Ground Beef & Hashbrowns

1 lb lean (at least 80%) ground beef 

1 cup nacho cheese sauce (from 15-oz jar)

1 can (4 oz) mushrooms, chopped, drained

1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese (4 oz)

6 frozen hashbrowns (4 x 2 ½”)

Heat oven to 425°F.  In 10-inch ovenproof skillet, cook beef over medium heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until no longer pink; drain. Stir in cheese sauce and mushrooms. Top with cheese.  Place hashbrowns on top of cheese.  Bake about 25 minutes or until potatoes are crispy and golden brown and mixture is bubbling. Serves 6

Comment:  This is part of a recipe that I found on the Kraft site.  I changed from peas to mushrooms and used the large hashbrowns.  After the cooking time I did turn on the broiler and let the tops of the hashbrowns crisp just a little. For my skillet I used a square cast iron frying pan.  It worked perfectly.  This dish is so good and if you have a meat and potato foodie, they will love it!

Cheeseburger Pie

1 lb. lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1/2 bell pepper, chopped
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese
1/2 cup Bisquick mix
1 cup milk
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray a pie pan, 9 x 1 1/4", with cooking spray.  Cook beef, onion, peppers, salt and pepper in a skillet until beef is done.  Drain.  Spread in pie plate.  Sprinkle with cheese.  In a bowl mix Bisquick, milk and eggs using a fork or whisk until blended.  Pour over the meat.  Bake 25 minutes or until knife inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Comment:  Sometimes the best recipes are those that we've simply forgotten.  I remember making this dish years ago for my kids and we all loved it.  It's simple, quick, and delicious. You can top it with anything you like... pickles, mustard, etc. or do as I did and top it with sour cream.   I did, as usual, make a change.  I added the bell peppers.  I also used a cake pan instead of a pie plate but only because it has a device that runs around the bottom which separates the pie from the pan.  Give this one a try, again.  I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Buttery Sriracha Pot Roast

2 1/4 lb. beef chuck roast
1/2 pkg. Ranch Buttermilk dressing powder
3 oz. onion, sliced thin
2 tsp. Sriracha sauce
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place meat in a suitable pan.  Sprinkle Ranch powder over the top surface of the meat.  Next top with the sliced onions.  Drizzle Sriracha over onions.  Dot with small pieces of butter to evenly cover.  Top with a good sprinkle of black pepper.  Pop into oven without a cover and bake for about 2 hours.  Serves 4.

Comment:  This recipe came from Buttoni's Low Carb Recipes and when it was sent to me I had to give it a try.  I actually made a special trip to the grocery store to buy my roast.  I didn't know what Sriracha sauce was so I googled and found it's a chili sauce so that is what I used and I did add a little more than the 2 tsp.  I probably used about 3 Tbsp because I love the taste.  Other than that, I followed the directions completely.  This roast is simply delicious.  The onions, with the chili sauce are good by themselves but when combined with the meat, you have one fine dish.  I'm serving mine with potatoes that I'm boiling in the drippings that came from the roast and believe me, the way water is added to meat before we buy it, there is plenty of liquid for boiling.Check out this site for even more delicious recipes. 

Italian Beef and Spinach Casserole

3 cups medium noodles
1 lb. ground beef
1 jar (18 oz.) spaghetti sauce
1 pkg. frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 cup sour cream
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup chopped onion (1 small)
1 cup shredded cheese

Spray a 9 x 13 casserole dish with non-stick spray.  Cook noodles according to package.  Drain and set aside.  In a large skillet brown ground beef.  Drain off fat.  Stir in spaghetti sauce and garlic.  Bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer.  Cook uncovered for 5 minutes.  In a medium mixing bowl beat together the sour cream and cream cheese with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.  Stir in milk and onion.  In the casserole dish layer noodles, spinach, cream cheese mixture and meat mixture.  . 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cover casserole and bake about 45 minutes or until bubbly inside.  Uncover, sprinkle with cheese. Bake another 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.  Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.  Great with a salad and garlic toast or garlic knots.

Comment:  This dish started out as a recipe I found online but ended up being changed quite a bit.  It was supposed to be layered with noodles, meat, spinach, cream cheese, noodles, and again meat.  I made it simple by making each one layer instead of two.  I also used a jar of spaghetti sauce (your choice of flavors) instead of all the cooked onions, tomatoes, peppers, etc.  I do know one thing.  This is easy to make and it sure came out good.  I think next time I may add some Italian sausage or use spaghetti sauce that has Italian sausage as one of it's ingredients.