So I have been doing more than one recipe a week and it has worked out so well, because just as I had hoped this plan has inspired more blog posts, and has also been inspiration in the kitchen. Each time that I have been at a loss for what to make, whether it has been for breakfast, lunch, supper or dessert, I have looked to the 9x13 cookbook - and found something interesting to try! It has been great!
So last Friday I had no idea what to make for supper, and although my freezer seems full I didn't feel like there was anything in there to make. We had already had pork roast that week, and chicken twice. I didn't know what to make.
I did have a package of cooked ground beef, so I found something that would work!
When you have 6 kids that is a sure winner!
So the jist is to scramble fry ground beef with onions and then add in a can of cheddar cheese soup, a can of mushroom soup and a bit of water - layer that in a 9x13 and top with frozen french fries and bake somewhere around 40 minutes at 400.
So that's not hard, so I thought I would tell you instead a few of my favorite kitchen hints. I heard once from an amazing mom at church - this great hint. Most recipes that incorporate ground beef start with the instructions to scramble fry it and drain off any fat. So she said you can take a whole tray of ground beef and put in a roaster in the oven at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or so and it will be cooked, ready to drain off the fat and freeze pre-cooked in small packages. I do this as soon as I get home from the grocery store, and then it cooks as I put away the rest of the groceries. You can season it however you like - throw in a chopped onion and celery if that is your thing, whatever you want. I put seasoning salt, garlic powder and oregano on mine and then freeze it in smaller bags - 2 cups of cooked ground beef equals one pound of beef which is used for most recipes.
It's the best thing! What I used to do all the time was cook one tray like that and then make another big tray into meatballs and freeze them cooked as well. I have been a bit of a slacker lately and haven't done the meatballs in a while, because I am well, a slacker! LOL!! But it is an awesome thing to do, because if you cook the meatballs at 375 for 15-20 minutes, let them cool and freeze them so that you can throw them into spaghetti sauce in a hurry, or quickly make a honey garlic sauce and rice to eat with them, or even in a bigger hurry? Throw some frozen meatballs in the oven with some cream of mushroom soup and bake them for between 30-60 minutes and you can serve them with noodles or rice -super fast!
But that brings me to another problem - I don't like cream of mushroom soup. For two reasons, because it is mushroom, and because there is just so much salt in canned cream of mushroom soup. So whenever a recipe calls for cream of mushroom or cream of chicken, or even as in the above recipe, cheddar cheese soup, I make a quick substitution.
I just melt 2 tbsp. of margarine in a pan, add 2 tbsp. of flour, and cook it for a minute or so and add in 1 cup of milk slowly until it is all incorporated and smooth. Then you can season it with beef buillion or chicken, or velveeta cheese, or whatever you want and at least you know how much salt is in it. You can even put mushrooms in if you really want, whatever floats your boat!
No one ever knows that I made my own and I feel so much better about it!
So that was my one recipe and the second one that day we had for dessert, it was a chocolate bread pudding with a caramel sauce on top - Delicious!!! Maybe the best bread pudding I have ever had. And it worked out so well because I had a leftover loaf of French bread from the senior's breakfast that had happened that morning....perfect for bread pudding! I will post that recipe later! And sorry, you get no picture because it was delicious and we ate it all, and I mean all of it!
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