Ask me or B

This is the final installation of quick and easy meals to cook using meat. Today, I am going to share a meal I ate when I was a kid. I apparently make it differently than the rest of the family, but my family loves it "my way". It's Potato Chip Casserole.

Funny story about this dish, when B and I started dating, he thought I didn't know how to cook. I made him spaghetti and mac & cheese. Nothing else. I gave him options: potato chip casserole or sloppy joes. He went with sloppy joes. He said he was scared of the name. Also, his version of sloppy joes involved manwich. I have never had the stuff.

On with the recipe!

Potato Chip Casserole

1 pound ground beef
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can chicken noodle soup
1 can sweet corn, drained
1 1/2 cups uncooked elbow noodles
Sliced American cheese
Potato chips

-Preheat oven to 350° F.
-Cook your noodles according to the box.
-Cook your ground beef at the same time. Drain off excess grease.
-In a large bowl, dump chicken noodle soup, cream of mushroom soup, and drained canned corn. Add ground beef and noodles once they are fully cooked.
-Pour mixture into a casserole dish and spread evenly so the top is flat.
-Place sliced cheese over it in a single layer covering the entire top.
-Crush potato chips over the top of that in a layer to cover the cheese.
-Place in preheated oven for 20 to 30 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

If you aren't a fan of mushrooms, you can substitute cream of chicken. I don't have a casserole dish, so I use my 9x13 baking pan, we get more topping that way.

My family loves this dish. I almost have to make a double batch. And yes, B isn't sure what he was so afraid of, he loves it now.

I hope I have given Lindsay a start of ideas and recipes to begin with. I love cooking for the family and they love eating what I cook.

Friday Favs!!!

Its Friday again! I am back to tell you products that I am loving!

Hard Candy Cosmetics, love their stuff. I find it at Wal-Mart. I don't actually wear a lot of make up, but I when i do, I like it to stay on and look bold. I usually just wear it when we are going out at night. I have their eyeshadow and recently purchased the mascara. I love their stuff!

Rock & Candy Shoes. I have 3 pairs now, this is just one of them. I buy them at Journeys or DSW. I have yet to pay full price and I know there are lots of other places that sell them. The pair pictured, I got for Mother's Day from Charity and my sweet husband. I bought another pair for my birthday with some birthday money from my in-laws. The last pair we bought last weekend from DSW on clearance. Love them!! They are comfortable and I love the look of the flats they have!

Last, is Lucky's food, Just 6 by Rachael Ray. It is part of her Nutrish line and Lucky loves it. When we moved here, he was eating store brand (from Hy-Vee) dog food. He has a hard time with most brands, except the store brand stuff. We had him on Science Diet but it is super hard to find down here and it can get pricey, so on a whim, we tried this stuff. It has no fillers, just 6 ingredients. It works great for him and he has had no tummy problems on this food!

P. S. I am  not paid or perked in any way for loving these items, I buy them just like a normal person. They are just products I love and I wanted to pass on the love! 

Ask me or B

I took a break from posting yesterday so I hope I didn't lose anyone! Today is another meat post involving ground beef. It is another family favorite here. Even when I make a double batch for Charity and I, there is still only a little left for one or two sandwiches for B. Its my Homemade Sloppy Joes. A little backstory: I ate this recipe as a kid, just not in my own home. My aunt always made it and I spent a lot of time with her and my uncle during summers and on weekends. When I moved into my own place, I wanted her recipe. My dad always made it by just putting BBQ sauce with ground beef. No thanks. So, here is my aunt's recipe:

Homemade Sloppy Joes

1 pound ground beef
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1/4 cup sugar (yes, sugar, trust me on this)
Ketchup (I have no measurement for this, I am sorry)

-Cook your ground beef in a skillet and drain the excess fat.
-Lower your temperature on the stove to LO; add the sugar, vinegar and mustard.
-Mix well and start adding ketchup. I always add enough to coat the beef. Mix well between adding in more ketchup. Taste it, if it tastes right to you, you are done. If not, add a little more ketchup, stir and taste. I have gotten to the point that I just add enough ketchup to make it look "sloppy". I think its close to a cup.
-Serve on a bun or as we have always done, open face on a slice of bread.

