The Way to a Man's Heart~ Juicy Lucys #recipe #goodeats

The Way to a Man's ♥~

Juicy Lucys

This is one of the easiest recipes and one we took note of because of one of those Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives or Man Vs. Food episodes. In all actuality, it's not even much of a "recipe" per se-

I pat out 8 "thin" patties (I use a rolling pin and plastic wrap to get them approximately all the same size)


Make sure they're big enough for the slice(s) of cheese to fit. If you notice, my front flat top burner (not turned on) makes a good measurement for the size of each patty.

Place the cheese slices (your favorite- doesn't have to be American, though that's what I used)
 Sandwich the cheese between two patties and press edges together to form a seal.

I tend to "bake" my burgers these days on a lightly greased broiler pan rather than in the skillet where it tends to hold a lot of the greasiness.

I preheat my oven to between 400º and 425º and simply pepper the tops of the burgers, bake for approximately 10 minutes, flip/pepper them & bake another 10, flip again. With a plain burger, I can usually cook them within 30 minutes and add cheese slices at the very end. With the Juicy Lucys, I'd say it would be wise to go at least 40-45 minutes, to be sure the patties on both sides are fully cooked.

Top with another slice of cheese just before removing from oven and then whatever your favorite burger toppings after that.

Also wise is to give the burgers 5-10 minutes rest before biting/slicing into, as evidenced by my top picture- When I sliced into mine, it oozed EVERYWHERE! What a mess, but it was delicious!

The Way to a Man's Heart Pizza Subs #recipe #goodeats

Things have been hectic and chaotic in my household in recent days, so it completely slipped my mind to schedule posts. Here's the late The Way to a Man's Heart for today- Pizza Subs, which are honestly just a quick and simple way of having pizza without the hassle of making pizza dough, but so much better sometimes than heating up a frozen (though I have to say DiGorno's Pizzaria pizzas come close to being takeout as I've EVER seen of any frozen brand of pizza- LOVE the supreme one!)

Everybody loves pizza- at least that's my conclusion.

Ingredients-
Hoagie Buns
Pizza Sauce (we love Classico)
Provolone Slices

Favorite Pizza Toppings:
(family favorites)
Pepperonis
Ham
Mushrooms
Black Olives
Green Pepper
Red Onion

Cooked Bacon bits
Browned Sausage or Hamburger
Canadian Bacon
Green Olives
Banana Peppers
Pepperonicini

Honestly the possibilities are endless depending on your favorite topping preferences.

Preheat oven to 350-400º

Slice Hoagies open and spread each side with thin layer of sauce
Layer your favorites and top with Provolone slices and place in oven until cheese is melted and veggies are warmed.

I do sometimes switched to the broil oven option to brown the cheese and toast the crust a little, but that is clearly optional.

Remove and fold together and enjoy!

The Way to a Man's Heart Sweet & Sour Pineapple Pork Chops #recipes #goodeats

The Way to a Man's ♥~

Sweet and Sour Pineapple Pork Chops

A sweet and savory recipe, this isn't far from the actual recipe on the back of my cornstarch box, as I discovered the other night as I was preparing it.

Ingredients-
Pork chops

1-14 oz can of Chicken Broth
2 TBSPS Soy Sauce
1 TBSP Vinegar

2 TBSPS Brown Sugar
2 TBSPS Cornstarch
1 15 1/4 oz can Pineapple Tidbits

1. Preheat oven to 350º
2. Place Pork Chops in foil-lined casserole dish
3. Bring broth, soy sauce and vinegar to a boil in a saucepan
4. In a bowl, mix brown sugar, cornstarch and juice from pineapple until smooth
5. Whisk into boiling broth mixture until slightly thickened, then mix in pineapple tidbits
6. Pour over pork chops, cover with foil and bake 30 minutes
7. Remove foil and bake another 15 minutes.

The Way to a Man's Heart~ Hubby's Taco Lasagna #recipe #goodeats

The Way to a Man's ♥~

Hubby's Taco Lasagna

 This is a recipe that my husband made up and I have to say if you like tacos and burritos, this is pretty awesome (the only thing I forgot when we made this was lettuce to put on mine. He won't eat the fresh veggies. ;) )

Ingredients-
ground beef
taco seasoning
soft shell tacos
refried beans
salsa
shredded mexican/fiesta cheese
tortilla chips

Optional
sour cream
Fresh shredded lettuce
Diced up fresh tomato
Black olive slices
(or if you like guacamole you could probably do avocado slices)

Preheat oven to 350º

Brown ground beef as you would for taco meat, drain grease, add seasoning.

