Tag: dinners

One-pan Cheeseburger Mac From Boxed Mac and Cheese

If you’ve been following me for a while, this recipe may seem familiar. I made this about three months ago, however I had altered it since then. I’ve been able to alter the recipe and make this dish a one pan meal! I’ve also doubled my boxed mac and cheese to help distribute the meat better and to make a dish that would be great for a big family. For my original recipe, you can click here.

This is a homemade version of hamburger helper that just needs boxed mac and cheese. When cooking, you can choose to drain off the fat or not. Fats do add some flavor to dishes, however this dish doesn’t need that flavor to make a tasty dish. I also used 1/2 of a frozen diced onion. I just find it easier to dice and freeze my onions in bulk. I used a standard beef bouillon, but you can also use 4 cups low sodium stock in place of some water or powdered bouillon. And finally, I used Weis brand mac & cheese. You can try other types like Kraft or shells, but that’s what I had on hand. Remember to taste your food before serving, and add additional garlic, mustard powder, or ketchup as you desire.

  1. In a large dutch oven, brown and break up one pound of ground beef. Dice up 1/2 cup of onion and cook until translucent. Drain off any excess fat if you desire.
  2. Add 7 cups of water and 4 beef bouillon cubes. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, add 2 boxes of mac and cheese pasta. Stir regularly. Boil 3-4 minutes longer than recommended by the box, until most water has boiled off.
  3. Add your cheese packets and any other ingredients instructed by the box. Stir. Add 8 Tbsp ketchup, 3 Tbsp mustard, and 2 Tbsp garlic powder. Combine together and serve. Makes 9 adult portions. If you desire, excess can be frozen. To reheat, add a splash of milk and microwave 1-2 minutes, or 5-7 minutes if frozen.
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Homemade Hot Pockets: Meatball Mozzarella

These pockets are time consuming, but they can easily be frozen and reheated. It took me about 3 hours to make and bake these pockets, but I’ve tried the make the instructions best for time management, so it would hopefully only take about 2 hours. The biggest problem we faced was making sure to put deep enough vent holes in the dough, because we had 2 break out the side as a result. The dough should be tacky, but not sticky, so make sure you add enough flour before the first rise. Otherwise, these pockets taste just like Hot pockets, and the dough became fluffy and full. We made 9 pockets, but many had extra dough, so 10 would have been better.

  1. In a bowl, mix together 3 cups flour, 2 tsp active dried yeast, 1 cup of warm water, and 1 1/2 Tbsp oil. Mix until dough comes together. Oil a bowl, turn the dough in the oil, then cover and let rise till double, about 1 hour.
  2. Heat oven to 400 F.
  3. Take one pound of ground burger and place it in a large mixing bowl. Add 2 slices of bread crumbled, 1 Tbsp A1, and 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce. Mix together with your hands. Roll about 2 Tbsp of meat into a balls. Place the balls on a greased baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes.
  4. Open a jar of tomato sauce, season as if for a pizza (onion and garlic powder, parsley, oregano, etc.). Mix together.
  5. Once dough is doubled, and meat balls done, grease 2 large baking sheets. Divide the dough into 10 pieces.
  6. Take your dough and roll it into a round. Add a spoon full of sauce and spread it down one side of the round. Add 3-4 mini meatballs, and about 1/3 cup of shredded mozzarella. Seal, add vent holes, and place onto greased baking sheet.
  7. Repeat step 6 for all balls of dough. Bake in the oven at 400 F for 20-30 minutes till the top is crisp when tapped.
  8. Let cool for 5 minutes then eat. You can also freeze leftovers, reheat by microwaving those refrigerated for 1 minute, or those frozen for 2minutes and 30 seconds.
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Slow Cooker Goulash

Goulash is a favorite of mine. You can make a lot and is will last for several days. This weekend was very long, so I made this for dinner before this coming week and we’ve been eating it for several days now. You can also easily divide this and freeze some of it, assuming the noodles are still al dente. I left my pot on for 2 hours, and the noodles were almost completely mushy. However, I have a hotter pot than some, and I wasn’t able to check on it, since I wasn’t home. On low, it would have been much better to cook for half an hour less.

