On Sundays when there is usually someone around the house, I will take advantage of this by throwing something in the Croc Pot or cooker all day long.
I like to cook Pot Roast slowly all day long so it’s moist and falls apart. In a roaster I will put in some water with minced garlic, salt, and pepper and just let the meat slowly cook all day long.
Serve it up with some mashed potatoes, bean and veggies and your family will be happy and full!
For mashed potatoes, take the desired potatoes and peel them and cut into chunks. Place in boiling water and cook until they are very soft and almost fall apart when you put a fork through them. Once potatoes are done, drain and put back in pot. Mix milk and butter in then add garlic powder, salt and pepper. There you have it, easy mashed potatoes!
You can make gravy with the juice left over from the pot roast by mixing it with flour or corn starch. Make sure to mix it up well so there are no clumps.
2 chicken breasts
1 Roma tomato
3 cloves of garlic
1 1/2 c. white wine
1 1/2 c. heavy cream
1 tbsp. basil
Salt & Pepper
1 1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
Boil chicken breasts in separate pan until done, then cut into chunks. In saucepan, combine garlic, cream, wine and spices and cook over low to medium heat. Once it begins to bubble, reduce heat to low and simmer. Slowly add cheese and continuously stir, then add in diced tomato. Mix in chicken and let simmer for three to five minutes.
Toss over some angel hair pasta and that’s it!
Enchilada sauce
Taco meat
Jalapenos
1/2 brick pepper jack cheese
Mexican cheese – mixture of pepper jack, cheddar, colby
Tortillas
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Warm tortilla up and put in a couple spoonfuls of taco meat, then add two slices of cheese and desired amount of jalapenos. Fold up and place in greased glass baking pan.
Once you have all the enchiladas wrapped up and placed in the pan, pour the enchilada sauce over the top. Place the the rest of the pepper jack cheese on top of the enchiladas and add more jalapenos if you wish. Then sprinkle the Mexican cheese on top covering it up.
Cook about 20 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.
This was our first attempt at making coconut shrimp at the house and I’m quite impressed how well they turned out. We made two different sauces for dipping and those were also first-timers and while I liked both, I was more partial to the plum sauce.
4 c Sweetened flaked coconut
1 c All purpose flour
3/4 c Beer
3/4 tsp Baking soda
Salt & Papper
1 tsp Cayenne pepper
1 Large egg
1 Bag of Large Shrimp
Spread the coconut out on a plate or a pie pan. Whisk all ingredients except coconut together. Dip shrimp into batter and then dredge in coconut, coating it completely. Press gently to adhere coconut to shrimp.
Heat oil in large pan on stove. Place eight shrimp at a time in the oil and turn after one minute, cook until golden brown (about one minute each side).
Pull out and place on towel to remove any excess grease. Serve with fresh fried rice and veggies. For a dipping sauce, use Sweet Death Plum Sauce or as on the plate, a Dijon Ginger Sauce.
The chili tastes just as good not in a breadbowl, they are just more fun to eat. : )
1 lb. ground beef
1 large onion chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
Mixture of hot peppers, diced
1 16 oz. can kidney beans
1 29 oz. can whole tomatoes, chopped
4 oz. tomato sauce
1 c. water
1 tbsp. chili powder
Salt & Pepper
3/4 tsp. dried cumin
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
Tobasco sauce
Cook ground beef, onion, garlic and peppers in large pot. Once meat is cooked and crumbly, stir in remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer uncovered for 45 minutes to one hour.
Take the breadbowl and cut the top off, which is great for dipping, add the chili, top with cheese and you are done! Mmmmmm……
This is a quick way to make a nice piece of fish.
Salmon
Pesto sauce
Tomato
Onion
Salt & Pepper
Spread pesto sauce on salmon and add slices of tomato and onion. Sprinkle some salt and pepper and you are good to go!
You can either grill this or broil it, I normally grill it. Depending on the thickness of the fillet will dictate the cooking time. Wrap in tinfoil and cook until fork cuts through it easily and the fish is flaky.
This is three layers of heaven.
Ricotta cheese mixture (see below)
Box of lasagna (I use the Barilla no-cook lasagna)
Sauce
Mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese
Cheese mixture:
1 15 oz. container low fat ricotta cheese
2 c mozzarella cheese
1/2 c Parmesan cheese
1 eggs
1 tbsp. parsley flakes
Mix together well.
In a 9 x 13 glass pan, spray the bottom lightly and then add a thin layer of sauce on the bottom. Take lasagna piece and spread the cheese mixture on top and lay on the sauce, do this three time to make the bottom layer. Pour sauce on top of the cheese mixture on each layer. Then start the second layer and spread the cheese mixture on top and place on top of sauce of the first layer. Once all three are covered add sauce to each piece of the second layer. Then create a third cheese layer and lay on top of second. This time you will want to use more sauce and cover the entire top of the lasagna. Spread two cups of mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese on top.
Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. If cheese begins to brown too quickly, add tinfoil to the top and continue baking.
Pizza Crust
Pizza Sauce I or II
Mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese
Onion, diced
Green bell pepper, diced
Mushrooms, sliced
Jalapenos, sliced
Minced garlic
Chopped olives
1 Italian sausage link
Pepperoni
First you want to prep the pizza dough. I tend to have several pizza doughs stored in my freezer for that just in case time. Prep whichever pizza sauce you want to use as well. I find that making one batch of the pizza sauce makes about three pizzas worth. So don’t hesitate to store it in the fridge and use at a later time.
While making the sauce, do that multi-tasking thing people talk about, and take the sausage and poke fork holes in it. Place it in water on the stove, heat can be medium-high. This will just help cook the sausage and drain the grease out of it. You can put the raw sausage directly on the pizza and it will cook, however it creates a grease that runs off and can make the crust soggy, so I suggest pre-cooking it. The sausage does not need to be all the way cooked through, once you remove it from heat, remove the casing and using your hands break up the sausage into pieces.
Turn your over on to 425 degrees and have the pizza stone in the oven while it’s warming up. Roll your pizza dough out, once you are done pull out the pizza stone and rub some oil on it. Place the crust on the stone and spread out pizza sauce. Add minced garlic and then the cheese. Put the rest on in this order: Pepperoni, Mushroom, Italian Sausage, Onion and Green pepper, Jalapenos and then the Olives. Sprinkle some Italian Seasoning and slide into the oven for about 15 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.
Bacon Burger Patties
Sauted onions and Jalapenos
Onion rings
BBQ sauce
Pepper jack cheese
**Start heating up oil for onion rings**
Grill bacon burgers on grill. If you don’t precook the ground bacon at all, the burgers cannot be medium rare because the bacon needs to cook all the way through.
Cut up onions and peppers and place into a piece of tinfoil. Sprinkle some virgin olive oil over the top, close up and place onto grill next to burgers. The grill will slowly cook the veggies and they are so good.
Put in the onion rings to the fryer, they take about three minutes. Melt cheese on burgers and I also prefer a toasted bun. Place burger on bun once cheese is melted, add sauted onions and jalapenos, onion rings, and top with BBQ sauce. That’s it, no ketchup, mustard or relish. It’s wonderful.
Serve with baked beans for a complimentary side dish.
5.5 oz can coconut milk
1 tbsp. curry paste
1 boneless chicken breast
1 tbsp. fish oil
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1/4 c. bamboo shoot
1/4 c. peas
1/4 c. chicken stock
Curry sauce or red pepper sauce for spice
Cook coconut milk and curry paste over medium heat for five minutes. Add chicken, fish oil, brown sugar, bamboo shoots, peas and stock. Stir well and then add in desired spice. Simmer for ten minutes.
Today I am going to share with you what our family is having for Valentine’s Dinner. I decided to do a simple surf n’ turf. I bought two steaks and two lobster tails, if you buy an eight ounce steak and split in two, that’s a perfect portion of meat – four ounces.
On the menu tonight:
Shrimp cocktail with spicy cocktail sauce
NY Strip Steak with bearnaise sauce
Fresh asparagus
Mashed Potatoes
French bread
Shrimp Cocktail w/ Cocktail Sauce
So this post is a little edited as I add the pictures from dinner. We had a late lunch and so we changed to have no lobster, just too much food. I also planned on grilling but it was too cold, so we pan fried the steak and sauted the asparagus. We thought a nice sauce would be good, so we tried making bearnaise sauce for the first time. It was really good.
Steaks in Marinade
Steak w/ Bernaise Sauce
Even the Boys Love It.
1 package bow tie pasta
1/3 cup chopped green onion
1/3 cup light soy sauce
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
3 cups shredded chicken
Salt and pepper to taste.
Heat a skillet and cook stirring frequently until lightly toasted.
Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta, and cook until al dente. Drain pasta, and rinse under cold water until cool. Transfer to a large bowl.
Combine vegetable oil, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, ginger, and salt n pepper.
Pour dressing over pasta and chicken and green onions.
2-4 chicken breasts
Pesto Sauce
Mozzarella Cheese
Bread Crumbs
Butter
Salt & Pepper
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Melt butter, take chicken breasts roll in butter, then bread crumbs and place in greased baking pan. Once chicken is done, make a slice down the middle but not all the way through on any sides. Spoon in pesto sauce then top with mozzarella cheese and put back in oven for five minutes or until cheese is melted.
