Skirt Steak Marinade

This is one of our favorite marinades. It was on Alton's Brown's Good Eats show for Fajitas. It is also fabulous if you use a pork tenderloin and cut it into medallions.

Skirt Steak Marinade

1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup soy sauce
4 green onions, washed and cut in 1/2
2 large cloves of garlic
1/4 cup lime juice
1/2-1 tsp red pepper flakes (to your taste)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
3 Tbsp dark brown sugar (or reg brown sugar is okay too)
2 lbs skirt steak (or whatever meat you want)

Combine all ingredients except for the skirt steak in a blender and blend until smooth. Put meat in a zip lock bag and pour marinade over meat. Squish around a little to make sure everything is coated. Put in fridge until you are ready to BBQ it.

Navajo Fry Bread

Navajo Fry Bread

1 1/2 cups warm water
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp yeast
1 1/2 Tbsp canola oil
1 tsp salt
about 3 cups of white bread flour ( you may need just a little bit more flour)

In a mixer, combine water, sugar, and yeast. Allow it to rest for a few minutes to make sure the yeast is activated. Add oil and salt. Add the flour and mix with a dough hook to combine. The dough should be a little tacky still. Cover with a damp towel and let rise for about 30-45 minutes. Put dough on a floured surface, and cut into equal pieces (usually 8-10 balls of dough).

Begin with a ball of dough and with a rolling pin, flatten out the dough until it is about 1/4 of an inch thick. It doesn't have to be a perfect circle (my kids like rectangles personally).

In a large fry pan on the stove, heat a little canola oil. When the dough starts to bubble it is about time to flip. It should be golden brown.

After it is cooked on both sides, drain on a paper towel and enjoy!

This fry bread is a great substitute for tortillas. You could do Tacos as well as Chicken, Beef or Pork Fajitas.

Donsa's Beef Enchiladas

This meal is a special one in our family because it was Cory's Mom's specialty. We make this often, but we make a special point of having it for her birthday which is Aug 24th. With tomorrow being the first day of school, we decided to do it today to be able to savor it. She passed away in March of 1998 and we miss her very much. We know that she watches over our family, especially our children since she wanted more than anything to be a Grandma.
Happy Birthday Donsa!!
*This recipe really isn't as complicated as it looks. The tomato sauce can easily be made ahead of time.

Donsa's Beef Enchiladas

Meat Filling:
2 lbs ground beef
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp vinegar
1 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 can red kidney beans, drained, rinsed, then put the beans back into the can and refill with water. (or you can add the beans undrained, just be sure to have everyone take a Beano before they eat for the health of all the people around you!) :-)

Tomato Sauce:
3 Tbsp canola oil
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp flour
1 lg. can (29 oz) Tomato Puree
1 Tbsp vinegar
1 beef bouillon cube (I like the knorr brand)
1 cup hot water, heated in the microwave
1 can (4 oz) diced green chilies
dash of ground cumin (about 1/4 tsp)
1/2 tsp salt
dash of fresh pepper (about 6 grinds)

Enchiladas:
8-10 burrito size flour tortillas
1 lb grated cheese (cheddar or colby jack)

To Prepare the Meat Filling:
Brown the ground beef, drain. Add the garlic and saute until you can smell the garlic. Then add the salt mixed with the chili powder. Add the vinegar and water. Then stir in the drained kidney beans. Set aside.

To make the Tomato Sauce:
In a medium saucepan, add the canola oil and the onions. Saute until translucent. Add garlic. When you can smell the garlic, add the flour. Stir to combine. Turn off the burner and add the tomato puree. Add the bouillon cube to the water and mix well, then add to the tomato mixture. Add the vinegar, green chilies and spices. Turn on the burner and heat through.

We add 2-3 ladles of the sauce to stir into the meat filling. We think it is yummy that way, but you don't have to do that.

To assemble:
Preheat oven to 350.
Grate the cheese. Spray a 15x10 inch pan with nonstick spray. (if you want to use a 9x13 inch pan, get the smaller size tortillas instead of the burrito size. Put the meat into the tortilla, and add cheese to your preference. Roll up. Place in the pan, with the tortilla seam down (so it doesn't unravel). Repeat until the pan is filled. Top with the tomato sauce and remaining cheese. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes.

*to make this recipe gluten free...use corn tortillas instead of flour, and use gluten free flour for the tomato sauce to help the sauce thicken.
*for people who can't have milk products, this recipe still tastes great without the cheese!

This recipe is adapted from the McCalls Cook Book.

Stuffed Burgers

Cory and I love to watch the Food Network. While watching Diners, Drive-In's and Dives, we saw a diner that stuffed their burgers. Yummy! So we tried it, and it was fabulous. You will need to be creative with this recipe so you can fit it to your taste.

Stuffed Burgers

2 lbs 80-20 ground beef

Your favorite steak seasoning...we used Famous Dave's Burger and Steak seasoning

8 slices of your favorite cheese (we did Pepperjack and American)

Hamburger Buns

Your favorite toppings...lettuce, tomato, mustard, mayo, etc.

With using 2 lbs, we got out about 8 burgers. Season the meat in a bowl, then divide into 16 (or 1/8 lb) balls. Place the rounds between 2 pieces of wax paper and roll them flat with a rolling pin until you get them into the desired size..about 4 inches wide. Tear the cheese slices in to fourths. Take one patty, place the cheese on top, then top with another patty. Pinch the edges together to seal the cheese inside the meat. Preheat your BBQ grill to about med-medium high heat...about 350 and grill each patty for about 10 min each side or until done. Be sure to check your patties as they are cooking. There are different things that will effect the cooking time..how hot your grill cooks, how done you like the burgers, how big the burgers are, so our cooking time is a guess based on what we did.

