Quick and Easy Goulash

This is a simple goulash recipe. A few ingredients making it a fairly cheap dinner. Garlic bread is good to make as a side with this dish. I suggest using 2 jars or 2 cans of spaghetti sauce though.

Servings: 4


Ingredients:

1 (12 ounce) package elbow noodles
seasoned salt, to taste
1 pound lean ground beef
1 (26 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
1 (15.25 ounce) can whole kernel corn
1 onion, chopped
2 tsp chopped garlic
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add elbow noodles and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
In a skillet over medium heat, season with seasoning salt and brown the beef; drain.
Heat through over medium heat, the beef, spaghetti sauce, corn, chopped onion, garlic and cheese. Combine with cooked elbow noodles when heated and serve.

Swedish Meatballs

This is a recipe that I made up myself for Swedish meatballs. I used what I had on hand and it turned out really good. I will never make it any other way again.

Servings: 6


Ingredients:
2 lbs. ground beef
2 eggs
1/2 cup bread crumbs (2 slices)
1/4 cup dried parsley flakes
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp chopped garlic
half an onion, chopped
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper, to taste
1 package of egg noodles


For Sauce:
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 can of milk
1 Tbs dried parsley flakes
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce 
1 Tbs butter or margarine
salt and pepper, to taste


Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix ground beef, eggs, bread crumbs, 1/4 c. dried parsley flakes, 1/4 c. milk, chopped garlic, onion, 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce, and salt and pepper. Roll beef mixture into 1 and half inch balls. Place on greased cookie sheet. Bake for 30 minutes. In a large pot, cook egg noodles according to package and drain.


Meanwhile in a medium saucepan, whisk together cream of mushroom soup, can of milk, 1 Tbs parsley flakes, garlic powder, 1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce, butter or margarine, and salt and pepper. Heat over medium heat until heated thoroughly. Add meatballs when they are done, continue to heat sauce until bubbly. Pour over cooked egg noodles. Toss to mix well and serve.

Easy Mexican Casserole

I found this recipe online and thought it sounded pretty good. I am thinking about using black beans, drained and rinsed of course. I will probably add a few other spices. Maybe some chili powder, paprika, and/or garlic. 

Servings: 6

Ingredients: 
1 pound lean ground beef
2 cups salsa
1 (16 oz.) can chili beans, drained
3 cups torilla chips, crushed
2 cups sour cream
1 (2 oz) can sliced black olives, drained
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh tomato
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese


Directions:


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook ground beef until no longer pink. Stir in salsa, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed. Stir in beans, and heat through. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. Spread crushed tortilla chips in dish, and then spoon beef mixture over chips. Spread sour cream over beef, and sprinkle olives, green onion, and tomato over the sour cream. Top with cheddar cheese. Bake in preheated over for 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.

Burrito Pie

Servings: 16

2 pounds ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 (2 oz) can black olives, sliced
1 (4 oz) can diced green chili peppers
1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes with
green chile peppers
1 (16 oz) jar taco sauce
2 (16 oz) cans refried beans
12 (8 inch) flour tortillas
9 ounces shredded Colby cheese


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the ground beef for 5 minutes. Add the onion and garlic, and saute for 5 more minutes. Drain any excess fat, if desired. Mix in the olives, green chile peppers, tomatoes with green chile peppers, taco sauce and refried beans. Stir mixture thoroughly, reduce heat to low, and let simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Spread a thin layer of the meat mixture in the bottom of a 4 quart casserole dish. Cover with a layer of tortillas followed by more meat mixture, then a layer of cheese. Repeat tortilla, meat, cheese pattern until all the tortillas are used, topping off with a layer of meat mixture and cheese.
4. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheese is slightly brown and bubbly.

Tex-Mex Alfredo

Serves: 8
Cooking Time: 15 min


Ingredients
1 pound uncooked fettuccine noodles
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter
2/3 cup picante sauce
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup sour cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
Chopped fresh parsley for garnish


Instructions
In a large pot of boiling water, cook noodles until tender. Drain and set aside in a large bowl; cover to keep warm. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine butter, picante sauce, and Parmesan cheese; cook over low heat, stirring, until butter melts. Remove from heat; stir in sour cream and salt. Pour picante sauce mixture over warm fettuccine noodles, and toss. Sprinkle with parsley, and serve.


***I got this from MrFood.com. This would make a good side dish. You could make it into a main dish by adding your choice of meat. I think the addition of browned ground beef or turkey with a taco seasoning packet added to it would be a good dinner. If you want to go even farther with this dish, you could add black olives, onions, and red or green peppers. 

