Hamburger Noodle Casserole

Before I introduce you to tonight's dinner I have to tell you a story. Aren't you just too excited?!?! CarGuy likes going to storage auctions which sometimes results in a lot of junk that we end up having to get rid of. One such auction resulted in boxes upon boxes of war novels. That is definitely not my cup of tea so we sold a lot of them in a garage sale and donated the rest to Goodwill. However, in the middle of all these war novels is this older than dirt cookbook that gives you "365 Ways to Cook Hamburger" -- well...a quick look on the publication page let me know it's not as old as dirt but it's certainly older than me - published in 1958. The author was this guy who looks like a cross between a young Ronald Reagan and the Beaver's dad. His bio is hilarious and I quote, "Doyne Nickerson has been an actor, a hydroponic gardener, an advertising writer, a printer, and - during the depression - a young man who ate hamburger three times a day and leaned to prepare it in dozens of different ways." He goes on to say that his hobby is collecting hamburger recipes and that he cooks hamburger for his wife and young son. If you find you just have to have this treasure for your own library, head on over to Amazon; there are at least 36 used copies available for .01 each!! So now that I've written the longest recipe intro ever, on to the recipe:

You will need:
2 T Olive Oil (EVOO as Rachael Ray would say -- took me forever to understand what she was talking about but I'm kinda slow that way!)
1 pound Hamburger
1 1/2 cups sliced onions
1 crushed clove garlic (or 1/2 tsp of the pre-minced garlic in the jar like I use)
1 No. 2 1/2 can tomatoes (I have no idea what size that is so I used a 28 oz can of chopped tomatoes)
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1 6 oz can of water
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp paprika
1 T salt
2 bay leaves (I didn't use these since I didn't have any and it turned out fine)
1/2 tsp Tabasco
1/8 tsp thyme
1/8 tsp marjoram
8 oz uncooked pasta (I used a 12 oz package of whole wheate penne)

Brown your hamburger meat in the 2 T of EVOO breaking it into smallish pieces.
Add the rest of the ingredients except the pasta and then bring to a boil and remove from the heat.
Place 1/2 of the meat mixture in a 2 1/2 quart casserole dish.
Layer the uncooked pasta over the meat mixture.
Finish it off with the remaining meat mixture and pop it into a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.
The official recipe says to sprinkle parmesan cheese on top when it's finished -- I just put the cheese out so the family could add it to their own if they wanted it.
The recipe says it serves 6 and I would say that is about how many servings you can get out of it unless you have a kid like SwimBoy living in your home and eating all your vittles. In that case figure on this feeding 4 with no left overs.

What I'd do differently next time:
I think I would use egg noodles instead of the penne. The penne didn't get as tender as I like and the noodles that were at the edges did not get soft at all. I think egg noodles would turn out better and I'd be sure and keep the noodles completely covered by the meat mixture. It also seemed a little dry so I think I'd also put in 2 cans of the water instead of one. Next time I'm going to chop the onions rather than slice them -- I like smaller pieces of onion. I think I'll also add a can of whole kernal corn to the mix too.

Weight Watchers Counts:
If you're on core and make it exactly as I did above and leave off the parmesan cheese, it is totally 100% core and I didn't even plan it that way! If you're on flex, you'll need to count 9 points without the parmesan cheese.

Greek Rubbed Pork Chops

I love using rubs and I have a bunch of recipes for those rubs. One of our favorites is the Greek rub. Here is your cast of characters:

1/2 T. salt
1 T. dried oregano
2 1/4 tsp. onion powder
2 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 1/2 tsp. beef bouillon granules
1 1/2 tsp. dried parsley
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg

Combine all ingredients together:
Rub on all sides of your favorite pork chops:
You can also use this rub on chicken, beef, lamb, and turkey. Our favorite use is on pork chops and then we grill them for 7 minutes on each side. You can also use this rub with meat that you bake, broil, or fry. But...it's like a million degrees in my house so that stove is not being turned on for all the money in the world!

Here's the finished product...believe me, the smell is amazing! Something about the unexpected cinnamon and nutmeg that put these chops over the edge!
I served these with a zucchini from our garden and a yellow squash from the local Krogers -- I took it outside first and showed it to my own little yellow squash plant to show him what he was capable of! I cut the squash into chucks and put them on some skewers. I sprinkled them with some Mrs. Dash before grilling them for 5 minutes on each side. Very tasty and simple!
We also served some corn that we grilled -- Kroger's had them 5 ears for $1.00. When I grill my corn I cut off all the hanging stuff (no fires please) soak them in water for a little bit before placing them husks, silk, and all on the grill. I grill them for 15 minutes and then flip and grill for another 10 minutes. I let them sit on the counter in their husks for about 5 minutes before I start to clean them. I've found the easiest way to clean them is to use latex gloves. It helps cut down the heat on my hands and the latex really grabs at the silks.
Those corn cob ends are the bomb -- they are from Pampered Chef and just screw in the ends as easy as pie. Enj0y making this great dinner for a hot summer evening!

French Bread Pizza

I thought long and hard about what dish I should feature as my very first on this new quick and easy recipes blog. It just had to be one of my tried and true quick dinners. So without further ado here is how we make french bread pizzas. They are great for lunch or dinner when you just don't want to heat your kitchen up or create a mess of dishes. They don't look like much but you gotta try them! Chewy and gooey just like we like our pizza!! Mmmm...look at the pepperoni sliding off the side!!



Ingredients:
Hoagie roll (we like the pre-split ones -- just makes life easier)
Jar pizza sauce (we use the Kroger store brand -- very tasty!)
Mozzarella cheese
Pepperoni

Instructions:
Take one split hoagie roll and spread the pizza sauce on each side. Sprinkle 1/2 the cheese you will be using on top of the sauce. Then layer all your other toppings - we are pretty simple and like pepperoni only but sometimes we will also add black olives. After that sprinkle the other 1/2 of the cheese over the pepperoni - believe me, you'll be glad that you placed cheese on the bottom and the top. Pop in the microwave on high for 1:30 to 2:00 minutes. These are great for the kids to help put together. When SwimBoy was little he loved making these and then would boast all night that he made dinner.

We'll also have these when we have casual guests over and just make it a pizza bar with lots of different toppings laid out in bowls.

Calories: 385
Fat: 15
Fiber: 2
WW Points: 9

WW Recipe Tips:
You can lower your points by only making 1/2 a serving and pairing it with a big salad. I've done that when I'm low on points and it's just enough to satisfy my need for pizza. This is way better than wasting those points on a commercial pizza! You can also shave a couple points off by leaving the pepperoni off and piling up the free veggies!