Tag: easy dinner recipe

Cooking

Brunzi Baseball Casserole

Barefoot Faith Journey

Brunzi Baseball Casserole

Brunzi Baseball Casserole

1 lb. lean ground beef, cooked and drained

1 large onion, cooked

Seasoning

Cream of chicken, 2 cans

Chicken noodle soup, 2 cans (or you could make your own and use it)

2 c. uncooked rice

Brown meat, onion, and seasoning.  Drain.  Add in soups and rice.  Stir.  Bake, uncovered, in a greased 13×9 pan at 350 for 45 minutes.

Additions:

With this recipe, you can add spinach, kale, cheese, chopped-up peppers, or mushrooms; gracious, the world is your oyster. My kids love this recipe. I have been sprinkling a bit of cheese over the top lately, but it isn’t necessary.
With rice there, I choose not to make potatoes or other noodles as a side dish. My kids are happy with a salad and maybe some green beans. We are pretty simple in the side dish department around here. I guess I need to up that game because I know there are ways I can make veggies more fun.
I could make carrot muffins or bread (sugar, I know). There are a thousand and five ways to make zucchini or squash. Anytime I make that, my kids and husband approve. I like doing simple zucchini spears, drizzle some olive oil, seasoning mix, and parmesan. Then, I roast them in the oven until they are fork-tender.

Servings:  10-12

Calories per serving:  220

 

Cooking

Hashbrown Chicken Casserole

Barefoot Faith Journey

Hashbrown Chicken Casserole

Hashbrown Chicken Casserole

As I went through my freezer, fridge, and pantry, I came up with this dish. At the end of this post, I will put what I will do differently the next time I make it. It made a 13×9 dish so that we would have leftovers. Next time, I will put it in a smaller glass dish and then an aluminum pan. From there, I will cover it well and freeze the extra. That way, I will stock up my freezer. By making a big batch and freezing half, over time, you will have enough to feed your family for at least a week. In my case, I usually do this once a month, so I can go a whole month using the food that I cooked. Cook, eat once (leftovers), and freeze the other. You will not regret it.

Ingredients

Chicken (I had frozen Tyson grilled chicken. You can use canned chicken, cook a whole chicken, or buy a rotisserie chicken or chicken breasts. I sound like the guy off of Forrest Gump describing the different types of shrimp.)

Bacon (bits or fry and crumble)

Seasoning

Garlic butter (I used leftover Papa John’s garlic butter)

Minced garlic

Onion, chopped

Portobello mushrooms, chopped

Two c. sour cream

One can of corn, drained

1/3 c. milk

Bread crumbs

Cheddar

Hashbrowns (I bought the cubed southern hashbrowns that have chopped-up peppers)

Directions

Preheat your oven to 400. Grease a 13×9 dish and place your hashbrowns. I sprinkled the top with seasoning and mixed that up to get it all coated. Future me will add the seasoning and then a packet of ranch mix. On top of that, I added my garlic butter. Future me will make a garlic-infused compound butter to put a few pats on top. Oh, Ghee would be good too! I do love me some Ghee.

I cut up my chicken strips in a large bowl and added all the ingredients (including more seasoning and a packet of ranch) except the bread crumbs and a handful of cheddar. I did, however, mix some cheddar in with the chicken. Once that is all mixed, spoon over the top of the potatoes.

I then sprinkled some Italian Bread crumbs (any will do Panko would be good) and used the rest of my cheddar. Cover it will aluminum foil and bake it for about 30 minutes with the foil on tightly. Take the foil off and let it cook for another 10 minutes.

I served it with leftover hotdog buns that I buttered and put garlic on. We are living the dream over here!

What I Will Do Differently

Next time, I will add bigger chunks of chopped peppers. Also, I will probably add a couple of packets of dry Ranch seasoning. The verdict is out on the corn. I liked the sweet pop of flavor, but it was also weird. That’s a mental thing for me. I will probably fry bacon the next time. This time I used bacon bits. Also, I will probably heat my chicken with some bacon grease for added flavor. Oh, chopped spinach would have been great in this!

 

 

Cooking

Chili Cheese Dog Casserole

Barefoot Faith Journey

Chili Cheese Dog Casserole

Chili Cheese Dog Casserole

Chili Cheese Dog Casserole. Here is another easy dinner idea. I love chili, and I love chili cheese dogs. Here is a great combo that my family loved. I served this with chips. Here’s the thing, my downstairs air conditioning is not working well. For example, it’s hot in my downstairs. Add that to the frustration over my pool not being ready. Depending on others has proven that we should only lean on ourselves and teach ourselves. So, our pool is green with frogs, our air is going out, and I had grandbabies and a child(ren) living on the struggle bus.

