Terre Pruitt's Blog

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Posts Tagged ‘ground beef’

Polenta Casserole

Posted by terrepruitt on April 7, 2021

We had purchased polenta, but I wasn’t sure what to do with it.  I like to make Polenta Fries, but didn’t want to do that so I was trying to think of what to do with it. We also had a little left over taco sauce and enchilada sauce so I thought, “What the heck.”

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Polenta Casserole

1 tube of polenta
olive oil
coconut oil
1/2 onion
1 lb ground beef
taco seasoning
1/2 cup taco sauce
1/2 cup enchilada sauce
4.5 cups shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 450° F.

Slice the polenta. (I was able to get about 20 rounds from the tube.) Place the slices on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush a little olive oil on each slice. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. (They will be in the oven a total of 25 to 30 minutes).

Heat some oil in a pan. Chop the onion, then cook it in the oil. Add the beef to the cooked onion. Season with taco seasoning.

After 15 minutes take the polenta slices out of the oven and flip each one. Then put them back in the oven for another 10 to 15 minutes.

Make sure not to overcook the beef because it will be in the oven for 15 minutes.

Mix the taco sauce and enchilada sauce together. Then mix it with the meat.

Once the polenta is cooked (I like it crispy and browned on the edges . . . of course, you will adjust to your tastes.) take it out of the oven and put 11 slices in the bottom of a greased (I used coconut oil) 8X8 baking dish. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of cheese over the slices. Then put the meat on the slices spreading it out so it covers all the slices. Then sprinkle 3 1/2 cups cheese on the meat. Put the remaining slices of polenta on top and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese.

Bake for 15 minutes at 450° F.

Serve hot.

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I might consider using MORE polenta and less cheese. I’d like more complete layers of polenta. I also would like to add olives or bell peppers. For those of you that like chilies I think that would be a great thing to add.

I am never concerned with “plating” the food all pretty, I just want to eat . . . so, this does not look appetizing at all.  But it was good!  So we may be having this again. 🙂

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An Easy Yummy Recipe: Taco Pie

Posted by terrepruitt on February 21, 2018

One of my yoga students gave me a recipe. The title sounded good and as I started reading the ingredients I was thinking it sounded good until I got to the cream of mushroom soup. It just sounded really odd to me to add cream of mushroom soup with the other ingredients. I told her that, but she assured me that it was really good. She said that the dish is a hit whenever she takes it somewhere. She said everyone likes it when she makes it. So, I trusted her. And decided to try it.  I am always looking for new recipes to try that are easy. This one looked really easy. It doesn’t have that many ingredients and it had the potential to turn into a staple. So I tried her recipe to Taco Pie.

Since I so often use my blog as my recipe book I am documenting this recipe with some of the changes I made and how I will make it in the future. I will explain below the changes I have (or will make) and why below the recipe.

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Taco Pie

1 Tablespoon coconut oil
1/4 of an onion
1 lb ground turkey or ground beef
salt
garlic powder
cumin
12 ounces enchilada sauce
1 bottle taco sauce
20 ounces cream of mushroom soup
1 dozen corn tortillas
2 to 4 cups grated Monterey Jack Cheese (or Mexican Cheese)
1 can sliced black olives

Preheat oven to 325° F.

Heat the oil in a large pan. Chop the onion, then add the onion to the pan. Cook until translucent. Add the meat (crumbling it as you cook it or crumble it into the pan). Salt the meat as you cook it. Sprinkle the meat with garlic powder and some cumin. Not a lot (that is why I didn’t even put a measurement), you are just adding a tad bit of flavoring to help layer the flavors, but you still want the sauce mixture to be the star. Cook the meat until it is about half done.

Add the enchilada sauce, the taco sauces, and the cream of mushroom soup. Stir until it is all mixed together with the meat. Bring to a boil. Then let simmer over medium heat for about 10 to 15 minutes. Let the sauce flavor the meat.

In a 9X13 baking dish you are going to do layers. First layer is 1/3 of the sauce, then a layer of sprinkled of cheese, the next layer is 6 tortillas to cover the sauce. Then 1/3 of the sauce, a layer of sprinkled of cheese, then six tortillas. Then use the rest of the sauce to cover the tortillas, then cover it with the cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes. Let it sit for 5 minutes before serving. Top with the sliced olives. (If you want the olives cooked then put them on top of the “pie” before baking.)

