Easy Enchilada Casserole

I've made this a few times and it always hits the spot. Yummy, filling, and easy.

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef (or turkey)
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
~1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped (or your hot pepper of choice)
Salt & pepper to taste
1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 of a 7oz can diced green chile peppers (7oz is the smallest I can ever find)
1 (10 oz) can enchilada sauce (or more if preferred)
9 (4-6") corn tortillas
~8 oz shredded Cheddar cheese (or Mexican blend, colby jack, etc.)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.

In large skillet, brown ground beef with garlic, onion, jalapeno, and salt & pepper. Drain and return to skillet. Reduce heat to low and stir in black beans and green chile peppers. Heat thru.

Pour can of enchilada sauce in bowl. Dip one side of 3 tortillas in sauce and line the bottom of casserole dish with tortillas (or line the bottom with tortillas first and spread sauce atop the tortillas). Cover tortillas with half of the beef/bean mix. Repeat with another layer of sauce-coated tortillas, a layer of beef, and then a final layer of torillas on top. Pour the remaining sauce over the top layer of tortillas. Sprinkle with cheese.

Cover and bake about 20 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes, until cheese is melty - I don't eat cheese, which is why the pics below only show half with cheese. Serve with sour cream if desired. Enjoy!

Pre-oven.

Post-oven.

Served!

Spaghetti al Forno

Ingredients

15 or so frozen meatballs - Rosina's Italian-style are great
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon olive oil
Crushed red pepper, to taste
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 cup chopped or grated carrots (I just use 1/2 bag of pre-grated)
8 oz. spaghetti noodles
1/2 cup bread crumbs, Italian-style

Directions

Preheat oven to 450.

Cook frozen meatballs in large skillet on low with onion, garlic, a little olive oil to prevent sticking, and crushed red pepper. Cover and stir occasionally. After about 15 minutes, stir in the tomatoes and carrot. Let simmer about 5 more minutes.

Meanwhile, cook spaghetti in large pot according to package directions, except reduce cooking time by about 2 minutes. Drain and return to pot.

Add meatball mixture to pot of cooked pasta and toss to combine. Transfer to casserole dish. Sprinkle top with bread crumbs.

Bake 10-15 minutes, until it begins to brown. Serve drizzled with olive oil if desired.

Note: Don't use an 8x8 dish like I did in the photo below, use something bigger. You'll need more room, and the bread crumbs will spread more evenly.

Stovetop Beef Chow Mein

This is simple and fast for a tasty weeknight meal - the chow mein noodles give it a nice crunch! :) Not sure where I got the og recipe for this.

Ingredients
1 lb ground beef
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 medium onion, chopped
Crushed red pepper, to taste
Salt & pepper, to taste
1 stalk celery, chopped
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup slivered almonds (those little packets in the baking isle are the right size)
1 cup cooked rice
3 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 cup chow mein noodles, or more if preferred

Directions
Brown ground beef in large skillet with garlic, onion, crushed red pepper, and salt & pepper. Drain and return to skillet. Add celery and saute for a few additional minutes.

In a separate medium bowl, combine the chicken broth, milk, almonds, rice, and soy sauce and mix well. Stir in to beef mixture. Simmer about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve in bowls - layer the bottom of bowls lightly with chow mein noodles, add beef mixture to bowl, and top with another layer of chow mein noodles.

Before the noodles (sorry, that's a bad pic!)

Champagne Crab & Pasta

Yum. Have fun with this, adding more or less of what spices you think sound good, then pour a couple glasses of champagne and enjoy!

Ingredients

~1/2 cup butter, or preferred substitute
1-2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 cup champagne
a couple dashes or so (to taste) of the following:
-paprika
-fresh ground pepper
-crushed red pepper
-ground ginger
12oz (2 cans) fancy lump crabmeat, drained
8oz (half regular box) angel hair pasta
extra virgin olive oil

Directions

Melt butter in large skillet on medium-low heat. While this is melting, bring water to boil for angel hair pasta, cook according to package directions, and drain - it cooks quick, so manage this with the next step.

Add garlic, paprika, pepper, crushed red pepper, ginger, and champagne to butter. Cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until garlic is golden.

Stir crabmeat into champagne sauce and heat through for a few minutes - add a little olive oil (maybe a teaspoon or so) if needed to keep from sticking or becoming dry -I use a non-dairy substitute, you might not have this issue if using butter-?

Serve champagne crab sauce over pasta, and drizzle with a little olive oil. Makes about 4 servings.

Buffalo Garlic Shrimp over Pasta

I got a version of this from allrecipes. It's got a nice hot kick. I use a bag of raw frozen tail-off, peeled, deveined shrimp, and the buffalo wing mix can be found in the aisle with packets of gravy mixes, etc.

Ingredients

1 lb large raw shrimp
1.6 oz envelope buffalo wing seasoning mix
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1-2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
6-8 oz angel hair pasta (about half a box or less)

Directions

Boil water for angel hair pasta and cook according to package directions.

If frozen, thaw the shrimp by running under water (not hot water). It should only takes a couple minutes to thaw all the shrimp - they'll start to cook under the water if you thaw them too long. Drain and place shrimp in a sealable plastic bag (or the original bag if possible). Add the buffalo wing mix to the bag, seal, and shake to coat the shrimp.

Heat the olive oil, butter, garlic, and crushed red pepper in a large skillet over medium heat until butter melts. Raise the heat to medium-high and add shrimp. Stir until fully cooked, about 4-5 minutes.

Serve shrimp over pasta, or toss to combine. Makes about 4 servings.

German Beef Turnovers

These turnovers are called bierocks (apparently pronounced "brocks"). I think the original version I found was from allrecipes. I rolled out Grands biscuits, filled, and folded in half to make mine. I suppose though that you could purchase turnover dough in the same refridgerated biscuit section at the store - might be less hassle.

Ingredients

8ct Grands biscuits
1lb ground beef
~1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 teasoon lemon pepper
Salt to taste
1/2 head cabbage, chopped
1 Tablespoon worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
Butter, optional

Directions

In large skillet, brown beef with onion, garlic, crushed red pepper, lemon pepper, and salt. Drain and return to skillet.

Preheat oven to 350.

Add cabbage, worcestershire sauce, and caraway seeds. Cook until cabbage is done.

Roll out Grands biscuits to about 6" circles. Fill with about 1/3 cup of beef mixture and fold one side to the other, pressing along the edge to seal.

Place sealed bierocks on lightly greased baking sheet. Spread a thing layer of butter on the tops before baking if desired.

Bake 30 minutes until golden brown.