Meatloaf Parm Cups

One of my favorite fall foods is meatloaf.  It just screams back-to-school family dinner to me.  My biggest problem with meatloaf is that I have no portion control.  Enter:  the muffin tin.  It's a cute way to present your food but also really helps with portion control!

I adapted my recipe from Emily Bites-- her recipe was Chicken Parm Meatloaf, but I kept the flavor profile the same and used ground beef instead of chicken. Two meatloaf muffins was perfect for me; three for Austin.

Meatloaf Parmesan Cups

Ingredients
1 ½ lbs raw ground beef
2 large egg
6 Tbs dried breadcrumbs
1 tsp dried basil
¾ tsp dried thyme
¾ tsp oregano
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 red onion, chopped
¾ tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
¾ cup Parmesan cheese
¾ cup pasta sauce
¾ cup reduced fat shredded Mozzarella cheese

Directions

Pre-heat the oven to 350.  Spray muffin tin with cooking spray.  In a bowl, combine ground beef, eggs, breadcrumbs, basil, thyme, oregano, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese.  Mix together-- using your hands is the best way.
Form the meat mixture evenly into the 12 cups of your prepared muffin tin.  Use spoon to make little bowl in the meat mixture to cup the pasta sauce. Spread the pasta sauce evenly over the tops of each muffin. Bake for 20 minutes and remove from the oven. Top each muffin with about a Tbs of shredded cheese and return to the oven for 2-3 minutes until the cheese is melted.

Italian Beef and Green Bean Casserole

I received a dutch oven from two of my cousins at my bridal shower (#3) and never unpacked it (along with tons of other gifts that were in the corner of my dining room).  I finally did and had to use it immediately!  In my fridge, I found ground beef, eggplant, and green beans....I did a google search, found a recipe that mostly had the ingredients, and away I went.  I present Italian Beef and Green Bean Casserole.  It's adapted from Jan's Sushi Bar, and it was very tasty.  Hope you enjoy it!

Italian Beef and Green Bean Casserole

Ingredients
1 lb ground beef, preferably grass-fed
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 large onion, diced
3 minced garlic cloves
2 cans (15 oz) tomato sauce
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
2 tsp dried basil (or 1 tsp fresh)
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
1 eggplant, peeled and cubed
1 green pepper, sliced
1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed and cut in half
Parmesan cheese


Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Heat dutch oven (or skillet that can go in the oven), and cook ground beef until it is almost cooked, breaking it up while cooking.

Season with the salt and pepper and add onion and green pepper. Reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the onion has softened.

Add the garlic to the pan, and stir and cook for another minute until the ground beef is completely cooked through.

Stir in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, basil, oregano, and red pepper flakes.

Add the eggplant and green beans.  Cover and place in the oven. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the squash is fork tender and the green beans are tender-crisp. Serve topped with parmesan cheese.

Stuffed Cabbage Casserole

Our CSA provided us with the world's biggest cabbage.  What to make?  I thought of coleslaw and sauerkraut....I'm not a fan of sauerkraut, and Austin doesn't like either.  I hate having food go to waste, so a little big of googling, and I found a recipe from Skinny Taste.  It was hearty, delicious, and hardly tasted like cabbage :)  There was also so much cabbage that I made 2 casseroles, 1 for dinner that night and 1 for the freezer.  Enjoy!

Stuffed Cabbage Casserole

Ingredients
2 tsp olive oil, divided
1 lb lean ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
1 tbs finely minced garlic
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp Paprika
salt and pepper, to taste
1 extra large head green cabbage, coarsely chopped
1 can (14.5 oz.) petite dice tomatoes with juice
1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
1/4 cup water
2 cups cooked brown rice
2 cups low-fat mozzarella cheese
1 green pepper, chopped

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray two large glass casserole dish with non-stick spray. (My dish was 13" x 9").

Heat a large frying pan on medium heat; add ground beef and cook until it's browned and cooked through, breaking it apart as it cooks. Remove ground beef and set aside.

