKE HE REMEMBERED! That never happens when I try to make Argentine food (he always likes it, but it is never exactly right) This one is a keeper. Be brave and try it one night, it is actually really simple and very similar to an Italian dish. I served it with noodles just because I knew my kids would eat noodles (I simply cooked spaghetti and then tossed it with some minced garlic, olive oil, and shredded Parmesan cheese)

2	eggs
1/2	cup milk
1	cup seasoned bread crumbs
3	tablespoons grated parmesan cheese or romano cheese
2	tablespoons minced fresh parsley
2	cloves garlic, minced
1/4	teaspoon salt
1/8	teaspoon pepper
2	lbs boneless beef top sirloin steaks, cut into 1/4 inch slices (1-1/2" thick)
	oil (for frying)
4	medium ripe tomatoes, sliced (we didn't have tomatoes we substituted tomato sauce as another recipe suggested, still very yummy)
8	ounces sliced mozzarella cheese
	lemon wedges

• Broil/Grill Main Dish
  
• Beef Steaks Main Dish
  
• Romantic Main Dish
  
• Argentinean Main Dish
  
• Reduced Carbohydrates Main Dish
  

1. In a shallow bowl, whisk the eggs and milk.
2. In another shallow bowl, combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper.
3. Dip steak in egg mixture, then coat with the crumb mixture.
4. In a large skillet, heat 1/2" of oil.
5. Brown steak over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes on each side or until meat reaches desired doneness (keep in mind that the longer it is cooked, the tougher it gets).
6. Drain on paper towels.
7. Transfer to a baking sheet.
8. Top beef with tomato, then cheese slices.
9. Broil 4" from the heat for 1-2 minutes or until cheese is melted.
10. Serve with lemon wedges.

Easy Chimi's

I came upon this recipe, changed it a lot ( so now it is mine), and it turned out so yummy! It is such an easy thing to throw together and also freezes really well for left overs!

1 pound ground beef
3/4 cup chopped onions
1 can green chilies (or 3/4 c green bell peppers)
1 can of corn
1 can tomato sauce
1 can refried beans (or black beans)
1 cup of salsa
1 TBS chili powder
pinch of salt

Flour Tortillas
Shredded Cheese

Preheat oven to 350*. Brown ground beef and onions together. Add in everything but the cheese. Place the mixture onto the tortilla, add cheese to hearts desire, roll up into burrito, and then place on baking sheet. Coat with thin spray of Pam or with butter. Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes. Serve with sour cream, guacamole, salsa, or anything else that is yummy to you.

Don't forget to freeze the extras before you cook them. Yields about 10 burritos.

Bacon Cheeseburger Roll-up

Here is a recipe from kraft foods that Gwen introduced us to. It is really simple and quick, definitely not gourmet but perfect for those days that you don't feel like one. It is also great for lunches. Check the comments for a few modifications.

1 lb. lean ground beef
4 slices bacon, chopped
1/2 cup chopped onions (about 1 small)
1/2 lb. (8 oz.) velveeta, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 pkg. (13.8 oz.) refrigerated pizza crust

PREHEAT oven to 400°F. Cook ground beef, bacon and onions in large skillet on medium-high heat until ground beef is evenly browned, stirring occasionally. Drain; return meat mixture to skillet. Add velveeta; cook until completely melted, stirring frequently. Cool 10 min.
UNROLL pizza dough onto baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Press into 15x8-inch rectangle. Top evenly with meat mixture. Roll up dough, starting at one of the long sides. Rearrange, if necessary, so roll is seam-side down on baking sheet.
BAKE 20 to 25 min. or until golden brown. Cut diagonally into slices to serve.

polynesian meatballs

I am the LAST little piggy who should be posting polynesian recipes, but we found this recipe in the friend magazine a while back. The meatball recipe came from my sister-in-law. We like these meatballs better than the friend recipe, but the sauce has been a huge hit at our house, so I thought I would share:

Meatballs
-2 lbs ground beef
-1 can sweetened condensed milk
-1 pkg. lipton onion soup mix

-mix all ingredients together and form into small balls. Put on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes

Sauce
-1 20 oz can crushed pineapple
-2 Tbs. cornstarch
-1/2 c. cider vinegar
-2 Tbs. soy sauce
-2 Tbs. lemon juice
-1/2 c. brown sugar

-drain pineapple and set aside pineapple. Add juice to the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Cook until thick. Add pineapple and meatballs. Serve over rice.

you can make this whole thing and serve it right away, OR you can put it in the crockpot. I like it best in the crockpot and let it cook for another 2-3 hours on low.
Also, a little tip: I mix the ingredients for the meatballs with a spoon and use a small cookie scoop (like the pampered chef one) to make the meatballs. That way they are the perfect size, it's fast, and I don't even have to get my hands dirty :) it makes up for dirtying a crock pot when I don't have to!

Cuball Soup

This soup is a childhood comfort food. My mother’s grandma Olsen used to make this soup for her, and now my mother makes it for my children.

Boil a beef soup bone and 1 shank of short ribs for several hours until you get a good broth (Grandma Faun says that the neck bone is the best, but I have never found a butcher that has neck bones in Utah). Strain away bones and place broth in fridge to let the fat settle to the top and set. Mom says that she usually does this the night before she is planning on making the soup. Remove from fridge and discard fat. Season the broth really well, until you like the flavor of it. Chop 1 bunch of celery and slice several onions and add to broth. Peel and slice a lot of carrots and add. While the vegetables cook, make the cuballs. Grandma Faun makes these just like you would meatloaf, except she doesn’t add ground pork, just ground beef. You still season it with salt and pepper and sage and bind it with egg and flour. Grandma tastes her meatball mixture raw to see if it tastes right. I make a sample meatball and cook it in the broth to test it. Usually you can rely on smell though. Using teaspoons you drop little meatballs into the broth, much the same way that you would drop cookies. Grandma says to make a lot of meatballs because that is what Grandpa always picks out of the soup first. She also says that it is really important to make sure your broth is well seasoned or the soup will taste bland. When the meatballs are done, the soup is ready to eat.

Minestrone

½ pound pork sausage
½ pound ground beef
4 cups water
2 beef bouillon cubes
1 large onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, sliced
2 medium celery ribs, diced
1 can (16 ounces) tomatoes, pureed
2 cans tomato sauce (8 oz.)
2 teaspoons crushed dried parsley
½ teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon dried oregano
1 small bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste
Garlic salt to taste
1 can garbanzo beans, drained
1 can green beans, un-drained
2/3 cup uncooked wide noodles, or other pasta (I use macaroni)

Brown meat in heavy kettle; drain. Dissolve bouillon cubes in water. Add onions, carrots, celery, tomatoes, tomato sauce, parsley, and seasonings. Simmer, covered 4-6 hours (I have also simmered it for only 1-2 hours, and it works fine). Thirty minutes before serving time, add beans and noodles. Simmer until noodles are tender. Makes 8 servings.

Taco Skillet

1 lb ground beef
1 can tomato soup
½ c. salsa
1 can corn
½ c. water
6 corn tortillas cut into 1" pieces
½ c. grated cheese

Cook ground beef. Add remaining ingredients except cheese. Simmer for 5 minutes. Top with cheese.


Recipe courtesy of Auntie Mo