Cuban Stew Beef with White Rice

Ingredients:

1 pound of stew beef
1 can tomato sauce
1 medium onion
1 medium green pepper
3 cloves of garlic
Cumin
Dried oregano
Bay leaf
Olive oil
1/2 cup golden cooking wine
1/2 cup red cooking wine
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
Beef bouillon
Sazon Goya with Azafran
White rice


Sprinkle stew beef with salt, pepper and garlic powder and brown in about a half a cup of olive oil in a heavy skillet.

Meanwhile get your Cuban trinity ready. Onion, green pepper and garlic diced up.

When your stew beef is browned remove it from the skillet and saute the onion, green pepper for a few minutes, until soft, then throw in the garlic and cook for a few more minutes.

Add the cooking wine and let it reduce.

Now you can start throwing in everything else while it's cooking on medium heat. Add one tablet beef bouillon, 2 bay leaves, one envelope of Sazon.

Add 1 can of tomato sauce and fill the can with water and add it too. Then add 1 teaspoon of cumin, l teaspoon of dried oregano, salt and pepper to taste.

Bring to a boil.

Cover, lower the heat to a good simmer and cook for 1 hour.

Serve over white rice.

I hope you enjoy this recipe. You can add diced potatoes about 20 minutes before the hour is up. Some people add green olives, and some add sweet peas. It's a matter of taste.

~I Wish You Love & Mucho Besitos~
Joyce

Paella Miami Style

This is how they do it......

They cook it on the spot.....

Chicken, clams, chorizo, and shrimp and all the fixins.....

It was soooooo delicioso!!!!!!!!!

I Wish You Love,

Mimi

Pot Roast

This was one of the best tasting pot roasts that I have ever made. I really haven't cooked them much. I looked at a lot of recipes to get ideas and ended up making it my own kinda way with what ingredients I had on hand. I learned to make the gravy from Emeril's recipe. I read that covering tightly was important so that the meat will come out moist and tender. The potatoes were just perfect.


Ingredients:

One 2 lb. boneless chuck roast
1 medium onion sliced into rings
1 beef bouillon cube
1/3 cup of all purpose flour
1 cup of water
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
4-5 medium potatoes peeled and cubed
Salt, pepper & garlic powder

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Rub the roast with salt, pepper and garlic powder. In a heavy skillet with oil covering the bottom, brown the roast on both sides. Take it out of the skillet and set aside. In the same skillet add flour to oil and cook until it is chocolate brown. You may have to add more oil to thin it out a bit. When it is chocolate brown add onions and cook until soft. Add water, beef bouillon, salt and pepper to taste. Stir your gravy with onions, add more water if needed, enough to come up the side of the roast but not cover it. It will thicken as it cooks. Return the roast to the pan and top with the potatoes, don't push them down, just place them on around the meat, they cooked perfectly and were not too soft.
Cover tightly and bake 3 hours.
Serve with your favorite vegetable.
Biscuits go very well with this dish.





I Wish You Love and Comfort Food For You and Your Family,

Mimi

Italian Gravy & Meatballs 'Cause I Miss My Grands

Now that summer is here and I don't see my grands everyday, I'm missing them. I miss them saying "Mimi, what's for dinner?"

So, I thought I'd post their favorite meal in the whole wide world.

Here they are eating brownies one day after school. I miss these cute faces.

Get your meatballs ready and start cooking them on medium heat and brown them on both sides.

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil, until soft, add 1/2 cup of red wine and let it reduce for a couple of minutes, then add the two cans of tomatoes (San Marzano) and l can of tomato paste.

Add a teaspoon of basil, oregano and parsley, (Italian Blend is good too), salt, pepper, and sugar to taste.

Add meatballs.

Cover and simmer 2-3 hours.

The pasta you see here is linguine, my grands like it on all different kinds of pasta. Any pasta you like will do.

