French Dip Sandwiches

My family loves roast beef, so needless to say these french dip sandwiches made with a pot roast are a hit. This is a simple supper to make and very tasty. You can cook your roast in the oven or in the crockpot. Both ways are delicious.

French Dip Sandwiches

by Chelsey W.

1 beef roast (I like rump roasts, buy whatever size fits your family)

salt & pepper

1-2 packets of Lipton onion soup mix (1 for small roast, 2 for large one)

water

1 Au jus sauce packet (found by gravy mixes)

provolone or swiss cheese (optional)

crusty rolls

butter

Place frozen or thawed beef roast in roasting pan with a lid (for oven version) or in a crockpot. Salt and pepper roast generously on all sides. Fill pot with water until it's about halfway covering the roast. A little less water if using the crockpot. Sprinkle 1 packet of onion soup on a small 2-3 lb roast and 2 packets for a larger roast. Cover roast with lid and cook in the oven at 275 degrees until fully cooked. Cooking time depends on the size of the roast and if it was frozen or not. Check it after about 4 hrs in the oven. You want the meat to shred easily when you pull on it with a fork. If its tough it needs more cooking time. I like to turn the roast over half way through cooking. Keep an eye on oven roasts to make sure there is water and it doesn't all evaporate. You want drippings. If using the crockpot prepare roast the same way and cook it on high for 6-8 hrs. When fully cooked remove fat from the meat, shred it with a fork, then place it back in the juices. Stir in the packet of Au Jus powder to roast juices. Let the meat continue to cook for at least 1/2 hr. Slice crusty rolls (firm outside) and butter both sides of bread. Broil buttered sides up in oven or place on a griddle until golden brown. Place shredded beef on the rolls and add a slice of cheese if you'd like. Put roast juices in small bowls and use to dip sandwiches.

Taco Chip Dip

This chip dip can be eaten as an appetizer or we usually make it for a simple supper. I don't have exact measurements for you because you can just make the layers as thick as you want. Customize the size according to your family.

Taco Chip Dip
by Chelsey W.

1 lb ground beef
1 packet taco seasoning (I like McCormick Original)
1 can refried beans
1 jar salsa
2 c shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream
tortilla chips

Brown the ground beef. Drain excess fat. Add taco seasoning packet to hamburger. In a 9x13 baking pan spread out the refried beans as the bottom layer. Add the seasoned hamburger as the second layer. Pour a layer of salsa over the hamburger, then top with the shredded cheese. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees until cheese is melted and dip is bubbling. Serve hot with sour cream and tortilla chips.

Navajo Tacos

Navajo Tacos are a favorite of mine. Basically they are a taco but instead of using taco shells you put all the toppings on fried bread (scones). I always get one when I'm at a fair or on the 4th of July at a booth. I actually think homemade ones are better though. I use prepared bread dough to make it easy like Rhodes. But you can use homemade bread dough or get authentic and make Navajo Fry Bread which is pretty easy to make. I also prefer taco meat over the chili that they use at fairs. This is something we always eat when we go camping because it's easy to cook the scones in oil in a dutch oven. Be sure to make extra scones and serve them warm with syrup or honey-butter for a delicious treat.

Navajo Tacos
by Chelsey W.

Rhodes bread dough or rolls, thawed
vegetable oil
1lb ground beef
packet of taco seasoning (I like McCormick brand)
cheddar cheese, shredded
salad lettuce
salsa
sour cream
*other topping ideas include chili, chopped onions, tomatoes, olives

Cook the ground beef and add taco seasoning to meat. Prepare and set out toppings. For the fried bread (scones) heat oil in large pot or dutch oven. You want a medium heat for the oil. To test it put a small piece of dough in the pot and see how it cooks. You want your bread to be golden brown on the outside and cooked through on the inside. Take some bread dough and depending on the size of scone you want to make (I usually put two rolls together) stretch or roll it out like you would a thick pizza crust then drop it in the oil to cook. Once the bottom side is cooked to a golden color, flip it over with metal tongs to cook the other side. Be careful about splattering oil. Lift scone out when done and place on paper towels to absorb extra oil. To make taco simply place fried bread on the bottom then add meat or chili, cheese, lettuce, and other desired toppings. Serve immediately.

