Ground Pork Enchiladas

I've got some serious amounts of ground pork in my freezer. I suppose that is what happens when the Farmer is a pork producer. My kids love ground pork, the Farmer loves ground pork, so I am always trying to come up with fun and flavorful recipes that use ground pork. These enchiladas definitely fit the fun and flavorful bill, and are also probably my favorite way to use ground pork.

Try my Pico de Gallo along with these enchiladas! They are fantastic paired together!

Green Chili Pork Enchiladas

Author: The Marigold Kitchen

A unique twist on a favorite dish!

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 28 ounce can of green enchilada sauce
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 pound ground pork
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 8-10 flour tortillas
• 3 cups shredded colby jack cheese

Instructions:

1. In a sauce pan, melt the butter. Add the flour and whisk. Cook for 3 minutes.
2. Add the chicken broth and whisk. Cook until slightly thickened, about 3-5 minutes.
3. Whisk in the green chili enchilada sauce and cilantro. Simmer for 30 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, cook the ground pork and onion in a skillet until pork is fully cooked. Drain any grease. Add the garlic and cook 2 minutes longer.
5. Add the chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Stir to combine.

To assemble and bake the enchiladas:

1. Grease a 9x13 pan and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. For each enchilada, scoop about 1/4 cup meat mixture onto a tortilla. Add 1 tablespoon each sauce and shredded cheese. Roll up and place in greased pan.
3. Once all the meat is used, Pour remaining sauce over the enchiladas in the pan. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.
4. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes to an hour, until sauce is bubbling and cheese starts to brown on top. 
5. Let sit and rest for 20 to 25 minutes before serving. Serve with your favorite toppings such as sour cream, lettuce, tomato, onion, or salsa.

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Basic Meatloaf

If you need a basic meatloaf recipe, look no further. This is the one that you need. My family likes to have a simple meatloaf once in a while, and after years of adjusting amounts and spices here or there, this is the one that they love the most. I love that since my family is small and my kids are young, I can actually get by with baking only half of this meatloaf and putting half in the freezer for later. That certainly helps on a busy weeknight!

I also like this recipe because I can use both ground pork and ground beef. I'm always looking for ideas to use ground pork because I don't always like it as a substitute for ground beef. Ground pork doesn't always work well in place of ground beef in some recipes. But the mix of both of the meats in this meatloaf is perfect. I also think that this bakes up less greasy than other meatloaf recipes because of the use of oatmeal instead of breadcrumbs.

We usually eat this with baked potatoes and corn. It's the way I ate it while growing up, so it's how I serve it now. Plus the potatoes can bake while the meatloaf bakes, making supper that much easier!

Basic Meatloaf

Author: The Marigold Kitchen

This is the basic meatloaf recipe that you need.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 pound ground pork
• 1 1/2 cups oatmeal
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 8 ounce can tomato sauce, divided
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a standard sized loaf pan.
2. In a bowl, mix the ground beef, ground pork, oatmeal, egg, onion, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and half of the tomato sauce.
3. Put mixture into the prepared loaf pan and pat down lightly.
4. In a small bowl, mix the remaining tomato sauce with the brown sugar.  Add salt and pepper to taste and mix in.
5. Pour sauce over the meatloaf.
6. Cover and bake for 60-65 minutes. Uncover for the last 10 minutes of baking.
7. If you are freezing half, prepare two pans and divide the meat mixture and sauce between the two pans. Cover and freeze for up to two months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before baking.

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Hot Beef Sundae Twice Baked Potatoes

It's cold, rainy, windy, and downright dreary today. I was reading somewhere that the Iowa State Fair is still deciding on how the fair will look this year due to COVID-19. Which makes today even more dreary. It just won't be summer without the Iowa State Fair.

Then I remembered that I have some leftover roast beef in the freezer (Bonus! I love when I can use leftovers!), and I can make these twice baked potatoes that remind me of those hot and humid summer days at the most wonderful fair in the world. The Iowa Beef Producers make one of the most iconic fair foods, the Hot Beef Sundae. There is always a long line for these savory sundaes. Its a bowl full of yummy goodness that includes mashed potatoes, roast beef with gravy, cheese, and a tomato. Its no wonder people wait a long time to get one. These sundaes are one of my very favorite foods to get at the Iowa State Fair, and are the inspiration for these twice baked potatoes that I created. So, if you are missing the fair and hot summer nights like me, give these a try.

