Make A (Food Storage) Meal

I got this can freeze dried Diced Roast Beef Steak from our Stake's food storage order a few months ago.  Here's a recipe to use it.

You'll need the following from your food storage:

Dried Roast Beef Steak 

Tomato Sauce

Green Beans

Garlic Powder

Potato Pearls

Prepare the Beef Steak as directed.  I used 1 cup of chunks.  When chunks (yes, I'm going to refer to the meat as chunks.  Get some, you'll understand.  Although the chunks do smell like meat.  Hey!  It is meat!  Anyway...) are fully hydrated, put them in a small baking dish with a can of green beans and 2 small cans of tomato sauce. Sprinkle with garlic powder. Maybe some salt. Mix it all up. Make the potato pearls as directed. Top the casserole with potatoes. Sprinkle a little Parmesan cheese on top.  Bake at 350 for about 20-30 minutes.

Yum-a-licious!

Isaac and Sam wouldn't touch the stuff. 
Ruthie refused to eat the green beans. 
Daniel thought the chunks tasted pretty good.  (like meat!)
I warned everyone in the house that when they are starving and all of the Ramen is gone, they
WILL EAT THIS!!

Make A Meal.

I have been reading a book about a young brother and sister who lived in Cuba as Castro takes control.  They are sent to the United States to escape.  I loved the book.  I loved the food.  I didn't eat much Cuban food on my mission.  There was one Cuban family in one of my areas who had us over a couple of times to eat.  But thinking about food I made a decision to feed the memories.

So I got some pinto beans and made some homemade refried beans.  Even though they were never "fried".  I'd like to think this is the low fat recipe. 

 

Mushed Pinto Beans

1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained

1 can diced chilies

1/4 cup water

spices-Cumin, Garlic powder, Salt, Onion powder, Chili powder

You can add whatever else you want to spice it up

Cook everything together then mush the beans a bit.  Add more water if it's too dry.

Notice there is no lard or added fat of any kind. 

The water will loosen it up.  Or you can add some chicken or beef broth.

Here's how we ate it...

Tortillas

Mushed Beans

Chicken

Black Rice

Cheese

You can also add salsa, diced onions, cilantro, sour cream or whatever floats your yacht.

Yep, I said yacht.  Because sometimes a boat won't cut it.  A yacht is bigger and better and will afford you a chef.  Maybe.  Think yacht and you'll have a much better day! Promise.

Enjoy!

MMMMMEATBALL SUB!

This is a fabutastic Make A Meal episode!  Why?  'Cause I'm hungry.  So here's what to do to make a fantabulous meatball sub.  That you will LOVE! 

First, go to Costco and grab a big bag of their meatballs.  Exquisite!  Yum.  Also, while you're there, grab a bag of the hoagie rolls.  Also, grab TP.  you never know.  Also again, grab whatever else makes you smile when you go to Costco.  But you'll have to grab your sauce somewhere else.  They don't have the Hunt's stuff there.  At least not that I know of.  Let me know if they do.  It will make this meal a one-stop-shopping meal too!  Now I need to offer up some well deserved praise to my sister in law Jennifer who served meatball sandwiches at a recent family get together.  She used the Costco balls and she used Hunt's four cheese sauce.  I have since tried a few other sauces.  I always go back!

Meatball Subs:

Costco Meatballs

Hunt's Four Cheese pasta sauce

Hoagie Rolls

Cheese. Any cheese you like.

First, heat the meatballs in the oven as directed on the package.  Put the sauce in a pot and add the meatballs when they're heated.  Then heat up the sauce and meatballs.  Mmmmm.

Slice the hoagie rolls in half for easier eating.  Or don't.  I don't care.  But you'll want to do more than just have a limpy wimpy roll to put your stuff on.  So do this... Seriously, do it... Put butter in a bowl with a couple of garlic cloves all crushed and yummy.  Melt it in the microwave.  Then brush it on the bread and then sprinkle some cheese on it.  I put Parmigiano Reggiano, also from Costco.  But you could use Mozzerella or just whatever you've got in the drawer of your fridge.  Put those babies under the broiler and wait a bit.  Don't burn, but please toast well. MMMmmm.  Your house will smell delicioso now!

Then put a couple of meatballs and some extra sauce and another sprinkle of cheese of choice.

I have nothing more to say.  My mouth is full.  My tummy is happy.  The stars are aligned. And I smell like garlic.  Life is good.

Make A Meal.

Daniel and I saw this #10 can of hash browns and bought it.  I can't remember where we were.  We think maybe Smith & Edwards, but I can't be sure.  And I don't remember what it cost.  So in that way I am so not helpful.  But these are good. So here ya go. 

