Smoked Sausage with Black Beans

After just having gotten over a cold a few weeks ago, I’m battling another one now!  So frustrating.  My poor red nose can’t handle being blown anymore! I’m thinking I should be good for another few years after these back to back colds.

My appetite is sadly lacking again at the moment, but I do want to quickly share a recipe today that I think you’ll enjoy 🙂

I love the combination of smoked sausage, beans, and rice together.  Red beans and rice is one of my favorite meals.  This recipe has similar ingredients but with a twist.  It has more of a Southwestern flare.

It’s easy to make, calls for just a few simple ingredients, and is delicious!  What more could you ask for? 🙂

I hope you give this a try, and until next time, Happy Cooking!

Smoked Sausage with Black Beans

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb smoked sausage, thinly sliced
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 cups chopped bell pepper (I used a combo of red and orange)
• 1 can stewed tomatoes
•  1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp oregano
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

Directions:

In a large skillet, cook the sausage until it starts to brown.  Add in the onion, bell pepper, and garlic.  Cook until the vegetables have softened.  Add in all remaining ingredients.  Simmer for about 10-15 minutes, until heated through.  Serve over rice.

Easy Skillet Chili Mac

Food snobs please exit stage right.  Or left.  I don’t particularly care.  Just get thy snobby pants gone.  Thank you kindly.

For the rest of us, let’s discuss some good ol’ chili macaroni!  I bet most all of you have some version of a skillet ground beef and macaroni dish, whether it be called chili mac, goulash, or what have you. 

And if you do, then I’m sure you’ll also agree with me that we all need some recipes like this in our repetoire.  Go-to recipes that are easy, non-fussy, and can be put on the table quickly.  Maybe not something we’d get much enjoyment out of cooking every night, but that there’s definitely a place in our kitchens for once in a while.

If you’re nodding your head right now (okay, maybe not literally nodding), then here’s a great recipe for you!  It comes from my Pillsbury Favorite Casseroles cookbook.  It easily takes less than 30 minutes to make, start to finish (and unlike a certain someone else’s 30 minute meals, you won’t spend another half hour cleaning up the kitchen afterwards…). 

I couldn’t be bothered getting my cheddar cheese out of the freezer, so I just plopped a dollop of Cheese Whiz on top.  I’m oh so gourmet like that 😉

Happy Cooking!

Easy Skillet Chili Mac

Ingredients:

• 6 oz. uncooked elbow macaroni
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 can spicy chili beans, undrained
• 1 can chili-style diced tomatoes
• 1/4 tsp EACH salt and pepper
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Cook macaroni according to package directions.  Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, brown ground beef in a large skillet.  Drain off any grease.  Stir in cooked macaroni, beans, tomatoes, and salt and pepper.  Cook 3-5 minutes, or until bubbly and heated through.  Sprinkle with cheese.

BBQ Cowboy Beans

Well, howdy!  How’s everyone today? 🙂  How about this crazy winter weather, huh??  Wintry conditions all the way down in Miami!  The same weather system is going thru our area up here in Alberta as well.  A snow storm is supposed to roll thru tonight along with winds up to 60km (I don’t know what that is in mph, but it’s windy!).  Don’t nights like this make you just want to curl up under the blankets with a cup of hot cocoa and a good book?

Here’s a nice hot meal that’s really quick and easy to throw together on a weeknight.  Better yet, make it ahead of time then throw it into a freezer bag and freeze until you’re ready for it.  The original recipe comes from a great blog called $5 Dinners and can be found here.  I’m always on the lookout for frugal recipes, and there are tons of wonderful ones to be found there. 

I did make some changes to the recipe, so I’m going to share the recipe the way I made it with y’all.  Instead of the biscuits called for, I decided to make a batch of beer bread.   It made the perfect base for the beef and bean mixture!  Other changes I made were to add in some chopped onion and bell pepper, substitute a 19 oz can of a 6 bean mix for the black and pinto beans called for, and I did not drain the tomatoes.

Here’s the completed dish.  A nice salad to go along with is all you need for a complete meal.

