Salisbury Steak

Okay, I know... When you saw the title of this post you probably thought of cafeteria food from school days or maybe TV dinners. Am I right? Well, let me introduce you to a DELICIOUS recipe for Salisbury Steak that tastes ten times better than those things we grew up on. I made it for dinner and my beloved husband requested that it be included in our regular meal rotation - always a good sign! Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb. ground beef
8 Ritz crackers, crushed into fine crumbs
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 c. chopped onion (preferably a sweet onion like a Vidalia if you have it available)
2 c. flour
Salt and pepper to taste
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 packet Lipton onion soup mix

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine beef, cracker crumbs, onion and Worcestershire and mix by hand until all ingredients are thoroughly combined.

Form into 6 patties.

Dredge patties in flour/salt/pepper mixture.

Heat 1 Tbsp vegetable oil in a heavy skillet.

Brown patties, about 3-5 minutes per side.

Place browned patties in greased baking dish. Lay sliced onions on each patty (optional).

In a small bowl combine soup, onion soup mix and 3/4 a soup can of water.

Pour this mixture over patties.

Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, until patties are completely cooked through.

Ritz Chicken

You have probably noticed by now that I like to find recipes that call for ingredients I usually keep in my pantry. Who wants to make a last-minute run to the grocery store if not absolutely necessary? Especially when the grocery store is 20 miles away and snowy roads might be involved! LOL. This recipe is very tasty and VERY simple to make. Hope you enjoy!!

Ingredients:

For the chicken:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 sleeves of roasted vegetable flavor Ritz crackers (these add wonderful flavor!)
1/2 c. buttermilk or milk
Salt and pepper to taste

For the sauce:
1 can cream of chicken soup
3 Tbsp. sour cream
2 Tbsp. butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease a baking dish with cooking spray or butter or oil, whichever you prefer.
Crush Ritz crackers into fine crumbs (you may use a food processor for this, however I prefer putting the crackers into a Ziploc bag and crushing them with a rolling pin... fun way to relieve some stress too! LOL)
Place crumbs in a shallow dish for dredging the chicken.
Pour buttermilk or milk into a small bowl.
Dip chicken breasts into milk, then coat with cracker crumbs. It is a messy job but so worth it in the end!
Place in prepared baking dish and sprinkle any non-covered areas with additional crumbs.
Bake for 30-35 minutes until chicken is thoroughly cooked.


Meanwhile, prepare the sauce.
In a small pot, over medium-high heat, bring soup, sour cream, and butter to a boil. Whisk to make sure all ingredients are thoroughly combined and then let sauce simmer on very low heat. Serve over chicken.

That's it! Enjoy!

Cornbread Salad

Happy 4th of July to everyone!! I know that most of you are already in the throes of your Independence Day celebrations and preparing your yummy dishes and I wanted to share the dish that I will be preparing for our dinner with friends later. I made this for my family reunion last year and it was a huge hit - it is very tasty and very easy to put together, again using ingredients that many of us keep in our cupboards. Hope you enjoy!!

Ingredients:

One pan of cornbread, either from scratch or from a mix (I love using Jiffy cornbread mix), baked and cooled
1 c. diced onions
1 bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 c. diced tomatoes
15-oz. can whole kernel corn, drained
1 lb. bacon, cooked until crisp and crumbled
1 c. mayonnaise
1 c. Ranch dressing

Crumble cornbread.
Add onions, bell pepper, tomatoes, corn, and bacon; Stir until combined.
Combine mayonnaise and Ranch dressing in a small bowl; then add to other ingredients; Stir until fully mixed.
Refrigerate for at least two hours to allow flavors to blend.

Enjoy!!!

Stuffed Peppers

My beloved and I both LOVE stuffed peppers. However, as much as I love them I had never actually made them before until tonight. They turned out SO well! We both love the flavor combinations and he proclaimed that these were the best stuffed peppers he had ever eaten and asked that I include them in our regular meal rotation! I hope you enjoy them just as much as we did!