You soak the dried potato shreds in water for about 30 minutes.  They get potato-y.  You know, like when you shred real live potatoes and drain them there is a film left over?  That's what you get here too.

Drain the potatoes and...

Melt some butter in a pan.  Put the potatoes down and let them cook. Turn them once in a while.

My husband usually cooks them so I was so unprepared for how they would stick to the pan.  When Daniel came in and scraped the pan to help me, he scraped all the burned potatoes off the bottom.  Yuck.  So scrape the pan early on.  Before they burn.  Trust me.

Get 'em good and crispy.  They're awesome that way.  Serve with breakfast eats and ketchup. 

This is a wonderful good storage addition.  Once hydrated they are real potatoes!  (Imagine that) Just beware: the can will go fast.

Make A Meal.

So remember the honey powder I used before?  Wonderful for peanut butter and honey sandwiches.  Kinda a little very much so strange in powder form in a bread stick recipe.  I think I'll just use the already in the honey bear honey for that next time.  But I found a great recipe to use with chicken..

Lemony Honey Mustard Sauce. 

Since I used the honey made from honey powder I figure I'd share it with ya.

This is actually a recipe from Tone's Lemon Pepper Blend

Lemony Honey Mustard Sauce

Combine and heat:

1/2 cup honey

1/3 cup Dijon Mustard

1 1/2 tsp Lemon Pepper

2 Tbsp Lemon juice

2 Tbsp Margarine

Brush it on grilled chicken and then dip your chicken bites into it.  YUMMY!

Make A Meal With Food Storage.

Each month our Stake does an order of items from Provident Pantry.  This month I got 2 cans of diced dehydrated broccoli.  What the heck do you do with diced dehydtrated broccoli you ask?  Well, how about some Chicken Divan.  Okey Dokey.  Let's see how the diced dehydrated broccoli does.  .

First put 2/3 cup of broccoli in a bowl and boil 2 cups of water.

Add the boiling water to the broccoli.

Cover the bowl and let it sit for 5-10 minutes.  While you wait for that, get your chicken ready and get your sauce ready.  Mix 1/2 can Cream of Chicken, 1/2 can Cream of Mushroom, 1/2 cup Greek Yogurt, 1 tablespoon lemon juice and about 1/4 teaspoon of curry powder.

When the broccoli is rehydrated, drain the water out.

Put it in a baking dish, add the chicken next, then cover with the sauce and then put some cheese on it and then about 3/4 cup of bread crumbs on that.

Bake at 300 degrees for about 30 minutes.  And then enjoy.  The broccoli tasted like broccoli.  Imagine that!  It turned out pretty good for a casserol.  Most of us enjoyed it.  Some of us (them) are not broccoli enthusiasts.

But if broccoli was needed, especially in casserole form, I would recommend having diced dehydrated broccoli in food storage.

Make A Meal.

Hey!  It's Make A Meal.  On a Tuesday even.  You know, until last week my kids had never had a tostada. Sad.  I know.  So I made some for dinner.  And then we had them again last night.  I love them.  So I thought I'd share.

Tostadas

Here are the things you need...

Corn tortillas, salsa, taco seasoning, refried beans, pinto beans, diced chipotle tomatoes, Greek yogurt, lettuce, tomato, avocado, and then a few things I didn' have in the picture...ground beef, oil and olives...and CHEESE! Duh.

First, brown your ground beef and then add the canned tomatoes, juice and all, and the pinto beans.  Add some taco seasoning to taste. Heat through and keep warm.

While that's cooking, get all your toppings chopped and sliced and stuff. Here I have our cheese surrounded by chopped tomatoes, lettuce, salsa, olives, Greek yogurt (my new sour cream) and then the avocados diced up with a great sprinkle of garlic salt and a splash of lemon or lime juice.

And yes, I buy the taco seasoning in bulk.  Necessity!

Heat the oil on the stove top and then drop the corn tortillas in one by one. Let them bathe for about 30-40 seconds on each side.  The longer you leave them in the crispier they will be. 

Then you just make up your plate.

This is for my quesadilla child.  Yes, I know we are making tostadas.  But this guy needed a quesadilla.  Hey, I had all the makings for a great quesadilla.  Why not?

This one made what she called her secret recipe.  A taco.  She put all her toppings in the tortilla and then folded it over.  No need to try to get the flat tostada in the mouth.  Just roll it up.

I know her bangs are long.  The bobby pin was gone for the day and, well, I miss her eyes.

One boy didn't want anything to do with our second tostada night.  He preferred the yummy hot pocket.  I just don't understand.

