End of September and October Meals

 Harvest season has officially started.  A few weeks ago, we chopped corn, which is used as silage to feed our cows over the winter.  Then yesterday, we started picking beans.  After I got done with livestock chores, I took over running the grain cart (what the combine unloads into when it's full) so the girls could go home and do homework.  When harvesting beans, there's a bit of downtime between unloads, so I used it to plan some meals and make a grocery pick up order at both WalMart and Fareway.  This is the first time I have used the Fareway online ordering and pickup.  It was a good experience!  Part of their app is that you can actually shop the sales, versus trying to remember what was on sale that week. They didn't do substitutions like WalMart did.  They tell you it's out of stock and you have to choose to cancel that item (obviously) or pick something different.  Pick up was prompt.

Here are some of the recipes I am going to use for the coming month:

Breakfast for Supper: 

Breakfast Tater Tot Casserole: 

https://juliassimplysouthern.com/2016/08/tater-tot-breakfast-casserole.html

Biscuits and Gravy Casserole: 

https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/recipes/a58137/biscuits-and-gravy-bake-recipe/

Breakfast Burritos:

• 1 dozen eggs
• 1 lb breakfast sausage or bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1 onion, sauteed
• 1 green pepper, sauteed
• 1 orange or red pepper, sauteed
• 1 tomato, chopped
• Hashbrowns
• tortilla shells
• shredded cheese
• hot sauce and/or salsa

Brown the sausage or bacon, and chop up.  Sautee vegetables in the fat of the meat, add butter if a bit more fat is needed.  Remove from pan.  Melt some butter in the skillet and cook the eggs, scrambled.  In another pan, fry the hashbrowns as directed. Once eggs are cooked, as well as the hashbrowns, put all burrito items out so people can make their own breakfast burritos, or choose to have the hashbrowns on the side.

Breakfast Pizza: 

• One premade pizza crust, or a homemade crust.  
• My homemade crust recipe is as follows: 1 packet yeast, 1 1/2 cups hot water, 1 tbsp honey, 1 tbsp olive oil, 3c-3 1/2 cups flour
• Put the yeast packet in a mixing bowl (I use my KitchenAid) and add hot water.  Let sit 2 minutes for the yeast to activate.  Add honey and oil, and mix (using hook attachment, if using a mixer, otherwise a wooden spoon or scraper works fine).  Add 3 cups of flour.  Mix well, scraping the sides of the bowl as you work the flour in.  If the dough is wet and sticky, add more flour.
• Cover and let rise for 1 hour
• Roll out on a pizza stone or pizza pan and form crust.
• Cheese Whiz
• Breakfast meat of your choice (we use ground sausage or bacon usually), 1 pound
• Vegetables such as peppers, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms if desired
• Shredded cheese of your choice

Use the Cheese Whiz as your 'sauce.'  Add meat and vegetables as desired.  Add shredded cheese.  Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

Breakfast Sliders:

https://www.simplejoy.com/breakfast-sliders-recipe/

Sheet Pan Breakfast Sandwiches (I feel like I spend a small fortune on breakfast sandwiches, and we raise egg-laying chickens!)

https://www.organicvalley.coop/recipes/sheet-pan-breakfast-egg-sandwich/?utm_source=pinterest&utm_medium=social&utm_content=paid&utm_campaign=ov_eggs_rec&pp=0&epik=dj0yJnU9dFpGWFRyejBpZFpVek5ueUFkRW9yN3otQ21XZTF1QTEmcD0xJm49Sm1Na1NWNEJGREI3TEF4RTYyeDhvZyZ0PUFBQUFBR0ZGTjZR

Mexican

Beef Enchiladas

• 2 pounds hamburger, browned
• 4 oz can mild green chiles
• 2 packets of your favorite taco seasoning (I make a homemade one I found on Pinterest) 
• 1 package soft shell tacos
• Monterrey Jack Cheese (shredded)
• Cheddar Cheese (shredded 
• 1 large can El Paso Enchilada sauce
• chopped tomato, shredded lettuce, salsa, sour cream as toppings

Brown hamburger, and add taco seasoning and chilies. Cook until well combined.  Assemble tortillas, with a scoop of hamburger and some Monterrey Jack cheese.  Roll up and arrange in a greased 9x13 baking dish. Dump any extra meat over the top of your enchiladas before adding the sauce.  Spread the sauce over the top of the enchiladas.  Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.  Add shredded cheddar cheese and bake for 5 more minutes.  Garnish as desired with toppings.  Add some Mexican Rice (I use Rice A Roni boxed Mexican Rice, or Old El Paso), some corn, or refried beans.

Pasta

Instapot Lazy Lasagna: https://mealplanaddict.com/instant-pot-lazy-lasagna/

Chicken Alfredo: use your favorite jarred Alfredo Sauce (it's true, I don't make EVERYTHING homemade!), shred some chicken, and boil some fettuccine noodles.  Eat with some garlic bread and a salad! 

Lasagna: confession...I have not boiled my noodles for lasagna in YEARS.  It still turns out fabulously.  

• 2 lbs hamburger--sometimes I use 1 lb Italian Sausage and 1 lb hamburger
• 2 quarts spaghetti sauce
• 1 cup water 
• 1 box lasagna noodles (get the regular noodles)
• 1 tub cottage cheese or ricotta cheese
• 16 oz shredded mozzarella cheese, divided in half

Brown the hamburger, and add the sauce.  Once it is well combined, add the water.  You want a runny sauce so the lasagna will absorb liquid.  Put about 2 cups of sauce in the bottom of a DEEP 9x13 pan.  Put a layer of lasagna noodles, spread ricotta, and mozzarella.  Repeat layers.  Then SLOWLY add all sauce over the top of the layered noodles.  It will incorporate in the layers.  Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes.  After 1 hour 15 minutes, remove the foil and put on the other half of mozzarella cheese.  Bake for 5 minutes more to melt.  Remove from oven and let sit 15 minutes to cool and set up.  Serve with garlic bread and a salad.

Instant Pot

Crack Chicken:  I used this recipe, but instead of chicken breasts, I had cooked a whole frozen chicken in the instant pot ahead of time.  Only took an hour.  Then I used this recipe to finish up, after I had taken the cooked chicken off the bone. 

https://www.eatingonadime.com/instant-pot-crack-chicken-recipe/#wprm-recipe-container-21368