Tater Tot Casserole

Well, I'm going back to the basics here. I got in a bit of a habit of always doing mexican style meals with ground beef (or sloppy joes) so I figured I'd go back other things made with ground beef. Which actually took me a while to figure out what they were again. But here it is the FAMOUS (ok not really) tater tot casserole. 

Ingredients:
1 can cream mushroom
1 bag tater tots
1 lb ground beef
1 bag frozen mixed vegetables
1/4 can milk (use the soup can)
Worcestershire Sauce

Directions:
Brown meat over the stove, drain fat off
Drizzle worcestershire sauce over the cooked meat (to add flavor)
Mix in bag of vegetables & cream of mushroom soup
If you want a creamier mixture, add a little milk. I ended up using about a 1/4 of a can. 
Pour mixture into a 9x13 pan
Layer tater tots over top
Bake at 425 for 25 minutes

See, wasn't that easy?
As for how it tastes, its yummy food like mamma used to make :) I used to make it without the worcestershire sauce but I will say the sauce adds a nice flavor to the meat mixture. Austin liked the tater tots and picked those off but he's been pretty picky lately. 

Tips & Suggestions:

• Sprinkle cheese over the top 5 minutes before you pull it out of the oven. I have done that in the past and it's yummy but when cutting back on calories, the cheese didn't make the cut this time. :)
• Add onion in with the ground beef. This would add a little more flavor but I'm not a huge fan of onion so I don't use it often.
• Change up the vegetables. You don't have to use mixed, just use whatever you have on hand.

Nutrition Info: (8 servings)
Calories: 406
Fat: 20
Carbs: 37
Protein: 18
Sodium: 866
Sugar: 3

Cost Analysis: 
Ground Beef/Pork/Chicken/Turkey - $2 to $5
Tater Tots - $1.89
Cream of Mushroom - $.59
Mixed Vegetables - $1.05
Vit D Milk - staple
Worcestershire Sauce - staple
Total for Meal: $3.53 + Meat ($5.53 to $8.53)
Per Serving: Between $.69 and 1.07
*These are estimates and are not guaranteed* 

Greek Skillet Dinner

We've been in the process of moving for quite a while now and we're finally settled so I thought I'd share a new family favorite dinner! A friend of ours came over one night last year to make dinner for us and it was so good I made sure to grab the recipe from her.

Ingredients:
1 box of penne/bowtie pasta
1 lb ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 can beef broth
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 box frozen spinach, thawed
Shredded Cheese (mexican blend or cheddar)

Directions:
Cook ground beef and onion in large skillet (or pot to save dishes)
Add Spices
Stir in broth, tomatoes, and tomato paste.
Bring to a boil and add pasta.
Reduce heat to medium, cover and cook for 10 minutes or until pasta is nearly tender
Stir in thawed spinach and some cheese.
Cover and cook for 5 minutes.
Sprinkle more cheese on top.

Notes:
I tend to use minced onion instead of real onion because I generally don't have onion on hand. It could also be omitted if needed.
My large skillet doesn't have a cover so I use one of my larger pots to do this meal and keep it all in there.

Summary:
Everyone here loves this recipe including Austin. He'll pick out the spinach and eat just that!

Texas Beef Stew

Whoot, two new recipes in the same week! I'm on a roll. This one has been a long time in the making but I finally got around to doing it... aka, beef stew meat was on sale. I'm not sure why this was considered a frugal meal other than it makes a ton I'd lump it in with an average costing meal. I found this recipe originally here but have adapted it some.

Ingredients:
1-2 lbs of beef tips (I think I used 1.5 lbs)
1 can (14oz) tomatoes (I use petite b/c we don't like big tomatoes)
1 can (10.5oz) beef broth
8-16oz salsa (I used about 12oz I figure)
1 bag whole kernel corn
2/3 bag of baby carrots
*the next two ingredients were not measured, the small picture above shows roughly how much I used**
Minced Onion (you could use a whole onion)
Garlic Powder (calls for 2 cloves)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup flour

Directions:
Combine all ingredients except water and flour into your croc pot.
I cut the baby carrots in quarters to make them smaller for Austin
Set croc pot on high for 3-4 hours until meat is tender
Mix water and flour together then add to stew
Cover again and cook for another hour until stew has thickened

We loved this recipe and it was super easy to make and made a lot. The original recipe called for mexican stewed tomatoes which probably would have added a little more spice but I didn't have those and I'm not a super big fan of anything two spicy but is an option for those that do enjoy it that way.

Taco Sauce

It's been a while but I'm still around. Super busy trying to get the house sold though so I'm low on time. I did however try my hand at making taco sauce! I was making the amazing burritos I posted previously and realized I didn't have any so I went out searching and found a recipe at Terri's Kitchen blog. and it was awesome.

Please feel free to ignore the mess around and enjoy this great recipe that is super easy to make and WAY cheaper than buying it in a bottle. Especially if you consider that (at least for me) 1/2 the bottle ends up going bad in the refrigerator.

Ingredients:
1 can tomato sauce
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp  onion powder
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce

Directions:
Combine everything! SUPER easy right?
Original instructions say to wait 30 minutes to let the flavors marinate together but I just used it and it was great.

