Philly Cheesesteak Rolls...

I've been in a mood for Philly cheesesteaks lately.  I think I must've been watching a Diners, Drive-ins & Dives or something, cuz it's not something I usually crave.  At any rate, I sort of love using puff pastry...it used to scare me, but it's actually not too much of an ordeal to use once ya get down to it (and once you let it thaw appropriately...which I learned the hard way, the first couple of times).  Anyway, the original recipe on this one can be found at Pepperidge Farm.  The recipe called for "frozen sandwich steak", which I had no idea what that was, but I went to the store on a wing and a prayer, and low and behold, there it was, aptly labelled, right there in the freezer aisle...woot!  I did adjust the processes a little bit, cuz I'm lazy and like to save time :)  Anyway, here's the recipe:

Philly Cheesesteak Rolls
8 servings - 252 calories each

Ingredients
1 package puff pastry (2 sheets), thawed
1 lg. onion, diced
1-12oz. package frozen sandwich steak, thawed
8 slices American cheese
1 egg, beaten

Directions
In a skillet, cook the steak and onion.  While that's cooking, open the sheets of puff pastry.  Cut sheets into quarters (the original recipe called for rolling out the sheets to a larger size, but I have terrible luck doing that, so I just made it work as is...it all turned out just fine without that extra work!)  Top each piece of puff pastry with meat and onion mixture, and then top that with a slice of cheese.  Fold pastry into a little packet (corner to corner), and seal edges.  Place on greased cookie sheet, seam side down, and brush with egg.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. 

And that's it...don't they look good?  I'm excited to try them for lunch someday soon.  I'll let ya know how it turns out in the update in a couple weeks!

Biscuit Cheeseburger Casserole...

And it's another Pillsbury recipe.  This was another easy one...I would use a larger casserole dish next time (larger in diameter...not depth), cuz there wasn't enough room for the entire package of biscuits that was supposed to go on top, so I had one lonely biscuit hanging out by itself after I was finished.  Anyway, it still turned out good...despite the fact that I maybe left it in a couple minutes too long when I got busy walking the dogs and forgot about it...so it's a teensy bit darker than I had planned, but definitely still within the realm of reasonable.  I adjusted some of the vegetable portions a bit, but not a lot.  Sooooo...here's the recipe as I made it:

Biscuit Cheeseburger Casserole
5 servings - 420 calories each

Ingredients
1 lb. ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
1 c. tomato sauce (I used the pasta sauce I was also using for another dish, so I wouldn't have leftovers)
1/4 c. ketchup
8 slices American cheese
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 can refrigerated biscuits (the packs that have 10 biscuits in them)

Directions
In a skillet, cook the ground beef, onion, and green pepper...drain.  Add tomato sauce, ketchup, and pepper, and pepper to the meat mixture.  Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes.  In the bottom of an ungreased casserole dish, put 1/3 of the meat mixture.  Top with 4 slices of cheese.  Repeat layers.  Top with remaining 1/3 of meat mixture.  On top of the meat mixture, line casserole dish with biscuits.  Bake at 400 degrees for 13-17 minutes. 

That's all.  Not too bad right?  It was pretty fast to throw together...I had a bite of the filling, and it did taste pretty cheeseburger-y, so that's a plus.  I'll let ya know how it goes with the update later in the month!

Taco Melts...

Well, I picked a few easy-peasys this month...few ingredients + calories that are already calculated for me = time saved for Megan!  Woot!  So first up are Taco Melts...you can find the recipe for this first one at the Pillsbury website.  They were easy to throw together, and look/smell good, so my hopes are high for the reheating later.  Here's the info:

Taco Melts
8 servings - 370 calories each

Ingredients
1 pkg. taco seasoning
2/3 c. water
1/2 c. salsa
1 lb. lean ground beef, cooked & drained
1 can Pillsbury Grands biscuits
1 c. Mexican shredded cheese
(Sour cream & more salsa to top, if desired)

Directions
In a skillet, cook ground beef, salsa, water, and taco seasoning until thickened.  Stretch biscuits to about 6" rounds.  Put about 1 T. of cheese on each biscuit, and then add about 1/3 c. meat mixture to biscuit.  Fold over biscuit, and press edges to seal.  Place on greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 375 degrees for 9-14 minutes.

And that's all.  I'll make sure to post an update later in the month to let ya know how it all turned out :)

No Peek Beef Tips...

