Our 'Harvest Season' can be crazy hectic, between our full time jobs, kids' activities, our livestock, and of course the coveted harvest time. Yet it is a favorite time of year for us. One non-negotiable in our family is to eat our evening meal together. Most of the time it's around our supper table, but during busy seasons, it can be eaten on the tailgate of a pickup or out of the trunk of a car. We call this 'taking supper to the field.' Thankfully all of our kids are able to help with field & farm work to some degree as well as preparing meals, so the work doesn't fall all on a couple of people.
Here are a couple more of our quick and easy meals...I am acquiring an instapot soon (I've never had one), so maybe I'll find time to experiment with that.
Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
1 bag Reames frozen egg noodles
1 small chicken cooked, deboned, and shredded or 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts cooked and shredded
4 cups chicken stock
2 cans cream of chicken soup (or cream of something else, doesn't really matter)
1 bag frozen carrots, sliced or chopped (or you can use fresh...about 2-ish cups)
1 onion chopped
2 cups chopped celery
2 tbsp Italian Seasoning
1-2 tsp. Seasoned Salt
Put cooked chicken, all vegetables, chicken stock, cream soup, and seasonings in a crockpot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. 30 minutes before serving, put frozen noodles in. I have put raw frozen chicken breasts in this before and then just shredded them before I put the noodles in. This soup is a nice thick soup, not your normal runny chicken noodle. Freezes well and reheats well. May need to add some water or extra stock.
Cream Cheese Biscuit Casserole
2 lbs hamburger
1 8oz block cream cheese
1/2 cup catsup
1/4 cup milk
1 can cream of something soup (usually I use mushroom)
1 small onion chopped
1 tube Grands biscuits
Brown hamburger and onion. Add cream cheese, mix it in as it is melting down, catsup, milk, and soup. Stir until all incorporated and bubbling. Transfer to a 9x13 baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Add biscuits on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees. My cookware is oven safe to 425 degrees, so I usually use the pan I brown the hamburger in and mix the other ingredients in as my baking dish as well. One pot meal! A side salad, favorite veggies all go well with this meal.
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
I'm sure I would surprise people when I told them that I often use instant potatoes in my meal rotation. They just take so much less time, and by the time I doctor them up, and add some gravy, no one can tell!
6 cups instant mashed potatoes
2 cups sour cream
1-8 oz block of cream cheese
3 cups water
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
Put all items in a crockpot with a crockpot liner (trust me, you want the liner). Mix up and cook on low 3 hours, stirring occasionally. This pairs well with one of our favorites, salisbury steak and gravy.
Salisbury Steak
Here's my salisbury steak recipe...thank you Ree Drummand...aka Pioneer Woman!
Hot Beef Sundaes
My family enjoys the hot beef sundaes from The Cattleman's at the Iowa State Fair. Here is a simple recipe to make the mat home!
Use the Italian Beef recipe from my crockpot section
Use the Garlic Mashed potatoes recipe above
To make the gravy:
1 stick butter
1/2 cup flour
All the liquid from the crockpot (add some beef stock if needed)
Make a roux (melt the butter then whisk the flower into it) over medium heat on the stove. Once mixed up and bubbly, add the liquid from the beef in the crockpot slowly, whisking into the roux as you pour. Keep stirring until it reaches your desired thickness. Season with garlic or garlic salt if desired/needed.
To serve, we use bowls to put a scoop of potatoes, then the gravy, then the meat, some shredded cheese, and cherry tomatoes. So easy and hearty!
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