Super Nachos!

This recipe has been a favorite for a very long time. I mostly remember my mom making this on Christmas Eve and I always thought it was cool that I could have Doritos for dinner!

I made this for Valentine's Day this year and it felt like a fun and out of the ordinary dinner. The kids and my husband loved it! This would have also been a great party dish for the Super Bowl.

I like how pretty it is with the lettuce on top. My mom always used chopped tomatoes, green onion, olives around the perimeter and a big scoop of guacamole in the center with some sour cream on top of that. Very festive! And the fun thing....use the Doritos to scoop and eat!

Super Nachos

Ingredients:

1 lb of ground beef
1 packet of taco seasoning
water according to packet

1 can of bean dip (I use Frito's original or jalapeno)
1 can refried beans
1 cup Monterrey Jack cheese
1 cup Cheddar cheese

Shredded lettuce
Sliced olives
Fresh diced tomatoes
Chopped green onion
Guacamole
sour cream

1 bag nacho cheese flavored Doritos

Directions:

Brown your ground beef, drain and prepare with taco seasoning according to package.

Combine the bean dip and refried beans and spread on the bottom of a 9"x13" casserole dish. Layer prepared taco meat on top. Sprinkle cheeses on top.

Place in oven a 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes until cheese is browned and bubbly.

Arrange lettuce, tomatoes, onion and olives around perimeter of casserole dish.

Serve with Doritos, guac and sour cream.


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Shredded Pork Taquitos

This is the second time that I made Pioneer Woman's Spicy Shredded Pork and I am officially hooked on pork shoulder. I've always been afraid of large cuts of meat, but I feel like the pork shoulder is my friend now. We were pretty well snowed in this last weekend so I had all day to tend to this spicy pork. It made our house smell so so so yummy and we had some AWESOME taquitos to eat during the Super Bowl!

All you do is:


1. Make your pork:

PW's Spicy Shredded Pork

Ingredients

• 4 pounds (up To 7 Pounds) Pork Shoulder
• 1 teaspoon Dried Oregano
• 1 teaspoon Ground Cumin
• 1 teaspoon Chili Powder
• 1 Tablespoon (to 2 Tablespoons) Salt
• Pepper To Taste
• 3 cloves (to 4 Cloves) Garlic
• 1 Tablespoon (to 2 Tablespoons) Olive Oil
• 2 Tablespoons (to 3 Tablespoons) White Wine Vinegar
• ¼ cups Brown Sugar
• 1 whole Onion
• Lime Wedges

Preparation Instructions

Rinse and pat dry the pork shoulder.

To begin, just throw the dried oregano, cumin, chili powder, salt, black pepper, garlic, olive oil, white wine vinegar and brown sugar into a food processor or blender. (I happen to love brown sugar in my cooking, but you can decrease or omit it if you like.) Cut one onion into quarters and put it in the food processor with the spices. Blend mixture until totally combined and then pour it over the pork shoulder.

Now rub it into every nook and cranny of the meat, tucking it under folds an in crevices. Let no stone go unturned. Then place the pork into a roasting pan or Dutch oven and add a couple of cups of water. Cover tightly and roast pork at 300º for several hours, turning once every hour. When it is fork tender crank up the heat, remove the lid, and roast it, skin side up for another 15 to 20 minutes to get the skin crispy. When it’s done let it rest for 15 minutes before shredding.

Shred the pork shoulder (two forks work well). When it’s all shredded be sure to pour the juices all over the meat. Serve with warm tortillas, lime wedges, sour cream, pico de gallo, guacamole, tomatillo salsa … whatever makes your skirt fly up!

2. Wrap your corn tortillas in damp paper towels and place in the microwave for about a minute to soften them up. Place some pork, shredded Monterrey Jack cheese and some homemade salsa (preferably) and roll. Place on cookie sheet with seem side down.


3. Brush taquitos with oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake at 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes. Serve with sour cream, salsa and guacamole. If you used all the shredded pork, you could make about 40 taquitos. I made mine the day before, wrapped the cookie sheet in plastic and kept them in the fridge until we were ready to eat.

Just a little side note:
This is why I love to cook! This is my little JD, but I remember licking the beaters, just like him, when I helped my mom make cookies! He is my little helper.... :)


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Layered Mexican Casserole

This was a fun dinner to make!