Hot Beef Sundae Twice Baked Potatoes

Author: The Marigold Kitchen

Inspired by an Iowa State Fair classic!

Ingredients:

• 2 medium potatoes
• 1 packet brown gravy mix, 0.87 ounce
• 1 cup roast beef
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 4 grape tomatoes

Instructions:

1. Wash potatoes and poke with a fork. Wrap in foil and bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.
2. Meanwhile, prepare gravy according to package directions.
3. Heat roast beef in microwave until heated through.
4. Cut potatoes in half and scoop out flesh, leaving about a quarter inch next to the skins. Save the extra potato in a small bowl.
5. Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add milk and heat through.
6. Mash the extra potato. Add the milk and butter mixture and stir to make mashed potatoes.
7. Scoop the mashed potatoes equally into the 4 potato skins.
8. Add 1/4 cup of roast beef on top of the mashed potatoes.
9. Add 1/4 cup gravy on top of the beef.
10. Top each potato skin with 1 tablespoon of shredded cheddar cheese.
11. Bake potatoes in a 425 degree oven for about 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and starting to brown.
12. Top each potato with a grape tomato and serve.

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The Best Fruit Dip

This is my absolute favorite way to eat fruit. This sweet and creamy dip is the perfect complement for your favorite fruits. We love it with strawberries, grapes, pineapple, apples, and different kinds of berries. We've even slathered it on toast and bagels. Plus it is ridiculously easy and quick to make! It's so easy my kids can make it.

As a child, I remember my grandmother making this fruit dip for family gatherings. She always had this fruit dip and my grandfather always made sure he had the strawberries for us. My siblings and I could eat this entire dip in one sitting. We just couldn't get enough of this amazingly sweet concoction. I'm glad my grandmother showed me how to make it so I can share it with my kids and I can pass down the treasured memories.

Best Fruit Dip

Author: The Marigold Kitchen

This is my favorite way to eat fruit!

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces of softened strawberry cream cheese
• 7 ounce jar marshmallow fluff

Instructions:

1. Mix the cream cheese and marshmallow fluff together.
2. Serve immediately with your favorite fruit, or chill until ready to eat.

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Perfect Fluffy Waffles

Waffles. They are perfect for breakfast, lunch, or supper. You can go traditional and add butter and syrup (my personal favorite!) or dress them up with whipped cream and fruit. Or how about chicken and waffles? They really are very versatile. And let's not forget delicious. They definitely are delicious. You just can't go wrong with waffles.

We eat a lot of pancakes and waffles at my house, especially for lunch. My dancer loves pancakes and my little farmer loves waffles, so we usually alternate between the two. If I were to choose, I'd have to side with my little farmer and go team waffles. We even go all out and celebrate birthdays with a stack of warm, fluffy birthday waffles (or pancakes) for breakfast. It has become a tradition that the kids look forward to every year. Birthday waffles with candles to celebrate another year of growing up are part of every birthday morning.

You don't need a fancy waffle maker to make great waffles. I have this Black and Decker one. It is simple, with no temperature dial or way to flip. I just plug it in and go, and the indicator light tells me when it's ready. Plus it is easy peasy to clean - bonus! I often make extra waffles and store them in the freezer. They make a great quick breakfast in the mornings, or even a great after school snack. I store each one individually in a sandwich baggie, then put them all in a freezer gallon ziploc.

Perfect Fluffy Waffles

Author: The Marigold Kitchen

Like the title says, these waffles are perfect and fluffy.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 melted butter

Instructions:

1. Heat waffle iron and grease with cooking spray if necessary.
2. Add dry ingredients to a bowl and whisk.
3. Stir in wet ingredients and mix well.
4. Add about 3/4 cup of batter to the iron for each waffle.
5. Cook until done.
6. This recipe was adapted from my favorite waffle recipe from Betty Crocker. https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/waffles/f4760054-72a9-4316-9377-f636dd58bc8e

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Spaghetti Sauce

Have I mentioned that I love pasta? If not, I love pasta. My kids love pasta. The farmer thinks we eat too much pasta. But when it comes to pasta, I'm not sure I need his opinion.😉
I created this sauce with a few extra veggies in it for my kids. They just aren't big veggie eaters, and I thought I could trick them into eating more with this sauce. And you know what? It worked. I learned to mince everything real fine, and they won't know the difference.

