Savory Balsamic Pot Roast

I know I know. Pot roast seems so boring. But this pot roast is. so. good. Trust me.

Ingredients:

3-4 lb chuck roast
4 onions
1 C balsamic vinegar
3/4 C soy sauce
1/2 C water
1/2 C brown sugar
1 C beef broth
1/2 C white wine
4-5 bay leaves

Directions:

Slice onions. Place on bottom of roasting pan. Put on pot roast. Pour liquid over roast. Cook at 325 for 3-3 1/2 hrs. Add carrots and potatoes 45 min before done if desired.

Tangy Coleslaw

2-10 oz pkgs of shredded coleslaw mix (I usually just use one 16 oz pkg because that's what they have at the commissary and it works just fine)

dressing:

1/2 C sugar (I only use 1/4, because I think 1/2 is too sweet)

1/2 C mayo (I use fat free miracle whip)

1/4 C milk + 1/4 C buttermilk (Instead of milk and buttermilk, I do 1/2 C skim milk with extra lemon juice added to make a buttermilk substitute since I almost never actually buy buttermilk)

2 1/2 T lemon juice

1 1/2 T vinegar

1/2 t salt

1/4 t pepper

Whisk together dressing. Pour over cabbage in a large bowl and toss to coat. Chill in the fridge (says 2 hrs, but I think I usually just do an hour.)

Baked Beans

I told Colby I'd post this, but I don't know the proportions because I just kind of make it up as I go.

1 lb dried navy beans, picked through and rinsed

4-8 slices of really good bacon (depending on how much you want)

1 green pepper, diced

1 onion, diced

sauce (all measurements are guesses):

1 1/2 C Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce, whichever flavor you like best

3/4 C brown sugar

2 T yellow mustard

1 T cider vinegar

1 t Worcestershire sauce

1 t garlic

1/2 C water

1 t salt

1/2 t pepper

Cook navy beans by bringing to a boil in 10 C of unsalted water, covering and let simmer for 1 hour or until done. Drain off the cooking water.

Cook the bacon and then crumble it. Saute the onion and pepper in 1-2T of bacon grease (or in butter or oil if the thought of cooking in bacon grease repulses you--it does add lots of flavor, but I'll admit that it took me years before I was even willing to try it).

In a bowl, mix the sauce ingredients. Taste it and add more of any of the ingredients to get it to your desired flavor. (If this isn't enough sauce, just add a little more of everything...like I said, I just make it up, so I don't know exactly how much.)

In a 9x13, mix the beans, onion, pepper, bacon, and sauce. The sauce should coat everything well so that it doesn't get dried out in the oven. Bake 350 for 1 hour.

sun dried tomato and bowtie pasta

Again, cleaning out my recipe box I found this recipe. I thought I knew pretty much all the favorite recipes I had stored there, but I forgot about this one. Its very yummy-might be making it tomorrow!

1/4 bottle of pesto
or 2 tbl dried basil minced
1 1/2 tsp pine nuts
1 1/2 tsp oliv oil mised in blender

12 oz sun dried tomatoes
1 tbl olive oil
1 1/2 cloves garlic minced
1/4 lb fresh mushrooms sliced
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 pck bowtie pasta

In small bowl blanch sundried tomatoes for 30 sec in boiling water. Drain well and slice tomatoes into small pieces. Sautee garlic in 1/8 C olive oil on medium heat. Simmer for 1 minute-don't brown. Add pesto, salt, cayeene, and tomatoes. Reduce heat to low and let mixture simmer. Mix w/ cooked pasta.

Seasonings recipes

Cleaning out my recipe box and found these. Which really would have come in handy two weeks ago when I needed taco seasoning!!

Taco Seasoning

2 t dried onions
1 t salt
1/2 t minced garlic
1/2 t cornstarch
1/2 t cumin
1 t chili powder
1/4 t. oregano

Chili seasoning

1 1/2 t flour
1 T dried onion flakes
3/4 t chili powder
1/4 t dried red pepper
1/4 t minced garlic
1/2 t. seasoning salt
1/4 t sugar
1/4 t cumin

Spaghetti Seasoning

1 t minced onion

1 T parsley flakes

1 T cornstarch

1 T salt

1 t instant minced garlic

1 t sugar

1 T dried green pepper

1/4 t basil

1/4 t thyme

1/2 t sage

1/4 t marjoram

1/4 t oregano

Grandma Maxine's BBQ Sandwich Sloppy-Joes

1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained

1/2 - 1 pound deli roast beef chopped or cut into thin slices

ketchup

mustard

brown sugar

salt and pepper

Brown ground beef in pan and drain. Salt and pepper to taste. Add chopped deli roast beef and heat through. Squirt on a bunch of ketchup, a little less mustard and brown sugar to taste.

