Roasted Winter Vegetables

Posted on April 8, 2026 by Marilyn

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Roasted Winter Vegetables

If you are looking for a pretty, nourishing, and seasonal vegetable side dish, look no further.  This combo is a winner!  It’s different from the usual roasted broccoli or cauliflower or sweet potato wedges that I often make, and the flavors and colors just work. I adapted it from Ellie Kreiger’s recipe, with my own twists, of course.

This is definitely coming to Thanksgiving 2026!

Roasted Winter Vegetables 

Makes 8-12 servings

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 Ingredients 
  • 3 medium beets, ends trimmed and scrubbed
  • ¼ cup olive oil, divided
  • 1 peeled and thinly sliced purple onion 
  • 1 teaspoon salt, divided
  • 1 ½ pounds carrots, peeled and cut on the bias into 1-inch thick pieces
  • 1 ½ pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved – if they are huge as mine were, you might have to quarter them. 
  • 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Scrub the beets, remove the root and stem and wrap them (the skin stays on) in a large piece of foil. Place the wrapped beets onto a baking dish or sheet pan and cook until they are easily pierced with a knife, about 1 hour. Open the foil and set the beets aside until they are cool enough to handle, then wearing gloves and using a paring knife, slide off the peels. This should be easy to do.  Cut the beets into 1-inch pieces. The beets may be prepped up to three days ahead and refrigerated in an airtight container, or cooked right before roasting the remaining vegetables.

Place the onions onto a sheet pan. Drizzle them with one tablespoon of the oil and sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon of salt and toss to coat. Roast in the 400 degree oven for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, place the carrots and Brussels sprouts in separate bowls and toss each with one tablespoon of oil and ¼ teaspoon of salt. After the onions have been cooking for 20 minutes, add the carrots to the sheet pan with the onions, and place the Brussels sprouts on a separate sheet pan. Cook both pans of vegetables until they are firm-tender and nicely browned, about 30 minutes. I also roast a packet of garlic-half a head of garlic, wrapped in foil and drizzled with olive oil, on the same sheet pan, and leave it in the oven for 5 minutes longer than the vegetables.   All of the vegetables may be cooked to this stage up to 3 days ahead, stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

When you are ready to serve, preheat the oven to 400 degrees (see note). Transfer all of the roasted vegetables to a sheet pan or large baking dish. Toss gently with the balsamic vinegar and thyme, and the remaining ¼ teaspoon of salt and the pepper and cook until everything is warmed through, about 10 minutes. (Note: You can finish the roasted vegetables at any temperature in the range of 350-425 degrees, depending on what else you may be roasting. Add or subtract a few minutes from the cooking time accordingly.)



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Meatloaf Forever!

Posted on March 25, 2026 by Marilyn

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Marilyn’s Meatloaf

I have posted my famous meatloaf recipe before, but the last time was over 10 years ago.  I remember bringing meatloaf and side dishes to friends over40 years ago when they had just welcomed a new baby into the world.  Food is my love language and I was more than happy to march in with a large meatloaf.

I loved it then and I love it now. I still always use two pounds of meat which gives us a couple of dinners and, most important, enough for sliced meatloaf and caramelized onion sandwiches!

Marilyn’s Meatloaf

Serves 6

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Meatloaf Ingredients:
  • 1 slice of whole grain bread-cut off the crusts and tear into small pieces
  • ½ c tomato juice or soy milk or regular milk
  • 2 lb ground beef
  • 1 egg
  • ¼ c diced onion
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • ½ tsp ground pepper
  • 1 tsp dry basil
  • ½ c shredded carrots
Instructions for meatloaf:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Dump all these ingredients into a large bowl. Put on disposable gloves and gently mix the components together until they are combined. Remove from the bowl (don’t wash the bowl yet) and pat gently into a greased loaf pan. I bake it in my 50 year old 9 x 5 Pyrex meat loaf pan.

Slide the meatloaf into the preheated oven for 15 minutes, and while it is baking make the topping in the same dirty bowl.

