Beef Night!

So, what do you get when you put a bunch of home-bound, under stimulated women who have only had children to keep them company most of the day in one room with tons of food and fun questions? Hilarity. And strange new feelings towards coloring... ;) Most of us were wondering how this would go, since beef is so often done on the grill, but it was a very scrumptious night! Jenn Fulton's beef and gravy dish.

Jayme Welly had a hectic day so she brought this beef-free cheesecake. No complaints.

Variations of this punch have popped up at several of the last few exchanges. Molly did equal parts Sprite and sherbet. It was like drinking candy! Thanks, Molly for hosting!

We are starting to have a core group of women who, like me, look forward to these exchanges like a life line! We played Loaded Questions and laughed like idiots about things like "Fatty McFat Fat", what we don't want to admit is lurking in our homes, most embarrassing moments, and why we would or would not like to be on shows like The Bachelor and Bachelor Pad! I haven't laughed that hard in a long time! Loved it!

So, at the request of Joni, the next gathering we'll be trying our favorite fall recipes- soups, pumpkin baked goods, Halloween and Thanksgiving fun foods... Fall Favorites on September 7th! See you there!

Mostacolli

Jamie Massey is a fellow foodie and I always look forward to what she brings. This time was a yummy Italian dish akin to a spaghetti or baked ziti or most meat-and-red sauce Italian dishes!

1 can crushed tomatoes
1 can crushed tomatoes with Italian seasoning
1 onion
3-4 garlic cloves
extra virgin olive oil
1 lb ground round
1 tsp sugar
oregano
basil
1 box rigatoni pasta

Cover bottom of large frying pan with olive oil. Chop fine onion and garlic. Saute for about 3 minutes or until onion is transparent. Do not brown garlic. Add the hamburger and brown. When browned, drain the excess fat. Add the tomatoes, sugar and oregano. Simmer on low for about an hour. The last 10 minutes add basil finely chopped. Bring water to a boil in a separate pot. Add the salt then the pasta. DO NOT ADD OIL. Mix cooked pasta with sauce and serve.

To reheat leftovers- Put in a pan on the stove. Add a little ketchup to loosen the sauce and pasta.

To freeze- Freeze in a 9x13" pan. The night before, put into the fridge to thaw. Cook at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Mini Meatloaves

For those of you who have been patiently waiting: Molly Heaton's Mini Meatloaves! These 'cupcake meatloaves' {or is it loaf's?} were a huge hit! It was the most flavorful and succulent meatloaf I'd ever had! It's taken me a bit to get these recipes posted and this one has been asked for a couple times already- so alright, already! Here it is!

1 lb extra lean ground beef
1 pkg Stove Top Stuffing mix {She usually uses Sage flavor, but that night it was Savory Herb}
1 C water
1 tsp garlic powder
3/4 C shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 C BBQ sauce {she used Sweet Baby Ray's Original}

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix meat, stuffing, water and garlic powder. Press into 12 muffin cups sprayed with cooking spray. Make indentation in center of each meatloaf and fill with BBQ sauce. Bake 30 minutes or until cooked through. Top with cheese, and continue baking 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Slow Cooker Beef in Mushroom Gravy

This extremely juicy roast was brought by Joni Joiner. It just melts in your mouth! Love the simplicity and taste- double score!

2 - 2 1/2 lbs boneless round steak
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 - 3/4 C water

Cut steak into 6 serving size pieces and place in 3 qt crock pot. Combine soup, water and soup mix in a separate bowl then add to the crock pot. Cook covered on low 8 hours or until tender.

Makes it's own gravy and is great with mashed potatoes or add red potatoes to the crock pot for the last 2 hours of cooking. Joni recommends turning the meat every 2 hours to prevent it from getting too brown on one side.

Ravioli Bake

This is like the ultimate in lazy lasagna. I added beef to it so it would qualify to come to the party, but usually I do it as a meatless meal and kinda think it's better that way...

1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 C water
2 lbs frozen cheese ravioli
1 (7 oz)pkg shredded cheese, italian blend
2 tbsp parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix spaghetti sauce, tomatoes and water; spoon 1 C onto bottom of 9x13" pan. Layer half the ravioli and 1 C shredded cheese over sauce mixture. Top with remining ravioli and sauce mix. Sprinkle with remaining shredded cheese; cover. Bake 30 minutes, uncover. Bake 15 more minutes or until ravioli is tender and heated through. Sprinkle with parmesan. Let stand 10 minutes.

I used spinach raviolis that I got from Costco. It came with a packet of topping which I sprinkled over each cheese layer.

Roast Beef Aus Jous

I LOVE this recipe! I know I say that a lot, but this one is probably in my top 10 favs. Super easy, done in the crockpot, and OOOHHH soooo goood! I should have gotten a picture of the sandwiches with the dip... just imagine a yummy dip sitting next to the sandwiches just waiting to be dipped and enjoyed! Then try it for yourself!

1 Rump Roast beef

1 cans beef broth

2 cans water

1 can french onion soup

Deli or sub rolls

Provolone or Monterey Jack Cheese, sliced

In crock pot add roast, soup, broth and water. Cook on low overnight and all day or high for 8-10 hours. Slice cheese onto open faced rolls and broil until melted. Remove roast from crock pot just before serving and shred with 2 forks. Place shredded beef between rolls and serve with brother for dipping.

*** Optional: Substitute 4 beef boullion cubes dissolved in 4 C hot water for the canned beef broth and 2 cans water.

Lasagna

Catrina Bowers isn't typically a lasagna fan, but she makes exception for this lasagna recipe from her grandma. Catrina left out the ricotta cheese because her family isn't a fan of it. It was good, and now I'm curious how it would be WITH the ricotta...

1 box of lasagna noodles, cooked according to directions on box

1 1/2 lbs hamburger

1 medium onion, chopped

2 (15 oz) cans tomato sauce

1/2 can tomato paste

1 container ricotta cheese

6 C shredded mozzarella cheese

Brown the hamburger with the onion. Drain the grease; add sauce and paste. Spread a little bit of the hamburger mixture on the bottom of a 9x13" pan. Place a layer of noodles, then a layer of 1/3 the meat mix, then a layer of 1 3/4 C cheese. Repeat two more times until only about 1/2 C of cheese is left. Cover with foil. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. Take off foil and top with remaining cheese. Bake 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for 30 minutes.

***Tip- to take out the HUGE hassle of precooking your noodles and dealing with precooked noodles, use oven-ready noodles OR add 1 1/2 C water to the hamburger mix and cook an extra 20-30 minutes.