Now, let’s look at the positive. The upstairs air is working. Then we had the theater room, which was a lovely temperature, so we hung out and watched a show. Most of my kids were home to eat and get haircuts. I had my grandbabies, which is a positive all by itself. After my husband worked some brain magic, the pool got cloudy but cleared up. This recipe was quick and easy, and I could do it in stages to not heat my house to the levels of hell itself.

Ingredients

Hotdogs (I bought bun length)

Crescent rolls (2 packages)

American Cheese Slices

Ground Beef

Onion

Garlic

Seasoning Mix

Chili Mix

Chili Beans – 2 Cans

Cheddar Cheese

Chips

Directions

Take a crescent roll, a slice of cheese (I half it), and a hotdog. Roll your crescent roll out, lay down your cheese, place your hotdog (I slit it down the middle so it doesn’t explode), and roll it up. Please put it in a 13×9 greased dish. Bake at 375 for about 10-12 minutes.

In a skillet, brown your beef, onion, garlic, and seasoning. Once done, drain the grease and place it back in the pan. From there, I add the chili beans and chili mix. Stir it well. Take the chili and scoop it around the hot dogs. Sprinkle with cheddar. Cover and bake until it is all heated. Serve with chips or rice.

Thoughts

Everyone likes this. I made the mistake of cooking it warm to prevent me from turning my oven up too high. I should have kept it covered because I felt the beans got too done and a bit hard. With no liquid in this, nothing can keep everything soft. The aluminum foil keeps the beans good in texture.

However, everyone loved this dish. My husband asked for it to be on our rotation, though we don’t have a rotation. I need to be more diligent about writing down what I cook. There are things that I make that he loves, and I have zero remembrance of how I made them. Shelf-cooking is just a natural part of who I am. Also, leftovers are a thing we don’t usually have lying around. If I have something left over, I use it in another dish. Maybe writing down my recipes will help me have a rotation to make my husband happy! He loves it when I remember how to make something.

 

Cooking

Spaghetti Carbonara

Barefoot Faith Journey

Spaghetti Carbonara

Spaghetti Carbonara

Spaghetti Carbonara is a super simple dish. A straightforward, shelf-cooking pasta recipe; and it has very few ingredients. To make it a complete meal, you can make some garlic cheese bread. Also, we usually fix a Caesar salad.

Easy Pasta Recipe Ingredients

Pasta (I used Linguine)

Seasoning mix

3 room temp eggs (reserving two ladles of the hot pasta water)

Bacon (reserving 3 Tbsp of bacon grease)

Fresh mushrooms

Garlic

Large onion, sliced

Parmesan

This would be good with some cut-up and sauteed peppers. Changing things up a bit makes pasta recipes your own instead of a copycat recipe. Also, this was a complete shelf-cooking recipe that made me happy. Always keep essential ingredients on hand for dinner recipes.

Copycat Recipe for Coal Miner’s Pasta Directions

Cook bacon. Take out when done and crush. Add garlic, mushrooms, and onion (spinach would also be a good add-in). Once the veggies are soft, pull them out.

For this easy pasta recipe, crack the 3 room temperature eggs and beat lightly.

Cook noodles in salted water. The hot starchy water should be ladled into the bowl with the beaten eggs. Whisk in slow and fast to keep from cooking the eggs.

Drain the noodles and return them to the pot. Add in 3 Tbsp. Bacon grease and the vegetable melody. Use thongs or something to twirl all that together. Slowly add in the egg mixture and twist/mix the entire time. Once that is all in there, add a lot of parmesan. Keep on twirling until it is all incorporated.

It was so freaking good and so easy.

Dinner Recipes and Easy Pasta Recipe

I have collected (and written down) our favorite pasta recipes. These are easy pasta recipes, and this one could be vegetarian if you left out the bacon. My family loves bacon, so that is not an option. However, turkey bacon will be in the future.

There are nights when cooking is not on my agenda. I’m over it after 30 years of cooking for my family. That burnt-out feeling is natural. The inspiration is not there. So, I’ve been looking for dinner recipes. Specifically, I have been looking for an easy pasta recipe my family will love. A bonus is when it is entirely shelf-cooking items with what I almost always keep on hand in my pantry.

