TACO SOUP

 I don't know where you live, but here in the midwest (Kansas City, Missouri) we are being truly blessed with a mild winter. It is February 7 as I am writing this and outside it is 51 degrees F with little wind, some thin clouds and plenty of sun shining. Yesterday it was 70 degrees, a tie from 1904 for the high temperature. Tomorrow evening we have rain in the forecast - not snow - but rain. I can't complain but I do feel for the northeast that I think is going to be getting the white stuff.

Sunday at Roxanne's Cafe where we often go after church on Sunday for a meal, Wayne got their taco soup. Other than maybe having some shredded cheese on it, he said it tasted pretty good. I checked it out in his bowl looking to see what was in it and then told him I could make him some this week. 

I had decided what I was going to put in it and bought the missing ingredients on Monday. This morning I remembered that our younger son Patrick makes taco soup so I checked with him regarding the ingredients he uses. He uses black beans and pinto beans, but I didn't have any pinto beans so I just added another can of black beans. He also adds a can of rotel, but I didn't have that either so Wayne suggested some mild salsa that we also got on Monday. I used ground turkey, but you could obviously use ground beef.

It was one of those throw some ingredients together, no written recipe, but Wayne was really pleased with my end results and was very thankful. I know he ate two bowls. (I went to Whataburger and got me a cheeseburger. I brought it home and really enjoyed it.)

PRINT recipe.

TACO SOUP

1      lb ground turkey or beef 

1      (1.25 oz) taco seasoning mix

1      (6 oz) can tomato paste

1      (14.5 oz) can diced tomato

1      (15.25 oz) can of whole kernel corn (drained)

2       (15 oz each) cans of black beans

1       (32 oz) container beef broth

1        teaspoon minced garlic

2        tablespoons minced onion

2        cups salsa 

shredded cheese and chips

Cook the ground meat in a large pot until done. Add the taco seasoning, tomato paste, tomatoes,

corn, black beans,

onion, garlic, and salsa.

Bring to a boil and then simmer until the soup is heated thoroughly and ready to serve.

I cooked mine probably 30 minutes.

Spoon soup in serving bowls,

sprinkle cheese on top and then

add chips.

 

EASY PASTA/BEEF CASSEROLE

 It all started one day when I thought I would make us spaghetti. I had gotten a package of ground beef out of the freezer not sure what I would make but knowing I would come up with something by the time I would be ready to cook it. I thought I would come up with something fabulous but I didn't. 

I came up with something fantastic. And with normal ingredients that I had in the pantry. In fact if you don't count the two extra seasonings I added, I only used three ingredients. I'm almost embarrassed to write it up. BUT it's just a good example of throwing a few ingredients together and coming up with a delicious meal. A meal that lasted us probably 3 or 4 meals.

EASY PASTA/BEEF CASSEROLE

1               lb. ground beef

1-1/2 to 2  cups uncooked pasta (I used a chickpea rotini)

1                24 - ounce bottle of pasta sauce (I used a fresh tomato & basil & onion no-sugar-added pasta sauce)

1                teaspoon basil

1/2             teaspoon minced garlic        

2                cups your favorite shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a casserole dish with a non-sticking cooking spray. (I used a 9-1/2 - inch square casserole dish.)

Cook pasta according to package direction.

Cook ground beef until done. Drain if necessary. Add the pasta sauce to the cooked ground beef.

(I added about a teaspoon basil and some minced garlic.)

I added the pasta to the skillet but

my skillet wasn't really big enough so

I transferred the ingredients to the casserole dish. If you can combine the three ingredients in your skillet, do and then till the casserole dish with about half of the mixture and then add 1 cup of the cheese and stir to combine. Then add the rest of the pasta mixture to the casserole and top with the rest of the cheese. 

Since I couldn't do this I poured everything into the casserole dish and

then added half of the cheese and stirred it well.

Then I sprinkled the rest of the cheese on top.

I heated the casserole in the oven for 15 to 30 minutes.

Serve warm

For leftovers...

Spoon serving into microwavable dish, sprinkle with a little water, and cover. Heat on pasta setting for about 1-1/2 minutes. Then uncover and sprinkle some more shredded cheese on top, cover and return to microwave for about 30 more seconds or until cheese is melted. Taste just like it just came fresh out of the oven.

TACO BURGER ROTINI BAKE

 Whenever I find us eating out more often than I'm cooking us something to eat, I make myself do a search for some delicious looking main dishes that wouldn't be too hard but would be tasty and last us several meals.  As it turned out I found two but chose this one first.

I had to make it my own recipe though by changing the ingredients up some - maybe a little bit more than I usually do. I changed it so much that I had to rename the recipe. You see the title was Sausage Macaroni Bake and I didn't have any sausage and I didn't have any macaroni that I wanted to use. The only name I could keep would be "bake". I thought about Burger Pasta Bake or Taco Rotini Bake and finally decided to join them together together and call it Taco Burger Rotini Bake. Too much? Maybe so.