Serve on buns or rolls.

This is Todd's Grandma's recipe and you can really add as much or as little of each ingredient as you like. We like to take turns tasting, to see if the mix is right.

Pulled-Pork Sandwiches in a Pot

-Pork roast (between 3-5 pounds)

-BBQ sauce

-salt and pepper

This is a crock pot recipe, so you can choose a less expensive cut of meat. Any kind of pork roast will do, and a little marbling in the meat actually works well with this recipe.

-Put pork roast in crock pot and cook for several hours. I usually cook mine on a higher heat for a few hours and then turn it down to low to finish.

-When roast is cooked, remove from crock pot and shred meat. The meat should fall apart easily.

-Put shredded meat back in crock pot (dump liquid out of crock pot first) and salt and pepper to taste.

-Add at least one bottle of BBQ sauce (depending on the size of the roast, you may need more) and warm until heated through.

-Serve on buns or rolls.

Thai Cucumber Salad

Facebook stalking gave me another recipe. This was posted by Mrs. Ashley Holloway who got it from Allrecipes.com (again, having trouble adding the link. . .anyone know why??). I haven't tried this recipe but it looks intriguing. I will be grabbing the ingredients tomorrow and will let you know how it goes!!

Ingredients

3 large cucumbers, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded, and cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup chopped peanut

Directions

1. Toss the cucumbers with the salt in a colander, and leave in the sink to drain for 30 minutes. Rinse with cold water, then drain and pat dry with paper towels.
2. Whisk together the sugar and vinegar in a mixing bowl until the sugar has dissolved. Add the cucumbers, jalapeno peppers, and cilantro; toss to combine. Sprinkle chopped peanuts on top before serving.

mini cheesecakes

Thought I'd post what I am making for fathers day/celebrating Cole's bday.

Bry is a big fan of cheesecake, but we like different toppings. He's more into fruit-I'm into chocolate. The kids don't really love cheese cake, but they are into anything in a cupcake liner that they can top. So I'll be making mini cheesecakes and putting out mulitiple toppings (blue berries, strawberries, rasberries, toffee bits, crushed oreos, mini chocolate chips and chocolate sauce for us).

I got the idea and recipe by stalking Rebecca Price's facebook page. Her friend suggested this mini cheesecake receipe from Iheartnaptime.blogspot.com (sorry, having troubling adding the link in. . .). Here's the recipe as seen on their site. PS. kind of an amazing crafty site. You should check it out.

Ingredients:

14 Nilla Wafer Cookies
2 8oz packages cream cheese
3/4 C sugar
2 Tbs flour
2 Tbs powdered sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 Tbs fresh lemon juice
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Foil cupcake liners

Optional Toppings:
canned pie filling
fresh berries
whipped cream
chocolate sauce
caramel sauce
lemon curd

Preheat oven to 375. Soften cream cheese if needed. With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar. Add in flour and baking powder and beat to combine. Then add in eggs, one at a time, lemon juice, and vanilla. Beat to combine.

Fill a muffin pan with cupcake liners and place two vanilla wafer at the bottom of each one. Divide batter between 12 muffin papers, filling each cup up to about 1/4 inch from the top. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. They'll puff way up during baking, but they'll settle after being chilled.

When you take them out of the oven, place them on a cooling rack and let them cool completely. While they cool, they will sink down in the center. Don't worry- that's normal! It makes the perfect little well to fill up with the fruit filling. Before you top them, chill in the fridge for at least 4-6 hours or preferably over night. Then top and serve. I used a strawberry glaze and then put strawberries on top.

Tasty Toss Up

wanna see what i'm eating right now??

it's so yummy. It's my favorite pasta salad. I got it from my cousin Michelle's book club recipe book! The dressing it what makes it so delicious-so tangy. She adds tuna to hers which I love with it. You can hardly taste the tuna when you flake it and mix it in well (my kids are enjoying it right now totally blissful of the tuna factor). But if you are strongly opposed to it, leave it out, add flaked chicken or ham instead, or just skip meat all together!!

1/2 lb. pkg pasta curls

1-12 oz tuna drained and flaked

2 C thinly sliced cucumbers

1 large tomato seeded and chopped

1/2 C sliced celery

1/4 C chopped green bell peppers

1/4 C sliced green onion

1 C bottled italian dressing

1/4 C mayonnaise (i like miracle whip)

1 T prepared mustard

1 t dill weed

1 t salt

1/8 t. pepper

Make the noodles. Add the vegetables. Mix the dressing and add. I like to add parmesan to this btw. Cover and chill!!

