Creamy Ground Beef Casserole (Southern Living 1981)

When I picked this recipe, I wasn't too sure if the boys would like it. It seemed bland enough...tomato sauce, cheesy stuff, ground beef, noodles...but they didn't like this one! Although I do think the great offender in that recipe was the green chile. This one didn't have green chile...but as I was reviewing the recipe I thought...it doesn't really have FLAVOR! I didn't want the chili incident of 2014 to come back to haunt me, so I made some changes to this recipe. In interest of flavor. You know how it is.

Here's the original:

 

First of all, I used a lot of what we had on hand. One of the reasons I picked this recipe for this week was that I had that leftover cottage cheese. Which, it turns out, The Hubs likes! You can see my noodles are definitely not elbows and the cheese is definitely not sliced.

I added a bit of flavor! I used garlic, oregano-y tomato sauce (in the can. at the store. you know what I'm talking about.) 

Then, in the layering, I did a layer of flavor...after the (shredded, it was what I had!) cheese I sprinkled dried oregano, basil, and marjoram. 

It was smelling good!

Out of the oven...

 

On my plate...  

The. Boys. Liked. It. Y'all! J-Boy said it was BETTER THAN PIZZA! If you know this kid, you know that is SAYING something. He LOVES pizza. More than life itself. Junior said it was best on french bread (piled a la a sandwich). He also said he would like to try it without the noodles. I think the smaller noodles would be better. The Hubs even uttered the phrase "when you make this again". It was a great dinner night in this household!  

~Audry

El Dorado Casserole (Southern Living 1981)

June in my 1981 Southern Living is heavily laden with a vast array of casseroles. Junior and J-Boy hate casseroles. In fact, when they ask what's for dinner and it includes the word "casserole" in the title, I try to think of something else to call it. It rarely works. They know a casserole when they see it. They are hard to fool.

This casserole seemed harmless enough, and I figured The Hubs and I would like it, so we might as well give it a go!

  

 I used ground beef I cooked when purchased and then froze (my favorite cook-ahead cheat). 

I think this dish would have been improved by using taco seasonings or enchilada sauce with the tomato sauce. I added cumin (because I love it) (and because I though only a pinch of dried onion and a touch of garlic powder was and would never be enough seasonings). (I was right).

Don't judge the tee-ninsy amount of dried onion. The jar is small and running out something fierce. 








 

 This dish is all about the layering. Layers in progress!


On my plate.































The verdict: 
The Hubs wanted more flavor on the beef. I concur heartily. He said he thought the addition of enchilada sauce would be nice. I think more cumin. Maybe both! J-Boy said it was terrible. He said it would be 100% better if I left out the green chile. Junior said it was good only with thousand island dressing. He has standards.

This is also gluten free! Although I know Chery won't eat it because of the beef...but it might be one to try with chicken. I think that would actually be better. I'm a fan of chicken with green chile. I think that stems from our mom's love of white chicken chili which has green chiles in it. I remember hating it as a kid. Now I love it. My kids hate it. This is what we like to call Coming Full Circle. 

Hi mom! I am so so so so so sorry about complaining about dinner! I really did love it! Every single one! They were delicious! Please come cook at my house!

Sorry.

Back to the verdict.

I would do this one again, but add the enchilada sauce, more cumin, and I think I would skip the cottage cheese in favor of more sour cream. Honestly, I don't know what the cottage cheese did that more sour cream couldn't do. Plus we don't really eat cottage cheese around here. Maybe we do. I'll have to ask The Hubs. I just realized I don't know if he likes it...



~Audry

Broccoli-Rice Casserole (Southern Living 1981)

This recipe came from Lindy's suggestion. She's really trying very hard to help my family branch out in our veggie eating ability. Thanks sis!

Buying the "jar process cheese spread" was fun. The boys were like...what's cheese wiz?? I assured them they'd like it. I think the would...plain, or minus the veggies.

I swapped cream of mushroom soup for cream of something else. I have a mushroom aversion. I think I used cream of broccoli. I also opted for a carrot/califlower/broccoli mix instead of straight broccoli. This was for two main reasons: 1. I couldn't find the 10oz chopped broccoli, and 2. Too much broccoli for mama equals a gassier baby. Y'all. It is how it is. I learned that about Baby Girl in week 2.

An almost action shot. Making the brown rice.

After the rice cooked, I mixed in the rest. On my cookbook. Counter space is at a premium in this kitchen.

Mixture ready for the baking pan.

There is nothing about this that looks appetizing. I cannot blame it all on my lack of photography skills.

This was a terrible. I kept asking The Hubs...what can I do? How can I save it? This is the pits. It was a bit better when I added extra rice. But...Junior said he liked it.

He.

Said.

He.

Liked.

It.

I think he was lying. I think it might have had something to do with the mini-lecture The Hubs had delivered during the Hot Chicken Supreme Fiasco. Something about, "your-mom-works-hard-to-make-dinner-for-you-and-there-are-kids-starving-all-over-the-world."

We'll never know, though, because I won't be making this again. Both The Hubs and I agreed it would have been much much better if the veggies had been alone. Sans cheese wiz and condensed soup.

  ~Audry

Hot Chicken Supreme (Southern Living 1981)

You can always count on your sister to dig through your 1981 cookbook with the goal of finding something that your PICKY boys might like. Thanks, sister! Chery is credited with finding this one for us. Except...she might not want the credit. I appreciate the effort even when my boys do not!

 The original recipe:

My edits:

I used some chicken tenderloin (on sale), no celery, mayo and sour cream mix, no almonds, no pimento, no lemon rind...it seems I skipped quite a bit in this one. Again with the pimento. What's The Point?? Perhaps if I had used it this recipe might have been more successful. Only one way to tell...buy pimento and remake. Not gonna happen. Not gonna.

Seasoning the chicken. Note the seasonings I picked out. Not in the recipe. I had to do something, man! I didn't use pimento!

 Going into the oven:

The Hubs got home and immediately started snacking on the Chinese noodles. He said his mom used to buy them for him to snack on when he was little. He loved it. He loved the noodles to snack on and he loved this dish. Although I think a bit of his over-love for the dish was because the boys HATED it. They hated it! Ate it like it was chicken innards over bean sprouts dressed with cod liver oil. Or something. Ate it like we were torturing them. Who knew that chicken and mayonnaise and cheese would be so terrible?? I won't be making this again...unless I buy some pimento.