In a 13X9 greased casserole dish, layer
Cheese
Soft shells
Meat
broke up tortilla chips
salsa (we heated the salsa in a pan to steam off the excess liquid to thicken it somewhat)
Cheese
Soft shells
Refried Beans
Cheese

Bake 30 minutes or until golden on top and bubbly.

The Way to a Man's Heart~ Pineapple Surprise #Dessert #recipes #goodeats

The Way To a Man's♥

Pineapple Surprise Dessert

Ingredients-

1 Jell-O Plain Cheesecake Mix (though you could probably try using the premade Philadelphia Cheesecake)

1 8 oz Box Cream Cheese

1 small can of Crushed Pineapple, drained

1/2 cup of Pecans, crushed/chipped

Pecan halves

Directions-

NOTE: You will not need the crushed graham crackers. You can set them aside to use for a different pie at a later date.

1. Mix together cheesecake mix by directions with softened cream cheese until well blended
2. Mix in drained pineapple and pecan chips
3. Top with a few nice pieces of pecan  halves.
4. Cover and Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving so it will set.

 

I have not attempted using the premade Philadelphia Cheesecake mix yet, but figure it simply would cut down the ingredients list to
Philly Cheesecake mix
Crushed Pineapple, drained
Pecan chips
Mix and refrigerate.

If anyone tries it, please let me know if it still turns out with a thick fluffy texture. Enjoy!

The Way to a Man's Heart~ Taryn's #Chili #recipes #goodeats

The Way to a Man's ♥

Taryn's Chili

Ingredients-
1 pound ground beef
medium onion, diced
1 (46 oz) bottle of Tomato Juice
8 oz elbow macaroni
1 box Carroll Shelby's Chili Kit (minus the masa flour)
2 cans medium Chili Beans
1 can Dark Red Kidney Beans, water drained from can
Shredded Cheddar (mild or sharp, depending on your preference)
1-2 cups water

Also good to have on hand-
Saltines
Peanut Butter
Bread

Directions-

1. Brown Ground beef in skillet with onions, drain any grease.
2. Mix together tomato juice, all C.S. chili seasonings except for the masa flour, macaroni, and beans in a dutch oven or large stew pot.
3. Add browned ground beef and onion, stir together well.
4. Add just enough water not to overflow the pan and place lid on top, tilted slightly.
5. Simmer for about an hour- hour and a half, stirring often so that ingredients don't stick to bottom of the pan.
6. Serve with crackers, topped with shredded cheese if you so desire or add a peanut butter sandwich on the side or however you like it.

The Way to a Man's Heart- Lemon Drop Cookies #recipe #goodeats

The Way to a Man's ♥-

Lemon Drop Cookies

This is one my husband's favorite recipes, especially to fix at the holidays as part of our traditional treat buckets for family and friends and they're super easy to make. They are a very soft chewy cookie. In fact, though we use lemon cake mix, you could most certainly substitute a different cake flavor and come up with your own unique cookie, which I've thought about doing with chocolate cake or strawberry.

Preheat oven to 350º

Ingredients-
Lemon Cake Mix
1 Egg
1- 8 oz Cool Whip
Powdered Sugar

Directions-

1. With a mixer, blend together the cake mix, egg and whipped topping. It will have a thick fluffy and sticky consistency.
2. Using large Tablespoons, scoop the mixture into balls just slightly smaller than or around the size of a golf ball and drop them into a bowl of powdered sugar and coat them enough to handle and gentle roll them into a better ball, placing them on a cookie sheet a couple inches apart.
3. Taking a flat bottom glass, dust the bottom with powdered sugar and lightly press cookies out, leaving them about 1/2 inch thick. Bake 8-10 minutes, keeping a close eye on them as they can brown quickly. They will also spread out a little more as they bake. They should be lightly brown around the edges.
4. Let cool a few minutes before removing from cookie sheet with spatula.

The Way to a Man's Heart- Brown Sugar Broccoli #recipe #goodeats

The Way to a Man's ♥

Brown Sugar Broccoli

It's a given that not everybody likes broccoli. My husband sure doesn't and I used to forgo my desire for it because no one else in the house would eat it. Now my daughter will eat it but normally my stepson, who's 15 doesn't like it either because his mom fixes broccoli & cheese sauce and he HATES it...BUT, he loves broccoli when I fix it this way and it's one of the quickest, easiest recipes I've come up with. It has a wonderful Asian flare to it and I hope that this simple side dish will be an added favorite to your meals.

