There are a lot of different ways to make steak sandwiches but Philly Cheese steak sandwiches are among my personal favorites. I am not sure how authentic this recipe is but as far as I know a Philly cheese steak is a sandwich with sliced steak topped with cheese. This recipe also adds vegetables such as green pepper, onions and mushrooms. Feel free to leave out any of the vegetables if you choose. For the cheese, I guess Cheese Whiz is commonly used for these sandwiches but you can use sliced provolone or sliced American as well. You want the steak to be cut as thinly as possible, try putting the steak in the freezer for about an hour prior to cutting. This will make the steak firmer and give you the ability to get thinner slices. Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches are perfect for football season. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
4 Italian sandwich rolls or Kaiser buns (split in half lengthwise)
1 onion (thinly sliced)
1 green bell pepper (thinly sliced)
½ package fresh sliced mushrooms
1 tablespoon olive oil
1lb rib-eye steak (sliced thinly as possible)
¼ cup water (or more)
Salt and pepper (to taste)
8 Slices Provolone cheese (or cheese whiz, or sliced American cheese)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Add oil to a large sauté pan over medium-heat heat. Add vegetables and sauté until tender. Season vegetables with salt and pepper while cooking if desired. Remove vegetables from the pan and transfer to a large bowl.

Step 2: Add steak to the hot pan. Season steak with salt and pepper. Quickly stir fry steak until browned. Deglaze the pan with water scrapping up any bits of steak stuck to the pan. Simmer until steak is tender.
Step 3: Place split rolls onto a baking sheet, top each evenly with sliced steak, vegetables and 2 slices of cheese. Place under a broiler until cheese has melted.

One of the easiest pie recipes you will ever come across is Key Lime Pie. This pie originated in Key West, Florida. The pie is so simple to make the filling only consists of three ingredients; sweetened condensed milk, lime juice, and egg yolks. To save time you can use a prepared graham cracker crust and just pour the filling into it. Depending on where you live, you might not be able to find key limes. I know around here it is very difficult so I had to settle for regular lime juice. Serving with whipped cream is a must. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
5 egg yolks (beaten)
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
½ cup key lime juice
1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large mixing bowl combine egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk, and lime juice. Mix well. Pour into the unbaked graham cracker shell.
Step 2: Place into the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Allow to cool. Top with whipped cream.

Burrito casserole is one of my favorite Mexican casserole dishes. It’s called burrito casserole because it uses ingredients similar to that of a burrito. This was a big hit with my family and its something almost everyone is sure to enjoy. This casserole is basically a beef and refried bean mixture mixed with cheese, cream of mushrooms soup and torn flour tortillas. You can use either ground beef or ground turkey for this recipe. Even spice it up with a little hot sauce and you could add black olives, tomato and lettuce on top if you choose. This is very easy and delicious meal if you are looking for something quick to prepare. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
1lb ground beef
½ medium yellow onion (chopped)
1 (1 ¼ ounce) package taco seasoning
6 large flour tortillas
1 (16 ounce) can refried beans
2-3 cups shredded taco cheese (or cheddar cheese)
1 ( 10 ¾ ounce) can cream of mushrooms soup
4 ounces sour cream
hot sauce (optional)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: In a large skillet brown ground beef and onion. Drain. Add taco seasoning and stir in refried beans.  In a separate bowl mix together cream of mushroom soup and sour cream.
Step 2: Spread ½ of the sour cream mixture onto the bottom of a casserole dish. Tear up 3 tortillas and spread them over the sour cream mixture. Put ½ of the meat and bean mixture on top of that. Add a layer of shredded cheese (add hot sauce is using). Repeat the layers.
Step 3: Sprinkle cheese over the top and place into the oven and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.
(Makes 6 Servings)

If you’re looking for a change from your normal spaghetti, Cowboy spaghetti could be just what you’re looking for. I had not heard of this until recently but I decided to give it a try and it turned out great. This recipe comes from the Food Network. Cowboy spaghetti adds a nice smokey flavor to your normal spaghetti. It gets a lot of its flavor from fire roasted tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce and bacon. If you want to up the heat a little bit just add more hot sauce. This delicious spaghetti is topped with green onions and shredded cheddar cheese.