Initially, I found this recipe in Rachael Ray’s cookbook. That is back when I drew inspiration from cookbooks. Then, I was a collector. Now, they collect dust. Maybe I should dust them off and find more inspiration. In the beginning, I did follow the instructions. Honestly, now, I adjust to the tastes and desires of my people. There are things I add or take away from and substitute as needed. The goal is to get recipe, dinner, or easy pasta recipes and adapt them to become your own. You are more likely to continue cooking it if you adjust your tastebuds.

Cooking

Lipton Onion Soup Thighs with Rice

Barefoot Faith Journey

Lipton Onion Soup Thighs with Rice

 

Lipton Onion Soup Thighs with Rice

 

Oh, this is a good one too! Lipton Onion Soup Thighs with Rice is what is for dinner. The rice was fantastic! This is another “throw-together” kind of recipe. I had lots of Lipton Onion Soup Mix packets. It is finding creative ways to use them without having a roast.  

 

Ingredients

 

Chicken Thighs

 

2 c. rice

 

2 c. chicken broth

 

1 can cream of chicken

 

1 can cream of mushroom

 

1 packet Lipton Onion Soup Mix

 

Garlic Powder

 

Seasoning

 

Shredded Parmesan

 

Panko

 

How to Make Lipton Onion Soup Thighs with Rice

 

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease 13×9 dish. In a large bowl, combine the uncooked rice and chicken broth. Next, add Lipton Onion Soup Mix, cream of mushroom, and cream of chicken. Put in the bottom of the dish. On top, place the uncooked chicken. Sprinkle some garlic over the top, as well as panko. Next, throw on some shredded parmesan. Bake, covered, for an hour. Uncover and bake for 25 minutes.

 

The rice was excellent!

 

 

Cooking

Mexican Lasagna Created From Leftovers

Barefoot Faith Journey

Mexican Lasagna Created From Leftovers

Mexican Lasagna Created From Leftovers

Well, my my my, I had no idea my Mexican Lasagna Created From Leftovers would taste so good. A few days ago, I made Philly Cheesesteaks Sandwiches. I had a lot of the meat leftover, which I used instead of ground beef.

Ingredients

Steak um’s (you can use ground beef)

Salt-free garlic and herb seasoning

Seasoning

Creole Seasoning

Orange, yellow, and red peppers, chopped

Fresh garlic

Onion, chopped

Two cans of diced tomatoes

1/3 white queso Velveeta

Can of drained whole kernel corn

Directions

I placed my meat and veggies in the pan and sauteed them. You can add oil, bacon grease, or butter to keep them from sticking. Once that was done, I seasoned it until it tasted like I wanted it to taste.

Next, I added corn and diced tomatoes. My husband doesn’t like tomatoes like that, so I covered my pot and let them stew down. Then, I added the white queso Velveeta. Taste to adjust the seasoning.

Rice

2 c. of water

2 c. of rice

Place on “rice” mode in your instant pot. Let naturally release.

Layering

Put a small amount of sauce in a greased 13×9 dish. Then, place in flour tortillas; next, sauce. Then, rice. Finally, I had some Colby/jack cheese cubes. I broke those over the rice and added a bit of cheddar. Repeat layers ending with cheese.

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Let sit for 10 minutes and serve.

Cooking

Pizza Spaghetti Bake

Barefoot Faith Journey

Pizza Spaghetti Bake

Pizza Spaghetti Bake

I will write down what I did in this Pizza Spaghetti Bake because it was good! Yet, I will also write what I will add/do differently. I feel like all recipes need to be tweaked in some form or fashion, so this is pretty typical.

Ingredients

Beef

Onion

Minced Garlic

Pepperoni, chopped (and some whole for the top)

Next time, do a pound of beef and a pound of sausage.

Seasoning

Italian Seasoning

Rosemary

2 packets of spaghetti mix

1 jar of spaghetti sauce

Next time, I will add a jar of pizza sauce.

2 cans of mushrooms, drained

Chopped spinach

Panko

Parmesan

Cottage Cheese

1 egg

Mozzarella

Penne Noodles

Directions

Boil noodles and drain according to directions.

Cook beef, chopped pepperoni, onion, garlic, and seasoning (sausage if used) and drain. Put back in the pot. Next, add mushrooms and chopped spinach. Then, add the Italian seasoning, Rosemary, and spaghetti packets. Mix well.

Next up, add the spaghetti sauce (and about a quarter of that same jar, put some water to add). If you are also using pizza sauce, add it. Mix well. Add in some panko, parmesan, a couple of handfuls of mozzarella, cottage cheese, and the egg. Stir and keep warm until your noodles are done.

