Tag Archives: beef

quick and easy, Uncategorized, Weeknight Meals

Loaded nacho casserole

Leave a comment

Do you like nachos?  Do you like casseroles?  Do you like the convenience of a one dish meal that serves a crowd?  If you answered yes to these questions, than this casserole recipe is for you.  Oh sorry, I think I have been listening to too much public radio.
This casserole is indeed basically one dish that feeds a crowd and has all you need for a complete meal.  I got the recipe from one of my favorite websites…http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2014/03/loaded-nacho-casserole-recipe.html. She tells you all about how she came up with the idea. Let me say…she is a genius!!! BD ate it up.  Kiddos, not so much.  Here is the deal though, if I cooked only what my kids liked there would be no Cajun mama cookin blog.  Unless ya’ll wanted me to tell ya’ll how to heat up Eggo waffles, make mac and cheese, heat up a wiener in the microwave or make a PB&J.   My kids, despite my efforts, do not eat everything that I cook.  Sure, there are the nights when there is a fingernail moon and Mercury and Venue are in sync (can you tell I am not an astrologist?) and they all eat what I make.  What I am getting at is that it is extremely rare for them all to just gobble up what I cook.  I decided a while back that I am not cooking for them.  I make what BD and I like or might like, hope that the kiddos will like it or even love it, and usually one or two of them will eat what I make.  But I by no means attest to 1) my kids eat it or starve.  I tried that approach, but I didn’t care for tucking my kids in and hearing their little bellies rumble.  For me, that was too much.  I admire parents who have that ability, but I don’t.  2) my kids gobble up whatever I put in front of them, never complain and they all have perfect table manners.  They don’t.  I don’t front ya’ll.  I tell you like it is, keep it real, show you the ugly.  For example… I got the cutest burlap place mats that have, get this, a cute little table manner written on each one.  So naturally, my kids become well mannered and perfect when they sit down to eat because their plates are on these well appointed place mats.  Negative Ghostwriter.  Half the time, I forget to put them out.  Yeah, that’s right.  Though I totally convinced myself that I would so put these out for every meal and then pick them back up again after each meal, I lied to myself.  Do you ever do that?  I do.  More than I care to mention.  But I will.  So that you don’t feel so bad about it when you do it.  I will admit to you that there are days when I might give Bree Vandecamp from Desperate Housewives a slight pause before she proceeded to kick my ass in the who is most like Martha Stewart category of Mom of the Year pageant.  Now, Roseanne (from the show Roseanne…to be clear) she might be all like “woah, smart ass comment, check this chick out…she thinks she is Martha Stewart!!” but not in a threatened or impressed way but more of a making fun of me for thinking I come close kind of way.  That’s right.  I can buy all the burlap place mats I want, but I will forget to put them out or pick them up half the time until I am so sick of looking at them that I put them back on top of the microwave until the next time I want to play like I am Madame Fancy Pants again.  So, ain’t  nothing over here in CM kitchen perfect or well appointed.  How I manage to get done what I get done escapes me and I am pretty sure I have the good folks at Keurig to thank for that since this girl runs on her coffee.  So…here we are back at where we started before I took ya’ll off on my verbal journey that gave you some insight into just how whacko I really am.  But I mean, have ya’ll missed the part where I told ya’ll I had 4 kids in less than 5 years?  If that didn’t clue ya’ll in to the whole “this chick is a little whack” than you are not real quick on the uptake. Ha ha! But real. 😳
Anyway, back to the recipe. I know, I know, it is hard to follow me at times and I appreciate you trying. I hope somewhere you are laughing at my candor rather cursing my ability to get greatly off track. Here is the recipe for this cheesy, meaty, everything in it but the kitchen sink casserole. It is pretty awesome and if you brown your ground meat ahead of time, it is a cinch to pull together. So on the days y’all have Tball or Spring soccer practice, ballet, teach a classroom full of kiddos all day (I have 2 sisters who are teachers and a bunch of friends who are…shout out to my teachers out there!) you can have supper prepared super fast. Ok ready?

Six Sisters’ Stuff Loaded Nacho Casserole

stuff you need~

1 pound ground beef, cooked and drained
1 small onion, diced fine
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
2 cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1-8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 small can diced green chiles
1 package reduced sodium taco seasoning
1 10 ounce bag tortilla chips
2 cups shredded cheddar

