Tator Tot Casserole, Massey Style

I have seen this made several ways. Joe saw it on TV and requested I make it this week so I looked up quite a few recipes but nothing sounded great to me. I then decided to do it my own way. It turned out great! This is a new Massey family favorite! Hana and Joe devoured theirs and I thought it was pretty tasty myself.

1 pound lean ground beef

garlic salt

garlic powder

1 yellow onion, chopped

  2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (I used the traditional green bean, corn, pea & carrot mix)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 small can mushrooms

black pepper

frozen tator tots

shredded cheese

green onions, chopped

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Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Brown hamburger seasoned with garlic salt & garlic powder (to your liking) with yellow onions.

Spray 8x8 glass baking dish with cooking spray.               

Spread hamburger/onion mix into bottom of pan. 

Spread frozen veggies as next layer.

Mix soup (straight from the can) with mushrooms, garlic powder (to your liking) and pepper.

Spread soup mixture over vegetables to cover entirely. 

Layer tater tots on top.

Bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour, checking after 30 minutes to see if tots are getting too brown. If so, turn down to 350 degrees.        

Sprinkle a bit of shredded cheese on top (I used 2% milk Colby Jack) and put under broiler for a couple minutes until cheese is bubbly and slightly browned.

Let sit 5 minutes.

Sprinkle with green onion. 

Deep Dish Taco Pie

I don't know where this recipe originated, but my Mom made it a lot when I was little and it's requested a lot in my house these days. It's not an exact science, I change things up every time I make it, but this is how I made it tonight. BTW, this recipe makes two pies, but the leftovers are AWESOME! We'll eat on this for days and days and days...

Heat oven to 350, once heated pre-cook deep dish pie shells until lightly browned.

Make rice. (I used Knorr's Sides Mexican Rice. I prefer their Taco Rice version, but it's difficult for me to find)

Make 1 lb of taco meat, mix in 1 can refried beans. (I used the fat free variety) Heat through.

Layer into each pie shell (Use your judgment on amount):
Meat/bean mixture, handful of crumbled tortilla chips, rice, shredded Monterrey Jack cheese, meat/bean mixture, handful of crumbled tortilla chips.

Bake for about 10 minutes, or until crust is done. Sprinkle with cheese and stick back in oven for a couple more minutes to melt cheese.

Let stand several minutes before cutting.

Muy Bueno!

Taco Salad Casserole

2 lbs hamburger
taco seasoning
8 0z cream cheese, softened (I mixed a little salsa in with mine)
1/2 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
1/2 cup chopped green onion
several handfuls chopped lettuce
1/2 large tomato, chopped

Prepare taco meat.
Spread meat into a casserole dish.
Spread cream cheese evenly over top.
Sprinkle Monterrey Jack cheese over cream cheese.
Layer onion, lettuce and tomato.
Serve and enjoy!
Goes well with fresh avocado.
Would also be good served with chips and a layer of Spanish rice, black beans or both!

Low-Carb Stuffed Peppers

Low-Carb Stuffed Peppers

I failed to take a picture, but these sure were yummy. Just click on the link above to find the recipe site!

Beef & Mushroom Rice

(Beefy Rice with mushroom soup)
*****
1 lb hamburger meat
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 small can sliced mushrooms
1 can diced tomatoes
garlic salt
1 packet onion soup mix
1 can cream of mushroom soup with roasted garlic
rice
shredded 2% milk cheddar
Hot sauce (i.e. Tabasco, Louisiana Hot Sauce)-optional
*****
Season hamburger meat with garlic salt and cook until browned; drain fat.
Mix together cream of mushroom soup, onion mix and approximately 1 cup of water; set aside.
Add onion, bell peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, and soup mixture.
Simmer 15-20 minutes until the onion soup mix is cooked.
In the meantime, cook rice.
Spoon mixture over rice and and sprinkle with cheese.
Garnish with hot sauce if you like.

Beefy Rice

1 lb hamburger meat
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 small can sliced mushrooms
1 can diced tomatoes
garlic salt
1 packet onion soup mix
rice
shredded 2% milk cheddar
Hot sauce (i.e. Tabasco, Louisiana Hot Sauce)-optional

Season hamburger meat with garlic salt and cook until browned; drain fat.
Add onion, bell peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, onion soup mix and just enough water to make it juicy so that it will simmer without burning.
Simmer 15-20 minutes until the onion soup mix is cooked.
In the meantime, cook rice.
Spoon mixture over rice and and sprinkle with cheese.
Garnish with hot sauce if you like.

