Best Tator Tot Casserole, Ever!

Every kid needs to grow up on a steady diet of Tater-tot casserole, especially kids from Idaho who have to have a side of potatoes with every meal.  And if you are going to go tater-tots, topped with cheddar and bacon is the way to go!

Bacon Cheeseburger Casseroles

From: Kraft Foods Food &Family  magazine Fall 11

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef

1 onion, chopped (I always use less than this)

1/3 cup ketchup

2 Tbsp. yellow mustard

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (I use mild.)

8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

4 cups frozen bite-size potato nuggets

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees

2. Brown meat with onions in skillet, drain.  Stir in ketchup and mustard, spoon into 9-inch square baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.

3. Top with remainng ingredients.

4. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until casserole is heated through and potato nuggets are golden brown.

Upside-Down Pizza in a Pan

This picture comes from the Family Fun website.  I usually like to take my own picture so that you can see what it really looks like when someone who isn't a professional chef or a professional photographer cooks a meal, but life lately has been craaaaaazy between shuttling kids to piano, football practice, etc. and having Z come home at all kinds of weird hours with his work schedule... so anyways, we made this, the picture didn't get taken, but what matters is the dinner was delicious and EVERY person in my family loved it and wanted seconds.  Here is the recipe...

Upside-Down Pizza in a Pan

From: Disney's Family Fun

*I halved the recipe and it was enough to feed my family of 6, though there were no leftovers, if that gives you any indication of how much to make.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup chopped onion (My family isn't huge fans of onions, so we did about half of what this called for)

1 cup chopped mushrooms (Again, no mushroom lovers here, these were left out)

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 pounds ground turkey, (We used ground beef and it tasted great)

2 (15-ounce) cans Italian-style tomato sauce (I used a 14 oz. can of pizza sauce, worked great)

2 teaspoons dried basil

1 cup chopped pepperoni

1 teaspoon pepper

3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 (13.8-ounce) package prepared pizza dough

Directions:

1.Heat the oven to 400°. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, mushrooms, and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the turkey and continue to cook and stir, breaking the meat into small pieces, until it is no longer pink, about 8 minutes.

2.Stir in the tomato sauce, basil, and pepperoni and cook until heated through, about 5 minutes. Add the pepper, then transfer the mixture to a 9- by 13-inch casserole dish.

3.Scatter the cheese on top and layer on the pizza dough. Bake the casserole until the dough is golden, about 20 minutes. To serve, spoon out portions with a large serving utensil.



Easy Cheesy Peasy Shepherd's Pie

 Have I ever mentioned my love for the Kraft Food and Family Magazine?  If you haven't you should totally check it out.  They have ideas for the simplest and most delicious meals and can keep coming up with new ideas month after month!  This one came from the Fall Food And Family Magazine and is a great comfort meal, so why am I posting it in the Summer?  It could have to do with the month of June that we had where it rained litterally every day and we rushed home from Tee-Ball games and grabbed ourselves some hot chocolate.  We were in need of some comfort and this Shepherd's Pie hit the spot!

Shepherd's Pie

Source: Kraft

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef

2 cups  hot mashed potatoes

4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, cubed

1 cup  KRAFT Shredded Cheddar Cheese, divided

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 cups  frozen mixed vegetables, thawed

1 cup beef gravy

 

Directions:

1. Brown, meat in large skillet; drain.

2. Mix potatoes, cream cheese, 1/2 cup cheddar and garlic until well blended.

3. Combine meat, vegetables and gravy; spoon into 9-inch square baking dish.
4. Cover with potato mixture and remaining Cheddar. Bake 20 min. or until heated through.
 



Mmmmm... hearty meaty goodness!  Guess who ate the most... the 1 year old!

BBQ Beef Empanadas

 For the life of me, I can't figure out why Blogger chooses to rotate my pictures for me, and then I can't figure out how to turn them around?  Anyone is welcome to help me out here!

Super Easy, Fast, and Kid Friendly!

BBQ BEEF EMPANADAS

Recipe Found at: Pillsbury (Don't forget to submit an entry to win the Million Dollar prize in the Pillsbury Bake Off, due April 18th!)

