Author: mitchellmeals

Hamburger Gravy

Jeff LOVES this meal and says he could eat it every fast Sunday after 24 hours of eating nothing. Jeff’s family used to have hamburger gravy pretty often when they were growing up. And they usually used 1 lb. of beef for their 8+ member family. But we like it very beefy and Jeff loves the leftovers, so we usually do 2 lbs. of beef and use a 5 lb. bag of potatoes to make mashed potatoes. It’s also very easy if you have pot roast gravy in your freezer, which we usually do. I just microwave it for several minutes to thaw before adding it to the beef.

If you’re making it gluten free, just make sure that your gravy is gluten free. I usually make gravy from pot roast broth or beef broth and thicken it with cornstarch.

Make it a meal with:

Hamburger Gravy

  • Servings: 6?
  • Difficulty: easy
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Easy and hearty–serve with mashed potatoes and corn.

Ingredients

  • 2 lb. Ground Beef
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • 1-2 jars Beef Gravy (like this) or 1 container thawed homemade pot roast gravy from freezer (size can vary based on how much liquid you want–we often freeze a Cool Whip container full)
  • (Serve with mashed potatoes and corn)

Directions

In a large deep skillet, brown the beef and add salt and pepper to taste. Add gravy and warm through. Serve with mashed potatoes and corn.


Sweet Potato Casserole

I’m not a huge fan of sweet potatoes, but my daughter loved them when she was a baby, so I looked up something to use them for Thanksgiving. And wow, this is amazing! I guess technically it’s a side dish, but it’s more of a sweet dessert, with all the butter and brown sugar. Grandma Alice had a similar recipe, so I combined a few elements of hers with the one from Food Network.

If you’re making it gluten free, just replace the regular flour with gluten free flour like Bob’s Red Mill.

Make it a meal with:

Sweet Potato Casserole

  • Servings: 6
  • Difficulty: medium
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Whether side dish or dessert, it’s perfect for fall and Thanksgiving.

Ingredients

Filling

  • 1 3/4 lb. Sweet Potatoes (about 2-3 large), peeled and cubed (or 2 cans, about 3 c.)

  • 1/4 c. Melted Butter, plus more for buttering the baking dish

  • 1/2 c. Brown Sugar

  • 1/2 c. Milk or Evaporated Milk
  • 1/2 tsp. Salt
  • 1 tsp. Vanilla
  • 2 Eggs

Topping

  • 1/4 c. Melted Butter
  • 1/2 c. Brown Sugar
  • 1/2 c. Flour (or 1/2 c. gluten free flour with xanthan gum)
  • 1/4 tsp. Salt
  • 3/4 c. Chopped Pecans

Directions

For the sweet potatoes: Add 1 3/4 pounds peeled and cubed sweet potatoes to a large pot of salted water. Bring to a boil , then lower to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are very tender, 15-20 minutes. Drain and cool, then mash.

For the filling: Preheat to 350° and butter a 2-quart baking dish (11×7). Whisk together the butter, mashed sweet potatoes, brown sugar, milk, salt, vanilla, and eggs in a large bowl. Transfer to the prepared baking dish.

For the topping: Combine the butter, brown sugar, flour, and salt in a medium bowl until moist and the mixture clumps together. Stir in the pecans. Spread the mixture over the top of the sweet potatoes in an even layer. Bake until mostly set in the center and golden on top, 25-30 minutes. Serve hot.


 

Chili Lime Corn

We actually went looking for this recipe because Disneyland often has delicious-smelling corn on the cob. I can’t remember if we ever actually tried the corn at Disneyland, haha, but we found this recipe on Food Network and adapted it. Since then, we’ve made it a lot over the years.

You can top frozen corn with just the flavorings after microwaving (obviously it’s not 100% the same). And sometimes we’ll be short on time and we’ll boil the corn cobs beforehand and then grill for just a few moments–but the best flavor comes from letting the corn grill from raw. The original recipe called for grilling the ears in the husk, but we didn’t have good results with that–so we went to aluminum foil. And you generally only need one lime for this recipe if it’s large enough and juicy enough.

