Simply Cookbooks

Archive for the ‘Family Meals’ Category

It has been awhile since I lasted posted, my only excuse is:  The Holidays wore me out!

I also have been trying out some new recipes I found both online and in some of my mothers old cookbooks.

This one we are having tonight.   I love the simplicity of a sub.   I will serve it with a tossed salad for a complete meal.

Ingredients

* 1  egg, lightly beaten
* 1/3  cup fine dry bread crumbs
* 2/3  cup finely chopped onion (2 small)
* 1/2  teaspoon salt
* 1/2  teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
* 1/4  teaspoon ground black pepper
* 1-1/2  pounds lean ground beef
* 1  15-ounce can tomato sauce
* 1/2  cup chopped green sweet pepper (1 small)
* 2  tablespoons packed brown sugar
* 1  tablespoon yellow mustard
* 1  teaspoon chili powder
* 1/4  teaspoon garlic salt
* 1/4  teaspoon ground black pepper
* 1/8  teaspoon bottled hot pepper sauce
* 8  hoagie buns, split and toasted
* 2  cups shredded mozzarela cheese (8 ounces)

Directions

1. In a large bowl, stir together egg, bread crumbs, 1/3 cup onion, the salt, oregano, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Add ground beef; mix well. Shape meat mixture into 32 balls. Arrange meatballs in a single layer in an ungreased 15×10x1-inch baking pan. Bake, uncovered, in a 350 degree F oven for 25 minutes. Drain off fat.

2. For the sauce, in a 3-1/2- or 4-quart slow cooker, stir together tomato sauce, the remaining 1/3 cup onion, the sweet pepper, brown sugar, mustard, chili powder, garlic salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, and the hot pepper sauce. Add cooked meatballs, stirring gently to coat with sauce.

3. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 3 to 4 hours or on high-heat setting for 1-1/2 to 2 hours.

4. Place four meatballs on the bottom of each bun. Top with some of the sauce and a slice of cheese. Add bun tops. Makes 8 servings.

Better Homes And Garden Magazine

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Or any time really.   The last minute gift shopping and wrapping is over in this house.  It is time to get down to some serious celebrating of the season!

Our cookies are done, stuffed cabbage done, kielbasa bought, Pierogis are made.  What else?  Not much…except maybe appetizers.  After all when my family gathers for the holidays we “graze” as my daughter likes to tell it.

Here are some grazing appetizers for you to try.

Roll ‘Em Ups. Spread a thin layer of your favorite cream cheese spread on large flour tortillas (you can use plain, herb, sun-dried tomato, or spinach-flavored). Top with thin layers of turkey or roast beef, thinly sliced tomato, and baby spinach leaves. Roll the tortilla up very tightly, similar to a jelly roll. Chill rolls for about 30 minutes, then cut rolls into slices, creating small finger sandwiches.  These are also good after Christmas for snacks, use whatever cheeses you like and thinly sliced ham or turkey.   Great way to use some leftovers.

Where’s the Shrimp? Who doesn’t love shrimp? For a super-easy appetizer, thaw cooked frozen shrimp (or steam, saute, or boil your own raw shrimp). Place bowls of dipping sauces on a platter (such as tartar or cocktail sauce or aioli), then surround the bowls with the cooked shrimp.

Dip This. Every party needs a dip, but here’s an option that’s a little bit more gourmet. Purchase garlic- or basil-flavored oil or make your own variations by stirring herbs, garlic, or grated Parmesan cheese into olive oil. Pour the oil into small dipping dishes and serve with chunks of focaccia or baguette slices for dipping.

Twisted Salsa. Here’s a fun salsa variation that’s almost a meal in itself. Combine drained canned black beans, thawed frozen corn, chopped roma tomatoes, sliced green onions, chopped cilantro, chopped green pepper, and chopped avocado. Toss the mixture with some lime juice, salt, and pepper. If you like, you can also add chopped garlic, sliced black olives, chopped jalapeno peppers, or anything else! Serve with tortilla chips, or just give guests a spoon to dig in!

All of these recipes are from Better Homes and Gardens, one of my favorite magazines.

Happy “Grazing” and have a safe holiday season!

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For a lot of cooks, there are times when we don’t have the appropriate ingredients in the pantry to make our desired recipe. If you find yourself in this situation, don’t despair, you probably have a suitable substitution on hand, saving the cook a trip to the grocery store. Here are a few.

