Chef Lisa

While I hate the cold of winter, I love being able to cook up soups and stews. Luckily, my family feels the same, especially if there’s a side of fresh baked biscuits. This soup was inspired by the need for something hearty, with a good amount of protein for me and just enough carbs to make the soup filling for Matt and the kids. I checked out several versions of this soup online, picked out the bits I liked best, then threw it all together to make my own version.

It’s been added to the “yes, we’d love to eat it again” list. I’ve included the nutrition information for the soup, but you need to be aware the fat count is way off. Yes, there’s half a pound of bacon, but all the fat that came out when it was cooked was drained off, so it’s not as bad as it looks.

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The kids love sloppy joes and baked pasta. One of the meals they like is Sloppy Joe Manicotti, but I didn’t want to go through the effort of stuffing the manicotti shells for supper. To make this dish, I combined their favorite sloppy joes with pasta, threw on a handful of cheese and baked it in the oven until the cheese was melted. They gobbled it up.

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I like to call this “Cheater’s Sauerbraten”, and it’s the very first recipe I wrote into my recipe “journal” (one of those hardbound journals filled with line pages). It has all the wonderful tastes of sauerbraten, one of my favorite dishes growing up, but doesn’t involve any marinating time. The slow cooker does it all.

I don’t know yet what I’ll be serving this with. Either roasted potatoes or egg noodles, to take advantage of that lovely gravy.

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I got this recipe from Meijer MealBox, the grocery chain’s website that combines recipes and coupons. It originally called for a can of creamed corn, but in an effort to reduce the carb count, I substituted corn kernels and cream cheese. The recipe below reflects the changes I made, and comments are after the directions and nutritional information. I served this with a nice big side salad.

Beef Tagliarini

 
Servings 6

1 pound ground chuck
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
8 ounces tomato sauce
1 1/4 cups water
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
2 cups egg noodles, medium, uncooked
4 ounces cream cheese — cut into small pieces
1 cup corn
1 tsp garlic powder
salt & pepper to taste
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 2 or 2.5 quart casserole with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook ground chuck, onion and green bell pepper until no pink remains in the meat and the onions are tender.

Add in tomato sauce, water and dried basil. Mix well. Bring to a boil. Add in pasta, stir well, then cover, reduce heat and simmer for 7 to 8 minutes or until pasta is almost cooked.

Add cream cheese and corn, stirring until cream cheese is melted.

Pour everything into the casserole. Sprinkle cheddar evenly overtop and bake for 5 to 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

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Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 384 Calories; 30g Fat (58.6% calories from fat); 24g Protein; 24g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 119mg Cholesterol; 465mg Sodium.

Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 3 Lean Meat; 1 Vegetable; 4 Fat.

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If I had one word to describe this meal, it would be bland. There was little to no taste to it, even with the salt, pepper and garlic powder I added that wasn’t part of the original recipe. However, my family agreed this had lots of potential. I will try it again, but using a 6 oz can of tomato paste instead of the tomato sauce. And more seasoning – probably fresh garlic and italian seasoning (and more than just 1/2 tsp).

I learned two things when making the Grilled Gyro Burgers: do not oil the grate of our propane grill as it will flare up constantly and I will end up with smoked hubby; and grocery-store brand pitas are not suitable for this recipe. Of the six burgers the recipe made, half of them fell apart and had to be eaten with a fork and knife. However, the finished product was good enough that I’ll make it again, but with better pitas.

Grilled Gyro Burgers

 
16 ounces plain yogurt, divided
1 package dry Ranch-style dressing mix (I used Hidden Valley)
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1/4 cup diced onion
6 pita bread rounds
2 cups torn lettuce leaves
1 tomato, seeded and diced

DIRECTIONS

In a medium bowl, combine 8 ounces of plain yogurt with the envelope of ranch dressing mix. Remove half of the mixture to another bowl. Into one of the bowls, add the remaining yogurt and diced cucumber and mix well. Cover and refrigerate. Preheat grill.

Add the ground beef and 1/4 cup onion into the remaining half of the yogurt mixture and mix until just combined. Shape into 6 patties.

Grill the patties on medium heat for 7 minutes each side, turning once.

Cut off 1/4 end of the pita pockets and fill with torn lettuce, grilled burger, creamy cucumber sauce and diced tomatoes.