beef – Page 2 – The Pajama Chef

Cheesy Taco Muffins

April 13, 2015December 9, 2019 Sarah

Easy cheesy taco muffins! Served with salsa, these are a treat for a meal or party.

You can put anything in a muffin tin and I’ll eat it. Muffins, check. Cupcakes, check. Meatloaf, check. Quiche, check. Cornbread, check. French toast, check. Want me to keep going? Probably not. Mini foods are so fun, aren’t they? As you could probably infer… these Cheesy Taco Muffins are fun, delicious, and one of my favorite things to eat! They’re basically a portable taco. What’s not to love about that?! 🙂

The name “muffins” is kind of a misnomer. Yes, they’re shaped like muffins, but they are more than just a quick snack. They’re a delightful appetizer or meal, made out of cornmeal and tomatoes and cheese and leftover taco meat. These muffins are so simple and so tasty–and addictive! Enjoy!

one year ago: Grapefruit Arugula Salad
two years ago: Herb, Tomato, and Cheese Crackers
three years ago: Smoky Fried Chickpeas
four years ago: Pantry Pasta for Two

Cheesy Taco Muffins

Servings: 20-24 muffins
Time: 35 minutes
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from Food Lust People Love

Ingredients:

1 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sour cream
1 – 10 ounce can diced tomatoes with green chiles, undrained
2 eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups cooked taco meat [leftovers are great for this//about 8 ounces]
8 ounces shredded cheese – cheddar, monterey jack, or taco/Mexican cheese
salsa, for serving

Directions:

Grease two muffin tins with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a small bowl, whisk together cornmeal, flour, and baking soda. In a large bowl, stir together sour cream, tomatoes, eggs, and oil. Add dry ingredients into the wet and stir until just combined. Fold in almost all of the taco meat and cheese, reserving a little bit of each for topping.

Divide batter between muffin cups, then top with reserved meat and cheese.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool for a few minutes before serving. Can be enjoyed warm or cold, with salsa on the side.

Main Dishes, Pasta, Recipes

Skinny Lasagna

January 23, 2015January 22, 2015 Sarah

Skinny lasagna… lot of flavor with a few substitutions to make a classic dish just a little healthier for the new year!

Lasagna is one of my favorite meals of all time! My mom’s lasagna is my go-to dish, but when Red Gold [an Indiana company… gotta support my home state, ya know!] contacted me to ask if I wanted to participate in their Lasagna Party this month I jumped at the chance. Lasagna is so good, how could I say no?!? 🙂 The Red Gold Simple Gourmet Lasagna Party runs through February 3rd on their Facebook page. Be sure to enter for a chance to win one of 750 aprons or 6 gourmet lasagna party prizes [that include a Le Creuset Lasagna pan! How fun!]. The fabulous folks at Red Gold sent me a fun package with a selection of canned tomatoes, lasagna noodles, a Laura’s Beef coupon and apron, and some recipes to try out.

I made this lasagna a couple weekends ago, on a Saturday morning before I did a long run. Psssssst! Did I tell you guys that I’m marathon training?!? #5, in Nashville! Woohoo. 🙂 It’ll be fun to do a marathon in my new city! Anyways, this lasagna was SO delicious. Using Italian seasoning, as simple as it sounds, along with tomatoes that have already been seasoned with basil, garlic, and oregano, made this dish SO flavorful. My only beef [ha ha ha] with this lasagna recipe was that it used a whole pound of lasagna noodles. I usually use just half a pound, so I thought it was very noodle-y and there was no way this would all fit in my pan. So I used two! [Ben’s idea. What a smartypants.] This lasagna was SO flavorful and delicious. PLUS it was really easy to make this sauce with just canned tomatoes and seasoning. I’ll definitely be using that trick more often. One less step to yummy lasagna! Hope you enjoy, and don’t forget to enter the contest! 🙂

one year ago: Broccoli Stuffed Loaded Potato Skins with Avocado Cream
two years ago: Lemon Cranberry Muffins
three years ago: Preparing Black Beans in the Oven
four years ago: Triple Chocolate Oat Cookies

Skinny Lasagna

Servings: 16
Time: 2 hours
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Ingredients

1/2 cup water
28 ounces Red Gold crushed tomatoes
2 – 14.5 ounce cans Red Gold diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, & oregano
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning – I used ~2 tablespoons of Gourmet Gardens Italian Herbs + 1 tablespoon crushed garlic instead
1 pound Laura’s Lean Beef or ground turkey
16 ounce traditional lasagna noodles, uncooked
15 ounces low fat cottage cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bring a large pot of water to boil to cook the lasagna noodles to al dente. Meanwhile, in a skillet, brown ground beef or turkey. Cook noodles according to package instructions, then drain. Drain grease from meat when done.

