Sadly, however, I don't entertain often at this point. Because my house is small, and my kitchen smaller still (we'll possibly discuss my house envy issues at a later point in time). We do still have a few people over sometimes though. Like tonight!! Hubby's cousin and his wife and daughter came to dinner.
Our major house goal for this year is to redo our back deck. Sadly, it is original to the house (1995), it is wood, sits 12 feet off the ground, and it has never been maintained. I fear for my life every time I go out to turn my grill on; and Pixie has never once set foot out there (and therefore has never set foot in the back yard itself). To top it all off...my yard looks like a jungle. Not a cool, green, tropical island type jungle; but a scary, brownish, grass-will-eat-your-toes kind of jungle. Because it was also not well maintained when we bought the property. So....we're finally taking the reins here and gutting the whole damn thing. The deck and weed execution this year...and making things look pretty next year. I have a full 5 year plan for the whole house (because smallness is only one issue, and I hope to upgrade, so it needs to be saleable)...but since I'm not addressing those items at the moment, we'll move it along.
Now...what on earth does rebuilding my deck have to do with my dinner guests? Well...thankfully Hubby's cousin has much experience with deck building! This is even more handy, because Hubby and I have zero experience. So...because we want a deck that is stable, safe, and attractive, we need all the help we can get! Dinner tonight served the dual purpose of getting to eat some good food with family, and getting a helpful diagnosis of the deck.
At this point in time, Pixie is our only picky eater; so I was able to make a new recipe, that I still felt would be satisfactory for everyone (Pixie opted for chicken nuggets): Cheeseburger Casserole!
I saw a mention of this on Pinterest at one point and thought, well that sounds good, and different! You know how I gravitate towards different... I adapted to suit my needs/tastes of course, but this is a really straightforward recipe!
Cheeseburger Casserole
Ingredients:
16oz uncooked rotini pasta (I used Tinkyada brown rice pasta for GF)
2 tsp EVOO
2 C onions, finely chopped
2 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 lb lean ground beef (96% lean)
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
4 tbsp tomato paste
28 oz diced tomatoes
4 tbsp Dijon Mustard
3 cups reduced fat grated cheddar cheese
1/4 cup chopped dill pickles
Mustard and Ketchup
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta according to the package directions for al dente and drain well.
In meantime, in large skillet, heat oil over med-low heat. Add onions and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.
Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
Stir in the beef and cook until browned; season with salt and pepper.
Stir in the tomato paste, then add the tomatoes and mustard. Let the mixture bubble gently until it is slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.
Toss the meat mixture with the pasta and spread it into the prepared dish. Top with the cheddar and bake until the cheese is melted, about 15 minutes.
Sprinkle the chopped pickles over the top and serve. You could also squirt some yellow mustard and ketchup on top to make it even more cheeseburger-y.
This was super tasty, and everyone loved it!
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