Chili Cheese Dinner

Chili ingrengients:

1 can chili beans, undrained
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 pound ground beef
2 cans diced tomatoes, undrained ( I used bag of frozen diced tomatoes from garden)
1 cup salsa (I used homemade salsa canned from garden)
2 beef boullion cubes
2T onion powder
2T chili powder
2t cumin
1t salt
1T minced garlic

Other Ingredients:
1 8oz. package of cream cheese, softened at room temperature
1 8oz package of shredded cheddar cheese
tortilla or corn chips

Heat oven to 375 degrees. In glass pie dish, evenly spead cream cheese. In medium sauce pan over medium heat, brown ground beef. Add other chili ingredients and bring to boil. Reduce to low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes (*****PLEASE NOTE that you are making more chili than you will need for this meal. You can freeze for another time, or use for other dishes. I will be posting another recipe you can use this chili in later this week)

After 30 minutes, spoon 3 cups of chili into pie dish over cheese. Top with cheddar cheese. Bake at 375 for 20, or until cheese is melted and mixture is bubbly. Serve with chips.

We had this dish with corn, tomato slices and applesauce tonight. Check back later this week for the Chili Cornbread casserole I'll be making with the leftover chili!

Slow Cooker Calico Beans

Slow cooker Calico Beans

1 lb. any variety or combination of dried beans (use 2-4: I used great northern and black beans)
½ lb. lean ground beef
4 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 smoked pork chop (or a few leftover ribs, or 1 cup of diced ham, or smoked sausage)
1 onion, chopped
½ cup brown sugar
1T Worcestershire sauce
½ bottle chili sauce
½ cup barbecue sauce
1 can chicken broth ( I used homemade from freezer)
1T dried mustard
1 clove garlic, minced

Wash and sort through beans. Soak in bowl with 3 inches of hot water over top for 2-4 hours. Drain beans. Place in crock pot with remaining ingredients and cook on low for 8-10 hours, or until beans are tender. This is a great dish to make in advance for dinner and reheat. Serve with a veggie and bread & butter. Or take to potluck. This can be modified to use whatever leftover meats you might have. Get creative!

Taco Bake

1/2 lb. ground beef
1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained, or 2 cups cooked
1 package taco seasoning
1/2 cup water
1 can crescent rolls
1 cup of cheddar or co-jack cheese
lettuce, tomato, onion, sour cream and salsa for garnish

Preheat oven to 375. In medium skillet over medium heat, brown ground beef. Add beans, seasoning and water-cook according to packet directions. Unroll crescent rolls and put into bottom of pie dish like a pie crust, pushing edges of triangles together. Put meat mixture over crescents, sprinkle with cheese, and bake for 20 minutes. Serve with lettuce, tomato, onion, sour cream and salsa

Gotta Love Chili

I realized today that I don't think I've made the exact same chili recipe twice. I play with it a little bit every time to fit my mood. I combined my day of cooking and freezing beans with making a batch of chili that I'll use for the next couple weeks of meals in my plan. So the variety of beans in today's batch is wider than usual- pinto, black beans, garbanzos and lentils. I usually add kidney beans, but left them out today. This is a rough estimate recipe, because I was really throwing stuff together:

1/2 red onion, chopped .15
1/4 cup diced red pepper .15
1T olive oil
1/2 lb. ground beef .90
5 cups of beans, cooked or canned, any variety you choose .80
1/2 can tomato juice .50
1 can tomato sauce .30
1 can diced tomatoes .45
3 beef boullion cubes
1 chipotle season cube (Knorr makes these)
3T chili powder
2T cumin
1T onion powder
1T garlic pepper
1/2t salt
1T sugar
1t Penzey's adobo seasoning (.30 for spices)
2 cups water

Saute onions and peppers in olive oil in dutch oven. Add meat, brown. Add beans, juice, sauce, tomatoes, water and all spices. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours.

This whole batch comes to $3.55 and will be used in at least 3 meals, for a grand total cost of $1.20 per meal.

Shepherd's Pie

We've got this one on the meal plan for this week. If you like lots of veggies, you might up the veggies to 2 cups-we're slowly upping the veggie content with the boys.

Shepherd’s Pie

1lb. ground beef
1 cup frozen mixed veggies, thawed
½ chopped onion
2T minced garlic
1t steak seasoning
2T flour
1 cup beef broth (or 1 cup water and boullion cubes)
2T ketchup
2T Worcestershire sauce
4 cups mashed potatoes (fresh or instant-fresh is better, but instant made with a little cream cheese works in a pinch, and the cream cheese gives the potatoes a texture more similar to fresh)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
½ cup French fried onions (optional)

Preheat oven to 375. Brown ground beef in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions while cooking. Drain excess fat, add garlic, and steak seasoning. Stir. Add flour, stir to coat, then add ketchup, Worcestershire and beef broth and let simmer until sauce thickens. Add veggies, stir, and then pour into a round casserole dish that’s been lightly coated with cooking spray. Top mixture with mashed potatoes, sprinkle with cheese, and bake for 20 minutes. Add French fried onions for the last 5 minutes, if using.