Great Goulash

I made this dish for Ashley's family and they loved it. What an honor it was to have them praise my food in such a way! I was a brand new stay-at-home Mommy at the time and wasn't really big into cooking. To this day, ever so often Ashley calls or emails me wanting this recipe. Maybe her family's interest in my cooking is what sparked my interest in cooking? Although, I must give credit where credit is due. I used to make goulash the way our family does, which is absolutely delicious, but Joe, never leaving well enough alone, concocted this recipe. I have merely given it life.

1 lb hamburger meat
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 can Italian-seasoned diced tomatoes, drained
Italian seasoning
Garlic salt
Pepper
1 box Penne Rigate pasta
1 package sliced provolone
1 8 oz package shredded mozzarella cheese
*Be creative with the cheese. Sometimes I use sliced mozzarella and shredded Italian blend cheese.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook pasta according to directions on box.

Brown meat with onion. While cooking, season meat with garlic salt, pepper and Italian seasoning to your liking. (I have no idea how much I add!)
Once meat is browned, drain off any fat, reduce heat to low and add the tomatoes to the meat. Stir until tomatoes are heated and remove from heat.

Once pasta is cooked, drain and return to pan. Add meat mixture to pasta and mix.

Spread one half into a glass casserole dish and top with sliced cheese. Layer the other half on top, spread, and sprinkle evenly with shredded cheese.

Place in oven just until cheese is melted, any longer and the noodles may get crunchy! Let sit 5 minutes before serving.

I like to serve this dish with a side salad and ciabatta bread. Bon Appetit!

Serves about 8, but we LOVE the leftovers!

Left Over Fajita Pizza Supreme

1 tube refrigerated pizza crust
1 cup salsa (I used Joe T. Garcia's "Hot")
1/2 cup diced onion (I used half yellow, half purple)
1/4 cup julienned green bell pepper
1/2 lb fajita meat (I used left over beef fajita meat)
Dash of cumin
Dash of chili powder
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 avocado, diced
Handful of crumbled Cotija cheese (a Mexican crumble cheese)
2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese (as always, I used 2% milk cheese)
2 tbsps olive oil
salt and pepper
I also used Joe's left over homemade Mexican rice, reheated
*TIP: To successfully reheat rice so that it's not crunchy, place it in a plastic microwave safe container, add a decent amount of water, put the lid back on tight and microwave long enough for it to steam and the lid to pop up a bit.
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Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Spread dough onto greased 10x15 (or so) cooking sheet.
Cook dough for approx 8-10 minutes, until edges are lightly browned.
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In the meantime, saute onion, cumin, pepper, chili powder, salt, pepper and garlic in olive oil until vegetables are tender, add meat and stir until meat is heated through (since I used left over already cooked meat).
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Once crust is lightly browned, spread salsa evenly over the top, add 1 cup cheese. Add meat and veggie mixture and top with rest of shredded cheese. Cook 10-15 minutes until crust is brown and cheese is bubbly. Remove from oven, turn oven temp to "warm", spread rice on top of pizza, sprinkle Cotija crumble cheese on top and place back in oven. Once Cotija is melty, remove and let sit at least 5 minutes before slicing.

Serve with fresh avocado on top. Makes 12 slices. Muy Bueno!

Mexican Pizza Pockets

Ingredients:
1 puff pastry sheet, thawed and rolled out
1/2 lb hamburger meat (I never use any more than 96/4 % fat)
taco seasoning
1/2 cup butter, melted
4 oz cream cheese (I use reduced fat)
1/4 cup white corn
1/4 cup diced yellow onion

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cook onions with meat and season with taco seasoning per taco seasoning instructions.
3. Mix in cream cheese and corn and stir until cream cheese is melted.
4. Cut puff pastry into 3-4 inch rectangles, ovals will work too.
5. Place 1-2 tablespoons of meat mixture in middle of each rectangle, but over to one side.
6. Brush edges of pastry with butter and fold empty side over to cover the meat mixture. Seal edges together with fork. (like ravioli) Repeat until all is used. If you have any of the meat mixture left, feed it to your hungry 18-month old daughter. =)
7. Place on greased cookie sheet and and brush tops with remaining butter.
8. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Dip in sour cream, salsa, guacamole, or a mixture of any of the three and serve with a side of rice. Muy delicioso!