Ingredients:
Broccoli florets
2-3 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
2-3 Tablespoons Butter
1-2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
Salt, to taste

1. Steam broccoli approximately 15-20 minutes or until fork tender.
2. Melt butter, brown sugar together with soy sauce and pour over broccoli to coat.
3. Add salt to taste, depending on whether you prefer the sweet flavor or a bit more saltiness.

The Way to a Man's Heart- Easy Chicken #Alfredo #recipe #goodeats

The Way to a Man's ♥-

Easy Chicken Alfredo

We used to use a lot of the boxed dinners from Betty Crocker and Banquet, but there's just nothing like the taste of something made mostly from scratch- it's how I came up with our Beef Stroganoff recipe and several others, including this Easy Chicken Alfredo.

Ingredients-
2 Chicken Breasts
2 Chicken broth boxes
1/2 stick of butter
1 pound Penne Noodles
2 Jars Classico Alfredo (usually the Creamy Alfredo and the 4 Cheese Alfredo)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions-

1. Simmer Chicken in broth with 1/2 stick of butter, salt and pepper until done. (I usually simmer it a couple of hours before mealtime.)
2. Drain chicken and cut into bite size pieces.
3. Add Penne Pasta to the broth.
4. Cook pasta until done, al dente- Drain in colander.
5. Mix back into pan- pasta, chicken and both jars of sauce.
6. Simmer until warmed thoroughly and serve.

The Way to a Man's Heart~ Cavatini #recipe #pasta #cheese

The Way to a Man's ♥-

Cavatini

This is actually my husband's recipe. Before I met him, the only cavatini I'd heard of was the kind that was served on the Pizza Hut lunch buffet. This was the first homecooked meal he made for me and it topped what P.H. serves by a long shot. Enjoy!

1 package Pepperoni
2 small jars mushrooms
1 box Rotini pasta
1 jars Spaghetti Sauce
2-3 bags shredded Mozzarella/Italian Cheese

Preheat oven to 350-400º

1. Cook and drain pasta.
2. While cooking pasta, heat both jars of sauce and drained mushrooms in a large pan.
3. Spray 9 X13 casserole dish with cooking spray.
4. Line bottom with pepperonies and some of the cheese.
5. Mix drained pasta with sauce/mushrooms mixture and add pepperonis and cheese, reserving at least 12 pepperonis and enough cheese to top dish.
6.  Pour entire mixture into dish and top with remaining pepperonis and cheese.
7. Bake for approximately 30 minutes until thoroughly heated and cheese is gooey and melted and top is golden.

Serves well with salad and garlic bread sticks.

The Way to a Man's Heart~ Brown Sugar Pork Chops #recipe

The Way to a Man's Heart

Brown Sugar Pork Chops

Ingredients-

6 pork chops

6 Tablespoons of brown sugar

6 Tablespoons of butter or margarine

1 Tablespoon of soy sauce

Directions-

Preheat oven to 350º

Place chops in a foil lined 9X13 baking pan

Place 1 Tablespoon of brown sugar on top of each chop

Place 1 Tablespoon of butter on top of the brown sugar

Sprinkle chops with soy sauce

Cover pan with foil and bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes

Remove foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes, until browned.

The Way to a Man's Heart~ Taco Layer Bean Dip with Tortilla Chips #recipe

The Way to a Man's ♥

Taco Layer Bean Dip with Tortilla Chips

Ingredients-

Re-fried Beans

8 oz. Sour Cream

1 Cup of Miracle Whip or Mayonaisse

1 Package Taco Seasoning

Green Onions

Cherry Tomatoes (sliced)

Shredded Cheddar

Black Olives (optional)

Lettuce (optional)

Tortilla Chips

Directions-

1. Spread out the re-fried beans on large serving plate
2. Mix together Sour Cream, cup of dressing/mayo and taco seasoning
3. Spread that over the beans
4. Layer green onions and sliced cherry tomatoes over that
5. Top with cheese (and black olives if desired)
6. Refrigerate until cold, several hours and serve with Tortilla chips

The Way to a Man's Heart- Homemade Chicken Pot Pie

Homemade Chicken Pot Pie

Normally I would have a picture, but I haven't made Chicken Pot Pie in a while and I thought I had a picture of one I'd made but I can't for the life of me find it. I hope you enjoy this recipe though and Happy Saturday!