In the same pan, add 1 tsp olive oil, chopped onion, green pepper and cook over medium heat until the onion is translucent and starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the minced garlic, thyme, and paprika and cook about 2 minutes more. Then add the diced tomatoes with juice, tomato sauce, and ground beef. Add water to the pan. Simmer until it's hot and slightly thickened, about 15-20 minutes.

While it simmers, cut cabbage in half, cut out the core, and remove any wilted outer leaves; chop the cabbage coarsely into 1 inch pieces.

Heat remaining olive oil in a large frying pan or dutch oven; add the cabbage and cook over medium-high heat until the cabbage is wilted and about half cooked, turning it over several times so it all wilts and cooks. Season with salt and fresh-ground black pepper.

When the meat and tomato sauce mixture has cooked and thickened a bit, stir in the 2 cups of cooked rice and gently combine.

Spray casserole dishes with non-stick spray and the layer half the cabbage, half the meat mixture, remaining cabbage, and remaining meat mixture. For the first dish, cover tightly with foil and bake 40 minutes, or until the mixture is just starting to bubble on the edges.  For the second dish, cover with foil, wrap in saran wrap, and freeze.

Remove foil and sprinkle on cheese. Bake uncovered an additional 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and starting to slightly brown. Serve hot.

Cajun Stuffed Peppers

I heart looking through food magazines!  I still have my binder of recipes I have been saving for years and I promise I will make all those recipes....eventually :)

For now, I was excited about a recipe I saw in Food Network Magazine from January/February.  I tweaked it a bit with the ingredients I had at home (ex- ground beef instead of ground sausage), and the results were great.

Cajun Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients
1 cup brown rice
1/3 cup quinoa
3 large green peppers, halfed and seeds removed
1 onion, chopped
1 Tbs olive oil
1/4 lb ground beef
1 Tbs Cajun Seasoning
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp salt
1 14 oz canm diced tomatoes
1 summer squash, diced
1 small bunch argula, chopped

Directions
Cook rice according to instructions but adding more water to the pot to accommodate for the quinoa. Set aside.

Meanwhile, drizzle peppers with 1 Tbs water in microwave safe bowl.  Cover and microwave for 8 minutes.  Try and make sure the pepper doesn't become shriveled (my mistake, and I originally microwaved for too long).

Heat olive oil in saucepan.  Add onion and cook until translucent.  Add beef, garlic, coriander, Cajun seasoning, 1/2 tsp salt, and cook until ground beef is browned.  Add tomatoes and 1 cup water.  Pile argula on top and cook until wilted.  Combine rice and quinoa with beef mixture.  

Scoop mixture into pepper halves.  Serve and enjoy!

Serves 6, 5 points a serving.

Dinner on the Fly

What do you get when you have a freezer full of meat, a fridge full of veggies, and a pantry full of grains?  A random smorgasbord dinner :)  The meal was a complete experiment, but I think it worked out well!

What are your favorite concoctions for dinner on the fly?

Beef with Veggies and Grits

Ingredients
1 Tbs olive oil
1 pound beef stew meat
1 cup vegetable broth
1 bundle green onions/scallions, chopped
4 radishes, sliced
1 sweet potato, peeled and sliced
3-4 summer squash and zucchini, peeled and sliced
1 Tbs garlic salt
2-3 Tbs McCormick's Smokehouse Maple seasoning  (or flavor-crack as we refer to it)
Grits
1 Tbs lemon juice
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Directions
In wok type pan (or size), heat oil.  Brown stew meat.  Generously add garlic salt and flavor crack :).  Add vegetable broth and continue to cook beef (stew meat always gets dry for me, so the broth helped to keep it moist).  Add veggies and generously add garlic salt and smokehouse maple seasoning.  Cook, covered.

Meanwhile, cook grits according to package instructions.  At the end, add lemon juice and cheese.

