Old-fashioned "Basic" Meatloaf

Picture and Recipe courtesy of the Food Network and Paula Deen

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
  
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 8 ounces canned diced tomatoes with juice
  
• 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats

Topping:

• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  
• 1 tablespoon prepared mustard

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix all meatloaf ingredients well and place in a baking dish. Shape into a loaf.

Topping:

Mix ingredients for topping and spread on loaf. Bake for 1 hour.

Michelle's Notes: I don't care for big hunks of veggies in my meatloaf, so I chop my veggies pretty fine. I also usually hate waiting an hour for it to cook, so if I'm in a hurry I put the meatloaf mixture into a muffin tin. Bake at same temp for about 30 minutes (check after 15).

Corn bread and chili bake

Recipe and photo courtesy of Nestle's Holiday Recipe Guide. You can view the entire guide here.

1 lb. lean ground beef
1 packet (1.4 oz.) taco or chili seasoning mix
2 cans (8 oz. each) tomato sauce
1 can (15 1/4 oz.) no-salt added whole-kernel corn, drained
1 can (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (12 fl. oz.) NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Evaporated Milk, divided
2 boxes (8.5 oz. each) dry corn muffin mix
2 large eggs
1 can (4 oz.) diced green chilies, undrained
1 1/2 cups (6 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese, divided

PREHEAT oven to 400° F. Grease 13 x 9-inch baking dish.

COOK beef in large skillet over medium-high heat until no longer pink; drain. Stir in chili seasoning, tomato sauce, corn, beans and 3/4 cup evaporated milk. Bring to a boil, reduce heat. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour mixture into prepared baking dish.

COMBINE corn muffin mix, remaining evaporated milk, eggs, chilies and 1 cup shredded cheese in medium bowl; stir until just moistened. Spread mixture over meat filling. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese.

BAKE for 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Serving suggestion: Serve along with chopped avocado, sour cream and salsa.

Michelle's notes: I am not a huge fan of black beans so I added half a can of chili beans and half a can of red kidney beans. Also, I made the full amount for the chili but put it in a smaller 8x8 dish then froze the rest of the chili for another time. I also did not use all of the corn bread mix but think I still used too much because it took a long time to bake (almost 30 minutes).

Impossibly Easy Taco Pie

1 lb. lean ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 envelope Old El Paso taco seasoning mix
1 can (4.5 ounces) green chiles, drained
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup Bisquick mix
3/4 cup shredded monterey jack cheese or cheddar cheese
salsa
sour cream

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease 9 inch pie plate. Cook ground beef and onion in 10 inch skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally until beef is brown; drain. Stir in seasoning mix (dry). Spoon into pie plate; top with chilies.

Stir milk, eggs and bisquick mix until blended. Pour into pie plate.

Bake about 25 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake 8-10 minutes longer. Cool 5 minutes. Serve with salsa and sour cream.

Michelle's notes: I like to top it like a taco with tomato, lettuce, sour cream, black olives and green onions.

Sloppy Joe Di Maggios

Courtesy of Rachel Ray

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 pounds lean ground sirloin or ground turkey
1 packages beef or pork hot dogs, sliced 1/2-inch thick
1 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon steak seasoning (recommended: Montreal Steak Seasoning by McCormick)
1 tablespoon chili powder
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 (14.5-ounce) can tomato sauce
9 soft burger rolls like at the ballpark

Heat the extra-virgin olive oil, a turn of the pan, in a deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add meat and crumble as it browns . Add chopped hot dogs after 3 to 4 minutes then cook 3 to 4 minutes more. Add the onions to the pan and cook to soften, 5 to 6 minutes more. In a bowl mix the spices, sugar, Worcestershire and tomato sauce. Pour sauce over the meat and simmer a few minutes to combine flavors. Slop onto buns and serve.

Michelle's notes: I'm not a real big fan of sloppy joes, but this is a great substitute. I wasn't sure how it would taste with the hot dogs, but it really makes the dish. I halved the recipe and still had enough for leftovers the next day.

