Cooking dinner at home this weekend! Look out for my fish and chips and Sunday meal plan with most likely some leftovers from the freezer and the cheesy bacon wrapped hotdogs I didn’t get to this week.
Category: Beef
Homemade taco seasoning mix
Tonight I planned on making beef tacos with homemade taco seasoning. Have you ever read the ingredients on those package mixes from the store? Take my advice and don’t even bother. It is not good. Make your own seasoning instead. We were going to have crunchy tacos, but then my husband found some burrito tortillas and had the idea to make gorditas. Gorditas are crunchy tacos inside of a soft taco. So good!
Ground Beef with Homemade Taco Seasoning
Sautee 1/2 a chopped onion and 2 cloves chopped garlic in a bit of oil in your hot pan. Take out the onions and brown a pound of meat. Once browned, take it out and strain it. Add it back in the pan with your onions and add your taco seasoning.
Seasoning- Of course, you can always add more of less of these ingredients. I am using real sautéed onions and garlic, but you could use ground onion and garlic if you have it.
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon corn starch
Add your seasoning to the beef and about 1/2 cup water over the heat until it absorbs, about 5 minutes
Add all your fixings to your Gordita…beans, cheese, lettuce, salsa, sour cream, guacamole; whatever you like!
Meatloaf, Cornbread, and Mashed Potatoes
The comfort food trifecta. Yum! I had originally planned on having this on Wednesday night, but E begged me to make it tonight. I had my parents over as well, so I made a huge amount of food!
Cast Iron Cornbread: I made the cornbread first. Preheat oven at 425. Heat your 9 or 12 in. pan. Add about 1/3 stick of butter to melt. Combine the following: 2 cups of cornmeal, 1 egg, 1 cup sugar, 1 3/4 cups buttermilk, and a pinch of salt. Combine in the heated pan and melted butter. You should hear a sizzle. Then put in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. 
Meatloaf: I let 1 pound of ground beef and 1 pound of ground Italian sausage come to room temperature in a bowl. I sautéed 1 small onion and 2 cloves of garlic in a pan, about 8 minutes. I do this to avoid raw onion chunks in my meatloaf. Take off the heat and cool for a few minutes.
To my meat, I added 1 egg and the onion and garlic. The rest of the ingredients I eyeball a little at a time until the right consistency; Worcestershire sauce (2 tablespoons), about a glass of red wine, a couple of tablespoons of tomato sauce, a squish of tomato paste. I use the tube, so that is why I say squish, but if you use the can, about 1 tablespoon, and about a cup of Italian seasoned breadcrumbs. I get in there and mix it up with my hands. Mix just enough to combine the ingredients. I do not use ketchup at all. The tomato sauce, tomato paste, red wine, and Worcestershire combo is better and gives the meatloaf so much more depth of flavor than ketchup ever could. I take my mixture, form in a long loaf shape, and put it on some aluminum foil in a long baking dish.Top with more tomato sauce. 350 for 45 minutes. We had only 1 chunk leftover….perfect for a couple of meatloaf sandwiches! Always make extra for this!
Mashed potatoes: Ok, so I learned this really cool trick from someone on TV, in a cookbook, or one of my food magazines. I honestly can’t remember where I heard this, but boil your potatoes in milk, cream, and butter instead of water! Add some salt and a touch of pepper. The potatoes cook with these flavors! GENIUS! When they are fork tender, strain them out but keep your liquid. Then add your cooking liquid a bit at a time to your desired consistency. Plus, I added a bit more butter… Oh, and we had peas. Gotta add the veggie!
Steakhouse dinner
Friday night dinner out with my family to Longhorn Steakhouse.
Bread, caesar salad, Apple Martini
Med. rare filet, lobster, and shrimp with asparagus. I shared with my older daughter, and I have some leftovers for tomorrow!
Plus, I took home the lobster shell to freeze and save for seafood stock.
Pasta Perfection
I asked R and K what they wanted for dinner. R said spaghetti, then K said meatballs. Ok, then! I took out some beef and scoured the cabinet for some pasta and something to make the sauce. I found 1/2 a container of linguine, 1 large can of tomato sauce, and 2 cans of diced tomatoes. Perfect.
First, I started the sauce. Easy marinara sauce that does not require a glass jar of sugar sauce, if you know what I am referring to. I used 1 28 oz. can of tomato sauce, 2 cans diced tomatoes, and 2 squirts of tomato paste (or 3 tablespoons if you have a can). I added a couple sprinkles of Italian seasoning, chopped oregano, basil, and parsley, and 1/2 chopped onion, 1 container of mushrooms, 2 garlic cloves crushed and diced, salt, pepper, 2 tablespoons or so of Worcestershire, 2 tablespoons butter, and 2 tablespoons sugar. Sometimes I even add red wine, if I have it, but this time I was all out. The wine and Worcestershire just give it an extra layer of flavor, especially since I am making the meatballs with beef. The butter and the sugar help to add a bit of sweetness to the sauce and mellow the acidity of the tomato a bit.
I even had leftover sauce to add to my freezer collection. I just mashed the meatballs up in the sauce to make meat sauce.
Next, I had to figure out what ingredients I had to make meatballs. I used 1 pound of grass-fed beef, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, 1 cup breadcrumbs, about 1/4 cup of milk, 2 tablespoons Worcestershire, 1 teaspoon of onion and garlic powder, chopped parsley, oregano, and basil. Mix it all up and make some meatballs.
Add them to your sauce. You could brown them or fry them first, but these are fine this way. I cooked the sauce first for about 45 minutes, then added the meatballs on low for another 45 minutes or so. 
Cook your pasta and add your sauce…
Fun Foodie Family 