Finally, mix the meat mixture with the noodles and spread it in a greased 13×9 dish. Top with mozzarella and whole pepperoni—Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes.

 

 

Cooking

Tater Tot Casserole with Cheese

Barefoot Faith Journey

Tater Tot Casserole with Cheese

Tater Tot Casserole with Cheese

My OCD dictated my Tater Tot Casserole with Cheese. On a good day, I’d sling them on there. They each had a place tonight, and frankly, that makes me happy. I do believe I’m going insane. Insane, people. It’s fine. I am fine. We are all fine.

Tater Tot Casserole with Cheese

2# ground beef

Lipton onion soup mix

Worcestershire sauce

1 can cream of celery (I usually use cream of mushroom, but that’s what I had)

Sour cream, 1 c.

Seasoning

Cheddar

Spinach

Tater Tots

Directions

Brown beef with seasoning. Drain if necessary. Add in some Worcestershire sauce and the Lipton onion soup mix. I have a gluten-free, copycat Lipton onion soup mix recipe. Once that is done, add your chopped spinach and mix well.

In greased 13×9 dish, place the meat/spinach mixture on the bottom. Next, mix the sour cream and cream of celery. Pour that over the meat. Then add a layer of cheddar. End with the tater tots and be sure and season the tots.

Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. You might want to add a few minutes if you put frozen tots on there. Mine were already thawed out. Again, it was good. My crew gobbled it up.

 

Cooking

Cheesy Chicken Alfredo Lasagna

Barefoot Faith Journey

Cheesy Chicken Alfredo Lasagna

I started making just a cheesy type of lasagna, and then my brain started thinking. This quarantine has forced me to do more shelf cooking, which I do. It has also got me thinking outside of the box. So, I came up with a Cheesy Chicken Alfredo Lasagna. It was good!

Cheesy Chicken Alfredo Lasagna

2 packages of no-boil lasagna noodles (you can use the kind you boil, I don’t enjoy that)

2 packets of Ranch Mix

3 cans of evaporated milk

2 cans of canned chicken, drained and broken up with a fork. (I might use a 3rd can the next time)

1 jar of Alfredo sauce (you can make this homemade though)

Seasoning

Nutritional yeast (optional)

Fresh Spinach, cut up

Cheddar

Mozzarella

Parmesan

Directions

Combine your evaporated milk, ranch, seasoning, and nutritional yeast in a saucepan. I stirred that well and brought it up to a boil. Then, I added the alfredo sauce. I stirred until that was good and combined. It allowed it to thicken a bit. Once combined, I added the canned chicken.

In a greased 13×9 dish, place a bit of sauce on the bottom. Then, I layered the no-boil noodles—next, more of the sauce, mozzarella, and cheddar. Then sprinkle with parmesan and add a layer of fresh Spinach. Continue layering until you end with the sauce and cheeses.

Baking

Bake, uncovered, at 350 for about 30 minutes. Then take out and take a knife around the edge of the pan to make sure the noodles are soaked. I put mine back in for another 10 minutes. You could cover it at this time if you want to keep it from burning. This is done to ensure that the noodles are cooked through.

Pull out and sit for about 10 minutes before cutting to help the lasagna set up correctly.

 

Cooking

Mexican Casserole

Barefoot Faith Journey

Mexican Casserole

Mexican Casserole

Here is a simple Mexican Casserole that my family enjoys.  There is SO MUCH MORE than you can add (ie fresh ingredients) that would be yummy.

I will add, down at the bottom, would I do when food is more readily available.  For now, you do what you have to do to feed the people in your house!

Be safe.  Stay in.  Wash your hands!

Ingredients

2# ground beef

Seasoning

Chili powder

2 cans Rotel tomatoes and chilis

1 can cream of mushroom

1 can cream of chicken

Onion

Garlic

Colby/Jack Cheese

Fritos (chili cheese Fritos would be spectacular in this recipe)

Directions

Brown ground beef, onion, garlic, and seasoning.  Once cooked, drain if necessary.  Next, add chili powder.  Then add in soups and tomato/chilis with the liquid.  Stir well.

In greased 13×9 dish, layer crushed up tortilla chips, meat, cheese.  Repeat until all ingredients are used up.  End with cheese.  Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.

Additions

Cut up some fresh peppers and saute with onion, garlic, and beef.  You can also add in kidney beans, black beans, corn, cooked rice.  Ooh, or you could add a layer of rice so do chips, meat, rice, cheese.  That’d be good.  You could also a layer of refried beans!  Oh man, add in a can of nacho cheddar cheese soup.  Good grief.  So many options!