Serve beef and veggies over/next to grits.  When adding beef and veggies, use a slotted spoon or else there will be too much broth on the plate.

10 points a serving, serves 3-4.

Double Trouble- Mexican Shepherd's Pie and Jalapeno Cornbread

Remember our Fiesta?!?  As you know, we had so much extra ground beef and tortillas that we made many recipes out of leftovers.  Here's another one...don't worry, we didn't leave this in the fridge until now.  I made the recipe a while ago but decided no one wanted three Mexican recipes in one week!  Although,  you could freeze the ground beef and use it again no problem too!

Enjoy the last fiesta themed recipe- Mexican Shepherd's Pie (adapted from The Gracious Pantry) with delicious jalapeno cornbread (from food.com)...now, I'm hungry!!

Mexican Shepherd’s Pie

Ingredients
2 pounds potatoes, peeled
1 Tbs minced onion/onion powder
1 Tbs garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 cup skim milk
1 cup chicken broth (fat free, reduced sodium)
1 pound ground beef
1 taco seasoning packet
2 large tomatoes, diced
1 bag frozen corn
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese

Directions
Boil the potatoes in a large pot until soft and easily pierced with a knife or fork.  While the potatoes boil, cook ground beef with taco seasoning.  Drain grease.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mash potatoes with milk, chicken broth, garlic powder, minced onion, pepper, and salt.

In 9 x 13 casserole dish, spray with cooking spray.  Spread half of the potato mixture at bottom of pan.  Next, layer ground beef, followed by the tomatoes, corn, and black beans.  Sprinkle cheese over top.  Spread rest of potatoes over top.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Serves 8, 7 points a serving.

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Jalapeno Cornbread

Ingredients
1 box Jiffy cornbread mix
1 egg
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup milk
2 tablespoons canned jalapeno peppers, diced (Be careful with the jalapenos.  My biggest fear is that I will touch jalapenos and then touch my eye- ouch!!)
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Directions
Combine cornbread mix, egg and butter in a mixing bowl.  Add remaining ingredients. Combine well. Mixture will be thick and lumpy.

Place cornbread in a greased muffin tin, mini muffin tin or 2-quart casserole dish.  Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until cornbread is golden brown.

Serves 8 generously, 4 points a serving.

Mexican Casserole

I am not one to waste food.  While our fiesta last week was amazing, we had so much seasoned ground beef leftover.  This is one of two posts where I used leftover beef- I will spacing them about a week apart on the blog but made all the recipes within a week of browning the ground beef originally.  I also could have frozen the beef and made separate recipes that way, but I wanted to see if I could use the same main ingredient and make different tasting recipes.  While we eat lots of Mexican food the week after the fiesta, I was happy with how well re-purposing the seasoned ground beef went.

Mexican Casserole

Ingredients
Tortillas (I had leftover homemade ones)
1 lb seasoned ground beef
1/2 bag frozen corn
1 can black beans, drained
1/2 bag frozen pepper mix
2 diced tomatoes (fresh)
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
cumin
crushed red pepper
1/3 cup salsa
1/2 to 1 cup reduced fat shredded cheese

Ingredients
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray large casserole dish with cooking spray.  Add layer of tortillas.  Layer ground beef, corn, black beans, peppers, tomatoes, and cilantro.  Sprinkle cumin and crushed red pepper (for spice).

Add another layer of tortillas.  Spread salsa on top of tortillas and spread cheese.

Cook for about 30 minutes.  Serves 6, 8 points a serving!

Fiesta!

Austin and I hosted a Mexican fiesta over the weekend, and we had a great time hosting the party.  With our wedding coming up, I had my first bridal shower earlier this month.  I received so many amazing presents, and I couldn't wait to use them.  My philosophy is that we can use the gifts once thank you notes were sent out, so I wrote those notes and mailed them right away :)  Our fiesta was the first time I could use some of the great serving pieces family and friends gave us!

