Tag: Main dish recipe

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Chick-a-Buns

It’s time for the post holiday energy drain. Even without snow on the ground, we are in deep winter mode. Ban Beavers, our family’s Beltline mascot, is missing and presumed hibernating.

The nights, although they are longer, never seem to be quite long enough. I’ve instituted 2 PM tea time at work followed by 2:30 stretching. (This is really just me making myself a quick cup of tea and then continuing to work. It sounds a lot more luxurious than it actually is.

By the time I get home, I’m wiped out and the last thing I really want to do is cook supper. It’s just so much coordination between getting homework done, chores completed, and dinner prepped. The noise of everyone telling me about their day interspersed with breaking up fights adds to the chaos. Meanwhile, my head is still in problem solving mode from work.

Occasionally everything works out perfectly. Everyone ate enough of a snack so that no one is hangry. Our tasks are divided and conquered. Children listen. It’s those times where I can make a more elaborate meal.

Unfortunately, most days aren’t like that. I’m exhausted and achy before dinner is on the table. We sit together as a family and enjoy whatever I have prepared, but after the 4th round of the “Worst Worst Game” or the “Thought Game,” I’m craving some space to re-calibrate.

It’s those nights that easy dinners are the best dinners.

I am not a huge fan of refrigerated biscuits when regular biscuits are so easy to make.

I searched high and low at one of my grocery stores for canned chicken spread with no luck. Which was kind of ok since the idea of chicken spread kind of freaks me out. I don’t remember my mom ever using it.

We ended up making our own using this recipe from Taste of Home: Chicken Spread. When made with quality chicken spread Chick-a-buns are rather delightful. We made a double batch of Chick-a-buns. The leftovers heated up well for lunch the next day.

Chick-a-buns are an easy concept that are very adaptable for any taste. Underwood, the company that makes canned chicken spread, also makes deviled ham and a variety of other canned meat pastes. I can also see this being an easy way to do tuna melts if that’s your thing.

Think of this as a super clever way to making your own Hot Pockets. I mean, sure they don’t come in those cool foil lined sleeves, but you also get to control exactly what goes in them.

Basically, you have no excuse. Make some Chick-a-buns, feed your family quickly, get more done.

The Recipe:

Chick-a-Buns

A quick and easy biscuit sandwich for those days on the go. These heat up nicely as leftovers.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 5 Sandwiches

Ingredients
  

  • 1 can Refrigerator Biscuits
  • 1 can Chicken Spread or make your own
  • 1/2 cup Celery chopped
  • 1 Hard Cooked Egg chopped
  • 2 TB Mayonaise

Instructions
 

  • Stretch or roll biscuits to twice their size. Mix remaining ingredients. Put filling between 2 biscuits. Press edges together. Brush top with beaten egg yolk. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 475 for 10 minutes.

If you liked this recipe try: Stroganoff burgers, Tuna Burger Casserole, and Chuck Wagon Casserole.

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Easy Beef and Noodle Skillet

Every once in a while I like to try to make things easy on myself.  I can’t let it become a regular habit because someone needs to freak out, worry, and then do things the hard way. If I don’t stress, who is going to?

Speaking of stress, maybe it’s just cost of living down here, but hamburger is not as cheap as it used to be.  I remember it being used a lot more when I was younger because it was the cheap alternative to other meats, same with chicken.  You can still get leg quarters inexpensively, but…I need to stop.  If I continue down this rant the next thing I’m going to be doing is yelling at some kid to get off my lawn.  (Remind me to tell you the story of my friend B and Night Ranger at some point.)

Ok, enough of the beef I have about the price of beef and onto the good stuff.  I am sure that most of you have had Hamburger Helper at some point.  Maybe it’s because of an exhausted mom or maybe because you were bachelor who didn’t really cook.  It doesn’t really matter.  It’s a thing that exists and I’m not judging (much), I mean we’ve all done it.  (Except maybe me, I’m not sure I actually have ever purchased a box of Hamburger Helper or any of its offshoots.  I have made it before, though.)  It’s easy, convenient, and pretty versatile. 

If you think about what that magic box contains, though, it’s pretty basic.  There is some carbohydrate (noodles or rice) and a seasoning packet.  You have to provide your own browned hamburger and whatever veg you may want in there.

How would you feel if I told you that you could basically make your own seasoning “packet”?  There are a bunch of recipes online that you could use, but why would you use those when you could use this one?  (Hint: Because in order to make this one really delicious, it requires a lot more herbs, spices, and salt than this recipe says.)  This is a good jumping off point.  

Once you have the seasoning made, you can use that to make one of three delightful dishes.  (There is enough seasoning to make all three.) I chose to make the Beef and Noodle Skillet to start.  It’s a lot like hamburger stroganoff, but as bland as you imagine food coming from a place where ketchup was considered spicy.  Honestly, when I made this exactly as written in the recipe, I realized that there was no way I was going to be able to serve it to my family and get them to eat it.  It’s too bland.  Since it was already sort of like stroganoff, I added lots of garlic, some paprika, some Worcestershire sauce, and a bit of sour cream.  

All in all, this is a great idea if you can get the seasoning right.  It’s nice to have something like this on hand for quick meals when you don’t have time to make something like Chicken Tetrazzini, Frazzalene, or Sausage Bean Casserole.  The advantage of making it yourself is that you know everything that is in it and can easily adapt it to your family’s preferences.  I have enough of the Hamburger Dinner Mix to make the rest of the recipes suggested, but the next time I make a seasoning “packet”, it will have a lot more flavor.  

If you are still reading at this point, let me tell you about B and Night Ranger.  When we lived in our old town, every summer there was Riverfest.  It was a classic carnival, activities, food, and music-type affair where most the bands could no longer get work anywhere except these sorts of small town festivals.  Bands on the way down, not usually on the way up.  One year, Night Ranger was going to appear.  You know their song “Sister Christian” and that’s about it. For years, I had told my friend B about which acts were performing at Riverfest since music was one of things we bonded over.  

The year Night Ranger came to town, I IM’d him to let him know.  He responded with disgust.  “I wouldn’t go see Night Ranger if they were playing on my lawn.” He typed back to me.  I hesitated wondering how to respond while the icon that showed he was writing something else came up.  “Except to tell them to get off my lawn.”  The image in my head of him going out and shaking his fist at Night Ranger cracked me up, but also made me realize that I kind of want to have a lawn concert.  That’d be so cool.