Chorizo Beef Nachos

I wasn't to sure about tonight's dinner, Chorizo-Beef Nachos. Part of me wished I had just made a second batch of what I made for The Williams tonight, Cream Cheese Chicken Chili. But I kept telling myself, it's good to try new things even if you don't like them.
I have never used or eaten Chorizo before. As it was cooking I had planned on ordering a pizza. Because in my mind no one was going to like it and it was going to be wasted food. Much to my surprise though everyone liked it and it was quite yummy.
Instead of using a Skirt Steak I used the leftovers from the meal I made Monday, Crockpot Italian Beef.

Note: I did not take the above picture it is from the recipe that I linked to.

New weekly posting.

I can't believe that I have let these blogs go. Not anymore though. I will update this blog once a week with all the yummy goodness that we have found. I haven't decided what day yet, Maybe Monday and I will post about the yummy's from the previous week.

Dinner success!

Last night for dinner I made 3 new dishes. I made melt in your mouth Chicken, Creamy Cheesy Potatoes, and Gooey Chocolate Skillet Cake.

They were all so yummy!

I also made Banana Bread because the bananas needed to be used.
I haven't tried it yet but it smelled delicious.

If you want the recipes just click on the name of the dish.

WOW, it's been a while since I have taken the time to sit down and blog. I have made some very yummy dishes since. I am going to list them and you can click on the name of the dish to get to the recipe. Hope you enjoy some of the things we have enjoyed.


Mac and Cheese

Enfrijoladas

Flour Tortillas

Taco Bake

Mexican Stuffed Shells

Ravioli Bake

Baked Spaghetti

Santa Fe Enchiladas

The Santa Fe Enchiladas, the Enfrijoladas, the Taco Bake, and the Mexican Stuffed Shells are among our favorites.

With a couple of the recipes I am going to do some different things next time I make them or have done the second time around. Here they are:

Mexican Stuffed Shells
I add corn to the meat mixture

Bake Ravioli
I make it a little more simple. I use spaghetti sauce, frozen cheese ravioli, and Italian blend cheeses, 1/2 sausage, 1/2 burger.

Enfrijoladas
You could use beef, chicken or beans. But I used shredded chicken with taco seasoning as a filler with the cheese.

Baked Spaghetti
This is a little dry, it needs more sauce than I used the first time around.


Hope you try one my favs soon and enjoy it as much as we have.

Update of the past week of cooking.

Okay so I am starting to feel a little better so I figured I should catch up on my blogging. I have made several new things in the past week. I have made Mexican Stuffed Shells, Pasta Pie, and Kentucky Pie.

Eli made Cheddar and Ale Soup with Bacon and Potato, Bacon and Cheddar Scones and Irish Beef Stew.

If you click on the name of each dish it will take you to the recipe.

We really did not care for the Cheddar and Ale soup.

All the rest of the recipes are so good. The Mexican stuffed shells were so good. The filling for them was outstanding, I added some corn to it. Actually tomorrow night I am making the filling and I am going to bake it on Nacho Chips.

It's been a while since I have posted things that I have made. I got sick last week and am still trying to recover. Hopefully I feel better soon and can get back on track with everything. Last night I made Pasta Pie. It was good but the next time I make it I will be changing it a bit. Here is the recipe:

Pasta Pie
Adapted from Martha Stewart

1 pound rigatoni
2 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 pound ground beef (I used ground sirloin)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 can (28 ounces) good quality crushed tomatoes
Butter, for pan
Salt
1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
8 ounces coarsely grated mozzarella

In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook pasta until slightly underdone (I cooked mine for 12 minutes when the box indicated 14 minutes). One pound of pasta should be cooked in 6 quarts of water, make sure you are using a big enough pot so the pasta doesn't stick together. When done, rinse in cold water and drain again. Toss pasta with 1 Tablespoon olive oil to coat. Set aside.

Heat remaining 1 Tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add ground beef. Cook, stirring occasionally until browned. Add garlic, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper. Cook 2 minutes more.

Add crushed tomatoes; simmer until thickened, about 20 minutes.

Toss pasta with Parmesan cheese. Butter a 9-inch springform pan. Tightly pack pasta into pan, standing each piece on end. Spread meat sauce on top of pasta.

Push the meat sauce into the pasta holes filling each one up. Stuffing the meat into the holes is a weirdly satisfying task. Enough said.

Place in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top and bake another 10-15 minutes until cheese is golden. Remove from oven and let stand for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edge to loosen and then unmold.

Cut into wedges and serve with any remaining meat sauce you might have.


The next time I make it I am going to use spaghetti sauce instead of the crushed tomatoes. We also thought it would be good with 1/2 ground beef and 1/2 sausage instead of all ground beef.

Italian Love Cake

This cake is a must try. It is another Pinterest find. It is so yummy and was really easy to make. I should have taken a picture but I didn't.

Italian Love Cake
Cook Time: 1 Hr

Ingredients
1 bx marble cake mix
2 pt ricotta cheese
3/4 c sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 3/4 oz instant chocolate pudding
1 c milk
8 oz whipped topping

Directions

1 Mix Cake mix as directed on box. Pour this into a 9x13 cake pan that is greased and floured.

2 In a bowl combine the ricotta, sugar, eggs,and vanilla. Mix well. Spooon over top of unbaked cake. Bake for 1 hour in a 350 degree oven. Cool completely.

3 Mix pudding with the milk and fold in whipped topping. Spread over cake and then refrigerate until topping is set or ready to sever.

4 NOTE: For marble cake you can use a yellow cake mix and hold out one cup of yellow mix already made and mix 1/4 cup of coco into the one cup of yellow mix. spoon the coco mix over yellow cake mix and run a knife thru it to make a marble cake.