Easy Peasy Spaghetti & Homemade Meatballs.

Since making plain old Spaghetti is a little too easy, I decided to use the Ground Beef to make some Meatballs.  Just a bit of fake fancy for ya.

Spaghetti & Homemade Meatballs

1 lb Ground Beef
1/2 cup Bread Crumbs
1 Egg
S & P to taste
1 box Pasta
2 jars Spaghetti Sauce

Boil your Pasta according to package.  Preheat Oven to 375.

Combine your Ground Beef, Bread Crumbs, & Egg in a large bowl and mix with your hands.  Add S&P for flavor.  Form your Meatballs and place on a shallow pan (covered w/ foil for super easy clean up) and bake for 20 - 25 minutes.  Personally, I like a little crisp on the outside of the Meatball, so I cooked it a bit longer.

When the Meatballs are done, add them in a large skillet with your Pasta and stir in the Spaghetti Sauce.

Super easy, cheap, and yummy.

Cheeseburger Pie

I had originally planned to make Cheeseburger Crescents, but I opted for Cheeseburger Pie.  Really, it was going in a direction that wasn't Crescent-like, so I improvised.  Improvisation is my middle name.

You Will Need:

1 lb Ground Beef (Turkey or Boca will totes work)
2 cans Pillsbury Crescents
2 cups Shredded Cheese
3 tbsp Worchester Sauce (optional)
1 tbsp Hamburger Seasoning (optional)
S & P to taste

Preheat oven to 350.

First, brown your Ground Beef and drain.  Return to skillet and sprinkle sprankle with Worchester Sauce, Seasoning, and S & P.  Worchester Sauce is also optional, but it's so dang good that I don't know why you'd opt out of it; it makes beef ultra juicy/tangy/somethin' I can't explain.

Spray a baking dish ( I used 14x9 small one, which will take a bit longer to bake).  Line Crescents along bottom and sides of the dish like a crust - I suppose you could really use a crust here, but in my case, Crescents were cheaper.  Fill with cooked Beef Mixture and top with Shredded Cheese.  Layer second can of Crescents on top of Beef Mixture and bake for 17-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out without the doughy stuff.

Inside Out Ravioli

Finally, I'm getting around to it!  I printed a version this recipe out from the internet somewhere a few moons ago and just tried it this week.  Super simple and delicious.

You Will Need:
1 box Pasta (I am super partial to Shells)
2 jars Spaghetti Sauce
1 - 1.5 lbs Ground Beef
2 cups Shredded Cheese

Preheat the oven to 350.

Boil noodles according to package - or until al dente.

Brown the Ground Beef in a large pan.  In a large bowl, combine the cheese with the noodles.  I do this first because the cheese gets all stuck inside the shells, which is yummmmmmy.  Then, add your Ground Beef and Spaghetti Sauce. 

Pour mixture into a baking pan.  Top with extra cheese if you want and throw it in the oven for about 30 minutes.

I served it with rolls and a salad and it was devine.

Easy.  Cheap.  Delish.  That's a winning combo!

Easy Peasy Beefy Burritos

I couldn't find the 'open' burrito view!  DANG!

Inspiration and 'How to fold a burrito' came from Pie Birds, Buttons, and Muddy Puddles.

You will need:

1lb Ground Beef (or turkey or boca for my sis)
1 can Black Beans
3 tbsp Chili Powder
1 can Rotel Tomatoes and Green Peppers
2 cups Shredded Cheese
1 tsp Cumin
12 Flour Tortillas

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Brown Beef.  Drain

Return Beef to pan and add Cumin and Chili Powder.  Add Rotel and Black Beans.

Add about a spoonful to each burrito and top with cheese!

Visit Andrea to learn how to roll the perfect burrito!

Don't forget to grease the pan!

Easy Peasy Cheesy-Beefy Biscuit Cups

Don't judge a book by it's cover!

Now, these didn't turn out as cute as I wanted them to because I didn't 'smoosh' the biscuits around the muffin tin enough, but they still turned out delicious!  Even my niece loved them (she had 2!) and she is quite a picky gal.  These are super easy, super kid friendly, and super yummy.  Helloooooo crowd pleaser!



nevermind the spill over!

 You will need:

1 lb ground beef
16 refrigerated biscuits
2 cups cheese
1 jar spaghetti sauce

Preheat the oven to 375.

Brown the beef, drain.  Stir in Spaghetti Sauce.

