Super Easy Beef Stroganoff Recipe

Here's another super easy comfort food recipe.  I mean, this couldn't BE any easier.  This recipe is nothing more that just dumping three ingredients into a pot and boiling a bag of egg noodles. 

This recipe is perfect for weeknights when you don't feel like cooking but don't feel like going out either.  It takes no more than how long it takes to boil the noodles. 

For no more than what it takes to make it, it's really good!  No, it's not going to be as if you cooked a roast all day in the crock pot, chopped up fresh mushrooms, used fresh cream, etc.  But it's a satisfying and comforting quick and easy meal.

What you'll need:
1 bag of egg noodles
1 can of roast beef and gravy (usually in the canned meats aisle near the tuna and canned chili, etc.)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 small container of sour cream
salt and pepper to taste

Boil egg noodles in a pot
In a separate pot empty can of canned roast beef and gravy, turn on medium heat

Break up pieces to shredded consistency

Add can of cream of mushroom soup, stir to heat together

Heat to almost boiling

Add a few "dollops" of sour cream to taste (about 3), you know what a dollop is, a large heaping spoonful...
--Luckily this is not an exact science and that is the beauty of this recipe!  It really just depends on how creamy you want it to be.

Stir and heat together to almost boiling
Add salt and pepper to taste

When noodles are done, drain water

You can either stir the noodles and the sauce together or top the sauce onto the noodles.  We normally top the noodles but this time stirred them together.  It was tiny bit dry when we did this and reheating was somewhat dry.  So if you like to mix your pastas with sauces, you might add one more can of the cream of mushroom soup or a few more "dollops" of sour cream.

I served mine with carrots, corn, applesauce, and salad.  It as a nice quick wintertime meal.

Oh, and I totally made this recipe up myself so don't expect Paula Deen or Martha Stewart quality fancy stuff.  No kidding, this is just a quick and easy, get something on the table kind of meal.  My husband and I think it's pretty good.  Hope you like it too!

P.S.  After reading this aloud to my husband, he says "I think it's more than just pretty good, I really like it!".  Just FYI. 

Happy DIY'ing everyone!
-Amy the DIY Monkey

Delicious Potato Soup Recipe

In my continuing coverage of winter time "comfort foods", I'd like to offer you one of my favorite dishes for a cold night.  My dad taught me how to make his wonderful potato soup years ago and recently shared with me that you can add sausage to it, similar to that of my all-time favorite Zuppa Toscana at the Olive Garden. 

If you're vegetarian, you can certainly omit the sausage and just boil the veggies together then drain and add the butter and milk, but if you are including the sausage, I recommend sauteing your sausage, onions, and potatoes together first, then adding to the other boiling veggies.

I also have begun to omit peeling the potatoes and leaving on the skins.  You get more vitamins that way and it's more hearty!  Also, it takes a lot less time if you don't have to peel all of those 'taters!

It's a pretty basic recipe, you'll need:
3-4 large russet potatoes (the regular brown kind)
about 5 fresh celery stalks
about 4-5 fresh carrot sticks
1 small yellow or white onion
1 pack of sausage (either the breakfast kind or Italian, but not maple or brown sugar flavored)
about 3/4 gallon of vitamin D (whole) milk (you can use 2% if you want to cut back a few calories, but it's much better with whole milk)
1 stick of butter (you can use margarine, but again it's tastier with real butter, so do Paula Deen proud and go on and use a whole stick of butter)

Brown and crumble sausage in a large skillet, while boiling pot of water
Chop potatoes and onion and add to half-cooked sausage to simmer in grease, stirring frequently to saute

Chop celery and carrots into 1/4-1/2 inch pieces, add to boiling water

Continue to boil until carrots and celery can be cut into easily with a knife, use spoon to remove a piece and test, should be almost cooked but left a little snappy, about 15-20 minutes
                                    
Add fully cooked sausage with simmering potatoes to boiling carrots and celery to continue cooking potatoes, do not drain grease, most will have absorbed into potatoes or will drain out with water later

Boil about 15 more minutes, test veggies with spoon and knife, when knife easily cuts into each piece, this is a matter of preference also, we like ours with just a little bit of "snap" left in the veggies but you might like yours completely "mushy",  drain water (this will remove any of the excessive grease)
Return pot to stove and add one stick of butter, stir until melted
                                    
Fill the rest of the pot with milk
Add salt and pepper to taste, heat to boiling stirring frequently

Use mostly medium heat for everything, adjusting as necessary

I serve mine with canned croissants. 

