Lasagna Roll Ups

Lately I've been seeing more and more pins of lasagna rolls on Pinterest.  This piqued my interest, because it seemed like a much easier way to approach lasagna than the rickety, slippery layers we all know and fight with when it comes time to serve up that delicious pasta.  I was frustrated when I went searching for one to make, though.  So many with bacon!  I just wanted a regular lasagna recipe that happened to be rolled, with proven cooking times so I didn't have to monitor my stove like a nut trying my own approach.  I finally found a keeper from My Joy Filled Life, and share it here with modifications to just make half of her giant serving.

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder (or 1/2 cup diced onions)
• 1/2 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 jars pasta sauce, divided
• 12 uncooked lasagna noodles
• Drizzle of olive oil
• 7.5 oz-container ricotta cheese
• 1/2 egg (sorry- I know this is awkward!)
• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 3/4 cups grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon parsley flakes

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water with a drizzle of olive oil to boil.  Set out a cookie sheet covered with wax paper, to lay out your lasagna once it's cooked.  Add lasagna noodles to boiling water and cook according to package directions (likely ~10 minutes).
3. While your water comes to a boil and your lasagna cooks, brown your beef with the garlic, onion powder, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.  Drain and return to pan.  Add 1 jar of pasta sauce and heat through.  Set aside once sauce is heated.
4. In a large bowl, mix the ricotta cheese, 1/2 egg, parsley, 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese, 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese, and 1/8 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.
5. Drain cooked lasagna noodles and rinse with cool water, to stop cooking and make them easier to handle.  Lay noodles out on cookie sheet covered with waxed paper.
6. Spread 1/4 cup of jarred pasta sauce in bottom of a 13x9 baking dish.
7. Spread the cheese mixture evenly down the center of each noodle.  Top with meat sauce in an even layer.  Roll up noodle and place seam side down in baking dish.  Repeat with remaining noodles.  You may not use all 12 because some tear while cooking or you run out of filling.
8. Once all noodles are rolled up and placed in pan, spread remaining pasta sauce (jarred and/or meat sauce) over top of noodles.  Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses and 1 tablespoon of parsley flakes.
9. Tent baking dish loosely with aluminum foil; make sure it isn't touching the pasta and cheese at all.  Bake at 375° for 35 minutes or until heated through.
10. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

Mmmmm.  Lasagna-y goodness!

Crock Pot Short Ribs

Welcome to the World's Easiest Crock Pot Meal.  No browning the meat beforehand, and you could even do it with pre-chopped onion so you don't have to do a thing but dump stuff in your crock pot.  I say that's pretty perfect.  And despite my husband's abhorrence of anything made in a crock pot, I continue making things in it because seriously: easy in a pot.  On top of that, these short ribs are tender, have a unique flavor, and the recipe makes bonus sauce to dip bread* in: hit the winter sweet spot for me.  My hubby, not so much.  Oh well.  As I've said before- more for me!

Ingredients

• 2 lbs beef short ribs
• 1 1/3 cup pasta sauce
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 1/2 of a 1-lb bag of baby carrots
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• Mashed potatoes, rice, or any other side you want!

Directions

1. Season the ribs with salt and pepper and set aside.
2. Stir the sauce, wine, carrots, and onion in a slow cooker.  Add the ribs and turn to coat.
3. Cover and cook on LOW for 7-8 hours (or HIGH 4-5 hours), until the ribs are fork-tender.  Serve with side as desired.

*May I recommend a nice rustic Italian bread, or if you're in luck, BEER BREAD, like we're having!  YUM.

Bolognese

For this post, I had to make a drawing.  And by "make a drawing", I mean mash up some things from clip art and word art for you, to convey the depth of my love of bolognese.

