Feetloaf

 Feetloaf

1 large onion divided

2 eggs *use egg substitute

½ cup milk

1 cup Italian bread crumbs

2 lbs ground beef

2 tbsp ketchup

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

Sauce

1 cup ketchup

¼ cup brown sugar

3 Tbsp yellow mustard

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or foil and spray with cooking spray.

Dice ½ an onion.

In a medium bowl combine eggs, milk, breadcrumbs, ground beef, onions, ketchup, Worcestershire, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Mix until just combined.

Shape into a foot on prepared baking sheet. Using remaining half of onion, add slices of onion to the toes as toe nails, and a large slice to the ankle area as a bone piece.

Bake for 45-55 minutes until done.

While baking, make the sauce. Combine ketchup, brown sugar and mustard in a small saucepan. Heat over medium until warm.

Cornbread Waffles & Chili

I watched this on Studio 5 and my mouth was absolutely watering. I knew my family would LOVE it!! The Cornbread Waffle recipe is from Alex Daynes - you can see her original recipe and her chili recipe HERE

The first picture is how my son made it - waffle on bottom, chili on top. The second picture is how I made it - chili in a bowl with waffle "chips" on the side.

Cornbread Waffles

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups yellow cornmeal
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large eggs *1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce 
5 cups (1 per serving) homemade chili**

Preheat waffle iron to medium heat.
In a large bowl combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
Add milk, oil, and applesauce and stir until incorporated, but don’t over-mix. Leave it a little lumpy.
Spray waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray. Pour batter onto hot waffle iron and bake in batches.
Serve with chili over top and garnish with shredded cheese, sour cream, avocado and chopped green onion.

*I substitute applesauce for the eggs because of Jack's egg allergy

**See my AWARD WINNING Runnin' Utes Tailgate Chili HERE

Egg Roll In A Bowl

This is so fast and easy it's ridiculous. Dinner ready in 15 minutes - no joke. I usually serve it with wonton chips - but tonight we only had Chow Mein Noodles (the crunchy kind)

Egg Roll In A Bowl

1 lb ground beef or ground pork
1 tsp minced garlic
14 oz shredded cabbage or coleslaw mix
1/4 c soy sauce
1 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp sriracha
1 whole egg
1 T sesame oil
2 T sliced green onions

Wonton Strips or Chow Mein Noodles (crunchy)

In a large skillet, brown the pork or beef until no longer pink. Add the garlic and sautee for 30 seconds. Add the cabbage/coleslaw, soy sauce, ginger, and sautee until desired tenderness. You can add a little water if you need more liquid to sautee the coleslaw down.

Make a well in the center of the skillet and add the egg. Scramble until done over low heat.
Stir in sriracha. Drizzle with sesame oil and sprinkle with green onions. Add additional soy sauce and sriracha if desired.

*I always double this recipe - feeds 6 - never any leftovers!!

French Dip Sandwiches

Another "non" recipe - but we've been doing this a lot lately with life getting back to busy.

Go to a really good deli (mine is our neighborhood Harmons) and buy roast beef (they should ask you how you would like it done - go with the most RAW version - trust me).

While you're at the deli - grab some Boar's Head Pub Style Horseradish - SO GOOD!

AND - get the BEST of the best deli rolls. My family loves the "Tuscan Brat Buns" but any good hogie style roll will do.

French Dips:
1 lb Roast Beef (feeds 6 of us)

6 Hogie rolls

Beef stock

Provolone cheese slices

Butter

Garlic powder, salt and pepper

Horseradish

Get a large pan with at least 1" lip on it. Heat up the beef stock - adding garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Slice by slice - put the roast beef into the stock to warm it up.

In the meantime, slice the rolls in half and butter both insides of the rolls. Put into a 400 degree oven until they are a little brown and crispy.

Pull the rolls out and top one side with the provolone cheese - then back in the oven until the cheese is melted.

Pull them out again - and stack with the warmed roast beef. Serve with a side of the "au Jus" and the horseradish. 