With some extra tortillas, I cut them into triangles and made some chips.  I put too much salt on them when they came out of the oil.  So they didn't get eaten.

Tostada-aaah  Here is my finished product.  Oh it was delicious.

Tostada

1 pound ground beef

1 can diced tomatoes (chipotle flavor)

1 can pinto beans

Taco seasoning

Brown  beef in large skillet.  Drain fat.  Add tomatoes with juice and pinto beans.  Season with taco seasoning to taste.  Heat through and keep warm.

Stack of corn tortillas

Oil

Heat oil in skillet.  Add tortillas one at a time to hot oil.  Turn after 30-40 seconds.  Remove from oil after another 30-40 seconds.  Let drain on paper towels.

Diced tomatoes

Shredded cheese

Olives

Avocados, diced with lemon juice and garlic salt

Shredded lettuce

Salsa

Greek yogurt (or sour cream)

Refried beans

Meat mixture

Lay out one tortilla. Add refried beans, meat mixture and then any of the yummy toppings in any order you like!

Ole!

I usually have meat mixture left over.  I use it the next night for Cowboy Casserole.  Put the mixture (if you need to bulk it up, add another can of beans (pinto or black) and some salsa) into a baking dish.  Top with shredded cheese and then crush tortilla chips on top.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.  Serve with Greek yogurt and salsa.

Make A Meal. From The Garden.

I've been waiting so patiently. Then I was waiting not so patiently. But the many many many green balls on the plants in the garden are finally turning!
RED! Well, okay. So they're just orange. But I've gotten a couple of red ones out. And more are starting to turn. YAY! And with all that zucchini coming in I've got a great recipe to share with you!

TOMATO AND ZUCCHINI PASTA

Here's what you need:

8 oz linguine

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium zucchini, sliced

1/4 cup parsley

1 Tbs olive oil

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tsp each:dried basil, dried oregano

1/8 tsp each:salt and pepper

1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Cook linguine (I used spaghetti), drain and keep warm. In a large skillet heat olive oil then add zucchini, onion and garlic. Stir fry for several minutes until zucchini is soft. Add tomatoes, parsley, basil. oregano, salt and pepper. Stir gently and remove from heat. Stir in pasta. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the top and serve.

Ruthie and I had been watching Chopped on Food Network. I began making this dish for dinner and she came in and started to make comments like: "Wow. Look at you go chopping those vegetables" "You really know your way around a kitchen" "Wouldn't you think adding something like [she points to an ingredient I already have out] this would enhance the dish?"

Then while she was eating she said things like: "Mmm. This really is a great dish. The ingredients really stand out" "How did you get the tomatoes to be so....Mmm" It went on for a while. I finally told her she can't watch Chopped anymore! But we really loved this recipe.

This recipe originally came from my sister Emilie.

Make A Meal.

And it's even Monday! Today's meal is an easy and yummy one.

Ham And Cheese Stromboli

You'll need:

1 frozen loaf of bread dough (thawed)

8 oz thinly sliced ham

8 oz sliced Swiss cheese

4 oz shredded Cheddar cheese

4 oz shredded Colby cheese

8 slices precooked bacon

Garlic powder

Roll out thawed loaf dough to about 18x12 inches

Lay out cheese, ham and bacon up to 1 inch of each edge

Sprinkle with garlic powder

Roll up jelly roll style long ways

Place seam side down on a greased cookie sheet

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes

Then cover loosely with foil and bake another 15-20 minutes

Let stand 10 minutes before slicing

Serve with raw or steamed veggies

ENJOY!!

Make A Meal.

Okay. I need to start with this. Cruise to Alaska. Daniel and I loooooooved the mushroom quesadillas in one of the restaraunts. We would order the mushroom dillas everytime we ate there. One night I think we ordered a couple and just ate that. Mmmmmmmmm.....

So tonight is Sam's night to make dinner. Yep. Slave driver. No. Not really. The kids each have a night during the week that they choose the dinner and help cook it and set the table and clean up and everything. It works well so far. Sam chose Chicken Quesadillas for tonight. But not everyone likes them. In fact, Sam would rather leave the chicken in the freezer and just have a cheese dilla. But enough of that. On to what I made for me and my man.

First, I got the big thing of mushrooms out of the fridge.

And with all the makings...cheese, raw tortillas...
And then sauted the shrooms.
Oh. Yes.

And then cooked the tortilla and put the cheese and the shrooms on and folded it over and let it all melt and and and....

Enjoyed every bite

I wanted another one

But it's Tuesday

TNT night

So I may make one for breakfast tomorrow

Don't bother me, I'm eating.

Make A Meal/Treat.

