Crock Pot Pot Roast

Crock Pot Pot Roast                                                                                 Printable Recipe

3 Tablespoons canola or olive oil
1 boneless chuck roast, trimmed (3 to 4 lbs)
salt
pepper
1/4 cup flour
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup dry white wine
1-1/2 cups beef or chicken broth
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 medium onion, thinly sliced (more or less onions as you like)
Handful baby carrots
2 small ribs celery, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, diced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Small potatoes, quartered


Heat oil in pan (preferable not a non-stick). Sprinkle roast with salt and pepper. Sear roast on all sides until browned, approximately 10 minutes. Place in large crock pot.
Add flour and tomato paste to pan and cook for 1 minute.

Add wine, broth, and Worcestershire sauce, scraping the bits off the bottom of the pan.

Pour over roast in crock pot.

Mix vegetables, garlic, and spices in bowl and add to crock pot.

Cover and cook for 6-8 hours on low.  Add quartered potatoes to liquid  after 4 hrs. If you use Yukon they will hold their shape.  Serve in bowl so you can ladle the yummy gravy over the top.

Berry Smoothie

Berry Smoothie

1/3 cup 2% milk
1/4 cup orange juice
3 ounces (weighed) vanilla yogurt (we use Cultural Revolution from Kalona, an organic yogurt made with cane sugar when we don't have our own homemade goat yogurt)
1/2 ripe medium size banana
1/2 cup frozen mixed berries
optional: 1/4 cup powdered egg whites (we use NOW Foods brand)


Yes, I measure. :) Add it all to a tall glass and blend with hand blender. You can add protein powder if you like.

YUM!!

Cincinnati Chili

Cincinnati Chili

1 pound ground beef (turkey or chicken works too)
approx 2/3 cup water
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 can (15 ounces) tomato sauce
4 teaspoons chili powder
1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/3 of a 1 ounce unsweetened chocolate hunk, coarsely chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/3 teaspoon salt
1/3 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon pepper
dash ground cloves


1 can (16 ounces each) kidney beans


Hot cooked spaghetti
diced onions
shredded Mexican blend cheese


In Dutch oven or large pan with high sides cook the onions and beef in water until meat is no longer pink.
Add garlic, tomato sauce, chocolate, spices, and vinegar. Cook for 10-15 minutes on low to medium heat until everything is cooked through and it thickens some.

In separate pan heat the beans and liquid from the can until beans are soft but still hold their shape. Approximately 5-10 minutes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For a "2-way"......spaghetti and meat mixture

" 3-way"...spaghetti, meat mixture, and beans

"4-way".....spaghetti, meat mixture, beans, and cheese

"5-way".....spaghetti, meat mixture, beans, cheese, and diced onions

Roasted Pork Loin

Roasted Pork Loin

2 pounds boneless pork loin
rub (see recipe below)
sliced Provolone
buns
creamy coleslaw (optional)


Pork Rub :
1/2 t cayenne
1/2 t cumin
1-1/3 T granulated onion powder
1-1/3 T granulated garlic powder
1 T Nature's Seasoning
3/4 t white pepper
1 t salt


Mix rub ingredients together. Shake (never touch with porky fingers) on pork loin and... gently massage in. Sprinkling a little more as needed. It's quite flavorable you don't need a ton. This amount of rub will do 3-4 loins.Couple different options for the next step. You can sear it on a grill, in an oiled pan, or not at all. I discovered that the last option was still tasty after I forgot to do it once. Place on a rack in a pan and place in 350 degree oven. Cook approximately 1 hour and 5 minutes until meat thermometer poked in the thickest region reaches 155 degrees. Remove from oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes. With sharp knife slice pork very thin.
Serve on a bun with provolone between the meat so it melts and coleslaw on the side or on the sandwich as a condiment. I love to eat this meat cold, straight from the fridge!

Creamy Coleslaw

Creamy Coleslaw

1/2 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard (I use Hy-Vee)
1/2 Tablespoon Stone Ground Mustard (I use Boetje's)
1 cup salad dressing
1/4 cup sour cream (lite is OK)
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar 
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 precut mixed bag of cabbage and carrots (if you use one with purple cabbage in it as it 'weeps' it will turn the mixture colors but not for a couple days)


Measure all the ingredients except the cabbage
Mix thoroughly.

