Pizza Bake

Easy and had all the ingredients in the pantry to make it. Just something different from a plain old boring pizza. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb Italian sausage
- 1 med onion, chopped
- 1 bell pepper, chopped
- 15 ounce jar pizza sauce
- 1/2 tsp garlic salt
- 1/4 cup fresh oregano
- 1/2 C parmesan cheese
- 8 ounces mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup milk
- 2 eggs
- 1 T oil

Directions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Brown hamburger, sausage, onion, and bell pepper. Drain well.
- Add garlic salt and oregano, pizza sauce. Stir well.
- Grease a 9x13 inch pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle mozzarella over bottom of it. Spread meat mixture over the cheese.
- In mixing bowl, add eggs, milk, flour, oil, and salt. Pour over meat in pan.
- Sprinkle parmesan cheese over batter.
-Bake 30 minutes.
Tips from a Kitchen Reality:
- I ended up using only about 1 lb of meat total.
- I didn’t use onions and peppers—replaced with mushrooms—and used a lot. (Replace with your favorite pizza toppings.)
- Didn’t use fresh oregano—replaced with a few Tbsp Italian Seasoning.
- Mine wasn’t quite done at 30 minutes—I think it baked 40 instead.

Ground Beef Stroganoff

This really wasn’t a stroganoff recipe to me, more of a goulash. But then I realized I really didn’t know the difference, so I looked it up and really this should be “Ground Beef Strogalash.”

It’s easy, cheap, and one of the kids ate it too! What more can you ask!

Ingredients:

1/2 pound lean ground beef

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon Essence, recipe follows

1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil

1/4 cup chopped yellow onions

1 cup sliced white button mushrooms

1 teaspoon chopped garlic

1/4 pound small elbow macaroni or wide egg noodles, cooked

2 cups beef broth

1/4 cup sour cream

Grated white Cheddar cheese, optional

Directions:

- Season the beef with the salt, pepper, and Essence.

- In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Cook the meat and drain any excess oil.

- Add the onions and cook, stirring, until soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook, stirring until the mushrooms have released their juices, about 2 minutes.

- Add the macaroni, beef broth and sour cream. 

- Cook, stirring, until the mixture thickens slightly, 5 to 6 minutes. 

- Serve with cheese on top.
 
Remove the pan from the heat and spoon the mixture onto 2 large plates. Sprinkle each portion with the cheese, if desired, and chopped parsley and serve immediately.

Recipe for Emeril’s Essence Seasoning

2 1/2 tablespoons paprika

2 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons garlic powder

1 tablespoon black pepper

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients thoroughly.

Tips from a Kitchen of Reality

- I left out the onions, added more mushrooms.

- The sour cream in the fridge was moldy, so I used cream cheese instead.

- I had no intent of making a full batch of Emeril’s special seasoning, so instead I gave my meat a dash or two of all ingredients in the mix – well, actually just the ones I had in the pantry cupboard. :)

- I didn’t think the sauce was thick enough so I used flour to thicken. (If you never done that before, mix a few tablespoons of flour with twice as much COLD water then pour into hot mixture. Whisk as you pour so it doesn’t clump up. Cornstarch works the same way. Just be sure to mix with cold water first.)

- I have no idea why you would cook your meat in oil, I didn’t and still had to drain off excess.

ENJOY!!

**Adapted recipe from www.foodnetwork.com **

Crock Pot Bruschetta Chicken

The original Pinterest Recipe... 

6 Chicken thighs (boneless, skinless)

1 Cup Low Calorie Italian dressing (less than 70 cals per 2 tbs)

One large tomato, Sliced thin

2 Tablespoons Ground Basil

1 Tablespoon Ground Oregano

Take boneless, skinless chicken thighs and put them in a crockpot. Slice tomato into thin slices, and place over chicken.

Pour Italian dressing over the chicken and tomato. Sprinkle Oregano and Basil over the top. Cook on high setting for three hours or until chicken is cooked thoroughly.

For an additional 70 calories, you may serve on/over a piece of baked sourdough bread.

makes 6 servings

My Recipe...(everyone knows I rarely have all the ingredients for anything!

2 Complete Frozen Chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)

1 Cup Low Calorie Italian dressing (what was left in a Low Calorie Italian Bottle and what was left in a Wishbone Romano Basil Vinaigrette bottle)

1 1/2 cups of diced Roma Tomatoes (left over from tacos)

A couple shakes of Ground Basil (about 2 tablespoons)

A couple shakes of Ground Oregano (about 1 tablespoon)

2 sprigs of fresh basil leaves cut into small pieces

1 sprig of fresh oregano cut into small pieces

Dump it all in the crockpot. Chicken first, then tomatoes, then dressing and seasonings. Set probe temp (if you have one) to 165 degrees and let cook. It took about 2 hours on high and then sat for an hour on warm before serving. 

 

Serve over plain Ramen Noodles cooked with no seasoning (or ala Madeline). Make sure to spoon the juices out of the bottom of the crock pot and pour over the chicken and noodles for extra flavor. Top with cheese. In my case, I used parmasean, asiago, romano combination (it was in the fridge). Mozzerella would be more in line with the Bruschetta recipe! In any case, make it your own!

Dana's Bean Dip (aka - Crack)

Best bean dip you'll ever eat and it's super easy!

1 jar of bean dip (found by the chips at the store)
1 box of cream cheese
1 packet of taco seasoning
1 dollop of sour cream

Mix well and serve warm.

I, of course, bought re-fried beans instead of bean dip because I wasn't paying attention to the recipe. So, we added about 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to give the beans a little more creaminess. It still tasted amazing! You'll want to make a LOT, because this stuff will not last long.

Special thanks to Dana Hancock for her original recipe!