In a large bowl, combine water, tomatoes, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Stir in cooked meat.

In a 9×13 baking dish, spread out 1 1/2 cups sauce. Top with 1/3 of noodles, overlapped. Top with 1/2 of the cottage cheese, 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese, and 1 cup sauce. Repeat, then finish with remaining 1/3 of noodles and the remaining sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Cover with foil and bake for 60-90 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Notes:

I used an oval dish that usually can be subbed with a 9×13 pan but I had way too much so I made a mini lasagna in a 9×5 loaf pan. As I was typing up this recipe, I noticed that the original recipe does not call for cooking the noodles–just placing them in the pan uncooked. So you could try that too–probably cooking it for about 90 minutes instead of the 1 hour I did.

Next time I make this I will probably only use 8 ounces noodles. We felt it was too noodle-y but I usually only make lasagna with 1/2 a box of noodles so that’s just what we are used to.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary lasagna kit from Red Gold with all the tomatoes for this recipe, lasagna noodles, a Laura’s Lean Beef apron, a coupon for Laura’s Lean Beef, and 6 recipes. However, I was not required to write a positive review. The thoughts expressed above are entirely my own.

Appetizers, Beef, Main Dishes, Recipes

#10DaysofTailgate: Thai Beef Skewers

September 27, 2014September 29, 2014 Sarah

A Thai-inspired grilled beef skewer recipe that couldn’t be simpler but tastes amazing! So flavorful and exotic.

Welcome to #10DaysofTailgate! Camilla did a great job organizing this fun event, and we have 14 amazing giveaways for you guys! So check out the giveaway here. 🙂 September is winding down, and so is #10DaysofTailgate and the giveaway so check it out now!

Whenever Ben and I grill–correction: whenever BEN grills and I watch–we pretty much always have the same thing: burgers. Burgers. Burgers. Delicious, but boring. We have some skewers that came with our grill tools but we’ve never used them. And we still haven’t even though we made skewers… because FireWire Grilling [check ’em out on Twitter and Facebook too] sent me some cool flexible skewers as part of #10DaysofTailgate. Thank you SO much! They are so fun to use, and easy to grill with, even on a small grill like the one we have at our apartment complex. The tips stay cool if you keep them off the grill so they’re easier to remove.

These skewers were SO flavorful and tender. I marinated chunks of steak in a mixture of Thai basil, rice vinegar, fish sauce, and two herbs that Gourmet Garden sent as part of #10DaysofTailgate–lemongrass and chili pepper. This was my first time using those tubes of herbs and I have to say that they were super convenient, especially for something like lemongrass that you might not normally purchase. [If you want, check ’em out on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.] While fresh herbs are definitely my first choice for seasonings, I’ll definitely consider Gourmet Garden in future! For my skewers, I added bell peppers and onions to the beef but feel free to use whatever veggies you like. 🙂 Next time I make these skewers I’d love to add fresh mango or pineapple AND use coconut milk in the marinade instead of water. I highly suggest YOU try those additions. 🙂 Enjoy!

three years ago: Honey Mint Glazed Chicken
four years ago: Citrus Tilapia

Thai Beef Skewers

Servings: 4
Time: 4 hours 30 minutes
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Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Thai basil – can also substitute cilantro or Italian basil
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup oil
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon Lemongrass Paste from Gourmet Garden
1 teaspoon Chili Pepper Paste from Gourmet Garden
5-10 drops fish sauce
3/4-1 pound steak, cut into 2 inch cubes
1 green bell pepper, cut into 2 inch squares
1/2 yellow bell pepper, cut into 2 inch squares
1/2 red bell pepper, cut into 2 inch squares
1/2 sweet or red onion, cut into large squares

Directions:

Combine basil, water, oil, vinegar, Lemongrass paste, Chili Pepper paste, and fish sauce in a large bowl. Use immersion blender to process until smooth. A regular blender or food processor would work as well. Add steak cubes to the mixture, stirring to fully submerge. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours to marinate. After marination is complete, add steak to skewers along with bell peppers and onions. Grill over indirect heat to desired doneness, about 15-20 minutes on a charcoal grill.