Lasagna - Judson style

1 pkg. flat lasagna noodles
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 - 6 oz. can tomato paste
1 - 16 oz. can corn and liquid
1 1/2 - 2 lbs. browned hamburger
1 chopped onion or 1 tbsp. dry onion
3/4 cup ketchup (or more to taste)
salt and pepper to taste
6 oz. of water
3 cups mild cheddar cheese grated

Boil noodles and drain. Pour soup over noodles and toss to coat. Let cool a little. Brown the hamburger and drain the grease. Add tomato paste, water, corn and corn liquid, onion, ketchup, salt and pepper to the hamburger. Taste and add more seasoning if desired. Layer noodles, hamburger mixture, noodles, hamburger mixture until ingredients are used up. Begin and end layers with noodles. Top with the cheese. Cover with foil and heat at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Use a 9x13 pan or lasagna pan.

Ultimate Patty Melt

Courtesy of Rachel Ray

3 tablespoons EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil, divided
1 small onion, very finely chopped
1 1/4 pounds ground sirloin
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt and ground black pepper
8 slices white Pullman bread or whatever sandwich bread you like
3 to 4 tablespoons butter, softened
3 to 4 tablespoons Dijon mustard
8 slices Swiss cheese
8 slices bacon, cooked until crisp
8 slices tomato

Place a medium skillet over medium-high heat with 1 turn of the pan of EVOO, about 1 tablespoon. Add the onion to the pan and cook until tender, 4-5 minutes. Remove to a large mixing bowl and wipe the pan clean.

When the onions have cooled slightly, place the pan back over medium-high heat with 2 turns of the pan of EVOO, about 2 tablespoons. To the mixing bowl with the onions, add the sirloin, Worcestershire, some salt and pepper and mix thoroughly to combine. Divide the meat into 4 portions and shape into 4 thin burgers. Add the patties to the hot pan and cook until golden brown and cooked through, about 4 minutes per side.

While the burgers are cooking, butter up one side of each slice of bread then flip them over and spread mustard on each.

When the burgers have finished cooking, make stacks by laying down the slices of white bread, butter side-down, and top them with a slice of cheese, a patty, another slice of cheese, 2 slices of bacon and tomato and another slice of bread (butter side-up).

Wipe out the pan that the burgers were cooked in and return it over medium heat. Add the stacks to the pan and cook until the bread is toasted golden brown and the cheese has melted, 2-3 minutes per side.

Meatballs

1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup soft french or Italian bread crumbs
1/4 cup finely chopped onion (or 1 tbsp. dried onion)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. dried oregano or dried thyme, crushed (go easy on the dried herbs, they're strong)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper or 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 lb. lean ground beef

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line 15x10x1-inch baking pan with foil; set aside. In a large bowl combine the egg, bread crumbs, onion, garlic, oregano, and pepper. Add beef; mix well. Shape into 24 meatballs (about 1 tbsp mixture per meatball). Arrange meatballs in prepared pan. Bake 15 minutes or until juices run clear. Drain off fat. Makes 24 meatballs. You can also just fry these in a pan.

Taco Soup

Courtesy of kraftfoods.com

1 lb. extra lean ground beef

1 onion, chopped

3 cans (15.5 oz. each) mild chili beans, undrained

1 can (14.5 oz.) whole tomatoes, undrained

1 can (14.25 oz.) corn, undrained

1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce

1 pkg. (1-1/4 oz.) TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Taco Seasoning Mix

1-1/2 cups water

1-1/2 cups KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Cheddar Cheese

BROWN meat with onions in large saucepan; drain.

ADD all remaining ingredients except cheese; stir, breaking up tomatoes. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 5 min., stirring occasionally.

SERVE topped with the cheese.

Serve with BREAKSTONE'S Reduced Fat or KNUDSEN Light Sour Cream and fresh chopped cilantro.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

1 lb. ground beef
1 egg
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons chopped onion (can also use a couple shakes of dried chopped onion.)
dash of pepper

Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together with your hand. It will be somewhat sticky. Form into balls and brown in a small amount of oil (or bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until juices run clear.) Drain all but 1 tablespoon of oil. Pour the meatballs and oil into a dish and set aside.

Sauce:

1 small can pineapple tidbits (and juice)
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon soy sauce
3 tablespoons vinegar
6 tablespoons water
1/2 cup sugar

Mix the above ingredients in frying pan until it thickens. Mix water and cornstarch separately to avoid lumps. Put meatballs back in sauce and heat through. Serve over rice.

Yields about 17 meatballs depending on size.