This is the sauce that I make when I have time for homemade sauce with my spaghetti and meatballs. It really is simple to make and uses ingredients that can be found in your pantry. I do use finely minced carrot and green pepper as my hidden veggies. The carrot adds the sweetness you need to cut the acidity from the tomatoes so there is no need for any sugar. In the summer, I throw in some hidden zucchini as well. (Shhh..... don't tell the kids!)

Spaghetti Sauce

Author: The Marigold Kitchen

This sauce is simple to make and uses ingredients found in your pantry.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1/3 cup finely minced carrot
• 1/4 cup finely minced green pepper
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 3 large cloves garlic, minced (use 4 cloves if small)
• 28 ounce can tomato puree
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon Italian blend seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil on medium high heat.
2. Add the carrot, green pepper, and onion. Cook for 5 minutes or until soft.
3. Add the minced garlic and stir. Cook for 2 more minutes.
4. Add the tomato puree, water, salt, pepper, basil, oregano, and Italian seasoning.
5. Simmer for 20-30 minutes, until some of the water has reduced. 
6. Stir in the Parmesan cheese.

Notes:

If you made meatballs, add them before you simmer. This sauce freezes well. Freeze it in a freezer safe container.

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Meatballs

I've been making this meatball recipe most of my life. When I was growing up, this is the recipe that my parents used whenever we had spaghetti and meatballs. My parents didn't really measure the seasonings, and that is how I learned to add a little of this and a little of that.
As an adult, I've written down the measurements and made a couple changes. My parents always used ground beef for these meatballs. I still do sometimes, but I have found that my family prefers ground pork. I've determined set amounts for the seasonings, and I make sure to crush the saltines fine with my food processor. As a child, we used our hands and frustrations to crush the crackers.

I start by putting all of my ingredients into a bowl. You can mix the seasoning with the crushed crumbs first to make sure that the seasonings get evenly distributed. I like to use saltines instead of breadcrumbs because I think that it makes a sturdier meatball that can hold up to heavier sauces.

I mix everything up with my hands. I just don't see any better way to do it!

I preheat the oil in my cast iron skillet. The oil will take about 5-10 minutes to heat up on a medium high heat setting. I usually look for the oil to start to have a ripple look to it. It will have a consistency more like water.

Next up is making the meatballs. Most of the time, I use my hands to pick off sections of the meat mixture and roll into a ball. You can use a cookie scoop to make sure you get meatballs that are the same size.

Fry them up. See that golden brown color? That is perfect. You want to fry the meatballs for 15-20 minutes and use tongs to roll the meatballs around every few minutes to make sure that they cook on all sides.

See all these little bits and leftover oil? Don't toss it! This is perfect to start your sauce!

These meatballs are perfect for spaghetti and meatballs, meatball subs, casseroles, and Swedish meatballs. You can try them in your favorite recipes for meatballs.

If you are going to freeze the meatballs, cool them completely and store them in a freezer ziploc baggie. They are super convenient to have in the freezer on busy nights!

Meatballs

Author: The Marigold Kitchen

These are a perfect meatball for any dish!

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground pork
• 1 sleeve saltine crackers (about 39 crackers)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Instructions:

1. Crush the saltine crackers to make fine crumbs.
2. Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix with your hands to combine.
3. Preheat a skillet with 2-3 tablespoons oil.
4. While the skillet heats, roll your meat mixture into meatballs. You can use a cookie scoop to get uniform meatballs.
5. Fry meatballs for 15-20 minutes, rolling over every three minutes or so to allow for all sizes to cook and brown.
6. Use the drippings and bits of meatball left in the pan to start your sauce, if needed.
7. These also freeze very well. Store in a freezer gallon bag.

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Mexican Mozzarella Sticks

I love tacos. And I love fried mozzarella sticks. So therefore I love this mashup of the two. The breading is crunchy. They taste like tacos. The sauce is cool. My kids love them. And when I made them this afternoon, they disappeared as fast as I could make them.
I used my homemade taco seasoning to make these, but you can use the packet you buy at the store. They'll taste just as good. Make sure not to skip the freezing step. This is important in making sure the cheese doesn't melt too fast while cooking. And make sure the oil is up to temp before frying. You may have to wait a minute or so between batches. I know it'll be hard to wait, but you don't want soggy breading.
Want a little more heat? Add some chopped jalapenos to the dipping sauce. The farmer loves the addition of the jalapenos, so I add them when he is around.

