...and we're back!

Hello all! Did ya miss me? I have missed you all! It has taken me much longer than I thought it would to visit all of your blogs and go back and read all the older posts, but it was worth it. And I have even gained a few new followers to whom I would like to say "hello and welcome" to Kayla, Holly, and Heide. Also, Mrs. Crumb was sad that my email address does not appear when I post a comment to her blog, so here it is: mrsgriggs5113@gmail.com. Please feel free to send me a note, if you are so inclined (and please be nice).

A lot has happened since I last posted here almost a month ago, but nothing earth-shattering, so I am just going to continue along as though I wasn't gone. I will, however, share the new recipes I tried while I was "away" and the first one is Warm Black Bean Salad. Over spring break my wonderful Aunt K. took us to Rainforest Cafe, my daughters favorite restaurant. I got the chicken chimmichanga (or something like that) and it came with a delicious warm black bean side dish that I just had to re-create at home... and here is what I came up with.

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WARM BLACK BEAN SALAD

1 can black beans, rinsed
1 can corn, drained
1 can petite diced tomatoes with chiles, NOT drained (I use Red Gold Zesty)
1 small red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced (I use my garlic press)
salt to taste

Place all ingredients in a saucepan. Heat over medium-high until warmed through. Serve with a dollop of sour cream on top if you feeling sassy!
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This is so easy and so yummy and pretty good for you too!

Tonight I am making Meatball Burgers. The meal plan for the following week is: leftovers, Dirty Rice, frozen pizza, Stuffed Shells, Steakhouse Cheeseburgers (new!), and Hot Dogs with Baked Beans. Some recipes I tried while I was gone and will post here soon are: Apple Dumpling Casserole and Stuffed Poblanos.

Many more recipes to come, glad to be back.

Happy eating!

Please stand-by...

...we are experiencing technical difficulties.

We are having problems with wi-fi on the laptop and I am using DIAL-UP to post this. Do any of you remember how s.....l.....o.....w dial-up is? Ugh. Sorry all, but I won't be posting again until we are back up and running. I will try to read your blogs and maybe even post a comment or two. Just wanted to let you all know I am okay (if you were wondering). :)

Happy eating!

Taco Casserole

Today I made the Creamy Chicken Soup that I made a few weeks ago - so good! I just had to make it again before the cold weather is completely gone and we don't want soup anymore. Once again I paired it with cornbread on the side.

On Saturday I made Taco Casserole and last night I made Cheesy Hamburger Hash. Also planned for this week are Toasted Ravioli, frozen pizza, Fish Sticks & Curly Fries, and leftovers.

I was searching my posts, looking for the Taco Casserole recipe so I could add a link to this post, and then I realized that I have not ever posted it! So here ya go:

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TACO CASSEROLE

1 lb. ground beef
1 - 15oz. can spicy chili beans, undrained
1 cup salsa
1 pkg. taco seasonings
2 cups coarsely broken tortilla chips
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup chopped green onion
1 large tomato, diced
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium saucepan, brown ground beef, drain fat. Stir in beans, salsa and taco seasonings. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. In a 2 quart casserole dish, place chips. Top with beef. Spread on the sour cream. Sprinkle with the onions and tomato. Cover with cheese. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes.
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Yum! I still can't believe I never posted this recipe before. We love tex-mex food and this a nice alternative. Have a great week!

Happy eating!

Corned Beef & Cabbage - Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Here in Chicago most people are Irish by blood, but on St. Patrick's Day ALL of us are Irish! I am not Irish by blood, but my husband is - his great-grandfather's last name was Harrington. Around here the name Harrington is synonymous with corned beef because of Harrington's Deli, but we are not related to them. We live pretty close to the deli and have been there for sandwiches, but today you can't get near the place! There was an article in the Chicago Suntimes last week that said corned beef and cabbage is NOT a traditional Irish meal, yet it is what pretty much everyone (including us) will be eating today.

I got this recipe from the Chicago Suntimes Food Section years ago. My mom always made corned beef on St. Patrick's day, but she would boil everything on the stovetop which requires lots of really big pots and constant supervision - this way is much easier. So while my slow cooker works I'll be listening to my favorite Irish music; U2 and The Cranberries! LOL :)

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CORNED BEEF & CABBAGE

1 onion, peeled and quartered
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 - 3 lb. flat cut corned beef brisket, with seasoning packet
2 cups baby carrots
1 head green cabbage, cored and quartered
1/4 tsp. black pepper
water

Place onion and garlic in bottom of 6 quart (or bigger) slow cooker, then put in cabbage. Place corned beef on top of cabbage then add the carrots. Sprinkle with the seasoning packet and pepper. Pour in enough water to just cover the meat. Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on low heat for 8 hours. Remove meat from slow cooker and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with the cabbage and carrots, discard the onion.
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I will also be boiling some red potatoes to serve with this meal; potatoes are a very Irish food. I will also have spicy mustard and rye bread on the table, as my husband prefers to make a sandwich out of his corned beef. Oh, and don't forget the Guinness beer!

Yesterday my daughter was very excited when I picked her up from school - leprechauns had been in the kindergarten classroom! The class had gone outside for a short recess with their teacher, and when they returned to the classroom there were green streamers and gold doubloons everywhere and chairs were knocked over and books on the floor - chaos! Then they made leprechaun finders, which are cardboard toilet paper rolls decorated with shamrocks and covered at one end with green cellophane. When you peer through this device you can see them if you have a quick eye (and a good imagination). :)

Slainte!
Happy eating!

