Cooking With Megan

Very Easy "Mexican" Pasta

2009-08-04T23:22:00.000-04:00

Prep. Time: 10 min.; Cook Time: 15-20 min.; Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups pasta

1/2 lb hamburger meat (already seasoned - I use leftover taco meat)

1/4 ranch dressing

1/2 cup shredded marble cheese

1 cup salsa (hotness as desired)

Directions:

Boil water for pasta, cook pasta until tender. Strain. Add hamburger already seasoned with taco seasoning (I use leftover taco meat). Add other ingredients, stirring over low heat until cheese is melted. Serve.

Super Easy Nacho Dip

2009-08-01T20:06:00.000-04:00

Prep. Time: 10 min.; Cook Time: None; Servings: Depends

Ingredients:

1/2 brick cheddar or marble cheese
1 jar salsa (hotness as you prefer)
1 slab cream cheese

Directions:

In a square or rectangle (depends on the amount of guests or mouths to satisfy) glass cooking dish, spread cream cheese on bottom. Layer with Salsa. Spread shredded cheese over top. (You can also chop green onions and layer on top of cheese or but ground beef oseasoned with taco mix on the bottom for a more hearty dip.)

Mom's Homemade Lasagna

2009-07-31T18:15:00.000-04:00

Prep Time: 30 min.; Cook Time: 15-30 min.; Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:

1 can Tomato Sauce
1 can Tomato Paste
9-10 Lasagna Noodles
1 lb ground beef
1 tsp garlic powder or 1 clove of garlic
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp chili pepper
1 tsp Italian spice
1 tsp ground thyme
1 pinch salt
1 pinch pepper
1 pinch sugar (to off-set the acidity of the tomato sauce)
1 small pkg spinage
2 containers of cottage cheese
1 pkg of mozzarella cheese

Directions:

In a large sauce pan, brown ground beef. Rinse under hot water, put back into sauce pan. Over medium heat add spices, sugar, salt, pepper, tomato sauce and paste. Stir until well blended. Let it boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally and reduce heat to low to let it simmer.

In a large pot, boil water for noodles. Add noodles and cook until tender. ( I always cook ten in case one noodle breaks or tears during placement.)

In a small pot cook spinage until dark and wet. Drain. Cut with a knife of use a food processor. Add cottage cheese, stir well.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

In a 11 3/4 in x 9 1/4 in x 2 1/2 in roasting pan, add three lasagna noodles. Top with cottage cheese and spinage mixture, then top with sauce and meat mixture, repeat twice. Top with shredded mozzarella cheese.

Place in oven. Bake until cheese is bubbly.

Serve with galic bread or French bread.

Quick and Easy Chicken Stew

2009-07-30T22:17:00.000-04:00

Prep Time: 20 min.; Cook Time: 1hr; Servings: 4

Ingredients:

3-5 med. potatoes (washed and peeled)
3-5 med. carrots
1 1/2 cups of frozen peas
(you can add whatever vegetables you like, really)
1 lb. chicken (thawed and cubed)
1 pkg. chicken gravy
1 can condensed chicken broth
2 tblsp flour
2-3 cups water
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Directions:

In a large pot, mix water, flour condensed soup, gravy mix, garlic, salt and pepper until smooth.
Peel and cut vegetables, place in pot. On low heat, stirring occassionally, cook until vegetables are tender (approx 1hr - some vegetables take longer to soften). Let stand 5 minutes to thicken. Serve with bread or crackers.