Fiesta Menu
Seasoned ground beef
Homemade Tortillas
Taco Fixings- Tomatoes, Cheese, Sour Cream, Salsa, Lettuce, Sauteed Onions, Guacamole
Cilantro Lime Rice
Sangria
Chips and Salsa
Dos Equis, Budweisers' Lime-A- Ritas (surprisingly taste like a margarita), and Corona
Brownies and S'mores Cookies

Austin decorated the house with red, green, and white streamers, and we were even able to show off our new dining room set (yay Craigslist!).

I made a lazy person's Sangria- 1 large bottle Arbor Mist Sangria, 1 bottle red wine, orange slices, lime slices, and cut strawberries.  Yum!

The tortillas were super easy to make.  I bought a Quaker mix for tortillas, and all it took was adding water to the mix.  While they were easy to make, they were very time consuming, especially because I made 36.  I'm glad we have an electric griddle, so I could make 3-4 tortillas at a time.  With my next attempt at tortilla making, I will do my best to make them circular :)

Making tortillas!

Finished product- I think they look pretty good!

I also made Cilantro Lime Rice.  I think it might be a little healthy than Chipotle's version since I used brown rice.  Thanks to Two Peas and Their Pod for the recipe.

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked brown rice

1 teaspoon butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice

1 (15 ounce) can vegetable broth

1 cup water

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

4 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro

Directions

In a saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic, 2 teaspoons of lime juice, broth and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender. Remove from heat. In a small bowl, whisk together lime juice, sugar, and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice and mix.

It was a wonderful fiesta!!

Pre-party!

Post-party...

Herb Crusted Chuck Roast

We have SO much meat, but I'm enjoying finding ways to cook it.  This afternoon, we made a Herb-Crusted Chuck Roast.  It was delicious (for me, meat always is), but I thought there would be more meat in the roast- there was a ton of bone and cartilage.  

That being said, I could have just cut it poorly.  Next time, I would let the roast set for a while with the rib before cooking it as I think the flavors would set in more.

Herb-Crusted Chuck Roast

adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients

1/2 cup bread crumbs

2 Tbs olive oil

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 Tbs pepper

1 Tbs Dijon mustard

1 tsp dried rosemary, crushed

1 (3 pound) chuck roast (if you can, get boneless)

Directions

In a bowl, combine the first six ingredients.  Rub over entire roast.  Let chuck roast "marinate" for 1/2 hour.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Bake roast uncovered in a roasting pan until 160 degrees (meat cooked to medium).

Let stand for 10-20 minutes before carving.  Enjoy!

See, look at all that bone!

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

I love a good hearty stew, but Austin isn't as much of a fan.  This was a great in between from LaLoosh- it has the best qualities of a stew (beef and stew seasoning) but also has more of a soup consistency.  It was in the crock pot for 10 hours (recipe said 8 hours), but leaving it in longer was no big deal!  I even cut up all the ingredients the night before and threw them into the crock pot before heading to work-- very easy and delicious meal!

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Ingredients

1 pound beef stew meat — cubed
1/2 package McCormick Beef Stew seasoning 
1 can or package green beans, fresh or frozen
15 ounces canned black beans (1 can)
15 ounces peas, fresh or frozen (we used less of these because neither of us are huge fans of peas)
15 ounces corn, fresh or frozen
1 medium onion, diced
2 large carrots sliced
3 cups water

Directions
Put in crockpot and let it simmer while you're at work :)

1 serving = 6 WW points

Polenta Casserole

DELICIOUS- one word to describe this meal.  I found versions of this recipe from Two Peas and Their Pod and Bev Cooks over a month ago and have been waiting to use it.  Unfortunately, I never discovered all the ingredients in my pantry and fridge at the same time...lol.

When I made the Asian Barley Soup, I browned two pounds of ground beef....one for the soup and another for Polenta Casserole.  I browned the garlic and onions separately due to using the beef for two recipes, but I think the beef would have tasted better if it was all cooked together.  Although, this recipe was pretty tasty all on its own and very, very easy.