 

1-2 Carrots, peeled and chopped

1 Celery Stalk, chopped

1-2 Potatoes, peeled, rinsed and chopped

1 med-large Chicken Breast

2 Tablespoons of Butter

½ can of Peas (or the small can works well)

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup

Salt & Pepper to taste

Pie Crust for bottom and top

Directions-

1. Preheat oven to 400º
2. Simmer Chicken, Celery, Potatoes, Carrots on low with a dash of pepper, salt and a couple of tablespoons of butter until chicken is done
3. Drain veggies and cut up chicken into bite size pieces
4. Mix chicken, veggies (including peas), soups and a little chicken broth until all warmed
5. Pour into uncooked pie crust Place top pie crust, seal, poke air holes and brush with melted butter
6. Bake at 400º for approximately 50 minutes, or until crust is golden (I take it out at the ½ way mark to re-butter crust and then continue baking)

The Way to a Man's Heart- Parmesan Crust for Chops or Chicken

Parmesan Crust for Baked Chops or Chicken

This recipe started out as a simple one for pork chops, but I've found that you can alter it somewhat and don't always have to use so many crackers or Parmesan. In fact, now that I'm using Italian Seasoned Panko, I've found that a cup of that and a cup of Parm, plus the dash of garlic powder is all I need for the breading of 4 pork chops or 4 chicken breast halves.)

Ingredients-

1 package Saltine Crackers

2 Cups Parmesan Cheese

Italian Seasoning

Dash of Garlic Powder

Melted Butter

(or you can use 1 cup of Panko Breading and 1 cup Parmesan)
(chicken or pork chops)

Directions- 

1. Preheat oven to 425º
2. Crush Saltines in a large Ziploc plastic bag until fine powder
3. Add Parmesan, Italian Seasoning and Garlic Powder, mix well 
4. Dredge Chicken or Pork Chops in melted butter (instead of an egg wash)
5. Coat well with Cracker Parm mixture
6. Place in foil lined 9x13 pan 
7. Bake, uncovered, 30-40 minutes until done

I personally prefer this to Shake & Bake breading. It’s good with white country gravy poured over it, and later on The Way to a Man’s Heart, I will share my recipe for Chicken Parm, in which I use this recipe for breading.

The Way to a Man's Heart- Taryn's Breakfast Burritos

Breakfast Burritos

In an effort to lose weight and eat better, Hubby and I have started altering our recipes. Next time I fix these, I'll probably substitute TURKEY sausage in place of regular breakfast sausage.- Most everything else would probably still be fine (though the shredded cheddar could probably be exchanged for 2% or low fat/no fat if you can find it)

Have a good MORNING!

Ingredients-

1 medium onion, diced

1 green pepper, diced

1 tomato, diced

½ lb tube of sausage

4-6 Eggs (depending on how much you intend to make)

Salt & Pepper to taste

A few Tablespoons of Milk (I “eyeball” the amount)

Cooking Spray

8-16 oz of Shredded Cheddar

Taco or Picante Sauce

Soft Taco/Fajita Shells (at least a pack of 10)

Directions-

1. In large skillet, brown sausage over low heat, with lid on

2. Drain grease once meat is tender and brown enough to suit

3. Add onion & green pepper and steam with lid on until veggies are cooked to desired tenderness, adding in the diced tomatoes at the end (a minute or two)

4. Set skillet with meat & veggies off to side and bring out another large skillet. Coat with cooking spray & set over medium heat to warm the pan

5. Whisk eggs, salt & pepper and a few Tablespoons of Milk together

6. Scramble eggs in large skillet until done, set aside momentarily

7. Turn burner back down and bring meat and veggies back to it, adding in scrambled eggs & shredded cheese

8. Cover with lid for a minute or two to melt cheese, then stir to combine all ingredients well

9. Scoop appropriate sized spoonfuls onto warmed shells and serve with taco/picante sauce

The Way to a Man's Heart- Round Steak Supreme

Round Steak Supreme

Ingredients-

1 ½ to 2 lbs round steak

Large jar sliced mushrooms

1 envelope dry onion soup mix

Beef Bouillon powder or granules

(You can add real onion or green pepper, if so desired)

Directions-

1. Preheat oven to 350º

2. Cut round steak into serving sized pieces

3. Put in a large shallow pan or casserole dish (I use a foil lined pan)

4. Drain mushrooms and put on top of meat (add onion & green pepper if you use it)

5. Sprinkle top with onion soup mix and beef bouillon

6. Fill onion soup packet (yes, the packet) twice with water, pouring over meat, mushroom and soup mix

7. Wrap tightly with foil

8. Bake at 350º for 2 HOURS

9. Serve with white or beef flavored rice