Chicken & Gravy

This chicken & gravy is easy to make and sure to be a family favorite.

Chicken & Gravy
by Chelsey W.

4 chicken breasts
1 Family size can of cream of mushroom soup
1 cup whipping cream
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp paprika

Mix together the seasonings and sprinkle over chicken in a large casserole dish. In a mixing bowl stir together cream of mushroom soup and cream and pour over chicken. Cover and Bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour. Uncover, stir and allow to thicken for 10 min. Serve over mashed potatoes.

Recipe adapted from Or So She Says...

Easy Chicken Enchiladas

I made some chicken enchiladas that are tasty and easy to make. I'll admit I'm a little weird when it comes to enchiladas because I don't really like tortillas covered in sauce because I think they get soggy. So I like to fry the tortillas in a little oil for a second on each side so they stay a little more crunchy. I guess it's similar to a chimichanga. These taste a lot better than they look in the picture. In fact the chicken filling is so good made with cream cheese that I could eat it all by itself. You can choose whatever type of enchilada sauce you like to put on the top. I like a mild red sauce but you can use green, medium, or hot depending on what you like.

Easy Chicken Enchiladas
by Chelsey W.


4 large chicken breasts
6-8 oz cream cheese
4 oz can green chilies (optional)
10 flour tortillas
2 c shredded cheese (I used cheddar)
1 19oz can or 2 10oz cans enchilada sauce


Fully cook chicken breasts and cut up into bite size pieces. Season with salt, pepper, and a little onion powder. Over low heat stir in about 6 oz of cream cheese with the chicken then taste. You can add all 8 oz if you want. After the cream cheese has melted and coated chicken stir in green chilies (optional).  Fry tortillas in a little oil for just a few seconds on each side if you want crispy enchiladas. In a 9x13 pan pour about 5 oz of enchilada sauce in the bottom. Then spoon chicken filling in the center of the tortillas and sprinkle cheese over the filling. Then fold them closed placing around ten in the pan. Pour the rest of the enchilada sauce on the top and sprinkle with cheese. Bake covered at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until sauce bubbles and cheese has melted. Serve with sour cream, lettuce, or other favorite toppings.

Bajio Chicken {Crockpot}

I found this recipe and was excited because I wanted a good chicken recipe like this one to use in chicken salads, burritos, tacos, and quesadillas. Sweet pork salads are really popular and found at many restaurants. I actually don't care for the sweet pork and usually choose the chicken instead. This is a copycat recipe from the restaurant Bajio made by Your Homebased Mom. I don't think Bajio's chicken is sweet like this is but it's good and is super easy to make. You can then use the chicken for whatever you want. I made some tacos and they were yummy! I've adapted this a little to how I like it. You can add more brown sugar if you want it sweeter or more salsa and green chilies if you want it spicier. This makes a lot of tacos, around ten for us.

Recipe:
3 large chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
3/ 4 c salsa
1 T cumin
1/2 c brown sugar (more if you want it sweeter)
4 oz can of green chilies
6 oz (1/2 can) Sprite

Put all the ingredients in a crock pot and cook for about 5 hrs until chicken is done. Remove the chicken and shred it, then return it to the crock pot for another hour. I tasted the sauce and decided to add more sprite and salsa. You can add more brown sugar too, just make it to your taste. After the final hour you can leave it juicy or thicken the juice a little by mixing together some cornstarch and water in a bowl and then pouring a little in. Serve as a burrito, salad, taco, or quesadilla. It goes great with rice and beans or whatever other Mexican food toppings you enjoy.

