Olive Garden's Steak Gorganzola

I had this dinner at Olive Garden last Friday night and I knew I just had to find the recipe!  This was posted here.  And it's awesome!  Chris and the kiddos loved it!  :)

It seems a little complicated, but don't let it scare you...it's actually really simple!!!!!!!

Just as good as Olive Garden (if not better), and so much cheaper!!!!  :)  And, since we were doing a special dinner to celebrate Julie, we even put it on a special plate for her!  Can't get that at Olive Garden!

Oh, and as a side note, instead of using regular Balsamic Vinegar, I found a Raspberry infused Balsamic Vinegar at the store today and decided to try that...it was SO good!  I totally recommend using that instead if you can find it!  :)  Gives just a touch of sweetness...really compliments the cheese!

Balsamic Glaze 
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (OR Raspberry Balsamic Vinegar)
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon Knox unflavored gelatin powder

Alfredo Sauce
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2 cups heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 12-ounce box fettuccine pasta


Beef Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon meat tenderizer (McCormick brand works well)
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme

3 6-ounce sirloin steaks (each cut into four 1 1/2-ounce medallions)
4 cups chopped fresh spinach
3 tablespoons chopped green onions (about 2 onions) (I didn't use these..)


Garnish
3 tablespoons crumbled gorgonzola cheese
2 tablespoons chopped sundried tomatoes (Didnt use these either..)

1. Make balsamic glaze by combining balsamic vinegar, honey and unflavored gelatin in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir often as mixture comes to a simmer. Turn off heat when mixture begins to boil, then remove it from the heat and cool at room temperature. The glaze will thicken even more as it cools.
2. Make the alfredo sauce by melting butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the cream, garlic powder, pepper, and cheeses, and simmer over medium/low heat for 10 to 12 minutes or until thick.
3. Bring 4 to 6 quarts of water to a boil and add the pasta. Cook until done, then strain.
4. Preheat grill to high heat. Combine beef seasoning ingredients. Pound beef medallions to about 1/2-inch thick and sprinkle both sides with the seasoning blend. When your grill is hot, cook beef medallions for 2 to 3 minutes per side or until cooked to your preference.
5. Just before serving the dish, add chopped spinach and chopped green onions to alfredo sauce. For each serving toss approximately one-third of the fettuccine pasta with about 3/4 cup of the alfredo sauce in a medium bowl. Spoon onto a serving plate, and then arrange 4 beef medallions on the pasta. Drizzle balsamic vinegar glaze over each beef medallion. Combine gorgonzola cheese crumbles with chopped sundried tomatoes and sprinkle about 1 1/2 tablespoons of this mixture over the beef medallions. Repeat for the remaining two servings.

Red Chili Enchilada Meat Loaf

Ingredients:
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup salsa
2 Tablespoons chili powder
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pound ground beef
1 8.5oz package corn muffin mix
2 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, sliced
salsa (optional)
tortilla strips, fried (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine egg, onion, sasla, chili powder, garlic, and salt; add meat; mix well. Shape into a ball. Place mixture in a 9-inch pie plate; push to flatted all the way out to the sides of the dish.
2. Prepare corn muffin mix according to package directions. Spread corn muffin batter over meat in pie plate. Bake 50 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into side of meat loaf registers 160 degrees. Remove from oven. Halve cheese slices and arrange on top of corn muffin mixture. Cover loosely; let stand 10 minutes before serving. If desired, serve with additional salsa and fried corn tortilla strips.

WEMP Free Chili

This was a Chris creation tonight...I was feeling discouraged about what to cook that was safe for Derek, and my wonderful hubby decided to whip something new up. He's so good at that! :)

It was VERY tasty!!!!

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs ground beef
2 beef cubes
1 chicken cube
1 cup diced carrots
3 medium potatoes, cubed
1 cup wax beans
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 stalk celery
1 squash, cubed
1 cup peas
1 cup green beans
1 can dark red kidney beans
2 cups diced cabbage
Old Bay, to taste

Directions:
1. Brown ground beef over medium high heat.
2. Add 10 cups water.
3. Add beef and chicken boullion cubes.
4. Add carrots, cook until tender.
5. Add potatoes, cook until tender.
6. Add wax beans, bell pepper, celery, squash, peas, and green beans.
7. Sprinkle Old Bay on top.
8. Add cabbage, cook for few minutes, then add kidney beans.
9. Cook until heated through.

