Monday, October 22, 2012

Southern Yank Pulled Pork BBQ

Southern Yank Pulled Pork BBQ 



Ingredients
1 cup bottled barbecue sauce
3/4 cup ketchup
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup water
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco, or to taste
salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 (3 pound) pork shoulder roast


Directions
Mix together the barbecue sauce, ketchup, onion, celery, water, garlic, honey, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, hot pepper sauce, salt, and black pepper in a slow cooker until thoroughly combined. Place the pork roast into the mixture, spoon sauce over the meat, and set the cooker to Low. Cook 7 to 8 hours; to serve, shred the meat with 2 forks, and serve with sauce


I used 1 tsp of tabasco as my family  likes things   mild. Overall this tasted great. 

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds


Roasted Pumpkin Seeds



Ingredients

  • pumpkin seeds
  • melted butter or oil (olive or vegetable work well) enough to coat the seeds) We used olive oil
  • salt to taste* (other seasonings you can try: seasoning salt, onion powder, garlic salt, etc.)


Instructions

  1. Rinse pumpkin seeds. Use your fingers to remove all the pulp. Drain pumpkin seeds and discard pulp. Spread out on clean dish towels to dry overnight.
  2. Preheat oven to 325° F.
  3. Toss pumpkin seeds in a bowl with the melted butter, margarine or oil. You can let them sit for a 30 minutes to soak up the butter. Spread pumpkin seeds in a single layer on baking sheet.
  4. Sprinkle seasonings of your choice over the seeds.
  5. Bake for about 45 minutes or until golden brown. Stir occasionally. Cool pumpkin seeds before eating. Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 months or refrigerate up to 1 year. 

  1. NOTE: If pumpkin seeds start to ‘pop’ or make a popping sound, then check on them, it means they are probably done

Review:

These tasted great. I seasoned  my first batch i n garlic salt and my second in sea salt. This is one of my favorite fall  snacks!

Cheesy Enchilada Casserole


Cheesy Enchilada Casserole

Ingredients
1 pound lean ground beef (90% lean) 
1 large onion, chopped or season with Onion powder or minced onion 
2 1/2 cups salsa 
1 can (15 ounces) black beans or red kidney beans, rinsed and drained 
1/4 cup reduced-fat Italian salad dressing 
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium taco seasoning 
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin 
6 flour tortillas (8 inches) 
1 small can of drained corn, or about 1 1/4 cups of frozen corn (optional) 
3/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream *Note: I used 1/2 cup 
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded reduced-fat Mexican cheese blend 
1 cup shredded lettuce 
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro 

Directions
In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.
Stir in the salsa, beans, dressing, sour cream, corn (optional), taco seasoning and cumin.
Spoon a generous layer of meat mixture on bottom of 2 quart baking dish. Sprinkle with grated cheese.
Place a flour or corn tortilla on top of meat mixture. Layer with half of the meat mixture, and cheese. Repeat as many layers as you like.
The  final layer should be a healthy dose of grated cheese.
Cover with foil that has been sprayed with pam or other and bake at 400° for 25 minutes, or until hot & bubbly. 
Let stand for 5 minutes before topping with lettuce, tomato and cilantro. Yield: 8 servings.

Review:We are making this tonight for dinner, but I love how simple it is.  

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Crockpot Mongolian beef

Crockpot Mongolian beef
 

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 pounds beef flank steak, cut into stir fry sized strips
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 0.5 teaspoons minced ginger
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 0.75 cup soy sauce
  • 0.75 cup water
  • 0.75 cup brown sugar
  • 0.25 cup cornstarch
  • 0.5 cup shredded carrots
  • 3 medium green onions, chopped

Directions:

Coat flank steak pieces in cornstarch. Add remainder of ingredients to crockpot and stir well to combine. Place flank steak into the crockpot and cook on high for 2-3 hours or on low for 4-5 hours. Serve over rice or noodles, if desired.

Freezing Directions:

Coat flank steak in cornstarch. Combine remaining ingredients and place in freezer bag. Add steak to bag. Label and freeze, To serve: Thaw. Cook in crockpot on high for 2-3 hours or low for 4-5 hours.

Review:
 I love that this can be frozen, it had good flavor.

Chicken and Biscuit Casserole

Chicken and Biscuit Casserole

1 tube of pilsbury biscuits
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup of Sour Cream
1/2 stick of butter, melted
1 can of peas
2 cups cooked chicken, (I boil mine and then shred it)
1 cup mild cheddar cheese
3 TBS milk

What to do now:
Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix soup and 1/2 cup sour cream in 8-inch square baking dish. Stir in chicken, and peas, milk, and melted butter: flatten out, and sprinkle cheese evenly on top.

place  biscuits on top of the cheese you just sprinkled. Just layer them in a single layer. If you did buy the thicker biscuits I would probably flatten them out a little, or cut them in half so they are not as thick, they will cook better.

Cook for 35 minutes or until the biscuits on top are golden brown and the amazing mixture underneath is hot and bubbly.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Crock pot Cheesy Chicken and Rice


Crock pot Cheesy Chicken and Rice
Ingredients
  • 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 large onion, chopped (I use Vidalia)
  • 1 -8 ounce box Zatarain's Yellow Rice Mix, cooked according to directions
  • 1 cup cheddar cheese
  • 1 - 10.5 ounce can cream of chicken soup (regular or fat free)
  • 1 -15 ounce can whole kernel corn, drained
Instructions
  1. Place chicken in bottom of slow cooker. Scatter chopped onion over top. Spoon cream soup over top of that. Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours or on high 3-4 hours. A few minutes before serving, add in cooked rice, corn, and cheese. Stir to combine. Serve hot
Review: 
 This was just OK, it was a little bland and lacked flavor.  I did like that it was simple to prepare though. 

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Weekly Meal Plan-October15

This week I am preparing some  frezzer meals for a swap group I belong to. I will be making the following and preparing 3 batches (1for me and 2 for the swap members):



From the site above I will prepare goulash, and layered enchilida bake.



I will also prepare Cheesy Chicken Tater Tot Casserole as  a frezzer meal. This was hubby's idea, so you know he loved the recipe since we just had it last week!

Slimmed down loaded potatoe and buffalo chicken bake



Mangolian beef in the crockpot.

Chicken and biscuit  casserole



Chicken Parm Bake