"Kicked Up" Taco Salad

This taco salad has great flavor and is fun to make because it's a little different from traditional taco salads. You use Doritos for the chips and add pineapple to the top. Yes, pineapple makes this salad excellent! The sweetness of it tastes great with the spicy taco meat. Give it a try you'll be hooked for life. I first had a taco salad like this at the home of one of my college roomates Luisa, when she invited us to dinner. We loved it and since then I've made it a lot this way. It is a very simple supper and great for parties and get-togethers because guests can customize their salads or even bring one item for it. Below is a list of the ingredients I use in my salads but you can use what you like. There are no measurements because you make it according to how many people your feeding. I like to make my own ranch dressing out of the Hidden Valley Ranch packets. That ranch is much better than the bottled kind.

Recipe:

ground beef

taco seasoning packet (I use Schilling)

Cool Ranch Doritos

lettuce

cheese, shredded

salsa

ranch dressing

pineapple

other ideas:

beans

chili

olives

tomatoes

onions

peppers

sour cream

Brown the ground beef and add taco seasoning packet. On a plate layer Doritos, taco meat, cheese, lettuce, salsa, ranch, and pineapple. Eat! You can add other items of your choice.

Roasted Potatoes

These roasted potatoes make a delicious side dish for any meat. I made this recipe my own by taking a recipe I had and changing it quite a bit. The original recipe lacked flavor and I'm big on seasoning. I like using red potatoes since the skins are thin. This was really quick to make and we scarfed them all up.

Recipe:

4 medium potatoes

6 Tbsp olive oil

2 tsp Rotisserie chicken seasoning

salt

pepper

Lawry's seasoning salt

1/2 c shredded parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray shallow baking dish with non-stick spray. Potatoes need enough room to cook in a single layer. Wash potatoes and dice into 1 inch pieces. Place them in a large ziploc bag then add oil and toss until potatoes are evenly coated. Add 1 tsp of rotisserie seasoning and 1/4 c cheese to bag and toss coating potatoes again. Spread them out on the baking dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and generously with seasoning salt. Stir a little and then sprinkle the rest of the rotisserie seasoning and cheese on the top. Bake for 45 minutes stirring occasionally until the center of potatoes are soft.

Hamburger Stroganoff

I remember eating this often growing up. Probably because it's simple to make and as kids we loved anything with noodles and hamburger in it. It's definitely comfort food. I bet your family will like it too.

Hamburger Stroganoff
by Chelsey W.

1 lb ground beef

garlic, minced

onion, chopped finely

1 1/2 cups sour cream

1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 cans cream of chicken soup

pasta or rice

Cook the ground beef in a large pan with some chopped onion and minced garlic (I often just use garlic powder). Season with salt and pepper. Cook pasta or rice according to package directions. When hamburger is fully cooked add soups and sour cream. Stir and simmer for 10-15 min. Serve the sauce over rice or pasta.

Cheesy Chicken & Rice Bake

When I'm making a grocery list I often ask my husband, "what would you like for a dinner?" He always replies the same, "chicken and rice," which is this Campbells soup recipe. It's fine with me because I love it too and it is probably one of the simplest dinners to prepare out there. You don't have to precook the chicken or rice, you just throw it in a casserole dish and bake it. It has great flavor and we eat it regularly.

The recipe came off of the cream of chicken Campbells soup label a few years back. Now the soup label has this same recipe on it with a different name because they added veggies to it. We are bad and don't care for the veggies in it but you can add one cup of frozen vegetables in it if you'd like.

This recipe only serves enough for 3 or 4 servings. Between my husband and I and our two little boys it's gone. So I've tried doubling it for more people and for some reason it did not work out. The rice was hard and it was all watery and weird even with extra cooking time. I think it has something to do with needing to be in a shallow baking dish. So now if I want more I make it in two separate shallow baking dishes and bake it together and that seems to work fine. So I thought I'd give a heads up to anyone with a large family. Doubling it might work if your baking dish is very large and shallow.

Recipe:

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 1/3 c water

3/4 c uncooked regular long-grain white rice

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp pepper

2 large chicken breasts, halved

1 c shredded cheddar cheese

Mix soup, water, rice, onion powder, and pepper in a 2 qt shallow baking dish. Top with chicken. Cover. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 min. or until chicken is no longer pink and rice is done. Uncover. Stir rice and sprinkle the top with cheese. Cover again and then serve once the cheese melts.

