Who doesn’t like tacos?  Well, there might be a few people, but, for the most part, burritos, enchiladas, chili with beef or chicken have almost become mainstays in the American diet. We love the spices and the combination of flavors. It’s kind of like comfort food with a kick.  The following recipe combines ground beef, turkey or chicken with your favorite boxed mac and cheese to make a quick comfort dish at home.  Add some shredded lettuce and tortilla chips with your favorite salsa and you have a complete meal!

1  pound ground beef, turkey or chicken
1 - 1.25 oz. package of your favorite taco seasoning mix (3 tablespoons)
1 - 6 to 7.25 oz. box of mac and cheese, prepared according to package directions
1/4 cup of your favorite salsa
1/4 cup sour cream or yogurt
1  cup shredded taco cheese

In a medium skillet, brown ground beef, turkey or chicken until cooked through and no longer pink.  Drain excess grease. Stir in taco seasoning mix.  Add prepared mac and cheese, salsa and sour cream or yogurt.  Heat through.  Garnish with shredded taco cheese to serve.  Makes 4-6 servings.  Enjoy!   

During the chilly winter,  crockpot meals are convenient, a great time saver and can turn less expensive cuts of meat into tender and flavorful dishes.  This recipe calls for chuck roast, however, a bottom round roast or eye of round will work nicely as well.  These cuts of meat have the best result with moist heat cooking methods for a fork tender outcome.  While this dish requires some planning, it can slow cook for 8 or more hours and then be finished quickly by cooking noodles for a tasty, hearty meal.  Add some steamed vegetables and a salad and you are ready to go.  If there happen to be leftovers, they reheat nicely. 

1     4 – 5 pound chuck roast
salt and pepper
1   -  10.5 can of mushroom soup + 1 can of water (If using an organic 15 ounce can of soup, add 1/3 of a can of water)
1   -  1.25 oz.  package of dry onion soup mix
2     tablespoons cornstarch
2     tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4    cup cooking sherry
1/2    teaspoon garlic powder or 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2        teaspoons dried parsley or 2 tablespoons  freshly chopped
1-2    tablespoons creamy horseradish or 1-2 teaspoons grated horseradish
 

1     pound of your favorite egg noodles

Season roast with salt and pepper.  Set aside.  Lightly oil crock pot and  combine mushroom soup through horseradish in crock pot and mix well to combine.  Add chuck roast and cook on low for 8-9 hours.   To serve, bring large  pot of water to boil for noodles.   Remove roast from crock pot, place on plate and cover with foil allowing the beef to rest for 10-15 minutes before cutting.  Place noodles in boiling water and cook according to package directions.  Cut roast into chunks, drain noodles, add roast and noodles to the remaining sauce in crock pot.  Season with additional salt and pepper if desired.  Makes 4-6 Servings.  Enjoy!   

Rice a Roni has been around for years. Recently, they added a pasta line and even more recently added Nature’s Way to both the pasta and rice line. Nature’s way is all natural with no preservatives and no artificial flavors. I am a big fan of natural. My friends will tell you that I like foods without the extra junk in it. These packaged items are available for right around a dollar and even less on sale and make great pantry staples. This recipe, like the others on this site can easily be converted to organic if you wish. Combining mushrooms, sauteed ground beef and green beans with this packaged mix makes a complete delicious meal.

1  pound ground beef
1/2  cup chopped onion
1 - 8 oz. package sliced fresh mushrooms, rinsed well
2 - 4.5 oz. packages pasta with mushrooms in cream sauce like Nature’s Way by Pasta Roni
1  additional cup milk
1 - 10 oz. can cream of mushroom soup
2  cups green beans, frozen works great here
1/4  teaspoon each black pepper and garlic salt

In a large skillet, cook the ground beef with chopped onion. At the point where it is about 1/2 way done, add the mushrooms and allow them to cook with the beef. Drain any extra fat. While the beef is cooking, prepare the pasta according to the package directions. Once it is complete, add additional cup of milk, cream of mushroom soup, green beans, black pepper and garlic salt. Stir into beef and mushrooms. Makes 4-6 Servings. Enjoy!

Draining Fat Tip: When ground beef cooked in a skillet needs to be drained, pouring into a colander can be a hassle,the following method saves time. Remove the skillet from the heat onto a padded surface. Slightly tip the pan, pushing the ground beef, onions and mushrooms to high end allowing the fat to collect on the low end. Blot the liquid grease with a few paper towels and dump in the trash. Resume preparation.

Ground beef is often on sale and one of its many uses can be for Meat Loaf, an American Classic, that we all know and love! While this may take a little prep time, it can mixed and shaped in a pan, stored in the fridge and ready to go into the oven. The leftovers are great for sandwiches or cut up for nachos!