I hope that I have given you all some ideas for some simple meals that don't take a rocket scientist to make, or a chef.

3 Years and Counting

Our wedding cake

Today, I just wanted to say Happy Anniversary to the love of my life. I can't wait to see what the future holds for us!

Ask me or B

This is another installment of the original question featured here. Today, I will share a recipe using pork. Its another family favorite. Especially the homemade BBQ sauce! It is another one that uses a crockpot, but the main thing is the sauce. Today's is BBQ Country Style Ribs.

BBQ Country Style Ribs
-homemade barbecue sauce (or any barbecue sauce) 
-boneless country style pork ribs

Jessica's BBQ Sauce:
1 cup ketchup
3 tablespoons molasses
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon spicy brown mustard
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
3 tablespoons local honey (or any honey)

Mix all of your ingredients together. Store in a resealable container.

To make the BBQ ribs, just put your country style ribs in your crockpot. If you are layering them, put a light layer of sauce between them. Otherwise, just cover the ribs barely. You will have lots of sauce leftover. 
Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours. Again, I recommend LOW and slow, but if you need to hurry, just use high for 3-4 hours. 
When they are nice and brown, pull them from crockpot and add additional sauce over them.

I usually make a double batch of the sauce so that when we eat anything else that is deserving of BBQ sauce, we always have some on hand. I even made this last year for Christmas gifts!

Another take on this is to get a pork butt and cover it (slightly) with the BBQ sauce. Cook the same amount of time. Instead of immediately removing from the crockpot, shred it with 2 forks then put all the shredded pork into a bowl and mix with BBQ sauce. Serve it on buns and you have shredded pork sandwiches!

Ever made your own sauces? I love making mine, we still have half a jar of it!

Want to see more recipes I have posted? Just click on the recipe tag at the bottom for more inspiration! 

Meet the Family: C

This week, we are meeting C! Ok, ok, her name is actually Charity. And here she is!

Charity will be 10 on the 25th of this month. She is a fireball. She has been hitting the "tween" years pretty hard lately. (Check back a few earlier posts to witness some of the  mayhem!)

She is in karate but also likes playing softball. In the summer, she becomes a fish. Her favorite color is pink. And she loves Hello Kitty. In the summer, she becomes a little fish. Her freckles or "angel kisses" as she likes to call them, have truly come out since our move to Texas. We love them and so does she!

I hope you enjoyed meeting Charity, for obvious reasons, I am not divulging too much information about her. She is the light of our life and I don't know what I would do without her spunk in my life. She is very smart, just needs to really apply herself.

Ask me or B

Another installment of Ask me or B! Again, I am answering a question, previously mentioned here. I am back today with one our family favorites Pot Roast! I found the recipe online and have since adapted it to our liking.

Beef Pot Roast

-1 packet ranch dressing mix

-1 packet brown gravy mix

-1 packet italian dressing seasoning mix

-1/3 cup water

-pot roast (I ask at the meat counter what cut of meat is best for a pot roast)

-crock pot

-potatoes, cut into fairly large pieces

-"baby" carrots

-onions (optional), cut into wedges

-any other veggies you like with pot roast, maybe celery?

Mix ranch dressing mix, brown gravy mix, italian dressing seasoning mix and water together in a small bowl.

Place your meat into the crock pot. Pour the water mixture over it. Add onions, potatoes, and carrots (and any other vegetables you prefer) over it, I usually fill it full, we like leftover pot roast.

Plug in your crockpot and put it on LOW. Let it cook for 6-8 hours on LOW until potatoes and carrots are soft enough to put a fork into. You can cook it on high if you are in a crunch for 3-4 hours, I don't recommend it though. It is better with anything in the crockpot to cook it low and slow over a longer period of time. Things marinade better and there is a less chance of overcooking.

I love making this dish anytime. Its very filling and I can dump it all in the crockpot in the morning and come home to already made food! I love that!