It was definitely quick and easy and  Wayne really liked it. It also lasted for two and a half meals which kept us out of restaurants and fast food places for a few days. Another fabulous thing was I tried some "pasta" I bought that was made with chick pea. I couldn't taste any difference in the rotini at all.

PRINT RECIPE HERE.

TACO BURGER ROTINI BAKE

3/4     cup uncooked pasta (rotini)

1/2     lb ground beef

1        teaspoon Nature Seasoning

2        teaspoons taco seasoning

1        can (8 ounces) tomato sauce

1/2     cup water

1        teaspoon pepper

4        tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese divided

Cook the rotini according to package directions; drain and set aside.

Cook the ground beef in a skillet over medium heat until no longer pink; drain if necessary.

Sprinkle the Nature Seasoning and taco seasoning over the cooked meat.

Stir in the tomato sauce and water.

Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Sprinkle the pepper on top and stir in.

While the meat is simmering, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Stir in the rotini and

Parmesan cheese.

Transfer to an ungreased 1-quart baking dish.

Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese.

Bake, uncovered, for 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly.

Can sprinkle more Parmesan Cheese on top of individual servings.

AMISH CHEESY MEAT LOAF

 I am quickly becoming frustrated with technology. I feel bad for people who are technology challenged because our whole world has become technology dependent. I have spent litterally hours the last few days because of difficulties in trying to have access to apps, etc. Tuesday night my laptop would not allow me to sign on - thus no new post yesterday. I may just be putting off the inevitable and break down and buy a new one. But yesterday evening after not being able to log on earlier in the day, I was successful.

I made this meat loaf for us Monday afternoon.I surprised my husband and made two smaller one and added the onion to his. I followed the original recipe except I used mozzeralla cheese instead of Swiss cheese so I changed the name from Amish Swiss Meat Loaf to Amish Cheesy Meat Loaf. The added bacon on top was an excellent addition.

AMISH CHEESY MEAT LOAF

1       egg

1/2    cup evaporated milk

1       teaspoon salt

1/2    teaspoon black pepper

1-1/2 lbs lean ground beef

1       cup Ritz crackers (24 crackers), crushed

1       cup grated cheese (I used mozzorella cheese)

1/4    cup chopped onion

additional cheese

bacon strip

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat egg in a large bowl. Add milk, salt, and pepper. Beat well with whisk.

Add meat, cracker crumbs, cheese, and onion.

(I added the meat, cracker crumbs, and cheese and then split it in half. I added the onion to one half.)  Mix well with hands.

Form into loaf and place in loaf pan. (I used two corning ware loaf pans about 4 x 6.) 

Cut bacon in 1 inch pieces and place in a single layer on top of loaf.

Bake for 40 minutes.

Sprinkle more cheese on top and

bake 10 minutes longer.

Cut in desired serving size.

AMISH POOR MAN'S STEAK

 Das Dutchman Essenhaus is a place I hope to get to sometime when we finally take that road trip that we had to postpone last year due to COVID. It is on U.S. Highway 20 in Middlebury, Indiana. Until then I will just have to enjoy two of their cookbooks full of recipes from the restaurant and its employees. Friend Jean gave me Volume I last week to go with Volume III I already had. 

Poor Man's Steak, one of Manager Sue Miller's recipe is the first one I decided to make from Volume I. It was really good and I changed the directions for making it just so I could make half with onion for Wayne and the other half without onion pour moi. He was so excited to smelling onions cooking in the kitchen. He was like a kid. It turned out okay the way I did it so I don't think Sue would be upset with me.

The only substitution I made was using a can of Golden Mushroom soup instead of cream of mushroom. Actually as I recheck the recipe, she only says a can of mushroom soup so maybe she uses Golden also. I prefer the flavor of it.

For a printable copy of just the recipe, click HERE.

POOR MAN'S STEAK

1     lb. ground beef

1     cup milk

1/4  teaspoon pepper

1     cup cracker crumbs (about 20 saltines)

1     teaspoon salt (I omitted since I used saltines for the crackers.) 

1     small onion chopped fine

1     can mushroom soup (I used Golden Mushroom Soup)

Sue Miller's Instructions: Combine the ingredients except soup mixing well and shape in a narrow loaf. Let it set for at least 8 hours, or overnight.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Slice in pieces and fry till brown. Put slices in layers in a roaster and spread mushroom soup on each piece. Bake 1 hour.

My Instructions:

Combine the ingredients except of the soup in a large bowl,

mixing well. 

Divide mixture in half. Add onion to one of the mixtures. Form the mixture into patties. (I made 3 with onion and 3 without.) Wrap individually with plastic wrap and store in refrigerator on a plate overnight. (I guess I was tired that night and forgot to take pictures.)

When ready to cook, preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 13 - inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

Then add some oil in a skillet and brown the patties on both sides.

Place in baking dish and

then spoon the undiluted soup and spread over each patty. Cover pan with foil and bake for 1 hour or until done.

We ate one each and stored the other four in a sealed container in the refrigerator for another day. For leftovers, I warmed two up in a covered dish in the oven (350 degrees F.) until I could smell that wonderful smell of them coming from the oven. So good. As good as the first time.