Meatloaf:

1  cup quick cooking oats
1 1/2  cups chopped onions (frozen chopped onions can be found in the frozen vegetable section of your local supermarket saving time and tears!)
3  large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4  cup milk
1 1/2  teaspoons salt
1/2  teaspoon black pepper
1/2  teaspoon garlic powder
1/4  cup ketchup
1/4  cup of your favorite BBQ sauce
2  pounds ground beef

Topping:

1/2  cup ketchup
2  tablespoons brown sugar
1  teaspoon prepared (yellow) mustard

Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a medium bowl, combine oats through BBQ sauce. Mix well to blend spices. Add ground beef and fold in to mix thoroughly. Divide in half, form into 2 loaves and place in a lightly oiled 9 x 13 pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes. (Add 10-15 minutes if chilled because of day before prep.) To make topping, combine ketchup, brown sugar and prepared mustard in a bowl. Remove meatloaf from the oven. Divide the topping over the two loaves and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until the meat thermometer registers 160 F. Enjoy!

Sliders or mini burgers have become extremely popular. It all started years ago with a restaurant called White Castle. The slyder (White Castle’s trademark name) is a very thin burger fried with reconstituted dried onion and served on a little soft bun. Now those little burgers are available in the freezer section of your local grocery store. Most fast food restaurants have begun to offer these as well! I must admit, they are fun and tasty for something different. When ground beef is on sale, you can make your own at home quickly and go easy on the budget. Use dinner or potato rolls available at the grocery store. Customize with your own condiments and save a few bucks in the process.

1  pound of ground beef, sirloin, or chuck
1  teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2  tablespoons dried minced onion
10  dinner rolls, sliced horizontally
Your choice of condiments including your favorite sliced cheese

Preheat grill or skillet to medium high. Combine ground beef with salt, pepper and dried onion. Mix well. Portion into small patties that are 3 inches in diameter and cook over heat approximately 3-4 minutes per side or until done. Makes 10 mini burgers. Enjoy!

* Tips: A traditional slider is always served with onions and in this recipe the onions are mixed right in. You may like your mini-burgers made simply with salt and pepper.

Meatloaf is hard to beat when it comes to making something that everyone will like. This recipe is quick, easy and popular. To cut down on the cooking time, make 8 individual loaves and place them in a 9 x 13 lightly oiled pan. Any leftovers still make great sandwiches!

1  envelope of onion soup mix
3/4  cup dry bread crumbs (or 1 1/2 cups fresh breadcrumbs)
2  eggs, lightly beaten
1/2  cup of water
1/2  cup of ketchup
1/4  teaspoon black pepper
2  pounds ground beef

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a large bowl, combine soup mix through black pepper. Blend well. Add ground beef and mix thoroughly. The easiest way to get 8 individual loaves is to divide the mixture in half in the bowl, then divide each half into quarters, then each quarter in half one more time for 8 servings. Form into mini loaves as you place them in the pan. Bake uncovered for 30-35 minutes or until 170 F. in the center. Makes 8 mini loaves. No slicing just simply serve and enjoy!

Preparing London Broil has been a baffling experience for me in the past. For the best flavor, it can not be cooked to your preference (unless that is medium rare) and cut (unless it is in thin slices) like any other steak. This cut of meat or preparation method if you will, has tremendous potential if handled correctly. And for the price at times, it is truly a bargain. London Broil actually has two different meanings. It is either a preparation method or a cut of meat. And, get this, there are no ties to London, England. So, to clarify a bit, London Broil, the preparation method, is pan frying, grilling or broiling the the steak that may have been marinated to medium rare and thinly sliced. Any more cooking, and it will be extremely tough, trust me on this one. Now, London Broil the “cut” is the name that some butchers give a cut of meat like flank steak, skirt steak, top round steak, or sirloin tip steak.

1 1/2  pounds London Broil or similar steak
Your favorite dry steak seasoning or simply salt and pepper
2/3  cup balsamic vinegar
2  tablespoons butter, chilled
1/8  teaspoon garlic salt
Additional salt and black pepper to taste

Sprinkle steak with seasoning or salt and pepper. Preheat broiler, pan or grill to medium high. While the grill is heating, make balsamic glaze by simmering balsamic vinegar in a sauce pan over medium high heat until it reduces to half or 1/3 cup. It Add garlic salt and butter. The chilled butter will help thicken the glaze slightly. Whisk to combine until butter is blended in and sauce is smooth. Season with salt and black pepper if desired. Set glaze aside and heat gently before serving. Cook steak for approximately 4-7 minutes (depending on steak thickness, thicker steaks may take a bit longer) on each side or until medium rare (140 F. in the center). Slice at an angle into thin (1/8 -1/4 inch) slices. Drizzle with balsamic glaze. Makes 4-6 Servings. Enjoy!