There is an entire portion of my brain devoted to it.  I decided it was somewhere in the frontal lobe, because it definitely controls my decision making, or rather impairs it when the other parts of my brain smell it or think about it.  Even though I was content before I started writing this post, I am now voraciously hungry for more pasta.
It's a blessing and a curse, people.  We have Ina Garten to thank for this particular mutation of my disease.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons good olive oil, plus extra to use in the pasta water
• 1 pound ground beef
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 1/4 cups dry red wine, divided
• 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon sea salt (plus more to taste) for the sauce and 1 tablespoon sea salt for the pasta water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper (plus more to taste)
• 3/4 pound dried pasta
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves, lightly packed
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish

Directions

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.  Add the ground beef and cook, crumbling the meat with a wooden spatula, for 5 to 7 minutes until the meat is no longer pink and has started to brown.
2. Stir in the garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes and cook for 1 more minute.
3. Pour 1 cup of the wine into the skillet and stir t scrape up any browned bits.  Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, 1 tablespoon of salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper, stirring until combined.  Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add a tablespoon of salt, a splash of oil, and the pasta, and cook according to the directions on the box.
5. While the pasta cooks, finish the sauce.  Add the nutmeg, basil, cream, and the remaining 1/4 cup of wine to the sauce and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until thickened. 
6. When the pasta is cooked, drain and pour back into the pot you boiled it in.  Add the sauce and 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese and stir to coat evenly.
7. Serve hot with Parmesan grated on top.

Meatloaf

I seriously can't remember the last time I made meatloaf, but I can promise you it wasn't anything to write a blog post about.  I was used to the old school meat, egg, and oats approach to meatloaf.  Well tonight I went the Paula Deen approach, and what a difference.  I scoff at other meatloaf now.  Scoff!  Also, this dish must be made with mashed potatoes.  A good salad helps too.  But the taters, those are required.

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 8-oz canned diced tomatoes with juice (I couldn't find an 8-oz can, so I just measured out 1 cup from a larger can)
• 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats

Topping

• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon prepared mustard

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Mix all meatloaf ingredients well and place in a loaf pan or small baking dish.  Shape into a loaf.
3. Mix the topping ingredients and spread evenly on loaf.
4. Bake for 1 hour.

Crock Pot Beef Daube Provencal (Beef Stew)

Now don't let the French name throw you on this one.  It's just beef stew, but there's nothing plain about it.  We're having a crock pot cook off at work tomorrow, and I chose this amazing stew as my entry.  This guy takes a lot of work, but MAN is it worth it.  I'll let you know if tomorrow's judges agree!
Update: 1st place!  Yay fancy name beef stew!

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 12 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 2-lb boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 2-inch cubes
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided (1/2 teaspoon and 1 teaspoon portions)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided (1/4 portions)
• 1 cup red wine
• 2 cups chopped carrot
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 1/2 cup beef broth
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• dash of ground cloves
• 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 bay leaf
• Optional: serve with egg noodles, rice, or other pasta.

Directions

1. Heat oil in a small Dutch oven over low heat.  Add garlic, and cook 5 minutes or until garlic is fragrant, stirring occasionally. Remove garlic with a slotted spoon, and set aside.
2. Increase heat to medium-high.  Add roast to pan, sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.  Cook 5 minutes, browning on all sides.  Remove roast from pan.
3. Add wine to pan and bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits.  Add garlic, roast, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and all the other ingredients (except optional pasta or rice).  Bring to a boil.
4. Carefully transfer roast mixture to a 4-quart electric slow cooker.  This step could get really messy and painful if you just dump the stew into the crock pot.  Take it easy so you don't splatter everywhere (and burn yourself in the process).  Cover and cook on HIGH 5 hours.  Discard bay leaf.  Serve over pasta or rice if desired.

You could also make this in the oven if you'd like.  Instead of transferring to the crock pot, just cover the dutch oven and bake at 300 degrees for 2 1/2 hours or until the beef is tender.

Homemade Taco Bowls

So I saw this clever trick to making taco bowls out of tortillas, using an upside down muffin tin.  Ooo!  Had to give this one a try.  I made the crispy bowls with the tortillas, and just filled with the normal taco fixins.  I call it a success.  Hubby said they were a bit bland, though he wasn't breaking off bits of bowl to eat with filling like I did.  So it's entirely his fault, obviously.  So maybe you could try seasoning the tortillas, but otherwise, here's how to go about it!