Sometimes the flavor is very subtle, so we’ve sometimes doubled the butter mixture for the corn. You spread it on with a spoon or pastry brush. Here’s what it looks like with a single batch:

And this one is naturally gluten free.

Make it a meal with:

Chili Lime Corn

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy-medium
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Delicious flavors, but it usually takes longer to make than I think. Double batch for more flavor.

Ingredients

  • 4 Tbsp. Butter, at room temperature (you can melt if you’re in a hurry)

  • 1 1/2 tsp. Lime Zest

  • 1 Tbsp. Lime Juice

  • 1 tsp. Chili Powder

  • 1/4 tsp. Dried Minced Garlic

  • 1 tsp. Salt

  • 1/2 tsp. Pepper

  • 4 Ears of Corn, husked
  • (Aluminum foil for wrapping)

Directions

Preheat grill to medium. In a small bowl, combine butter, lime zest, juice, chili powder, garlic, salt, and pepper and set aside. Tear off a piece of foil for each ear of corn. Place an ear of corn on the foil, then spread butter mixture evenly on corn with a spoon or pastry brush. Wrap each ear in foil tightly, to keep juices in. Grill for 15-20 minutes, turning every 5 minutes.


Cilantro Lime Rice

I make this rice a lot as a side for taco salad, to go in fajitas, or of course to go with sweet pork burritos or salad. I usually end up getting the rice started to cook and then work on adding the rest of the ingredients–and by the time the 15 minutes of cooking is up, I finally have finished adding all the other ingredients. I think the zesting and juicing the lime takes the most time. But it’s still pretty fast and easy. And often instead of adding chicken broth, I’ll do a heaping 2 tsp. of chicken base with 2 1/4 c. water.

This recipe is adapted from melskitchencafe.com, which has lots of great recipes that you should check out–I’m just including it here for my convenience and because I don’t make any money off this blog.

And this one is naturally gluten free.

Make it a meal with:

Cilantro Lime Rice

  • Servings: 6
  • Difficulty: easy-medium
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Great with sweet pork, taco salad, and fajitas.

Ingredients

  • 1 Tbsp. Butter
  •  1 1/4 c. Rice
  •  2 1/4 c. Chicken Broth (or 2 heaping tsp. chicken base with 2 1/4 c. water)
  •  1 scant tsp. Salt
  •  1/4 tsp. Pepper
  •  Juice and Zest of 1 Large Lime
  •  2 Tbsp. Cilantro, chopped
  •  1/4 tsp. Cumin

Directions

In a pan, melt the butter and add the rice. Stir, letting the rice and butter cook for 1-2 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and cook for 15-16 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes (I’m usually in too much of a rush for this step). Fluff with fork and serve.


 

Cafe Rio Jalapeno Ranch Dressing

This dressing is amazing! And it’s easy because you just throw everything in the blender. It’s great on a sweet pork salad and also inside a sweet pork burrito. I adapted this from a recipe on The Recipe Critic. It often turned out pretty runny and not spicy enough (albeit still delicious), so I made some adjustments. I’m not sure if it’s 100% a Cafe Rio copycat, but I love it. Sometimes 2 jalapenos can be really hot, but I think I’d prefer a little too much heat in the dressing to basically none. Otherwise you might as well make plain ranch.

And this one is naturally gluten free.

Make it a meal with:

Cafe Rio Jalapeno Ranch Dressing

  • Servings: 10?
  • Difficulty: easy
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Use 2 jalapenos if you want it to have any heat (1 is usually very mild).

