Chili Biscuit Bake

I found this recipe in the Taste of Home cookbook and thought it was something that I would actually make.  It came together really well, except that the baking dish over flowed with too much chili, and some of the biscuits were not baked through in the center.

1 lb ground beef [ground turkey]
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can (14-1/2 oz) stewed tomatoes, cut up
1 pkg (10 oz) frozen mixed vegetables [I used 1 can of corn and 2 cans of beans (kidney and black) hence the overflowing]
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
*flavor for taste: chili powder, taco seasoning, black pepper, onion/garlic powder, etc

Biscuits:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
2 T shortening
2/3 cup milk
1 tsp prepared mustard
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided

In a skillet, cook beef or turkey and onion until cooked through, drain extra grease.  Add flavorings.  Stir in tomatoes, vegetables, beans and tomato sauce.  Pour into a prepared 11x7x2 baking dish.  Cover and baked at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.  Meanwhile, combine flour and baking powder in a bowl.  Cut in shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  With a fork, incorporate milk and mustard and stir until it forms a soft dough.  Add six Tablespoons of cheese.  Drop onto the top of hot chili casserole.  Bake uncovered for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown; sprinkle with remaining cheese.

 made June 29th

Source: Brenden, Darlene.  Taste of Home Annual Recipes.  "Ground Beef Biscuit Stew".  Ed. Michelle Brett.  Greendale, WI: Taste of Home Books, 2007. 68-69.

April Fool's Day "Chocolate Cream Pie"

Another inspiration from Pinterest.  In honor of April Fool's Day, I decided to make "dessert" for dinner.  I tried out a new (to me) recipe for meatloaf using ground turkey and Panko breadcrumbs.  Then I tried to spread mashed potatoes on top to look like whipped topping.

Turkey Meatloaf
2/3 cups panko (Japanese) breadcrumbs
1/2 cup milk
3 pounds lean (7 percent) ground turkey, preferably organic
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons ketchup
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon rubbed sage
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl mix Panko with milk and let stand for five minutes.  Add ground turkey, onion, eggs, (1/4 cup) ketchup, parsley, mustard, salt, sage and pepper.  Mix the turkey mixture well.  Place the meat into a loaf pan, brush on top the 2 Tablespoons of ketchup and bake for 90-105 minutes.  Inner temperature should be 165 degrees when done.  While baking, you may need to drain the extra grease.  I halved the recipe, and it was finished in 1 hour.  Next time, I'll just make the recipe as is.  It's a great tasting turkey loaf, flavorful and moist.  Thomas liked the ketchup incorporated inside (he didn't realize the ketchup on the outside because I piled mashed potatoes on top of it.) 

For the mashed potatoes, I washed, peeled, cut and boiled 5 yukon gold.  I added about 1/4 cup milk, 3 Tablespoons melted butter and garlic powder to taste.

Source for meatloaf: "Turkey Meatloaf".  The Martha Stewart Show, February Winter 2008.
Inspiration from: Huntley, Amy.  "April Fool's Day".  The Idea Room. 16. March 2010.

Cheeseburger Mac & Cheese

This was a huge hit!  It's a great recipe that everyone in the family enjoys and uses no butter (which Mom loves.)  The directions were confusing when I first read the recipe, but it still turned out yummy.  Of course, I used ground turkey instead of beef. :)

1 lb (95% lean) ground beef {or 93% lean ground turkey:: I used a little more than a half-pound}
1-1/2 cups water
8 oz [1 cup] whole wheat macaroni pasta
5 oz [2/3 cup] 2% milk (divided)
3 tsp flour {oops, I accidentally used 3 T, I guess it's a forgiving recipe!!}
2/3 cup sharp cheddar cheese (shredded)
1/4 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp dry mustard
dash cayenne pepper {I used chili pepper because I don't have cayenne}
1/4 cup low sodium ketchup

Brown the ground turkey/beef in a skillet.  Grind in black pepper and chili powder.  In a saucepan boil the water and add the pasta to the boiling water.  Cook for eight minutes or until cooking water is absorbed into the pasta.  Add the pasta to the skillet of cooked meat.  In a bowl mix flour with 2 T milk.  Pour the rest of the milk into the saucepan.  Warm the milk, stirring frequently, then add the flour mixture.  When thickened, add cheese.  Stir until the cheese mixture is smooth then add the dry mustard and paprika.  Combine the cheese sauce with the pasta and meat.  Stir in the ketchup. 