Ingredients

• Medium flour tortillas (I made 6 which was plenty for 1 lb of ground beef)
• Cooking spray
• 1 lb of ground beef
• 1 tablespoon taco seasoning
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1/2 head green leaf lettuce, shredded
• 1/2 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend
• 2 regular size muffin tins

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Spray both sides of tortillas.  Form bowls out of tortillas, and place into bottom sides of 2 muffin tins (see picture below).
3. Cook tortillas for 7 minutes or until golden (but not dark brown as you can see bits of mine are.  I cooked mine for 8 minutes just guessing how long to go).
4. Brown the ground beef and onion in a large saucepan over medium heat.  While browning, stir in taco seasoning.  Drain.
5. Allow taco bowls to cool slightly.
6. Fill taco bowls with ground beef, then cheese, tomatoes, and lettuce.  Top with sour cream if desired.

Baked Rotini

This recipe has evolved over the years, and has a special place in my heart.  This was the first recipe I really did well when I was first married, and the first one I tinkered with over time instead of following the cookbook version exactly.  It's definitely comfort food in my house: both comforting for me to make because it is so familiar, and comforting to eat all year long.  I know it's nothing groundbreaking, but I hope you enjoy it all the same!

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb (1/2 box) rotini
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 24-oz jar pasta sauce

Directions

1. Cook the pasta according to package directions.
2. While the pasta cooks, brown the ground beef with the onion and garlic cloves in a large nonstick pan heated over medium heat.  You do not need to coat the pan in oil or nonstick spray; the beef provides its own grease to cook in.
3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
4. When cooked, drain the pasta and transfer to a large bowl.
5. When browned (5-7 minutes), drain the ground beef mixture and add to the large bowl.
6. Stir together the pasta, ground beef, 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese, the Parmesan cheese, the pepper, and pasta sauce until evenly mixed.
7. Pour the pasta mixture into a lidded 3-quart casserole dish.  Cover and cook at 375 degrees for 25 minutes.
8. Remove lid, sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup of mozzarella cheese, cover again, and cook an additional 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Serves 4-5

So ooey gooey and cheesy!!!

It Begins: Taco Balls

And we're off.  Here we go.  First one!
Let's just dive right in and start with the latest modified recipe.  I found this very tempting pin titled "taco balls" which to my mind immediately equated to ground beef and delicious taco-ness in a pastry, judging by the picture.  The link was actually to the not-at-all taco-like recipe for chicken enchilada puffs.  Well that's not what I drooled over in my head.  I was not to be dismayed- I had a craving and I was going to make it.  With some modifications, I present: Taco Balls.

Ingredients

•  1 package jumbo crescent rolls

•  1 lb ground beef

•  1/2 cup onion

•  3 oz cream cheese

•  1/2 cup Mexican blend shredded cheese

•  1/3 cup enchilada or taco sauce

•  taco seasoning mix (premade, or make your own: 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp chili powder, and 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes)

•  1/4 cup Mexican shredded cheese for sprinkling

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 375° and line cookie sheet with foil and spray with no-stick spray
2.  Brown ground beef and onion in a pan; drain oil
3.  Place cream cheese and 1/2 cup Mexican cheese in medium bowl and microwave for about 30-40 seconds, to soften.
4.  Add seasoning mix, taco sauce, and cooked beef and onion to cheese mixture and stir until combined.
5.  Unroll crescent rolls on prepared pan.
6.  Scoop 1 large heaping tablespoon of beef mixture into the center of the two short ends of the crescent roll.
7.  Pull outer corners of the crescent roll over the beef mixture, and then pull the long end over, completely enclosing filling. Pinch seams closed.
8.  Sprinkle tops of puffs with additional shredded Mexican cheese.
9.  Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.