Korean Beef and Rice

This recipe----THIS RECIPE!!! The first time I made it, it was gone so quickly I couldn’t believe it. The next time I made it, I had to make a double batch so I’d be able to have it twice! It’s that good, and so stinking easy! The only change I made was to double the red pepper flakes. It’s just a perfect recipe to please the whole family.

So, let’s get cooking!

Set a pot to cooking for rice. When done, set aside.

Peel and mince the garlic and slice the scallions.

In a large skillet, brown the ground beef. Add the garlic and cook a minute more.

While the hamburg is cooking, make the sauce by mixing together the brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, ground ginger, red pepper flakes, and pepper.

Add the sauce to the browned hamburg and garlic, heating for a few minutes.

Serve the saucy beef mixture over rice and top with scallions.

Enjoy! ~TMMF

Miss Megan slicing the scallions.

Korean Beef and Rice

1 lb ground beef

3 cloves garlic

¼ c brown sugar

¼ c soy sauce

2 tsp sesame oil

¼ tsp ground ginger

½ tsp red pepper flakes

¼ tsp pepper

2 2/3 c cooked rice

3 scallions, thinly sliced

Soba Noodles with Sweet Ginger Scallion Sauce

This recipe comes to us from Food.com. I wanted to try it because it seemed to be very easy, and who can resist a Sweet Ginger Scallion Sauce?? The ready-to-serve packaged noodles make this a time saving recipe, and switching out the julienned cucumber for sweet red bell pepper adds to the flavor and eye appeal. I didn’t have chili oil, so I added red pepper flakes, and I increased the honey. This is a winner of a recipe that I know we’ll make again in the future.

So, let’s get cooking!

First, chop the cilantro and mince the ginger. Slice the red bell pepper and cut into one inch lengths. Mix together the ingredients for the sauce.

In a large skillet with a little oil, sauté the red bell pepper slices for about 4-5 minutes. Add the pre-cooked soba noodles. Stir in the Sweet Ginger Scallion Sauce and heat through. Serve and Enjoy! ~TMMF

Soba Noodles with Sweet Ginger Scallion Sauce

14 oz. Precooked packaged Soba noodles

(or other packed pre-cooked Asian noodles)

1 red bell pepper

Sauce:

1 ½ c thinly sliced scallions

2 Tbl minced ginger

¼ c chopped cilantro

3 Tbl sesame oil

2 tsp oil

1 tsp red pepper flakes

2 Tbl soy sauce

2 ½ Tbl rice wine vinegar

3 ½ Tbl honey

Cheeseburger & Fries Casserole

Another wonderful recipe perfect for young kids to make with your supervision! This is from Taste of Home, and the only change I made to it was to add some salt and pepper to enhance the taste. My darling assistant chef Megan made this and she suggested afterwards that we add cheese on top. What a great addition next time we make this!

So, let’s get cooking!

First, cook the hamburg in a skillet until thoroughly done. Drain.

Stir in the contents of both cans of soup, plus the salt and pepper.

Pour mixture into a greased 9 X 13” baking dish. Layer frozen French fries on top.

Bake at 400° for 40-45 minutes, until fries are cooked through. Serve and watch the smiles!

Enjoy! ~TMMF

Cheeseburger & Fries Casserole

2 lbs hamburg

1 can golden mushroom soup, undiluted

1 can cheddar cheese soup, undiluted

1 tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

1 20 oz bag frozen crinkle cut French fries

Dilled Seafood Salad

This recipe comes from Recipes.com. It caught my eye because I love seafood salad, and I was curious about using the sour cream in it, as well as the dill. I’ve never been a fan of dill, and now I must admit...I’ve never used it in my cooking! Oh the shame I feel now! ;-) But I did use it and liked it, then went on to create a simple soup recipe using it, which will be forthcoming in the near future.

The changes I made: I didn’t add the hard boiled egg (my kids wouldn’t have touched it if I had), the scallions, or the salt. I actually don’t use much salt in my cooking anyway. I used slightly more imitation crab meat, doubled the celery, and I halved the dill. Not because I’m not a fan, but because I wanted to see how it looked before I added the other teaspoon of it, and it looked plenty dilly. ;-)

So, let’s get cooking!

Chop up the imitation crab meat and the shrimp, and dice the celery. These are all great food prep tasks for the kids; even a four year old can use a butter knife and do the shrimp. :-)

Put it all in a bowl and add the rest of the ingredients. Again, another great way to get the kids involved in cooking with you, and teach them about measuring and mixing.

Stir thoroughly, and serve! I made subs out of it with lettuce, but I also ate some rolled up in a nice green lettuce leaf.

