Cabbage Casserole

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly coat 9 x 13" baking dish with cooking spray. Heat 1 T olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add 1 large onion, minced and 1 c uncooked brown rice. Cook, stirring, until onions are tender and rice is just starting to brown (3-5 min). Spread 3 c shredded cabbage in even layer on bottom of baking dish. Top, evenly, with rice mixture. Add 1.5+ lbs lean ground beef, 1/2 t salt and 1/4 t pepper to the skillet; cook over med-high heat until no longer pink, 3-5 min. Drain and spread on top of rice mixture. Spread 3 more cups shredded cabbage over beef. In skillet bring 16 oz tomato sauce and 3/4 c water to a boil. Pour sauce evenly over casserole. Lay 8 slices of cooked bacon (cut into ~2" pieces) on top of cabbage. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45 mi. Uncover and bake 10 more minutes or until cabbage and rice are tender. Let stand 5 min.

Brent and I loved this!

Mexican Skillet Supper

1/2 lb ground beef
16 oz can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
14 oz can Rotel, undrained
1.25 oz pkg taco seasoning
3/4 c frozen corn, thawed
3/4 c water
sour cream
shredded cheese
cilantro

Heat large skilled over med-high heat. Cook beef 5 min or until browned. Drain and return to skilled. Stir in beans, tomatoes, taco seasoning, corn, and water; bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 12 min or until slightly thick, stirring constantly. Serve over rice or tortilla chips. Top with shredded cheese, sour cream, and cilantro.

Garlic Lime Chicken Fajitas

I LOVE the new McCormick Recipe Inspirations. We tried the fajitas on Monday night and we all loved them...which was surprising. I do have to confess that I left out the peppers and onions due to Brent's dislike and Mariah's intolerance to the onions. You can find these in the spice section of the grocery store.

Meatloaf

This is my stepsister Andrea's meatloaf recipe. She brought some over when Mariah was born and we all really liked it but we especially found out that Elijah LOVES it. He ate 3 helpings of it 2 days in a row. I'm making it tonight for supper and Elijah is so excited! We like it because it's very saucy and it's a sweet ketchupy sauce. It also doesn't have onions and green pepper in it and so it passes all the boys' (including Brent's) inspection. Enjoy!

1 ½ lbs hamburger

1 cup dry bread crumbs

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp blk pepper

2 eggs

1 tsp dried minced onion

1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

½ cup white sugar

2 tsp mustard

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a large bowl, combine the beef, bread crumbs, salt, blk pepper, eggs, onion flakes and ½ of the can of tomato sauce. Mix together well and place into a 5x9 inch loaf pan.

Push the meatloaf down into the pan forming a well for the sauce around all edges.

Bake at 350 for 40 mins.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the remaining tomato sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, white sugar and mustard. Bring to a boil and remove from heat.

After meatloaf has cooked for 40 min, remove from oven and pour sauce over the top of the meatloaf.

Return to oven and bake at 350 for 20 more min. Let sit 5 min before removing from pan.

Broccoli Casserole

This is the broccoli casserole that my mom always makes and I love it. No one else in the family likes it so I usually don't make it but I did make it recently when we had some friends over for dinner and it was a hit.

Ingredients:

2 pkg chopped broccoli

1 cup grated sharp cheese

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 cup mayo

3/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)

1 med onion, chopped fine OR 1 1/2 tsp onion flakes

2 eggs, well beaten

1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed and mixed with melted butter

Cook broccoli according to directions and drain. Add soup, mayo, and nuts. Mix well. Add eggs and onion. Pour into 1 1/2 or 2 qt casserole dish. Sprinkle with cheese and top with buttered cracker crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Molasses Cookies

A friend at work brought this to work for my baby shower and I LOVED them. She was so nice to share her recipe with me -

Ingredients:
3/4 cup shortening
1 egg
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 cups flour

Mix together shortening, egg, sugar, and molasses. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Form into 1" balls, roll in granulated sugar, and place on greased cookie sheets 2" apart. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Three Cheese Spaghetti

I tried this recipe this past week and everyone loved it. Elijah ate 3 helpings. We'll definitely be having this again!! I served it with garlic bread and tossed salad.

Ingredients:
8 oz spaghetti
2 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp dried parsley
1 cup cottage cheese
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
6 oz (1 1/2 cups) shredded mozzarella cheese
8 oz ground beef
1 clove garlic, minced (I substituted dried minced garlic)
1/2 onion, chopped (I substituted onion powder)
1/4 tsp black pepper
3 cups spaghetti sauce
1/2 tbsp sugar (I probably won't use this much next time - it was a little too sweet for me)
1 tsp Italian seasoning
2 oz (1/2 cup) shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain and return to pan (removed from heat). Add butter and stir until melted. Add salt, parsley, cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, and mozzarella cheese, stirring to combine. Spread pasta-cheese mixture in the bottom of a greased 8" square baking dish.
2. Brown ground beef with the garlic and onion. Drain grease and return to pan. Add pepper, spaghetti sauce, sugar, and Italian seasoning. Stir well and then pour over the pasta, spreading evenly. Sprinkle cheese on top.
3. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until top cheese is browned and spaghetti is bubbly.