Low Country Beef & Rice

Have I ever told you how much I love one dish meals?  Seriously.  They just find me and I love to make them.  I found this one in a great cookbook that I have already shared.  It's called Saving Dinner.  So Sunday was a good day to throw this one together since I had been on church assignment 1 1/2 hours away for half the day.  And just a little note, I left out the fresh, chopped tomatoes when I first made this.  They were right there in the dish drain but we were in such a hurry to eat, I forgot about them.  I added them in the next day and reheated the dish for my supper and believe me it was even better!

Ingredients:

3/4 lb. extra-lean ground beef (I used a whole pound and it was fine.)

1 stalk celery, chopped fine (used my re-hydrated Thrive celery, already chopped.)

1 large onion, chopped (or re-hydrate some Thrive chopped onion, no tears.)

1 small green pepper, chopped (what do you think?  Yep, freeze-dried green peppers)

1 t. Cajun seasoning

1 cup oats (recipe did not specify, so I used quick oats)

3 cups brown rice (I had some Sushi rice to use up)

3 medium tomatoes, chopped--don't forget!!

2 11.5-oz. cans V-8 juice

1.  In a skillet, over medium-high heat, cook beef, celery, onion, bell pepper, and Cajun seasoning about 4 minutes, stirring frequently, until beef is brown and vegetables are tender.

2.  Blot any excess grease with a paper towel.  I didn't have any grease.

3.  Stir in oats and mix well.  Add remaining ingredients.

4.  Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to simmer, uncovered, for about 5 minutes.

Source:  Leanne Ely, "Saving Dinner: The Menus, Recipes, and Shopping Lists to Bring Your Family Back to the Table," p. 148.

Roasted Baby Red Potatoes with Garlic & Thyme

So how many great recipes have you gotten off of a food package?  Yeah, me too!  This one came in really handy.  I had to come up with a meal on the fly while in the meat section of Walmart.  I decided to get small red potatoes because they would cook fast and I did not have a lot of time after work to put this meal together.  As I was preparing to boil the potatoes--and I hate waiting for the water to boil--I saw this recipe on the bag and thought that roasting would be so much quicker.  And there you go--a tasty side dish that was not a lot of work.

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs. baby red potatoes, cut into bite-size pieces
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 t. freshly ground black pepper
8 cloves garlic, chopped (I just used whatever minced garlic I had in the fridge.  I need to buy some more)
6 sprigs fresh thyme, or you can use dried thyme.

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  
2. Combine all ingredients in baking dish and mix well.
3. Bake, uncovered, for 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender and browned.
4. Stir gently a couple of times during cooking time.
5. Remove from oven and serve warm.

NOTE:  I am going to add some chopped onion next time.  I think that would be really yummy.

SOURCE:  Melissa's Baby Red Potatoes, package recipe. Check out their site HERE.

Lemon Mashed Potatoes

When I was a kid, my mom used to make lemon potatoes. She would cut and par-boil her potatoes and then pour lemon juice over them and add some dried parsley. I decided to alter the recipe a bit and came up with this yummy version of lemon mashed potatoes. It is a great side dish to go along with fish and I like to make them with my halibut cakes. They have a lot of lemon flavor without being too sour.

Lemon Mashed Potatoes

2 lbs. Yukon gold potatoes
1 C. Milk
1/4 C. Butter
1/3-1/2 C. Lemon juice
2 tsp. Lemon zest
1 tsp. Salt
2 tsp. Chopped fresh parsley (or a little bit of dried parsley)
Pepper to taste 

Directions:
1. Scrub the potatoes and cut them into chunks. Place in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and continue boiling until tender. 10-20 minutes.
2. Drain the potatoes, add in the butter and milk and mash with a masher until you reach your desired consistency.
3. Stir in the lemon juice, lemon zest, parsley, salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

Serves about 6-8