Cheesy Baked Goulash

Cheesy Baked Goulash

 

Cheesy Baked Goulash Just out of Oven

Howdy friends and family! This is a repost recipe from three years ago that never got much attention from my readers, minus the intro paragraphs. Unfortunately, we had a series of three medical events in the house recently that has prevented me from creating a new recipe for you this week. (One event was an excruciating back spasm that lasted an hour and a half before I felt I wasn’t going to die. After multiple trips to both my doctor and chiro, I now have the pain under control.)

The other event was too low of blood pressure, and I thought I would pass out so had to have my high blood pressure meds adjusted. The third event involved my daughter but she’s healing up nicely since an outpatient procedure. However, on the first day I felt well enough to cook, I dragged out my old stand-by recipe for this dish of Cheesy Baked Goulash. My daughter requests this often, and for my new readers, I am glad to share it with you. I am also fortunate to have a hubby that cooks and for takeout pizza, ha! Happy Spring!

Cheesy Baked Goulash

1 pound ground beef
2/3 cup chopped onion
Ground black pepper, to taste
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 cup dry elbow macaroni pasta
1 15-ounce can tomato sauce (or 2 8-0unce cans)
1 jar homemade canned tomatoes diced, or 1 can low-sodium diced
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and set a pot of water on to boil for the pasta. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the burger and chopped onions, then grind a bunch of black pepper over it. Cook until beef is browned and onions are translucent. In the last minute or so, add the minced garlic. Drain any grease, if needed.

Browned Burger and Onions

When the water is boiling for the pasta, add the macaroni and cook until just before al dente, then drain and set aside. It will cook more in the oven. Meanwhile, add the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, soy sauce, sugar, and herbs to the ground beef and stir to incorporate.

Cooked Macaroni and Tomato Beef Sauce

Or you can be like me and forget the parsley until later. Next add the cheddar cheese (or perhaps parsley if you forgot) and mix until cheese is melted. Stir in the cooked macaroni until combined.

Cheddar Cheese and Parsley Added

Pour into a 2-quart casserole dish sprayed with oil. Top with the Mozzarella cheese and bake for 30 minutes.

Cheesy Baked Goulash

Let rest about 5 minutes, then serve with buttered bread, and a salad if you want.

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Cheesy Baked Goulash

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Creamy Chicken Chili and Beans

Creamy Chicken Chili and Beans

I slammed this dinner together for the crock pot in less than 15 minutes. It was 1:45 pm, my day to cook, but I had a dentist appointment during my lunch break earlier and didn’t get around to thinking about dinner until after my 1 pm meeting. I knew I wanted something Mexican/spicy-ish. I scoured my recipes and found one where I stated about the chicken breasts, “I put them in frozen.” Bingo.

Amazingly I had every single ingredient on hand. The last time I made it I used white beans and this time I used black beans, which I had wanted to use prior, but didn’t have any back then. I also added more cream cheese to make it creamier, as well as some chicken broth and additional tomatoes because I remembered it was slightly too thick last time. I also mixed up the chile powders as my spice cabinet has increased greatly over the past two years. If you only have regular chili powder, then just use a tablespoon of that instead. (Hint: Chile powder is a pure grind of one chile, chili powder is a mixture of chile powders and other spices.)

Each time I make a recipe again, I strive to improve upon it. (Well, unless it was just perfect to begin with — HA!) We did enjoy this chili more this time around (seconds for the daughter!), dinner was on time, and the husband got to watch his Monday Night Football. Mission Accomplished.

Creamy Chicken Chili and Beans

Creamy Chicken Chili and Beans

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast (can be frozen)
3/4 cup homemade or low-sodium chicken broth
1 10-oz. can Ro-Tel tomatoes or 14-oz. can diced tomatoes and green chiles
1/2 cup additional diced tomatoes if using Ro-Tel
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup canned hominy, rinsed and drained (freeze the rest for future use)
1 teaspoon Ancho (or Pasilla) chile powder
1 teaspoon New Mexico chile powder
1 teaspoon regular chili powder
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons Ranch dressing from a bottle
Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb, to taste
Ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 brick Neufchatel cheese, or regular cream cheese

Add the chicken and broth to a 3-quart crock pot. Dump in the rest of the ingredients on top except the cream cheese, and mix around until combined, leaving the chicken on the bottom as best you can. Last, add the 1/2 brick of cream cheese to the top. Cover and cook on high about 3 1/2 to 4 hours.

Remove lid and shred the chicken breast with two forks right in the crock pot, then mix around thoroughly to incorporate the cream cheese. Turn down to low/warm until ready to serve. Garnish with cilantro, sour cream, shredded cheese, whatever your heart (and tummy) desires!

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Chicken Enchiladas from Scratch (Mostly)

Chicken Enchilada Meal

This recipe is an old stand-by that I’ve made for years. When I have extra time, I make a homemade tomatillo sauce to pour over the top, but this recipe uses a canned sauce. (That’s where the “Mostly” comes in…) This is another one of those meals that you can make ahead of time and put in the fridge until you are ready for dinner. Make a small green salad and heat up some refried beans while it’s in the oven, and dinner is served! I’ve cheated a little today as I’d written this recipe up last year and submitted it to a group for a recipe book project, so you won’t find the list of ingredients at the beginning like I’ve done in the past.

I wracked my brain to see if I could think of an anecdote to go with today’s dish, and was close to pointing out that I’d never had any kitchen mishaps or adventures while making this meal, but then I remembered when I made this one time I had poured the chicken broth down the drain by accident! I pointed this out in my Homemade Turkey Broth column.

Chicken Enchiladas from Scratch (Mostly)

In a 2 quart pot, add two large skin-on chicken breasts, about a half an onion, a couple of carrots and celery tops. Cover with enough water about an inch over the ingredients.

Bring to a boil, then turn down and simmer about 40 minutes until chicken is done. Strain and reserve chicken broth. Let chicken cool and debone and chop up chicken into bite-size pieces.

In a mixing bowl, add chopped up chicken, a small can of chopped black olives, about a half a cup of finely chopped onion, about ¾ cup of shredded cheese (any kind), a teaspoon of ground cumin, half a teaspoon or so of ground New Mexico red chili powder, black pepper to taste, and enough sour cream to bind it together. Then slowly add some reserved chicken broth until it’s not so dry.

Rolled and Ready for Sauce

Spray both sides lightly of 10-12 small corn tortillas with spray olive oil, then put on a paper plate, cover with a paper towel and microwave for about a minute until they are soft and pliable.

Spoon the mixture into each tortilla and roll up and place in rectangular casserole dish seams down. Pour more reserved chicken broth over all. Pour a can of green or red canned enchilada sauce over all, or use homemade enchilada sauce. Top with enough shredded cheese (any kind) to cover. If you have another can of sliced black olives on hand you can top the cheese with those to make it “pretty.”

Bake in a 350-degree pre-heated oven for thirty minutes until bubbly. Take out and let sit for five minutes. Serve and enjoy with additional sour cream and avocado!