Topping Ingredients:
  • 3 Tbs. brown sugar
  • ½ c ketchup
  • ¼ tsp nutmeg
  • Heaping tsp of dry mustard
Instructions for topping:

Mix the topping ingredients together well. After the meat loaf has baked for 15 minutes without the glaze, remove it from the oven. Gently cover the top with the ketchup-based sauce and bake another 45 minutes or until interior temp hits 160 degrees.

Rest for at least 10 minutes, the cut it into slices and serve.

Note: There is a lot of juice and fat that accumulates around the meatloaf when you bake it in a pan. Generally I pour all of this into a Pyrex measuring cup and remove the fat only, and then return the juice to the meatloaf pan. OR you can eat the meat loaf as is and refrigerate the leftovers. The next morning you will see an orange layer of fat that is easy to lift off with a spoon.

Some of my friends add ½ cup of Parmesan cheese to the meat mixture.



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Hamantaschen Again

Posted on March 3, 2026 by Marilyn

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Heavenly Hamentashen

I know I published this Hamantaschen recipe back in 2014 and again in 2018.  But…it is time once again to make these.  Purim is March 2-3 this year  and commemorates the survival and strength of the Jewish people, and reminds us to stand up for human rights and injustice. A pretty timely message!

I have a batch of dough, some fruit filling, and some poppyseed filling in my refrigerator as I type this, and I plan to make these with my 10 year old granddaughter Ora.  For the record, I am an equal opportunity grandmother and cook with the grandsons too – the grandboys outnumber the grandgirls 7 to 3!  

Straight Out of the Oven

Every time I make these, I think about my Aunt Esther and Aunt Tillie, who kept these cookies in a jar on the counter most of the year.  They were so quirky, they did not have children of their own and when the 5 of us kids drove to their house 5 hours away, they were happy to see us but shocked at the chaos.

I think a lot of memories we leave on earth reside in the special foods we make for family and friends. Hamantaschen cookies always trigger happy thoughts of my adorable aunties.  Bake on!

Aunt Tilly’s and Aunt Esther’s Fruit Hamantaschen

Makes approximately 30-40 cookies

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Pastry Dough Ingredients
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • ½ cup canola oil
  • 1 Tbsp fresh orange juice
  • ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
  • Rind of one medium orange, grated
  • Dash of salt
  • 3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. non aluminum baking powder
Filling Ingredients
  • 12 ounces dried California apricots, dice in food processor or by hand
  • 12 ounce pitted prunes, dice in food processor or by hand
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/3 cup apricot or other flavor jam (don’t use sugar free)
Pastry Dough Instructions

NOTE: I know I talk about playing with recipes from time to time… but FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS for good results!

Combine flour with baking powder, salt and orange rind. Using a food processor or heavy mixer, mix eggs, oil, orange juice, sugar and vanilla. Gradually add dry ingredients. The dough will be soft. Scrape it into an oiled bowl and cover with saran; refrigerate the dough overnight so it firms up.

Filing Instructions

Dice prunes and apricots, stir in jam and cinnamon to combine. This fruit filling will be thick.

Assembly Instructions:

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or lightly oil them. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and adjust so the cookie sheets fit on the middle racks.

Divide dough into 4 pieces and keep it refrigerated except for the piece you’re rolling. Roll each quarter of dough on a lightly floured board or pastry cloth into a 1/8” thickness. Using the top of a 4” glass dipped in flour, cut out circles.

Put a heaping teaspoon (walnut size) of the fruit filling in the center of each cookie, and pinch the dough around it so it forms a triangular shape. You can recombine the scraps of dough and roll them again to form additional circles.  Refrigerate the filled cookies for 15 minutes on the parchment lined sheet before baking so they hold their shape a little better.

A Dollop of Fruit Filling

Bake for 15-20 minutes until nicely brown. Cool on rack. These can be frozen between layers of waxed paper for up to three months.

Notes: I have a really cute circular ruffled cookie cutter that I used for these cookies – it makes them look a little fancy when I am in that kind of mood. And from time to time, I fill the hamentashen with a nice thick poppyseed filling…next year I might share that recipe too!!  At times I have rolled the dough much tinned which yielded many more cookies, but thicker dough seems to hold the cookies better-otherwise they seem to “flop” over and they aren’t so pretty



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Lentil Vegetable Stew

Posted on February 25, 2026 by Marilyn

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Lentil Carrot Stew

I made this stew the other day when I discovered I had a few too many vegetables left over from the farmers market.  I named it a stew and then did a little A.I. research to find the difference between a soup and a stew.  Kabang! I named it correctly because stews in general have less liquid and are thicker than soups.  This formulation is definitely thick and hearty, and I hit the mark the first try.

