Cheeseburger Casserole (Tex Mex style)

Tonight we had several avocados that needed to get used. I had a package of ground yak meat as well, so I literally typed "hamburger and avocados" in Pinterest and this is what I chose mostly because the picture looked like what I wanted. I made a lot of changes though to fit what I was in the mood for:
1. The "green" in the picture became avocados instead of pickle; diced the avocado and tomatoes and soaked them in lemon and lime juice before adding them to the pot.
2. Added fajita seasoning to the yak and cooked a yellow onion (from our garden) with it
3. No tomato paste
4. No dijon mustard
5. Used Rigatoni instead of rotini

It turned out awesome! Very fresh tasting. We both gobbled it up. :)

http://togetherasfamily.com/2016/05/cheeseburger-casserole/

Cheesy Chicken Zucchini Casserole

It's the month of Zucchini and I always get excited to see what Pinterest has for me each year. I literally started with the first and have been working my way down. Per the hubby's request, I added chicken as well as little bit of kale for more color/vitamins. This was definitely a keeper "comfort food". :)

https://natashaskitchen.com/2017/07/25/cheesy-zucchini-casserole/

Breakfast Casserole (Pressure Cooker)

As I remodel my kitchen, and forgo the stove, I'm getting to know my electric pressure cooker intimately. Yesterday, I finally used the browning feature for the sausage in my breakfast casserole. It was amazing! I added the onions to carmelize, then when it seemed ready, I added the egg mixture and battened down the hatch. I have an 8 quart cooker, so I ended up using a dozen eggs and 3 lbs of sausage (2 bkfst, 1 spicy). Since it was larger than the actual recipe, My cook time ended up being 30 minutes. Since I don't have a trivet yet or an extra bowl to put inside the cooker, my edges were browned. "That's the best part" according to the hubby. :) It was a fun comfort food meal that felt effortless and allowed me to continue working on the remodel. The great thing is that it doesn't heat up the house and only required about 45 minutes of electricity. 

http://www.kitschencat.com/5-ingredient-pressure-cooker-cheesy-egg-bake/

The Best Tater Tot Casserole

Thanksgiving week and I like to try to make meals on the days leading up to Thursday that don't taste anything like our holiday feast. Things like beef and fish are usually on the menu. Yesterday I was craving Tater Tot Casserole and found Carole's blog--it claimed to be the best tater tot casserole and she was right. I ended up using low fat yogurt, frozen mixed vegetables, and McCormick Steak seasoning in the hamburger. I didn't salt the top of the tater tots since there was already plenty of savory goodness mixed in. The boys agreed, it was one of the best they'd ever had. :)

http://www.mykitchenescapades.com/2014/06/best-tater-tot-casserole.html#

Broccoli Cheese Casserole

Tonight was all about comfort foods. I've been craving broccoli and cheese casserole, so I found this recipe. The boys prefer it with rice, but I enjoyed the low(er) carb option. It worked perfect to cook it in the oven with the meatloaf recipe at 350 degrees. Next time I will find a recipe with rice to make the rest of the family happy.

http://theviewfromgreatisland.com/broccoli-cheese-casserole/

Tuna Noodle Casserole (with Mustard)

I forgot to thaw out a meat for dinner today but then remembered we had canned tuna and noodles. So I took to googling, because I always find a gem--I love to see what other people have done to modify a classic. So, I found "Light-But-Hearty" Tuna Noodle Casserole that adds dry mustard. Unfortunately, I didn't have cream of mushroom, so I used cream of chicken instead. And, rather than use the topping in the recipe, I had some leftover French's onions (the kind you put on green bean casserole) that was the perfect choice. [Traditionally, tuna noodle casserole has potato chips on top.] I also didn't have red pepper (this time!), and added prepared mustard (in addition to dried), garlic and peas--it was strange to me that a tuna noodle casserole didn't include peas. Needless to say--I got the "mmm mmm good" quote from the hubby and we are both now huge fans of putting mustard in tuna noodle casserole. :)

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/light-but-hearty-tuna-casserole

(Mostly) Quick and Easy Zucchini Pie

As we transition from zucchini to tomato recipes, I managed to find another combination of the two. This was tonight's dinner and can we say-Yum! I ended up adding tomatoes, mushrooms, pepper, and a little oregano and put it in my 14x9 baking dish. I also used mozerella instead of parmesan (because that's what I had) and shredded fiesta cheese. I love my food processor's slicer/shredder attachment; I had sliced zucchini in minutes.  Of course the boys had to add Frank's Hot sauce, cuz you know they "put that stuff on everything". :)  I think if you added a little ground beef or sausage, this would make a great breakfast casserole dish that was fairly healthy (I replaced the canola with olive oil). Definitely a nice recipe to have on hand for visitors. :)

http://myrecipemagic.com/recipe/recipedetail/quick-and-easy-zucchini-pie

Creamy Chicken, Broccoli and Quinoa Bake

My husband managed to buy 9 lbs of chicken as well as bring home more vegetables from the garden. I was browsing baked chicken recipes and came across this one....I ended up doubling the recipe and making a pan with chicken breasts and one with thighs so that we'd have enough for lunches and leftovers. I did add shredded zucchini and feel that the recipe could have used more salt and pepper. Great casserole for a chilly fall night. [The rest of the chicken was used for fajitas and sandwich meat the next night.]

http://pinchofyum.com/creamy-chicken-quinoa-broccoli-casserole