Gyro Burritos

It has been a very long while since anything has been added on here, but I have a couple of new recipes to share! This one came from a friend of mine as a quick easy dinner idea and it is delish. I love that it is mostly ingredients that I always have on hand so it is a perfect meal to throw together in a pinch!

THE MEAT
1 tablespoon olive oil 
1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice 
2 teaspoons garlic powder  or finely chopped garlic
1 teaspoon cinnamon 
1 teaspoon salt 
1 teaspoon onion powder or diced onion
1 teaspoon cumin 
2 teaspoons oregano 
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes 
1 lb ground beef or 1 lb ground turkey

THE CUCUMBER SAUCE
8 ounces light sour cream (I actually used plain greek yogurt instead)
1 cup diced cucumber 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
1 teaspoon dill weed 

10 large burritos 
1 large white onion, chopped 
Sliced (or chopped) tomato

Mix the cucumber sauce a few hours ahead of time if possible to let the flavors marinate, but if you don't have time or didn't plan ahead, mix it together while the meat is cooking.

Brown the hamburger or turkey, (add onion if using fresh) throw in the rest of the seasonings and saute for a few minutes.

Layer center of burrito with sauce, onions, tomato and meat. Roll up like a burrito and enjoy!

Beef Stroganoff

This was my grandma's recipe, and despite the fact that I'm not a big meat eater, I love it.  It was perfect for a comforting Sunday dinner on a crisp fall night, and makes 6-8 generous portions.  It's unlike a lot of other stroganoff recipes in that instead of being creamy and white sauce-based, it's tomato-based.  You can stir in 1/2 cup or so of sour cream at the end to make it creamier, but I like it as is.

2 1/2 pounds beef, cut in 1/2 inch cubes (I use top round, trimmed of fat)
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup butter, divided
1 large onion, diced
1 can sliced mushrooms (opt.) or scant 1/4 cup beef broth
1 15-oz. can tomato sauce or 2/3 cup tomato juice
salt & pepper
1 1/2 pound cooked pasta or rice

In a brown paper bag, toss cubed beef with flour until lightly coated.  Melt all but 1 Tbs. of butter in large skillet.  Brown beef on both sides, but don't worry about cooking it through (about 5 minutes).  Remove beef from skillet.  Melt remaining butter in skillet, the saute onions until softened.  Add in can of sliced mushrooms and their juice (or beef broth), tomato sauce  (or tomato juice), and browned beef.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce heat to low.  Simmer on lowest heat for approximately 1 hour, until beef is tender.  Crockpot option:  empty skillet into crockpot with additional 1/4 cup liquid, and cook on low 6 hours or high 3 hours until meat is tender.

When meat is tender, serve over cooked pasta or rice (I like whole wheat egg noodles or penne).  

Meatloaf

My husband has been gone during the week, so when he came home last weekend, I wanted to make him something hearty and comforting.  He loves meatloaf, which I've never made before, so I combined a few recipes I had and came up with this.  I served it with mashed potatoes (made so easy by the frozen Ore Ida Steam 'n Mash), roasted asparagus, and these caramel rolls.  Oh, and my husband liked it so much he had leftover meatloaf sandwiches 2 days in a row!

1 1/2 lbs. extra lean ground beef (I use either 93/7 or 96/4)
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup Stove Top Stuffing (dry)
1 envelope Lipton Onion Soup mix (optional)
1 cup ketchup, divided
1/2 cup diced onions
1/3 cup diced celery
1/3 cup diced green pepper
2 Tbs. shredded or grated parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. olive oil
salt and pepper


In a nonstick skillet, saute onions, celery, garlic, and peppers in about 1 tsp. olive oil until softened and barely browned.  Scoop into a large mixing bowl and let cool.  Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375.  Mix together cooled veggies, soup mix (if using, or just add salt, pepper, and dried onion), dry stuffing mix, beaten eggs, 1/2 cup ketchup, and Worcestershire sauce.  Then mix with beef, being careful to distribute seasonings evenly without over mixing.  Shape into a loaf on a large baking sheet covered with parchment paper.*  Brush remaining 1/2 cup ketchup over the top.  Bake for 35-45 minutes until browned and cooked through (I did mine for 45 minutes and it was perfect).  Let rest covered with tinfoil for an additional 10 minutes.

