Taco Spaghetti Squash

This is a fantastic meal idea that we borrowed from a friend of ours and tweaked a bit.

Ingredients:
1 spaghetti squash
1/2 pound ground beef
1 chopped onion
2 tbsp taco seasoning
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded lettuce
2 tomatoes, chopped
olives - for topping
sour cream - for topping
salsa - for topping
guacamole/avocado - for topping

Directions:
1. Cut the squash in half, scooping out the seeds.
2. Place cut-side down on an aluminum foil covered cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about an hour. Bake until the squash is tender and cam be shredded with a fork, but not so much that it is mushy.
3. Brown the ground beef and onion in a medium skillet, draining off the fat if you desire.
4. Remove the squash from the oven and shred with a fork.
5. Stir in the taco seasoning, the shredded squash, and 1/2 of the cheddar cheese with the ground beef/onion mixture.
6. After it is mixed, put it into a greased 2 quart casserole dish and top with the other 1/2 of the cheddar cheese and bake uncovered at 350 for about 20 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven and serve over a bed of lettuce and top with tomatoes, olives, sour cream, guacamole or avocados, and salsa if desired.

Here's the link to my friend Rachel's blog that has the original recipe she made.

Easy Beef and Green Beans

Very quick and easy all-in-one meal. Have made it a few times and we love it.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups celery, chopped
1 (16 oz) bag of frozen green beans (fresh could be used as well)
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp seasoning salt (This home-made seasoned salt is great)
1/2 tsp lemon pepper
2 tbsp Bragg Liquid Aminos
1 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp hot chili oil (or more if you like it spicy)

Directions.
1. Brown the ground beef and garlic over medium heat.
2. Add in the celery, beans, and mushrooms and cook until they are tender. Usually between 15 and 20 minutes.
3. Add remaining ingredients to the pan, mix together and serve while warm.

There are also lots of options you can do to finish it off if you want. I add Paremsan cheese on top of mine and my wife likes Ranch dressing on hers.

This recipe is from the Extreme LC Meals on the Go cookbook.

Pizza Burgers

Here is one of my first attempts at making pizza burgers. I have a few things I will change, but overall, they were pretty good.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds of ground beef
18 slices pepperoni
1 can tomato sauce
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp dried minced onions
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Mozzarella Cheese

Directions.
1. Mix the garlic powder, dried onions, 1 of the 2 tsp of Italian seasoning, and the tomato sauce together.
2. Mix the other tsp of Italian seasoning into the ground beef. You can also add any binder if you want.
3. Press the ground beef into approximately 12 very thin patties. The thinner and bigger around they are, the better.
4. Lay one slice of pepperoni on each patty.
5. Place about 1 tsp of sauce on top of 6 of the patties.
6. Place the 2nd patty on top of the first, pepperoni side down towards the sauce and press the edges together to seal it so it looks like 1 burger.
7. Broil (or grill) until it is mostly done.
8. After it is almost done on the last side, place one more piece of pepperoni on the top, spoon on a bit more sauce, then cover with cheese and place under the broiler to finish.

I made a couple mistakes this time through. I made the first 12 patties too thick. I need to make them thinner and bigger in diameter. Will try using a plate to press them down flatter next time. I also didn't seal the outside on them well and a lot of the sauce ran out while cooking because about 1/2 of them curled up like 2 burgers stacked on top of each other. Overall it was a good learning experience and I will try them again.

I got the idea for this from the Extreme LC Meals On The Go cookbook but tweaked it quite a bit.

Hamburgers and Veggies

Well, this is probably the least technical and defined recipe I've posted yet. I just wing it and it turns out pretty good.

Ingredients:
Green Peppers
Red Peppers
Onions
Zucchini
Butter
Ground Beef
Worcestershire Sauce
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Garlic Powder
Seasoned Salt (The stuff I made here)
Blackened Seasoning
Black Pepper

Directions:
1. Saute Onions, Peppers, and Zucchini in Butter until yummy.
2. Mix the Ground beef, W. Sauce, a hand full of the shredded cheddar cheese, garlic powder, seasoned salt, blackened seasoning, and black pepper together and make burgers.
3. Grill the Burgers. (I usually sear them over high heat, then finish over medium or indirect.)
4. Put on plate, top with whatever you want and enjoy.

Casual Chan's Special

This was an interesting take on sloppy joes, done Asian style. I was missing the bean sprouts, but it still tasted very good. Sorry for the fuzzy photo, but they didn't turn out very well.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 tbsp oil
4 scallions, sliced
2 cups bean sprouts
4 eggs
1 tsp Braggs Liquid Aminos (Soy Sauce) * Note, I used 1 tbsp instead of 1 tsp and it was good.
Salt - to taste
Pepper - to taste
Garlic Powder - to taste

Directions:
1. Brown the beef in the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
2. As it is browning, slice up scallions, measure out sprouts, and whisk together eggs and Braggs.
3. When the beef is browned, add in the scallions and sprouts and stir for about a minute. Not too long though as the sprouts need to stay firm.
4. Add eggs and soy sauce and scramble until set.
5. Add salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste.

