Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Pulled Pork in the crockpot! EASY AND DELICIOUS!

One meal that I never make enough, but always love when I do is Pulled Pork (or pulled Chicken) sandwiches!  They are so tasty and now I found a recipe that made the EASIEST tasty meal ever!

Got the tip from allrecipes (as you have probably figured out by now, this is my favorite website for recipes!)

INGREDIENTS:

Pork roast (I used a 4 pound pork shoulder roast, but you could really use whatever is cheapest or is your preferred cut.)
1 12 ounce can of root beer (YES, YOU READ THIS RIGHT- ROOT BEER!)
1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce, mine is Sweet Baby Ray's!

Directions:
1. Puncture holes in the roast with a fork for juices to seep in.
2. Put roast in crockpot
3.  Dump can of root beer on the top
4. Pour half of the bbq sauce on top of roast
5. Cook on low for about 7-8 hours.
6. Remove meat from crockpot and shred with a fork, it should really just fall apart.
7. put back in the crockpot (if there is too much juice in there, feel free to drain SOME out.)
8. Add the remaining BBQ sauce and cook one more hour on low.

Serve on buns.


MY FAVORITE IS TO TOP WITH FRESH COLESLAW.  And don't buy the premade stuff...go for the bag of fresh slaw, and look for the recipe on back.  It is just mayo, vinegar and sugar added tot he bag of slaw...so much better than the pre-packaged deli stuff!!!!

Monday, January 17, 2011

Egg Muffins, Lasagna and French dips...OH MY!

Whether you leave for work early in the morning and don't have time to make breakfast or if you work from home and find yourself grazing all morning...we could all use a quick grab and go breakfast!  I discovered this idea a while ago and have made them multiple times!  Egg Muffins are carb free and full of protein, and low in fat.  You can add whatever things you prefer in your eggs and make it a complete meal! 



EGG MUFFINS:

There is no CONCRETE recipe for this.  But here are the base ingredients needed.

Egg  beaters (or just eggs and milk scrambled together)
A Muffin Pan
Non-Stick cooking spray and LOTS of it!

Any diced veggies, meat or cheese you would like in your scrambled eggs.  Some combos I like:

Sausage, spinach and swiss cheese
Broccoli, bacon and Cheddar cheese
Ham, bell peppers and cheese
Celery, onions and turkey

Directions;
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Dice up vegetables, meat and cheese that you desire
Mix eggs and milk together (or use Egg Beaters, that is what I Prefer)
HEAVILY spray muffin pan with cooking spray.
Add diced ingredients first
Pour in egg mixture or egg beater until muffin cups are almost full.
Add some salt and pepper to the top for seasoning

Put in oven for about 15 minutes, until eggs are set and have reached 160 degrees inside.

Let cool in pan for a minute (NOTE...the egg muffins will deflate, that is normal!)

Remove from pan,  either eat right away, or you can put 2 of them in a snack size ziploc bag. They can stay in the fridge for a couple of days and in the freezer for a couple of weeks.  To reheat from the fridge, throw in the microwave for one minute for 2 muffins.  If you freeze them, they should be thawed out over night, then heated in the microwave.








Perfect for a quick bite on your way out the door!  Even the kids eat them!






CROCKPOT FRENCH DIPS:

Ingredients:  4 pound beef roast of your choice (or whatever is on sale)
1 packet Onion soup mix
1 can of beef broth
sliced onions
can of mushrooms (drained)
Hoagie rolls (I like to pick up day old bread from Jimmy Johns..it's about 25 cents a sandwich)
Provolone Cheese

Directions:

Put sliced onions and the can of drained mushrooms in the bottom of the crockpot. 
Put roast on top
Add beef broth
put onion soup mix on the top of the roast
Cover and Cook on Low for 7 hours.
Remove meat from crockpot and slice across the grain.
Put sliced meat back on the juice for one more hour on low.
remove meat, and put on hoagie buns.  Top with provolone cheese
Broil in the oven for a couple minutes just to melt the cheese

Serve with the au jus left in the crockpot!

Can used the leftover juice to make French Onion soup as well!





Gretchen's Homemade lasagna!

One of my favorite meals is lasagna...always has been and always will!  Growing up. my mom always made great lasagna.   Now that I do it myself I use some of the stuff from her recipe, mixed with a few ideas of my own and it turns out DELICIOUS!