(ps, I add whatever vegetables or pasta i have around)

(pps. what fabulous, summer recipes do you have??)

Hamburger Casserole

A friend here in Italy shared this with me. It's sooo good and very easy!

2.5- 3 cups elbow or ronzoni macaroni (or similar noodle)
1 pound ground beef
1 can mexicorn or regular corn, un-drained
1 can sliced or chopped black olives, un-drained
Chopped green onion and bell pepper, to your liking
1 Tbs. worcestershire sauce
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2- 1 cup water
Salt and pepper to taste
Cheddar cheese (or your favorite kind)

Cook macaroni. Brown beef. Add chopped pepper and onion. Cook until soft. Add all other ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer 20-30 minutes. Pour over macaroni and mix well. Put in casserole dish and top with cheese. Cook at 350 degrees until bubbly (20-30 minutes). Really good!

Spanish Rice

1 tsp. garlic powder (or one clove crushed)

6 Tbsp. oil

2 cups rice

2 tsp. salt

1/2 onion, chopped

1/2 bell pepper, chopped

1 can tomatoes

4 cups chicken broth

* I also like to add a dash of cumin and a little cilantro. Season to taste.

-Brown the rice in oil. Blend the onions, peppers, garlic, salt, tomatoes, and broth in blender. Add to rice when rice is browned. Wait until boiling, then cover. Cook on low for 20 minutes.

Pasta Salad

1 lb. pasta

1-2 cans tuna

onions, chopped

pickles, chopped

olives, chopped

miracle whip

celery seed/salt

black pepper

garlic to taste

-Cook a box of pasta per box directions (I usually use salad or macaroni noodles) and rinse them under cool water when they're done cooking. (Better they're slightly more firm than cooked.)
-Dump a can or two of tuna into a bowl, chop up a can of olives and add them, chopped onion to your liking (if you use dehydrated onion, add to tuna water), and as many chopped up pickles as you can handle.

-Add a couple of scoops of miracle whip, a couple of dashes of celery seed (or salt), a pinch of black pepper (you can also add garlic, or any other such spice to spice it up)- mix it all together and add the noodles. Stir and chill.

My kids would eat this everyday if I let them. We scoop it with wheat thins for lunch.

Cheese cake ball

Ingredients
1 - 8oz pkg softened cream cheese
1/2 c. Softened butter (no substitutes)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 c confectioner's sugar
2 T. brown sugar
3/4 c. mini chocolate chips (must be mini)
Graham crackers or graham cracker stix

Directions
1. In mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla until fluffy. Gradually add sugars, beat until just combined. Stir in Chocolate chips.
2. Cover and refrigerate two hours
3. Place cream cheese mixture on a large piece of plastic wrap and shape into a ball.
4. Refrigerate for at least an hour.
5. If you choose, just before serving, roll cheese ball in pecans, chocolate chips, or peanut butter chips. Serve with graham crackers (you can even add flavors such as toffee chips or butterscotch)

Enjoy,
Jessica

Garlic and Soy Grilled Pork

This recipe seems so easy and obvious and plagiarized (from here: south beach blog) that I almost didn't add it. But i need more recipes like this. Quick, healthy, in stock ingredients. I thought if I shared one of mine, you might share one of your favs??

(ps, my kiddos love this, but then again, they're easy to please;)

Ingredients
Grill up chunks of fresh vegetables alongside these lip-smacking pork chops for an irresistible outdoor feast. Bell pepper, sweet onion, and zucchini would work quite nicely.

2 boneless center-cut pork loin chops, trimmed of all visible fat
1/2 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoons minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Fresh herbs, for garnish

Instructions
Sprinkle the pork chops all over with soy sauce, garlic, paprika, salt, and pepper. Cover and refrigerate at least 20 minutes or up to 2 hours.

Coat a grill rack or broiler-pan rack with cooking spray. Preheat the grill or broiler.

Cook the pork chops 4" from the heat, turning once halfway through cooking time, for 10 to 12 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted in the center of a chop registers 155°F and the juices run clear. Garnish with the herbs.

Recipe from The South Beach Diet Cookbook.

VODKA spaghetti

Did the title get your attention? ahem.

So when my sis in law said she was making spaghetti for me, I was a little underwhlemed. Usually she drums up something really fabulous and spaghetti sounded rather mundane. But then, I tried this stuff. Stunningly good. Trust me. Try it.