This recipe was based off one from Dana Carpenders 15 Minute LC Recipe book.

Zucchini Meat Loaf Italiano

A nice simple twist on meatloaf. So good that no sauce was needed on it.

Ingredients:
3 tbsp olive oil
2 medium zucchini, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
2 tbsp fresh parsley
1 egg
3/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Heat the olive oil in a skillet and saute the zucchini, onion, and garlic for 7-8 minutes
3. Let the veggies cool, then dump into a big bowl with the beef, parsley, egg, cheese, salt, and pepper.
4. Mix very throughly.
5. Take the mixture and put into a loaf pan.
6. Bake at 350 for 75 to 90 minutes. (Ours was 75 minutes, very moist, but done through).
7. Serve and enjoy!!!

Another great recipe from Dana Carpender's 500 LC Recipes

Skillet Stroganoff and Roasted Asparagus

Here's a nice simple recipe for making skillet stroganoff and a side of roasted asparagus. My family loved it.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pound ground beef (80)
1 medium onion
1 clove garlic
4 oz can of sliced mushrooms (I'm sure fresh would work)
3/4 cup sour cream
1 tsp paprika
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp concentrated beef broth (I used 1/16 tsp of bullion granules)

Directions:
1. In a large skillet, brown the meat and add in the diced onion and garlic.
2. Once everything is browned, add in the mushrooms, worcestershire sauce, paprika, sour cream, and beef broth. I didn't have any concentrated beef broth so I put in 1/16th of a tsp of the granules.
3. Season to taste as it is finishing and enjoy.

Ingredients:
Bunch of Asparagus
Olive Oil
Garlic Powder
Other seasonings you like

Directions
1. Add asparagus to pan.
2. Pour on olive oil and sprinkle on garlic powder to taste.
3. Add on any additional seasonings (we've used different combinations of things like blackened seasoning, seasoned salt, Parmesan cheese, etc).
4. Broil until the asparagus is done, turning the asparagus once about 1o-20 minutes in (depending on thickness of asparagus).

Ultra Meat Sauce and Spaghetti Squash

Dinner tonight was a very simple Spaghetti Squash with meat sauce. I'll break it down into 2 sections as that will make it a bit easier.

Spaghetti Squash

Ingredients:
1 Spaghetti Squash

Directions:
1. Cut Spaghetti Squash in half length-wise and scoop out the seeds and stuff
2. Put face down on a baking sheet covered in tin foil.
3. Bake for 375 for 45 minutes to an hour, depending on the size of the squash.
4. To test for when it is done, take the back of a spoon or fork and it should puncture the skin very easily.
5. Flip over and use a fork to shred out the spaghetti part and put in a bowl.

Ultra Meat Sauce

Ingredients:
2 pounds ground beef
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 green pepper, diced
4 oz mushrooms, sliced (A can of mushrooms works fine)
15 oz can of tomato sauce (We use Hunts 100% natural)
1 tsp Italian Seasoning

Directions:
1. Brown and crumble the ground beef in a large skillet/pan.
2. When the grease starts to collect, add the onion, garlic, green pepper, and mushrooms.
3. Cook until onions and peppers are soft.
4. While the meat and veggies are cooking, put the tomato sauce in a pan and heat through, adding the seasoning and letting it simmer to mix the flavors. Some garlic would be good in the sauce too
5. Pour off the grease from the meat and add in the tomato sauce.
6. Serve the sauce over the Spaghetti squash and top with some Parmesian cheese if desired.

The Ultra Meat Sauce recipe was from Dana Carpender 500 LC Recipes Cookbook

Ground Beef Stir-Fry

Here's a very simple stir fry when you don't have a lot of ingredients on hand. It also works when you don't have the exact right ingredients. We only had chopped broccoli instead of nice big pieces of cut broccoli, but it still worked ok. The walnuts gave it a great crunch, kind of like water chestnuts without the sugar in them.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds of ground beef
2 tbsp soy sauce or Bragg's Liquid Aminos
3 tbsp dry sherry
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
2 cups frozen crosscut green beans or frozen broccoli cuts, thawed
1 medium onion, sliced
1 1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1/2 tsp Chinese Five Spice
Peanut oil for stir-frying

Directions:
1. Get all ingredients ready and measured out. This is important in a stir-fry as it is a quick meal to make and it can get ahead of you.
2. Mix ground beef, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 1/2 tbsp sherry, garlic, and Chinese Five Spice in a large bowl. Mix like you would for making burgers.
3. Heat 2-3 tbsp peanut oil in wok or large skillet over high heat. Put in the walnuts and let them crisp up, but don't let them burn.
4. Remove walnuts and add ground beef. Break into nice bite-size pieces as it is cooking.
5. Remove beef and drain oil and fat (if you wish).
6. Add more fresh oil and stir-fry the onions, broccoli (or beans), and ginger.
7. When the veggies are done the way you like them, add the beef back in with the rest of the soy sauce and sherry.
8. Finish off the cooking and serve.
9. Sprinkle the walnuts over each dish as it is served and enjoy.

From Dana Carpender 500 LC Recipes Cookbook