Ingredients

  • 1 packet Ranch Dressing Mix
  • 1 c. Mayonnaise
  • 2 Tomatillos, husk removed and cut in chunks
  • 1/2 bunch Fresh Cilantro (discard stems)
  • 1 tsp. Minced Garlic
  • Juice of 1 Lime
  • 1-2 Jalapenos with seeds, cut in chunks (2 if you want any heat)
  • Up to 1 c. Buttermilk for desired consistency (or 1 c. milk + 1 Tbsp. lemon juice) (or just use regular milk)

Directions

Place all ingredients except buttermilk in a blender and pulse until smooth and creamy. Then blend in milk gradually until you reach your desired consistency. Sometimes you won’t need to add much milk at all.


 

Pico de Gallo Salsa

If I’m going to have chips and salsa, I love to have pico. I love the fresh made salsa at Harmons and wish I had a recipe for it, but this is a pretty good recipe adapted from one on All Recipes. Just make sure you give it lots of time to sit, so it can absorb the flavors.

And this one is naturally gluten free, just like the tortilla chips you eat with it.

Make it a meal with:

Pico de Gallo

  • Servings: 8?
  • Difficulty: easy-medium
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Chopping takes a while, but it’s delicious and easy to come together.

Ingredients

  • 6 Roma Tomatoes, diced
  • 1 large Red Bell Pepper or 2 small Green Bell Peppers, diced
  • ½ White or Red Onion, minced
  • 3 Tbsp. Cilantro, chopped
  • 1 Jalapeno, seeded and minced
  • Juice of 1 lime (or 1/2 if it’s very juicy)
  • 1 tsp. Minced Garlic
  • 1 pinch Garlic Powder
  • Salt (quite a bit) and Pepper to taste

Directions

Stir all ingredients in a bowl, then cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours so flavors can meld.


 

Magic Shell (Any Flavor)

When I was growing up, my favorite dipped cone at Dairy Queen was butterscotch. But of course they discontinued it. And they don’t do cherry anymore either. But I’d heard that all you need to make Magic Shell is baking chips and coconut oil. And you know what? They’re right! It’s so easy! If you want to dip, just get a glass and make sure your scoops are secured well before dipping. Hurray for the return of my butterscotch dipped cones!

And luckily this one is naturally gluten free. But if you want to save it for future use, make sure everyone else only uses gluten free ice creams and cones in the dip.

Magic Shell & Dip

  • Servings: 6?
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print


Fun and easy for summer

Ingredients

  • 1 c. Baking Chips (any flavor, like butterscotch, peanut butter, chocolate, mint chocolate, etc.)
  • 3 Tbsp. Coconut Oil (measured when solid or liquid)

Directions

Microwave the chips and oil for 30 seconds in a medium glass, then stir until smooth (microwaving 20 seconds more if needed). Allow to cool for a few minutes before topping your ice cream or dipping. For dips, scoop your ice cream and make sure it’s secure before turning upside down and dipping. Allow the excess to drip off, then flip rightside up again. Store excess at room temperature in a sealed container, then microwave and stir well before using again.

 


“Disneyland” Cinnamon Rolls

I’ve never had cinnamon rolls at Disneyland, but a friend posted this recipe from magicalrecipes.net and said they were supposed to be like the cinnamon rolls at Disneyland. In any case, they are the best cinnamon rolls I’ve had (albeit time-consuming), and I’ve made them several times (modifying slightly each time). I think the pudding is what makes it so amazingly moist. And you can make them GIGANTIC or slightly larger than normal. It makes two big pans, so I generally freeze leftovers and then reheat them in the microwave–delicious!

Well, before I was diagnosed with celiac, that is. If you’re looking for a gluten free version, I’d probably try a different recipe. I haven’t tried a gluten free cinnamon roll recipe yet, but it will definitely not be as fluffy as these. Sigh. At least they’ll have cream cheese frosting, one of the best things on earth.