My husband was in the kitchen with me making salsa, the kids were playing together in the backyard and we had some good tunes playing in the background. It was one of those moments where everything was "right". I enjoyed that.


What made it even better was that everyone loved this dinner and it was placed on the "keeper" list.

Layered Mexican Casserole (8 servings)

1 lb. lean ground beef
1 small onion, diced
2 TBSP taco seasoning
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups salsa (we used Bob's fresh salsa and I think it made all the difference)
6 flour tortillas
1 cup reduced fat cheddar cheese, grated

1. In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink and onions are getting caramelized. Stir in salsa, beans, taco seasoning and cumin Place 3 tortillas in a 2 quart baking dish coated with cooking spray. Layer with half of the meat mixture and cheese. Repeat layers.


2. Cover and bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes. Uncover: bake 5-10 minutes longer or until heated through. Let stand for 5 minutes before topping with lettuce, sour cream, tomato, olives and cilantro.


1 piece equals: 357 calories, 12 g fat, 37 g carbs, 3 g fiber, 23 g protein.


And worth every bite!

Mean and Lean BBQ Buffalo Sandwich

About a month ago, my husband bought a buffalo with 2 other friends, had it slaughtered (gulp) and filled our freezer with buffalo burgers, steaks and roasts. I have always heard that buffalo meat was more lean than regular beef, so I was kind of excited to try it. The first thing I made was this delicious BBQ buffalo sandwich. This is a great BBQ recipe that I got from my sister-in-law, Carrie. It goes great with beef, pork or.......buffalo.


Homemade BBQ Buffalo Sandwich

2 T. Liquid smoke
1 C. Ketchup
1/4 C. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 C. Apple cider vinegar
1 C. Packed brown sugar
1 T. Chili powder
1 tsp. Celery seed
1/2 C. Water

Mix together and pour over roast in crock pot. Cook on low for 9 hours. If using leftover roast, cook only for 4 hours. Remove roast, shred with two forks and add back to crock pot and mix in juices. Serve with buns.

Bison burgers are next!

Spinach Stuffed Shells

It's hard to cook for your family and dinner guests when you are on a diet. That is why these stuffed shells are a great dinner option that can feed a crowd. This is a basic stuffed shells recipe that, if you use part-skim ricotta, lean ground turkey and low-fat mozzarella, can also be a non-cheat meal to get excited about. You can use your favorite sauce from a jar, or use the crushed tomatoes and seasonings as I did. I also added some zucchini left over from the pizza to the sauce. YUM!

Spinach Stuffed Shells

12 oz. Jumbo Shells
1/2 onion, chopped
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 lb lean ground turkey, cooked and drained
32 oz. crushed tomatoes
1 TBSP basil
salt and pepper

2 cups part-skim ricotta cheese
2 cups (divided) reduced fat mozzarella cheese, finely shredded
1 egg
10 oz. package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1/4 cup Parmesan

In a large pot, boil water and cook noodles according to package directions.

In a deep frying pan, pour oil and add onions. Saute until soft and and then add garlic. Saute until garlic is softened. Add the browned turkey, crushed tomatoes, basil and salt and pepper to taste with the onions and garlic. Add additional seasonings to sauce according to taste. Cover and simmer on low.

In a separate bowl, combine cheeses (reserve 1 cup of mozzarella for topping), egg and spinach.

When your shells are cooked and cooled, fill with about 1 TBSP of cheese mixture. Place shells in a 9x13 dish with a thin layer of sauce on the bottom. Cover the shells with the remaining sauce and cheese. Cover with foil and bake in 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes. Remove foil and cook for 5 minutes more.

If you like lots of sauce, prepare extra or use some from a jar to pour over the shells when serving. I didn't think it needed extra sauce but my husband thought that the recipe have used a little more flavor. (He also had a head cold, so I'm going to go with the theory that his olfactory senses were off, thus giving the illusion of tastelessness.) Right?