I bake bread. We gotta eat, you know. And today I started to bake bread and thought to myself, "Self, Let's take one loaf worth of the dough and make hamburger buns and have burgers for dinner." I concurred and did it.

Then after school, with everyone home and thoughts of Family Home Evening floating around, I thought of a great idea. "Hey, make one loaf worth of dough and make cinnamon rolls for FHE treat!" I agreed and made another batch of dough. And then made these:
Here's what you do...
Just make your regular bread dough.
For Hamburger buns:
Take one loaf worth and split it into 8 pieces. Roll them into balls and put them on a greased baking sheet. Press them down to about 1 inch thickness. Let rise to triple their size.
Big buns=big burgers. Right?!
Bake for about 17-18 minutes on 350.
Let cool and cut through the middle to place the fabulous fixings on before you place the burger.
For cinnamon rolls:
Take one loaf worth and I split it into 8 pieces. Roll each piece out and then put a brushing of water on. Cover with cinnamon sugar and roll 'em up. Place on a greased baking sheet and let rise to about triple their size.
What can I say? Big cinnamon rolls=happy family!
Bake on 350 for 17-18 minutes.
Spread butter over the tops. You won't be disappointed.
Next time I'll split the cinnamon roll dough into 16 pieces. They were a bit too big for an after dinner treat. But they were oh so yummilicious!
Just so you know...I used 50/50 white/wheat bread dough.

Make A Meal.

Hellooooo. Have we been eating?? Why yes, we have. I just don't put anything on my blog anymore. Sheesh! But here is a wonderful french bread recipe that I love. And I remember many moons ago, Kim k asked about the recipe. Kim k...This one's for you!!

Easy French Bread

1 Tbs yeast

2 1/2 c warm water

3 1/2 cups flour

1 Tbs sugar

1/2 Tbs salt

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar, salt and 1 cup flour. Beat. Add rest of flour and knead on floured board or in standing mixer, 5 minutes.

Let rise 30-45 minutes.

Grease a cookie sheet and sprinkle lightly with corn meal.

Punch down bread dough and knead 1 minute.

Divide dough into 2 parts and let rest 10 minutes.

Roll each dough piece into ropes as long as your cookie sheet making sure there is room to rise between loaves.

Make several evenly spaced shallow cuts diagonally in the top of each loaf and brush with egg wash or water. preheat oven to 450.

Let rise until double, about 30 minutes.
Place a pan of hot water on lower shelf in oven.

Bake at 450 for 10 minutes, then lower temperature to 350 and bake another 20-25 minutes. You should hear a hollow sound when you knock on the top of the loaf.

Remove from pan and cool and wrap in plastic bags.

YUM!

Note: This is a halved recipe. You can double it to make the regular recipe which would give you 3-4 loaves!

Make A Meal.

It's been a while since I've done Make A Meal. I made these for dinner after a long hiatus of making them. They are easy. This is the second one of the night. They're that good.

PiZzAwHiChEs

1 pound ground beef

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1 can tomato soup, undiluted

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp garlic salt

1/2 cup Cheddar cheese

1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese

8 hamburger buns

2 Tbl melted butter

In a large skillet, brown ground beef and onion over medium heat. Drain. Stir in soup, oregano, chili powder and garlic salt. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat, stir in cheeses. Place about 1/3 cup of mixture in each bun. Brush tops with butter. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for about 7-9 minutes.

Enjoy.

Make A Meal.

This is a recipe that will actually Make Any Meal wonderful!

Breadsticks

1 package yeast (or 2 1/2 tsp yeast from a jar)

1 1/3 cup warm water

3 1/2-4 cups flour

3 Tbls oil

1 Tbls honey

1 tsp salt

melted butter

garlic salt

parmesan cheese

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add 1 cup flour, oil, honey and salt. Beat until smooth. Add remaining flour. Let rise for about 45 minutes. Roll out to about 1/4 inch thick. Cut breadsticks with a pizza cutter (about 1 1/2"x6") Place on greased cookie sheet and bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes.

Remove from oven and top with melted butter and sprinkle with garlic salt and parmesan. I use the canned parmesan and use 1 part garlic salt to 1 part parmesan.

Mmmmmmmmmmm..........

You can even just put cinnamon sugar on the butter if you want dessert.

This recipe came from my sister Laurie at our Christmas recipe exchange.

Make A Meal.

White Bread

Now don't get your undies in a bunch. I've been baking wheat bread for 10 years. This white bread recipe is so so easy and fast! So I am going through a white bread phase right now.

Sue me!