Ingredients:
1 pound Italian sausage (I like the spicy stuff)
Pepperoni slices
1 26 ounce jar of spaghetti sauce
2 containers ricotta cheese (or could use cottage cheese, done it may times and it works great!)
2 eggs
2 cups shredded mozzarella
1 cup grated Parmesan
1 box frozen spinach, thawed, rinsed and dried on a paper towel
1 box of lasagna noodles (I personally do not like the oven ready ones, I think they always turn out gummy or hard)
1 tsp. dried basil or 1/2 cup fresh basil
1 package fresh mozzarella cheese (sliced)

Directions:

PREHEAT OVEN TO 350 degrees
Bring a large stock pot of water to a rolling boil and cook lasagna noodles until al dente, rinse will cool water
Brown the Italian sausage, and drain off excess grease. 
Add spaghetti sauce, reserving about 1 cup for the top layer.
Combine Ricotta cheese, eggs (slightly beaten) shredded mozzarella, Parmesan, spinach and basil in large bowl.
Slightly grease a 9x13 inch glass baking dish. 
Start with the sauce/meat mixture on the bottom. 
Then top with a layer of noodles
next come the cheese and spinach mixture
Top with a layer of pepperoni slices (about 12-15 per layer)
THEN REPEAT!
On top of the third layer of noodles, I use the remaining 1 cup of plain spaghetti sauce, then the slices of fresh mozzarella.  I also like to add some basil, salt and pepper to the top layer!  if you have some leftover cheese/spinach mixture you could put drops if that on the top as well!

Bake at 350 for about 50 minutes, until heated through.

This can easily be assembled ahead of time, then refrigerated until ready to bake.  Whenever I make lasagna, I double the recipe and then freeze one for later.  I do like to bake it first, but you don't have to before freezing.  Let the frozen one thaw out overnight in the fridge before cooking.

I wish I had a picture to show you, because it makes your mouth water just looking at it!  But it goes too fast to remember to take a picture first!  When I pull the other one out of the freezer, I will take a picture and add it to this for you!

This Weeks meal plan!

Before I go grocery shopping, I always like to look at our calendar and figure out what days we will be eating at home, what days will have to be something FAST at home, and what days we'll prob be eating out or on the fly!  With my husband back in school 2 nights a week, sometimes it limits my "home Cooking!"  Doesnt always make sense to cook something big for just me and the boys...those nights it usually consists of an easy kid friendly food for the boys and a salad or leftovers for me!

This week we are EXTREMEMLY busy with 0 nights free of a planned event!!  So this weekend I made a lasagna for our "Christmas"  with the in-laws, which has leftovers and an extra pan in the freezer for later use!  Then we also have shrimp that they brought that we never ate, so tonight I am going to sautee those up with some fresh veggies and salad for me and the boys!  I will also be doing bbq pork sandwiches in the crockpot for a ready to eat, quick dinner.  We also have some chicken breasts in the freezer, that would be perfect for Thai Peanut Chicken Skewers.  So without even grocery shopping this week, I have 4 meals planned!  I would also like to make some fresh fish this week as well...my favorite Ahi Tuna Steaks from Trader Joes...so I will have to find time to get out there and stock up!

Since I am trying to eat more healthy options myself during the day  to avoid what I like to call "Daycare Butt" due to all the high fat foods which are fine for kids, but not adults that I prepare and serve on a daily basis, I will also show you a few quick healthy ideas for snacks, breakfasts and one person lunches!

Todays recipes will be Egg Muffins, homemade lasagna and last weeks french dip sandwiches!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Salsa chicken in the crockpot!

Having a family And being busy go hand in hand! But it is still important to feed your family healthy home made meals, that are easy for you to make and tasty for them to eat!

Last night I was looking through my crockpot cookbook, "Make it fast, Cook it Slow." and took their salsa chicken recipe and added some things to make it my own! It was delicious and extremely easy. You could really use anything you have in your fridge or pantry to toss in the crockpot. Once you are ready to eat, you could even shred the chicken and throw the mixture in a tortilla with your favorite topping and have a wonderful taco filling!