Polenta Casserole

Ingredients

 1 tube polenta, cut into strips    
 1 pound ground beef
 1 tsp olive oil  
 1 bottle pasta sauce    
 1 Tbsp ground oregano    
 1 Tbsp ground basil    
 1/2 Tbsp crushed red pepper flakes    
 1 tsp table salt    
 1 tsp black pepper    
 6 oz shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese    

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In pan, coat with olive oil over medium-high heat.  Brown beef with onions and garlic.  Drain grease; add pasta sauce, red pepper flakes, oregano, basil, salt, and pepper.  Stir and mix.

Spray large casserole pan with cooking spray.  Place polenta strips on bottom of casserole, layering if needed.  Add meat and pasta sauce mix, spreading evenly over polenta.  Do the same with the cheese.  Sprinkle with oregano.

Cook for 30-35 minutes.  Serves 6, 10 points a serving.

Asian Beef Barley Soup

I love our farm share, but we get SOOOO much ground beef, and I don't know what to do with it all.  So I took several different recipes and put them together for my own soup creation.  Austin said it was good to great-- but not excellent :(.  I agreed; soup was so-so, but left overs of this soups was much better.  I think the soup needs to sit and settle for a day for the best flavors.  Hope you can take this recipe and adapt it to make it delicious.

Any suggestions, comment below!!

Asian Beef Barley Soup

Ingredients
 1/2 Tbsp olive oil  
 3 medium uncooked onions, chopped  
 2 garlic cloves, minced  
 1 pound 85% lean ground beef  
 4 cups vegetable broth  
 4 cups water  
 1 cup uncooked barley  
 2 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce  
 1 package frozen mixed Asian vegetables, with baby corn  
 1 small can water chestnuts, cut in half  
 1 tsp table salt  
 1 tsp black pepper
 1/2 tsp ground turmeric  
 1/2 tsp ground ginger  
 1/2 tsp ground coriander  

Instructions
Coat pot with olive oil. Brown onion, garlic, and ground beef. Drain. Add broth, water, barley and bring to boil. Boil for 10 minutes. Add 2 tbs soy sauce, frozen veggie mix, water chesnuts, and spices. Garnish with fresh cilantro.

Serves 8, 6 points plus a serving.

Slow Cooker Beef with Apples, Onions, and Carrots

We had an accidental dinner party :)  We had a huge roast that we were making and invited a couple friends here and a couple friends there.....turned into a bit of a party with an even bigger after party.  This recipe was a huge hit and SOOOO easy!

Slow Cooker Beef with Apples, Onions, and Carrots

Ingredients

2-3 lb shoulder roast

Salt

Pepper

Italian seasoning

2-3 onions chopped

3 apples, cored and sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1-2 carrots, peeled and cut on the diagonal

1 cup red wine (I maybe put in more :)  I started drinking wine before cooking)

1-2 bay leaves

Directions

Getting the ingredients ready

Season shoulder roast with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.  In slow cooker, add roast, carrots, apples, onions.  Pour wine over top of food and add bay leaf.  Cook on low for 4-6 hours.

The seasoned shoulder roast

All the ingredients ready to be slow cooked.

  Remove bay leaf.  Remove beef and cut on diagonal.  Remove veggies with slotted spoon.  Put rest of juice in additional bowl as au jus.  Serve beef over veggies.  I paired it with homemade mashed potatoes.

Serves 6-8

The table all set up and ready for the dinner party.

My dinner plate-- but the photo is a little blurry.....

BBQ Quinoa Chili

In my fridge today, I found a couple things that I didn't know what to do with:  cooked ground beef with diced tomatoes and a failed quinoa and black bean dish.  I didn't want to eat either of them on their own because, in all honesty, neither were that good.  So I dug through cookbooks and pulled different ingredients and ideas that I thought would make a great meal....the result BBQ Quinoa Chili.  It was super tasty.  The recipe below shows how I would make it next time....this attempt was trial and error, but it turned out just right!