I loved this concoction … lentils and vegetables, what could be bad?

Lentil Vegetable Stew

Serves 6

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Ingredients 
  • 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 large onion, dice about ½ inch
  • 3 large carrots, peeled
  • 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced into 1-inch cubes
  • 2 diced fresh tomatoes
  • 1 ear of corn, cut the kernels off the cob but save the cob and put it in the pot to boil
  • 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
  • 7 cups chicken broth (I used only 4 tsp of Better than Bouillion with 7 cups of water) to make the broth more dilute yet to add a little uumph
  • 1 cup of brown lentils, rinsed and drained
  • ½ tsp smoked paprika
  • 3 large  bay leaves
  • ½ tsp ground black pepper
  • ¼ cup chopped fresh dill for the end
  • Juice of 1 lemon for the end
Instructions

Heat a 4 quart soup pot and add the oil, then the carrots and onions.  Let them saute until they are a little soft, about 5 minutes.  

Add the sweet potato, tomatoes, corn and garlic and continue stirring and cooking for 3 minutes or so.

Add broth, lentils, corn cobs and seasonings –  just keep the dill and lemon juice aside for the end.  

Bring to a boil then lower heat and cook on low simmer for 20 minutes until the carrots are tender.  Remove from the heat, remove the bay leaves and the corn cobs.   Add the lemon juice and fresh dill.

I served this with my fresh flour tortillas and fresh sliced peaches from the farmers market!

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Chicken Thighs and Veggies

Posted on February 11, 2026 by Marilyn

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I love raiding my fridge and using  whatever veggies I happen to find that need a home.  The other day, I riffed on this recipe (that I posted way back in 2012!), using two handfuls of green beans added toward the end, lots of fresh garlic I grew, a few new potatoes, and more carrots than required.  The spice rub with cinnamon is always an unexpected flavor and everyone loves this dish.

I prepped everything early in the day then returned home and easily put it together for dinner.  WIN/WIN!

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Originally posted on September 19, 2012

Chicken Thighs with Vegetables

Serves 6

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Ingredients:
  • 3 lbs chicken thighs with skin and bone left on (extra fat removed)
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp sea salt
  • ½ Tbsp smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 10 grinds of fresh ground black pepper
  • 1 large yellow pepper, seeds removed and cut into 1 inch cubes
  • 6 large carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces (I don’t peel them if organic)
  • 2 large parsnips, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 1 Tbsp minced garlic
  • 1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • ½ cup water
  • 1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh Italian parsley for garnish
Instructions:

Dry chicken thighs thoroughly with paper towels. On a piece of waxed paper or parchment paper, combine spices, salt and pepper and mix well. Press spices into the skin side of the chicken by rolling the pieces skin side down into this mix. Keep the extra spice mix for when you cook the vegetables.

Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy sauté pan over medium heat. Place chicken thighs skin side down (the side with the spice rub) and brown chicken for eight minutes. The cooked side should turn a beautiful, reddish brown color. Turn thighs over for another four minutes. If the thighs are large this might have to be done in two batches unless you have a giant skillet like mine.

Using kitchen tongs, remove chicken thighs to a dish with a bit of a lip so the juices can collect as the chicken rests. Pour off all but two tablespoons of rendered chicken fat.

Add the vegetables to the same pan. Sprinkle with any leftover spice/salt mixture you have. Cook the vegetables over medium heat, and stir occasionally for about 10 minutes.

Place the browned thighs and their juices back into the pan and gently cover with some of the vegetables. Add in the liquid, bring to a simmer and cover with a lid. Continue to simmer for another 20-30 minutes until the vegetables and chicken are cooked thoroughly, gently basting the chicken twice during this time. Before serving, put in a shallow bowl and garnish with chopped flat leaf parsley. Pass any remaining juices to pour on top of the chicken or side dish.

