Mozzarella Stuffed Meatloaf Minis

Now that we have moved and school is about to start up again, I thought I better start preparing meals instead of hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill every night!!  There isn't anything wrong with grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, but you can tell when summer is coming to an end because I am now getting tired of them!  
So here is a new recipe my family loved last night!  I wish I would have taken a pic but they were gone before I thought about it...  
I am not a fan of meatloaf, but this one is a winner!


Mozzerella Stuffed Meatloaf Minis
From: centslessmeals.com

1lb ground beef
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup breadcrumbs 
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup ranch dressing
1 onion, diced
1lb mozzarella, cubed
muffin tin
salt and pepper to taste

1. Mix all ingredients except mozzarella in large bowl.
2. Once mixed, create a ball of meat mixture and press a cube of mozzarella into it.
3. Cover with equal amounts of meat mixture.
4. Reapeat until all meat is used up. (you want the balls to fit into a muffin pan)
5. Place mini meatloafs into greased muffin pan.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-35 minutes or until baked through.

Runza Casserole

Runza Casserole

From: My Mom

2 lbs hamburger

2 onions (I use only one)

4 cups shredded cabbage (I buy pre-shredded)

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 tubes crescent rolls

1lb of shredded Mozzarella Cheese  (or cheddar if you do not have mozz)

Brown hamburger and onions. Drain.  Add salt and pepper.  Put shredded cabbage in and steam for about 5 minutes. Make a crust of 1 crescent rolls in a 9x13 inch pan.  Put hamburger and cabbage mix on top of crust.  Add cheese, then use last tube of crescent rolls for the top.  Bake for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees.  Cover with foil last 5 minutes to soften crust.

I make only half of this and put it in a 8x8 pan.  We had this with mash potatoes and fruit.

Beef Stuffed Crescents

Prep: 25 minutes     Bake: 15 minutes

1 lb ground beef
1 can (4oz) chopped green chilies
1 package (8oz) cream cheese, cubed
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
3 tubes refrigerated crescent rolls

In a large skillet, cook beef and chilies over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.  Add the cream cheese, cumin, and chili powder.  Cool slightly.
Separate crescent dough into 24 triangles.  Place 1 tablespoon of beef mixture along the short end of each triangle carefully roll up.
Place point side down 2 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets.  Bake at 375 for 11-14 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve warm. 
*I cut this recipe in half because we do not need this much for our family. 

We had these with mash potatoes and corn. 

Quick Taco Salad

This too is a meal I had as a kid and works great for nights when you don't have a lot of time for dinner and is easy to clean up!

Quick Taco Salad

1lb ground beef, browned (season with garlic powder and cumin while browning)
half head of lettuce
2 cups cheese
1/2 - 3/4 bag of tortilla chips, slightly crunched
1/2 jar taco sauce

Mix all ingredients.  Make more or less depending on your family size. 

Picky Eaters:  I take a bowl out for each kid before I pour the taco sauce on it. 

Tip:  I put all ingredients in a bowl with a lid and shake it and serve. 

We had corn on the cob and sliced apples to go with this.

Spaghetti Pie

Spaghetti Pie

2 jars spaghetti sauce 

1 pkg. spaghetti

1 lb ground beef

1 lb Italian sausage

1 c sliced olives  (optional)

Cheese Layer:

1 (8oz) pkg. cream cheese

1 Tbsp butter

3 Tbsp milk

4 Tbsp Parmesan cheese

A couple of dashes of garlic powder to taste

Topping:

2 c Mozzarella cheese

Brown ground beef and sausage and cook spaghetti.  Add 1 ½ jars of spaghetti sauce and olives to meat mixture.  Pour spaghetti into sauce and mix.  Put ½ of spaghetti mixture in 9x13 inch pan.  Spread cheese mixture over spaghetti.  Put remaining spaghetti mixture over cheese layer and top with remaining sauce.  Sprinkle Mozzarella cheese over top.  Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

I usually split this recipe in half because it makes too much the four of us.  However, you could freeze the other half and have it another night!

Tonight I am serving it with green beans and garlic bread.  When I serve green beans, I like to use fresh, but tonight I am doing can.  I rinse the green beans and heat them.  Then I sprinkle a little garlic powder and spray butter on them.  (My husband keeps his blood pressure under control with diet and this is why I rinse and use only garlic powder and spray)

I use whole grain pasta and I use Hunts Garlic and Herb pasta sauce in a can.  We have family who work for Conagra, therefore we try to support them as often as we can.  You can aways use fat free cheeses while making this. 

Enjoy!

Enchiladas

Enchiladas            (Recipe by Mrs. Salzar, my International Foods Teacher at Northwest)

Brown ½ lb hamburger and season with

          ½ t cumin

          ½ t garlic powder

          ¼ t pepper

          ¼ t salt

Sauce

          2T shortening

          2 cup water

          2-3 T flour

          Half of a 1lb can tomatoes (diced)

Melt shortening on low heat.  Add enough flour to make a paste.  Slowly stir in water.  Add tomatoes.  Season with:

          1 ½ t chili powder or more to taste

          ½ t cumin

          ½ t garlic powder

          ½ t salt

          ½ t pepper

          ¼ t ground red pepper or cayenne pepper

Stir till mixture boils and thickens.  Dip tortillas into sauce (both sides), place on a plate, and fill with grated cheese and seasoned meat.  Roll and bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes.

You can top these with sour cream, salsa, guacamole, or whatever else you like. 

I serve this with corn on the cob, salsa and chips, and guacamole. 

Picky Eaters:  I end up making a couple with cheese only, since my youngest is not a fan of hamburger.

Little Helpers: ~I let the kids fill the enchiladas with the hamburger and cheese.  The tortillas

                                are too hot for them to roll...   

                     ~Have the kids set the table!  Mine love to pick out which plate they want to use!

                     ~ I also have them put out the hot pads I will need to set the food on the table. 

                                Then they are there and ready to go when I put the food out!

***Please don't think this always goes beautifully as it sounds.  Sometimes there is a fight about plates or who gets to do what, but the fact they are are eager to help makes me happy and it keeps them out of trouble while I am cooking!

For those of you home during the day:  This is a great recipe you can work on as the day goes by...  I browned the hamburger during the kids nap time, so it was ready to go when I made the sauce and fill the tortillas.

           

***And I keep forgetting to take pics!  I will work on that!