Finally!  New meals again!  Things in Des Moines are finally settling in...I've got some semblance of a routine, I'm figuring out where things are, I'm getting my budget locked in...we're gettin' there.  So I've finally had some time to devote to Pinterest again to find some new recipes!  Woot!  First up, No Peek Beef Tips (the original recipe is at Mommy's Kitchen ).  So the big added bonus of this recipe was that it literally took 5 minutes to throw everything together and get it in the oven.  I'm pretty sure it took longer to preheat the oven than it did to put it together.  And it would've taken even less time than that if I hadn't decided to add half an onion that needed to be chopped up.  PLUS, it easily made an extra serving more than I anticipated, and probably could've been split up to get a total of 10 servings if you wanted to add a crescent roll or something.  Here's the details:

No Peek Beef Tips
9 servings - 408 calories each

Ingredients
2 lbs. stew meat
1 packet dry brown gravy mix (I used low sodium)
1 packet dry onion soup mix
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 - 4oz. can of mushrooms, drained
1 c. ginger ale
1/2 onion, chopped
Seasonings, to taste
1 lb. pasta (I used Farfalle)

Directions
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Put meat in a 9x13 inch pan.  In a separate bowl, stir together gravy mix, onion soup mix, mushroom soup, and ginger ale.  Put chopped onion and mushrooms on top of meat.  Add soup mixture and seasonings.  Stir until meat is coated.  Cover with foil, and bake 3 hours (do not open foil during cooking!).  When beef tips are done, cook pasta per package instructions.  Serve tips on top of pasta (or mixed in, if you're going to be freezing and thawing...it makes reheating a little more predictable).  I'll be doing a recipe update with how everything turned out this month in a couple of weeks.  That's all for this one!

Provencal Beef Stew...

Ahhh, crockpot recipes...I actually set it and left the house this time...I never do that.  I hate having stuff on in my apartment when nobody's home...especially things that produce heat.  I may be a little over-cautious, but it makes me nervous.  To be fair, I wasn't really planning on being gone more than an hour or two...unfortunately, it turned into a $700, 6 hour, trip to Midas...ouch...I actually barely made it back in time to take it off before I passed the cooking time.  The original can be found at myrecipes.  Here's how I made it:

Provencal Beef Stew
6 servings - 271 calories each

Ingredients
2 tsp. olive oil
1 1/2 lb. boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 1 inch cubes
2 T. flour
2 med. onions, cut into 8 wedges
8 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 c. dry red wine
1 c. beef broth
2 T. tomato paste
1 - 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
3 c. (1-inch) slices zucchini
2 c. (1-inch) slices carrots (I just used baby carrots)
Salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, to taste

Directions
Sprinkle beef with salt and pepper, dredge in flour, and place in med-high skillet for 2-3 minutes, browning on all sides (not cooking through), then place in crock pot.  Add onions and garlic to pan you just removed beef from and saute 4-5 minutes until tender.  Add wine to loosen browned bits.  Pour entire mixture into crock pot.  Add all other ingredients to crock pot, and set on low for 8 hours.

Recipe Recap
Holy texture issue...I like zucchini, don't get me wrong...I just don't like it cooked for 8 hours in a crockpot...ech.  Between that and the fact that the sauce was super thin, it was more like a weird soup than a stew.  I could probably tweak it to make it again...thicken up the sauce, take out the zucchini, etc...but at that point, I think I'd rather just default back to my tried and true stew recipe.  Won't be making this one again.

Sweet Potato-Topped Shepherd's Pie...

Betty Crocker Month continues! :) I've had a thing with sweet potatoes lately. I love ordering them at restaurants, but I just can't find the right way to utilize them at home. So I saw this recipe and thought it sounded like a perfect opportunity to combine them with a dish I already love...shepherd's pie (hey, I'm Irish...don't be so surprised). This one was a little more labor intensive than the previous two, although still not too bad. I used fresh thyme instead of dried...not really for any reason in particular...I'm not die hard about fresh herbs or anything. Honestly, it was like $1.00 cheaper to get the little bundle of fresh instead of the jar of dried, and since I pretty much NEVER use thyme, I decided I didn't want a jar that was never going to get used anyway cluttering up my cabinets. I also used ketchup instead of tomato paste...not intentionally...Peapod apparently decided to substitute the tomato paste that I ordered with a strawberry Yoplait yogurt (that's pretty close, right?), and I didn't feel like going out by the time I realized it. I used a little shy of the recommended amount, since ketchup runs on the sweet side. And last but not least, I didn't peel the Yukon gold potatoes (lazy!) to save some time, and I didn't whip the potatoes totally smooth...I kinda like it a little more rustic and chunky. Anyway, once again, you can find the original recipe at Betty Crocker. Here it is:

Sweet Potato-Topped Shepherd's Pie
8 servings - 250 calories each

Ingredients
1/2 lb. ground beef
1 lg. onion, chopped
1 c. carrots, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can (14 oz.) reduced sodium, low fat beef broth
1/4 c. tomato paste
1 T worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. dried thyme (or a little more if you're using fresh)
1 1/2 tsp. salt
4 1/2 tsp. flour
4 1/2 tsp. water
1/2 c. frozen (thawed) spinach, squeezed to drain
3 c. cubed peeled Yukon gold potatoes
3 c. cubed peeled sweet potatoes
1/3 c. milk
2 T. margarine

Directions
In a medium skillet, cook beef, onion, carrots & garlic 5-7 minutes until beef is browned. Drain and return to skillet. Stir in broth, tomato paste, worcestershire sauce, thyme, and 3/4 tsp. of salt. Heat to boiling, then reduce heat and simmer for an additional 10 minutes. In a small bowl, mix flour and water...stir into beef mixture. Cook 2 minutes, stirring until thickened. In a separate pot, add potatoes and enough water to cover them. Simmer for 10-15 minutes until tender. Drain. In a bowl, beat potatoes, milk, butter, and remaining 1/2 tsp. of salt until smooth. Place beef mixture in greased casserole dish. Top with potato mixture, and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes until potatoes begin to brown.

I'm serving mine with a biscuit for a total of 420 calories per serving. Enjoy!

Taco Beef Bake With Cheddar Biscuit Topping...

So I was having a major blonde moment when I was making this dish and learned something very important.  I will share this tidbit of knowledge with you, in case you ever have a blonde moment yourself...perhaps you can save yourself some stress.  The thing I learned is this:  If you have a casserole dish that has a little line in it...a little line that looks like a hairline fracture perhaps, but it doesn't FEEL like a crack (let's be honest, it was only a brief passing thought and you barely checked, because you weren't paying much attention...a new Maroon 5 song was on darnit!)...DON'T USE THAT CASSEROLE DISH!  Argh.  So that little line made a perfect tiny fracture right across the bottom of the dish and proceeded to leak into my oven...lovely!  It didn't really even separate...just leaked right on through that tiny, barely visible crack.  Thankfully, pretty much all of the food was still good...just scooped around that little section (it would've probably all been fine, since there were no pieces, and it looked like everything matched up perfectly with no missing bits of glass, but seriously...I may have had a blonde moment, but I'm not crazy!  lol).  Thankfully I got back in from walking the dogs before the smoke alarm went off...I don't think my apartment building neighbors would have appreciated that AT ALL at midnight.  Crisis (mostly) averted after I put another pan underneath to catch the leak, and got the windows open and fans on.  So...remember...just because it doesn't FEEL like a crack doesn't mean it's not a crack!  lol.  Man, I'm having one of those days.  Anyway, on with the recipe...you can find the original at Betty Crocker.  Here it is:

Taco Beef Bake With Cheddar Biscuit Topping
6 servings - 460 calories each

Ingredients
1 lb. ground beef
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 c. salsa of your choice
2 c. frozen corn
2 c. Bisquick
1 c. shredded cheddar
2/3 c. milk

Directions
Brown beef over medium high until browned, stirring occasionally.  Drain and put back in skillet.  Stir in taco seasoning, salsa & corn, and heat to boiling, stirring occasionally.  Pour mixture ungreased casserole dish.  In a separate bowl, mix bisquick, cheese & milk into a dough.  Drop in spoonfuls on top of the meat mixture.  Bake uncovered at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  And that's it! 

*It doesn't look like there's a crack all the way across the top end of the dish does it?  I assure you, there is.  You can barely see it (even in person), but it leaks like a sieve!*

No side dish this time, since the calories were already high enough, and the serving size was decent.  You could probably get 8 servings out of it and add a side dish if you wanted to, though.  I'll let you know how it turns out with the update later this month :)

Crockpot Cube Steak & Gravy...