So, as for cost, you've got like $.35 in the can of tomato sauce (I think), cumin, onion powder, and garlic powder are all $.99 per large jar at aldi. Oregano and the worcestershire sauce are probably the big expenses but I already have them in the house generally.  Still FAR less than spending $2-3 on a bottle of the stuff.

Spicy Sausage Supper

Picture taken from original recipe page
http://www.kevinandamanda.com/recipes/dinner/spicy-sausage-pasta.html#_a5y_p=668423&_a5y_p=976718

So we made this awesome casserole last night. Its called Spicy Sausage Supper and I honestly didn't think it would be too bad. I mean take a look at the ingredients, none of them are all that spicy. I didn't change a couple things but not too much. You can find the original by clicking the above link.

Here is my sad looking picture. Its just leftovers at this point because
I didn't have the camera around last night.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp oil
1 lb smoked sausage
Handful of diced onion
1/2 a spoon of minced garlic
2 cups water
1 (10 oz) can Ro-Tel tomatoes and green chiles, Mild
1/2 cup heavy cream
8 oz penne pasta
2 cups Colby Jack cheese, shredded

Directions:

1. Add olive oil to a skillet over medium high heat until just smoking. Add sausage and onions and cook until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
2. Add broth, tomatoes, cream, pasta, and stir. Bring to a boil, cover skillet, and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until pasta is tender, about 15 minutes.
3. Add cheese on top of the skillet. Leave on heat until cheese is melted.

Synopsis: 

This dish was really yummy and full of flavor. It was a bit spicy for me but not too bad. Andrew loved it and said it was perfect taste/spice wise.

White Bread

I did it! After quite a few attempts at bread I finally had a loaf of bread turn out. The whole rising thing was really getting to me but I finally had a batch that turned out and it is delicious. I got the recipe here from Delia Creates.

So, here is how you do it.

Ingredients and directions:
If you want step by step pictures please view on the site I found the recipe on. 
Step 1: Whisk together in a large bowl; 2.5 cups HOT water, 1/3 cup oil, 1/3 cup sugar or honey, 1 tbsp salt
Step 2: Add 3/4 cup flour, whisk for 30 seconds
Step 3: Add 1.5 tbsp , whisk for 30 seconds
Step 4: Add 5-7 cups of flour and kneed until dough is soft and no longer sticky (if you are doing it by hand and not a mixer, please refer to the linked recipe for instructions on adding flour). It should be at least 5 minutes.
Step 5: Let rise in clean greased covered bowl for 30 minutes. Set your oven for 450 degrees for a minute or less then turn it off before placing the oven safe bowl inside.
Step 6: Remove dough from oven and preheat to 175
Step 7: Grease your bread pans and counter and divide the dough. I did 3 medium loaves using a loaf pan and putting the other 2 in a 9x13
Step 8: Roll the dough into an oblong shape getting all the air bubbles out.
Step 9: Roll the dough in a cylinder form and tuck the ends under.
Step 10: Place dough in 175 degree oven for 30 minutes until the dough rises and fills the pan
Step 11: Turn oven up to 350 degrees and bake for 30 minutes. Bread is done when it sounds hollow.

So, I used honey for my sweetener because I had some lying around that wasn't getting used and I think its a little healthier than sugar. The bread turned out amazing. Its a little dense but tastes amazing. Austin even had a jelly sandwich with it today for lunch. The two loaves I sat in the 9x13 pan came out a little flat as they spread out more than up when rising but the one I did in the loaf pan (middle loaf) turned out nicely. The loaves are taller than they look I just took the photo at an odd angle apparently.

Also, for the yeast I ended up using a rapid rise yeast. The 1.5 tbsp is 1.5 packets  if that helps as well. I hand whisked everything and once ready to mix with flour I put it in my mixer and used my dough hook.

Don't forget to let me know if you try this recipe or any of my other ones. I'll be making cake this weekend and probably another dessert as well so stay tuned for some more great recipes.

Chicken Tacos (Croc Pot Recipe)

I tried a new chicken taco recipe late last week and we totally loved it and it was super easy.

Ok, I don't have a picture of this. I thought the recipe would be online but its not the same as what they (Taste of Home) has in their cookbook. It's from their kids pleasers cookbook if you wanted to know.

Ingredients:
2.5 lbs chicken breast (ish)
1 jar of salsa (I use meijer)
1 can of corn (or frozen) drained
1 can of black beans drained

Directions:
Mix the corn and black beans together
Layer 2/3 of the above mixture, 1/2 the salsa, chicken, then remaining 1/3 mixture and 1/2 jar of salsa in your slow cooker.
Cook on high for 3-4 hours.
Shred the chicken and cook for another hour or just keep it warm.
Serve with: tortilla shells, sour cream, lettuce, shredded cheese, and whatever other taco toppings you prefer.

As for the 2.5 lbs of chicken, I used 2 think large chicken breasts, cut them in half, and it made 1 layer of chicken in the crock pot.

This was a HUGE hit here that everyone loved it made a TON too. We had leftovers for quite a while and that was eating it all the time. :)

Found a picture that it kind of looks like but keep in mind, this is NOT top notch photography! :P