There’s nothing terribly special about that meal, but that’s one reason I love it so much. I’ve talked before about how doctoring up a little Hamburger Helper can make a simple meal really fancy. Adding fresh mushrooms and onions (sauté them separately, please!), a splash of wine and some fresh asiago to Hamburger Helper Stroganoff [...]

This actually wasn’t the plan when I picked up some pork cubed steaks from the discount meat bin, but when I started poking around for recipe ideas for cubed steak I felt silly for never considering it! Also, it’s ridiculous how easy this was to make. So easy that I’m sure this will become a [...]

Bravado? Maybe a bit, but it’s true. My meatloaf, even when not in MEATCAKE! form, is the stuff of legend. Back when I made the MEATCAKE! I promised a recipe but failed to deliver. Today I give you my secret (modified from Mark Bittman’s recipe in How To Cook Everything). You’re welcome.

CONFESSION: My secret to my chili isn’t shortcut at all. In fact, it’s a gigantic pain, but it makes it so much better. I grind my own very lean meat.

From there it’s hard to say. My chili’s never really the same twice, though I follow the same steps. Brown the meat with plenty of onions [...]

CONFESSION: To say my husband’s a little timid about cooking is an understatement. Still, occasionally he’s willing to tackle dinner, as long as he has VERY SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS. This is the email I sent him to make this delicious beef stew. You really can’t go wrong with this recipe, just season to taste (I season [...]

Tonight’s dinner was the product of a fridge full of mustgo. A pound of ground beef, some multicolored cauliflower from the farmer’s market and some leftover curry paste. I’d never thought about making curried ground beef, so I was shocked when I found that ground meat actually had a name.

I kind of wished I could [...]

I’m not afraid to mix my Asian cuisines. Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Thai—if it comes from Mitsuwa it all overlaps in my kitchen. Trader Joes also has pre-marinated Korean Boolgogi (or Bulgogi), but I prefer the stuff from our favorite Asian grocer.
Again using the peppers and onions from the taco party, I stir fried the marinated [...]

CONFESSION: Campbell’s taught me how to cook. The first cookbook I ever used regularly was Campbell’s Quick and Easy Cookbook. While my dad has a lot to do with my love of cooking, this was the first cookbook that taught me how to shortcut through recipes and how to begin experimenting with the possibilities of [...]

I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with Corned Beef & Cabbage. For one, there’s just no good shortcuts for it. Sure, you can make it all in the crock pot, but then you get mushy, fatty vegetables, which is just no fun. So this time my shortcut was simple: I made my husband start it [...]

CONFESSION: I just can’t keep anything simple. Even something as basic as sloppy joes I have to play around with, find a way to make it more interesting, usually by adding more vegetables and some herbs to a prepared sauce.
That said, I also make the best sloppy joes on the planet. My secrets?

Sauté an onion, [...]

Yes-indeedy, this is absolutely what you think this is, and exactly what it shouldn’t be. It’s a MEATCAKE!!! Featuring three tiers of meatloaf with mashed potato icing and glazed with a delicious ketchup glaze, I was inspired by the awesome recipe by Black Widow Bakery.  It’s late, so I’ll be posting my own step-by-steps and [...]

There are no shortcuts to ropa vieja, a Spanish-inspired dish from Cuba that translates literally to “old clothes”. I’ve tried modifying it for the crock pot, but this is a meal that takes 4 hours to make, plain and simple. But boy is it worth it.
Our friends Tracy and Derek were coming by for the [...]