Mexican Mozzarella Sticks

Author: The Marigold Kitchen

A mashup of two favorites - tacos and fried mozzarella sticks!

Ingredients:

• 6 mozzarella string cheese sticks
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoon taco seasoning
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup red enchilada sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, minced

Instructions:

1. Gather three small bowls. In one bowl add the flour.
2. In another bowl, add the egg and milk. Whisk together.
3. In the third bowl, add the Panko bread crumbs and the taco seasoning. Stir together.
4. Unwrap all the cheese sticks. Cut in half to create 12 sticks.
5. Take one stick and roll in the flour. Then dip in the egg and milk mixture. Repeat.
6. Roll cheese stick in the breadcrumbs, using a spoon to help coat the cheese stick.
7. Repeat the coating process for all the cheese sticks.
8. Freeze the cheese sticks for 30 minutes.
9. To make the dipping sauce, mix together the sour cream, enchilada sauce, cilantro, and pepper.
10. Fry the cheese sticks in oil heated to 350 degrees until breading is browned and cheese starts to melt out of the breading, about 2 minutes.

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Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken pot pie. Is there anything more comforting than this dish? The crust is buttery. The filling is creamy. I promise that the time it takes to make this is worth it. I have no other words. These pictures should speak for themselves.
This pot pie freezes well. If you are baking from frozen, wait to add the egg wash until right before baking. And bake for about 15-20 minutes longer.

Chicken Pot Pie

Author: The Marigold Kitchen

One of the best comfort foods.

Ingredients:

For the crust:

• 2 2/3 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter flavor vegetable shortening, cut into cubes
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup cold water

For the filling:

• 3 cups shredded chicken
• 2 cups frozen vegetable mix
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 cloves minced garlic, 3 cloves if they are small
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup milk
•  1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Instructions:

Prepare the filling:

1. In a large skillet or dutch oven, melt the butter. Add the onions and cook until tender and starting to turn translucent, about 3-5 minutes.
2. Add flour and whisk. Cook for about 2 minutes.
3. Add chicken broth and milk. Whisk until it starts to get thick.
4. Stir in chicken, vegetables, garlic, salt, pepper, and oregano.
5. Let filling simmer.

Prepare the crust:

1. While the filling simmers, prepare the crust.
2. Add flour and salt to a bowl. Cut shortening in with a pastry cutter. Add water a little bit at a time, adding just enough for the dough to come together.
3. Divide dough into two portions. Roll out one portion and place in a 10 inch deep dish pie plate. You can also use a cast iron skillet lightly greased with oil or cooking spray.
4. Pour filling into the crust.
5. Roll out other portion and place on top of the filling. Seal the edges.
6. Whisk an egg with 1 tablespoon water. Use a pastry brush to brush the egg wash over the crust.
7. Vent the crust with a knife.
8. Bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until crust is browned and filling bubbles up through the crust.

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Skillet Rodeo Dip

I love this dip. It's easy to make. And I can use up leftovers. Yup. I created this dip based on leftovers I had in the fridge. I can't tell you how many times that I have made roast, only to have my kids barely eat it, therefore creating leftovers. So put that leftover pork roast (you could use beef!) to work for you in this hearty dip.
I also freeze leftover roast to use in meals later. This is one of those recipes that I would use frozen leftover roast in.

Skillet Rodeo Dip

Author: The Marigold Kitchen

This dip is perfect as an appetizer or a meal!

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 cup cooked shredded pork
• 1 cup salsa
• 1 16 ounce can of refried beans
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded Monterrey jack cheese
• Toppings of your choice: black beans, black olives, chopped tomato, chopped onion, shredded lettuce, sour cream, etc.
• Tortilla chips

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In an oven proof skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the pork and stir around until heated through and the pork starts to brown, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the salsa, refried beans, and the salt and pepper to the skillet with the pork. Mix together until it starts to bubble. Remove from heat.
4. Top with the shredded cheeses. Bake in the oven until cheese has melted and the dip is bubbling, about 10-15 minutes.
5. Remove from the oven. Top with toppings of your choice such as black beans, black olives, chopped tomato, chopped onion, shredded lettuce, sour cream, etc.
6. Serve with tortilla chips.

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