BBQ Cowboy Beans

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 (19 oz) can 6-bean mix
• 1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup bbq sauce
• bread of your choice for serving over

Directions:

Brown the ground beef along with garlic, onion, and bell pepper in a skillet.  Stir in the beans, tomatoes, and bbq sauce.  Simmer for 10-15 minutes until thickened and heated thru.  Serve over beer bread, biscuits, or your choice of bread.

Chicken and Yellow Rice

Today I’m taking a trip down memory lane with this recipe.  I distinctly remember the night I came up with the brilliant idea to add a can of tomatoes and some chicken to a pot of yellow rice.  Boy, you would have thought I’d just discovered I was a master chef, I was so proud of myself.  This was years ago when I had just recently moved out onto my own, so don’t laugh too much at me!

I realize now that it’s not exactly the masterpiece I thought it was back then, but I’m okay with that.  I’m not a master chef, I’m just an ordinary girl who loves to cook, and I hope I never lose the joy that cooking gives me.  I really had to chuckle a little when I thought back to how I even had to make this dish for my parents the next time I was home visiting (though I’m sure they don’t even remember it!).

These days I generally stay away from boxed mixes and that sort of thing, but one thing I do buy regularly is yellow rice.  I’ve tried to make it at home myself without any luck.  So I just have to buy it instead!

Here’s our ingredients for this one pot wonder.  Yep, three.  That’s it.  If you’ve never tried yellow rice before, do yourself a favor and rectify that situation immediately.  Trust me, you’ll thank me.  It’s yummy stuff.  And if you have access to Rotel tomatoes, I highly recommend using a can of that instead of plain tomatoes.  Unfortunately, we are deprived of Rotel where I live.

Very simply, cook up your yellow rice then stir in the chicken and tomatoes, like so.  I think adding a can of beans at this point would be a really nice addition.  Black, pinto, or even pink beans.  Jay, however, is picky about any beans that aren’t in baked form so I was nice and left them out.

And if you want, sprinkle on a little cheese. 

Thanks for coming along with me on this trip down memory lane 🙂

Chicken and Yellow Rice

Ingredients:

• 1 box yellow rice
• 1 (14oz) can diced tomatoes (or Rotel tomatoes)
• 2 cups chopped, cooked chicken
• optional additions:  canned beans, shredded cheese

Directions:

Cook yellow rice according to package directions.  Stir in tomatoes, chicken, and beans (if using).  Let simmer 5-10 minutes until bubbly and heated thru.  Sprinkle servings with cheese, if desired.

Home-Style Salisbury Steak

This week has been kind of a busy one, so I haven’t had as much time to devote to my blog as I would like.  But it would be completely remiss of me if I didn’t at least take the time to share the recipe for one of my all-time favorite comfort foods.  Salisbury steak is one of those foods that has many variations, and everyone has a favorite way of making it.  Well, this is mine, and I hope y’all will give it a try 🙂

First, mix together all your pattie ingredients.

Shape the meat mixture into patties, then brown them in a large skillet.

Remove them, and set them aside.  Now, add the onion to the skillet.  Make sure you leave all the browned bits in the pan, that’s flavor!

Once they’ve begun to soften, sprinkle over the flour.

Add the beef broth and cream of mushroom soup.  Generally, I try avoid canned soups and those kinds of “convenience” products, but I’m okay with taking the shortcut route once in a while.   

Add the patties back to the skillet.  Put the lid on and let it simmer away for 15 minutes.

Time to eat!  The green beans are optional, but mashed potatoes are a MUST with salisbury steak. 

 

Home-Style Salisbury Steak

Ingredients:

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1/4 cup breacrumbs
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp EACH seasoned salt, onion powder, garlic powder
• 1 medium onion, sliced 
• 2 Tb flour
• 1 cup beef broth
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup

Directions:

Mix together the ground beef, breacrumbs, egg, and seasonings.  Form into patties.  Cook in a large skillet until browned on both sides.  Remove and set aside.

Add sliced onion to the pan, and cook until it begins to soften.  Sprinkle over the 2 Tb flour.   Stir and cook for 1 minute. 

Stir in the beef broth and cream of mushroom soup.  Add the patties back to the pan.  Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.  Serve with mashed potatoes.

This recipe is linked with:

• Prairie Story Recipe Swap
• The Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap
• EKat’s Kitchen Friday Potluck