I Wish You Love and The Joy That Being A Grandma Brings,

Mimi

Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes & Brussel Sprouts

The Meatloaf

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine:

2 lbs. of ground chuck
1/2 cup of Italian bread crumbs
1/2 cup of flour
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 Egg
1 tablespoon of Worchestire sauce
1 tablespoon of ketchup
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
Salt & pepper to taste

Shape into a loaf, place in baking pan with a couple teaspoons of water on the bottom of the pan(to keep it from sticking) and cook uncovered for 1 hour, cover loosely with aluminum foil and cook another 10 minutes.


Make mashed potatoes however you like them.

Heat up these wonderful Green Giant Brussels Sprouts in the microwave for 3-5 minutes.

Heat up a jar of your favorite store bought brown gravy, and you are good to go.

This is called "makin it simple". And you will have left over meatloaf to make sandwiches the next day.

It's a no brainer!!!!!!!

Enjoy:)

Oh, and for dessert make some of these delicious cookies and watch a movie with someone you love!

Life is too short!!!!


I Wish You Love and A Few Quick & Easy Meals On Those Days When You Just Need Them!
Joyce

Chicken Alfredo Quick & Delicious, Too!

I know I've got this chicken recipe thing going on, but I boiled a whole chicken last week, which only cost me $3, by the way. I made chicken stock, chicken and rice(which I forgot to take pics of), Chicken Alfredo for the grands, and chicken salad. That chicken went a long way. Had to stop inventing dishes to make after that because there was not more chicken left! I do have chicken stock in my freezer though.

I boiled the chicken until it was done, and after it cooled, I removed all the chicken from the bones and proceeded to just make everything I could think of, assuming I had all the ingredients on hand.

This is how I made Chicken Alfredo.

Cook the pasta in salted boiling water until al dente, I used spaghetti, because that's what the kids like, and that's what I had on hand. Drain.

Heat up the Alfredo sauce in a pot. Add chicken and cooked pasta. Sounds so easy, right. Well it is, and that's what I like about it..........and my grands just loved it so much that they ate it for two days in a row.

Sometimes you have to be able to make a meal in 10-20 minutes. My mom sure did. When you have a whole bunch of people arrive at your home after a sporting event and they are hungry, you do whatever you have to do to get them fed as quick as you can. And if it tastes good, that's even better!!!!

Oh well, badda bing badda boom, that's it that's all:)
Love ya,
Joyce

Mimi's Chicken Breast with Mushrooms

Season chicken breast with salt, pepper and garlic powder, then brown on both sides it in a skillet with olive oil. Remove and set aside. In the same skillet add 1 small diced onion and 2 garlic garlic cloves and one small package mushrooms(any kind) and cook until soft. Add 1 cup of a good red wine and reduce. Add a cup or two of chicken stock along with chicken breasts and cook until thickens turning the chicken every now and then. Serve with mashed potatoes. Ummmm sooo good!

Hope you enjoy it.
XOXOXO,
Joyce

Mimi's Meatballs

I made these meatball the other night. Served them with smashed potatoes and gravy. I just took 1/2 pound of ground chuck, added l small diced onion, 2 diced garlic cloves, 1/2 cup of Italian bread crumbs, 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese(I grated it from a chunk of Parmesan), 1 egg, 1/4 teaspoon fresh parsley, salt & pepper to taste. Combine and form meatballs any size you prefer. Brown both sides on medium heat in a skillet. After both sides are browned, turn down the heat to low, cover and cook for approximately 20-25 minutes, until done. When they were done I removed them and made a gravy from the drippings. Served the gravy on the side. You can also add these meatballs to spaghetti sauce.

To make the gravy I added some diced onion and garlic to the oil and let it soften. Then I added a couple of tablespoons of flour and stirred it until it turned light brown. Then I added a cup of water and let it thicken. Salt & pepper to taste. I strained the gravy before I put it on the smashed potatoes and meatballs.

I hope you enjoy this recipe.

XOXOXO,

Joyce

I Love Green Giant Frozen Veggies!!!

These Green Giant Frozen Veggies are just the best. They all, and I have tried mostly all of them, are just delicious and all you have to do is heat them up in the microwave. Not only that, I get them when they are on sale for 10 for $10.00. One dollar a box, you can't beat that.