Add cabbage and toss. Mixture will seem 'dry' but will weep and get creamier by the next day so make it ahead of when you want to serve it. If it seems a little tangy you can add a little more sour cream instead of more sugar to help mellow it out.

We eat ours as a condiment on our pork loin sandwiches.

Beef Enchiladas

Beef Enchiladas

Puffy Tortillas:
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup yellow corn meal
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1-3/4 cups water


Filling and Sauce:
2 pounds ground beef
3/4 cup chopped green pepper
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon cumin
chili powder (or a blend of cayenne, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder)
salt
pepper
flour (about 3 T for filling and around 1/4 cup for sauce)
29 ounce can tomato sauce
shredded Mexican blend cheese


Filling...


Dice onions and peppers
Cook all but flour and tomato sauce together until hamburger is done and onions and green peppers are to your liking. If it's really wet you can drain it. Add enough flour to absorb the rest of the grease, making it rather stiff. I used about 3 Tablespoons as I did not have to drain my 93-95% lean beef.

Add about 16 oz, or less, of the tomato sauce. If too stiff for the filling, I thin it some with plain water.

Finished filling, best used while warm so it's softer.

Tortillas....

Whisk egg and then add rest of ingredients

Add scant 1/4 cup (approximately 3 T) batter into hot, greased 6-8" skillet. I used a cast iron, it seems to do the best. Swirl batter around until bottom is completely covered.

Cook on low for just a little bit. It will be done when the top is dry. You can flip if you want but I never do since the tortilla is delicate and can tear. Spray about every 3 times so it doesn't stick. You will need to stir it each time with your measuring cup as the flour and corn meal sink in between use.

Makes 13-14

I make 1/2 of this for one meal and freeze rest for later. Divide the filling mixture in 1/2 (reserving 1/3 to 1/2 cup for the sauce.) Fill 5 shells evenly.

and lay seam down in baking dish. This is an 8x11. You can fill 7 (1/2 of the tortillas) if you like by using less filling in each but we prefer a lot of meat in our enchiladas. Sprinkle with some cheese.

Sauce....


Push the reserved filling to one side of the pan. The sauce is made by first pouring some of the tomato sauce to the center of the pan. Then sprinkle flour into that and stir until smooth. You will use this to thicken the remainder of the sauce, so think how much flour you would use to make a white sauce and that will help you determine how much you will need. I used 4-1/2 T (or just over 1/4 cup.

Stir the reserved filling into the thickened sauce, sprinkle in a little more cumin and chili powder to add flavor to the plain tomato sauce. I always add about as much water as I do tomato sauce, not only to make more sauce but also to make the sauce less tomato-y. Spoon over tortillas and add more cheese on top.

Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees until hot and bubbly.

TO FREEZE AHEAD...make the filling and make the sauce and freeze those in separate bags. Make the tortillas and layer with wax paper pieces and freeze. When you are ready to assemble make sure everything is thawed and heat the tortillas just a little to make them pliable again. Assemble and bake! I have tried this assembled, frozen, and then baked and thought the shells came out a little mushy. I also tried this with premade flour tortillas and we like these better.

BBQ Chicken

I love this dish for its simplicity. After a quick browning you can walk away for 35 minutes and get the rest of your meal ready or finished. 

BBQ Chicken

Marinade:
1/2 cup ketchup
1 Tablespoon mustard
2 Tablespoons honey
2 Tablespoons cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons canola oil
1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2-4 dashes cayenne pepper


Chicken thighs and legs, breasts work OK too (just may need cooked a little longer)


Mix marinade
Add to gallon bag with chicken and put back in fridge for the day. Overnight is even better.

Cook over DIRECT heat on a grill, skin side down, for 5 minutes. Turn over, pour on leftover marinade and cook over INDIRECT heat for 35 minutes. NEVER lifting grill lid. After the time is done check with thermometer to be sure chicken is 165 degrees.