Zucchini Rice Bake

I've been experimenting with zucchini dishes as of late.  Our zucchini plant that produced about 5 zucchinis earlier in the year, up and died on us.  But it made a miraculous recovery and is producing again!  So now I'm making zucchini bread and trying out all sorts of new things as well.  Here is one of the new concoctions. 

What You Need:

• 1 lb hamburger
• 1 zucchini, chopped
• 1 bag of quick cooking rice
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 banana pepper, chopped (Any kind of pepper is fine, this is the only thing I had in the garden that day)
• 1 can Italian diced tomatoes
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese
• Salt and Pepper to taste

What You Do:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Coat a baking dish with cooking spray.

Prepare rice according to package directions.

Brown beef.

Chop vegetables.

Combine beef, rice and vegetables in baking dish.  Pour tomoates in and give it a stir.  Season with salt and pepper.

Top with mozzeralla cheese adn bake for 30 minutes.

Cheeseburger Soup

Last weekend, Monkey and I spent the entire time in the house. JC had to work, it was cold and dreary, so we just played inside and never even stepped foot outside. I had the Food Network on as background sound but one of my favorite shows caught my eye. It was 'Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives'. I’m pretty sure it was an old episode and I don’t even know what city the host, Guy Fiera, was in. But one of the recipes that was featured really intrigued me. It was cheeseburger soup.

Of course, I’ve had cheeseburger soup before and it’s fine, but the woman in this restaurant used an ingredient that I would’ve never considered using in soup and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. Curious as to what that ingredient was? Lettuce. Can you imagine?! Lettuce in a soup? No way, it can’t be good. I picture soggy lettuce and who likes that? Yet, Guy and every other person in that restaurant raved about it. So yesterday I decided to make it.

It really did taste like a cheeseburger! And the lettuce added a light sweet crispness that I didn’t expect. It was seriously delicious and I would love to know what the restaurant was called and where it is, because if I’m ever in that town, I’d like to try out the original and see if mine was anywhere close to hers.

What You’ll Need:

• 2 lbs ground beef
• Steak seasoning
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 32 oz of chicken broth
• 1 lb Velveeta cheese
• 1 can cheese soup
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 3 medium tomatoes, diced
• ½ head of lettuce, shredded

What You Do:

In a skillet over medium heat, season the beef and brown. Drain and set aside.

In a large soup pot, add butter and sauté the onions for a few minutes. Add the chicken broth, cheese soup, Velveeta and heavy whipping cream.

After the cheese is melted, add the beef. Season with salt and pepper and turn to medium low heat and let simmer for 20 minutes.

Add diced tomatoes and shredded lettuce, turn heat to low and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

This is a hearty enough soup to serve as is, but I can also imagine serving with garlic toast. I highly recommend it!

Enchiladas

This recipe came from my Oklahoma transplant friend.  I only made a few edits to suit our liking.  Thanks Annie, it was delicious! 

What You Need: 

• 
  
  1 lb ground beef
• 
  
  2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 can Rotel tomatoes 
• 1 bag instant rice
• 1 can red enchilada sauce
• Salsa
• Colby Jack Shredded cheese 
• 10” flour tortillas
• 2 scallions, chopped
• Sliced jalapenos (optional)
• Beans (optional)

What You Do:

Prepare rice according to box instructions.

Chop onion and garlic. 

Brown hamburger and add onion and garlic.

Add rotel, 1/3 of the can of enchilada sauce, and a handful or two of cheese.  If you choose to add beans, now is the time.  I refrain.  Ick.

After cheese is melted, fill tortillas with meat mixture and top with rice.  Roll and lay into a 9x13” baking dish.

Cover top of enchiladas with cheese and top off with remainder of enchilada sauce. Spoon some salsa over top. Lay a few sliced jalapenos over the top of each roll.

Bake at 350F for 30 minutes.  Top with scallions and serve with sour cream and lettuce on the side.

