Living Insanity's Loving Food

  The herb garden has been growing like crazy with the cooler and rainy weather we have been having.  I planned a meal around some of the fresh herbs.  I made 2 pounds of bbq beef, a dill potato salad using baby red potato, and a caprese salad with fresh basil.  BBQ Beef (this is a double batch) 2 pounds ground beef 1 large onion, diced 1.5 cups ketchup 2 tablespoons mustard 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 2 tablespoons brown sugar 2 tablespoons lemon juice 2 tablespoons worchestershire sauce In a large pot, brown the beef and onions in some olive oil.  Salt and pepper the beef. Drain and return beef to pot. Add all the sauce ingredients and heat through. Serve on slider or Hawaiian rolls or hamburger buns. I like to keep the BBQ beef in the crockpot.  I brown the beef and then put it in the crockpot with the sauce ingredients.  I cook it on low for an hour or two and then just switch to keep warm.   Potato Salad baby red potatoes, boiled then diced celery, diced pickle, diced pickle

This is cheddar broccoli soup that I added ground beef and potatoes.  It was filling, but it turned out very brown!  If you need a fast soup I start with Campbells broccoli cheddar soup as a base.  First sautee some broccoli, carrot, and onion in oil.  Then add the condensed soup.  Use chicken broth next and you have a broccoli cheese soup base.  This time I browned some ground beef and threw in some already cooked potatoes.  You could also add pasta or pierogi.  Just start with some cheese soup and broth and go from there.  

For Christmas one year I asked for a pizza stone.  I got a pizza stone, pizza peel, and pizza cutter!  We finally broke out the pizza tools and made a homemade pizza and it was so good!  I bought two dough balls at Food Lion.  They had herb and plain for only $2.50.  I actually got 2 pizzas out of each ball of dough.   Use a paper towel and rub olive oil onto your pizza stone and place on the center rack of the oven. Heat your oven to 475 degrees with the pizza stone in the oven. Let the dough sit out at room temperature for 10-15 minutes.  You can prepare your toppings at this time, like cutting up the veggies. I covered my counter in parchment paper then sprinkled it with flour. Then I put the dough ball on the parchment and sprinkled it with a bit of flour. I also floured the rolling pin. The dough is so sticky! I rolled my dough out into a round shape, but it did snap back on one side. Put the dough on a floured pizza peel and shimmy it onto the pizza stone in the oven. Let it cris