Disneyland Cinnamon Rolls

  • Servings: 24?
  • Difficulty: hard
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Moist, huge, and delicious, but very time-consuming and uses lots of flour

Ingredients

Dough
  • 1/2 c. Warm Water
  • 2 pkgs. Yeast
  • 2 Tbsp. Sugar
  • 1 (3 1/2 oz.) pkg. Instant Vanilla Pudding
  • 2 c. Milk
  • 1/2 c. Butter, melted
  • 2 Eggs, beaten
  • 1 tsp. Salt
  • 8 c. Flour

Filling

  • 1 c. Butter, softened
  • 2 c. Brown Sugar
  • 2 Tbsp. Cinnamon
Cream Cheese Frosting
  • 1 8-oz. pkg. Cream Cheese, softened
  • 1/2 c. Butter, softened
  • 1 tsp. Vanilla
  • 3 c. Powdered Sugar
  • 2 Tbsp. Milk

Directions

For the dough, in a small bowl, combine water, yeast, and sugar and stir until dissolved. Set aside. In large bowl, mix pudding according to package instructions with milk. To this add 1/2 cup melted butter, egg, and salt. Mix well, then add yeast mixture and blend well. Gradually add flour and knead until smooth. Place in a very large greased bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in size.

Punch down and let rise again for a second time.

Roll dough on a very large floured surface. Dough should roll out to a long rectangle, about 34 x 21 inches in size.

For filling, spread the soft butter over the dough. In small bowl, mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon, then sprinkle over the buttered dough. Roll dough up tightly like a jelly roll.

Measure dough every 2 inches and cut with a knife or dental floss. Take each roll into the palm of your hand and gently pack the roll (this keeps it from coming apart during baking). Place each roll in a buttered baking pan and allow to rise in a warm place for about 20 minutes.

Bake at 350° until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.

For cream cheese frosting, combine all ingredients in mixing bowl and mix until smooth. Spread on slightly warm rolls.


 

GF Pizza Crust

For basically every recipe, I prefer to have a gluten free version of the regular one. But pizza crust is just so different. Gluten is so integral to that stretchy, elastic dough. So I searched out a gluten free version. With gluten free, you basically always get a dough that looks more like Play D’oh or frosting, then you spread it out on parchment paper. I found this recipe on glutenfreepalate.com and am posting it here (slightly modified) so I don’t have to scroll through tons of pages of text and ads (and because I don’t make any money off this blog–it’s just so I have an electronic version of my own recipe book). If you’d like more details and pictures, make sure to visit their website.

In any event, this recipe is great because you don’t need to wait for it to rise. You can also bake a crust and freeze it to top later. Of course you don’t get fluffy, airy crusts, but it’s easy, chewy, and delicious, and you can make it as thick as you want. That’s one of the things about gluten free crusts–a lot of restaurants use the Udi’s crust, which is fine but thin–more like a really thick tortilla. So it’s refreshing to make it thicker. Here’s a picture of the thickness that I make (the black specks are extra basil on top):

Here’s an even thicker one:

Make it a meal with:

  • Green Salad
  • Root Beer

Gluten Free Pizza Crust

  • Servings: 1 pizza
  • Difficulty: easy-medium
  • Print


Chewy, easy, and delightful.

Ingredients

  • 3/4 c. Warm Water

  • 1 Tbsp. Sugar

  • 1 pkg. Yeast

  • 2 c. Gluten Free Flour with Xanthan Gum (like Bob’s Red Mill cup for cup)

  • 1 tsp. Salt

  • 1 Egg

  • 1 Tbsp. Olive Oil

  • 1 tsp. Vinegar

Directions

Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 450°. In the bowl of a stand mixer, place water, sugar, and yeast, and let it sit for about 5 minutes or until it’s foamy. (Note: For measuring gluten free flour, always spoon into the measuring cup and level off with a knife instead of scooping out with the measuring cup.) Add the rest of the ingredients and mix with the paddle attachment on low speed for 1 minute. Using an oiled spatula, scrape the dough onto a sheet of parchment paper and use oiled hands to spread into your desired size and shape (about 10-12″). Place the parchment on the pizza stone and bake for 10 minutes or until slightly golden brown. Carefully remove from oven with the paper (remember parchment can get brittle and break easily after baking), then add toppings, return with paper to the stone, and bake for another 10-15 minutes until golden brown.