Beef Wellington w/ Bearnaise Sauce

Joe has been on me for a while now to learn how to make Beef Wellington, so what better of a time than Father's Day! I found this recipe on simplyrecipes.com, here is the exact link:
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/beef_wellington/

Beef Wellington Recipe

Ingredients:
1 lb beef tenderloin fillet
Salt and pepper
Canola, grapeseed, or olive oil
1 lb mushrooms
4 thin slices ham (Parma ham if you can get it) or prosciutto (I used prosciutto)
2 Tbsp yellow mustard (we used Coleman's Original English Mustard)
7 ounces puff pastry (needs 3 hours to defrost in refrigerator if using frozen)
2 egg yolks, beaten
**I also used a about a tbsp of diced onion and a tbsp of minced garlic

To make:
1 Preheat oven to 400°F.
2 Heat a tablespoon or two of oil in a large pan on high heat. Season the fillet generously with salt and pepper. Sear the fillet in the pan on all sides until well browned (hint: do not move the fillet until it has had a chance to brown). Remove the fillet from the pan and let cool. Once cooled, brush the fillet on all sides with mustard.
3 Chop the mushrooms put them into a food processor and purée. Heat a large sauté pan on medium high heat. Scrape the mushroom purée into the pan and let cook down (this is where I also added a tbsp diced onion and a tbsp minced garlic), allowing the mushrooms to release their moisture (and for the onion to cook). When the moisture released by the mushrooms has boiled away, set aside the mushrooms to cool.
4 Roll out a large piece of plastic wrap. Lay out the slices of ham on the plastic wrap so that they overlap. Spread the mushroom mixture over the ham. Place the beef fillet in the middle, roll the mushroom and ham over the fillet, using the plastic wrap so that you do this tightly. Wrap up the beef fillet into a tight barrel shape, twisting the ends of the plastic wrap to secure. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
5 On a lightly floured surface, roll out the puff pastry sheet to a size that will wrap around the beef fillet. Unwrap the fillet from the plastic wrap and place in the middle of the pastry dough. Brush the edges of the pastry with the beaten eggs. Fold the pastry around the fillet, cutting off any excess at the ends (pastry that is more than 2 layers thick will not cook all the way, try to limit the overlap). Place on a small plate, seam side down, and brush beaten egg yolks all over the top. Chill for 5-10 minutes.
6 Place the pastry-wrapped fillet on a baking pan. Brush the exposed surface again with beaten eggs. Score the top of the pastry with a sharp knife, not going all the way through the pastry. Sprinkle the top with coarse salt. Bake for 25-35 minutes. The pastry should be nicely golden when done. (To ensure that your roast is medium rare, test with an instant read meat thermometer. Pull out at 125-130°F for medium rare.) Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Slice in 1-inch thick slices.
Serves 4.

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I also made a very simple Bearnaise Sauce to go with the Beef Wellington. I will say that the sauce tasted a little funny by itself, but atop the meat it was out of this world! I found the recipe on AllRecipes.com. Here is it's exact link:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Bearnaise-Sauce-I/Detail.aspx

Bearnaise Sauce

INGREDIENTS:
1/3 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup minced shallots
2 teaspoons dried tarragon
4 egg yolks, beaten
1/2 cup butter

DIRECTIONS:
In a microwave safe dish combine vinegar, shallots and tarragon. Microwave on high until boiling. Allow to cool.
Stir in egg yolks and butter. Microwave until thickened, about 1 minute.

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I served the Beef Wellington with Bearnaise Sauce on the side with homemade mashed potatoes and green beans. Let me just say that Joe looked at me during the meal and asked "Where's my wife? This is a five star meal! I couldn't have pulled this off!" What a great compliment! Honestly, I couldn't believe I pulled it off either. I was so nervous to cook it!

Courtney's Taco Soup

1 lb hamburger meat
Taco Bell brand taco seasoning
1 packet dry ranch
1 can Ranch-Style Beans with jalapenos
1 can butter beans
1 small can white corn
1 can yellow hominy
handful of chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup chopped yellow onion
shredded Colby-Jack cheese

In large soup pan, brown hamburger meat with onion & season with taco seasoning.
Add all beans and veggies, be sure to add their juices too!
Mix in half of the cilantro as well as the dry ranch and enough water to fill the pot close to the top and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes.
Ladle it into bowls and sprinkle cheese and fresh cilantro on top. Goes great with tortilla chips, Frito's, cornbread and even white rice!

Cousin Brad's Burgers

Last night I made hamburgers the way Brad taught me to years ago. I mixed approximately 1 1/2 lbs hamburger meat with a packet of dry onion soup mix. De-lish!