*You can also use a loaf pan, but from what I've read, loaf pans steam the meatloaf instead of getting the outside crisp.  Plus then you have to wash the pan.

Soy-Vinegar Marinade

I don't remember where I got this recipe from, but I use it all the time.  It gives meat such a yummy flavor.  I usually do flank steak, chicken breasts, or pork tenderloin.  This recipe makes enough for 1 large flank steak, 2 pork tenderloins, or 4 big chicken breasts.

1 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup canola oil
2 Tbs. onion flakes
1 tsp. Lawry's Seasoned Salt or McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning

Whisk marinade ingredients together, then pour into a Ziploc with meat and marinate 1-2 days.

I had this marinade on chicken last night with steamed broccoli and this rice pilaf.

Best Tri-tip Rub

In our tri-tip experimenting, we found the greatest tri-tip rub. All you do is rub it on the tri-tip at least 6-8 hours in advance and leave it in a ziploc bag in the fridge until you are ready to grill. You can find it at any grocery store. It is called

Spade L Ranch Beef Marinade and Seasoning.

Easy Grilled Tri-Tip

Ever since our recent trip to Northern California (close to where Seth served his LDS mission) Seth has rediscovered his love of Tri-Tip...so much so that he scoped it out at Costco and popped it in the cart. Tri-tip is a bit on the pricey end when you aren't buying it on sale in Cali and you usually have to ask the butcher for it specifically around here because they don't stock it in their displays, but Seth loves it and that makes it worth it! We have done the same sort of thing with London Broil, though, and it turns out so delicious (and is easier to get right on the grill) for about $2/lb. instead of $5. We tried a recipe from allrecipies.com with our own adjustments and marinated it in the fridge for 4 days. Melt-in-your-mouth meat! My brother, who has never eaten a bite of any kind of roast or steak in his life (I know - total wierdo), was lured in by the yummy aroma enough to try a bite and admitted that it was pretty darn good!

1/4 cup soy sauce (or teryaki or Worchestershire)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp water (I substituted 1 Tbsp. water and 1 Tbsp. Worchestershire)
4 cloves of garlic (pressed)
black pepper to taste
4 lbs. Tri-Tip (I think ours was just over 2 lbs.)
kosher salt

Rub the meat with kosher salt. Combine first 5 ingredients in a bowl. Place meat in a large ziploc bag and pour marinade in with it. Grill for about 20 minutes on each side (make sure you don't overcook...I am a medium to medium-well girl myself, but the thick roasts on the grill need to be medium or rarer! A little pink in the middle is neccesary - not chewy, just pink). When finished on the grill, place in a foil tent for 10 minutes before slicing and serving. (Tri-tip is served in thincut slices). Our kids LOVE this and it is perfect for a backyard BBQ, though we can eat nearly the whole roast - just the 4 of us!

Happy Grilling!

Crock Pot Barbeque Beef Sandwiches

I found this recipe in a magazine at my doctor's office and tried it last night. It was so yummy and so easy. A new favorite for us!

3 lb. roast, well trimmed
1/2 cup cola (I used Dr. Pepper)
3/4 cup ketchup
1 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce
3 Tbsp. Corn Starch
1/2 cup warm water
8 Hoagie Buns

Place roast in crock pot. In a separate bowl combine cola, ketchup, mustard and worchestershire sauce. Pour over meat. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. About 15-20 minutes before serving, mix corn starch and warm water and pour into sauce to thicken it up. Slice meat thinly and serve on buns. Yum!

Taco Soup

So I am done with Girlfriends Kitchen and have started cooking again. This is my first recipe contribution. It is a crockpot hamburger recipe. Sorry I am month late since this was a February request.