I haven't used my crockpot in a few months, and I figured it was about time again.  The whole fix it and forget it thing isn't all too conducive to my impatient nature, but alas...I keep hearing patience is a virtue, so I'm working on it...one crockpot recipe at a time.  :)  I'll warn you in advance that this totally doesn't look pretty in the pictures (and even worse in the last couple pics because I took them on my phone instead of my camera...sorry!), but it smells delicious, and based on the ingredients and Pinterest reviews should taste delicious.  I'll let you know for sure when I do updates later in the month though.  It's hard to find ways to prepare meat in something that ISN'T a casserole where it still reheats without getting dry, so I thought this would be a good option.  The original recipe is found at Cooks.com.  One thing to note:  I sort of combined it with another recipe I found that called for onion soup mix instead of onion gravy mix, because I didn't have any onion gravy mix on hand...the gravy turned out pretty thin though, obviously.  Next time I'll either track down the gravy mix or add a little flour.  Either way, I think it's going to taste just fine.  Here's the recipe:

Crockpot Cube Steak & Gravy
6 servings - 263 calories each

(Forgot to put flour in the ingredient picture...sorry!)

Ingredients
2 to 2 1/2 lb. cube steak
1 pkg. onion soup/dip mix  (next time, will use onion gravy mix or add a little flour to thicken)
2 c. water
Flour
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
Cut steaks into portions, if necessary.  Salt and pepper steaks, and then dredge in flour.  Cook in a skillet coated with non-stick cooking spray just until browned.  Place in crockpot.  Cover with water, flour, and onion soup mix.  Stir gently to mix everything together.  Cover and set crockpot to low for 6-8 hours.

I'm serving mine with Cream Cheese Corn for a total of 383 calories per serving. 

Beef Enchilada Pie...

This is really more of a casserole than a pie...I challenge you to fit it in a pie plate, because there's no possible way it would fit.  I used my round casserole dish instead and it worked great.  I love a good casserole.  Typically they're super easy to make.  They almost always reheat great.  They're hearty and tend to encompass the bulk of the food groups.  What's not to like?  Well, there is one thing...they get a bad rap for being bland...that's certainly not always the case, but with the prevalence of the "cream of" base with a combination of whatever else is in the freezer, they can all taste kind of the same if you're not careful.  So when I can find one that DOESN'T have a "cream of" base and includes some Mexican flavors, I'm in.  And that's exactly what I found in this recipe.  The original can be found at EatBetterAmerica, and conveniently came with a breakdown of calories (hooray, time saver!).  So, without further ado, here we go:

Beef Enchilada Pie
6 servings - 290 calories each

Ingredients
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1- 10 oz. can red enchilada sauce
1/2 c. frozen corn
1 - 4.5 oz. can chopped green chiles, drained
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
5 flour tortillas
1 c. shredded reduced fat Mexican cheese

Directions
Cook beef and onion in large skillet until beef is brown and onions are tender.  Add enchilada sauce (reserving 1/4 c. for later), green chiles, corn, cumin, and chili powder.  Reduce heat and simmer another 5-7 minutes.  Spray baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.  Place one tortilla in bottom of baking dish, spoon over about 3/4 c. of meat mixture, top with about 3 tablespoons of cheese.  Repeat layers with 3 more tortillas.  Top with remaining tortilla, reserved 1/4. c. of enchilada sauce, and the last of the cheese.  Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes until hot and cheese is melted. 

I'm serving mine with a crescent roll for a total of 390 calories per serving :)

One Pot Spaghetti...

First off, I would like to say, I misjudged the servings this recipe makes when I did my meal plan.  I guess I hadn't made it for a quite a while and overestimated.  It's only 6 servings, not 8, so the calories are a little more indulgent than I originally thought, but as far as I'm concerned it's totally worth it.  loL :)  BUT, I figured I better at least get that out there...full disclosure and all that jazz.

That said, this spaghetti was a staple of my childhood.  It's about the easiest thing you can make, and you really will only dirty ONE pot.  So, awesome in my book.  I will also say, this recipe messed me up on my spaghetti preferences for life though.  To this day, I in no way understand why anyone would want a pile of spaghetti noodles with sauce dumped on top when you could have the pasta COOKED in sauce, so the flavor is all the way through.  So, without further ado, here we go :)

One Pot Spaghetti
6 servings - 513 calories each

Ingredients:
- 1 lb. lean ground beef
- 1 jar pasta sauce
- 1 1/2 jars of water
- 1/4 c. sugar
- 7-8 oz. dry spaghetti noodles
- Seasonings, to taste

Directions:

Brown the ground beef in the pot you'll be using for the final spaghetti.  (If you get lean enough hamburger, you do not need to drain it after it's cooked, so save yourself a step!)  Add all other ingredients and simmer until pasta is done.  Add parmesan cheese if desired.

