Cheeseburger Macaroni

One of my more embarrassing memories is of returning home from college one summer and excitedly telling my mom that I had found this great "new" thing at the grocery store ... Hamburger Helper.  She very graciously didn't laugh in my face and even pretended to be excited when I made it for dinner that night.

Meat, cheese and noodles.  What's not to love? 

I got this recipe from Home Ec 101.  I was mainly interested because it was one of the first cheese sauces that I've seen that didn't start with a roux.  Being a total snob, I fully expected it to taste really nasty.  It didn't.  I did cut the recipe in half and it was plenty for the three of us.  


(For the record, Dax scarfed it and Julia wouldn't even touch it when she saw the tomatoes in it.  My friend Amanda thinks it would be great with peas.  I disagree, but if you like peas, give it a try.)

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 lb elbow macaroni
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp hot sauce
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• 4 TBSP butter
• 5oz evaporated milk or 1/2 cup half and half
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• fresh ground pepper to taste
• 10 oz sharp cheddar, shredded

In a large skillet, brown the meat over medium low until nearly done and then drain off the grease. Return to the skillet and add the diced onion and minced garlic. Continue cooking over low heat until the meat has browned and the onions are soft.  Stir in the tomatoes to heat them up.

While the meat is browning, in a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente. While the noodles are cooking, whisk together the eggs, evaporated milk OR half and half, hot sauce, dry mustard, and salt / pepper.

Drain. While the noodles are draining melt the 4 TBSP of butter in the pan, then return the pasta to the pot. Stir to make sure all of the pasta is coated evenly. (The burner should be off). Add the sauce and turn the burner to low, stir the macaroni until it is evenly coated in the sauce mixture. Then stir in the shredded cheddar cheese and stir until everything is melted and wonderful.

Dump the contents of the pot into the skillet with the ground beef. Stir to combine and serve.

Beefy Cheese Cups

This is another one from my mom's cookbook and Dave's favorite use of a muffin tin. Yum. Meat muffins.


1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup cheese crackers, crushed
2 Tablespoons finely chopped onion
1 Tablespoon finely chopped bell pepper
2 Tablespoons chili sauce
2 drops Tabasco sauce
1/3 cup skim milk
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
dash of pepper


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix all ingredients thoroughly in bowl.

Grease muffin pan (8-muffin capacity) and divide meat into the eight cups.

Bake 40 minutes.

Skillet Pizza Caserole

Been meaning to add this one for a few weeks now. We are having it tonight, so it seemed apropos. We both love this recipe. It is one of the few that Jenny can count on me cleaning out the leftovers.

Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
2 c. marinara sauce
1 1/2 c. shredded mozzarella
1 (10 oz.) package refrigerated pizza dough
1 Tbs. grated Parmesan

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 425. Cook beef in ovenproof or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Drain and return to skillet.
2. Add marinara sauce; mix well. Sprinkle mozzarella over top.
3. Unroll pizza dough and spread over mixture in skillet. Trim any excess with scissors.
4. Sprinkle top of dough with Parmesan. Bake in skillet until crust is brown, about 15 mins. Remove from oven and let stand about 5 mins.
   

Skinner's Lasagna

serves 6-8

This is the lasagna recipe in my mom's cookbook. The same one on the box of Skinner lasagna noodles. If I'm making it just as a regular weeknight meal for our family, I make the whole recipe, but assemble it into two smaller pans (I use my 8x8 Pyrex for the one I'll be cooking that night and put the other half in my 11-cup Pyrex Rectangular Storage Plus** [because it has a cover]) and then put one in our freezer for dinner another time. I don't cook it before freezing. If it's been frozen, I take it out of the freezer to thaw and just cook it like the recipe calls for. It's my version of frozen lasagna.

I love this recipe. It's not difficult to make at all. Especially since you don't cook the noodles before assembling the lasagna. Plus, it tastes really, really good!


1 lb. ground beef
3 1/2 C. spaghetti sauce (28-32 oz jar)
1-1/2 C. water
15 oz ricotta cheese
2 C. shredded mozzarella
1/2 C. grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1/4 C. chopped parsley
1/2 TSP. salt
1/4 TSP. pepper
9 uncooked skinner lasagna noodles


Preheat oven to 350.

In a saucepan, brown meat; add spaghetti sauce and water; let simmer for 10 minutes.

In a bowl, mix ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan cheese, eggs, parsley, salt, and pepper.

In 13x9 dish, pour 1 cup of sauce on bottom. Place three uncooked noodles lengthwise on top of the sauce. Pour 1 cup of sauce over the noodles, then add half the cheese mixture over the sauce. Repeat noodles, sauce, cheese. Place the last three noodles on the top and pour the remaining sauce over the lasagna.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 50-55 minutes.

Uncover and bake for 10 more minutes. (If you like it extra cheesy, you can top with extra mozzarella cheese at this point.)





**I did not know they had other sizes of that pan available! I'm a little too excited about that :)