Asian Turkey Lettuce Wraps

I love coming up with new meals for my family. And it's always exciting when the pickiest one - my husband - loves what I come up with. I was worried that he wouldn't like this one because it isn't the typical meat, veggie, starch combo, but he was still good with it. Of course, I did have to serve some rice on the side because he's a big guy and would be hungry in half an hour without it...

Beef with Peapods

My last post was a great chicken and peapods recipe so I thought I'd share a beef version this time. This one actually came before the chicken version and it sort of paved the way for that and a couple others. The inspiration to make this came from a craving for some beef chop suey from our local Chinese restaurant. So instead of calling to place an order, I decided to create something with what I had on hand. I'm big on that, you know...

So I checked out what I had and a bag of peapods from Costco was staring back at me. I knew I had some steak - also from Costco - so I thought about combining them into a simple stir fry with some chop suey sauce similarities. It wasn't exactly like chop suey, but it's exactly what I was going for. I wanted a deep flavor that really highlighted the beef as the main ingredient. The sauce was mellow and not too overpowering so it really let me meat flavor take center stage.

Two-Beef Chili

Quick...before it starts to get too warm outside, you need to make this chili.

I've never been a big chili fan, but I decided to make a batch for some reason a couple weeks ago. I still have no idea what prompted that, but I'm glad it did because I'm putting this up there as one of the best things I've ever eaten. The spices are right on and the texture was awesome. The contrast of the two kinds of meats was unlike anything I've had and they worked so well together! It wasn't very spicy either so it had just the right amount of heat.

Oh, and this one is even better the next day.

Stuffed Zucchini - Mexican Style

I had my first 'real' harvest from my garden last week and I ended up with two pretty large zucchini. When I have zucchini that large, stuffing them is the first thing that comes to mind. They're the perfect size for that because the seeds are larger and a lot of people don't like to eat them. I don't mind, but, it's a great excuse for me to come up with new ideas.

Crock Pot Zesty BBQ Meatloaf

Oh, meatloaf. The ultimate in family dinner foods...

Well, it didn't used to be around here but I think this one might become a trend. This meatloaf is actually the first 'traditional' meatloaf I've ever made. I used to make these Mini Mexican Meatloaves, but I never did the standard loaf one. I hated it when I was little so the idea just didn't appeal to me. My husband was the same way.

Since I started this whole blog thing though, I've tried to become more open to new (and some old) ideas. I've been doing the crock pot series so I thought I'd make up my own version of the 'classic' to see if it was what I remembered. Well, it wasn't. This one was actually good. So good, in fact, that my husband said I could make it every week for the rest of his life and he'd be happy. Let me tell you, for the seven and a half years we've been married, I've wanted nothing more than to make up a meal/food/dish/whatever that would make this non-foodie man I married say, "Wow." He just doesn't care much about food in general and I made it my goal a long time ago to make something that would spark his interest enough to evoke emotion about the food he was eating. It took awhile, but I finally did it with this meatloaf. Yes, he's 'liked' food I've made (if he didn't, he wouldn't eat it), but I wanted him to love it. And, boy did he love this meatloaf!

Crock Pot Mexican Black Bean Chili

There's just something about chili in the fall. It's not quite winter, but the cold air is definitely on it's way so sometimes you just need that comforting warm up to remind you of the previous months. And when that warm up is in chili form, well, it just makes it that much better. And when it's a healthy chili it's like a double bonus!

Homemade Sloppy Joes

I have no idea why, but I had a taste for Sloppy Joes a couple weeks ago. This has never happened before. I've never even liked Sloppy Joes! But, for some reason, I just needed to make them. Maybe it was because I ran into my husband's cousin's wife (my cousin-in-law?) at the grocery store a few weeks ago and she said the store's brand of Sloppy Joe mix was really good. Did that somehow make it's way into my subconscious and put the meat mixture into my brain's 'food idea' area?

Braised Beef and Vegetables

What is it about slow cooked meat that just tastes so good? I haven't had any yet that wasn't up to par. Sure, some were better than others, but let's be real here - any slow cooked meat is always going to yummy. When it comes to the actual process of slow cooking meat, there are a couple different ways to go about it. My new favorite is braising. It took me a few tries to get the ingredients in this recipe 'just right', but it was worth the wait.

Taco Salad: The Cookout Must Have

I don't know about you, but when summer gets here, it seems like there's something to do almost every weekend. It becomes the busiest time of year with birthday parties, graduations, weddings, and best of all, cookouts. I've had a few over the past month or so and when you're the one hosting the events, there's so many things to do that I try to make food prep as easy as possible. I've modified the following taco salad over the years to make it something that's pretty easy to put together and light on the budget as well. 

Taco Salad

• 2.5  lbs ground chuck, cooked and drained (ground turkey works well also!)
• 4 tsp taco seasoning, divided
• 1.5 heads iceberg lettuce, chopped
• 2 medium tomatoes, chopped and drained
• ½ c onion, minced
• 1 can, black olives sliced
• 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
• 24 oz Western Dressing 
• large bag (17oz) of Nacho Doritos, crushed 

1. Cook and drain the ground meat. Set aside to cool completely.

2. In a large bowl, mix 3 tsp of the taco seasoning into meat.  

3. Mix next six ingredients with the meat mixture.

4. Mix salad dressing and 1 tsp taco seasoning together and then mix into meat mixture.

5. Crush Doritos into small to medium pieces and add to the salad about 1 to 2 hours before serving.

Makes 2 half foil pans, which enough for about 30 - 40 servings.

Note:

If you're making this the day before, omit lettuce until a few hours before serving so it doesn't get too soggy and add an extra 1/4 cup Western Dressing.

Having a party with fewer guests?  Here's a scaled down version that will serve 6 to 8:

• 1 lb ground meat
• 1 1/4 tsp taco seasoning, divided
• 1/2 head iceberg lettuce, chopped
• 1 small tomato, chopped
• 1/4 c onion chopped
• 1/3 of a can black olives, sliced
• 1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 12 oz Western Dressing
• about half of a large bag (17oz) of Nacho Doritos, crushed 

Follow the same directions as above.