*My husband. 15 yo and I just put the horseradish right on the bun - we love that stuff! Our 17 year old puts a bit in his jus and the little girls skip it all together.

Give it a try! Hearty, satisfying and ridiculously easy! Picture to come next time we have these!

Beef Stew

My kids and I did lots of odd jobs, yard work for neighbors etc. on the DL before Father's Day. We saved up enough money to buy him a TRAEGER!!

We ALL LOVE everything we have made on it - basically any kind of protein you can think of. We had a family party the other day and he used the Traeger to make the BEST BRISKET we've ever had. It was such a large piece of meat - that we ended up with leftovers - and you can't let meat that good EVER go to waste. So - I made a beef stew with it.

I didn't grow up eating beef stew, pot roast or anything akin to that. It just so happens that my husband has made pot roast the last 2 times I had the flu - so I was much more than skeptical. BUT this changed my mind completely. It was delicious. Even in August.

BEEF STEW
Ingredients:
5-6 c Beef Broth
1/4 tsp ground cloves
8 fresh sprigs of thyme
2 bay leaves
Salt and Pepper to taste
5-6 cloves garlic, minced
1 pkg frozen pearl onions
1-2 cups of baby carrots, sliced lengthwise or into rounds
1 pkg sliced mushrooms
1 pkg small potatoes
Brisket
1 can beef consumme (I had brisket drippings and gravy I added instead)
1 pkg frozen peas

Add everything EXCEPT the brisket (bc it's already cooked) and the frozen peas.
Cook on Low setting for 2 - 2 1/2 hours. Add Brisket and cook for another hour or so.
Add the peas just before serving. *Don't forget to take out the Thyme and Bay leaves*

Serve soup with a dollup of Horseradish Sour Cream (Tyler Florence) recipe below

Horseradish Sour Cream
1 cup sour cream
1 T prepared horseradish
EVOO
S&P
chives to garnish

*Oops! I forgot to add the peas - lots going on every weeknight!!

Beef Stroganoff

I knew I had to make dinner tonight with ground beef - and I've sorta over done all my go to ground beef recipes lately. Then I remembered that my Mom used to make us a ghetto beef stroganoff - so I looked up a bunch of recipes and came up with this based on what I like and what I had on hand.

It's a weeknight (tons of running the kids to and from activities) and I was painting our family room - so we ate it all (in 2 shifts) so - as with most meals lately - I didn't take a picture and usually I forget to even blog the recipe - but tonight's recipe was just that good that I had to write it down!

The 3 big kids had TWO servings and I kept sneaking back to the beef sauce for more samples. Hubs liked his plate clean. Baby even ate her big kid size portion! Definitely making this again and again!

Beef Stroganoff(ish)
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 lg white onion big slices
1 container mushrooms pre sliced
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 T flour
12 oz stock (beef would be best - but I ALWAYS have chicken)
1 cup sour cream
Salt, Pepper & Garlic Powder
Pasta (usually this recipe uses egg noodles - but we have an egg allergy - so I just used penne)

Brown beef in skillet - drain on plate with paper towels. Sautee onion and mushrooms in butter and evoo until the onion is soft. Sprinkle flour over veg and stir to incorporate. Add beef back in, add cream of mushroom and stock, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Stir to incorporate. Cover and cook on low for 20-30 minutes - as long as it takes to boil the pasta water and cook the pasta.

Drain the pasta - drizzle in a little evoo and cover the pot. To the meat mixture add the sour cream and turn off the heat. Put the lid back on for a minute or two - then stir to incorporate. Taste and re-season with salt, pepper and garlic powder.

In my house - we always serve the pasta separate from the sauce - because I have 4 kids. If I was serving adults - I would add the pasta in to the meat mixture and then serve.