Glazed Mini-Meatloaves

Got this one from My Kitchen Cafe...

OK, so meatloaf is one of those things that I LOVE to eat but never feel like making for dinner. I'm just like that.

I have been using Betty Crocker's recipe for about 12 years...but this one is definitely replacing the old standby! It was VERY flavorful and the glaze was dynomite! Will definitely make this again and again!

Glazed Mini Meatloaves
adapted from The Best 30-Minute Recipe

Makes 4-5 mini meatloaves.

Ingredients::
17-20 saltine crackers, crushed fine (about 2/3 cup)
1/4 cup whole milk
1/3 cup minced fresh parsley
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 large egg
1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 pounds ground meat (I used a combination of lean ground chuck and lean ground pork)
2 teaspoons oil (I used canola oil)

Ingredients for Glaze:
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
4 teaspoons cider vinegar

Directions:
1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 425 degrees. Stir cracker crumbs, milk, parsley, Worcestershire sauce, egg, mustard, onion powder, garlic powder, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper together in a large bowl. Add ground meat and combine until uniform.



2. Shape mixture into oval loaves (I doubled the recipe and got 10 mini loaves, so when I make the recipe without doubling it, I plan to shape into at least 5 loaves - they were definitely big enough to be perfectly filling!).
3. Heat oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until the oil is rippling. Add meatloaves (without letting them touch sides) and brown well on one side, 3-5 minutes. Carefully flip loaves over and tidy up edges using a spatula (I didn't need to do this - my meatloaves managed to hold their shape really well). Brown on this side for another 2-3 minutes.





4. Meanwhile, mix glaze ingredients together until smooth. Transfer mini meatloaves to a foil-lined baking pan and spoon the glaze over the top of each meatloaf. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until the center of the loaf registers 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer (or do like I do and cut one of the little babies open and if it looks done - pull 'em out of the oven!).

BEFORE:



AFTER!

Sour Beef and Dumplings

This is my family's tradition! :-) SUPER YUMMY!
This makes a LOT of meat, enough to freeze for easy leftovers! Also yummy on egg noodles!

Ingredients for Beef:
3 large chuck roasts (3 lb each)
3 large onions, sliced
2 bottles Mrs. Minnick's Saurbraten Mix
1 cup vinegar
4 cups water

Directions:
1. Heat some oil in the bottom of a large soup pot. Cut meat into very large chunks and brown meat in oil. Add onions and brown them a little.
2. Add rest of ingredients and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer on low all day.

Ingredients for Dumplings:
6 medium-size potatoes, boiled in their skins
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 cup sifted flour
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp nutmeg (optional)
olive oil (optional)

Directions:
1. When cool enough to handle, peel and mash or rice the potatoes. Beat in all the remaining ingredients.
2. Shape into 1 or 2-inch balls. Drop into just boiling, salted water and cook for 7 to 10 minutes. Drain.
3. If desired, you can then saute the dumplings in a little olive oil until light golden brown. AWESOME THIS WAY!!!!
3. Serve with sour beef.

Beef Stew

Chris' family recipe! It's killer!

Gourmet Beef Stroganoff

My step-father-in-law made this for us once out of a gourmet cookbook and it was awesome! We made it too, with just regular button mushrooms, and it was awesome!

Ingredients:
3 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup beef stock or store-bought broth
1 pound piece beef tenderloin, trimmed, sliced 1/4 inch thick, and cut into
1-inch pieces, or 1 pound filet mignon, cut into 1-inch pieces
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup thinly sliced shallots
3/4 pound cremini mushrooms, trimmed and halved, or quartered if large
3 tablespoons sour cream, at room temperature
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
2 tablespoons fresh dill
Buttered wide egg noodles

Directions:
1. Melt 1 ½ tablespoons butter in a 1-quart heavy saucepan over moderate hat.
2. Whisk in flour and cook, whisking constantly, for 2 minutes to make a roux.
3. Add stock in a slow stream, whisking constantly, and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat and simmer, whisking occasionally, for 3 minutes. Remove from
heat and cover to keep warm.
5. Pat beef dry and season well with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon butter
and 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat
until foam subsides. Add beef in 2 batches and cook, turning once, until
browned on both sides but still pink inside, about 1 minute per batch. With
a slotted spoon, transfer to a plate.
6. Add remaining 1 tablespoon each butter and oil to skillet and heat until hot
but not smoking. Add shallots and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden
brown, about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally,
until liquid mushrooms give off has evaporated and mushrooms are browned, 8
to 10 minutes.
7. Return meat, with its juices, to skillet and stir to combine, then transfer
to a platter.
8. Reheat sauce over low heat, then whisk in sour cream, mustard, dill, ½
teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper (do not let boil). Pour sauce over
beef and serve over noodles.