 

Naan (Regular or GF)

Whenever we make naan, Jeff says, “I always forget how amazing naan is. I just want to eat the whole batch!” Haha. This recipe is adapted slightly from Aarti at the Food Network, and it’s so delightfully soft and buttery. Her recipe calls for added seeds, but I find that it doesn’t need it. Also, I usually like to double the batch so I can use my whole envelope of yeast (with a little extra added)–then I just freeze the leftovers. When I’m ready to use the frozen leftovers, I just put them in a 350 degree oven for a few minutes, and they’re just as good as fresh made. Make sure to eat the naan hot for the best experience.

I’ve made these regular and gluten free, and both are amazing. If you’re making these gluten free, just make sure to use gluten free cup for cup flour with a little extra, and some extra baking powder (they included a note in the Food Network recipe, and I’m so grateful). Actually, the original recipe says to use gluten free all-purpose flour with an added 1 1/4 tsp. xanthan gum, but I only had the cup for cup. So I used that with no added xanthan gum and it was just fine. Of course like any gluten free bread dough, it ends up looking more like Play D’oh or frosting than stretchy bread dough. But that’s normal. You don’t need to roll it out with a rolling pin–I just use my hands. The edges are a little more ragged than the regular one and it’s not quite as fluffy, but it’s still amazing and soft. I still don’t think I would’ve known it was gluten free. If you eat the gluten free ones after freezing or letting them cool down, make sure you heat them up very thoroughly or the edges can be almost crunchy. But when they’re fully warm, they’re delightfully soft and chewy. Here’s a picture of the gluten free version:

Make it a meal with:

Naan

  • Servings: 6
  • Difficulty: medium
  • Print


Soft, warm, and buttery–make extra and freeze for later.

Ingredients

  • 1 tsp. Yeast

  • 3/4 c. Warm Water

  • 2 tsp. Sugar

  • 2 c. Flour (or 2 1/4 c. gluten free flour with xanthan gum)

  • 1 tsp. Salt

  • 1/8 tsp. Baking Powder (or rounded 1/8 tsp. for gluten free)

  • 3 Tbsp. Plain Yogurt

  • 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil

  • Melted butter for slathering on the finished naans

Directions

In a large glass, dissolve the yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar with 3/4 cup warm water (about 100 degrees F). Let it sit on your counter until it’s frothy, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, sift the flour, salt, remaining 1 teaspoon of sugar and baking powder into a large, deep bowl.

Once the yeast is frothy, add the yogurt and the olive oil into the glass, and stir to combine. Pour the yogurt mixture into the dry ingredients and gently mix the ingredients together with a fork. When the dough is about to come together, use your hands to mix. It will feel like there isn’t enough flour at first, but keep going until it transforms into a soft, slightly sticky and pliable dough. As soon as it comes together, stop kneading. Cover the dough with plastic wrap, place in a warm area, and let rise for 2 to 4 hours.

When you’re ready to roll, the dough will be extremely soft and sticky. Separate the dough into 6 equal portions and lightly roll each one in extra flour. Using a rolling pin, roll each piece of dough into a teardrop shape, narrower at the top than at the bottom. It should be 8 to 9-inches long, 4-inches wide at its widest point and about 1/4-inch thick. Once you’ve formed the general shape, you can also pick it up by one end and wiggle it; the dough’s own weight will stretch it out a little. Repeat this method with the rest of the dough. (If you’re making them gluten free, just use your hands instead of rolling.)

Heat a heavy pan over high heat, then lay the naan on the skillet. Let it cook and bubble for about 1 minute per side. It should be blistered and somewhat blackened, as is traditional. 

Remove the naan from the skillet, brush with butter, and cover with a towel to keep warm. Serve warm.