2 cups hot water

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup oil

1 Tblsp salt

1 1/2 Tblsp yeast

5-6 cups white flour

In a Bosch or Kitchen Aid put the hot water, oil, sugar and salt and 2 cups of flour and mix for 1 minute. Add the yeast and the rest of the flour, 1 cup at a time. You have enough flour when the sides of your mixer are clean as it mixes.

When the flour is in, mix on high for 8 minutes.

Let the dough rest in the bowl for 5 minutes.

Divide the dough into 2 halves and "spank" each halve. That gets the bubbles out. Plus it helps with any issues you may be having that day!

Round the dough and place it in greased bread pans.

OR...

place 1 halve into a bread pan and spread the other halve out onto a greased jelly roll pan. Make sure it's not too thin in places. It just doesn't bring good results.

Let the dough rise in an oven preheated to 170 for 25 minutes.

If you are doing the jelly roll pan thing, take that out and while you go on to the next step with the bread, melt some butter and spread it out on the dough. Then sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the whole shebang. Put it back in the oven (at 350) for about 20 minutes.

Turn the oven up to 350, without taking the bread out! I usually flip the heat up and set my timer for 30 minutes. The original recipe calls for 25 minutes, but it isn't enough time for me.

Get that stuff out of the oven and enjoy the bread. On the cinnamon sticks you can put your favorite cinnamon roll icing all over. Then use a pizza cutter to slice it up.

Oh the joy of home baked bread!

Enjoy!

Make A Meal.

I get emails from Kraft with recipes each week. I love it! There is always something that is easy and that my kids will eat. This particular recipe is now a favorite. Let me share it with you...

Tuscan Chicken Simmer

At first I thought it was Tuscan Chicken Summer. And I thought of warm cozy yummy sunshine. Then I realized it was simmer. Not summer. But still...

You'll need...

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

4 oz. cream cheese, cubed

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup pesto

2 cups grape or cherry tomatoes

1 cup Italian cheese blend

Heat a nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray over medium heat. Add chicken and cook on each side until cooked through. Remove chicken from skillet and cover to keep them warm.

Add cream cheese, water, pesto and tomatoes to skillet. (I chose to put only 1 cup of tomatoes in since no one will eat cooked tomatoes in my house...except me) Cook and stir occasionally over medium heat for 2 minutes or until heated through.

Add chicken to skillet. Cook and stir 1 minute or until chicken is coated and heated through. Sprinkle with Italian cheese and serve.

I chose to serve our chicken with spaghetti noodles and ciabata bread. Mmmm.

Enjoy!

Make A Meal.

Okay. It's not really a "meal", but it will help your meal be more better! Ha! Do you make bacon on Christmas morning? Yes? Well, this will help with mess, clean up and so you can get everything else made.

Bacon!

On a jelly roll pan, or cookie sheet, place tin foil, shiny side up. Then put a cooling rack in the pan. Lay your bacon all over the pan. I guess you should lay it uniformly so it will all fit. I really hope you read through this first and saw that you need to preheat your oven to 450! Do it now if you haven't already. Then place the pan in the oven and let it cook. You can then make eggs, pancakes, waffles, o.j., etc, while the bacon is cooking. When it's done, (about 20 minutes) put bacon on a papertowel lined plate and serve. All you gotta do is fold up the foil and throw it away and just put the pan and cooling rack in the dishwasher. You don't have to scrub or wipe off the grease from the stove top!

YAY!

Have a Merry Christmas
and may all your bacon be yummy and your stove top be grease free!

Make A Meal.

Pasta Milano

Mmmmmm...

12 oz cooked bowtie pasta

1 Tblsp butter
1 pkg sliced mushrooms

1 1/2 cup half and half

1 packet Knorr Garlice and Herb sauce mix

2 cups grilled chicken, cut into strips

1/3 cup sliced sun dried tomatoes or artichoke hearts

1 Tblsp parmesan cheese

2 Tblsp chopped parsley

While pasta is boiling and chicken is grilling, melt 1 tsp butter in a large skillet.

Add mushrooms and saute for about 5 minutes or until tender. Then remove them to a bowl.

Add half and half and sauce mix to skillet and stir to blend. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring often.

Reduce heat and simmer 3 minutes or until sauce has thickened.

Stir remaining 2 tsp butter, mushrooms, chicken, tomatoes or hearts and cheese into the sauce. Cook for 1 minute or until heated through. Stir it while cooking!

Drain pasta, reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking water.

Return pasta to pot, add sauce mix and water.

Stir to mix well. Top with extra cheese and parsley.

This is by far my most favorite pasta recipe. If I don't have tomatoes or artichoke hearts I just don't add any.

One caution...Do Not pour the 1/4 cup of boiling water on your hand as you pour it into the mix.

It hurts!!