Enchilada Suiza

My husband and I went on a little vacation to San Diego recently without the kids!!! It was amazing for so many different reasons - one of which was eating at La Fiesta in the Gaslamp Quarter. Every time we go to a mexican restaurant I order chicken chimichangas. This restaurant didn't offer chimichangas on the menu - so I was forced out of my comfort zone. What happens when I am forced out of my comfort zone? Usually something AMAZING!! In this case INCREDIBLE. Here is the description from the menu: 

ENCHILADAS SUIZAS 16
Corn tortillas in green tomatillo sauce and stuffed with shredded chicken, topped with melted cheese and sour cream. Served with refried beans and rice. 

I asked for them to be prepared with flour tortillas instead of corn - which was pure genius.

I've been craving them ever since. I didn't have exactly what I needed to replicate their recipe - but I found an easy version that satisfied my craving AND fit the bill for Cinco de Mayo...

Enchilada Suiza
5 flour tortillas (or corn if you prefer)
1 c Herdes salsa verde
1 lb ground beef (or shredded chicken or shredded pork)
1 c Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1 c Cheddar cheese, shredded
1 c heavy cream

Garnish with
Sour cream
Diced tomatoes
Diced green onion

Cook ground beef, chicken or pork your favorite way. I used ground beef and added taco seasoning to it for some kick. Rotisserie chicken would be fab in this.

In a 9x13 pan, use 1/4 cup Salsa Verde to coat the bottom of the pan. Take each tortilla, fill with about 2 T of cheese blend and meat.. Roll up and set in casserole seam side down. Cover evenly with heavy cream, excess cheese and more salsa verde. Since I was serving my kids - I just used a little Salsa verde on top - then served some on the side for me.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Then - bc I love browned cheesy bits - I turned the broiler on and let it sit under it for a couple of minutes. Holy yum.

Just thinking about it makes me want to make them again tonight - but with chicken!!

Green Chili White Sauce Beef Enchiladas

I felt like Mexican food but only had ground beef on hand - I found this recipe on Pinterest (of course) and tweaked it a little. I can't find the site I found it on - I'll link that in later. 

All my kids (including 2 year old babe) loved it - yummy noises all around - one of my favorite sounds:)

Green Chili White Sauce Beef Enchiladas

1 lb ground beef

1/3 c finely chopped onion

1 t cumin

1/2 t chili powder

1/2 t garlic powder

juice of 1/2 lime

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

For the Enchilada Sauce 

2 T butter

2-3 T flour

1 c chicken broth

1/3 - 1/2 c salsa verde

1/2 t cumin

1 c sour cream

To Prepare

Monterey Jack cheese, shredded*

Cheddar cheese, shredded

6-8 flour tortillas

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Brown ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion and saute another few minutes.  Add the cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, lime juice and black beans.  Stir to combine.  Mine looked a bit dry - so I added a few Tablespoons of chicken stock.

Meanwhile, for the sauce: melt butter in a medium skillet over medium heat.  Stir in the flour until a thick paste forms (roux).  Cook for a few minutes to cook out the flour taste.  Slowly whisk in the chicken broth and stir until smooth.  Continue cooking until sauce thickens, whisking occasionally.  Stir in the salsa verde, cumin and sour cream.

To prepare: Divide meat mixture between tortillas and top each with a small amount of cheese.  Roll up tightly and place, seam side down, in a casserole dish.  Pour sauce over the top, covering each enchilada completely.  Top with remaining cheese.  Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until heated through and bubbly.  Broil for the last few minutes to brown the cheese on top.  Serve.   

I got 5 FAT tortillas side by side in a 9x13" casserole. 

*I didn't have Monterey Jack on hand so I used mozzarella 

Amazing Taco Meat

I knew I was going to make taco meat for dinner but I didn't want the same old same old. So, I did a little looking around on the internet and tried a few new things - BIG PAY OFF!!

I usually just make taco meat with a "taco seasoning packet" and adhere to the directions on the packet. I could just kick myself for not remembering what sites got me on this trail - but I'm telling you - this taco meat will knock your socks off.

I'm not a big meat eater myself - but I have to admit that I was eating this meat by the spoonful right out of the pan. Seriously.