This soup stores and reheats very well.  In fact it is another one of those "next dayers".  I'm getting ready to heat some up for lunch right now!

Oh, and by the way.  I'm getting used to cooking with a camera beside me!  I'm going to have to start keeping it in my utensil drawer.

If you try this recipe, please let me know what you think.  If you have some other potato soup ideas, please share them with me!

Happy DIY'ing everyone!
-Amy the DIY Monkey

Mexican Meatloaf, Ole!

So I tried my first meatloaf experiment last night.  I used my friend Angie's suggestion to put a pack of taco seasoning and black olives in the meatloaf to make a taco meatloaf.  Only, I added a few of my own variations...

Instead of crackers (or bread crumbs, or oatmeal, etc.) I used crushed up tortilla chips!  It worked out great!  And, it was really really really fun to crush them up.  All you need to do is take a bag of tortilla chips and poke some holes in it to let the air out, lay the bag flat on the counter, and roll it over and over with a rolling pin as if you were rolling out dough!  It was so much fun, I can't wait to do it again.  And the bag kept it all contained!

I added in some extras like jalapeno peppers, salsa, and cheese.  I think the texture came out really well.  It was not really dry and crispy edged like I usually like with my regular meatloaf, but it was solid and not to soggy.

Here's all you need:

So without further ado, here's the recipe so you can try it too!  (OH!  I'm a poet again!!!)

1 lb. ground beef
1 regular sized bag tortilla chips
1 jar salsa
1 bag shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup jarred jalapeno pepper slices
1/2 can black olives
1 packet of taco seasoning
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 305 degrees.

Mix ground beef, crushed tortilla chips, half jar of salsa, half bag of cheese, jalapenos, black olives, pack of taco seasoning, and eggs into a bowl.....yep you guessed it....mash it all up with your hand (don't forget to wash first!).

Morph it all into a ball or loaf, bake for 45 minutes.  Take out and top with remaining salsa and cheese, bake another 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted.  Make sure the meat is cooked all the way through by cutting and looking in the thickest part.

For some reason this version of meatloaf seems a little more dense so you will want to ensure it's done all the way through.  But it doesn't seem to take as long to bake.

Served topped with sour cream, more jalapenos or black olives, more salsa, cheese, whatever you wish!

I served mine with Chi Chi's Sweet Corn Cake Mix and salad.  It was YUMMY!! 

I was somewhat proud of my new creation.  My husband liked it too.  And one of the best parts is that it reheats well and leftovers do great for lunch.  It's one of those things that seems to taste even better the next day.

Happy DIY'ing! 
-Amy the DIY Monkey

Meatloaf.....the final frontier

After requesting tasty and delicious meatloaf recipe variations last night, I received a couple of ideas that I'd like to share with you. 

How could I forget the addition of green peppers and onions?  Well, mostly because I don't like onions at all and don't like green peppers in meatloaf that's how.  But I must acknowledge that most people do it this way.  In fact, my meatloaf recipe came from my mother's and she ALWAYS put peppers and onions in hers. 

The good thing about morphing the loaves is that you can ball up and customize your meatloaf for everyone in your family.  Sometimes I've made my husband his own special loaf with peppers and onions.  It's not hard to do.  Just separate your mixture and add your variations and custom ingredients then just ball each one up separately. 

One idea that someone shared with me that I think I'll try is a taco meatloaf.  My friend Angie told me on Facebook that she makes the taco meatloaf with a pack of taco seasoning and some black olives mixed in the mixture.  Interesting!  Sounds tasty!  I'll bet you can put some salsa and cheese all up in there too!  Maybe crushed up tortilla chips instead of crackers??

So this opens up a whole way of thinking about meatloaf variations. I'm kind of thinking....I wonder what a pack of onion soup mix would taste like in the mix???  Or...what about a pack of ranch flavoring???  Has anyone out there ever tried this?

One of my friends suggested an Italian meatloaf with cheese baked on the INSIDE of the loaf.  Hoo doggies!  A cheese-filled loaf??  Awesome!!!

What about a stroganoff variation with mushrooms and sour cream?  Hmmmmm............

The possibilities are endless.

