Mexican Hashbrown Casserole

This idea came from Six Sisters Stuff.

Brown one pound of ground beef or venison. Once the meat is cooked, add one diced sweet onion and one diced bell pepper (I used orange). Cook until the onion is translucent, and then stir in one can of stewed tomatoes, one small can of chopped green chiles, and one bag of refrigerated hashbrowns. Spice it up with cumin, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Add as much or as little cheese as you like (remember you can always add cheese later, when you serve it). Pour into a casserole dish, cover, and bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Spinach Macaroni

One of my favorite moments in life is seeing the first little pie pumpkins out at the grocery stores each fall. As always, I couldn't resist grabbing a few, and after cooking them (cut them in half, clean them out, and bake at 400 for 45 minutes, face-down on a baking sheet) and scooping out the pumpkin-y goodness, here is my first pumpkin recipe of the season...

Bring a pot of water to a boil to cook whole wheat elbow pasta while preparing the sauce. For the sauce: Heat 2 Tablespoons of coconut oil (or butter) in a separate large saucepan. Add a couple spoonfuls of flour and cook out for a minute. Stir in 2 cups chicken broth and 1 cup milk (I used almond milk). Simmer for a few minutes, then stir in 1 cup fresh or canned pumpkin and 8 oz frozen chopped spinach. Cook for 5 minutes. Stir in 2 cups grated cheese (I used pecorino romano) and drained macaroni.

Top with extra cheese and serve with fresh, warm bread...

Enjoy!

Chicken and Gnocci Soup

So, I found this whole wheat gnocchi the other day at Trader Joe's, and I was pretty excited. I love gnocchi. I have made it before, but it is pretty time consuming so I was thrilled to find some good quality stuff in a package. Plus, I adore the Olive Garden's chicken and gnocchi soup, so I was excited for an excuse to try to copy their recipe! I found the basic recipe here.

In a large pot or dutch oven, heat 2 Tablespoons olive oil and add...

1 onion, diced
2 celery ribs, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 large clove garlic, minced

Cook for five minutes and then add some boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed. I only used one because we like to streeeeetttcch our meat around here, but some (aka my Dad) might like more meat.
Cook until meat is no longer pink.

Then stir in...

4 cups chicken broth
2 cups milk (I used almond milk)
Salt
Pepper
A few generous pinches of "herbs de provence" (or thyme, savory, basil, etc.)

Bring to a boil, and then add...

2 lbs whole wheat gnocchi
A big handful of spinach leaves, torn

Bring back to a boil, and then cut it back to simmer for at least 20 minutes. After that you can serve it or let it sit up till supper, heating it back up right before serving.

Enjoy!

Best Potato Soup

Shout-out to my sweet friend Ellen for introducing me to this creamy dish.

In a large pot or dutch oven, heat a drizzle of olive oil and then add...
1 sweet onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped

Saute until tender. Add to the pot...
4 cups red potatoes, cut into small cubes
2 1/2  cups chicken broth

Bring to a boil and simmer 20 minutes. Take a potato masher and gently mash the soup. The idea is to have some "mashed" potatoes but some still left in chunks. Then stir in...
1 1/2 cups almond milk
3 T butter
2 T Mrs Dash original blend (or just season to taste)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Bring back up to a boil, and then simmer for at least 10 minutes or until ready to eat.
It's soup-er good!
Enjoy!

Taco Chili

Here's one I don't want to forget, although I didn't take a picture. This one will be good in the fall, aka "chili season" at our house, but with the taco flavoring it has a nice summer feel to it as well.

Original recipe from here.

In a large pot, dutch oven, or crock-pot, combine the following:

2 cups cooked, shredded pork or chicken
1 onion, chopped
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can light red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 bag frozen corn
1 can tomato sauce
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes
Homemade taco seasoning (as follows)

• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

I cooked it in the crockpot on low for 8 hours. And it was a winner! Enjoy!

Chicken n Biscuits Pot Pie

This is a meal that I used lots of prepped food that I did at the beginning of the week. For example, I cooked lots and lots of chickpeas and then froze them in 2-cup portions; I cooked lots of chicken, shredded it and froze it, and made chicken broth with the leftover bones and random vegetables (I keep a bag in the freezer and put the ends of carrots, pieces of onion, ends of asparagus spears, etc., in it to use when I make broth). So, that's where some of these ingredients came from.

Start with a Tablespoon of butter. Melt over medium heat and stir in 1 to 2 Tablespoons flour. Whisk in 2 cups chicken broth. Add diced carrots, green beans, and frozen corn (the kernels, not the cobs. A corn cob would not be pleasant to bite into while eating chicken pot pie).When the veggies begin to get tender, add some cooked, shredded chicken.

Meanwhile, place 2 cups chickpeas, 2-3 cloves minced garlic, a teaspoon of cumin, and some salt into the food processor. Whiz it together, adding enough chicken broth to make it creamy. Stir into the chicken and vegetable mixture. Transfer to an oven-safe dish and top with...

Biscuit dough.

Mmmmmmmmm.

Mix 2 cups flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp sugar in a bowl. Cut in 3 Tablespoons of something fatty...coconut oil works GREAT and is a good alternative to butter. I have also used canola oil or any combination of oil/butter. Stir in 3/4 cups milk (I use almond milk). Knead to make it all come together.

Now you can either spoon the dough over the pie like dumplin's (What??? There's supposed to be a "g" on the end of dumplin? I don't believe you.) Or you could roll the dough out to roughly the size of your baking dish and make it like a little roof. A little biscuit roof. That sounds lovely.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Shepherd's Pie

Mmmm mmmm. I dare you to name one thing that is better than tender vegetables and meat cushioned in a creamy sauce and topped with mashed potatoes..

Go ahead. I double dog dare you.

The great thing about this meal is that you can follow the basic recipe but fill it with whatever meat and veggies that you have on hand. Here's what I did:

Cut up about 4-5 russet potatoes into chunks. Oh, I suppose you could peel them first, but that takes way too much effort for me. Cover the potatoes in water and bring to a boil. Cook until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and return to pot; use a potato masher to...well...to mash them. Add milk to make them creamy (just start with 1/4 cup or so, and keep adding until you like the consistency). I also seasoned mine with salt, pepper, and smoked paprika.

Brown one pound of ground beef (or less works fine...this is a great meal to use a smaller amount of meat to make it stretch) in a large pot (I used a Dutch oven so I could make the whole meal in the same pot and not have to wash a casserole dish later on). Add your veggies and cook them until they start to get tender...carrots, onion, green beans, zucchini, and squash filled up our pie. Add a dash of hot sauce and a little Worcestershire for good measure. Sprinkle a couple of Tablespoons of flour into the mix  and cook for one minute; then stir in a cup of beef broth. If you need to, transfer everything to a casserole, or if you are using an oven safe pot, then go ahead and top it with the mashed potatoes. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 25-30 minutes.

Enjoy!