As you can see I used my dutch oven to cook this in. I made it, let it cool, popped in a plastic container in the fridge, then re-warmed it in the same dutch oven pot the next day.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 T. olive oil
2 medium onions
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 can of chili beans
3 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 green peppers, diced
5 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
3 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1 (15 oz) can of diced tomatoes, drained
1 (15 oz) can spaghetti sauce
1 can of beer
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Heat olive oil in dutch oven or stock pot. Cook ground beer with onion, green pepper, and garlic. Sprinkle salt and pepper over all when ground beef is cooked through (and no longer pink). Brain off the fat, and add chili powder, cayenne pepper, hot pepper sauce, cumin, and red pepper flakes. Stir to incorporate. Add chili beans, beer, and canned tomatoes. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

You can eat it at this point, but as I said, I reheated it for the next day. I added eight ounces of cooked spaghetti noodles to the pot and threw the entire contents into a dutch oven to reheat. No additional moisture is needed, it reheats with the ingredients shown. When heated through, spoon into bowls and serve.

Image: Cherie Burbach

Post from: Blisstree

Make Ahead Chili

Here are a few things I do to make our week nights a little easier:

1. Break out the crock pot. In the fall when the weather starts to get a little chillier I enjoy soups  and meals I can throw in the crockpot early in the day. I can let them cook all day, and supper is ready whenever we have a moment to sit down at the table.
2. Do a little weekend prep. I like to chop up fruits and vegetables when I get home from the grocery, and put them in containers in the fridge so they’re ready to go when I need them.
3. Make a menu, and stick to it. I try to make a weekly menu, and from that menu I make a grocery list. Then I know I have the ingredients I need to make the meals on my menu for that week.
4. Lay out or check your supper ingredients first thing in the morning. Then there are no surprises when you are ready to make supper.
5. If you have a weekend day free, make a few meals ahead and freeze them for later. One of my favorite make ahead meals is lasagna. I can make several at a time and put them in the freezer for later.

How do you get quick meals on the table on hectic school nights?

Image (c) L Gerlach

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5 Quick Supper Tips For Back To School

Beef and Linguine

Beef and linguine casserole makes a great freezer meal! You can double, triple, or whatever this recipe so that one is ready tonight and more are ready for another day The basics of Once A Month Cooking (OAMC) can be found at the link, and I’ve got other great OAMC recipes here.

Beef and Linguine Casserole

8 oz cottage cheese
1 c plain yogurt
8 oz cream cheese

1-1/2 lb ground beef
Green pepper, chopped
Onion, chopped
Salt
15 oz can of tomato sauce

16 oz linguine

1/4 to 1/2 c freshly grated Parmesan cheese

To make and serve immediately:
Mix the cottage cheese, yogurt, and cream cheese together in a large bowl. Set aside.

Brown the ground beef with the peppers, onions, and salt. At the same time, boil up the linguine to the al dente stage. Drain well and add to the cheese mixture while still hot. Place the linguine mixture into a large casserole and top with the meat mixture. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes at 350, top with parmesan cheese and serve.

To freeze and serve later:
Prepare the cheese mixture and place it in a freezer container. Do the same with the meat mixture. Do not prepare the linguine or grated cheese until time to assemble and cook. Freeze for later.

To serve, thaw the bags in the fridge overnight. Boil up the linguine, grate the cheese, and follow the instructions for assembly above. Cook for 30 minutes at 350 until hot, top with parmesan cheese and serve.

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Beef and linguine casserole (OAMC)

Beef Burgundy Stew

1-1/2 lb stew beef, floured
Olive oil

1/2 t thyme
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
3 c Burgundy
1/4 c tomato paste

1/2 c water
2 c mushrooms, quartered
12 small red potatoes, quartered
6 medium carrots, 1″ pieces, or baby carrots
2 small onions, quartered
2 cans broth, 15 oz

Cornstarch in water (opt)
Salt and pepper (opt)

Brown the floured stew beef in a stock pot, it you haven’t already precooked it. Add thyme through tomato paste. Heat it up and let this simmer (or transfer to a crock pot) for at least 1-1/2 hours. About 30 minutes before you want to serve, add the water through the broth. Bring the mixture up to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Thicken with cornstarch in water if needed. Add salt and pepper if needed.

Post from: Blisstree

Beef burgundy stew

Asian casserole is a hot dish of comfort food! It has lots of familiar tastes if you grew up before the time that we’d discovered a lot of now-common ethnic cuisines. This was about as exotic as my family got, back in the day, and of course we called it “Oriental Casserole” back then

The casserole is an easy thirty minute meal, and can also be made as a Once-A-Month-Cooking dish. Make a double batch, and you can have one tonight and save another for later in your freezer!

Asian Casserole

1 lb ground beef
1 stalk of celery, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1 c water

2 T cornstarch
1 t sugar
1/2 t ground ginger
2 T water

16 oz can of mixed Asian vegetables
10 package frozen peas

Brown the meat in a deep skillet, and add the vegetables to saute as well. Drain off the fat and add water. Bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer.