Chicken Fajitas

This is one of our most frequently made suppers. We love it, never get sick of it, it's healthy, and simple to make. Oh and did I mention the flavor is awesome! I actually like these more than a lot of restaurants.

Recipe:

chicken breasts (one breast for each person)

green, red, or yellow bell peppers (one pepper for every three chicken breasts)

large onion (add more than one if making a lot)

salt and pepper

tortillas

shredded cheese

salsa

sour cream

Cut chicken into strips and cook in a little water or oil, in a large frying pan until fully cooked. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cut the bell peppers and onions into strips then add to chicken when it's cooked. Cover frying pan and let the peppers and onions steam in low heat. You may need to add more water and stir occasionally so it doesn't burn. Once peppers and onions have softened serve on tortillas with salsa, sour cream, and cheese.

Chicken Tortellini Skillet

This simple supper was very easy to make with few ingredients. My very picky eating three year old scarfed this down. I couldn't believe how much he ate...he just kept asking for more. So there you have it, it's good! I like using the fresh tortellini from the refrigerated section of the grocery store best.

Recipe:

4 c cheese tortellini

1 lb chicken, cubed (I used two large breasts)

16 oz jar or 2-3 c spaghetti sauce (I'm a Prego fan)

1 c mozzarella cheese 

Cook tortellini according to package directions. Cook chicken in a little oil or water in a large frying pan. Drain tortellini and add to cooked chicken. Stir in spaghetti sauce and sprinkle with cheese. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook 5 min until cheese is melted. Serves 4-5 people.

Tuna Noodle Casserole

This is a simple supper that even the pickiest kids will eat. (I know I have one) It's a comfort food for me because I grew up eating it often. When there's no groceries in the house this is my go to recipe, because I usually have these items in the pantry. I love that it uses tuna so there's no meat to cook. You can add different veggies to it if you want, but for my picky eater I leave them out and it's still good.

Recipe:

3 c uncooked medium noodles (I use macaroni)

1 can tuna fish

1/2 c mayonnaise

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 c milk

1 1/2 c cheddar cheese, divided

Optional: celery, green pepper, onion

Boil and drain noodles according to package directions. In a small bowl combine tuna (drained), mayo, and salt. In a pot or microwave safe bowl stir and heat through cream of chicken soup, milk, and 1 c cheese until it melts. Once cheese has melted add tuna mixture to the soup mixture and heat through a little more. Combine noodles and sauce in a large casserole dish or pot. Sprinkle remaining cheese on the top. Bake uncovered at 425 degrees for 2o-25 min until cheese is slightly brown and sauce is bubbly in the center.

Cheese Steak Sandwich

My husband and I love cheese steak sandwiches so I decided to make up my own version. They're very quick and easy to make and I love a simple supper!

Ingredients:

steak

minced garlic

soy sauce

green pepper

onion

salt

pepper

garlic powder

cheese (swiss, provolone, or mozzarella)

hoagie or ciabatta rolls

Make this recipe to your taste, there's no wrong way. This is what I did. I bought petite sirloin steak on sale for cheap. You can use whatever beef is on sale, steak or roasts. I then thinly sliced the steaks with my electric knife trying to get the meat as thin as possible, almost shaved (trim off the chunks of fat and discard). Since I was using a tough cut of meat I then put the steak in a ziploc bag and poured enough soy sauce in the bag to coat the meat. I put 2 tsp of minced garlic in the bag and let the meat marinade a couple hours to tenderize. When done marinading heat up a pan with a little olive oil and cook the steak. I seasoned to taste with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and soy sauce. Then I threw in a green pepper and onion cut into thin strips, and cooked them with the steak until they turned tender. I cut my hoagie buns in half, buttered them and then broiled them in the oven until they turned light brown. I love buns for sandwiches served this way. I removed the steak from the heat and put slices of provolone cheese on the top and  let it melt. I then simply served the steak on the buns. It was very tasty, Yum!