INGREDIENTS

3/4 lb. lean ground beef

1/3 cup chopped green onions

1/3 cup purchased Buffalo wing sauce

1 (16.3-oz.) can Pillsbury® Grands!® Refrigerated Buttermilk Biscuits

4 oz. (1 cup) shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1/2 cup purchased ranch salad dressing, if desired

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Brown ground beef in large skillet over medium-high heat for 5 to 7 minutes or until thoroughly cooked, stirring frequently. Drain. Add onions and buffalo wing sauce; mix well. Remove skillet from heat.

2. Separate dough into 8 biscuits. Press or roll each to form 6-inch round. Spoon beef mixture evenly onto half of each biscuit round. Top each with 2 tablespoons cheese. Fold dough over filling; press edges to seal. Place on ungreased large cookie sheet.

3. Bake at 375°F. for 12 to 17 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with ranch salad dressing for dipping.



Slop

We love spaghetti at our house, but with four kids under the age of seven, you can imagine how messy it can be trying to teach them to twirl their pasta.  This is something my mom made growing up and we lovingly referred to it as "Slop".  It is the same recipe as you would use for spaghetti, just substituting some fun shaped pasta for spaghetti strands.  Buddy told me it was the "best dinner" I have ever made ad he scarffed it, which is so rare for Buddy!

Slop

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef

salt and pepper to taste

1 pkg. McCormic Spaghetti Seasoning

3 cans tomato sauce

1 1/2 can water (using the same can from one of the tomato sauces)

1/2-3/4 pkg. shaped pasta (pick something exciting!)

Directions:

1.  Brown beef in a skillet over medim high heat, adding salt and pepper to taste.  Drain grease.

2.  Add tomato sauce, water, and spaghetti seasoning mix and stir until thick and bubbling.

3.  Cook pasta according to package directions.

4.  Drain pasta and rinse.  Toss in a large pan with pasta sauce.

5.  Garnish with parmesan cheese, cheddar cheese, garlic salt, etc.

Pineapple Glazed Meatballs

 These were seriously so good and incredibly fast and easy to make.  I got the idea from a Kraft Food & Family magazine.  They listed them as an appetizer and had very cute toothpicks in each one and arranged on a pretty tray, which would be really fun too, but we decided to try them out with some rice for dinner.

 You only need three ingredients.  Frozen, fully cooked meatballs (purchased at Wal-Mart... or if you are not lazy like me, you could use your favorite meatball recipe), 1 cup BBQ Sauce if using the whole package of meatballs (our favorite is Bulls-Eye), and 1 cup CRUSHED pineapple with juice (you can see in the picture that I accidentally bought pineapple slices, no biggie, I just crushed them in my blender. 

 Mix all three ingredients together in a skillet and cook on medium high heat for 7-10 minutes until the sauce is thick and bubbly and the meatballs are heated through.  Serve with any side you desire.  We chose rice.

As you can see, Charli gave it two enthusiastic thumbs up.  She is licking her plate.  I think she ate 5-6 meatballs!

Mini Meatloafs (Meatloaves?)

The very word "Meatloaf" could bring my sister A to tears growing up, she just hated it that much!  But not me, I love it!  I think it is a great wintertime comfort food and I wanted to make it for my family tonight.  It has been a long time since I have made it for the kiddos and I didn't want them to hate it like A does, so I brainstormed a way to give them kid-appeal and this is what I came up with...

I got this pan from Z for Christmas and have been dying to try it out, but haven't known what to make with it yet, until now...

I made my meatloaf base, divided it into 12 equal portions and smooshed them down into my pan.  If you don't have a rockin' awesome square pan like me, I bet that you could use a cupcake pan, or if you want to be more traditional, you can pat the whole loaf down into a bread pan.

Next, I put 1 tbsp of my sauce mix on each portion of meatloaf and spread it around with the back of the spoon and then bake at 350 for one hour!  And be sure to serve with some hot mashed potatoes.

The mini-loaves made the perfect portion size for the kids and I liked having them smaller because it gave them a better sauce to meat ratio.  My biggest surprise was how much Charli loved them!  She is only 11 months and she ate two mini-meatloaves all by herself.