Generously spray muffin tins - get the sides good so these come out as cups like intended.  'Smooooosh' the biscuits into the tins.  Fill 2 tbsp of meat mixture in cups and bake for 15-17 minutes.  When they come out, sprinkle cheese all over and let it melt!

I served these with macaroni because mac n cheese is a no-fail with most kids.  I gave the option to have salad or peaches.  Here is Mrs. Picky herself:

Yes, that was way too much mac n cheese, so she traded half of it in for another Cheesy-Beefy Biscuit Cups.

Mama Kelly - these are soooo easy and both babies loved them!

I found a basic recipe for this on Allrecipes.com (one of my all time fav sites) and you can switch it up so much - add veggies, swap meat, go meatless - easy peasy!

Easy Peasy Quesagna!

Tonight, we tried a little something I like to call 'Quesagna' for obvious reasons - isn't it obvious?  Maybe just to me.  It's a mix between Quesadillas and Lasagna.  YUM!  It was also ridiculously easy, so it's quite the Easy Peasy addition!

You will need:

1 lb Ground Beef

1 can Hormel Chilli w/ Beans

1 can Kidney or Pinto Beans

9 Tortillas

1.5 cups Shredded Cheese (whatever you have!)

Preheat the oven to 350.

Brown the beef in a pan w/ EVOO.  Drain.  Return to pain and mix with Hormel Chilli and Beans.  DONE WITH THE FILLING!

Put 1/2 of the mixture in a lightly greased baking pan.  Pile 3 tortillas on top and add 1/2 of what is left of the mixture on top as well as 1/2 of the cheese.  Layer 3 more tortillas and finish off with the remainder of the mixture and cheese.  Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes or until cheese melts!

DELISH!

Better Than Stouffers Lasagna.

You will need:

1 lb Ground Beef

1 Jar Spaghetti Sauce (or make your own)

1 (15 oz) Package of Cottage Cheese

1 Pint Part-Skim Ricotta Cheese

1/4 Cup Grated Three Cheese (or Parmesan - your choice!)

2 Eggs

1 Package of Lasagna Noodles

8 Oz Shredded Mozarella

First, cook and drain ground beef and return it to the original pan.  Add spaghetti sauce and heat on low.

Preheat the oven to 350.

In a bowl, combine cottage cheese, ricotta, eggs, and shredded three cheese - I chose the three cheese shredded cheese because Kraft makes it now with cream cheese added, which makes the final product so creamy!

Spread a layer of the meat sauce in a 13x9 in pan and begin to layer with uncooked lasagna noodles, cheese mixture, and mozzarella.  Cover with aluminum foil and cook for 45 minutes.  Remove the foil, add more cheese if desired and cook uncovered for another 15 minutes.

Be sure the noodles are cooked, haha!  I served mine not totally cooked, but we stuck it back in the oven for no more than 15 minutes and let the noodles finish up.

This was really yummy and I can make 5 of them with the amount of money I'd pay for a Frozen Stouffers Lasagna.

Enjoy!

Spicy Goulash. YUM!

I adapted the recipe from the Taste of Home Slow Cookers book which, by the way, is such a great book!  Using a slow cooker is a great way to save time at night.  All I did was brown the meat the night before and combine all the ingredients in my slow cooker pot and turned it on the next morning.  EASY!

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground beef (90% lean)
• 3 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) diced tomatoes, undrained (recipe calls for 4)
• 3 cans (16 ounces each) (1) kidney beans, (2) chilli beans rinsed and drained (recipe calls for 2 kidney and no chilli beans)
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon Worcester sauce*
• 2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules*
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni

Directions

• In a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Transfer to a 5-qt. slow cooker. Stir in the tomatoes, beans, water, onion, green pepper, vinegar, chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, bouillon and seasonings.
• Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or until heated through.
• Stir in macaroni; cover and cook 30 minutes longer or until macaroni is tender. Yield: 12 servings.

*subsitutions:
I used A1 sauce to subsititue the Worcester sauce because we're out.  For the beef boullion, I used a packet of beef seasoning from Rice A Roni that I previously just used the rice from.

The recipe also called for 1 medium green pepper and 1 medium onion - I opted out of the green pepper because I'm not sure my son could handle all that heat yet and I opted out of the onion because I don't like onions and I chose diced tomatoes that already had them included.

In conclusion, this dish was so yummy!  I served it with vanilla - honey, cornbread muffins (boxed cornbread with 1 tbsp each honey and vanilla).  My son loved it!  I will upload his 'lovin' it' picture later.