Combine the cornstarch through water and blend well. Add to the beef mixture and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the Asian vegetables and peas. Cool, cover, and freeze, or serve immediately.

To serve after freezing, cook the unthawed casserole at 400 for an hour. Serve with those wonderful crunchy chow mein noodles that you loved as a kid!

Image: Cyndi Lavin

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Asian casserole (OAMC)

Post from: Blisstree

Fabulous slow cooked favorites

Delicious delicious vindaloo sauce! The spicy tomato sauce described below can be used with chicken, pork, and lamb as well as with vegetables. We particularly love it with just vegetables, though, and as one of our vegetarian meals for the week, we don’t even miss the meat!If you do decide to add meat to the dish, you can add a cinnamon stick

If you’ve done once a week food preparation, this meal will go together really quickly, but it needs to simmer for a long time in a crock pot to be its best. It’s a great make-ahead meal. Put everything together in the morning, and walk into a house filled to the brim with good smells in the evening!

Raw veggies mixed with sauce

Vegetable Vindaloo

2 cloves garlic, mashed
1 T fresh ginger, chopped fine
1 t brown sugar
1 t coriander
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t ground cloves
1/2 t dry mustard
1/2 t tumeric
1/2 t cayenne
1 T white vinegar
6 oz can tomato paste
1-1/2 c water

1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, sliced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
Head of cauliflower, any variety, chopped
15 oz can of kidney beans, drained
Salt and pepper
1/2 c fresh or frozen peas, thawed

Place the garlic through the water into a bowl and beat together to make the sauce. Place the onion through the kidney beans into the crock pot, pour the sauce over, and stir to coat. Simmer on low for at least 4 hours (more is fine). Add salt and pepper if desired, and stir peas into the mixture just before serving. Serve over basmati rice.

Images: Cyndi Lavin

Post from: Blisstree

Vegetable vindaloo

Here’s a super-easy Once a Month Cooking (OAMC) recipe that you can throw in the crock pot this morning and eat tonight, or that you can prepare really easily and freeze for future meals. To make this for a freezer meal, pre-cook the tenderloin in a minimal amount of water in your crock.

Slow Cooked Pork Tenderloin

1 – 2 lb pork tenderloin
2 – 3 c apple juice or cider
1 – 2 c cranberry sauce
Sesame seeds (optional, to add before serving)

To make as a freezer meal, combine the pre-cooked tenderloin with the juice and sauce in a freezer container and freeze. To serve, reheat slowly in your crock pot or slow cooker, or thaw and heat more quickly directly on the stove.  Add sesame seeds just before serving.

To serve tonight, combine uncooked tenderloin with the juice and sauce, and cook on medium heat all day in your crock pot or slow cooker.  Add sesame seeds just before serving.

Image: WikimediaCommons

Post from: Blisstree

Slow cooked pork tenderloin (OAMC)

This is a great Once-A-Month-Cooking recipe that you can double, triple, or quadruple very easily. For extra speed in preparation, you can use one of those 1.25 oz packages of taco seasoning and a can of prepared chili. Usually, I would prefer that these things be homemade, but sometimes for OAMC recipes, we’ll make an exception!

Even if you don’t get into OAMC, this is a great recipe to make ahead, either early in the day or even a couple of days ahead.

Taco Soup

2 – 15 oz cans chicken broth
15 oz can diced tomatoes
15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
15 oz can chili mix (your favorite)
15 oz can corn
5 – 6 green onions, sliced
1.25 oz package Taco seasoning (or a mixture of chili, cumin, oregano, cayenne, paprika, garlic, and salt)

Monterey jack cheese, shredded
Sour cream

Mix all the ingredients except for cheese and sour cream and bring to a boil. Reduce heat a simmer for 10 minutes. Can be frozen for later. To serve, thaw and heat, and serve with cheese sprinkled on top and a dollop of sour cream if desired. You know you want them both!

Image: Cyndi Lavin

Post from: Blisstree

Taco soup (OAMC)

Don’t forget the list of Leftover Turkey ideas that I posted right after Thanksgiving too

Almond Turkey Mole

1/2 c almonds (roasted)
1/2 t vegetable oil
2 dried Anaheim chiles, seeded, and chopped
1 c onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 very small (or half a large) chipotle chile in adobo sauce, chopped
1-1/2 c crushed tomatoes
1 T sugar
1/2 t ground cumin
1/4 t salt
1/8 t ground cloves
2 corn tortillas, torn into small pieces
1 (14.5 oz) can vegetable broth
1 T white wine vinegar
3 cups chopped cooked turkey breast
Cilantro sprigs and chopped scallions for garnish, if desired
Process the almonds in a food processor until smooth.  Set aside.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chiles and saute until just softened. Add onion and garlic, and saute until onion is lightly browned.

Add chipotle chile through the broth to onion mixture.  Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Spoon mixture into food processor; process until smooth. Return mixture to pan; stir in processed almonds and vinegar; cook 1 minute. Stir in turkey.  Serve over rice with chopped scallions and cilantro, if desired.

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Almond turkey mole (OAMC)