Corned Beef & Cabbage Soup

Usually I make corned beef and cabbage in my crock pot every year for St. Patrick's Day, but this year I thought I'd try soup.

Recipe
Corned Beef & Cabbage Soup

Comments
 - The leeks caused this soup to be fairly sweet, so next time I might use one leek and one small onion instead of two leeks
 - I bought a ~2 lb corned beef brisket and cut off all of the visible fat before adding it to the soup
 - I didn't have any parsley on hand so I skipped it

Rating
3.5/5

WW PointsPlus
7

Beef Barley Soup

Since I made Pot Roast today, I thought I'd use the leftovers to make my soup for the week.  The pot roast meat made for a delicious soup.  I scooped up some of the leftover mushrooms and onions from the pot roast and added them to the soup as well.

Recipe
Beef Barley Soup

Comments
 - Since I was using previously cooked meat, I cooked the carrots, onions, celery and garlic in the oil.  Then I added fat free beef broth instead of water and brought it to a boil.  I added the bay leaves and barley and cooked according to the directions, about 12 minutes.  I added the shredded pot roast at the very end and simmered for about 10 minutes.  

Rating
4/5

WW PointsPlus
8 (for 1.5 C)

Pot Roast in the Crock Pot

With today's big snowstorm I thought a crock pot meal sounded good.

Recipe

Pot Roast

Comments

 - I used a 2.25 lb chuck roast and trimmed most of the visible fat

 - I didn't have cream of mushroom soup so I used cream of chicken.  Then I added one can of sliced mushrooms.

 - When there was about an hour of cooking time left, I cut up a few red potatoes into quarters and roasted them with some baby carrots at 400 degrees for 45 minutes.  In the past I've cooked the potatoes and carrots along with the pot roast but I really liked them this new way.  The roasted veggie flavor with the pot roast gravy was a great combination.

Rating

5/5

WW PointsPlus

8 (makes 6 servings)

Baked Spaghetti w/ Spaghetti Squash

I like baked spaghetti but since I'm doing WW I thought I'd try a healthier version using spaghetti squash instead of pasta.  Halfway through dinner I couldn't hold in my "secret" any longer and had to tell Mike that he was eating spaghetti squash.  He had no idea!

Recipe
1 medium spaghetti squash, cooked (yields ~ 4 C. of squash)
1 24 oz jar marinara sauce
1 lb. extra lean ground beef
1 egg
1/4 C. parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 C. onion, chopped
1 C. part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
Garlic salt

Brown ground beef in a frying pan with the onion and a dash of garlic salt.  Add marinara sauce and combine thoroughly.  Meanwhile, beat the egg and pour over spaghetti squash.  Add parmesan cheese and toss to coat.  Grease a 9x13 pan with cooking spray, pour the spaghetti squash mixture into the pan and spread it out evenly.  Pour the meat sauce over the spaghetti squash, and then sprinkle the mozzarella cheese over the top of the dish.  Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for 15 more minutes.

Comments
 - Next time I make this I'll have to figure out a way to remove some of the water from the squash before starting the recipe
 - This recipe makes 8 servings, which I've calculated to be 5 WW PointsPlus per serving

Rating
3/5

WW PointsPlus
8 (6 servings)

Beef Stroganoff

I wanted to try some new beef recipes since it seems like the only beef we ever eat is ground beef (burgers, chili, etc.) or filet mignons on the grill.  I love the combo of beef and mushrooms so this seemed like a natural choice!

Recipe
Beef Stroganoff

Comments
 - I didn't have paprika so I googled a substitute and ended up using a dash of cayenne pepper
 - I used fat free sour cream

Rating
3/5

Tator Tot Hotdish

I have lived in Minnesota for almost 6 years and have never tasted or made tator tot hotdish.  I've heard everyone talk about "hotdish" which is just a different term for "casserole."  About a week ago I was talking about cooking and recipes with my mother-in-law Jane and sister-in-law Meghan and they both mentioned tator tot hotdish.  After hearing what was in it and how easy was to make, I thought I'd give it a try on a chilly Sunday evening this fall.  I googled a few different recipes and eventually just made up my own.

