December Menu

The first swap was a success! I can't wait to try all your yummy meals. We've already had one and another is planned into the roatation this week.

Beef and Broccoli
"Manwich" Meal
Mexican Cornbread
Broccoli Cheese Soup
Spinach Lasagna
Italian Style Meatloaf
Loaded Twice Baked Potatoes
Honey-Cumin Marinated Pork Chops
Bierrocks

The next swap is planned for January 21, 2012! Be thinking about what you want to make and either email me or leave it in the comments here. Also be sure to leave feedback when you try each of the meals in the comments section!

Mexican Cornbread Casserole

From Kim (from Matt's mom, Felicia)

Taken from Felicia Huckaby

Servings: 6-8

Ingredients:

1 can cream style corn

1 cup corn meal

1 cup milk

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 tsp baking soda

2 tablespoons oil

½ lb Velveeta Cheese

1 can Rotel tomatoes

1 lb ground round

1 chopped onion

Directions:

Mix first seven ingredients.  Melt cheese and Rotel tomatoes.  Brown meat and drain.  Layer ½ batter, then all meat, onions, cheese-tomato mixture, other half of batter on top.  Bake 35-45 min at 350° in 9x13 pan until brown and bubbly.

To Serve: Thaw. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until heated through.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

From Kim (from AllRecipes)

Ingredients:

½ cup butter (1 stick)

1 onion, chopped

1 (16 0z) pkg Frozen Chopped Broccoli

1 (14oz) can of Veg-All

4 (14.5oz) cans chicken broth

1 (1 lb) Velveeta

2 cups mild

1 tablespoon garlic powder

2/3 cup cornstarch

Directions:

1.      In a stockpot, melt butter over medium heat.  Cook onion in butter until softened.  Stir in broccoli and Veg-all and cover with 3 cans of chicken broth.  Simmer until broccoli is tender, 10 to 15 minutes.

2.      Reduce heat and stir in cheese until melted.  Mix in milk and garlic powder.

3.      In a small bowl, stir cornstarch into fourth can of chicken broth until dissolved.  Stir into soup; cook, stirring frequently (so the cheese doesn’t burn on the bottom) until thick.

RThaw. Reheat over low heat until hot. 

Broccoli Beef

From Bridget (from Simply Recipes)

 

Ingredients

3/4 pound flank or sirloin, sliced thinly across the grain

3/4 pound broccoli florets

2 tablespoons high-heat cooking oil

2 cloves garlic, very finely minced or smushed through garlic smusher

1 teaspoon cornstarch, dissolved in 1 tablespoon water

 

For the beef marinade

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry)

1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

(We mulitply these by 4)

 

For the sauce

2 tablespoons plum sauce

1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/4 cup chicken broth

 

Method

1 Marinate the beef: Stir together the beef marinade ingredients in a medium bowl. Add the beef slices and stir until coated. Let stand for 10 minutes

 

2 Prepare the sauce: Stir together the sauce ingredients in a small bowl.

 

3 Blanch the broccoli: Cook the broccoli in a small pot of boiling, salted water until tender crisp, about 2 minutes. Drain thoroughly.

 

4Heat a large frying pan or wok over high heat until a bead of water sizzles and instantly evaporates upon contact. Add the cooking oil and swirl to coat. Add the beef and immediately spread the beef out all over the surface of the wok or pan in a single layer (preferably not touching). Let the beef fry undisturbed for 1 minute. Flip the beef slices over, add the garlic to the pan and fry for an additional 30 seconds to 1 minute until no longer pink, Pour in the sauce, add the blanched broccoli and bring to a boil. Pour in the dissolved cornstarch and cook, stirring, until the sauce boils and thickens, 30 seconds.

 

Reheating: microwave for 3 minutes and 30 seconds or until hot and serve. Serve over white rice.

Bierrocks

from Erin (from Menus4Moms) aka Irish Cheeseburgers
Dough:

• 3 cups of room temp milk
• 3/8 cup oil
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 3 packs yeast
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 8 cups flour

Mix together the milk and oil in a large bowl and add the eggs, yeast, sugar, salt and 5 cups of flour. Mix well, adding remaining flour as needed to to form a kneadable dough. Knead a few minutes. Cover and let dough rise for one hour in a warm place.