what to do with the stuff~

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Brown your ground meat if you have not done this already. Now, add in your bell pepper and onion and let them get a little tender. About 5 minutes or so should do you good. Now, just stir in the tomatoes, green chiles, corn, beans, taco seasoning and tomato sauce. Bring this saucy concoction to a boil over medium heat, then reduce heat and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. (You could this the night before so you could throw it all together the next night…just a thought). Now, layer half of the tortilla chips at the bottom of the casserole dish. As suggested, I kind of crushed them a little. Next layer half of your sauce concoction. Now, repeat this. Next sprinkle your cheese all over the top. Pop the casserole into the oven and bake until the cheese is all bubbly and the casserole is heated throughout. Let it cool a few minutes and then dish it up, baby!!
Serving suggestion…this would be divine over a bed of fresh shredded lettuce. Kind of a taco salad of sorts. Also, next time, I will use flour tortillas in place of the chips to see if I prefer it that way. It was delish like this but I think it might be awesome with the soft tortillas in there to soak up that sauce.  Oh and i might use shredded chicken in place of ground beef to change it up.  Yum!!  I will let y’all know. Very good, makes a ton and is quick and easy . Hope y’all enjoy it more than my kids did.  😉 what do they know anyway about good food, the little stinkers. Aw who am I kidding? I work for them. Sigh~AMB
.

20140401-193729.jpg

It’s cheesy, loaded with veggies, all in one dish and ready to please your hungry bunch!

Advertisement
Uncategorized

Napolean House Po-boys and looking forward to sunnier days ahead…

2 Comments

Ya’ll are going to love me!!!  This is a pretty easy, makes in the crock pot and you come home to a wonderful smelling house and supper is almost ready.  How do you like me now?  I am giving ya’ll another ticket to New Orleans and ya’ll won’t even have to leave your house.  I mentioned my precious friend Angie in my post the other day I do believe.  She loves to cook, like me she cooks just about every night, and she doesn’t play around with so so recipes.  She goes full throttle, as a friend, mom, cook, you name it.  She is a little spitfire from Monroe but only small in stature.  Her personality is big.  I just absolutely love her.  She is hilarious, loves coffee and loves to text crazy emoticons that relate to whatever insane situation we have gotten ourselves into at the moment.  Like me, she loves Doxies.  In fact, she spawned my insane love of Doxies.  So as you can see, we have lots in common.  A few months after we met, she emailed this recipe to me.  My first thought was, “um yum!!” and also “sister is my kind of girl”.  I mean, willing to share a family recipe and such a fab one at that.  So, we became fast friends as did our kiddos and I am blessed to have her in my life.  First time I made this recipe, we were blown away.  It was “wow.  just wow”.  This is an authentic recipe and makes excellent, just like the French Quarter, poboy.  Obviously I need to take a trip to NOLA soon because this is the second copycat NOLA restaurant recipe I have made and posted this past week.  NOLA is calling I suppose.

I won’t go into much detail but lately Angie’s daughter has been having a few health issues.  They have been in and out of the hospital.  As a friend, it has been hard to watch.  But not nearly as hard as I imagine it has been on them to have to stay in the hospital and to watch her daughter endure all that she has.  Or for C to endure the poking, prodding and testing.  But they have.  As a friend, it has been hard not to see them.  I miss my friend.  My kids miss their friend.  Something we thought was only temporary has turned into a a more lengthy battle.  We cannot see them because sweet C cannot be around anyone who might have some sort of illness and with 4 school aged kids, my kids could have who the heck knows what.  So, we talk when we can and text when the mood strikes.  C is going to eventually be ok but it will be a long road.  Angie is a tough woman and I know she can endure, but my heart hurts for them.  It is kind of like all of this crazy winter weather.  Though we have not been hit with any blizzards or extreme cold, it has been cold enough for us here in the South.  Some of us even have some white stuff they call Sneaux on the ground (not us here in Shreveport because of some sort of freaky weather bubble but that is a topic for another time).  Just like the snow will melt, the ground will thaw, and the cold will turn to warm spring air, C’s body will get stronger and normal life will eventually resume.  The kids will be running and playing, jumping in the pool and sunning themselves on the deck while Angie and I chit chat and drink cup after cup of coffee. Sometimes I guess, you have to just hunker down, pray hard, and have faith.  That bodies will heal and that the sun will eventually shine again.  Endure the hard times by leaning on friends and when things are good, appreciating those good times.  And those people you enjoy them with.  Share good recipes and laugh.  Count your blessings and know that normalcy is a blessing.  Day to day life, though sometimes boring, is pretty perfect as is.  So just like Angie shared this wonderful recipe that forged a forever bond between us, I will extend this recipe to you.  Because that is just what we do.

Image

Ready to enjoy some fun in the sun with my friend again…soon.  I miss her face.  