(warning, I got the directions for this while driving, so hopefully they are right. if not, i'm sure bust u up will correct me;)

Ingredients:

1 green bell pepper

1 red bell pepper

1 white onion

1 pckg hot ground sausage

1 small conatiner half and half cream

1 bottle Bertolli Vodka Spaghetti Sauce

1 can diced tomatoes drained

1 pckg spaghetti noodles

Directions:

Cook 1 pckg of noodles as directed. Sautee peppers and onion. Add Sausage. Cook until browned. Drain grease. Add Half and Half. Simmer for a while (sorry-not very exact). Drain excess cream. Add Spaghetti Sauce and heat through. Add tomatoes and spaghetti. Enjoy.

Todd Mangel's Streusel Cake

I made this for book club and it was delicious. Thanks Todd and Nellie for lending out the recipe!!:

Directions:

• Cream: 1/2 cup butter with 1 cup sugar.
• Add 2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 tsp. baking powder, 1/4 tsp. salt, 3/4 cup milk, and 2 eggs.
• Mix and spread into a cookie sheet w/ sides.
• Topping: 1/2 cup cold butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup flour.
• Mix the topping with your hands until small clumps form, then form a gentle ball and crumble it on top evenly. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until light golden brown.
• Enjoy!

Pioneer Woman's BBQ Meatballs - Freezer Meal

Seeing Colby's claim to fame about freezing rice reminded me of some of the yummy freezer meals I've tried making lately. 

This recipe in particular was DELICIOUS!  Even my super picky 5 year old ate 3 meatballs...which is just AMAZING.  (I got this recipe (and picture), as well as many of my other freezer meal recipes from A Bear in the Kitchen)


Pioneer Woman's BBQ Meatballs - Freezer Meal


Meatballs:
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
3/4 cup quick oats
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
3 tablespoons finely chopped onions (optional)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
ground black pepper (as much as desired)
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup canola oil

BBQ Sauce:
1 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup finely chopped onions
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Meatballs Assembly:
In a large bowl combine beef, oats, milk, egg, 3 tablespoons finely chopped onions, salt, and ground black pepper. Mix with hands until well combined. Roll into medium-small balls (could use a medium cookie scoop to keep the meatballs of uniform size) and place on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with non-stick spray. Place cookie sheet with meatballs in the freezer for 10 minutes. Remove from freezer and immediately dredge meatballs in flour and place back on cookie sheet.

In a large skillet heat 1/3 cup oil or enough to coat the bottom of your skillet. Brown the meatballs in batches in the hot oil, making sure to brown all sides of the meatballs. Place browned meatballs onto a cookie sheet. You do not need to cook the meatballs through, just brown them on all sides. Place cookie sheet of meatballs in the freezer until meatballs are frozen solid. Transfer meatballs to a gallon size freezer bag, label with cooking instructions and freeze.

BBQ Sauce Assembly:
Combine ingredients for BBQ sauce in a small bowl, whisking till blended. Pour into a quart size freezer bag and freeze flat.

Cooking Instructions:
Thaw sauce in fridge overnight, but keep the meatballs frozen till ready to cook. Place frozen meatballs in a 9x13 baking dish and bake uncovered for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Pour thawed sauce over the meatballs using a spoon to toss the meatballs in the sauce. Bake for an additional 30 minutes uncovered at 350 degrees.

freezing rice

Did you know our blog is practically famous??

I got the cafe rio recipes from freezerdinner.com and linked to that site. The author of the site, Jenny Stanger, followed the link and commented under the cafe rio post. She said if we had questions about freezing meals to ask her, so I asked her about rice (I always thought it would come out gross if frozen) and she responded the day I asked.

So go check out her site. She has lots of tasty looking recipes and tips on how to freeze them. And I just think it's so cool to ask an expert a question about freezing and to get an answer back so quickly!! Plus you can see the answer to the rice question and my comment which regretfully involves the word "eek"!!

so click on it and check it out: freezerdinner.com

Bow Tie Spinach Salad

I was cleaning out my recipe box and found this. This is one of the first things I officially learned to make. My dear friend Aleis gave it to me after I had John and decided since I was home more, I needed to be the one who made dinner. She was sweet and helped domesticate me!! The original recipe makes a lot a lot of food. To feed my family, I half it and it's still way too much.

Directions:

Cook 6 oz Bow tie pasta. Marinate in dressing for 2 hrs.

Dressing:

1 C vegetable oil

1/2 tsp salt

6 tbs sugar

2/3 C white wine vinegar

2/3 C teriyaki sauce

1/2 tsp pepper

Mix all the following ingredients and refrigerate:

6-8 chicken breasts cooked and cut up

3 small cans mandarian oranges (drained)

1 or 2 cans water chestnuts (drained)

1/2 c finely chopped fresh parsley

1 bunch of green onions chopped

1/2 to 3/4 C honey roasted peanuts

When ready to serve, combine chicken ingredients and pasta with one bag already washed and cut spinach.