Milk
Many recipes call for milk. If you find you are out of milk or short on the amount necessary to finish a specific recipe, make sure you have a supply of evaporated milk on hand. Evaporated milk or reconstituted milk can be kept for long periods of time and once mixed with water and usually a drop of butter, can easily taste as fresh and delicious as regular milk.

Baking Powder
If you don’t have baking powder readily available, use baking soda and a drop of buttermilk. For a tablespoon of double acting baking powder, substitute 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda and a 1/2 cup of buttermilk.

Self Rising Flour
Self rising flour is convenient to create at home, just combine one cup of all purpose flour with 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of baking powder.

Butter Milk
Out of butter milk? You can easily prepare your own. You can substitute 1 cup of butter milk with 1 cup whole milk and a tablespoon of vinegar. You can also substitute 1 cup of butter milk with 2/3 cup of plain yogurt and 1/3 cup whole milk.

Garlic
Need garlic, but don’t have any? Replace it with garlic powder instead. About 1 clove of garlic equals 1/8 of a teaspoon of garlic powder.

Honey
You can simply replace honey with sugar and water. 1 cup of honey is equal to about 1 and 1/4 cup of sugar and a 1/4 cup of water.

Substituting Sugar
If you are short on sugar on hand or would like to replace it because of health concerns, here are some hints to substitute sugar:

Sugar can be exchanged with maple syrup, corn syrup, brown sugar, honey, Stevia, and molasses. However, some recipes will call for sugar or a granular sweetener instead of syrup due to baking and texture requirements.

If you would like to reduce the amount of sugar you eat because of health issues, consider the many sweeteners, sometimes called sugar alternatives at the supermarket. They include, Sweet and Low, Splenda, Equal, and plant derived Stevia.

Dine Without Whine is a great menu planning service for active families. Go to http://www.dinewithoutwhine.com to discover even more rewards to menu planning.

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You are two weeks into January and so far so good. You’re sticking to your diet and are still working out every day. Congratulations… You’re on a roll and think that this year is going to be different. Then you get to a point where the weight just doesn’t seem to come off as fast as it did the first few days anymore and you’re tired of eating the same bland diet food. Before you know it you’re ready to throw in the towel on your weight loss efforts. Stop right there… things don’t have to go that way this go around.

Let me share a few tips with you that will help you stick to your weight loss program and by the time next New Year’s rolls around, you’ll have reached your target weight and don’t have to put losing x amount of pounds on your list of New Year’s resolutions. Here they are:

Tip # 1 – Be Held Accountable

The best way to make sure you stick to your weight loss plan and reach your goal is make yourself held accountable. Start by announcing your weight loss goal (with an actual pound figure of how much you’d like to lose) to family and friends. It will create a little bit of pressure to keep going when they are checking in on how you are doing from time to time.

Get a weightloss and/or workout partner. Just knowing that there’s someone else there to support you who also needs your support, and needs you to not give up will have you thinking twice before you call it quits on that weight loss resolution.

Tip # 2 – Keep A Journal

Grab a notebook, a traditional journal, or even boot up the old word processor and start keeping a weight loss journal. You may want to include how much you weigh any given week (don’t weigh yourself more than twice a week), what you are eating and most importantly how you are feeling about this whole weight loss thing. Celebrate your victories but also note when you’re feeling down or like giving up.
Once every few weeks or so read through some older entries in your journal. It will help you see how far you’ve come and also what obstacles you were already able to overcome. It’s a great motivator to keep going.

Tip # 3 – Don’t Be Too Strict

One last tip for you here… no one can stick to a strict diet long-term. The cravings for “forbidden foods” just get the better of us, we overindulge in them and then let guilt over what we have done drive us to give up on weight loss altogether. Don’t fall in that same trap this year. Instead indulge yourself (in moderation of course) in some of your favorite foods. Have a bite of that chocolate or savor that slice of pizza. Then fill up on some healthy foods. Splurging every once in a while will help you stay on your path to weight loss.

Do you know what’s for dinner tonight? Planning a healthy meal ahead of time will make it easier for you to stick to your weight loss plan. Find out how you can plan your meals or get 7 healthy dinner ideas along with plenty of other recipes and cooking tips at Menu Planning Central. Grab your free meal planning guide today at (Menu Planning Central).

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