Porcupines

Sunday dinner -porcupine meatballs! Here is everyone at the table. I realized on Saturday that I had all this hamburger in the fridge that I needed to use so it wouldn't go bad. I also had my head of broccoflower left over from my bountiful basket. I put them together and made a meal. :) Very tasty.

Porcupines

1/2 lb ground beef

1/4 c. uncooked rice

1/4 c. milk or water

2 T. chopped onion

1/2 t. salt

1/4 t. celery salt

1/8 t. garlic salt

Dash of pepper

2 cans (8 oz) tomato sauce

1 c. water

1 T. Worcestershire sauce

Mix beef, rice, milk, onion, and seasonings. Form into medium sized balls (1 1/2 to 2 inches). Fry in skillet, turning frequently, until light brown (but not crusty) on all sides. In large saucepan, mix together tomato sauce, water, and Worcestershire sauce. Mix well. Add browned meatballs to sauce. Cover; simmer 45 minutes over low heat. Add a small amount of additional water if liquid cooks down too much. Makes 2 servings.

This is how it turned out. I really didn't deviate from the recipe much, but I did triple the amounts so it was enough to feed my family.

This was also my first time using broccoflower. I cooked it up the same way I do broccoli or cauliflower. I just steamed it. Too bad it was such a small head because the kids loved it and were asking for more. I didn't have any more, so I'll have to remember for next time to cook up more of it.

Mother's Day Dinner

For Mother's Day, Jeremy was in charge of dinner, so we had a barbecue with hamburgers and corn on the cob. I'm so picky about the meat that I insisted on making it anyway . . . but he cooked it, cut all the veggies, and prepared the corn on the cob.

Mostly I don't like the taste of the meat in hamburgers, so I use every means possible to cover it up - and with everything combined it actually makes for a great burger.

Hamburgers

ground beef

pureed onion

worcestershire sauce

A1

oatmeal

celery salt

garlic powder

salt

pepper

I use my kitchenaid for this mix, but you could use a regular mixer too. It makes the meat stay together so much better while cooking when you mix it well.

I just add a little of everything into the kitchenaid mixer with the ground beef. Then I mix it well, until the meat sticks together well enough to make patties. I puree the onion with a blender so the taste of the onion is all the way through the meat when it cooks.

The meat patties were so good! All the kids ate well and thoroughly enjoyed them. Samantha even ate 2 burgers! I like my burgers loaded with all the fresh toppings. Today we had on hand lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and onions.

Corn on the Cob

We also had corn on the cob with this dinner. I thought it was ok, but I would do it differently the next time. Jeremy put butter on the corn, then rolled it in a mix of salt, basil, onion powder, and parmesan cheese. Then he wrapped them in foil and cooked them on the barbecue grill.  The one thing I would omit would be the parmesan cheese. It clumped together and some of it got burned in the foil. Other than that, the corn was great too.

Taco Lasagna

This was our dinner last night. I served it with lettuce and sour cream. :) Tasty mix!

This is a casserole, and to be quite honest, the kids didn't like the look of it on their plates, but once they started eating it they really enjoyed it. Thank goodness, because I made enough so we could have it again tonight as leftovers. I love to have enough of a good thing for leftovers because it makes for a super quick dinner the next day and I don't have to worry about what to make.

Taco Lasagna
1 lb ground beef
1/2 c. green pepper, chopped
1/2 c. onion
2/3 c. water
1 env. taco seasoning
1 (15oz) can black beans, drained & rinsed
1 (14 1/2 oz) can tomatoes
6 (8 inch) tortillas
1 can refried beans
3 c. cheese

Cook beef, green pepper and onion in large skillet over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add water and taco seasoning; bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered for 2 minutes. Stir in black beans and tomatoes. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Place 2 tortillas in greased 9x13 pan. Spread with half of refried beans and beef mixture. Sprinkle with 1 cup cheese. Repeat layers. Top with remaining tortillas and cheese. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.

Here are a few pictures of the layering process. This is going on the second layer. I put on the tortillas covered with refried beans.

Then I added the simmered meat mixture. Also, make sure when you start cooking the ground beef mixture that you use a large enough skillet to hold everything you are going to add. Mine almost overflowed!

Top this layer with cheese.

Then add your last layer of tortillas and top with cheese. (This is before I added the top cheese.)