Recipe from: Dr. Gourmet Blog. "Quickie Cheeseburger Mac".  Feb. 23, 2012.

Lasagna Soup

In the fall of 2008 I created this soup with inspiration from Good Things Utah.  It was a dinner staple until mid 2010.  Originally I would use 1/2 pound of Jimmy Dean sausage, but this time I used ground turkey.

Recipe
1/2 pound of ground meat (turkey, sausage or beef)
1 can of chicken broth
1 can diced tomatoes
2 cups of pasta
Cheeses like Mozzarella or Parmesan

Vegetable suggestions
(aim for about 1 cup for each vegetable)

diced carrots
baby spinach
diced zucchini
onion
mushrooms

Herb/spice suggestions
(to taste)

Italian seasoning
Parsley
onion powder/dried onions
garlic powder
black pepper
salt

Instructions
Cut carrots and begin to boil in a medium saucepan.  If you'd like to use an onion, dice and begin to sautee in a skillet.  Brown ground meat in a skillet until cooked through.  (I like to spice the ground turkey to ensure more flavor.)  In the skillet, add cans of chicken broth and diced tomatoes. Simmer until bubbly.  Stir in all herbs and spices into the meat/sauce mixture.

Meanwhile, add any other vegetables into the medium saucepan to soften.  Make sure there is enough water to cook two cups of pasta.  Add pasta to the boiling water. 

Add baby spinach in the skillet after pasta begins to cook.  After the pasta has cooked and the baby spinach has wilted, drain the pasta and vegetables returning them to the saucepan.  Mix the meat/sauce/spinach mixture into the pasta. 

One suggestion is add the cheese to the bottom of the bowl and ladle the hot soup into the bowl.  Or just top the soup with your cheese of choice. 

Spicy Potato Soup

This is one of the soups from my childhood.  Thomas says it's his favorite soup that I've made.  However, I don't really have a recipe to write down.  It's all an approximation but maybe next time I make it, I'll note more specific measurements.

4 medium (red) potatoes
6- 8 oz. tomato sauce (so not the entire can)
1/2 - 3/4 lb. lean ground turkey
1 zucchini (or green beans; peas)
chili powder
garlic powder
onion powder {alternatives: saute onion to your taste, or dried onion}
black pepper
salt

Wash and dice potatoes, peeling is optional.  In a medium saucepan, cook for 20-30 minutes until potatoes are tender.  Meanwhile, {saute onion}, brown ground turkey, sprinkle chili powder, garlic- and onion powders, and pepper.  Wash and slice zucchini into fourths, add into turkey mixture.  Drain potatoes (when done.)  Combine the potatoes and meat into the medium saucepan.  Add tomato sauce (until it barely covers food), pour in a little water (about 1/2 cup) to thin out the sauce.  Sprinkle in more chili powder, pepper, salt, garlic- and onion powder.  Stir over medium-high heat until the soup comes together, slightly bubbly and thickened.  My mom's original recipe suggested to top with Tabasco.

What's-in-the-pantry Meatless Taco Soup

It's one of those nights with an almost bare fridge, so I needed my creative juices to help me out for dinner.  But we have plenty of cans in the pantry (tomatoes, corn, beans), so a soup made sense to me even without beef.  I had carrots that needed to be used, so I just threw those in too.

Carrots
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can corn
1 can black beans
3 T taco seasoning
1 can beef broth
1/2 box (13.25 oz) whole wheat rotini pasta

Chop baby carrots and boil them for about 20 minutes.  Drain and return to the medium saucepan.  Add canned corn, diced tomatoes, black beans, taco seasoning and beef broth.  Stir in pasta.  Raise the heat to high until boiling (stirring occasionally).  Turn the heat down to low, cover and let cook for about 10 minutes. 

It turned out great!  The pasta really thickened it.  It's definitely a nice to-go-to soup when there isn't a lot of time to cook!  Top with your choice of flavor, any cheese, sour cream, or spicy sauce. 

"Meaty" Taco Soup
Here's the same soup, but with ground turkey, chicken broth (instead of beef broth) and without pasta.  Delish!