Taco Soup

I KNEW Winter wasn't over... last week was just a teaser! Everyone was saying, "Yay, Winter's over... welcome Spring!" Not me. I knew it wasn't over...
BUT... making up my 2 week menu plan a week ago, I was a little nervous putting "Taco Soup" down for tonight's dinner. What if it were a beautiful 70 degree sunny day and we craved outside BBQ? Oh well... I put it on the calendar... and lo and behold... it was cold and windy today, making for the PERFECT stay-inside-and-cook-soup day! And what an easy, delicious soup it is! I got the recipe from my Relief Society's blog, and tweaked it a bit to make it my own. I didn't really measure the spices, but I did start out with 1 pkg Taco seasoning. By the time I added the other ingredients, it just wasn't "taco-ey" enough for me. By the time I deemed it "perfect" I probably had used a whole 2nd package. Start with one package and taste as you go.... until you find your "perfect" pot of soup!
I gotta say one thing... this is the one meal my husband actually gobbled down without talking or gawking at the TV. He finished before I did! It was amazing!!


Taco Soup

Ingredients:

1lb ground hamburger
1 onion, diced
1tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1pkg. Taco seasoning
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1 can corn, drained
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 can garbanzo beans, drained
1 can great northern beans, drained
3 C water
salt and pepper

Instructions:

Brown hamburger with onions. Drain oil. Add a little salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. Add taco seasoning. Transfer to a large stock pot. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Allow to simmer for 20-40 minutes. Enjoy with sour cream, shredded cheese and Fritos chips.

*Could also throw everything into a crock pot and cook on Low for 6-8hrs.

St. Patty's Day recipe

Happy St. Patty's Day everyone!!
Am I the only one that has to set a reminder on their phone to remember today? I always get excited about it before it comes, and find the funniest/cutest GREEN things to wear.... then when the day actually comes, I usually forget. Not this year. I set a reminder. I planned a meal based around the holiday. My 2 yr old found a CUTE shirt (I already had one from 2 years ago). We have a hanging thing on our door. We were ready!

What was for dinner? Corned Beef Brisket with Cabbage (with roasted Yukon potatoes) of course!!

I've never made this meal myself, and I've only ever eaten it once... but it's definitely worth it for one night a year!! I do have to add a disclaimer here: DO NOT SCRIMP ON THE MEAT TO SAVE $1.50. Go all out and get the IRON CUT Brisket for $3/lb. I didn't. I went with the cheap-o Point Cut for $1.49/lb and even though the meat was tasty (what LITTLE meat was there....) it was not worth the money I saved. There was so much fat hidden inside.... I ended up with maybe 3 whole bites of meat for my dinner! Once again... GET THE IRON CUT. :) K... now for the recipe. It comes from Kraft. Totally delicious. Love the sauce.

Corned Beef w/ Cabbage

Ingredients:

3 lb. corned beef brisket with spice packet

1/2 cup chopped onions

2 cloves garlic, minced (I didn't have any fresh garlic, so I used garlic salt... still tasty!)

2 bay leaves

1 cup maple-flavored or pancake syrup

1/2 cup yellow mustard

1 Tbsp. KRAFT Prepared Horseradish

1 head cabbage, cut into wedges
(I added carrots)

Instructions:

PLACE meat in large saucepan; top with onions, spice packet, garlic and bay leaves. Add enough water to cover all ingredients; cover with lid. Bring to boil; simmer on medium-low heat 1 hour. Drain, reserving meat in pan. Remove and discard bay leaves.

ADD enough fresh water to saucepan to cover meat; cover with lid. Bring to boil; simmer on medium-low heat 2 to 3 hours or until meat is tender.

HEAT oven to 350ºF. Remove meat from pan, reserving liquid in pan; place meat in shallow baking pan. Mix syrup, mustard and horseradish; spoon half over meat. Reserve remaining syrup mixture for brushing onto cooked meat.

BAKE 20 min., brushing frequently with remaining syrup mixture. Meanwhile, add cabbage to reserved liquid in saucepan; cook 8 to 10 min. or until tender. (I added a handful of carrots with the cabbage, probably should cook them alone for 10-15min, then add cabbage for another 10min).

PLACE meat on platter; drizzle with pan drippings. Serve with cabbage

Roasted {Yukon Gold} Potatoes

Ingredients:

6-10 potatoes, washed, halved then quartered

olive oil

Salt and pepper

Italian Seasoning

Instructions:

Heat oven to 350. Lay potatoes onto rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with seasonings. Bake until tender, 25-45 minutes.