Enjoy! ~TMMF

My lovely assistant Megan :-)

Dilled Seafood Salad

8 oz shrimp

8 oz imitation crab meat

½ c celery (diced)

¼ c mayonnaise

3 Tbl sour cream

1 tsp dill

Asian Spaghetti

This recipe is from Taste of Home, and is so easy to make, it’s not even funny. Seriously. Did you see what I did there? ;-)    Anyhoo….this is a great recipe to involve the kids with, even younger ones: there is veggie slicing and carrot grating going on, and even a 4 year old can start learning to stir (the sauce). It works up so quickly and is so good, you’ll want to make this again and again.

This recipe calls for toasted sesame seeds, and I actually had them….but forgot to use them! They’re fairly expensive in local groceries like Walmart or Kroger, so if you can get them in bulk at someplace like Whole Foods, do so.

The changes I made: I used toasted sesame oil (I *love* that stuff!) along with the vegetable oil, increased the veggies, and, of course, upped the amount of garlic. ;-) I also doubled the recipe and we had leftovers the next day for lunch. I’m not ashamed to admit that I ate this for breakfast the next morning too! Hey, that just shows you how good it is!

So, let’s get cooking!

Cook the angel hair pasta (remember how quickly it cooks!), drain, and rinse with cold water to cool down, and set aside, with a little  oil mixed in if you’d like to keep it from sticking.

Slice the mushrooms, cut the scallions into 1” lengths, and grate the carrot.

In a small bowl, mix together the soy sauce, sugar, and cayenne pepper. You can up the cayenne if you want it extra spicy, or add red pepper flakes.

Now, in a large skillet, add the toasted sesame oil and vegetable oil to sauté the snow peas, scallions, and mushrooms, about 4 or 5 minutes, stirring frequently enough that you won’t be able to step away to do anything else.

Add the grated carrot and minced garlic, cooking and stirring for another minute.

Pour in the sauce and cook about a minute….

….and add the angel hair pasta, stirring well to coat with the sauce. Just cook it a little more to heat the pasta, really just a minute or so, stirring still.







Now it’s done! We served this with Chicken Fingers with Sweet and Sour Sauce. (<---click for recipe)

Enjoy! ~TMMF

We loved the Chicken Fingers with Sweet & Sour Sauce! 

Asian Spaghetti

1 lb angel hair spaghetti
8 oz fresh mushrooms
2 c fresh or frozen snow peas
8-10 scallions
1 c grated carrot
4-5 big cloves of garlic
1/2 c soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
1/2-1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 Tbl toasted sesame seeds
   (optional)

One Pot Spaghetti

This recipe, which I saw on Damn Delicious, is similar to many one pot dishes floating around out there. It’s easy, uses simple ingredients most people have on hand, and tastes great. I did make a few changes, in keeping with trying to keep costs down: I used kielbasa instead of andouille, used a handful of fresh basil instead of two cups, and substituted 3 nice tomatoes for the three cups of expensive grape tomatoes. It came out great and our whole family liked this.

So, let’s get cooking!

Dice the tomatoes, slice the onion thinly and cut in thirds or fourths, peel and slice the garlic, and coarsely slice the basil leaves.

Slice the sausage into pieces about half an inch wide. My daughter Megan did the slicing of the kielbasa, so some were a little thicker. ;-)

Place everything into large pot except for the parmesan cheese. I broke the spaghetti in half, but you can place it in whole, also.

Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat so it simmers. About 11 minutes or so should do it, but stir it several times while cooking so the pasta doesn’t stick.

Most of the liquid will be absorbed, but it’ll be somewhat saucy, which most everyone likes anyway. Toss in the parmesan cheese and some salt and pepper, stir thoroughly, and serve.

Enjoy! ~TMMF

One Pot Spaghetti

1 lb spaghetti
14-16 oz kielbasa
1 onion
3 lg tomatoes
handful fresh basil leaves
4 cloves garlic
4 ½ c water
1 c Parmesan cheese

Apple Smiles and Zombie Heads

I don't "do" Halloween, but I know many others who do, and since I love cooking with my kids and also doing crafts with them, I decided to post something for the season, starring my main assistant chef, Megan.

Here are two very easy and very cute Halloween treats you can make with your younger children for a Halloween party or just to enjoy. Older kids will enjoy making them also, but these two are particularly great for the younger kids, and snacking on them after is always fun. They also didn't break the bank to make, which is always one of my goals.

So let’s get to it!

First, the Apple Smiles. You’ll need apples, peanut butter, and mini marshmallows. The first two steps are for the adult or older child: quarter the apple and cut out the seeds. Slice each quarter into fourths.

To make the smiles, spread peanut butter on two slices of apple. Fix 5 mini marshmallows onto one slice, standing up, not lying down. Place another peanut buttered apple slice on top. Easy, right? And so much fun to make!

Here’s my lovely assistant, my daughter Megan, who has Down syndrome, making Apple Smiles with me. At first she was laying the marshmallows on their sides, but then I showed her how to make them stand up. You can see how happy she was afterwards to show off what we made.

