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Category Archives: Recipes

Kitchen Sink Meatloaf

Posted on April 28, 2013 by hmtaas

meatloaf 4

If you’ve read my bio, you know that my family has a race car.  During racing season, we live in our motorhome at whatever track we’re at.  Here’s the crew having dinner in our pit:

563479_3724489393659_1621231623_n

 

I have to have breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a crew of between 5 and 10 people on a race weekend (which is 3 to 5 days).  One of the last trips we were on, I took ground beef to make hamburgers.  For some unknown reason, I took too much ground beef.  I didn’t want to waste it, so this is the recipe I came up with.  I had cooked some caramelized onions and sautéed some mushrooms to go on the hamburgers the night before and had some left over.  I also had some barbecue sauce that some of us put on the hamburgers.  So, I just started grabbing leftovers and throwing them in the meatloaf – everything, but the kitchen sink!  My motorhome has a convection oven, so baking is easy.

I have to tell you, I don’t like cold meatloaf or mushrooms, and I ate this like there was no tomorrow!  The only thing I would do differently is chop the mushrooms.  They were just a little too big left whole.  Otherwise, it was a hit with the crew for lunch sandwiches and had a great flavor.

Kitchen Sink Meatloaf

1 lb. ground beef

1/4 cup caramelized onions

1/4 cup sautéed mushrooms

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons ketchup, plus extra for the top

2 tablespoons barbecue sauce

salt and pepper to taste

1 slice of bread, crust removed

1/4 cup milk

Put all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix with your hands until all the ingredients are well mixed together.  Form a meatloaf shape.  Place in pan and spread some ketchup on top.  You can use barbecue sauce in place of the ketchup.  Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.  Serve hot or cold in sandwiches.

meatloaf 1

meatloaf 2

meatloaf 3

meatloaf 4

meatloaf 5

meatloaf 6

 

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Be My Guest

Posted on March 24, 2013 by hmtaas

 

Baked Pork Chops 9

I had the good fortune of being a “Guest Blogger” on The Ranting Chef’s blog.  It’s one of my favorites.  I submitted a family recipe that my mother used to make and I still make now.  Please visit The Ranting Chef to see my guest “appearance” and get the recipe.

http://rantingchef.com/2013/03/15/guest-post-baked-pork-chops-and-apples/

 

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Fresh Lemony Sea Bass

Posted on January 9, 2013 by hmtaas

bass

 

I was given some freshly caught (and cleaned) Black Sea Bass by a friend.  It looked and smelled so wonderful that I couldn’t wait to cook it.  So, here’s my recipe.  It was delicious if I do say so myself!  Thanks, Jeff!

 

 

 

2 fillets of Black Sea Bass (I’m sure this would work with other white fish, too)

 

¼ cup milk

 

¼ cup flour

 

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

 

1 Tablespoon butter

 

half a lemon, cut into 4 wedges

 

1 small clove garlic, minced

 

Salt

 

Pepper

 

Parsley

 

 

 

Soak the fillets in the milk for about 10 minutes.

 

While they are soaking and just before you are ready to cook the fish, mix the olive oil, butter, and garlic in a large sauté pan.  Squeeze 1 wedge of lemon in the pan.  Add a pinch of salt and pepper.  Heat over medium-high heat.

 

Lightly dredge the fillets in the flour.  It should be a light coating, not caked.  Once the oil it hot, add the fillets to the pan. Don’t crowd the pan.  If you are doubling the recipe, cook the fillets in batches.  Cook the fillets for about 3 minutes, then turn and cook about another 3 minutes.  The cooking time will be determined by the thickness of the fillet.  The fillets should be golden brown on the outside and white and flaky inside.

To serve, place the fillets on a plate and season with salt and pepper.  Squeeze 1 of the remaining wedges of lemon on top.  Sprinkle with some parsley and serve with the remaining 2 lemon wedges.

 

Serves 2

 

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Leftover Turkey Noodle Soup

Posted on November 22, 2012 by hmtaas

We all love those holiday meal leftovers!  But, if you’re like me, I’m still full the next day.  Here is a light, but satisfying way to enjoy that leftover turkey.

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 carrot, diced

1 stalk celery, diced

64 oz. chicken broth

1 bay leaf

1 diced potato (or sweet potato)

½ uncooked egg noodles

3 cups cooked turkey meat

Pinch of parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

 

In a large pot, brown the garlic lightly.  Add the onion, carrot, and celery.  Cook until onion is translucent.  Add broth and bay leaf and bring to simmer.  Add the potato and noodles.  Cook at a simmer for 10 minutes.  Add the turkey meat, parsley, salt and pepper, if needed, and cover.  Turn off the heat and let sit for about 5 minutes before serving.

 

*If you have other left over vegetables, like corn or green beans, you can add those, too.

*If your turkey needs a little more flavor, you can add a pinch of rosemary, sage, or thyme.

Serves 6

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Homemade Tomato Sauce & Penne with Fresh Vegetable and Sausage

Posted on August 30, 2012 by hmtaas

 

Since I don’t like to eat fresh tomatoes, I decided to make tomato sauce from the Roma tomatoes I grew in my garden.  Wow!  Was that a good idea!  I served it over Penne tossed with fresh vegetable and spices.  There were no leftovers!  Below is the link to the recipe I used for the sauce pictured.  I’ve included a couple other links for different sauces for variety.