INGREDIENTS:
3-4 chicken breasts, halved
One can of your favorite salsa. I used a medium Pace chunky salsa.
1 cup black beans, drained and rinsed if using canned ones.
I cup frozen corn
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup sliced black olives

Directions:
Pour half the salsa at the bottom of the crockpot to keep the chicken from sticking or burning.
Top with chicken breast halves.
Add the remaining ingredients on top of the chicken breasts. Pour the east of the salsa on top.
Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Once again you can really add anything you would like to this. Some ideas are: cilantro, green chiles, jalapeƱos, or bell peppers. You could top with some sour cream, guacamole or cheddar cheese, or put it i a tortilla with some lettuce and have yourself a taco!

This recipe is extremely easy, smells great while cooking, healthy, and delicious! What more can you ask for on a busy weeknight!











NEXT UP: Corn dog muffins. A cheap and easy alternative to pre-packaged corn dogs for the kids!

Monday, January 10, 2011

Good Vs. Evil! "The best brownies" and Black Bean and Corn Soup!



Over the weekend I got an email from allrecipes.com that listed the top 10 recipes of 2010. And this recipe for homemade brownies was one of the top 10. I had surprisingly never made brownies from scratch...so I have been dying to give them a try! Just whipped them up this morning as a treat for this afternoon for the daycare kids...and made it a double batch so there would be plenty left over for my husband...mr. Baked goods!

They were extremely easy to make and could be altered in many ways to make them healthier, or you could do a variety of add ins. I put nuts in half of my brownies, since that is the way I like them! The frosting recipe that goes with it that is delicious (but you have to melt the butter for the frosting, not just soften it!) Once again, If you want to cut back on fat, calories and sugar, you could simply sprinkle some powdered sugar on the other half just for appearance and omit the frosting.

*one other tip....do not use an electric mixer for the brownie mix, it will allow too much air into the eggs, making the brownies cake like. Just a good old wooden spoon or spatula will do the trick...mix just until combined. An electric mixer is great for the frosting to get it nice and smooth though.

NEVER AGAIN WILL I BUY BROWNIE MIX!

This original recipe from allrecipes.com makes about 16 brownies, I doubled this when I made it.


Ingredients

1/2 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

3 tablespoons butter, softened
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup confectioners' sugar
Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.
In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt, and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overcook.


To Make Frosting: Combine 3 tablespoons butter, 3 tablespoons cocoa, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 cup confectioners' sugar. Frost brownies while they are still warm.



Black Bean and Corn Soup

I have always loved black bean soup and anything with cilantro in it. I was in the process of making dinner for tonight and the recipe called for black beans, i had a bunch left over, so decided not to waste them and was going to attempt my own batch of black bean soup! I must say, it turned out awesome! And the best part is that it is super healthy for you...low fat and full of fiber!





Ingredients
10 slices bacon, finely chopped
1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups canned chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon chili powder
4 (15 1/2-ounce) cans black beans, drained but not rinsed
1-1 1/2 cups frozen corn
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch cilantro

Sour cream, for garnish


Directions

Put the bacon into a large heavy pot and place it over medium heat. Cook until it starts to give up its fat, about 4 minutes. Stir in the onions and cook, stirring, until they start to turn translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the broth, tomatoes, ketchup, Worcestershire, and chili powder. Stir in the beans and frozen corn. Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. Adjust the heat so the soup is bubbling gently and cook 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, pick off all the thick stems from the cilantro. Wash it and shake dry. Chop the cilantro coarsely and stir it into the soup when it has been simmering 10 minutes. cook until the soup is thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the lime juice. Serve with sour cream to garnish.

*I actually added the cooked bacon at the end, since I do not like bacon IN my food, but knew that others do. So I pulled out a couple cups of soup before adding the bacon.

Happy new year!

I am embarrassed about how long it has been since I posted on here! It is amazing how once thanksgiving hits, the year just flies by!

I have returned though and will try my hardest to stay on to of my blog!!!!

During the holiday season, it was so easy to forget about cooking and just grab something while we were out and about...but this year, it is all about homemade healthy meals again!

This week's meals include:

Salsa crockpot chicken
Stuffed peppers (also in the crockpot)
French dip sandwiches
Shrimp and veggie whole wheat pasta
The best brownies
Slow cooker pulled pork sandwiches
Black bean soup
Corn dog muffins

Also can't wait to share my recipe for bleu cheese and bacon brussel sprouts...a new favorite of mine!


Check back later today for the stuffed pepper recipe...super easy and super healthy!