Cheeseburger Pasta

OK, so this is a pasta dish that tastes just like a McDonald's cheeseburger...need I say more? :-)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups uncooked penne pasta
3/4 lb lean ground beef
2 Tbsp finely chopped onion
14 oz can no-salt-added diced tomatoes
2 Tbsp dill pickle relish (I didn't not add this)
2 Tbsp prepared mustard
2 Tbsp ketchup
1 tsp steak seasoning (we used Montreal Steak Seasoning)
3/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated
2-3 green onions, optional

Directions:
1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Drain pasta; add to meat mixture.
2. Stir in the tomatoes, relish, mustard, ketchup, and steak seasoning. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes.
3. Sprinkle with cheese. Remove from the heat; cover and let stand until cheese is melted. Garnish with green onions if desired.

Stir Fry on the Grill!

We LOVE shish-kabobs, but I hate the darn sticks! :-)
So, I bought myself a whopping $7 grill basket from Bed Bath and Beyond and decided to make my shish kabobs into a stir fry for the grill instead!
It turned out great!

Ingredients:
Meat
Veggies
Seasonings
Olive Oil

I know, that sounds dumb, but you can really use any combination of the above and make it according to your own family's likes. For us, I used chicken breasts, cheap steak, shrimp, onion, green pepper, mushrooms, and OF COURSE pineapple! Nothing better than pineapple cooked on the grill with all the veggies! It's a little touch of sweetness in an otherwise savory meal...awesome!

For our seasonings, I used Weber's Veggie Seasoning, Weber's Smokey Mesquite, Garlic Powder and Garlic Salt. A little Crushed Red Pepper would be awesome too, but my 5 year old doesn't like spicy AT ALL :-( Bummer!

Directions:
1. Cut up all the meat and veggies/pineapple into bite sized pieces and place in grill basket.
2. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle on some seasonings (again, as little or as much as you like) and mix around.
3. Place grill basket on grill, over high heat, and cook until meat is cooked through and veggies are tender. Mix with large, long handled metal spoon occasionally.

This is what it looked like before it was cooked, all in the grill basket! Totally worth the $7!

Crock Pot Roast Beef and Gravy

I made this one time just because I had a bunch of old steak that was getting freezer burn, and it was so good we've made several times since! The steak literally FALLS APART! And the flavor is outstanding!

Ingredients:
3 lbs boneless round steak (I don't think it really matters what cut, go with CHEAP!)
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
2 cans (10 3/4 oz each) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1 cup water
8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced (optional)

Directions:
1. Cut steak into six serving-size pieces; place in a 3 quart crock pot. Combine soup mix, soup, and water; pour over beef.
2. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or until meat is tender. Serve with mashed potatoes, if desired.

IF DESIRED? We think mashed potatoes with a meal like this is a necessity! :-)

Cranberry Meatballs

This is a great appetizer recipe to bring to parties! Everyone seems to love them! The meatballs are also great as a main dish, served over rice. I got this recipe from Katie Thompson!!

Cranberry Meatballs

Ingredients for Meatballs:
2 eggs, beaten
1 c dry bread crumbs
1/3 c minced fresh parsley (or 1 tbsp dried parsley)
1/3 c ketchup
2 tbsp finely chopped onion (or 1 tbsp dried minced onion)
2 tsbp soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 lbs ground beef

Directions for Meatballs:
1. Combine first 9 ingredients in large bowl. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Shape into 1 inch balls. Place meatballs on rack in shallow baking pan.
2. Bake uncovered 400 degrees, for 15 minutes. Transfer with slotted spoon to slow cooker or dish (if serving immediately).

Ingredients for Cranberry Sauce:
2 cans (16 oz each) whole berry cranberry sauce
1 bottle (12 oz) chili sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp prepared mustard
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, minced

Directions for Sauce:
1. Combine sauce ingredients in saucepan, simmer for 10 minutes. Pour over meatballs and serve immediately.

