Inspired by great American diners across the land, tonight is a dinner of deep-fried Spanish dogs, batter-dipped onion rings and lemon ices. (No - this meal doesn’t even pretend to be healthy!)

Spanish sauce for hot dogs
1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 c. water
1 c. ketchup
2 1/2 Tbsp. chili powder
1/8 c. finely chopped onion
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 Tbsp. brown sugar

In a medium saucepan, combine raw beef and water. Stir in other ingredients. Simmer over low-med. heat for 35 mins.Slash through skin of hot dogs crosswise several times on both sides. Deep-fry in 350-degree oil to desired doneness. (They taste like grilled!) Place in bun and top with prepared Spanish sauce and finely chopped onions.

Onion rings
1 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 egg
3/4 c. milk
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. seasoned salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
2 or 3 medium onions, sliced as desired (thick or thin)

Coat onion rings in batter and deep fry in 350-degree oil in deep fryer until golden brown. Drain on paper towels, and salt to taste.

Lemon ice
In a heavy-duty blender (I use my Vita-Mix - it’s the greatest kitchen tool in the world!), combine two trays ice cubes, 1/3 cup lemon juice or sections (pith, skin and seeds removed) from two large or three medium lemons, and 1/2 cup sugar. Blend until fine. Taste and add more lemon juice or sugar to taste, and pulse to mix.This meal’s just a deliciously sinful indulgence. Enjoy it!

Sundays are crazy busy around my house, so Sunday night dinner is usually a quickie. This one’s great for weeknight dinners, too, of course. This recipe makes two pizzas, but you can halve the toppings to just make one. 

In a skillet, brown one pound of ground beef, crumbling finely. Drain and add one packet taco seasoning or 1/3 cup of bulk taco seasoning (I buy the bulk size, because it’s just great to have in the kitchen for adding kick to dishes) and about 1/4 cup water (the packet calls for 3/4 cup, but you don’t want your beef too wet for this, so reduce the amount of water considerably). Stir well.  

While preparing the beef, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Spread half a can of refried beans on each of two prebaked pizza crusts (Boboli works great for these). Spread half the beef on each pizza. Drizzle with taco sauce. Top each with about a 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese. (I use the finely shredded - it melts better). Bake for about 10 mins.

Remove from oven and top each pizza with minced onions, shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, sour cream and additional shredded cheese. (Feel free to add any of your favorite taco toppings, such as chopped green peppers, chopped jalapenos or anything you desire.)

I use pizza pans with holes for a nice crispy crust. 

Enjoy! This one’s a huge hit with the kids!  

It’s movie night! Let’s make a quick and delicious snack!
Layer in an 8X8 inch baking dish a block of cream cheese, cut into slices. Microwave for 30 seconds and smooth over the bottom. Top with a can of your favorite chili without beans (if you prefer chili with beans, go right ahead, but I’d recommend mashing it up a bit in a bowl then spreading it on) or two cups of leftover chili. Microwave on high for another 30 seconds. Top with 1/2 to 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese or Mexican three-cheese blend. Microwave until cheese melts. Serve with tortilla chips, and enjoy the movie! 

I grew up loving that awful frozen salisbury steak that comes in the freezer section at the grocery store. Now that I’ve outgrown the willingness to eat the awful stuff they call meat in it, I did want to recapture the dish in a delicious and simple homemade version. I searched online for salisbury steak recipes and found that most were too complicated, used hamburger patties (I wanted something for my cubed steak) or included mushrooms (I’m allergic - you won’t find any mushroom recipes here). I make a darn good quick gravy, so I got lucky and struck gold with my first attempt to just figure it out on my own. This one’s delicious, and the kids absolutely love it.

Heat oven to 400 degrees, then brown four cubed steaks in a baking dish (choose a pan that’s just large enough for the meat to fit into without lots of extra space) until mostly cooked through (doesn’t have to be all the way done, just browned). Turn over to cook both sides. While meat is precooking, prepare the gravy. Bring 1 1/2 cups of water to a boil in a pan, stir in about 2 1/2 teaspoons of beef flavor Better than Bouillon (can use bouillon granules or a couple cubes of beef bouillon), about a half teaspoon of onion powder and 1 tablespoon of butter. While bringing to a boil, mix 1/2 cup cold water with about two tablespoons cornstarch. Stir into bouillon when boiling and simmer, stirring constantly, until it begins to thicken. Drain beef and pour gravy over beef. Return to oven for about 15 to 20 mins. Serve with mashed potatoes and your favorite vegetable. 

The meat comes out wonderfully tender and flavorful in this one. You won’t be disappointed!

Brown and crumble one pound of hamburger. Drain. In a measuring cup, measure 2 cups milk and stir in one heaping tablespoon of cornstarch until dissolved. Add to drained hamburger in skillet over medium heat. Stir in about 1 1/2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules or beef flavor Better than Bouillon (I prefer the latter - it’s much tastier). Stir in about 3/4 teaspoon seasoned salt, about 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder and ground black pepper to taste. Stir constantly until thickened. Serve over toast or biscuits.

Add your choice of vegetable on the side for a good and hearty meal. The kids LOVE this one, and it’s as easy and inexpensive as you can get!

It’s a challenge feeding a family of four, which includes an 18-year-old boy and two rapidly growing young girls, on an extremely tight budget. Fortunately, I was recently gifted about 170 pounds of beef by my parents, so I had a full freezer, but I had to get creative. There were steaks, a ton of roast cuts, many cubed steaks and many, many more bags and patties of hamburger meat. It’s good and a blessing, to be sure, but it also means getting creative or getting bored quickly. Fortunately, getting creative in the kitchen is one of my favorite things to do. You’ll get lots of recipes here - and lots of dishes that aren’t really recipes, but rather basic guidelines for how I’ve thrown something together. I do that a lot - and I get lucky most of the time. My kids are willing to go along with my experiments, and more often than not, I’m greeted by heaps of praise around the kitchen table.Don’t worry - it’s not ALL going to be beef either. Even with something different every single night, we quickly bore of even a running ingredient theme for very long.