Notes: I sometimes use boneless skinless chicken thighs if I am in a hurry. This takes a lot less time for the meat to cook. The method is the same but after removing the thighs I sauté the vegetables for longer, say 15 minutes. Then I add the thighs and only need to cook it another five minutes or so.

I always serve this accompanied by brown rice, barley or quinoa so the pan juices aren’t swimming all over the plate. Adding broccolini, sautéed cherry tomatoes or tomato slices drizzled with olive oil makes the plate look colorful and appealing.

I have doubled it and then cooked the vegetable/chicken combo in a large Dutch oven if I am serving this for company.

And finally, every single man, woman and child who tastes this LOVES it.

 

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Refrigerator Sweet Pickles

Posted on January 28, 2026 by Marilyn

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Refrigerator Pickles

Twelve years ago when life and food shopping was much more simple, I wrote a post for marinated cucumber salad.  As the years passed, I find myself making this “salad” but calling them pickles, and I like to have them on hand as part of a sandwich (try them on top of tuna fish sandwiches or burgers or hummus sandwiches).  I like that I can use English cucumbers and that this is so easy to make.  

I have yet to find an adult or child who isn’t in love with these pickles!

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Originally posted on July 23, 2014 

During the long, warm days of summer I love eating cold (or room temperature) crunchy, cool and juicy fruits and vegetables. It’s hard to choose among my favorites – but this dish is tried and true … I’ve been making it for at least twenty years and it never fails to please me. I would often suggest this salad when catering for large crowds because it is inexpensive to make, beloved by the masses and, for some reason I haven’t quite figured out, it always rounds out menus and buffets and even small family gatherings. I bring this to picnics or barbeques in place of a green salad or coleslaw. Brunch, lunch, dinner … barbeques or spontaneous picnics in the park, this should be on YOUR “to try” list too.

I happen to own a really inexpensive mandoline for slicing the raw cucumbers, and I also have a sturdy protective glove for using the mandoline so I don’t cut my fingers off since I’ve come close to doing that more times than you can imagine. However, you can slice the cucumbers by hand as long as you can make even and thin slices about an eighth of an inch thick. For me, the mandoline works better and I can make this salad in the blink of an eye. It keeps for several days in the refrigerator – although the color isn’t as vibrant. No worries about that though – you can use leftover cucumber slices as a fresh and delicious addition to summer sandwiches.

I usually use English (aka Burpless) cucumbers, and recently picked up what I thought was this variety. However the vendor at the farmers market (pictured here) informed me these cucumbers were Japanese Slenders because they had “bumps” instead of ridges. I love learning new things! Either English or Japanese cucumbers will work; neither requires peeling and they have tiny seeds that don’t need to be removed.

Super easy, very few ingredients, healthful. Salty, a bit spicy, sweet. Delicioso! Just my kind of recipe…

Marinated Cucumber Salad (AKA Refrigerator Sweet Pickles)

Serves 4 or more

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Ingredients
  • ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • ½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
  • 2 tsp. fine Sea Salt
  • 2 English or Japanese cucumbers
  • Purple onion or radishes for color or garnish, if desired
Instructions

Slice the cucumbers (unpeeled, not seeded) into a large glass bowl by hand or with a mandoline. Boil together the vinegar, sugar, red pepper flakes and salt just until sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes from the start. Pour hot dressing over the cucumbers, stir around a bit and refrigerate the glass bowl with everything inside covered with plastic wrap. Leave in the refrigerator for about an hour. Once the salad has cooled, transfer everything to a tupperware container with a lid that you can seal and shake to distribute the dressing and coat all the cucumber slices. Refrigerate overnight or for several hours, and shake it around a few times when you remember to do so.

Drain before serving – the salt in the recipe causes the cucumbers to release a lot of liquid. Wonderful and easy!

Note: if you use regular cucumbers, be sure to peel the skin, cut the cucumber in half lengthwise and remove the seeds! Then slice into half rounds and proceed.