(I am sure that you could subsitute turkey or pork for the beef if you want to.)

Another thing we do, is season the burgers with a little Tabasco before grilling them, but that depends on if you like things with a little bit of a kick. Grilling your buns for just a minute also makes it awesome!

Italian Beef Sandwiches

Whoever I have to thank for inventing the slow cooker, I would personally like to shout several Hallelujahs their way! Not only is it easy, but it doesn't heat up the house for summertime. This recipe was adapted from allrecipes.com. I found it on My Kitchen Cafe blog by Melanie G. This has become my family's favorite meat sandwich ever...or in the words or my husband...please put it away before I have 500 sandwiches!

Italian Beef Sandwiches

1 1/2 cups beef broth*

1 cup water

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp onion salt

1 tsp dried parsley

1 tsp garlic powder

1 bay leaf (or 2 small ones)

1 (0.6 oz) packet of Good Seasons Zesty Italian dry salad dressing mix

1 (5 lb) chuck roast

*I used one of the extra large Knorr brand beef bouillon cubes that does 2 cups, so I did 2 1/2 cups of water plus the beef cube instead of doing separate broth and water and it turned out great!

Combine water, beef broth with seasonings. Whisk to combine. Season roast with salt and pepper and seare on all sides in olive oil. (I cut the 5 lb roast into four parts so it would lay better in the crock pot) Place meat in the slow cooker and pour seasoning mixture over the meat. Cover and cook on Low for 10-12 hours or on High for 4-5 hours. When done, remove Bay leaves, and shred the meat with a fork. Put the shredded meat back in the juices for about 45 minutes to get extra yummy. Serve on crusty rolls with Provolone cheese.

Meat Ring

I know that Meat Loaf is not the most healthy thing in the world. But sometimes you've gotta do what you gotta do....and that means comfort foods! A few years back I got a book by Anita Stansfield called "A Star in Winter" and in it she published her recipe for a Meat Ring. It is not dry at all and worth a try on a day when you just don't have a lot of time to stand in front of the stove stirring stuff.

Meat Ring

1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef
3/4 cup oatmeal
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 beaten egg
3 /4 cup milk

Mix all together and mold into a round pan, leaving a hole in the center. Cover with sauce and bake 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Sauce:
1/3 cup ketchup
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp mustard

For my family I used 2 lbs of lean ground beef (you want to get as lean as you can get) and I upped the other ingredients a little bit (1 cup oatmeal, 2 tsp salt, almost 1 tsp pepper, 1 cup milk. I kept the egg the same and I did 1/2 cup diced onion) I also doubled the sauce recipe, spooning some on top and saving the other half to top on each portion after it has been cooked.

I am sorry that I don't have a finished picture to show you, but I had to feed the baby and by the time I got back downstairs my family gave me the best compliment by have most of it already gone!

Spaghetti Sauce

Spaghetti Sauce

2 lbs ground beef, or you can do 1 lb ground beef, 1 lb italian sausage
2 onions, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 (16 oz) cans of Tomato sauce (I do 2 of the big cans)
3 (6 oz) cans Tomato paste
2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
3 tsp dried oregano
3 tsp dried basil
2 Tbsp vinegar
1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1 tsp marjoram

Brown the hamburger then drain. Rinse the pan of fat the add olive oil and onions; cook until translucent. Add cooked hamburger and minced garlic. Warm through; when you can smell the garlic, add the tomato sauce and tomato paste and seasonings. Stir to combine. Simmer for 30 minutes. Serve over pasta or use for homemade lasagna.

*This recipe freezes really well. You can certainly brown the meat and onions together, but I like to do them separately to avoid the fat.
This was originally made for our family by the MiaMaids in our ward right after Cory's brain surgery. They brought dinner that night and 2 more bags of sauce to put into the freezer. It is my kids' favorite sauce, and mine as well. Not only is it yummy, but it reminds me of the thoughtfulness of my family-away-from-family.
Recipe courtesy of Nell W.

Recipe Labels

For those of you new to blogging, this post will give you some hints on labeling your recipes. After you type in your recipe to share (hint! hint!), look down at the bottom of the box. You'll see "Labels for this post:". If you click on "Show all", a list will pop up and you can choose from there to classify your recipe. The blog will organize our recipes for us. Easy peasy.

Here are some that Rebekah and I came up with:

Allergy Friendly, Appetizer, Bread, Breadmaker, Breakfast/Brunch, Canning, Cooking Basics, Desserts, Dips/Sauces, Drinks, Gluten-Free, Heritage/Family Recipe, Holiday, Main Dish Beef, Main Dish Chicken, Main Dish Pork, Main Dish Seafood, Main Dish Turkey, Pasta, Salads, Side Dishes, Soup, Snacks, Vegetables

Can you come up with any more that we missed?

Sloppy Joes Simplified

I don't know how I came up with this....One day (back in Hawaii) I think we were out of ketchup so I substituted chili sauce for this recipe. Chris liked it so much, I've never gone back to the "old" way of making Sloppy Joes.

1 bag of hamburger buns or several slices of sandwich bread
1 lb. ground beef*
1 (12 oz.) jar chili sauce
1/2 tsp. mustard
brown sugar, to taste

If you've got this on hand, it's nice to add:

1/4 c. onion, chopped
1/4 c. green pepper, chopped

Brown the hamburger meat. Add the onion and green pepper and cook till the onion is clear. Then add the chili sauce, mustard and brown sugar to the mixture. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. If you have the time, it's nice to cover the pan, turn the heat to low and let it simmer for a while. Otherwise, (if you're like me) just go on ahead and serve it up!

*Want the lean ground beef but can't afford it? Buy the cheap stuff and then after cooking it, rinse it in HOT water.