Ingredients:
6 green bell peppers, tops and seeds removed (reserve tops)
Salt to taste
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
16-oz. can diced tomatoes
1/2 c. long-grain white rice (I actually used basmati rice since it is his favorite and it was so tasty!)
1/2 c. water
1 tsp. soy sauce
1 pinch ground black pepper
8-oz. can tomato sauce


Chop reserved green bell pepper tops and measure out 1/4 cup.
Bring a pot of water to a boil; Cook whole green peppers until slightly tender, about 5 minutes.
Drain and season inside of bell peppers with a little bit of salt.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.
Cook and stir beef, onion, garlic, and chopped bell pepper in the hot skillet until beef is browned, then drain.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Stir diced tomatoes, rice, water, soy sauce, black pepper and 1 tsp of salt into ground beef mixture.
Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat, cover skillet with a lid, and simmer until rice is tender, about 15-18 minutes.
Stir in tomato sauce.
Stuff peppers with beef/rice mixture and arrange in a baking dish. Cover with aluminum foil.
Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Taco Salad

Long ago, in a land far far away, I shared another taco salad recipe here. It is very tasty and always a big hit at church potlucks and such. Recently I tried THIS recipe, which although it does have a few similarities to my other recipe, it is still very different and oh my heavens is it delicious! I made it for my hubby and my brother-in-law and they loved it just as much as I do. It is very easy to throw together quickly and uses ingredients that a lot of us keep on hand. Enjoy!!

Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground beef
1 packet taco seasoning
2 Romaine lettuce hearts, chopped
1 can black beans, rinsed (I used black beans with jalapeños and lime juice - if you can find these they are AMAZING but regular black beans will work as well)
1 can whole kernel corn
1 large tomato, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup finely shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup nacho cheese Doritos, broken into small pieces
1 cup Catalina dressing


Brown and crumble ground beef in a large skillet. Drain.
Add taco seasoning and water called for on seasoning packet.
Stir until mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.
Remove from heat and let meat cool slightly.

In a large salad bowl combine lettuce, black beans, corn, tomato, and cheese.
Add slightly cooled ground beef and gently toss to combine.
Serve now or chill in refrigerator until ready to eat.
When ready to serve, add Doritos and Catalina dressing to salad mixture.
Toss to coat.

Enjoy!!

I'm back!

Yes, I have returned to the world of blogging after a two-year hiatus. My schedule just got to be too crammed with my piano teaching career and church work that I couldn't devote proper time to keeping the blog going but my situation has changed quite a bit recently. You see, I got MARRIED! Yay! AND I moved 1900 miles away to a completely different state, different climate, different way of life. My new life involves being home much more and therefore having time to get back in the kitchen and try all kinds of great recipes AND blog about them! Another yay! So I will be posting regularly again, and again will only feature recipes that have been tried and proven in my kitchen or in the kitchens of friends. See you soon!

S'mores Bites

I am issuing a disclaimer before I type another word: These are addictive. Very addictive. If you are a calorie counter, take heart... each S'mores bite is a little less than 100 calories. You're welcome.

I keep seeing all kinds of S'more-inspired desserts these days and decided to make these after seeing the recipe online. They turned out even more delicious than I imagined!  Seriously. They were super easy to make too, which makes for a very happy baker! Here is a link to the website where I originally saw them:


http://www.grocerybudget101.com/content.php/659-smores-cup-bites


I followed the recipe pretty closely except for a couple of things. I used one large Hershey's candy bar (the kind that has 15 pieces) and cut those pieces in half. I used 24 of them for the S'mores themselves and then chopped the remaining pieces into small bits to sprinkle over the treats at the end instead of melting them and spooning the chocolate onto the treats.

These are definitely going into my repertoire of recipes that I go back to again and again. Try them and let me know what you think!