This is the recipe I used.  The sauce is made from fresh Roma’s with the skins left on and removed from the sauce at the end. - http://kitchenrunway.com/pasta-with-fresh-roma-tomato-sauce/

This is a slow cooker marinara - http://budgetbytes.blogspot.com/2011/11/slow-cooker-marinara-515-recipe-040.html

This is a chunky sauce - http://www.soulemama.com/soulemama/2008/09/tomato-sauce.html

This is a smooth sauce with the tomato skins removed first - http://allrecipes.com/recipe/homemade-tomato-sauce-i/

 The start of the sauce.

To make this dish, I cooked a pound of Penne.  While that was cooking, I sauteed zucchini, yellow squash, onion, and pepper in a skillet with butter and olive oil.  Near the end of cooking, I added some slices of Italian sausage and fresh basil and oregano from my garden.  Salt and pepper to taste.   Top with tomato sauce.  Sprinkle some grated Parmesan and red pepper flakes if desired.  Serve with crusty bread.

 

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Ice Cream in a Bag

Posted on July 15, 2012 by hmtaas

The summer heat wave just seems to keep going on and on.  So, today couldn’t be a better day for a celebration!  It’s National Ice Cream Day!  Yippee!!  Here’s a recipe to make your own ice cream in a plastic bag with ingredients you already have in your kitchen!  It’s quick, easy, and yummy.

Ingredients for 1 serving (a scoop):

½ cup milk

½ teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon sugar

4 cups ice

4 tablespoons coarse salt (Kosher works best)

2 quart size plastic storage bag

2 gallon size plastic storage bag

Combine the milk, vanilla, and sugar in a quart bag and seal tightly squeezing out the air.  Put this bag into the second bag for added strength.  Put the ice and salt in a gallon bag.  Put the quart bag into the gallon bag and seal tightly squeezing out the air.  Place this into the second gallon bag for extra strength.  Shake, shake, shake the bags until the mixture hardens.  Make sure the ice surrounds the mixture.  Here is a good time to play toss with the kids.  Toss the bag around to each other for about 5 minutes until the ice cream is ready.  This makes one serving, so make enough bags for everybody to have their own.

Tips:

  • You can double the recipe for a larger serving.
  • You can eat right out of the bag!  Toss in some toppings.
  • If the bag is too cold to hold, use a towel.
  • To make chocolate ice cream use ½ cup milk, 1 tablespoon sugar, ¼ teaspoon vanilla, and 1 teaspoon chocolate syrup.

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Quick and Easy Dinner – Tortellini with Alfredo Sauce, Roasted Peppers, and Spinach

Posted on May 20, 2012 by hmtaas

This is a quick and easy meal from your pantry.

1 bag of tortellini

1 small jar of roasted red peppers, diced

1 handful of baby spinach

1 (15oz.) jar of Alfredo sauce

Cook the tortellini as directed on package.  Drain in a strainer and leave in the strainer.  While the tortellini is draining, mix the remaining ingredients in the same pot that you cooked the tortellini.  Heat until the spinach is wilted.  Add the tortellini and serve with crusty bread.

Serves 4

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Cornbread and Syrup

Posted on April 3, 2012 by hmtaas

By far, my favorite comfort food isn’t macaroni and cheese.  It’s cornbread and maple syrup!  This treat came from my Southern grandmother.  I will actually hide two muffins to eat this way for dessert after dinner.  There are never any leftover corn muffins at my house!

Put 1 or 2 corn muffins or squares of cornbread into a bowl.

Break them up into pieces.

Pour some maple syrup over the muffins and enjoy!

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Beth’s Meatballs

Posted on March 10, 2012 by hmtaas

 

I am going to share my famous meatball recipe.  Usually, I just grab and throw the spices into the mix, but I am giving you some more precise measurements for the recipe.  You can adjust the portions to your liking.  All the spices are dried.

1 pound lean ground beef

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1 teaspoon basil

1 Tablespoon oregano

1 Tablespoon dried minced onion

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon parsley

1 (23.9 oz.) jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce.  I like to use marinara

Mix all of the ingredients except the spaghetti sauce in a bowl.  Cover the bottom of a 2 1/2 to 3 quart sauce pot with spaghetti sauce.  Roll about 1 tablespoon of the meat mixture into balls about 1 1/2 inch in diameter and put the meatballs into the pot.  Cover the meatballs with the remaining sauce.  If the sauce is thick I put a little water in the jar, shake it up to get the remaining sauce in the jar, and pour it into the pot.  Cover and simmer for 1 hour.

Serve with spaghetti or on rolls.

Makes about 18 meatballs.

Mix ground beef and spices.

Place meatballs in pot on layer of sauce.

Cover with remaining sauce and simmer.

Serve with pasta or on rolls.

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Apple Cake

Posted on November 26, 2011 by hmtaas

There’s nothing like comfort food late in the Fall and here’s an old favorite:

3 Apples, peeled, cored, and sliced

Cinnamon sugar

3 cups flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs, slightly beaten

1/2 cup orange juice

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a tube pan. 

Put the sliced apples in a bowl and sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar and set aside.

Mix the rest of the ingredients with a spoon in a large bowl until well blended.  Pour half of the batter into  the pan.  Place a layer of half the apple slices on top of the batter.  Add the rest of the batter and then the rest of the apples on top. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Don’t over cook because the outside will become hardened. 

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