Crockpot Pasta Fagioli

1 pound lean ground beef, browned and drained
1/2 large red onion, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, sliced
2 cans (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes (and juice)
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
4 cups beef broth
1 jar (26-ounce) pasta sauce
2 tsp oregano
1 T Tabasco sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup dry pasta, to add at end of cooking time
10 oz chopped spinach, to add at end of cooking time (optional)

1. Use a 6 quart or larger crockpot, or cut the recipe in half. This makes a lot.
2. Brown the meat on the stovetop, and drain well. Let it cool a bit.
3. Chop up the carrots, onion, and celery. Add it to the empty crockpot.
4. Drain and rinse the beans, and add them. Add the whole cans of tomatoes, and the pasta sauce. Add the beef broth. Add the salt, pepper, oregano, and Tobasco sauce. Stir in your meat.
5. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4. When the vegetables are tender, stir in the 1/2 cup of dry pasta.
6. Cover and cook for another hour on low, or until the pasta is tender. It will swell quite a bit.
7. Serve with a bit of parmesan cheese if you have it.

Source: A Year of Slow Cooking

Try #1 - April 22, 2013
This was a quick and easy meal, with ingredients I usually have on hand.  It was good, although fairly rich, and too salty for my taste.  Next time I would omit the 1/2 tsp extra salt. I added 1 cup of pasta instead of 1/2 cup because 1/2 cup just sounded ridiculously small.  I also just added a few drops of hot sauce instead of a full Tbsp because I didn't want to risk it being too spicy for the kids.  It was not spicy at all and they seemed to like it.  I also added about 10oz of frozen chopped spinach just before serving, because I wanted to give the meal some green.  The spinach made no difference in the taste or texture, since it was finely chopped, so I think it was a good addition.

Easy Picadillo

1 pound ground beef
1 small green pepper, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 can (14.5 oz) salsa-style chunky tomatoes, undrained
1 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup golden raisins

1. Cook beef and bell pepper in skillet over medium heat 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beef is brown; drain.
2. Stir in remaining ingredients; reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until hot.

Source: Betty Crocker's Good and Easy Cookbook

Note: Leftovers work well added Quinoa Chili in place of the red beans.

Turkey and Wild Rice Soup

Turkey carcass (if you don't have one, you can use 2 cups of cooked turkey)
8 cups water (to make broth. if you don't have a carcass, use 8 cups chicken broth)
1 chicken bouillon cube (only if you are using the carcass to make broth. Don't use if you're using broth.)
2/3 cup uncooked wild rice
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrots
1 tsp sage
2 T balsamic vinegar
2 cups spinach leaves

1. Put your turkey carcass into a crockpot, and cover with 8 cups of water. You may add some onion, celery, or anything else you'd like to season the broth. The more meat and skin left on the bones, the more flavorful the broth.
2. Cover and cook on low overnight (about 10 hours). In the morning, strain the broth with a colander. Pick off the meat, and add it to the broth.
3. Chop up the vegetables (not the spinach), and add to the pot. Dump in the wild rice. Add the sage, bouillon cube, and balsamic vinegar. Stir.
4. Add two heaping handfuls of baby spinach to the pot. It will look like a lot, but will shrivel down nicely while cooking.
5. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, or on high for 4-6. The soup is done when the vegetables have reached desired tenderness.

Source: A Year of Slow Cooking

Try #1 - December 2011
This was pretty good, although I didn't have time to quite cook it completely before serving, so the vegetables were hard and the rice not finished. It was definitely better after the full cooking time. It also made a lot, so we had plenty of leftovers. I might make this again, although I prefer this turkey noodle soup.

Zone Chili

My mother-in-law makes this tasty and healthy chili. Topped with cottage cheese, it's absolutely delicious!