And that's it!  Pretty simple, right?  So there's no side dish or biscuit or anything with this one, since the calories are already a little high.  So it's just six servings of spaghetti at 513 calories each total :)

Three Envelope Roast Beef...

Okay, I was super excited when I found this recipe.  I live by myself...there's not a lot of cause to cook a 3-4 pound pot roast when you're single and live alone.  However, I found this recipe for Pot Roast Sliders on Six Sisters Stuff, and thought, why the heck not?  Now, I happened to nix the sliders portion of the recipe so I didn't have to worry about having buns and whatnot on hand later, so mine is just a pot roast.  (**However, I think the sliders sound awesome, and I'd definitely like to do them sometime).  Anyway, this recipe is RIDICULOUSLY easy, even for crock pot meals.  Here we go:

Three Envelope Roast Beef
6 servings, 261 calories each

Ingredients:

1 3-4 lb beef roast
1 cup water
1 cup salsa

1 envelope onion soup mix
1 envelope Italian dressing mix
1 envelope Au Jus mix

Directions:

Put the roast in your slow cooker.  Mix everything else together and pour over top of the roast.  Put the lid on and set it to low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-5 hours. 

Seriously, this stuff is RIDICULOUSLY good.  We almost lost a serving to snacking for this particularly recipe.  I'll be serving mine with Risotto w/Peas and Parmesan (recipe later) for a total of 426 calories per serving.  If you like it though, I'd like to recommend that you try the actual slider recipe at the other website...there's a chipotle cream sauce on there to go with it that looks delicious.  Anyway, that's all for now :)

Beef Noodle Casserole...

Okay, so this beef noodle casserole has been a go-to since I discovered it on Kraft's website shortly after I started doing this whole monthly meals thing.  It's probably not the most exciting thing to eat, but it's good comfort food that you get a good-sized helping of.  So, here goes:

Beef Noodle Casserole
8 servings - 331 Calories Each

Ingredients:
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
3 c. egg noodles, uncooked
2 c. frozen mixed vegetables (peas, green beans, carrots, corn, etc.)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 c. milk
1 c. water
1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
Seasonings, to taste

Directions:

Brown meat with onions & drain.  Spoon meat/onion mixture over noodles in 13x9 inch baking dish.  Top with vegetables.  Whisk soup, milk & water until blended; pour over vegetables.  Top with cheese.  Cover (make sure to tent the foil).  Bake at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes, uncovering after 25 minutes.

I'm getting 8 servings out of this, although you could probably get 10 if you wanted to.  I'll also be serving mine with a crescent roll for a total of 431 calories each.

Taco Cups...

So I was apparently obsessed with cupcake-shaped food when I wrote my menu plan this month.  I don't know what I was thinking exactly...I think Pinterest may have brainwashed me into it.  At any rate, while I'm super happy with what I made, it definitely affected my timeline today a lot...I only have 2 cupcake tins, and 1 oven, so I felt like I was waiting for a lot of the day.  Broke my own rule about being conscious of how many items are done in the oven vs. stovetop vs. crockpot.  Oh well...reminder noted.  :)  Anyway, on to my next cupcake-shaped food...taco cups!  These turned out looking delicious and got super crispy (haven't gotten to try them yet, but I don't doubt they'll be yummy).  Downside: I'm sure it'll lose a decent amount of crispiness upon reheating.  However, I was really in the mood for tacos, and decided I didn't care.  lol :)  Sooooo...I'll let ya know how it all turns out in a couple of weeks.  It'd be a cute idea for a party or something...have some salsa, sour cream, lettuce shreds on the side to put on top.  The original recipe, on Plain Chicken called for a can of black beans, which would probably be great if you're into that sort of thing, but I'm not so I skipped it.  Here's my version:

Taco Cups
12 Servings, 203 Calories Each

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef
2 c. shredded cheddar
1 packet Taco Seasoning
24 wonton wrappers
2/3 c. water

Directions:
Brown ground beef on stovetop.  Drain and add taco seasoning and water.  Mix and simmer another 5-10 minutes.  Spray muffin cups with cooking spray.  Line each cup with a wonton wrapper.  Add a layer of meat and a layer of cheese.  Repeat layers.  Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes until cheese is bubbly and the wrappers are crispy. 

I'm having mine with a corn muffin for a total of 373 calories each serving :)