  1. In a large frying pan, begin browning and breaking up 1 lb of ground beef.
  2. In the bowl of a slow cooker, add 1 quart of diced tomatoes, 1 jar of spaghetti sauce, 1 tsp cumin, 2 tsp red pepper flakes, and 1 Tbsp garlic powder.
  3. Once the beef is fully cooked, add to slow cooker. Using the same pan, melt 1 Tbsp butter. Dice 1 small onion (1 cup) and place onion into frying pan with butter. Fry until translucent.
  4. Once cooked add onion to slow cooker. In the frying pan, add 4 cups of water, and 3 beef bouillon cubes. Heat until cubes dissolve, then add to slow cooker.
  5. Finally, add 2 cups of macaroni to the slow cooker. Stir and turn to low. Let it cook on low and it will be ready in 1 1/2 hour.
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Mini Manicotti With Lasagna Noodles

Manicotti is a classic Italian dish. Last week I had a family member pass away, so to be able to do something productive, my mom and I made several meals to take as a gift. Besides bread and other family classics, we made lasagna. We had extra of everything, so I decided to make Manicotti as a different form of lasagna. I did make this dish with a meat sauce I had left from the lasagna, but you can choose to do whatever you wish. I also forgot this time when making them, but in the future, it would taste good to add an additional tablespoon of Italian seasoning. The green would be nice for the dish and the cheese would be a bit more varied with some seasoning.

  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Break 6 Lasagna noodles in half using the edge of the counter.
  2. Generously salt water. Add broken noodles one at a time and stir continuously to keep from sticking together. Boil for 10 minutes until noodles are flexible.
  3. Rinse noodles and submerge in cold water. Set at your assembly area.
  4. Grab a 7 x 11 baking dish.
  5. Mix together in a bowl, 1 cup of small curd cottage cheese, and 1 cup mozzarella. Also, brown 1/2 pound of ground beef, mix in 1/2 jar of spaghetti sauce and set aside.
  6. Begin assembly by placing a cooled noodle in the bottom of your baking dish. Place 2-3 Tbsp of cheese mixture near one end of the noodle. Roll up the noodle starting on the side with the cheese mixture. Place in open spot in dish.
  7. Repeat step 6 until there is no more room in your dish, or until you run out of noodles. Pour over top the sauce and meat mixture. Spread evenly over the noodles. Top with 1 cup of mozzarella.
  8. Heat oven to 350 F. Bake for 30-40 minutes until cheese is melted and browning. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
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Dinner Rolls

Dinner rolls are a nice filling side that I love to serve with Italian food. I like placing butter on hot rolls and enjoying them, or having cooled rolls sliced and filled with spaghetti. These dinner rolls are not sweet and are better as a side with a bigger meal rather than a meal by itself. I really enjoyed these rolls and will enjoy them with many meals to come. I have frozen most of them since it is just Josh and I, but if we were traveling more, I would likely be giving them to someone as a gift. I like to make my white bread as a gift, but these will soon join them. It also took me 2 1/2 hours to proof with my yeast starter, and I baked my rolls for 25 minutes, but they didn’t have too much color, just a light browning.

  1. In a large mixing bowl, combine 3 cups flour, 1 cup starter (1 cup water, 1 cup four, and 1 packet of active yeast), 5 Tbsp melted butter, a pinch of salt, 1 egg, and 1/4 cup milk. Mix until dough cones together.
  2. Divide dough into 16 pieces. Roll into balls and place on a large baking sheet. Let rise for 1-3 hours until doubled in size.
  3. Heat oven to 350 F. Bake for 20-30 minutes until tops are browned and top is firm.
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