Another One of THOSE Nights...

Here at our house...chaos often reigns. I ride roughshod with my handy dandy color coded calendar, a cell phone, and my plethora of cookbooks.

Tonight was another of THOSE nights... the ones where everyone is in a different direction. Tim was coaching volleyball in one town, Ashley was playing volleyball in another town, and I, being Supermom, had to coordinate everyone' schedule, get the kids home ~ fed ~ bathed, dinner for us, Tim off to his school board meeting (yep, after coaching and bringing Stephan home), and try to find time to blog and unwind.

I'm attempting to downsize my cookbooks, because Isaiah has taken to pulling them off of the shelf and scattering them to every corner of the house. So - I already had a plan for a new recipe tonight... remember the color coded calendar?... The recipe that I used was so easy and simple that it is ridiculous. You should all try it. The one I made for breakfast was pretty awesome too. I'll post that at the end.

I'm scattered all over my blog ~ do you see the bits and pieces of my ADHD mind? (Thus, the reason for a color coded calendar. Organization is key to not losing my mind.)

OK - first cookbooks. My goal is to go through every single recipe and try it. If I like - I highlight it and note any changes I want to make. If I don't like it - I put a big black X on it. Easy, right? Then, when I'm done with the book or magazine, I go through and type each recipe. The recipe is then neatly printed onto an index card and filed. Very simple, and it helps me stay organized. The added benefit is I get rid of a lot of my recipe book/magazine/clippings/cards mess. The shelves are full, the box on top is filled with recipes shoved in there, I have a drawer with more recipes shoved in there, and a file box that I just found 20 minutes ago under a cabinet with recipe magazines. Yikes. This adventure might take a few months ~ or years.

Next, the reason I mentioned my crazy day is to show you that I don't sit around eating bon-bons all day...Thanks, Larry. The next two recipes were done with four kids in the house and on a time limit. The first one uses ground beef. We are seldom without ground beef. (Not because it is cheap, but because we raise our own beef and always have too much ground.) I'm always trying new ways to make ground beef better... I'm still trying, but this recipe was so quick/easy/good that it didn't matter.

MEAL IN ONE CASSEROLE

1 lb ground beef

3 med. unpeeled potatoes, thinly sliced

1 med. onion, sliced and separated into rings

1 cup frozen peas

1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon sesame seeds

3 tablespoons butter, melted

In a skillet over medium heat, cook beef until no longer pink; drain (I highly suggest rinsing your beef as well). Place potatoes in a greased 2-qt. baking dish. Top with beef and onion. Place peas in the center; arrange mushrooms around the peas. Sprinkle with the salt, pepper, and sesame seeds; drizzle with butter. Cover and bake at 375 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

I didn't have canned mushrooms so I used fresh (because that was what was in the fridge!) and fresh is better anyway!

I couldn't find the sesame seeds until after I baked the dish - but we didn't miss them.

Overall, I really liked the flavor of this dish. It isn't one I would make for company, but I will make it again on a quick night. Please note - it takes an hour to bake. Just the perfect time for giving two nine month old babies their baths and bottles!

This next recipe is a favorite of mine (for now)...

Banana Split Muffins

1-1/2 cups all purpose flour (We use King Arthur's Whole Wheat flour)

1 cup sugar (or slightly less)

1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips (or slightly more)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (not sure if they were walnuts, but they were chopped and in the freezer)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3 medium ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup mayonnaise

6 maraschino cherries, halved (I didn't use these - didn't have them in the house - don't like them)

In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, chocolate chips, walnuts, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, combine bananas and mayonnaise. Stir into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until muffins test done. Press a cherry half, cut side down, into the top of each muffin. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

First of all, this was so easy to make. When the boys woke me up at 5:30 this morning I decided to start baking. It took no time at all to whip these up. The clean up is minimal and I'm still eating the muffins. Stephan and I each had 2 for breakfast, and I had one for dessert. I love them! I will never have a banana thrown away again. They will be used in this muffin!

Both of these recipes came from the Taste of Home's Quick Cooking magazine. This was the Nov/Dec 1999 issue...