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I have written before about how I don’t really care for the taste of plain meat. Plain meat to me, is just really not appetizing. So, when I made this recipe I cooked the turkey with chopped onions, as I stated in the recipe. It still was not enough for me. I like layered (or what I call layered) flavors. And to me, the plain meat just tasted plain. It stood out from the sauce. I like everything to meld together. So, the next time I make this I am going to add the spices as I have stated in the recipe.

The original recipe called for two cans of cream of mushroom soup, I used two boxes. That is a difference of four ounces. I did reduce the amount of enchilada sauce by two ounces, but it was still very soupy. All of the meat and sauce leaked out from between the layers and I was just left with stacked tortillas and the sauce on the side. So, next time I am going to reduce the liquids as stated here in the recipe. Not that much, but perhaps with the increased cooking time on the stove top this will help reduce the amount of liquid.

This was really good. As I type it up I am wanting to make it again. Thanks, Judy for this recipe!  And as with any recipe it is fun to add and subtract and make it your own. I thought of adding mushrooms – because I love mushrooms – and/or chilies, but I really love the simplicity of this recipe so I doubt I will be adding much to complicate it, but that doesn’t mean you don’t want to fancy it up.

How does this sound to you? What will you add to it to make it your own?

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My Meatloaf

Posted by terrepruitt on January 23, 2017

I always cook the same thing.  If you have read my blog for a bit or looked at the recipe page you can see what I cook.  I actually USE my blog for my recipes.  I use it for

Cauliflower Cake

Easy Peasy Chicken Enchiladas With Sour Cream Sauce

My First Tomato Sauce Lasagna

A New Recipe To Love – Red Beans and Rice

Chai Tea Latte For Me

Celery Soup

Although I don’t make some of those that often.  What I do make all the time is just ground turkey and whatever leafy green (besides lettuce) that we have in the refrigerator.  If I have any ricotta in the fridge I might stir that in.  Or if I have any cream cheese.  That makes it “different.”  I would make that at least once a week, if it didn’t drive my hubby batty.  But he gets tired of it.  I don’t.  I haven’t made meatloaf in a long time.  But I just made it this past weekend.  It used to be that it wouldn’t stay together for nothing.  But then I started using less liquid in it.  Ya see, I am not a fan of tomato paste or ketchup so I  don’t always use it.  I usually make it with ground turkey.  But this last time I decided to use beef.  And while I was in the aisle about to buy some tomato paste I remembered that I had some marinara sauce in the fridge and I thought, “Hey, I can use that.”  Here is the basic recipe I use.

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2 tablespoons of butter, plus enough to grease your loaf pan
1/4 of a large onion
1 lb ground meat (beef or turkey)
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup bread crumbs*
1 large egg
3 tablespoons ketchup**
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
3/4 teaspoon salt
a couple of turns of pepper
soy sauce
cooking cherry
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Mince the onion.  Heat the butter in a pan then saute the onion.  Grease the loaf pan with butter.  Heat the oven to 350° F.  Put the meat in a large bowl.  Finely chop the garlic or use a garlic press.  Mix the garlic in with the meat.  Then add the bread crumbs and mix well.  Add the egg, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and salt.  Incorporate it all into the meat.  Sprinkle some pepper into the mixture.  Mix well.  Then use a measuring cup and make a combination of soy sauce and cooking cherry – totalling a 1/2 cup.  Pour it into the meat mixture and stir.  Mix it in with the meat.  Dice the bell pepper then mix it in with the meat.  Add the onions.  Mix it all together.

 

Put the mixture into your loaf pan.  Spreading it out until it fills the whole pan and is level.  Then bake it for about 50 minutes.

Slice and serve.

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*in this last batch I used Panko bread crumbs and I really liked that.
**sometimes I use ketchup, sometimes I use tomato sauce.  I use whatever I have.  I have made it before without any ketchup at all.  It works.

I like it with beef, but it could be that I am just used to it with turkey because I think I like it better with turkey.

What is YOUR favorite meatloaf recipe?  One with two kinds of meat?  Maybe one with sausage? 

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Turkey And Polenta Bake

Posted by terrepruitt on September 24, 2015

On one of the hottest days of the year, I decided to turn on the oven.  Not only that, but I had to turn on the stove first.  Sometimes whatever I am making requires one or the other, but this time, I needed both.  And it was soooo hot.  But this turned out to be pretty good.  I can see myself making it again.  I liked it.