As you can see, I plated this with a small green salad and some ummmm....half eaten bread. I was hungry and I forgot that I hadn't taken the picture yet! It just smelled so good and again, took me back to Italy. We would buy these bagels in Bari that were cut in half and dried out in the oven so they were like the texture of a crouton. Very hard and crunchy. Well, my Italian friend, Antonella Raimondo, told me that the best way to eat them is to warm it in the oven and then take it out and drizzle olive oil and sprinkle salt on top. I was so young and naive back then because I thought that sounded disgusting. Imagine! Well, I tried it (to get the full Italian experience) and quickly became a fan. Here, I used my Arnold's sandwich thin and dried it out in the oven and drizzled a tsp of olive oil on top and sprinkled a little bit of salt. Just as I remembered. Simple, but so good.

This does feed a crowd. There are about 33-35 shells. 3 prepared shells= about 6.5 WW points.

Mushroom Pork Chops

My mission with this Valentine's dinner, was to use ingredients that I had already in my pantry, freezer or fridge. Translation: Don't make me go to the store with all three kids!!!!! Mission accomplished!


Mushroom Pork Chops

4 boneless pork chops
Old Bay Seasoning to taste
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 sweet onion, sliced thin
1 package sliced, fresh mushrooms
1/2 c. chicken broth
3/4 c. fat free milk
1/4 c. water
1 can Campbell's Healthy Request Cream of Mushroom Soup

1. Season pork chops with old Bay seasoning to taste.

2. In a large skillet, brown pork in olive oil over medium-high heat. Let the pork get nice and brown on each side then remove from pan. Add onions and mushrooms to skillet to soften and brown. Add the chicken broth to de-glaze the pan and get all those yummy pork bits to add flavor for the gravy. Cook onion and mushroom until soft and onions are golden brown.
.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, water and mushroom soup. Use a wisk to mix it all together. Add more Old Bay, cracked pepper or any other seasoning that may be calling to you, to give the gravy even more flavor.

4. Place browned pork chops on top of onions and mushrooms and pour soup mixture on top, covering the chops.

5. Cover and let simmer for 45 minutes. Serve over rice, egg noodles or mashed potatoes.

Mexican Casserole and Naughty Cornbread

I am posting this to tell you how I store my ground beef. Maybe you do this too. I usually buy the cheapest family pack of ground beef available. That is usually the 73% lean ground beef. (I only use this for browned ground beef recipes like spaghetti sauce, tacos, sloppy joes and casseroles like this one. For meatballs and meatloaf I get a leaner ground beef.) I get a couple of big dutch ovens and cook up the whole family pack at once. I also like to add dried onions to give it some good flavor. When the beef is nice and browned, I transfer it into a colander with a plastic container under it to catch the fat. After the fat has been drained, I remove the plastic container and run very hot water over the beef in the colander. This will help drain even more of the fat off. When the beef cools, I measure out about 2 cups and put it in a small freezer storage bag. I place all of the bags of beef in my freezer. Now I have a lean, meal size portion ready when I quickly need ground beef for a week night meal. Ready for some recipes?

Mexican Casserole (makes two 9x9 to eat one and freeze one for later)

1 box of pasta, cooked according to package and drained ( I used wagon wheels)
15 oz can of tomato sauce
1 can tomato soup
3/4 can of water (soup can)
1 cup frozen sweet corn
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups browned ground beef
2 packs of taco seasoning or to taste
1 cup colby jack or whatever cheese you have on hand

Basically......mix it all together (except cheese), put it in the casserole dish, top with cheese and bake at 350 degrees, uncovered for 30 minutes or until bubbly. You can top it with sliced olives. sour cream, shredded lettuce or just eat it as is. My kids really liked this. Especially JD.

To use frozen casserole: Put into fridge the night before to thaw. Bake at 350 degrees, covered with foil for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15 minutes longer.

Naughty Corn Bread

1 box of yellow cake mix
2 boxes Jiffy cornbread mix
eggs, oil and milk according to box mixes

Preheat oven according to directions on the cake mix box.

In a bowl combine all three box mixes. Add eggs, milk and oil according to each box mix. (Replace the water called for on the cornbread box mix with milk). Mix all the ingredients according to the cake mix directions.

This makes A LOT of cornbread, so I just make 2 batches of muffins and freeze what I don't use. They are really easy to defrost in the microwave for a quick meal.

Just bake these according to the cake mix directions. (About 20 minutes for the muffins and 30 minutes for 9x13 pan). Know your oven and make sure not to over cook these. Cooked just right, these are so moist!