Archive for the ‘Main Dish’ Category

• Sliders

  Date: 2010.03.11 | Category: Kids, Main Dish, Quick and easy meals | Response: 3

  If you need a really quick and easy meal this one is for you. A slider is a mini-hambuger that is all, nothing fancy. We make sliders a lot at my house. The kids love how small they are and I love how easy they are. Normally when I make sliders I form them into individual patties and cook them on the stove top. But when I was searching the Food Blog search engine I found this recipe for White Castle Sliders from Full Bellies, Happy Kids. I must confess I have never has a White Castle slider, mainly because there are not any White Castles where I live. I can’t tell you if this recipe is just like White Castle but I can tell you why I had to try it. The main reason for trying it was because the meat was cooked in one pan and in one big patty, talk about easy right. If you have kids or just love quick easy meals you must give this a try.

  Next week is Spring Break for us.  We are heading to San Antonio, we haven’t had a family vacation in two years.  We have a busy week planned.  We are going to the Alamo, Fiesta Texas, visit family and more site seeing.  Our last trip was Disney World and Kameron was only three months, we went to Florida for my cousins wedding, then we all went to Disney World.  We are looking forward to our trip, the kids are excited and I’m glad to be getting out of the house for a little while.  The weather is suppose to be really nice so I need to go get a pedicure so I can wear my cute sandals and flip flops.   I’m to get a pedi I will see you soon!

  Ingredients
  1/2 cup dried onion flakes
  2 pounds ground chuck
  1/2 t. seasoned salt
  6 slices of your favorite cheese. I used cheddar and pepper jack.
  24 small slider rolls- I used Pepperridge Farm Sliders
  Toppings, pickles, lettuce, tomato. Typical hamburger stuff

  Directions
  1. Evenly spread the onions on the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish.
  2. Gently press the ground beef on top of the onion flakes. Press evenly making one patty.
  3. Sprinkle with season salt.
  4. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes.
  5. After 20 minutes blot the grease from the top using paper towels. Top with cheese slices and return to oven until cheese is melted, about 2 minutes.
  6. Cut into 24 patties and make a slider with your favorite toppings.

  

• Toasted Ravioli

  Date: 2010.02.04 | Category: Kids, Main Dish, Pasta, Quick and easy meals, Starters | Response: 7

  As I’m sitting here writing this post its 8am, it’s cold and rainy outside. I’m about to drop Tyler off at school, we live too close to the school for him to catch the bus. It’s days like this that I hate getting up and wish we didn’t live so close so he could ride the bus to school. I could get him ready and feed him breakfast and send him out when we hear the bus coming. Now I have to get the other two kids up; get them in the car. Alyssa is not a morning person, don’t even think about talking to her until she has been up for at least 15 minutes. She will start kindergarten next year and I’m not looking forward to her cranky mornings. Tyler and Kameron are morning people, they wake up very easily and are always in a good mood first thing. After I drop Tyler off I will be heading to Starbucks to get a cinnamon dolce latte, my new favorite drink, I really need a caffeine boost this morning.

  I’m back from Starbucks and now it’s 9am. I made baked apricot french toast this morning for breakfast, I started it last night so all I had to do this morning was put in the oven this morning. Alyssa is being hard headed, she’s hungry but doesn’t want to eat what I cooked. I’m not the kind of Mom that will make each kid a different meal, I know, I’m mean. I told her she will have to wait until lunch time to eat and it was a long time from now. I guess she got to thinking about and said “ok I will eat the French toast”; guess what she loves it because she has had it before, she said she forgot!

  

  For dinner last night I made toasted ravioli. I found this lovely little recipe on Tasty Kitchen. I know it’s not a new concept but it’s the first time I have ever made it. I made marinara sauce for dipping, I didn’t make it, I opened the jar, so I guess you could say I warmed up some marinara sauce. Tyler and Alyssa did not want it, Kameron will eat almost anything. Tyler and Alyssa will agree with the other when it comes to food. If one says I’m not eating that, then I can guarantee the other will say the same thing. So being the mean Mom that I am told the kids the same thing I told Alyssa this morning, “The next meal will be breakfast.” They continued to play as I was finishing up dinner. When everything was ready I called them to the table and they have this look of disgust on their faces, they are a little over dramatic. This is how I deal with foods they have never eaten before. I tell them they have to at least try it once and if they really do not like it then they do not have to it eat it. I knew they would like it if they would just give it a try. They liked and Tyler took some for lunch today, I guess it wasn’t as gross as they thought it would be. My kids are so funny.

  Printable Recipe
  Ingredients
  1 bag (about 13 Oz. Bag) Cheese Ravioli (fresh Or Frozen)
  1-½ cup Italian Style Bread Crumbs
  ½ cups Grated Parmesan Cheese
  1 cup Buttermilk
  Oil, For Frying, I used Olive Oil.

  Directions
  1. Cook ravioli until al dente (follow directions on the package). Cool.
  2. Heat oil to approximately 350 degrees.
  3. Dredge ravioli in buttermilk and then bread crumbs mixed with half of the Parmesan cheese.
  4. Gently place into hot oil and fry until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes.
  5. Once ravioli are browned, sprinkle with remaining grated Parmesan cheese.

  

• Enchilada Casserole

  Date: 2010.01.12 | Category: Main Dish | Response: 3

  Enchilada Casserole is only one of four casseroles in my recipe box. My kids are not too fond of their food mixed. They eat just about anything that I cook but when I try to throw a casserole at them they ask “Is this all we are having?” and they are “starving” 30 minutes after dinner. With that being said they love this casserole, I’m not really sure why. It might because it’s not full of vegetables, I don’t know but they do like it. I grew up eating enchilada casserole, my aunt would make it all the time so I started making it for my kids. I’m not sure how she came up with the recipe but I’m almost positive that it was given to her probably by her mom. My aunt is not a big fan of the kitchen, she doesn’t cook very often but she had a few dishes that are pretty good. She makes a date roll around the holidays that’s to die for and I really need to get that recipe. Here’s her Enchilada Casserole I hope you enjoy it.

  

  1 8oz jar of Taco Sauce (I use Ortega Brand)
  1 19oz can of Enchilada Sauce (I use Old El Paso Brand)
  1 can of cream of mushroom soup
  Corn tortillas (I get the package of 36 and have very few leftover)
  2 pounds of hamburger meat
  Lots of cheese about 4 cups of shredded cheese
  1 onion chopped (save a little for the top)

  The size pan I use is a 13×9

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Cook the ground beef and onions together, drain fat.
  2. Add, taco sauce, cream of mushroom and enchilada sauce to ground beef. Let it simmer for about 15-20 minutes.
  3. I like to cut the corn tortillas into squares so they fit better in the pan but you don’t have to.
  4. Cut the tortillas into squares and start to layer in pan.
  5. Tortillas first, ground beef mixture, cheese. I also like to use a thin layer of the beef mixture, only because I want for corn tortillas! Layer the meat as thick as you would like!
  6. Continue until you have used all the beef mixture, top with cheese and onions then bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Let sit for 10-15 minutes before cutting.

  We like to serve it with salsa and sour cream! It’s delicious and it’s quick and easy to make!! I hope you like it!

  Sometimes I add a can of drained Ro-tel to the mix for a little more spice.