Ingredients:
1 lb spaghetti noodles
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 slices smoky bacon (chopped)
1lb ground beef
1 medium onion
4 garlic cloves (minced)
Ground black pepper (to taste)
2 teaspoons hot sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
½ cup beer
1 (14 ounce) can fired roasted diced tomatoes
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
shredded cheddar cheese
green onions (chopped)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Cook spaghetti noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside. This can be done while you’re making the sauce. Heat a large deep skillet to medium-high heat. Add olive oil and add bacon. Fry bacon until crisp, remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
Step 2: In the same skillet add ground beef and chop up with a spatula or metal spoon while cooking. Cook until the beef is browned. Add onions and garlic, stir into the meat. Season with salt, pepper, hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Add the beer to the pan and stir in. Cook for 5-6 minutes and stir in tomatoes and tomato sauce. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes.
Step 3: Add spaghetti noodles to the meat and sauce and combine. Top with shredded cheddar cheese and green onions.
(Makes 4 Servings)

As winter approaches its time to start looking for good casserole recipes. This shrimp casserole is perfect for those cold nights when you are looking for a nice and easy meal to prepare. The casserole uses shrimp and wild rice for most of its filling along with cream of mushrooms soup and cheddar cheese. As you can see there are not a lot of ingredients to this recipe so it’s pretty easy to prepare. Some changes or additions that could be made would be using chicken instead of shrimp, and adding fresh sliced mushrooms into the casserole. If you are serving a large crowd this recipe can easily be doubled. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
1 (8 ounce) package wild rice
1lb medium shrimp (peeled and deveined, with tails removed)
3 tablespoons butter
2 garlic cloves (minced)
½ green bell pepper (seeded and chopped)
½ onion (chopped)
1 (10 ¾ ounce) can condensed cream of mushrooms soup
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
salt and pepper

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Cook the wild rice according to package directions minus ¼ cup of water. Drain and cool. In a large skillet melt butter, add garlic and add shrimp and sauté until shrimp are fully cooked. Remove from the pan and set aside. In the same pan, add more butter if needed, and sauté the green pepper and onion until soft.
Step 2: Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl combine rice, cream of mushroom soup, 1 ½ cups of cheddar cheese, shrimp, onion, and pepper. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. Spray an 11 x 7 inch casserole dish with cooking spray and pour the shrimp mixture into the casserole dish. Top with remaining cheddar cheese.
Step 3: Bake for 30 minutes until bubbly.
(Makes 6 Servings)

Lemon pepper shrimp goes at the top of my list when it comes to quick and easy meals. This dish can be on the table in 40 minutes or less and the results are fantastic.  The shrimp are cooked in a lemon butter sauce and then served over a bed of pasta. This dish reminds me some Shrimp Scampi. To give you an idea of how good this recipe is, some of the sauce ingredients include lemon juice, butter, chicken broth, and white wine. You can either make the shrimp with the tails removed or leave them on if you prefer. I really like the combination of parsley and fresh basil added into the sauce. I feel the basil adds a really nice flavor to this dish. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
1 (8 ounce) package linguini
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 garlic cloves (minced)
½ cup chicken broth
¼ cup white wine
1 lemon (juiced)
½ teaspoon lemon zest
salt to taste
2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1lb fresh shrimp (peeled and deveined)
¼ cup butter
3 tablespoons fresh parsley (chopped)
1 tablespoon fresh basil (chopped)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside. Heat oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté for 30 seconds. Add chicken broth, white wine, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, and pepper. Reduce heat and simmer until the liquid has reduced by about ½.

Step 2: Mix in shrimp, butter, parsley and basil into the saucepan. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until the shrimp are opaque.
Step 3: Stir in the cooked linguini and continue cooking for 2 minutes, until well coated.
(Makes 4 Servings)