Meaty Calzones

 This is an adapted version of the pepperoni calzone. 

homemade pizza dough
2 cups of meaty pizza sauce
2 cups mozzarella cheese
1 Tablespoon olive oil
Garlic salt for sprinkling

Prepare the dough according to the directions.  Or use store bought pizza dough if in a time crunch.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly coat two large baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray.

Form the dough into 8 balls and roll out each ball from the center, into a rectangle approximately 5 inches by 8 inches, leaving the short ends slightly rounded.  Place a spoonful of pizza sauce onto one half of the rectangle.  Add about 2 Tablespoons of meat sauce and some shredded cheese to each calzone.  Fold the dough over and press the edges together with a fork, sealing in the sauce, and cheese.  Brush the top of each calzone with olive oil and sprinkle garlic on top.

Bake calzone in the preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown on top.  Let cool slightly before serving.  Serve warm or cool completely, to place in freezer.

Pot Roast

I love pot roast.  It is my favorite when I serve it with ketchup for dipping.  I know, not classy but yet still amazing.  One of my favorite things about making a pot roast is that the longer it cooks, the better and more tender it can become.  Some people have issues with allowing their crockpot run when they are not home, I however, am not one of those people.  I love that I can be multi tasking without feeling overwhelmed because dinner is prepped and cooking while I am running errands, visiting family, or working.  The crockpot helps get dinner on the table, now if only it could wash dishes.

2-3 lb pot roast
1 cup water
1 beef bullion cubes
1 packet of onion soup mix

Place the roast in a crockpot.  Mix water, bullion cube, and onion soup.  Pour the mixture over the roast.  Cook on low for 8-10 hours.  As long as there is liquid, the longer it cooks the more tender it will become, at least in my experience.  You can serve this with mashed potatoes, rice, or noodles.  I usually have just the right amount of leftovers to flip into another meal, like pot roast soup or pot roast shepards pie.  The leftovers would also be great with a little BBQ sauce served on a bun, depending on your family size.

The kids (and my) Favorite Tator Tot Casserole

I know it's hard to believe but when Scott and I were first married I didn't really cook.  I mean I could make baked chicken or something super simple.  Then we had our son and I added a couple of more meals to my list.  Some where between moving into a house and having my second child, a miracle occurred and I learned to cook.  I distinctly remember having to prepare a meal for another church family and having no idea what to prepare.  That situation brought me to my first tator tot casserole recipe.  I'd never heard of it and definitely never eaten it.  Really I'm not sure what my mom used to cook for us when we were kids, it's amazing we were alive.  I think I might have eaten a lot of peanut butter and that's why I can't stand it.  The first recipe I tried for tator tot casserole was yummy and I have since misplaced the printed out sheet.  I have tried a few others but nothing was just perfect.  Christmas of 2010 was a cookbook Christmas, my older sister got me The Cooking Mom by Amy Hanten.  This recipe is the BEST EVER.  It tastes good with beef or turkey.

2 pounds ground beef (or ground turkey)
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups milk
1 can French green beans, drained (I used thawed frozen)
1 1/2 cups corn (frozen again)
3 to 4 shredded cheddar cheese
1 package frozen tator tots
1 to 2 teaspoons steak seasoning salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray.  Brown ground beef in the skillet.  Drain any grease.  Season beef with garlic salt and pepper.  Place beef in the baking dish.  Place beans and corn on top of beef.  In a large bowl, whisk together soup, milk, and sour cream.  Spread over ground beef in an even layer.  Top with tator tots.  Sprinkle tots with seasoning salt.  Top with cheese.  Bake 30 to 40 minutes covered loosely with foil.  Uncover and bake another 10 to 15 minutes until cheese is bubbly.

Flexible Mexican Filling

This comes from Cheap. Fast. Good. by Beverly Mills & Alicia Ross.  My sister bought me this cookbook.  At first I wondered if she was trying to tell me something when I saw the title, which seemed kind of inappropriate, I kind of have an odd sense of thinking (and kind of sassy).  The cookbook contains very basic recipes.  Know what else?  They're cheap, fast, and good...imagine that.  The flexible mexican filling is very "flexible" and can be used in different recipes; which it give you several suggestions in the cookbook.  I will be using this is a basic taco, with hard shells that I bought on sale and used a coupon...yeah me!  The addition of the other items helps to stretch your 1lb beef to feed the family without having them walk away hungry, because really 1lb just never seems like enough meat.

1 pound ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 package (2 tablespoons) taco seasoning
1 can condensed tomato soup
2 cups shredded Cheddar or Mexican blend cheese
1 cup sour cream

1.  Place the beef in an extra-deep 12-inch skillet over medium heat.  Begin browning beef, stirring often to break up the meat.  Meanwhile, peel and coarsely chop the onion, adding it to the skillet as you chop.  Cook, stirring often, until all the meat is crumbled and cooked through, 7 to 8 minutes.  Drain any accumulated fat from the skillet.

2.  Reduce the heat to medium-low.  Add taco seasoning and tomato soup and stir until well blended.  Add the cheese and stir until melted, about 30 seconds.  remove from skillet from the heat and stir in sour cream.  Serve at once, or cool and store for future use.

Storage Notes:
Flexible Mexican Filling can be refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for 2 to 3 months.  Refrigerate or freeze filling in 1-cup portions in microwavable-safe containers.  to defrost, remove the container lid and microwave on the defrost setting according to the oven manufacturer's instructions.  Or defrost the filling in the refrigerator overnight.