BBQ Quinoa Chili

Ingredients
1 Tbsp olive oil  
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 onion, chopped
1 large can diced tomatoes  
1 pound ground beef  
1 Tbsp canned green chilies
1 Tbsp ground cumin  
1 can black beans  
1 tsp table salt  
1 tsp black pepper  
1/2 cup fat free salsa  
1/4 cup Sweet Baby Ray's Rasberry Chipotle BBQ Sauce
1/2 cup(s) low-fat shredded Cheddar cheese  
1 cup(s) uncooked quinoa  

Directions
Cook quinoa according to package and set aside.  In large pot, coat with olive oil.  On med-high, cook garlic and onions until garlic is browned.  Brown ground beef, drain off liquid.  Add diced tomatoes, green chilies, cumin, salt, and pepper.  Once heated through, add quinoa, black beans, salsa, and BBQ sauce.  Serve in bowls, sprinkle with cheddar cheese.

Serves 6, 9 points a serving.

Beef Stroganoff

We're getting so much ground beef from the farm share so expect to see a good number of beef recipes popping up on the blog this month.  Last night, we had Beef Stroganoff.  It was so yummy....we licked our plates clean.  It was a little more points than a typical Weight Watchers meal- but still not bad at 11 points per serving.

Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients
1 cup skim milk
½ cup reduced fat sour cream
2 gloves minced garlic
2 onions, chopped
1 tsp minced onion or onion powder
½ tsp garlic powder
1 tsp parsley
1 cup vegetable broth (or beef broth)
1 packet onion soup mix
1 tsp cornstarch
1 cup rotini noodles (or egg noddles)
1 lb ground beef

Directions
In large pan/pot, brown ground beef with onions and garlic.  Drain off any fat/grease.  Add noodles, minced onion, garlic powder, parsley, onion soup mix, cornstarch, milk, and vegetable broth.  Bring to boil, then lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes until liquid is absorbed.  Stir in sour cream thoroughly.  Serve and enjoy.

Serves 4, 11 points a serving.

From fatsecret.com 

Vegetable-Beef Pot Pie

What do you do when you find a recipe in a magazine or online?  Long before Pinterest, my solution was printing out the recipe or ripping it out of the magazine and keeping it in a binder.  My binder is about 3 inches now, so I often will check out the binder for inspiration. 

In the March 2011 Better Homes and Gardens, they had an article entitled “16 Knock Out Meals.”  They give you a list of 20 ingredients to make all of these, so I thought I would give one the recipes a whirl.  We made a vegetable-beef pot pie, and it was very good—the chili powder made this dish!  I should have calculated the Weight Watchers points ahead of time since ¼ of the pot pie was 11 points.  Next time, I will scale down some of the higher point value items.

Vegetable-Beef Potpie

After Baking   

Ingredients

1 lb cube steak (ground beef or turkey would work, but cube steak came in the farm share this week…very tasty)

1 cup chopped carrots

1 onion, chopped

2 celery ribs, chopped

1 tbs chili powder

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

1 package pizza dough (I bought one where you just add water, but next time, I will probably do reduced fat refrigerated pizza dough or crescent rolls.)

1 egg lightly beaten (with 1 tbsp water)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a medium/larger skillet, cook beef, carrots, onion, and celery until beef is browned.  Drain liquid.  Stir in chili powder, salt, and pepper.  Add tomatoes and cook until liquid is nearly evaporated. 

While the tomatoes are cooking, make and unroll pizza dough.  Cut in 1-inch strips.  In a small bowl, combine egg and water. 

Spoon meat mixture into a pie plate than has been sprayed with cooking spray.  Top with strips of pizza dough; trim to fit.  Brush dough with egg mixture.  Bake 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

4 large servings, 11 points each.