In picture, chicken served with black eyed peas, fresh steamed broccoli, and ciabatta roll.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
My sister was in love with this dish growing up, I didn’t like it for several reasons but then again, I am the pickiest eater. Everyone else seems to love it too, so it must just be me being a brat. At least I admit it. ; )
3-4 chicken breast cooked and cut up
1-bag or fresh broccoli
Cook the broccoli about 1/2 way and then set aside
1 can of cream of broccoli or cream of chicken soup
In a large bowl mix chicken soup, 3/4 cup mayo, salt and pepper, and some lemon juice mix. Put in a dish and cover top with cheese.
Cook for 20 minutes and then add some bread crumbs and cook for ten more minutes.
Preheat oven to 400
3 or 4 chicken breasts pounded and flattened. I usually put the breasts between two pieces of plastic wrap and pound the crap out of them with the flat side of a mallet until they’re nearly see-through. Once flattened to 2-3x original size, season well with season-all (like Lawrys). Set aside.
Brown together:
5-6 ozs spicy Italian sausage,
½ cup diced onion
A clove or two of minced garlic
Crushed red pepper (the amount depends on your heat preference. I probably use 2 teaspoons)
Add to sausage mixture:
1 cup dry stuffing mix (any flavor will work, but chicken flavor does probably make the most sense)
½ c hot water
Let this sit a minute or two to allow the stuffing to absorb the water.
Then add:
2 cups of frozen chopped spinach, thawed, with excess water squeezed out
¼ cup sour cream
½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Divide the mixture between the chicken breasts. Roll the chicken tightly around the stuffing, overlapping the ends. You can use toothpicks to weave through the ends to hold the seam together. Place the chicken rolls in a non-stick cake pan. If the toothpicks give you trouble, forget the toothpicks and just put the chicken rolls seam-side down in the pan. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and bake uncovered for another 10 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 150-ish degrees.
Yes, Sloppy Joes is on the menu! And you know what? They are darn good — and go completely old school and pull out the tator tots. Your kids will love it as much as you.
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Salt & Pepper
Sloppy Joe Seasoning
1/2 c. water
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
Tobasco Sauce
In pan, mix onion, garlic and meat. Cook until meat is brown and crumbly. Add seasonings, tomato paste and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.
Best when served on homemade buns or fresh from the oven at the store buns!
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
1 regular size foil oven bag
1/2 uncooked orzo
2 tsp. olive oil, divided
1 c. diced tomato
3/4 c. sliced green onions
1/2 c. (2 oz.) feta cheese
1/2 tsp. lemon rind
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
Salt & Pepper
3/4 lb. large shrimp
1/4 c. fresh chopped basil
Coat bag with cooking spray. Place bag on large, shallow baking dish. Cook pasta in boiling water for five minutes and drain. Place pasta in large bowl. Stir in 1 tsp. of olive oil and next seven ingredients (through black pepper). Place orzo mixture in bag.
Combine shrimp and basil then arrange over orzo mixture. Fold over bag edge to seal. Cut open bag and pull back with a fork. Drizzle top with 1 tsp oil.
Cook 25 minutes.
This can be cooked in the oven on Broil Hi or on the grill. Grill sides are some of my favorites, the smoke brings out a wonderful flavor in veggies and beans when done that way.
1 lb. salmon
1 tsp. dried oregano
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Salt & Pepper
1 tomato sliced thin
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1/4 c. bread crumbs
1/4 onion sliced thin
In pan (or on tinfoil if doing on grill), place salmon and rub in the garlic. Sprinkle with oregano, salt and pepper. Layer with tomato, onion and the parsley. Mix bread crumbs with oil and sprinkle on top.
Baked at 450 for 8-10 minutes or until fish is flaky
On grill, cook for 8-10 minutes or until fish is flaky. Cover up fish with tinfoil.
Preheat Oven to 375
1/2 c. bread crumbs
2 tbsp. parmesan cheese
1 tsp. basil
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
2/3 c. melted butter
1/4 c. white wine
1/4 c. onion
1/4 c. parsley
Combine first five ingredients and coat chicken. (Roll breasts in butter and then coat with mixture. For a healthier option, you can use skim milk in place of butter). Spray baking pan and put chicken breasts in oven. Bake for 50-60 minutes.
In separate pan, saute onion in butter, add wine and parsley. Cook until onion is tender. In the last five minutes of the chicken cooking, pull out and add onion topping.
The smell this creates is wonderful!
1 lb. ground beef
2 garlic cloves
2 tbs. parsley
Salt & Pepper
1 egg
2 tbs. parmesan cheese
1 c. bread crumbs
1/2 c. water
Put ingredients into bowl and mix thoroughly. Make into equal size balls (I prefer five large meatballs) and drop into cooking spaghetti sauce. They can remain in there until dinner is ready to be served.
