Meat Pie

I don't know about you, but I just made a meat pie for the first time and it is so good and really easy. If I would have known how easy it was I would have been making it a long time ago. This will definitely be on our table a lot, now!

Brown about 1 lb. of hamburger with 1 small chopped onion and seasonings you prefer. I just used some seasoning salt and pepper.
Add about half a bag of frozen peas and carrots.
Mix half a can of cream of mushroom soup with half a can of water. Add to meat and veggie mixture.
I bought the pre-made rolled pie crust that I found by the refrigerated cookie dough. Put one crust on the bottom and trim excess, fill with mixture, and place a crust on top, trim excess. Pinch edges, cut some slits on the top to vent. Cook at 425 for about 30-40 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

(We are probably pigs but my husband and I and our 3 year old ate the whole pie, so if you have a larger family you may want to double the recipe!)

Porcupine Meatballs

A yummy and easy recipe using ingredients you probably already have!

1 can tomato soup
1 lb. ground beef
1 cup uncooked instant rice
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/4 cup onion, minced
1 tsp. salt
2 tbs. oil
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Lightly beat egg with a fork, then add a heaping tablespoon of the soup and mix lightly.
Mix in rice, onion, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
Stir in the ground beef and mix well with hands. (I put mine in a Ziploc bag so I didn't have to touch raw meat!)
Form mixture into 1 1/2 inch round meatballs.
Coat a large skillet over medium heat with oil. (I just used cooking spray)
Cook meatballs and brown on all sides.
Combine remaining soup with Worcestershire. Stir until smooth, then spoon over meatballs.
Cover with lid and simmer for 20-30 minutes, stirring every few minutes.

*I think I would almost double the sauce since we are saucy people, and we served this over rice, so we like to have more sauce for our rice. Also because while simmering, I pretty much burnt my sauce to the bottom of the pan, so there wasn't much left. Watch it closely!
I also didn't have an onion on hand so I used a little less than a tablespoon of onion powder.

Carrot Chowder

This is a recipe created by Melanie Zimmerman. I think we have all made it before, but I thought I'd post it anyway because it is always a favorite this time of year. Great Halloween dish!

• 1 lb hamburger
• 1/2 green pepper
• 1/2 onion
• 2 cans cream of celery soup
• 1/2 c celery chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 4 c tomato juice
• 1/2 tsp garlic salt
• 1/8 tsp butter
• 1 1/2 c water
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 1/2 c coarsely grated carrots
  

Brown hamburger, green pepper, celery, and onion. Drain. Add salt, sugar, tomato juice, garlic salt, butter, water, pepper, both cans cream of celery soup, and grated carrots. Simmer till done (usually about 20-30 minutes). Serve with rolls or great in a bread bowl. I don't have a picture, but next time I make it I'll be sure to take one to post.

Easy Lasagna

1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
1 1/2 tsp. Italian Seasoning
1 container (16 ounces) cottage cheese
2 cups grated mozzarella cheese, divided
1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion
1/2 cup water
2 cans (26 ounces each) chunky spaghetti sauce
1 box (12 ounces) oven-ready lasagna noodles, uncooked

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a bowl, combine egg, Parmesan, Italian seasoning, cottage cheese, and 1 cup mozzarella cheese. Set aside.

In a large frying pan, brown beef and onion together until beef is done. Drain any excess grease. Add water and all but 1 cup of spaghetti sauce to beef. Spread reserved spaghetti sauce into bottom of a greased 9X13 pan. Layer 5 to 6 lasagna noodles over sauce, overlapping or breaking to fit, if necessary. Spread half the cheese mixture over noodles. Spoon 1/3 of the beef mixture over cheese layer. Repeat layers once. Add one more layer of 5 to 6 noodles and spoon remaining 1/3 of beef over top. Cover and bake 50 minutes. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella cheese over top. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Makes 8 servings.
This is a family favorite. It is out of the great recipe book 101 Things to do with a Casserole. I would highly recommend that book to anyone.

Enjoy!