OR Place (cooked) meatballs in greased pan.  Mix sauce ingredients and pour over meatballs.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until heated through. (This is what I followed for yours)

OR if using slow cooker, combine sauce ingredients and cover (cooked) meatballs in slow cooker. Cook on medium for about 4-6 hours.
 

Salisbury Steaks

Again, this one came from Taste of Home...and was awesome! I tweaked it a tiny bit, but really just to make extra sauce, more mushrooms, less salt, and no eggs. (This is my tweaked version). I had made a different recipe a long time ago and never really liked it all that much, but this one's definitely a keeper!

This recipe is for 2 servings, so it's easy to adjust amounts for more people.

Salisbury Steak

Ingredients:
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
2 Tbsp uncooked instant brown rice (make sure it's dairy free if necessary!)
1/8 tsp pepper
1 egg white OR 3-4 Tbsp milk or soy milk
1/2 pound lean ground beef
3 tsp olive oil, divided
1 1/2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
2 cups beef broth
4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp cold water

Directions:
1. In a small bowl, combine the onion, rice, pepper and egg white. Crumble beef over mixture and mix gently. Shape into 2 oval patties.
2. In a large skillet, brown patties in 1 1/2 teaspoons oil for 3-4 minutes on each side. Remove and set aside; drain drippings.
3. In the same skillet, cook mushrooms in remaining oil until tender. Stir in broth and Worcestershire sauce. Return patties to the pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until rice is tender and meat is no longer pink.
4. Remove patties; keep warm. Combine cornstarch and water until smooth; stir into pan juices. Cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Serve with patties.

Erin's Mushroom Spinach Burgers

I've been looking for new recipes a lot lately and Juliana and I found a bunch of hamburger recipes and have decided to have a burger week :-)

We started off the week so well today though, that all the rest of the ones we make are probably going to pale in comparison!

I got the idea of the spinach and mushrooms from a Taste of Home recipe, but the rest was my original creation :) I don't think I'll ever go back to a plain burger again! LOL!

Erin's Mushroom Spinach Burgers

Ingredients:
3/4 lb ground beef
5 oz frozen spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed (to remove all excess water)
1/2 cup diced fresh mushrooms
1 tsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp Worchestershire sauce
3-4 Tbsp A1 Steak Sauce
2 Tbsp fresh parsley
3 slices swiss cheese
3 Italian style sandwich rolls
lettuce and tomato

Directions:
1. Mix together the beef, spinach, mushrooms, garlic powder, Worchestershire sauce, A1, and parsley in a large bowl. Form into 3 large patties.
2. Place on preheated grill and cook for about 10 minutes, flip, and continue cooking until it reaches your preferred doneness.
3. Put rolls on the grill to toast a bit. If desired, top the bread with burger, lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise and ketchup.

Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich

This recipe was taken from The Original Pat's King of Steaks website. They were featured on Food Network as the best place in Philly to get a cheese steak.

The Original Pat's King of Steaks Philadelphia Cheese Steak

Ingredients:
24 oz thin sliced rib eye or eye roll steak
6 Tbsp olive oil
Cheese (they recommend Cheez Whiz) but American or Provolone works fine (I used American)
4 crusty Italian rolls
1 large onion

Optional:
green and/or red bell peppers
mushrooms

Directions:
1. Heat a skillet over medium heat.
2. Add 3 Tbsp oil to the pan and saute the onions (and peppers/mushrooms, if desired) and cook to desired doneness. Remove onions from pan.
3. Add remaining oil and saut the slices of meat quickly on both sides.
4. Melt the cheez whiz in a double boiler or in the microwave.
5. Place 6 oz meat into each roll.
6. Add onions (and peppers/mushrooms) and pour Cheez Whiz (or put slices of American/Provolone) over top.
7. Garnish with mayonnaise or ketchup, as desired.

Mushroom Pot Roast

Ingredients:

1 chuck roast (pot roast)
1 1/2 pounds baby carrots
6 medium baking potatoes, diced
1 packet onion soup mix
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
pepper, to taste
water to cover

Directions:

1. Put carrots and potatoes in bottom of large crock pot.
2. Cut meat into large pieces (2 inches x 3 inches). Place on top of the veggies.
3. Mix together soup mixes and about 6 cups water. Pour over meat and vegetables.
4. Add more water if necessary, so the meat and vegetables are covered.
5. Sprinkle with pepper.
6. Cook on high for 6 hours.