Amazing Taco Meat
1 lb ground beef
1/2 onion, diced
1 packet dry taco seasoning (I like McCormick's) *1/4 cup
1 packet dry Ranch seasoning and salad dressing mix *3 Tbsp
3/4 c water

Cook ground beef until browned. Add in the onions when the beef is about 1/2 way cooked - so they have time to get soft and sweet. Add taco and ranch seasoning as well as the water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes stirring occasionally.

If you really want to bump things up - check out my post called "Taco Sauce"

Meatloaf

I went out of town for a few days on a girls trip - when I got home I wanted to surprise Sweets with a good home cooked meal. I decided on meatloaf - but I wanted to try a more basic recipe. I thought of all the things I love about meatloaf - as well as all the things I hate about it. This recipe is a combination of about 4 recipes and a little from my head. Big hit. Even my 5 year old had seconds!!

*By request I made this again last night - and remembered to take a picture:)

I made this recipe up 10 years ago!! WOW! Since then, our family has grown in number and we now have 2 adult children and 2 teenaged children! So - I've updated it to suit our current needs. To make it easier on myself - I'm going to write down my current amounts! I'll note the original recipe below the cooking instructions.

Meatloaf

2.5 lbs ground beef

1 1/2 c Italian bread crumbs

5 eggs

salt & pepper

garlic salt

1 onion, shredded

1 c shredded cheddar cheese

Topping

1 c ketchup

3 T mustard

1/3 c brown sugar

Whisk eggs until combined. Add bread crumbs and combine thoroughly. Add salt, pepper and garlic salt to taste (about 1/2 t each). Add hamburger, onion and shredded cheese. Combine. Put into loaf pan. I put it into the 2 navy & white 8x6 casserole dishes.

Combine ingredients together and pour over loaf. Cook at 350 degrees for 45 minutes - temp at 155 - allow to rest.

ORIGINAL RECIPE
1 lb. ground beef
1/3 - 1/2 c Italian bread crumbs
2 eggs
salt
pepper
garlic salt
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese

Topping:
1/3 c ketchup
1 T mustard
2 T brown sugar

Runnin' UTE Tailgate Chili

I've been making this chili for a few years and it's always a hit. I took it last night to a "Chili Cook Off" and it won another award!!

It's another one of those easy peasy - even your kids can do most of the work recipes (my girls are only 6 & 3!)

The ingredient list is a long one - but they are basics - you probably have all the ingredients in your house right now!!

Runnin' UTE Tailgate Chili
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 lb mild italian sausage
2 15 oz cans kidney beans, rinsed
2 15 oz cans black beans, rinsed
2 15 oz cans pinto beans, *SW pinto chili beans - not rinsed
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes (with juice)
2 15 oz cans Original Rotel w juice
1 large yellow onion, diced
15 oz can tomato sauce
6 oz can tomato paste
4 cubes beef bouillon or 1 T better than bouillon
1/4 c chili powder
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 T minced garlic
1 T dried oregano
1 t dried basil
1 t salt
1 t pepper
1 t cayenne pepper
1 t paprika
3 t white sugar

In a large stock pot cook the ground beef and sausage until evenly browned. Pour all of your canned items in. Add all seasonings and stir to blend. Cover and simmer over low heat for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Top with sour cream and shredded cheese and serve with tortilla or frito chips!

Feta Stuffed Burgers

Oh yeah baby - these were so delicious! They are made with only 4 ingredients and a grill - you've gotta make em this weekend!
Feta Stuffed Burgers
2 lbs ground beef (I prefer 80/20)
Kosher Salt and Fresh Cracked Pepper
4 T crumbled Feta
1/4 - 1/3 c worcestershire sauce

Put ground beef into a large bowl, add worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper to taste. Mix with your hands well. Pat out the meat into one large patty at the bottom of the bowl. Score it into 4 pieces (a little trick I learned from Rachael Ray - that way you get even sized burgers). Or 8 pieces - depending on how big you want your burgers. For these - I made 4 patties - but these were honkin'. I ended up splitting mine.