1 pound ground turkey
4 tsp olive oil
1 1/2 cup chopped onion (1 large)
1 cup celery (2 large ribs)
4 cloves minced garlic, or more to taste
2 cups green pepper (2 large)
1 1/2 cup kidney beans, rinsed (14 oz)
3 cups chopped canned tomatoes with liquid (28 oz)
1 small can tomato paste (8 oz)
1 1/2 cups chicken broth (14 oz)
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried basil
4 tsp chili powder, or more to taste
Cottage cheese

1. Brown turkey in a large frying pan. Add vegetables, and cook until slightly tender. Add all remaining ingredients and simmer about 20-25 minutes.
-OR- Add browned turkey and all other ingredients to a crockpot. Stir to combine. Cook on Low 8-10 hours, or High 4-6 hours.
2. Serve with cottage cheese on top!

Pakistani Kima

From "More-with-Less"

3 Tbsp butter (I used 2 Tbsp)
1 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 lb ground beef (I used 3/4 lb ground turkey)
1 Tbsp curry powder
1 1/2 tsp salt (I used 1 tsp and that was plenty for us)
dash pepper
dash each cinnamon, ginger, and tumeric (I omitted the tumeric since I don't have any)
2 cups cooked tomatoes (I used 20 oz diced tomatoes)
2 potatoes, diced
2 cups frozen peas or green beans (I used both)

Saute butter, onion, and garlic in skillet. Add ground beef and brown well. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer 25 minutes. Serve with rice.

Try #1 - August 31, 2010
Great flavors! I didn't have any potatoes so I added some carrots instead. Still turned out great. This dish is a good twist on some standard ingredients I usually have around the house. I will make it again!

P.S. Equally as good (if not better) as leftovers!

Crusty Mexican Bean Bake

Crust:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup sour cream or yogurt (increase flour by 2 Tbsp if using yogurt)
1 egg, beaten

Stir together. May be slightly lumpy. Spread thinly with back of spoon on bottom and sides of shallow greased 2-qt. casserole. (Crust may be stirred together in advance and refrigerated until ready to use.)

Filling:
Brown in skillet:
3/4 lb ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
Add:
1 tsp salt
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce
2 cups undrained cooked kidney beans
3/4 cup (6 oz) tomato paste

Spoon into crust and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Remove from oven. Sprinkle over or serve alongside:
1/2 cup grated cheese
1-2 cup shredded lettuce
1 cup chopped raw tomatoes

Source: More-With-Less

Try #1 - August 5, 2010
This was very good. I used whole wheat flour and yogurt for the crust, and ground turkey for the filling. Otherwise I followed this recipe to the letter. :) I actually wasn't crazy about the crust, but the filling was really good, and the shredded lettuce and grated cheese went really well with it. A good alternative to this would be to make the filling without the crust and serve it with tortilla chips, like a taco salad.

Try #2 - August 8, 2010
Made this for a potluck without the crust. Served with tortilla chips, lettuce, tomatoes, and shredded cheese. Good with yogurt too!

Try #3 - August 23, 2010
Can you tell we like this dish? We omitted the crust again and this time served it over corn bread - much better, I think.

Tortilla Pie

From allrecipes.com

1/2 pound lean ground beef
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1 (14.5 ounce) can Italian or Mexican diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
3/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
1/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro or parsley, divided
4 (8 inch) flour tortillas (I used corn tortillas)
1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese

1.In a nonstick skillet, cook beef, onion and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in tomatoes, chili powder and cumin. Bring to a boil; remove from the heat. In a bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese and 2 tablespoons cilantro.
2.Place on tortilla in a 9-in. round cake pan coated with nonstick cooking spray. Layer with half of the meat sauce, one tortilla, all of the ricotta mixture, another tortilla and the remaining meat sauce. Top with remaining tortilla; sprinkle with cheddar cheese and remaining cilantro. Cover and bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.

Note: Several reviewers said they needed to significantly increase the spice content.

Try #1 - July 2010
Nathan liked this, but I wasn't a big fan... it tasted similar to enchiladas, but for some reason I just wasn't into it that much. I probably won't make it again.