Not Quite Chili

Do you ever have a hankering for a specific food, but can't make it because you are missing a vital ingredient and a trip to the store is just not feasible?  It happens to me a lot it seems. 

Do I let it get me down?  For goodness sakes no!  I perservere, endure the hardship and forge on anyway!  Just like Martin Luther King Jr. did in his crusade for equal rights! 

Okay maybe that's a little dramatic, but I did overcome an obstacle the other day when I really wanted chili only to find when I went down do the pantry that I didn't have any chili beans.  Oh, the shame!  What kind of pantry doesn't have chili beans?  Mine, apparantley.

To be honest, I actually don't even like beans in my chili.  Hubby likes them; he says chili isn't chili without beans, but oh did I show him!  I decided chili doesn't really need beans and prove it I did!  He gave this recipe an A and my lovely baby sister gave it an A+!

So I'm sharing with you, my friends, my new favorite recipe for chili... I like to call it Not Quite Chili.

What You'll Need: 
1 lb Hamburger
1 lb Chorizo
1 Diced Onion
1/2 Diced Green Pepper
2 Cloves Garlic
1 Quart Stewed Tomatoes (I used a jar from the summer that we canned, you could use store bought as well)
1 Cup Chicken Broth
1/2 Can of Beer
Few Dashes of Chipotle Tabasco Sauce
1 Cup Uncooked Rice
Lime Pickles, sliced
Grated Cheddar Cheese

What You Do:
Brown the hamburger and chorizo over medium heat in large stock pot.

While the meat is cooking, chop up the onion, green pepper and garlic.  Add to the pot once the meat is browned.  Cook for a few minutes.

Add tomatoes, beer, chicken broth and Tabasco sauce.

Let simmer over low heat for at least 20 minutes.  The longer the better though; let the flavors all meld together.  I had it simmering for about an hour.  It should be fairly watery right now, but that's okay.

Add uncooked rice to pot.  Let simmer for another 20 or 30 minutes.  The rice will soak up the excess juices and should thicken up nicely.  If it's too thick for your liking you can add some water.

When serving, sprinkle in some grated cheddar cheese and sliced Lime pickles.

You MUST not skip this step.  I'm telling you, this may just be the MOST important part of chili.  And that's ANY chili.  And they must be Lime pickles. Dill, Bread & Butter, Gherkin, Sour... any of those just won't do.

Trust me on this. Everyone I've ever had over for chili looks at me like I'm crazy when I tell them they have to do this.  And then they try it and instantly fall in love with me. 

I'm not kidding, how do you think I landed my husband?

**If your local grocery doesn't carry lime pickles (Shocked, I am not.  I've never seen them in a store around us,) you can make them yourself.  I will post a how-to on that before the summer.  Make sure your spring gardening plans include cucumbers!

Experimentation

I had a friend come over the other night to do me a huge favor, I told her I’d make her supper for helping me out. One problem… I haven’t been grocery shopping and the pickings in the kitchen were slim.

Since she’s such a great friend I thought I’d make her my guinea pig and just throw some stuff together. She’s always honest and I don’t have to worry about her sugar coating it and telling me it tastes good when it really has the flavor of an old shoe.

So what I came up with was Pizza Burgers!

Ingredients:
1 pound of hamburger
1 pound of Italian sausage
¼ onion, chopped
¼ green pepper, chopped
7-8 tablespoons pizza sauce
Grated Parmesan cheese
Sliced Mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Chop up onion and green pepper, mix with hamburger and Italian sausage. I also threw in a few shakes of seasoning salt. Make 7 – 8 patties. Cook in frying pan until almost done. Spoon approximately a tablespoon of pizza sauce on top of each patty. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top and then add the slices of mozzarella. Let cheese melt and serve on a bun.

Verdict was…. Good!

I didn’t take any pictures of the food, so instead here’s a picture of Jenny and myself. Thanks for being my taste tester!