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1/4 onion
olive oil, about 1 tablespoon
1 lb ground turkey
1 package taco seasoning*
1 package polenta
large handful of cherry tomatoes
3 cups shredded cheese

Heat the oven to 350° F.

Heat the olive oil in a pan on the stove.  Then cook the onion. Then put the turkey in the pan.  Let the turkey cook a bit, then add the taco seasoning.  You can follow the directions on the package or just sprinkle it all around and cook the meat like that.  That is what I do.  I don’t add water and all that.  Remember that the meat is going to get some additional cooking time in the oven so you might want to under cook it just a tad.  But you do what makes you feel comfortable.

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Slice the tomatoes in half.

When the turkey is ready to your liking, spread it evenly over the polenta rounds in the baking dish.  Top the meat with the tomatoes.  Just spread them out a bit.  Then sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top.  Bake until the cheese bubbles, for between 20 and 30 minutes.

I used a really heavy pan when I did this so my cooking times were a bit different and all over the place, but next time I am going to use a less heavy pan and hopefully the polenta will get a little more cooked.

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This last picture is to somewhat show you the layer of sliced polenta.

So, I don’t really care for the ingredients in the package seasoning.  And the day after I made this (using a package) a fellow blogger posted a recipe for DYI Taco Seasoning.  I have not tried it yet, but can’t imagine why it would be good.  So, if you don’t want to use the package and you want to try making your own, perhaps give Crafty Coin’s recipes a try.  I was so excited to see a “homemade” taco seasoning I totally didn’t see the “spicy” part.  Of course, you know I will be leaving out the “spicy”.

What do you think?  Do you like polenta?  What do you usually make with it?

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Beef A Top A Squash

Posted by terrepruitt on June 7, 2014

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba, PiYo, Gentle YogaAnother quick post.  I often have a vague idea of what I am going to cook for dinner then I forget as the day goes on.  Either I am teaching Nia, learning a Nia routine, or at the moment going through my mom’s stuff.  So I find myself walking into the kitchen and not knowing what to cook.  Yesterday I was on the phone with my husband and it was already past starting-dinner-time and I didn’t even know what to make.  I had purchased some ground beef but had no plan as to what to do with it and I had forgotten about it.  When I looked in the fridge I saw it and the butternut squash I bought.  Ooo!  Stuffed squash.  Actually it is more like Topped Squash.  It is somewhat easy . . . except for making space in squash.  I was trying to do it in a manner that saved the squash innards for roasting (perhaps you will notice the cut up pieces of squash in the picture).  That was the difficult part.  Needing so much concentration I forgot to take pictures.  I emptied out the small portion where the seeds are (easy), but I wanted more room for meat (not so easy).  So I cooked then cut (I would not recommend that).  I would recommend just skipping that part and making room using a spoon before baking it.

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Beef Topped Butternut Squash

1 butternut squash
olive oil
1/4 of an onion, chopped
1 lb of beef
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt
pepper
1 cup of shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 450° F.  Cut the butternut squash in half lengthwise.  Remove the seeds and enough of the insides to make a “boat” in which to place the beef.  Coat both sides of each half in olive oil.  Salt both sides of each half.  Place each half face down on parchment paper on pan.  Bake for 15 minutes.

While the squash is roasting, heat the oil and onion.  Once the onion is translucent, add the beef.  Add the salt and garlic.  Cook the beef until it is almost completely cooked.  Add the pepper.

When the first 15 minutes are done, turn the squash over and bake for another 15 minutes, salting again, at this time, if that is your preference.  After the second 15 minutes of cooking . . . . check the squash.  If it seems cooked all the way through, salt it again and then fill each half with the beef and top with shredded cheese.  Bake until the cheese is melted.

This is very rich and very filling.

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I didn’t think about how much this was like the stuffed pumpkin I once cooked.  Although the stuffed pumpkin was much more “complicated”, as in it had more ingredients and a bit more complex flavors.  This was very good, I thought.  And since we usually eat ground turkey and not ground beef that much this was very rich.  I feel that beef is more “rich” than turkey.  It was very good.  And, had I not been trying to save the portion of squash that needs to come out to make room for the meat it would have been easy.  So if you are not interested in making nice chunks of squash to roast along side the halves this is an easy recipe.  And very yummy and rich.  Good dietary fiber!

Do you like stuff/topped squash?  What would you top yours with?

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