I made this for dinner the other night and it was just so quick and easy and so delicious. I seasoned some boneless chicken breasts with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and sauteed them in a little olive oil and butter, then I placed a slice of swiss cheese on top and let it melt. Next, I followed the directions on the package of Green Giant Garden Vegetable Medley which was to put them in the microwave for about 3-5 minutes. I made a lettuce, tomato, and onion salad with Kraft's Catalina dressing. It was sooooo good.

So there you have it, an economical, fast, and delicious meal.....
Just thought you'd like to know.

I Wish You Love,
Joyce

Baked Ziti With Italian Sausage And Garlic Buns

Ingredients:

1 Box of Ziti Rigati

1 lb. of Mild Italian Sausage

1 35oz. can of Plum Tomatoes

1-1/2 cups Olive Oil

1/2 cup Dry Red Wine

1 cup Fresh Parley

1 cup Fresh Oregano

1-8 oz. triangle of Parmesan Cheese

1-16 oz. Whole Milk Mozzarella Cheese
1-15 oz. Whole Milk Ricotta Cheese

2 pinches of Nutmeg
6-7 cloves of garlic
1 Large Onion

Salt & pepper to taste

1 package Brown & Serve Rolls

Fill a large pot with water for cooking the Ziti Rigati. Bring to a full boil and add pasta and cook until al dente.

Dice up the onion.

Saute the onion in 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet until soft.

Remove casing from Italian sausages and dice up 3-4 cloves of garlic.

Crumble the sausage as you add it to the skillet.

Add the garlic.

Cook until sausage turns brown.
Add 1/2 cup of Red wine and reduce.

Add 35 oz. can of tomatoes with juices and cook uncovered on medium low heat for about 1o minutes.

Then throw in 1/4 cup of diced oregano, give it a stir and turn down the heat to low.

Now, in a large bowl, combine 15 oz. Ricotta cheese, 1 cup Parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup of chopped parsley, salt & pepper to taste.

Shred the whole 16 0z. Mozzarella cheese.

Add cooked Ziti to the bowl of ricotta mixture along with 1 cup of the shredded mozzarella.

Add the tomatoes and sausages to the bowl.

Mix together.

Oil the bottom and sides of a large baking dish, I used the olive oil. No, these are not my hands. Those little beautiful hands belong to my 7 year old granddaughter who wanted to help. She was my taster and said, "Mimi, you are such a good cook", and after that she was allowed to do what ever she wanted:)!!!!

Place all the ingredients you have in your big bowl into a baking dish and sprinkle Parmesan and mozzarella on top and try to take the picture before you put in into a 425 degree oven for 25 minutes, or until bubbly!!!! I had already put it in the oven when I realized I didn't take the picture of putting it in the baking dish and sprinkling the cheese on top. I was sooo excited that my granddaughter loved my cooking that I just forgot!!!!! So I pulled out of the oven took the pic and back in it went.

"Mama Mia", I even surprised myself!

But we need garlic buns, and

this is what you will need.
Garlic, Olive Oil, Parsley, & Parmesan of (GOOPP).

Put 3 cloves of garlic, 2 small chunks of Parmesan cheese, about 1/8 cup of chopped parsley and about a 1/2 cup of olive oil, and salt & pepper to taste in food processor and let her spin. I just eyeball the amounts so you can add according to your preference. It also depends upon how many rolls you are making. You may need more and you may needs less. You may also have to add more olive oil depending on the thickness, because you want to be able to pour it on top of the hot buns, therefore it shouldn't be too thick. I was so carried away with the GOOPP that I forgot to take a picture of it in my mini food processor, so this is what it looked like after I took it out and poured it on the hot buns.

Bake the buns as directed on the package. Of course you can use your favorite kind buns or rolls, or you can make your own. We just happen to love these. And I really didn't have time to even think about making my own!!!!

Pour the GOOPP on top of the hot buns right out of the oven and then shred some more Parmesan cheese on top.

"MAMA MIA"

Now it's time to serve it up.

I hope you enjoy making and eating this very authentic Italian dish. My family and I did. It was even better the second day. Please feel free to email me with any questions.

I Wish You Love, Vi Auguro Amore
~Mimi~