Send me your ideas or suggestions!  Especially if you've tried any of these brainstorming ideas I'm having. 

The beauty is you dump it in a bowl, mash it up, morph it, and bake it.  So it's a quick and easy dinner....or maybe more?  Breakfast meatloaf?  OK maybe I'm going too far here.

Anyway, forward your ideas if you can!

Oh!  And I forgot one of the best things about meatloaf!  The leftovers.....  My husband is always thrilled to have a meatloaf sandwich for lunch the next day.  And I'm getting ready to go heat up some leftovers for dinner now!  No cooking tonight!  I'll just be loafin' around. 

And so will Sticky...

Happy DIY'ing!
Amy, the DIY Monkey

Loafin' Around

Well........I hate to break it to you, but winter is here.  It's here with e vengeance too, at least in central Indiana.  Even now I can hear the wind howling outside.

It's cold, it stays dark early in the AM, it stays dark early in the PM, Christmas is over, New Year's is behind us.....blah!

So I'm thinking of of ways to BEAT THE WINTER BLAHS!!!  What better way to warm up on a cold winter evening than with comfort food?  What better comfort food than MEATLOAF!?

Meatloaf, the poor man's prime rib.  The "disgusting looking brown blob in the refrigerator" according to Becky's friend in Roseanne.  We all joke about it's mundane and cheap qualities.  Meatloaf is the subject of many a joke and jeer, however deep down inside (unless your a vegetarian that is...) you know you love it! 

Now, there are many variations on "the loaf of meat".  Everyone seems to make theirs differently.  The past few days I've spent some time asking around, "how do you make YOUR meatloaf?".  And I've received many different responses.

Of course, each one does include, well, meat!  But then of course you must incorporate some manner of bread, the loaf part.  Here's where your creativity and family tradition comes in.

For the "loaf" part, I've heard of using the following:
Saltine crackers (that's what I use)
Ritz crackers
Oatmeal
Corn flakes
Dried bread crumbs
Seasoned bread crumbs

And of course, no meatloaf would be complete without some sort of provocative "glaze" or "sauce" poured on top.  Usually you'd do this close to the end of the cooking cycle so that it caramelizes and creates the glaze like consistency on top.  With this I've heard of using:
Ketchup (my favorite)
Tomato sauce
Tomato soup
Tomato soup with Brown sugar mixed in
Brown gravy

You can bake it in the oven, or even cook it in the crock pot.  I've never tried the latter.

Really what it boils (or bakes) down to is a matter of preference and taste. I happen to like a dryer meatloaf with kind of a crispier outer texture.  Some people prefer a softer texture.

You may want to use a couple of eggs to help act as a loafing agent, for lack of a better term.  It kind of helps to hold things together.  Of course there will be some delicious grease in the ground beef that helps with the morphing as well, but eggs seem to just assist with the overall texture.

So without further ado, I'd like to share my meatloaf recipe with you!  (I'm a poet!)

Now, don't get all excited, it's pretty much THE most basic form of meatloaf.

You'll need:

1 lb. ground beef
2 packs saltine crackers
2 eggs
about 1/2 cup ketchup
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350.  And here's the really complicated part, dump it all in a bowl and squish it all up!  But first, you get to mash the daylights out of the saltine crackers with a rolling pin!  It's really fun, trust me!  Just think of the person tailgating you all the way home on the ice this evening!  It's cathartic.

Before....

During....

After

So now all the ingredients are just all dumped into a bowl, how are you going to mix it all up?  You guessed it!  Wash those hands off really well because you're goin' in!  Trust me, it's just too hard to do it with a spoon.  You have to sort of squish up the saltines with your fingers as your squishing all around.  Yes, it is gross. 

Then you morph it into a "loaf" shape and stick it in a baking dish.  I use glass, but you can even put it on a cookie sheet for that matter.  You can wrap it up or cover it with aluminum foil if you prefer, but again we like ours crispy so I bake it uncovered for about 45 minutes. 

Then take it out and pour more ketchup on top to "glaze".  Bake for another 10-15 minutes.  You just want to be really sure it gets cooked all through because sometimes if it's somewhat a thicker loaf, and if you have tall sides on your baking dish, it just takes a little longer to cook all the way through.

So there you have it!  Meatloaf is a dish best served with mashed potatoes and green beans I think....and maybe a little leftover broccoli from last night.