Tater Tot Taco Casserole

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (1 ounce) packet taco seasoning mix
1 (16 ounce) bag frozen Mexican-style corn or regular corn
1 (12 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (12 ounce) bag shredded Mexican cheese blend
1 (16 ounce) package frozen tater tots
1 (12 fluid ounce) can enchilada sauce

Servings: 6
Directions:

Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Prepare a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
Cook the ground beef in a skillet over medium heat until completely browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the onion, garlic, taco seasoning mix, frozen Mexican-style corn, and black beans to the ground beef; cook and stir another 10 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly.
Combine the ground beef mixture in a large bowl with about 3/4 of the Mexican cheese blend and the tater tots; stir to combine.
Pour about 1/3 of the enchilada sauce into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Add the tater tot mixture to the baking dish; lightly pat the mixture down into a solid, even layer. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the tater tot layer.
Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes. Sprinkle the remaining Mexican cheese over the casserole and return to oven until the cheese is melted and bubbly, about 5 minutes more.

**This is how I found this recipe but I changed it. I made it more like the original tater tot casserole I posted before. I used a 2-quart casserole dish instead. I did not combine the tater tots in with the meat mixture. What I did was put a little sauce on the bottom of the casserole dish, then the meat and cheese mixture, then more sauce, next the tater tots, then more sauce with cheese on top. It turned out really good. We liked this a lot. It was a really good recipe find for me. Will be making it again soon.

Simply Lasagna

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef
2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella Cheese, divided
1 (15 ounce) container Ricotta Cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese, divided
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 egg, beaten
1 (24 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
1 cup water
12 lasagna noodles, uncooked

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Brown meat in large skillet on medium-high heat. Meanwhile, mix 1 1/4 cups mozzarella, ricotta cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan, parsley and egg until well blended; set aside.
Drain meat; return to skillet. Stir in spaghetti sauce. Add 1 cup water to empty sauce jar; cover with lid and shake well. Add to meat mixture; stir until well blended. Spread 1 cup meat sauce onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish; top with layers of 3 lasagna noodles, 1/3 of the ricotta cheese mixture and 1 cup meat sauce. Repeat layers twice. Top with remaining noodles, meat sauce and cheeses. Cover with greased foil.
Bake 1 hour or until heated through, removing foil after 45 min. Let stand 15 min. before cutting to serve.

**This is a very good lasagna recipe. The cheeses are the most expensive ingredients. The recipe is a little time consuming though. I only recommend it if you are able to give yourself plenty of time to make it. You can prep this the night before, so you can just throw it in the oven the next evening.

Cheeseburger Pie

1 can crescent rolls
1 pound ground beef
1/4 cup finely chopped onion, OR 1 teaspoon onion powder
1/3 cup chopped dill pickle slices
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons dill pickle juice
2 tablespoons milk
2 cups shredded American cheese, divided

Preheat oven to 375°.
Unroll crescent rolls and press into the bottom and up the sides of an 8 inch pie pan.
Cook ground beef in a skillet until browned. Drain well.
Stir in onion, chopped pickle, ketchup and mustard.
Sprinkle with flour and add pickle juice and milk. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.
Remove from heat and add 1 cup of shredded cheese.
Pour into the prepared crust and bake for 15 minutes, or until edges of crust are golden brown.

Top with 1 cup of cheese and place back into oven for a few minutes longer until cheese is melted.
Serves 4-6

**This recipe was surprisingly good. I didn't think it would turn out at first. My kids didn't mind eating it even with the much hated onions in it...lol. I didn't have shredded cheese so I just used a few slices of cheese. I also used a can of biscuits instead of crescent rolls.  I will definitely make this again and again. It really tasted like a cheeseburger. This is good served with french fries and a vegetable of your choice.
      ~I have made this several times now and we have loved it every time.

Easy Lo Mein

This is a recipe I have recently discovered. It sounds really good and easy to make.


8 ounces cooked spaghetti
1/2 pound cooked ground beef
1 (16 oz.) package frozen stir-fry vegetable blend, thawed
1 (12 oz) jar home-style beef gravy
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon pepper


In a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat for 2-3 minutes or until heated through. Add the vegetables, gravy, soy sauce, garlic powder, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 8-10 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Stir cooked spaghetti into beef mixture.
Servings 6


**I use a whole pound of ground beef. I usually don't like using just a half of a pound in recipes. You could also use chicken breast pieces with chicken gravy or ground turkey with turkey gravy. This recipe was actually very good! I suggest you try it out sometime.