1/2 lb browned hamburger
1 can kidney beans
1 can pork and beans
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1/4 pkg of taco seasoning

Combine above ingredients in crock pot. Cook on low 4 -6 hours. Serve over tortilla chips with shredded cheese and sour cream on top.

Sloppy Joes

3 pounds ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1 cup ketchup
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can tomato soup
2 tablespoons vinegar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar

12-18 hamburger buns

In large skillet, brown ground beef and drain fat. Add chopped onion, celery and green pepper and cook 5 minutes. Stir in ketchup, soup, vinegar, Worcestershire and brown sugar and simmer for 30 minutes. Spoon into hamburger buns to serve.

**the celery and green pepper make these sloppy joes especially good, so don't leave them out.

Hamburger Puffs

This is a classic from back in the day (read: my childhood).

1-2 loaves defrosted Rhodes bread dough
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 chopped onion
salt and pepper
roughly 2 cups shredded cheese

Season ground beef and onion and brown, draining any juices. Preheat oven to 350. Cut loaves of bread dough into 10-12 slices each. Spread with fingers so it looks like a mini-pizza. Top each disc with a spoonful of ground beef and some shredded cheese. Bring edges together so it makes a little bundle. Place seam side down on a baking sheet (bonus clean-up points for covering the baking sheet in nonstick foil or parchment paper). Bake until puffed and golden brown. My mom always served these with some sort of veggie and ketchup for dipping.

Crockpot Lasagna

This sure takes the work out of lasagna, and if you're watching your calories, feel free to cut back on the cheese or use light/fat free versions.

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced
2 15-oz. cans tomato sauce
1 15-oz. can Italian-style stewed tomatoes
2 tsp. Italian seasoning
salt and pepper
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 15-oz. container ricotta or cottage cheese
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
15 uncooked lasagna noodles

Cook ground beef, onion, and garlic in a non-stick skillet until beef is browned and onions are softened; season with salt and pepper. Add tomato sauce, stewed tomatoes, and Italian seasoning. Mix 1 cup of mozzarella cheese with ricotta (or cottage cheese) and parmesan, reserving other cup of mozzarella for later. Spoon 1/4 of the tomato-beef mixture into the bottom of your crockpot. Cover with 5 noodles, broken up to fit. Then spread 1/3 of the cheese mixture over the noodles. Repeat until all ingredients are used up, ending with the beef mixture. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. About 10 minutes before serving, sprinkle with remaining cup of mozzarella, the cover and cook until cheese is bubbly and noodles are tender.

Sunday Roast

Okay, another ridiculously easy crock-pot dinner. I love making this on Sundays since I can just throw everything in before church, add some veggies right after church, and it's ready at dinner time.

For the roast:
1 beef roast (I use rump roast)
1-2 cans regular Coke or Dr. Pepper (if you're worried about caffeine, you could try caffeine-free Diet Coke, but I might add a tablespoon or two of brown sugar)
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1/2 of a chopped onion
1 pressed garlic clove (or finely minced)
1 pkg. dry onion soup mix (such as Lipton)

Place roast in pan, or in a crock-pot. Mix all other ingredients together and pour over roast. If you're cooking in the oven, cover tightly with foil and bake at 325 degrees for about 3-4 hours. In the crock-pot you can cook it on low all day long.

For the veggies:
About 1/2 way into the cooking, I parboil baby potatoes and chopped carrots, meaning I put the veggies in a pan with a few inches of water, boil them, and cover them for about 10-15 minutes. Then I add these to the crockpot or roasting pan.

Welcome

Since I am such a dork about cooking and need all the help I can get, I have decided that this blog would be a great way to get some new recipes, share some of my favorites, and keep them all in one place for easy search and reference. I hope that there will be many contributions from all of you and that it will become a great resource for us all!

So here's what I am thinking. If you want to post recipies, click here to email me your email address so I can add you as an author. I will remain the admin for the blog, but I will add as many people as would like to be added as authors. The more the merrier (and the more yummy recipes for all to try)!

Let's get cookin'!