Pat out each portion into a thin patty. Use an overfull Tbsp of Feta for the big burgers or an overfull tsp for the small burgers. Squeeze the Feta in your fist making it one compacted piece. Set the Feta in the middle of half of the patties. Top Feta with a second patty and crimp the edges of the two patties together making one cohesive burger.

Grill on Medium-High heat for 7 minutes a side for the big burgers or 5 minutes a side for the small burgers.

Top with your fav burger toppings!!

Corned Beef and Cabbage

I got this recipe from a dear family friend who made it for my husband on a St. Patrick's Day many, many, many years ago. This is a meal that Maisie looks forward to every year!!

I used to make it all in one pot with carrots and potatoes - but not for the last several years.

I cook all the veggies separately. I boil the cabbage, make mashed potatoes the traditional way and roast the carrots.

Corned Beef and Cabbage 

4 lbs corned beef + seasonings that come with it

2 1/2 quarts cold water 

1 head green cabbage cut into wedges

Salt and pepper to taste

Remove corned beef from the package. Put it and the juices and seasonings in your biggest stock pot and cover with the water. Bring the water to a gentle boil. Skim off and discard any impurities (foam). Reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook for 90 minutes per pound of beef (that would be 6 hours for this recipe). 

Remove the corned beef from the pot and cut into thin slices. Serve a few slices of corned beef along side all those delish veggies.

Steak...

Per the post below, my husband and I packed up the kids - drove for an hour up to the only year round Farmers Market to buy some grass fed beef. It's was our first time buying and eating grass fed beef and let me tell ya - IT. WAS. GOOD.
I saw this video on how to make the perfect steak - and that is just how we made ours - only we cooked it on the grill. Perfect.

Check out this great MSN video: Perfectly simple steak

and by the way... if you want your kids to eat mushrooms - sautee them up with onions and butter. My kids will eat mushrooms for days made that way!

Meatballs

My daughter had her birthday this week. In our family the birthday honoree gets to choose what the family eats for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This year she requested Spaghetti and Meatballs for dinner.

Everytime I make meatballs - I just kinda wing it - I mean how hard can it be? It's meat and you roll it into a ball!! LOL. This time, I decided to write down the recipe for my own knowledge and I'm sharing it with you!

This makes A LOT of meatballs - but with my family of 5 (all 3 kids are under 8) there were NO leftovers...

Jen's Meatballs

1 1/2 lbs ground turkey

1 1/2 lbs ground italian sausage (I use mild b/c of my kids - but feel free to go crazy!)

2 c Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)

2 T Emeril's Essence (original Bam)

2 t parsley

2 t oregano

EVOO

Fav Marinara sauce

Get your hands in there and mix all those ingredients together. Use your Tablespoon to help you eyeball your meatballs size wise. I use a generous, heaping Tablespoon full for each meatball.

Fill the bottom of a large pan - about 1/4 inch full - of EVOO. Heat the oil on medium for just a minute or two before adding your meatballs. Cook a couple of minutes on all sides (you know when one side is done - it'll be nice and brown.

Make sure your pan isn't too hot - if it is, you will end up with nice browned meatballs and all sides - but they will be raw in the middle. You want to really let those meatballs take their time to cook so that the outside and insides are cooking evenly. I have a very large pan, so I only had to do 2 batches. I poured out the oil in between batches - just out of preference. If you do swap out your oil, make sure to clean up any oil that dripped over the side/bottom of your pan. If you don't carefully check that - that oil will catch on fire. Are you scrred? Don't be - I'm just giving you a few tips to make everything easy peasy and have everything run smoothly.

Meanwhile, in another pan (large enough to include the meatballs) heat your fav marinara sauce. When all of your meatballs are finished, add them to the marinara and let simmer just a few minutes - you don't want your meatballs to get too soggy. SERVE!!