Mom's Meatloaf

Base:

1 lb ground beef

1/4 cup diced onions

1/4 cup milk

1 egg, beaten

3/4 cup soft bread crumbs (I buy my bread crumbs in a can at the store, but you could also grind up some stuffing mix, or dry out your own bread crumbs earlier in the day.)

1 tsp pepper

Sauce:

1/4 cup ketchup

3 tbsp brown sugar

1 1/2 tbsp mustard

Mix all ingredients for base together with your hands.  This is a really fun project for the kids because the texture is so gooey and slimy, they love mixing it.  (Just make sure they wash their hands before and after they are done.)

In a cupcake (or square cupcake pan, if you're awesome), portion your meatloaf into twelve equal portions.  Smash down with your hand.  You can also pat the whole base mixture into a regular bread loaf pan.  Top with 1 tbsp of sauce mixture and spread sauce with the back of the spoon.  Bake at 350 for 30-40 min.  (I baked mine for 45 min. and it was a little too much and they got crisp on the bottom.  Next time, I think I will check them after 30 min.) 
*If you bake it in an actual loaf, you will need to bake for one hour!

Caramelized Beef Skewers

 This is one of my FAVORITE fast, easy, and delicious meals.

I got this from the Kraft foods recipe site.  Kraft's recipes are the best.  Not only are they generally inexpensive, and easy to prepare, but they actually have recipes for foods that my family will EAT!

 Start with a sirloin steak and thinly slice it into long strips.  Then, put in a ziplock bag and toss with A-1, marinade for 10 minutes.

Thread the beef onto the skewers just so, I threaded mine with onions, because I love grilled onions, but kept my kids skewers with just the meat.  Then brush with mustard, A-1, barbecue sauce mixture and grill on medium heat, brushing with more sauce as needed.  I like the way the meat turns out with these better than with your average shish-ka-bobs, because the meat seems to stay more tender in the long strips.  This is seriously SO GOOD!

Ingredients:

1 lb. beef sirloin steak, thinly sliced

1/4 cup  A.1. Steak Sauce, divided

1/4 cup Barbecue Sauce

1 tsp. Dijon Mustard

Directions:

1.  Heat grill to medium-high heat.

2.  Toss meat with 2 Tbsp. steak sauce; let stand 10 min. Meanwhile, combine remaining steak sauce, barbecue sauce and mustard.

3.  Thread meat onto 8 skewers.

4.  Grill 6 min. or until meat is done, turning after 3 min. and brushing occasionally with barbecue sauce mixture.

To see more awesome Kraft recipes, click here!

Walking Tacos

I love this meal as a fun and different spin on tacos. They are great for camping, as you don't need plates or utensils to eat them. Even when we eat these at home, I let my kids walk all over and eat them (just not on the carpet!)

WALKING TACOS

One package of Fritos per person

1 lb. ground beef

Cheese

Lettuce

Olives

Other garnishments as desired

1. Brown the ground beef and drain oil.

2. Open each bag of Fritos and have each person add the garnishments that they desire on their tacos. Give each taco a scoop of beef.

3. Fold over the top of the bag and shake well.

4. Eat with fingers right out of the bag or a spoon if it is too messy!

*You can also substitute the ground beef for chili if preferred.

Amelia Bedelia's Baby Food

In case you can't tell how small these cute little hamburgers are, I have placed them on a small saucer. They were a huge hit!

We just finished reading Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish. In the book, Amelia is asked to feed the baby some baby food. Amelia doesn't know what baby food is, so she makes the baby miniature hamburgers and baby potatoes. We thought we would give it a try.

First, the kids cut some baby sized buns out of a regular piece of bread. We used a small round cookie cutter and cut four circles per piece of bread (enough for two mini hamburgers). We also put a small piece of cheese on each bun and one small pickle.

Next, using a pound of thawed ground beef, we pattied up 15 small hamburgers the size of a half dollar and then grilled them for 5-6 minutes on each side.

We happened to have very small potatoes from our garden, since the growing season was so short this year. We scrubbed them, and tossed them with 1/2 cube of melted butter and some garlic powder and parmesan cheese and then baked at 425 degrees for 30 minutes.

And then we broke corn on the cob into small baby sized portions (1/3 of the cob). And we enjoyed our meal. I should have made us all wear a bib and use baby spoons, but the actual baby goes through those too fast for there to be enough clean ones for everyone!