If you don’t have a grill, you can try baking the skewers on a rimmed baking sheet at 375 degrees F for 20-30 minutes, turning every 5 minutes. Just follow proper safety precautions such as soaking wooden skewers for 24 hours to prevent the risk of fire. I have not tried baking these, but there are lots of tutorials online on this subject.

Here’s what everyone brought to the table today…

Starters
Chicken Bacon Ranch Taquitos by Things I Make (for Dinner)
Cherry Chipotle Glazed Wings by A Day in the Life on the Farm
Firewired Pancetta-Wrapped Seafood by Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Mains
Maize and Blue Chicken Salad by Sew You Think You Can Cook

Savory Duck Handpies by The Not So Cheesy Kitchen

Slow Cooker Smoky Date Barbecue Chicken Sandwiches by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures

Smokey Red Lentil Chili by Debbi Does Dinner Healthy

Thai Beef Skewers by The Pajama Chef

Sips

Apple Cherry Spice Cocktail by CafeTerraBlog

Dips

Kicked up Spinach Dip by Miss Laura’s Kitchen

Pizza Dip by Making Miracles

Sweets
Peanut Butter & Chocolate Hard Pretzels by The Spiffy Cookie

Disclosure: I received a complementary set of flexible grilling skewers from Firefire and complementary herbs from Gourmet Garden Herbs and Spices as part of my participation in #10DaysofTailgate. I was not compensated in any way–for my time, to create a recipe, or to publish positive comments. I was not required to use these products as part of my recipe. My opinions are my own.

These French Dip Sandwiches cook all day in your crockpot, making a delicious dinner with almost no work!

I almost hate to admit that I made these yummy sandwiches in March, for Ben’s birthday. And I’m just now getting around to sharing them. #whoops! Sorry guys, sometimes I just blog about what I made recently… what sounds good… and forget about what’s been sitting in iPhoto for ages. What will be really bad is when I start blogging about recipes that I made when we lived in Indiana–more than 9 months ago! Oh wait, that’s happened already. #whoopstimestwo

Anyways, back to these sandwiches. As it often goes in our house, the only time I cook “big hunks ‘o meat” are for special occasions or on the weekends. The rest of the time it’s vegetarian fare or meat on the side sort of meals. Obviously, Ben’s birthday qualifies as a special occasion, and he chose French Dip Sandwiches. I know alot of people eat them at restaurants all the time, but I’m not sure I’d ever had one before. Now I’m hooked! I loved how tender and flavorful the beef is in this dish, but my favorite bites included all the extras: a little bit of meat, some soft, meaty onions, and a big hunk of chewy baguette. I used these cute mini baguettes for extra crust on each sandwich. 🙂 Deeeeeelish! I need to make this meal again soon. You can add cheese to the sandwiches if you like too, but it’s flavorful enough as is so we left it off. Enjoy!

one year ago: Kale Pesto Pasta
two years ago: Fresh Tomato & Mozzarella Crostini

Easy Crockpot French Dip Sandwiches

Servings: 4
Time: 6-8 hours
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from What Megan’s Making
Ingredients:

2 cups low-sodium beef broth
1 medium onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/2 pounds beef brisket, trimmed
freshly ground black pepper
1 large baguette—cut into 4 pieces, split horizontally or 4 mini baguettes
4 slices mozzarella cheese, optional

Directions:

Add broth, onion, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, and flour in the bottom of a large crockpot. Whisk to combine. Season the brisket with a generous amount of pepper, then place in the crockpot. Turn to coat with broth, then cover and cook until very tender, approximately 6-8 hours on low or 4-5 hours on high. I cooked mine on low for about 7 hours.

Ten minutes before serving, place brisket on a cutting board and thinly slice against the grain. Alternatively, you can gently shred meat with two forks [this is what I did]. If desired, strain the cooking liquid and reserve onions, then bring cooking liquid to a boil and cook about 5-7 minutes until reduced. [I didn’t do this.]

If using cheese, place cheese on bread and toast at a low broil for a couple minutes, watching carefully. Serve brisket on bread with onions, and serve cooking liquid as au jus on side for dipping.