*If cooking alongside Beef Brisket, when down to the last 30min of boiling the meat, put the potatoes in the oven. Once Beef goes into the oven, stir the potatoes and allow to continue to cook until Beef is done. Both will finish at the same time. *

Cola Pork + sides

A friend posted this recipe on her blog the other day and it sounded so good, I had to try it. The picture she had attached looked like she used ribs instead of chops (which she didn't) and that got me thinkin... I don't like pork. Plain and simple... it's not my favorite. But I can say I do like ribs. I prefer the meatier Country Style type without bones... but this past summer we ate PLENTY of baby backs smoked on our charcoal BBQ (recipe to come soon). With this sparked interest, I thought I would try out this "Coke Chop" recipe only substituting the chops for country style boneless ribs. It was yummy... and the best part, it IMMEDIATELY started to smell once the crock-pot was turned on. My mind kept switching between the tragedy in Japan and the BBQ aroma filling my house all during church. I was torn....
And the recipe is so easy. I do have to say one thing.... don't get a strong flavored BBQ sauce. I would use an Original flavored, or something a little more mild. I only had Hickory Bourbon flavored sauce on hand, and it was a little too much. But once again... I recommend Stubbs brand sauce. Yum!

No more waiting... here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

6oz (or 1C) Coke
1C Ketchup
1C BBQ Sauce
Country Style ribs, or 4 Chops

Instructions:

Add all ingredients to crock pot. Cook either 4-5hrs on HIGH, or 7-8hrs on LOW. Enjoy.


That simple. Now for the sides.
I have grown up on both of these sides... and they will always be a favorite of mine. My husband has come to love the Dutch Oven Potatoes. He hasn't tasted the Mac Salad, otherwise I'm sure he'd like it too. But for now, that's all mine!!

Macaroni Salad

Ingredients:

Elbow macaroni (cooked and drained)
cherry tomatoes (halved)
cucumber (peeled and diced)
bunch of radish (sliced thinly)
green onions (sliced)
about 1C Mayo
about 1C milk
2TBS Worcestershire sauce

Instructions:

Prepare all veggies into a medium to large bowl. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Add cooked/drained macaroni.
In a small jar with a lid (or practically empty Mayo bottle), add the milk, mayo and Worcestershire sauce. Tighten lid and shake well. Pour over macaroni mixture and stir until well combined. Refrigerate for at least an hour, up to overnight.


Dutch Oven Potatoes

Ingredients:

4-6 potatoes (washed, peeled and sliced)
1lb bacon
half an onion (diced)
season salt
pepper
garlic salt
pinch of onion salt and celery salt

Instructions:

Cook the bacon in either a large skillet or dutch oven. Do not discard oil. Once browned, add onions and cook about 2-3min. Add potatoes and all seasonings. Add a cup to two cups of water just to almost cover potatoes. Bring to a boil. Turn heat down to med-low and allow to cook until potatoes are tender. Turn heat back up to barely brown potatoes and have water completely evaporated.

Sunday Pot Roast Make-over

A post?! It's amazing, right?! I finally have a desire for food again!! And you know what that means? I have some delicious recipes I'll be posting here in the near future. I'm really excited. I love food, I always have. But the past few months have been rough... but I'm finally starting to gain a little weight (1.5lbs in 21 days) and I can stand having my oven turned on again! Yay!!



This recipe comes from an old friend. A few days after my son was born, she surprised me by asking if she could bring over some food. I was so grateful, but I didn't think much about it... and then she arrived.... with an ENTIRE Pot Roast dinner. I could not believe it! She was so sweet to have done that! One bite and I thought I was in heaven. It was the most moist, full of flavor roast I've ever had. Definitely not the regular Sunday Pot Roast. Well.... I have her recipe... will I share? Of course!!! lol.
I was so excited to try this out for myself. After that meal, I had tried over and over again to recreate it... but nothing ever worked. So finally... FINALLY... I got it! And you know... left overs don't get eaten very well around here... not with this meal. It's only Wednesday and it's all gone!! I like to warm everything in a bowl covered in the lovely juice, so once the big stuff is gone the juice is like a soup in itself. YUM!!!

Here ya go...

Pot Roast

Ingredients:

Rump Roast
Salt and Pepper
Garlic Salt (I didn't have, so I used Garlic Powder)
Parsley
EVOO
Beef Broth
Water
Sliced onions
Quartered Potatoes
Baby Carrots
1-2TBS cornstarch

Instructions:

Heat a saute skillet over med-hi heat. Cover meat all over with lots of salt and pepper, garlic salt/powder and parsley. Once skillet is smokin hot, add a little EVOO. Sear meat on all sides until nice and brown.
Add meat to crock pot and fill 1/3 way with beef broth and 1/3 with water. Cook on HIGH for 4 hours. After the 4 hours, add baby carrots, onions and potatoes and cook an additional 1.5-2 hours until potatoes are tender.
Pull everything out of crock pot keeping it on high (or you can transfer juice to a stock pot). Add cornstarch, whisking constantly, until desired thickness is achieved. (If using stock pot, bring juice to a boil and add cornstarch whisking constantly.)

Yum!! Pot Roast Sunday will not be boring again... I promise!