Tag Archives: Ground Beef

Layered Taco Salad

layered taco salad

I love Mexican food and there is no other words to describe this salad but fantastic!  The salad part is just like any other salad with lettuce, tomato, olives, cheese, and avocado.  The stars of this main dish are the meat and the dressing so don’t change a thing when you make this because they are perfect as they are.  This is an easy to prepare so you will win all around.  The most time-consuming is chopping the onions, peppers, lettuce, tomatoes and cilantro.   It does make a lot.  I mean that I served 10 people and had 2 servings as leftovers.  The leftovers are still good the next day if you don’t add the dressing to the top.  I do like it with some heat so I put really  hot jalapeno peppers with seeds and all in there.  You adjust the heat to your taste.  I love serving this with some crunchy tortilla chips and homemade Pico de gallo.  Yummy!   Make this for your next get together,  serve it on your deck or patio or take it to  your friends to enjoy.  They will thank you!

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The Easiest Fried Rice EVER!

Easy Fried RiceIf you are in a big hurry to cook up something that is really tasty, I bet you have all of these ingredients  in your kitchen! My classes are making this dish and it is the biggest hit. I’m always amazed at the simplest of dishes that can make you happy. This is one of them, so get ready for some big smiles coming your way.

If you are like me sometimes you think that more is better when it come to a recipe. But I am learning that really simplicity is the winner. When I was thinking through what to prepare for the rest of the year back in January this dish came to mind. It was a winner with last year’s crowd , but  it was more time-consuming for a forty-five minute class.  So  I threw out something super simple and am pleasantly surprised at the results.

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One Skillet Cheesy Beef and Macaroni

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This recipe is nothing fancy, but it will be one that your family will ask for time and time again.  You know the one that makes your husband smile when he finds out what’s for dinner or when half your son’s baseball team shows up at your house and they are all starving!   It’s quick, easy, and above all cheesy good!  Again, I am loving Katie Workman’s Cookbook The Mom 100 Cookbook.  This is one of Katie’s recipes that I have made many times.  It is so good and it will be a favorite of yours once you put it on your dinner table.

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Meatloaf Muffins

One of my favorite comfort foods is meatloaf and mashed potatoes.  Several meatloaf recipes have made it to this blog and all of them have been good in their own way, but now this one is my favorite.  There is really no special ingredients that are added, but I  think that sauteing the peppers, onion , and garlic makes a big difference in the flavor.  This was not my bright idea although I would love to take credit.  Emeril Lagasse’s recipe for meatloaf kept coming up at the top of my Best Meatloaf search and while his recipe is much more complicated than this simple one he did saute the vegetables first.  So I thought I would give it a try and guess what it works great!  The idea for these Meatloaf Muffins came from Better Homes and Garden’s Make and Take magazine.  I think it is a great idea if you have small children or you do want to take this to a pot luck dinner.  But, I found them to be more time consuming than just the standard free formed meatloaf cooked on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Although the muffins might take a shorter time to cook I found that placing them in the muffin pans took longer to prepare.     This recipe made it to my table three times last month and even the leftovers are grand! Continue reading

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Meatloaf with Sundried Tomatoes

Are you a lover of meatloaf?  I’ve found that you either love it or hate it.  There is no in between. Here is recipe that you are going to love.  It screams out with so much flavor.   I’m a lover of meatloaf especially my mother’s meatloaf.  Her recipe has eluded me for as long as I have been cooking.  She used just ground beef with an egg, a few bread crumbs, onion, and bell pepper.  The loaf was placed in a corningware loaf dish.  To make a wonderful tomato gravy to go with the meatloaf she poured tomato juice over the meatloaf then baked it.  It was heavenly with rice.  I’m not going to give up, but in the mean time this fantastic recipe certainly does fit the bill!

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Sophisto Joes

Who doesn’t love a great sloppy joe?  When you bite into the toasted bun that has soaked up the sauce it is just plain good.  I have some great childhood memories of sloppy joes, but have not made them in years.  When I saw this recipe in Gourmet I just had to make it and I was not in the least disappointed.  These are as the name says a little more sophisticated than Manwich. Serve them up with some of your favorites whether it might be chips or fries.  I thought these pan-fried Smashed Potatoes and a salad were a great choice.

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Mexican Stuffed Shells

This is one the most favorite dishes that we prepare in my class.  Everybody loves this!  I have former students that call me because they have lost their recipe and please can I send it because they are dying to make them.    This has been around for quite a while. In fact a students found the recipe and brought it to me to try.  It appeared on a can of Durkee’s French Fried onion rings.  You can view it here on their site.  

You will probably be surprised when I tell you that this is not the easiest recipe for students to grasp.  There are many steps and it is hard for them process all of them.  Even with a demonstration and much discussion they will ask me a million questions and still some will not get it quite right.  

So how did my classes do with Mexican Stuffed Shells? 

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