Filling

• 2 lb ground beef
• 1/2 head cabbage, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped

While dough is rising, brown beef in a large skillet. Add onion and cabbage and continue cooking until onion is translucent, adding salt and pepper to taste. Drain. Let cool.

• 18 slices American cheese
• 1 egg, beaten

After dough has risen, roll out pieces of dough (about the size of a tennis ball) as thin as possible. On each dough circle, place 1/2 slice cheese on dough. Top with some filling, about 1/3 cup, then the other half slice of cheese. Fold over and seal like an empanada, press with either your fingers or the tines of a fork.
Place each bierrock on a baking sheet, brushing with egg wash.

Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until golden.
Cool and freeze. To reheat frozen, simply bake until hot. Yield: about 18 Bierrocks.

Italian Style Meatloaf

from Brooke

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1 teaspoon Italian-style seasoning
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, mix together ground beef, eggs, bread crumbs and ketchup. Season with Italian-style seasoning, oregano, basil, garlic salt, diced tomatoes and cheese. Press into a 9x5 inch loaf pan, and cover loosely with foil.
3. Bake in the preheated oven approximately 1 hour, or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F (70 degrees C).

Spinach Lasagna

from Brooke

Ingredients:

• 1 jar spaghetti sauce
• 2 eggs
• 1 pint ricotta cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 8 ounces sliced mozzarella cheese
• 8 lasagna noodles

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease one 13x9 inch baking dish.            
2. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs and combine them with the ricotta or cottage cheese, salt, spinach and 1/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese.
3. Spread one half cup tomato sauce mixture into the prepared baking dish. Place half the uncooked noodles over the sauce, spread with half the spinach mixture, half the mozzarella cheese, and half of the tomato sauce. Repeat layers, using remaining ingredients. Top with remaining Parmesan cheese.
4. Cover dish securely with aluminum foil and bake for in the preheated oven 1 hour. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Honey-Cumin Marinated Pork Chops

from Erin (as seen on Cooking for Real on Food Network, but I can't find the recipe online)

Into a gallon Ziplock bag put
1/4 cup honey
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp ground cumin
2 tbsp vegetable oil
some salt and pepper

Add 4 large pork chops and mush around so that they get covered.

Cook after an hour or freeze immediately.
To serve: Thaw on the counter if possible because the meat will cook better if it is room temperature rather than cold from the fridge. The meat will be marinating while it is thawing. Since the marinade has oil in it, it won't stick to your cooking surface, so no need to add any. Either grill, or fry in a hot skillet about 5-6 minutes on one side then flip and cook another 4-5 more, until it's a little brown on the outside and cooked through on the inside.

Twice Baked Loaded Potatoes

from Erin, to be a side several nights, or a main once

4 Potatoes
1/3 cup sour cream
2 tbsp butter
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
3 strips of cooked bacon
1 tsp diced chives
olive oil

Preheat oven to 400. Scrub potatoes. Rub down with olive oil. Bake potatoes in hot oven for about an hour or until they give a little when you sqeeze them with a potholder.
Slice the potatoes in half and scoop out the flesh with a spoon into a bowl. Add butter, salt and pepper and mash with a potato masher or fork, add the sour cream and cheese and mash again. Stir in the bacon and chives.
Spoon the mixture back into the potato skin halves. Use your hand or the spoon to mold them back into shape.

To Freeze: Place cooled off loaded potato haves in the freezer for about an hour. Then put in Ziploc bags to freeze the rest of the way.

To Serve: The potatoes can be reheated in the oven or the microwave from frozen or thawed.
In the oven: bake from frozen for about 30 minutes, top with a little extra shredded cheese, then put back into the oven until melted. If they're thawed, just top with cheese and heat them up.
In the microwave, it takes about a minute and a half from frozen to heat up. Top with cheese and go another 15 seconds or so.

You can change the ingredients to suit your family's tastes or what you have on hand. Green onions go well, so does leftover chilli, or broccoli