Jim’s Version of Napolean House Po-boys 

Stuff You Need:

3 pound chuck roast (must be chuck)

flour

salt and pepper

canola oil

1 cup chicken broth or stock

6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

melted butter

garlic powder

creole mustard, mayo, lettuce, tomato (depending on how you want yours’ dressed)

loaf of french bread

What to do with the stuff:

Season flour with salt and pepper.  Dredge roast in seasoned flour.  Heat canola oil in a large cast iron skillet and then brown roast on all sides.  Put roast in 6.5 quart crock pot.  Now, add the remaining seasoned flour to the remaining oil in the skillet.  You are kind of making up a little roux.  If you don’t have enough oil left, just add a little.  You want to make a paste.  Now, whisk in the chicken stock and deglaze the pan.  You want to pick up all the little browned bits at the bottom of the skillet.  Now, pour all of this over the roast that is in the crock pot.  Lay the thinly sliced garlic over this.  Cook on low all day or until the roast is tender and you have a nice gravy.  You can shred the meat or slice it, whichever you rather.

Now, slice the French bread horizontally.  Pour the melted butter over the open loaf.  Sprinkle with garlic powder.  Turn broiler on low and slightly toast the bread until the edges are browned.  Make sure you watch the bread as it can go from perfectly browned to burnt quickly!!!  Cut loaf in half vertically to make 2 sandwiches or cut into smaller pieces to serve more. Spread mayo and or creole mustard over one half of the bread.  Spoon beef and gravy over the other half of the bread.  Top with  lettuce and sliced tomatoes if you want yours’ fully dressed.  Enjoy this delicious taste of New Orleans.  Don’t forget the napkins, ma cher!!!  C’est ci bon baby.

Image

Dredged in seasoned flour and ready for browning…gonna be good yeah.  MMMMMM!!!  

Uncategorized

Crock-pot Beef Stroganoff

9 Comments

So for those who don’t know, I am a “stay at home” mom.  You would think that this would leave plenty of time to cook lovely homemade nutritious meals every night.  It doesn’t.  That is what they tell you in the recruitment brochures, but they lie.  Don’t buy it girls.  It’s all lies!  Lies I tell you.  If you are a stay at home mom with a new baby, cooking a meal every night is not that easy.  Unless you are an octopus.  I am not.  If you are a stay at home mom with a bunch of little darlings underfoot every day, like I was not that long ago (4 under 5 at one point) it really doesn’t get much easier.  Someone is always falling, fighting, crying, needing to nurse, and on and on.  I realized the other day that we ate out or got takeout a whole bunch more when my kids were younger.  My point in saying all this is leading up to something…promise.  I tend to ramble.  I am Cajun remember?  I like to talk.  ha ha!!!  Ok anyway, I was “home” more when all the kids were home and I still didn’t have time to fix a meal many days.  If I did, I was out of something or forgot to defrost the meat.  Mommy brain and exhaustion (dynamic duo) can do that to you.  So…you would think that now that my kids are all in school…4th grade, 3rd grade, 1st grade and kindergarten that I would be able to lovingly prepare healthy and delicious homemade meals each night.  Yeah…I would like to tell you that I do.  I would love to tell you that it all comes together flawlessly each day.  Um..no.  Sure, I do cook.  Obviously I do.  I do a lot better with planning my meals these days, unless my cooking ADD kicks in.  BUT, you can plan all day, but the best plans can go astray when dealing in the world of kiddos.  Carpool. Homework.  Yeah, if I don’t get supper started before the monkeys, I mean darlings, get home, it is going to be a long night.  Or somebody is eating oatmeal.  I’m serious.  So…in theory I started this crock pot week for “ya’ll” but it was mighty fine to have supper cooking while I went about my daily business of eating bon bons and watching soaps.  bahahahaha!!  I wish.  🙂  So I thought to myself as I was serving up those bowls of potato soup how nice it would be for my friends who work outside the home to have a good meal fixed when they get home.  Especially if you have kids and after school activities.  This just spurred me on.  Especially after that potato soup was a WINNER!!!  I have really high hopes for this beef stroganoff so we shall see.  It is cooking right now so no pics yet, but again I will update.  I really hope ya’ll are with me on this crock pot revolution…I need another crock pot though.  

Image

Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff (from The Crockstar blog…I love that name!)

Ingredients

2 pounds cubed stew meat (I cut up a 2 lb. chuck roast into cubes)

2 cans Condensed Golden Mushroom soup

1 large onion, diced

3 Tablespoons Worcestershire 

1/2 cup water

8 oz. cream cheese 

salt and pepper, garlic powder, whatever seasoning you like….but I would wait until it has cooked a while to add)

egg noodles, cooked to your liking 

In a medium size bowl, whisk together the soups, water, Worcestershire.  Pour into the slow cooker.  Now add your meat.  Cook on low for 6-7 hours (it says 8 but mine never takes the full 8 hours)…turn the crockpot on high and cut cream cheese into cubes and stir it in.  Put lid back on and cook for about 10 minutes or until the cream cheese is combined.  

Serve over egg noodles.