Sloppy Joes

From Whitney's blog

Brown:
1 1/2 lb ground beef or turkey
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup bell pepper
1/4 cup celery
1 carrot shredded
2 tsp minced garlic

Drain. Add:
1 cup ketchup
1/4-1/3 cup water (depending on how "sloppy" you want!")
1/2 tbls mustard
1/2 tbls brown sugar
2 tsp chili powder
dash of garlic salt and pepper

Reduce heat to low and simmer for up to 30 minutes. Serve over hamburger buns.

Turkey Meatballs

I love meatballs... but I hate making them. They usually fall apart in the pan as I try to turn and brown them... so I usually don't bother. But, I found the secret to great, non-frustrating meatballs: the oven! Baking the meatballs is way easier, especially since we usually use ground turkey (which I think falls apart more easily in the skillet) instead of ground beef.

Here's a delicious meatball recipe (actually an adaptation of Shirley's 20-minute meatloaf recipe):

1 to 1 1/4 pound ground turkey (or beef)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 egg
3/4 cup soft bread crumbs (I like to use Italian style)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Combine ingredients, shape into meatballs. Bake on a cookie sheet for 12-15 minutes. (Note: I baked them for 15 minutes tonight, and it was too long. I'll go for less time next time.)

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

This is another recipe that my mom loves to serve to guests. One of my favorites!

INGREDIENTS
1 cup bread crumbs
½ cup milk
2 eggs
1 ½ to 2 pounds ground beef or turkey
1 small onion, diced
1 cup chili sauce
¾ cup grape jelly
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon dry mustard (or use regular mustard)
5 hot dogs, cut into one inch pieces
Rice

DIRECTIONS
1. Combine bread crumbs, milk, eggs, ground beef, and onion.
2. Form into meatballs and place in skillet. Brown sides of meatballs (don’t need to cook all the way through). Drain fat and set aside.
3. In separate pan, mix chili sauce, grape jelly, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, and mustard. Heat over medium heat until combined.
4. Pour sauce over meatballs in skillet. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add hot dogs for the last 5 minutes. Serve over rice.

Beef Stroganoff

This is a very quick meal. We like to serve it over egg noodles, but any pasta, or rice, would work too.

1 pound ground beef or turkey
1 small onion, chopped
1 green pepper, diced (optional)
1 can of cream of mushroom soup (or basic white sauce)
1 to 1½ cups of milk, plain yogurt, or sour cream
1 small can of mushrooms
Egg noodles

1. Brown meat with onions and green pepper, drain fat.
2. Add cream of mushroom soup or basic white sauce, milk/yogurt/sour cream, and mushrooms. Stir over medium heat until combined and hot.
3. Serve over egg noodles.

Baked Ziti

A good substitute for lasagna – a little less work, but similar results!

INGREDIENTS
3/4 pound ground beef or turkey
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Oregano and basil to taste
1 jar pasta sauce
15 oz ricotta cheese
1 Tbsp parsley
2 cups mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 pound rigatoni pasta (or ziti, if you can find it!)
Fresh baby spinach (optional)

DIRECTIONS
1. Brown meat in skillet with onions and garlic. Season with oregano and basil. Drain fat. Add pasta sauce, simmer.
2. Cook pasta (preferably while you are cooking the meat).
3. Add meat sauce to pasta, stir to combine.
4. In a small bowl, mix ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, parsley, oregano and basil, and spinach if desired.
5. In a rectangular baking dish, spread 1/3 of the pasta/meat mixture on the bottom. Spread half of ricotta cheese mixture over top. Sprinkle ½ cup mozzarella on top. Layer another 1/3 of pasta/meat mixture on top, spread remaining ricotta cheese mixture and another ½ cup mozzarella. Add remaining pasta/meat mixture, and top with remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake in a 350 oven for 30 minutes, or until cheese is golden and crispy.