Steakhouse Steaks

I got this recipe from Ina Garten. My husband is the 'steak guy' and thus far I have refused to pick out steaks. If he wants one - he goes and picks out the meat and grills it. In this case - I wanted to treat him and try steaks a different way. I went to my local Butcher (like a real live meat shop that only sells meat) and asked the butcher for 2 10 oz filet mignon steaks (just as BFC said to) and when I took said steaks to the cashier I just about fainted when she rang me up and the total was $25.00.

The steaks were good - don't get me wrong - they were excellent - BUT if you don't want to drop $25 for 2 pieces of meat - I am sure that you could substitute your favorite cut instead.
Steakhouse Steaks - Barefoot Contessa
2 (10-ounce) filet mignon
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon coarsely cracked black peppercorns
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, optional

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Heat a large, well-seasoned cast iron skillet over high heat until very hot, 5 to 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, pat the steaks dry with a paper towel and brush them lightly with vegetable oil. Combine the fleur de sel and cracked pepper on a plate and roll the steaks in the mixture, pressing lightly to evenly coat all sides.

When the skillet is ready, add the steaks and sear them evenly on all sides for about 2 minutes per side, for a total of 10 minutes.

Top each steak with a tablespoon of butter, if using, and place the skillet in the oven. Cook the steaks until they reach 120 degrees F for rare or 125 degrees F for medium-rare on an instant-read thermometer. (To test the steaks, insert the thermometer sideways to be sure you're actually testing the middle of the steak.)

Start checking the steaks after about 15 minutes in the oven. They should be close to done.

Remove the steaks to a serving platter, cover tightly with aluminum foil and allow to rest at room temperature for 10 minutes.

Lamb* Ragu with Rotini and Ricotta

I saw Rachael Ray make this and I was seriously drooling...
Since we don't eat lamb - I am going to substitute ground turkey - I'll let you know how it turns out!

Lamb* Ragu with Rotini and Ricotta
2 tablespoons EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 pound ground lamb*
A pinch of ground cloves
Salt and pepper
1 small carrot, finely chopped or grated
1 onion, finely chopped
3 to 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, finely chopped
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup dry white wine*
1 28-ounce can Italian tomatoes and their juice or purée
1 cup whole milk
1 pound whole wheat rigatoni or other short-cut pasta, semolina or whole wheat
1 cup fresh ricotta, fresh sheep milk ricotta, crumbled feta or ricotta salata
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, a handful, finely chopped
2 to 3 tablespoons mint leaves, a small handful, finely chopped

Heat a heavy pot over medium-high heat with EVOO, 2 turns of the pan. Add lamb and brown the meat, season with cloves, salt and pepper. When lamb is brown, add carrot, onions, garlic and rosemary. Cook 7-8 minutes to soften vegetables. Stir in tomato paste 1 minute, stir in wine a minute more, then add tomatoes and crush them with wooden spoon or potato masher. Thicken sauce a couple of minutes then stir in milk. Let simmer to thicken.
Bring a pot of water to a boil for pasta. Add salt then cook pasta to al dente. Drain and toss pasta with Ragu. Serve in shallow bowls topped with cheese to mix in as you eat. Garnish with parsley and mint*.

I am so silly! Originally, I didn't post the directions - oops - sorry!

*I used ground turkey instead of lamb and beef stock instead of white wine

Taco Pasta Toss

I am a big fan of Rachael Ray. I was never a fan of her '30 minute meals' tv show - but she's won me over with her talk show/food fiesta as of late.
The only thing I don't like about her recipes is when she tries to combine 2 different meals that you would never serve together into one meal. It's a weird 'thing' I have.

