Firecracker Cassarole

This is your basic variation on a mexican-flavoured cassarole dish. But we loved it -- enjoy!

FIRECRACKER CASSAROLE

2 lbs. ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

1-15 oz. can black beans, rinsed & drained

1-2 Tablespoons chili powder

2-3 teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

4-7" flour tortillas

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1-10 oz. can diced tomatoes with green chilis, undrained

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

In a skillet, cook the beef and onion until the meat is no longer pink. Drain.

Add the beans, chili powder, cumin, and salt.

Transfer to a 9" x 13" baking dish.

Arrange tortillas over the top.

Combine soup & tomatoes, pour over the tortillas.

Sprinkle with cheese.

Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until heated through.

8 servings.

Jen's notes:

1. I haven't made this in some time, but I do remember that we loved it when I did.

rating: 4 stars. A very good variation on the theme.

Roast Beast

This is your typical Roast Beast. I always do it in a crock pot -- there are as many recipes for it as there are chili or chicken soup. But if you're new to cooking, here's an easy one to remember.

ROAST BEAST

One beef roast, any type -- rump, sirloin, etc. Any old big hunk o' beast.

2-3 onions, quartered

3-4 baking potatoes, quartered

1-2 cloves of garlic, smashed with your hand under a knife and skins removed

a small bag of mini carrots, or about half a bag of carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks

salt

pepper

worcestershire sauce, a couple of good shakes around the pot

red wine, any type, enough to get it good and wet

Put all this into a crock pot and turn on for about 8 hours. If your beef is frozen, you'll need about 12 hours.

If you like gravy, you can take the drippings from the roast, put them in a sauce pan, add about a tablespoon of cornstarch to some water or beef broth (canned), and pour into the saucepan. Simmer until it thickens. Make sure your cornstarch is dissolved in the liquid before adding it to the saucepan.

Jen's notes:

1. I always make this for after church on Sunday, and Hunk O Man loves it.

2. Serve with rolls -- ready-to-serve, or a tube of crescent rolls do nicely.

3. Have the leftover beef on a sandwich the next day with a little mayo. Yummy!

rating: 4 stars. Loved by all.

Sloppy Joes

There is nothing like Sloppy Joes and tater tots and green beans for a quick run-out-the-door to sports practice/game dinner. This is so easy and good, nice and sweet.

SLOPPY JOES

1 lb. lean ground beef or ground turkey

1/2 cup chopped green pepper

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 cup ketchup

1/4 cup water

2 teaspoons beef bouillon or 2 cubes

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon mustard

In a skillet, brown the meat with pepper and onion. Pour off the fat.

Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered with a lid, for 15-20 minutes. Serve on buns. This makes enough for 4.

Jen's Notes:

1. Use less sugar and maybe a spicier mustard if you like your Joes a little less sweet.

2. When my green peppers start to go bad in the fridge, I dice them up and throw them in a ziplock in the freezer. That way I have them handy when I go to make this or other dishes that call for them.

3. Use BBQ sauce instead of ketchup for a nice spicy twist.

4. You can double this for a bigger family (I always do) or do the math and make enough for the whole football team or church.

5. When I've been out of buns, this also works served as an open sandwich over a piece of bread, or cornbread, with maybe a little cheese added on top!

rating: 4 stars. Liked by everyone but Rose, who thinks it's a little sweet.

Inside-Out Bacon Cheeseburgers

I made these recently and they were a big hit. The trick to them is that you have to try and pick up those patty-maker thingys from Tupperware either at a garage sale, or a thrift store, or on Ebay. They make doing this go MUCH faster. I found mine at a garage sale some years ago and have been using it for all kinds of meat patties since.

INSIDE OUT BACON-CHEESEBURGERS

(from Kraft "Food & Family" magazine)

1 lb. ground beef

3 Tbsps. ranch dressing, divided

4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled (or use the salad bacon bits)

2 cheese slices, cut into quarters

Take your meat and put it into a bowl. Then mark it into quarters like Rachael Ray does.

Each quarter should make two patties.

Mix in 2 Tbsps. of the ranch dressing with the meat.

Shape the meat into 8 patties.

Mix the remaining 1 Tbsp. ranch dressing with the bacon. Spoon this mixture onto four of the patties. Top with two of the slices of cheese quarters.

Put another pattie on top, and seal the edges.

Makes 4 patties. Recipe can be doubled and tripled. Freeze in plastic containers and separate patties with wax paper, or in zipper-top freezer bags.

Jen's notes:

1. These are really good in the summer on the grill. Because the bacon is already cooked, you don't have to worry about the inside of the burger being raw.

2. You can put just about anything between two hamburger patties for a better burger. I'll post more of these types of recipes as time goes on.

rating: 3 stars. Great in the summertime.

Beef Burgundy

BEEF BURGUNDY

2-4 lbs. beef cubes, commonly called "stew beef"
3 cans Campbell's Golden Mushroom soup
1 package onion soup mix
1 1/4 cup burgundy wine
2 cans of mushrooms, drained

Mix it all together and bake in a cassarole dish 4 hours at 325 degrees.

Serve over hot noodles or rice.

Jen's notes:

1. You can use regular mushroom soup with this but you might want to add a little worcestershire sauce to it.
2. You can also use fresh mushrooms if you like.
3. I always serve this over hot noodles. The rice just doesn't quite give it the umph it needs.
4. This also freezes very well. You can just mix it up and throw it in the freezer, and then take it out when you need it and bake it all day.
5. Also works in the crock pot.

rating: four stars. Loved by most everyone.