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Fresh Mango Topping

Posted on January 14, 2026 by Marilyn

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Fresh Mango Topping

I am always on the hunt for interesting toppings I can easily make for chicken and fish, particularly when I invite family for dinner.  I often try to make some type of fish because the older kids want a lot of protein and fish is something special for them.  I do get bored with the usual salt, pepper and olive oil preparation though, so this fall I had my taste buds set on an easy mango salsa as a potential topping.  I always put out lemon or lime wedges for those who don’t like my fruit toppings.

This was so good, I ended up eating it as a stand alone salad the next day.  It checks all my boxes: easy ingredients to find, delicious flavors and colorful.  I used this as a topping for steelhead trout I barbequed and it was a huge hit with all of us, kids and adults alike.

Fresh Mango Topping

Makes 2-3 cups, enough for 8 pounds of fish

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Ingredients
  • 2 large ripe peeled mangos, peeled and diced ½ inch or a little less
  • 1 medium green pepper, seeded and diced ¼ inch
  • ½ cup peeled and diced red onion
  • 2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro (if guests are cilantro averse, use parsley)
  • ½ jalapeño pepper, seeded and diced small
  • 2  limes, juiced
  • ¼ tsp sea salt
Instructions

In a bowl, combine all the above and stir together with a spatula.  Taste and add more salt or lime juice as desired,

Leftovers store well for up to 3 days refrigerated. 



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Sheet Pan Pancakes

Posted on December 31, 2025 by Marilyn

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Sheet Pan Pancakes

This recipe caught my eye. Basically, these are pancakes you bake in a rimmed sheet pan rather than on the stovetop.  My son Jakey Boy has four small kids, ages 2 to 7 and they have to eat breakfast each day before being herded out the door to preschool or to activities.  Sitting at the stovetop and flipping pancakes isn’t in the cards, so I did a dry run of this recipe to see if it would pass muster.  I did make a few changes from the original America’s Test Kitchen recipe, swapping out some of the milk for kefir and buttering the pan rather than oiling it.  I probably baked it a little too long so check after 18 minutes to see if the pancakes are done.  The texture is a little more crumbly than regular pancakes–and therefore I put a clean tea towel over the pan as the pancakes were cooking.

Topping the square pancakes with butter and maple syrup or with greek yogurt and berries or jam, how bad can these be?  So … Do the kids like them? Of course they do! But they like anything that involves syrup or fruit!  Not very exciting but good for something last minute that can come out of the fridge or freezer.

Sheet Pan Pancakes

Makes one rimmed half sheet pan worth, about 16 pancakes

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Ingredients 
  • 3 cups or 15 oz all purpose unbleached flour
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar (1 ¾ oz)
  • 4 tsp baking powder
  • ¾ tsp baking soda
  • 1 ½ tsp sea salt
  • 3 large eggs
  • 6 Tbsp avocado oil
  • 1 ¼ cup buttermilk or kefir
  • 1 cup milk, whole or 2%
  • ¾ tsp pure vanilla extract
  • (Salted butter and maple syrup to top)
Instructions:

Butter the bottom and sides and corners of a rimmed baking sheet, and set aside.  Preheat the oven to 375 with a rack in the center.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt in a large bowl.

Whisk 3 large eggs and 6 Tbsp oil in a second bowl, then add 1 cup milk and 1 ¼ cups buttermilk or kefir and vanilla extract.

Add mixed liquids to flour and gently stir with a rubber spatula until just combined.  The batter will stay a little lumpy with streaks of flour.  LET BATTER SIT for 10 minutes before baking.

Scrape the mixture into a prepared pan and spread evenly, especially into the corners.  Bake 10 minutes, then rotate the pan the other direction and bake another ~10 minutes until brown and firm to the touch.  Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes.  Cut into squares and serve with syrup, butter or jam.  Refrigerate or freeze the rest if you have leftovers!

A Pan of Pancakes!

Note:  the cooled squares of pancake can be stacked in a zip lock bag with parchment or waxed paper between the individual pancakes.  Then take out as many as you like and microwave to thaw.

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Lazy Chicken Chili

Posted on December 17, 2025 by Marilyn

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Lazy Chicken Chili

Some days, especially as the weather becomes cooler, I crave food that is warming and nourishing but easy to make.  Most of the time I love getting in my kitchen and being creative, but there are days I am over booked and tired of making dinner.  Recipes like this one are just the ticket for me, and it so happens that this makes enough chili to feed a lot of people.  I passed this on to my in-town family and they are in total agreement with me.