Today on her talk show she made Taco Pasta Toss. As I watched, I realized I had everything needed to make this dinner and so - our dinner was born...
Taco Pasta Toss
Salt and pepper
1 pound penne rigate or whole grain penne rigate pasta (I used what I had - macaroni)
1 tablespoon EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 pound ground beef sirloin (I used ground turkey)
1 large onion, chopped, divided
1 large jalapeño halved, seeded and thinly sliced crosswise (eliminated b/c of the kiddos)
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chili powder, about 2 palmfuls
1 tablespoon ground coriander, about a palmful
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cumin, about 1/2 palmful
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 12-ounce bottle beer or cups chicken stock
2 cups shredded cheddar, Monterey jack or any Mexican semisoft cheese (cheddar)
2 small plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped (sweeties - grape tomatoes)
1/4 head iceberg lettuce or 1/2 small heart romaine lettuce, chopped

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain and return to the pot.
While the pasta is working, in a large skillet, heat the EVOO, 1 turn of the pan, over medium-high heat. Add the beef and cook until browned, about 5 minutes. Add three-quarters of the onion, the jalapeño, garlic, chili powder, coriander and cumin; season with salt and pepper. Cook until the onion is softened, 6-7 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, cook for 1 minute then stir in the beer.
Add the sauce to the pasta and toss. Spoon into a serving dish, top with the cheese and tent with foil to melt the cheese, about 1 minute. Top with the remaining onion, the tomatoes and lettuce – just like tacos!

My kids flipped over this! Even Mr. Picky loved it. Huge hit!! The kids had it as RR intended - served over pasta - but since I am the crazy person aforementioned, instead of having it served over pasta, hubs and I had it served over a bed of romaine with our fav dressing - such an amazing taco salad!! Yum-O!!

Spicy Burgers with Green Chile Mayonnaise

I got this recipe from my new cookbook "Worldwide Ward Cookbook" by Deanna Buxton. The recipe was submitted by Valarie Sudlow in Hauula, Hawaii.

My picky, eats like a bird 6 year old (who is 2 lbs lighter than his 5 year old sister) took one bite and said - "I want 4 of these!!" and he ate 2 (which impressed me). I made a few changes based on availability and kids preference. I didn't add chorizo (a Mexican sausage - it's spicy and very greasy when cooked) I didn't add Emeril's Essence or ciabatta rolls b/c I don't have them on hand and finally - I used cheddar cheese on the kids burgers - just to tone down the spice factor.

Spicy Burgers

1/3 lb chorizo, outer casings removed

1 lb ground pork

1/2 lb ground beef

1 T minced garlic

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 t Emeril's Essence

3/4 t salt

1/4 t cayenne pepper

4 ciabatta rolls, split in half

4 slices pepper Jack cheese
Green Chile Mayo (recipe below)

Preheat the grill to med-high. Place the chorizo in a food processor and process until finely chopped (sausage should appear crumbly). In a large bowl, add to the chorizo the ground pork, ground beef, garlic, W sauce, Essence salt and cayenne pepper; mix gently. Form into patties. Grill. Add cheese during the last 2 minutes of grilling. Top with Green Chile Mayo.

Green Chile Mayo

1/3 c mayo

2/3 c sour cream

1 t minced garlic

1 poblano or Anaheim pepper, roasted and peeled

1 T lime juice

black pepper

Combine all ingred together and blend until smooth. Refrigerate.

**Make the mayo ahead of time (at least before you put the burgers on the grill) so that it has time to marry.

Pizza Pasta

I can't remember where I saw this recipe - I am so bad at that. This recipe was very good - very family friendly. My sons favorite food is pizza. His least loved food group is protein. This dish combines the flavors he loves with the protein he really needs.
Pizza Pasta
8 ounces rotini pasta
1 pound lean ground beef
1 small onion, diced
1 (28 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
4 ounces sliced pepperoni sausage
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, cook beef with onion until beef is brown. Drain. Combine beef mixture with spaghetti sauce, pepperoni and cooked pasta and pour into a 9x13 inch baking dish. Top with mozzarella.
Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, until cheese is melted and golden.

*I had ground sausage (already cooked) in my fridge - so I added that as well.

This is a great 'inspiration' recipe. You can add whatever protein you want, as well as additional veggies if you'd like.