Boiled Eggs

Everyone talks about how easy it to boil an egg but few actually know how to do it!  Just put the eggs in a pot and cover them with water.  Turn on the stove to medium.  If you have a gas stove, set the timer for 25 minutes.  If it's electric, try 30.  When the timer rings, rinse eggs in cold water and store in fridge.  Some say that if you pour in a little baking soda, the eggs will be easy to peel.  Let me know if it works! If you want to dye your eggs, pour boiling water into several cups.  Add a little vinegar and several drops of food coloring to each cup.
Hard boiled eggs make a great snacks and can be made into egg salad or put into salads. A cheap nutritious, delicious food!

Sloppy Joes

1 lb. ground beef
1 cup diced onion
1/2 C chopped bell pepper
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp chili powder
10-3/4 oz.can condensed tomato soup
5 hamburger buns
Garnish with shredded cheddar cheese (optional).
Brown the ground beef, onion and bell pepper. Add the soup and seasonings and stir together.  Scoop onto lightly toasted buns and top with cheese if desired.

Easy Cheesy Potatoes

2lbs hash brown potatoes

1 16 oz container sour cream

1/4 C melted butter

4 Tbs dried onion

1/4 C green onions, chopped

2 cans cream of chicken soup

3-4 shakes of seasoned salt

2 C grated cheddar cheese, divided

Heat oven to 350 degrees

Stir all ingredients together except one cup of cheese. Pour into a 9X13 glass casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.  Bake for 45 minutes uncovered.

Baked Mediterranean Tilapia

This recipe came straight off the bag of frozen Costco tilapia.  So simple but delicious! I forgot to take a picture straight out of the oven so the one above is from Grandpa Plasterer's half-eaten plate.  The one to the left is what was left in the pan. Of course fresh basil and garlic are the best but if you don't have them you can make substitutions.





4 tilapia loins
1 large onion sliced 1/4" thick
2 medium tomatoes sliced 1/4" thick
4 T chopped fresh basil (or 2 T dried)
8 cloves of garlic, crushed
4 T olive oil
20 kalamata olives, chopped
1/2 tsp kosher salt, 1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
Saute onions in 2 T olive oil and put them in the bottom of a 9X13 glass casserole dish.
Place fish on top of onions then top with all the other ingredients. Drizzle with olive oil.
Bake at 400 degrees, uncovered for 15 minutes or until the tilapia is flaky.

Roast Beef

There are two kinds of roasts that we make in our family.  The one we cover with steak seasoning and cook for about 45 minutes.  We then thinly sliced it and serve it with horseradish if desired. There really is nothing easier than this roast.  The secret is to get top round or eye of round.  This cut is more compact and looks "round".

The other roast we make is a pot roast.  You have to use a loose cut of meat like chuck, and cook it for a long time at a low temperature.  I'll address that type of type of roast in another post.

Ingredients

3-4 lb. round roast

Steak seasoning

Instructions

Preheat convection oven to 325°. Regular oven to 350°.

Cover the entire roast in seasoning and let it sit for about 1/2 hour if possible.

Put the roast in a shallow pan.

If you have a meat thermometer, cook until 132 degrees. (or for about 45 minutes)

Take the cooked roast out, cover with foil and let it sit for 15 minutes.

Slice as thinly as possible.

The most important thing with this roast is to NOT overcook it or it will get tough.

Broccoli Pie

Taco pie was such a big hit with Chris and Clay that I decided to make broccoli pie the next day.  Chris was not a fan!  But the next day Marta had some and loved it.  So, there you go.

2 C fresh broccoli (chopped)

1/2 c chopped onion

1 tomato (chopped)

1/2 C green pepper (chopped

1 1/4 C grated cheese

1 C milk

3/4 C Bisquick (or homemade substitute)

2 eggs

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Heat oven to 400 degrees and grease a 9" pie plate.

Cook broccoli in microwave until tender (about 7 minutes).

Drain thoroughly. Mix broccoli, onion, green pepper and cheese in pie plate. 

Beat Milk, eggs, Bisquick and salt and pepper.

Pour mixture over vegetables and cheese.

Bake 35-40 minutes.  Let stand for 5 minutes.

Taco Pie

When I was a young, 19-year-old bride, I had no idea how to cook.  A friend of mine took me under her wing and wrote up all her favorite easy recipes.  I was touched that she would take the time to do this when she had a family of her own to take care of! This is one of her recipes.  It calls for Bisquick but you can substitute homemade Bisquick if you don't have any on hand.

1lb of ground beef 

1/2 chopped onion

2 Tbs. taco seasoning

1 4 oz canned chopped, green chilis (drained)

1 C milk

2 eggs

3/4 c Bisquick

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 1/4 C grated cheese

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Brown ground beef and onions. 

Drain and stir in taco seasoning. Spread in plate and top with chilis. Beat milk, Bisquick and eggs until smooth. Pour into plate.  Bake for 25 minutes.

Top with tomatoes and cheese then bake for 8-10 more minutes. Cool for 5 minutes. Top with sour cream or greek yogurt and salsa if desired.

Here's Chelsea chopping onions for her taco pie!