Now for the Zombie Heads. You’ll need a bag of white Candy Melts (Wilton), food coloring, white yogurt covered pretzels, and decorations. We used pearl gems, Halloween M&Ms, and those tiny colored ball sprinkles. Use whatever you have on hand.

Melt about 25 or so of the Candy Melts in a double boiler or in the microwave. Then place about 2-3 tablespoons worth in a small bowl and add food coloring. We did the different colors one at a time because if we did them all at once, they would harden and have to be melted again. So here you see the blue we used first.

With a butter knife, spread a little of the colored mixture into the top two wells of the pretzel. These are the eyes, with the bottom being the gaping mouth.

Add decorations in the middle of the colored eyes, to be the eyeballs. Press them down slightly to hold them there.

Here is my lovely assistant Megan again, making Zombie Heads with me. And showing off the finished product. She really was happy, but the photo with her smiling real big was blurry! ;-)

So there you go, two easy treats to make together for a time of  fun and making memories with your children. I hope you enjoy making them as much as Megan and I did.

Spaghetti and Meatball Soup

What could be more comforting on a cool night than a plate of spaghetti and meatballs? How about a bowl of Spaghetti and Meatball Soup? This is a great recipe that I found on Skinny Taste. You make it all in one pot, which is a bonus.

The changes I made: I added basil and oregano to the soup, and instead of the small amount of tomato sauce, I used a can of crushed tomatoes. I also added green bell pepper to the soup, and green bell pepper plus grated carrot to the meatballs. You knew I’d be sneaking extra veggies in there, right? ;-)

The only negative thing I can say about this recipe is that the meatballs are better cooked in the oven and added later. The first time I made it, I did cook them in the soup as directed, and you can go ahead and do that, but they didn’t hold together as well as when they were baked and added at the end. It doesn’t add to the work; I mean, you have to cook them anyhow, whether you do it in the soup or in the oven, right?

So, let’s get cooking!

First, dice the pepper and onions. Mince the garlic and peel and grate the carrot. The carrot will be used in the meatball mixture.

Sauté half of the diced peppers and onions and the minced garlic in the oil in a large pot, until tender.

Add the chicken broth, water, crushed tomatoes, and spices. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for twenty minutes.

While that’s cooking, make the meatballs. In a bowl, mix together the ground turkey, the other half of the diced peppers and onions, grated carrot, breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, and eggs. I find that using my hands to mix it is the best way. This is also a fun step for kids to do and have them involved in the cooking.

Form the meatballs by using a small scoop to make little one inch balls. This is also a fun way for the kids to help. I portion out the meatball mixture, and then have one of the kids roll them with their hands.

If you’re going to cook them in the soup, just set them aside, but if you’re doing them in the oven, which I do recommend, put them on a sheet pan and toss them in a 350° oven for about 15 minutes or so.

If you’re cooking the meatballs in the soup, add them now, and cook for about 5 minutes, then add the broken spaghetti. I broke it into thirds.

If you’re doing the meatballs in the oven, add the broken spaghetti (in which case I still broke it into thirds, hahaha!) to the soup, cooking for about 7-8 minutes, and then add the cooked meatballs.




Ladle into the bowls and watch the smiles. Enjoy! ~TMMF


Spaghetti and Meatball Soup

1 green bell pepper
1 Vidalia onion
3 cloves garlic
1 carrot
5 c chicken broth
2 c water
1 1.5 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 Tbl dried parsley
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil
1 tap black pepper
1 lb ground turkey
3/4 c breadcrumbs
1/4 c parmesan cheese
2 eggs

Bacon Cheddar Bubble Bread

Bacon Cheddar Bubble Bread. Bacon….cheese….who could ask for more?? How about some mozzarella thrown in for stringy cheesy yumminess? I added some and it rocks! This one comes from Recipes That Crock, as it’s actually a crock pot recipe. I made it in the oven because I started late, and hey, if you want to do it in the crockus poticus, have at it. Just place it all in your greased and floured slow cooker and cook on high for 1 ½ to two hours. I guess I’d do that if I needed to go out and wanted it done when I got home, but it was easier for me to just whip it up and bake it for about half an hour in the oven. Either way, this is so stinking good, I know you’ll love it!

So, let’s get cooking!

Cook the bacon in a skillet, drain, and set to cool. Dice the pepper and grate the sharp cheddar cheese.

Chop up the bacon. In a large bowl, place the refrigerated rolls, pepper, bacon, and cheeses. Pour the melted butter over it all, then mix. I found that using my hands was the best way. Messy, but best. ;)

Place all into a 9 X 13” baking dish that is greased. I added a little more cheese on top. Just because that’s how I roll. ;)

Bake in a 350° oven for about 30 minutes or so, until browned on the sides.

Enjoy! ~TMMF

Bacon Cheddar Bubble Bread

4 tubes refrigerated biscuits
¾ c butter, melted
1 bell pepper
8 strips bacon
1 c sharp cheddar cheese
1 c shredded mozzarella cheese