Egg Salad

Can you believe that I have never had egg salad? Today I made it for the first time and I will eat it tomorrow for the first time. The recipe says to let it sit in the fridge overnight before eating it, but I did lick the spoon after mixing it and it tastes wonderful! I got the recipe from Allrecipes.com and you can get it here or just keep reading. I read some of the reviews and changed it a little based on the comments and based on what I know I like, so this my version.

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EGG SALAD

8 hard boiled eggs, chopped
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. mustard powder
3 tbsp. onion, finely minced
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dill weed
1/3 cup celery stalks (& some leaves), finely diced
1/4 tsp. paprika

In a bowl, gently mix all ingredients. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.
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I have heard that celery leaves have good flavor and my mom always threw some in her dishes, so I do it too. Has anyone actually eaten the leaves to see what they taste like? I will have to try it next time I cut up celery! :)

Today I was doing some shopping at Target and needed mayo. I usually buy Kraft in the squeeze bottle unless something else is on sale. At Jewel (our big chain grocery store) the mayo prices are unbelievably high, even for the store brand. Anyway, I found the aisle and scanned the shelves prices and reached for the 24 oz. bottle which was priced at $2.54. I looked up slightly at the 18 oz. bottle and noticed that the price for that one was $2.89! Can you believe that? The smaller bottle cost MORE than the big bottle! Very strange. But it just goes to show that we should all pay attention to what we are buying.

Happy eating!

(Un)Stuffed Peppers Casserole

I'd like to start by saying that (sadly) the cube steak sandwiches were not a big hit. I thought they were pretty good, but not great. The flavor was good and it was worth the effort to butter and toast the rolls, but the meat was too chewy for my liking. My husband didn't even finish his sandwich. As one reader commented, it seemed like an alarming amount of Worcestershire sauce, but I think the butter mellowed it out. Like I said, I liked the flavor, but maybe I will try a more tender cut of meat for this recipe. Another reader commented that they liked cube steak for breakfast; is this a chewy meat or did I do something wrong? I've never used cube steak in a recipe before this.

Tonight's dinner recipe came from Tasty Kitchen by SmilingCountryRanch. We love stuffed peppers, especially the frozen ones from Stouffer's. I have never actually made homemade stuffed peppers, but it's on my list of things to try. In the meantime though this will have to do. :)

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UNSTUFFED GREEN PEPPERS

1 lb. ground beef
1/3 cup diced onion
1 cup crushed tomatoes (undrained)
1/3 cup white rice, uncooked
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 cup water
1 cup diced green bell pepper
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On the stovetop in an oven safe skillet, brown meat with onion; drain grease. Stir in tomatoes, rice, Worcestershire, basil, water, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 18-20 minutes until rice is tender. Stir in peppers and half the cheese, then top with remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
NOTE: If not using an oven-safe skillet, prepare rice mixture in a saucepan and then pour into a casserole dish before baking in the oven.
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I forgot to buy crushed tomatoes, but I had diced, so I used those instead and 'crushed' them with my immersion blender. I also do not have a cast iron skillet, so I used my oval cast iron dutch oven. This was really good! But I missed the tomato sauce that comes on the side of stuffed peppers, so maybe I will make some on the side the next time I make this dish.

The meal plan for next week has nothing new except for my recipe for making Corned Beef & Cabbage for St. Patrick's Day, which is really easy and is done in the slow cooker. I still have to make the fish sticks, chicken picatta and breakfast from last weeks meal plan, and the other ideas for next week are frozen pizza, spaghetti, tacos, and veggie pitas. We are on a tight budget and these are cheap meals! I love that line from the car insurance commercial "there is no budge in my budget". :)

Happy eating!

Cube Steak Sandwiches

Two of my favorite new blogs are The Pioneer Woman, and the recipe sharing blog she started, Tasty Kitchen. I discovered Ree after checking her cookbook out from my library and I really love her writing style and photography, as well as her recipes. This recipe sounds really good to me, but I am not sure what my husband (who has to be the only man alive who doesn't love steak) will think of it. Just to clarify, he doesn't hate steak, he would just prefer a ground meat instead. I, on the other hand, could eat filet mignon everyday. Anyway, here is Ree's recipe or you can click here for her printable version.

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THE MARLBORO MAN SANDWICH

1 large (or 2 small) onions
2 sticks butter (lots and lots of butter)
2-3 lbs. cube steak (tenderized round steak that's been extra tenderized)
Lawry's seasoned salt
1/2 cup worcestershire sauce
tabasco sauce, to taste
4 whole French/deli rolls (earthgrains are best)

Slice onions and cook in 1/4 stick butter until soft and light brown. Remove and set aside. Slice cube steak against the grain. Season with Lawry's. Heat 2 tbsp. butter over high heat (in same skillet) until melted and beginning to brown. Add meat in a single layer. Cook one side until brown, then flip and cook until brown, about a minute on both sides. Add 1/2 cup (at least) worcestershire sauce, 5-6 shakes of tabasco, and 2 tbsp. butter. Add cooked onions. Stir to combine. Butter halved French rolls and brown in skillet. To assemble, lay bottom half of French roll on plate. Place meat mixture on roll, followed by a spoonful of juice from the pan. Top with other half of roll , cut in half, and devour!
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Doesn't that sound good? Not very good for you (all that butter brings Paula Deen to mind), but delicious, no? :)

By the way, those Meatball Burgers I made last week were GREAT! I highly recommend them and will be adding them to our regular rotation!

Happy eating!