Recipe
1 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 C. onion, diced
1 can cream of celery soup + 1/2 can milk
1 bag frozen cut green beans, steamed
1 can mushrooms, drained
1 bag frozen tator tots
1/2 C. shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese

Brown ground beef and onion in frying pan.  While meat is cooking, whisk together cream of celery soup and milk in a bowl.  Steam the green beans, and then toss together with the mushrooms.  Spray a baking pan with PAM (I used a 7x11 pan, but 9x13 would work also).  Spread ground beef evenly on the bottom of the pan.  Next, layer on the green beans and mushrooms.  Pour the soup mixture over the entire casserole.  Layer tator tots on top in rows.  Sprinkle cheese over the top of the tator tots.  Bake at 375 degrees for 45-60 minutes, or until tator tots are brown and soup mixture is bubbly.  Season with salt and pepper.

Comments
 - I thought there was a bit too much meat, so next time I might either use a 9x13 pan and a larger bag of green beans, or just cut the meat back to 1/2 or 3/4 pound if I use a 7x11 pan.
 - Mike topped his with Frank's Red Hot but I didn't care for it that way.

Rating
3.5/5

Oktoberfest German Dinner

I love Oktoberfest beer, so this past Sunday night I decided to cook an authentic German meal to go along with the beer.  Mike hasn't had any real German food before (bratwursts don't count), so this was a new cooking experience for me and a new tasting experience for him!

Beef Rouladen
Recipe
Beef Rouladen

Comments
 - I used thin cut NY Strip steaks, pounded down to 1/4" thick
 - I've had this prepared with dill pickles in the middle (in addition to the onion) so I made one of them with that and it was really good
 - The gravy didn't thicken up as much as I thought it would - it was more of a sauce versus a gravy

Rating
3.5/5


Spaetzle
Recipe
Spaetzle

Comments
 - After reading the comments for this recipe I went with the ziplock bag method.  I poured the batter into a ziplock bag, cut off the tip and used that to drop portions of batter into the boiling water.
 - The batter looked a little too liquidy for me so I added two additional tablespoons of flour.

Rating
5/5


Brussels Sprouts with Bacon
Recipe
1 lb. Brussels sprouts, steamed
3 slices bacon
2 Tbsp butter
Salt & pepper

Once sprouts have been cooked, add butter and stir until melted.  Add crumbled bacon, plus salt and pepper to taste.

Comments
 - I read a tip online about steaming Brussels sprouts - after you cut the ends off, make an X in the stem with a paring knife.  I steamed mine for about 6 minutes and they were perfect.

Rating
4/5

Stuffed Pepper Soup

Stuffed peppers...yum! Soup...yum! This is a great combination and it's a really easy recipe.

Recipe
Stuffed Pepper Soup

Comments
 - Since I made this for one of my work week lunches I cut waaaaay back on the garlic
 - I skipped the majoram since I didn't have it on hand
 - I've also made this before with 93% lean ground turkey (just as good) and with ground turkey breast (super lean and not so good)

Rating
4/5

Italian Wedding Soup

My mom stayed in town for two weeks after Anna was born and during that time she made me a batch of Italian wedding soup for my deep freezer. I ended up making a batch of it last week and ate it for lunch every day. Mike liked it too so I'm adding it to my soup/stew/chili rotation for fall and winter. I made these meatballs separately and used them in spaghetti too. I'm not sure where my mom got this recipe...I'll have to ask her!

Recipe
Meatballs
 - 1 lb 96% lean ground beef
 - 1/2 C grated Parmesan topping
 - 1/2 C panko breadcrumbs
 - 2 eggs
 - salt & pepper

Combine ingredients and form into bite size meatballs. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

Broth, etc.
 - 1 C carrots, chopped
 - 1 C celery, chopped
 - 1 C onion, diced
 - 3 quarts chicken broth (I use Pacific brand)
 - 4 C raw baby spinach
 - 3/4 C orzo pasta
 - 4 Tbsp olive oil
 - salt & pepper
Sauté carrots, celery and onion in olive oil until carmelized. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add orzo and cook according to directions, boiling for about 9 minutes. At the end, add spinach and cooked meatballs and stir over low heat until spinach is wilted. Season with salt and pepper.

Comments
 - Working with ground beef/turkey kind of grosses me out because it can get under your nails. I use disposable non-powdered latex gloves for meatballs, meatloaf, burgers, etc. (Thanks to my mom for this tip!)

Rating
5/5