Vegetable Beef Soup

This is one of the better things I make, but the recipe is kind of hard to write since I don't measure any of the ingredients. But here's what I do.

Ingredients:

• Stew beef
• White onion, chopped
• Mushrooms
• Corn - This & the tomatoes are the only canned products I use. The rest are fresh ingredients.
• Diced tomatoes
• Celery, chopped
• Carrots, chopped
• Green beans
• Potatoes
• Miniature pasta (you can use ABCs or regular noodles)

I cook the meat on the stove top first. This creates a nice beef broth to be a base for the soup. When you add the diced tomatoes, you don't drain them. The combination of the tomato and beef is a yummy broth. Once the beef is cooked, I add all the veggies. Then I let it simmer for a few hours. I add the pasta last and only cook for about 20 minutes afterward. If you cook much longer, it gets soggy.

I serve it with cornbread and it's great comfort food. It also freezes well.

I am making this tomorrow, because we can eat it as leftovers next week. I'll do 2 pots at the same time and freeze one of them for later.

Cannelloni With Cheese Sauce

While I was simmering the spaghetti sauce today, I made a meal to put in the freezer. I am going to start doing this as much as I can on weekends, because I don't have time to prepare proper meals on weekdays. I am sick of us eating crap like Hamburger Helper, canned soups, and sandwiches every single weekday. Those things are okay from time to time, but I want to try to provide my family with a nice, nutritious meal at least a few days a week.

This recipe is pulled directly from one of the ladies on Mommy's Online.

Ingredients:

2 cups marinara sauce
1/4 lb ground beef, browned
1/4 lb Italian sausage, browned
1 cup onion, chopped and sauteed
6 cannelloni, large
1 cup white sauce
6 oz cheddar cheese, shredded
parmesan cheese, shredded (to cover the top)

Instructions:

To make filling - Combine browned beef, browned sausage, sauteed onion, and marinara sauce. Cook canneolli as directed, but cook for only 3/4 time recommended on package. Fill cannelloni with mixture and pack firmly into greased baking dish.

To make cheese sauce - Warm white sauce until nearly boiling. Add shredded cheese and stir until melted. Pour over cannelloni.

To freeze - Cover baking dish with aluminum foil and place in freezer bag. Label and freeze.

To prepare - Uncover and bake frozen casserole in 400-degree oven for 1 hour (or until hot and bubbling). Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and return to oven for 5 minutes to brown top.

Originally I chose to make it today, because I was already making homemade sauce, which I planned to use in this recipe. But when Jamie decided to invite mom and dad to dinner, I realized I probably didn't have enough to do both meals. So, I used jar sauce this time. I also used jar white sauce - this was planned and intentional. I do know how to make a yummy alfredo sauce, but I have found that it doesn't reheat very well, because the butter separates from the cheese.

The clean-up from this dish was horrible. I had to use 4 different pots (and I wash those by hand). I hate doing dishes! Unless it tastes absolutely awesome, I can't see myself doing this much work to make it again.