The few times I have made this chicken chili I have used some precooked rotisserie chicken.  If I go to the trouble of making my own roasted bird I prefer to eat it straight up with easy side dishes and veggies or a salad.  This recipe involves basically using a lot of pantry items, but it tastes pretty complex.

I started with a NYT recipe by Lidey Heuck and tweaked it.  It is THE BEST.  No one will guess it is so easy to make!  Keep this recipe in mind for last minute dinner guests.

Lazy Chicken Chili

Serves 4-6

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Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil 
  • 1 large yellow onion, chopped 
  • ½  large jalapeño pepper, seeds and ribs removed, finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons minced garlic or more
  • 1teaspoon dried basil or 1 Tbsp fresh slivered basil
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • ½ teaspoon chili powder
  • Pinch of cayenne pepper
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste (such as Diamond Crystal)
  • Freshly cracked black pepper 
  • 4 cups chicken broth (I use Better than Bouillion) 
  • 2 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained 
  • 2 (4-ounce) cans diced green chiles 
  • 2½ to 3 cups cooked shredded chicken (from 1 roast chicken or rotisserie chicken) 
  • 1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels 
  • Half a lime, plus lime wedges for serving
  • Toppings:  choose what you like:  Shredded Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, pickled onions, diced avocado, sour cream, chopped fresh cilantro and crushed tortilla chips, for serving (optional)
Instructions

In a large soup  pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and jalapeño and cook, stirring often, until the onions are tender, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic,basil, cumin, chili powder, cayenne, salt and a few grinds of black pepper, and cook for 1 minute, until fragrant.

Add the chicken broth, rinsed cannellini beans and diced green chiles with their liquid; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the broth has reduced by about half, 18 to 20 minutes. Off the heat, use a wooden spoon to mash some of the beans against the side of the pot. Continue mashing the beans until the broth is noticeably thicker.

Return the pot to medium, stir in the chicken and corn, and cook until heated through, about 3 minutes. Juice the lime half over the pot, then taste for seasonings and add more salt, black pepper, and cayenne, if desired.

Serve the chili in bowls topped as you like with a lime wedge.  I serve the optional toppings on the side.   



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Loosemeat Sandwiches 

Posted on December 12, 2025 by Marilyn

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Loosemeat Sandwich

I wrote a post and a recipe for Maid Rites back in 2018 while I had fewer grandkids, less travel,  and more free time. Fast forward to 2025 and somehow my days are packed with too many things I want to do.  Soooo, I like having a few ready to reheat items in my freezer so I can still have delicious homemade food ready with zero effort.

These meat sandwiches are really an all time favorite.  I discovered that if I make the meat filling, cool it, then fill the hamburger buns and wrap them in waxed paper and store them in a zip lock container, they are more than perfect for reheating 2 minutes in the microwave.  All you need are sliced pickles (at least I need these and most always have refrigerator sweet pickles) and mustard.  Ketchup is a NONO.  I make 2 lbs of meat and get 8 large sandwiches!  Pop some Jojo potatoes in the toaster oven, add a simple salad and you will have dinner fit for a queen.  

Make these and this fall/winter you will have yourself something otherworldly.

Loosemeat Sandwiches 

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Ingredients
  • 2 lbs lean ground beef-good quality, not too lean
  • 2 cups of hot Water 
  • 1 Tbsp French’s regular mustard
  • ½  package Lipton French Onion Soup mix
  • Fresh hamburger buns
Instructions

Heat a large (10-12 inch) deep-sided saute pan on medium high.

Brown the ground beef, turning and chopping up the meat to brown and separate on all sides and not have chunks stuck together.  I do not use any oil to do this.  

Add the water and bring to a boil.  Add mustard and soup mix and stir well.  Put on the fan and continue to boil on the stovetop uncovered until most of the water is absorbed – this takes me about 20-30.  Stir often.  If you are going to freeze these, cool the meat mixture.

Scoop cooked meat onto fresh hamburger buns. Serve with picnic type side dishes…beans, potato salad, pickles, cole slaw, whatever your heart desires. 

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