Ultimate Savory Pot Roast w/Gravy

Back in February Me, my sister Jessica, my mom Heather, my cousin Kasey and a good friend of ours Barb went to see The  Addams Family play here at our local performing arts hall. We love going to musicals its kind of our "thing" we like to do with just the girls! Here is a picture from the matinée we went to.

The night before the play my mom and sister came and spent the night at my house so they could attend church with me and my husband in the morning before we went to the play. But before my mom and sister were to get here we had planned on "spring cleaning" our downstairs bedroom. I knew that because of this I wasn't going to want to cook a huge meal that night because I would be tired from cleaning so I planned on making a roast in the crockpot. 

I found one I had never used before on the Crockingirls website and thought it was pretty interesting since it included a can of coke in its ingredients!! It was super simple to throw together and super delicious to eat. I served it with rice, green beans and a dinner roll!! 

Ultimate Savory Pot Roast w/Gravy

Ingredients

• 4 Pounds Chuck Roast (any beef roast will do)
• 1 Package Savory pot roast seasoning
• 1 Can Coke
• 1 Cup Water
• 1 Package Au Jus gravy mix

Directions

Step One

Mix the pot roast seasoning with the cup of water in slow cooker.

1. Step Two

   Place roast in mixture, then pour coke over top 
   
   

   Step Three

   Cover with lid and cook on LOW for 8hrs. DO NOT LIFT THE LID!
   
   

   Step Four

   After it's done cooking take the lid off (depending how lean your roast was at this point I skim the fat off) and sprinkle the AuJus packet over the top of roast and replace lid for about 5 mins. Take roast out of slow cooker then just slice, serve, and enjoy. :)
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   And of course here is my final plate!! 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Hope you guys try it and like it as much as we all did! I have many more recipes that im gonna try and post soon so check back later for more!! 
   
   

Country Fried Steak with Creamy Mashed Potatoes!

Last night I did not cook dinner, instead Danny and I went with his brother and some friends to check out a new "wing night" spot (new to us, not them.) 

We had a wing place that we frequented almost every week with his parents but it ended up closing down. That place had wings for $.45 a piece every Wednesday and the new place we went to last night was $.55. I of course get plain wings and then dip it in ranch because I have such a sensitive palette to anything spicy that even mild is to much for me sometimes (I know I am a wuss, can't help it!) Danny on the other hand gets Molten Lava Hot Spicy Garlic that smells SO spicy that when it comes to the table its like my nostrils are on fire...true story. 

BUT, the night before I cooked and it was de-li-cious!! The previous week when I was at the supermarket I noticed they had cube steak on sale and I though to myself "we haven't had country fried steak in FOREVER" So I picked us up a couple packages. This is hands down one of my favorite meals and its not hard to make it just makes a HUGE mess in my kitchen. By the time I am done cooking there is flour all over the kitchen from dredging the steaks plus grease splatter that ends up all over my stove after frying them in my cast iron skillet. But in the end taking that perfect bite of fried steak with creamy country gravy is SO worth the mess....

I have made several different recipes through the years but its the Pioneer Woman's recipe for country fried steak that I love. When Ree's show first aired on the food network I wasn't really sure what to make of her (and honestly thought she was kind of annoying) but after making a couple of her recipes, this one being one of the first I came to the conclusion that she is an absolute miracle worker in the kitchen! The following two recipes one for Country Fried Steak and the other for Creamy Mashed Potatoes both came from Ree's cookbook "The Pioneer Woman: Recipes From An Accidental Country Girl"

Lets get to it shall we.....

Country Fried Steak...aka Chicken Fried Steak by Ree

Ingredients:

1. 3 pounds Cube Steak (tenderized Round Steak That's Been Extra Tenderized)
2. 1-1/2 cups Whole Milk
3. 2 whole Large Eggs
4. 2 cups All-purpose Flour
5. 2 teaspoons Seasoned Salt
6. 1 1/2 teaspoons Freshly ground black pepper
7. 3/4 teaspoon paprika
8. 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I honestly used only 1/8 tsp but we already discussed me being a wimp)
9. 1/2 cup Canola Oil, For Frying
10. Salt and Pepper
11. 1 tablespoon butter

Directions:

1. Begin with setting up an assembly line of dishes. Mix the milk with the eggs in one; the flour mixed with the seasoned salt, black pepper, paprika and cayenne in another. Then have one clean plate at the end to receive the breaded meat.
2. Work with one piece of meat at a time. Sprinkle both sides with kosher salt and black pepper, then place it in the flour mixture. Turn to coat. Place the meat into the milk/egg mixture, turning to coat. Finally, place it back in the flour and turn to coat (dry mixture/wet mixture/dry mixture). Place the breaded meat on the clean plate, then repeat with the remaining meat.
3. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the butter. Drop in a few sprinkles of flour to make sure it's sufficiently hot. Cook the meat, 3 pieces at a time, until the edges start to look golden brown, about 2 minutes each side. Remove the meat to a paper towel-lined plate and keep them warm by covering lightly with another plate or a sheet of foil. Repeat until all the meat is cooked.

Now, if you have Ree's cookbook you will see she also has a recipe for country gravy. I will hang my head in shame and say that my gravy actually came from a packet...I know, I know but it was STILL delicious! :) 

We had creamy mashed potatoes that I kind of adapted from another recipe by The Pioneer Woman. In her recipe you make the mashed potatoes and then put them in a baking dish and finish them off in the oven. I skipped the last step and just served them after mashing them.

Ingredients:

1. 2 1/2 pounds Russet Or Yukon Gold Potatoes
2. 1/2 stick Butter, Softened
3. 1/2 package (4 Oz.) Cream Cheese, Softened
4. 1/2 cup (to 3/4 Cups) Half-and-Half (i just used whole milk cause that's what I had)
5. 1/2 teaspoon Lawry's Seasoned Salt
6. 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
7. 1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper

Directions:

1. Peel and cut the potatoes into chunks. Bring a large pot of water to a simmer and add the potatoes. Bring to a boil and cook until fork tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
2. Drain the potatoes in a large colander. Place them back into the dry pot and put the pot on the stove. Mash the potatoes over low heat, allowing all the steam to escape before adding in all the other ingredients.
3. Turn off the heat and add butter, the cream cheese, half-and-half (or milk), seasoned salt, kosher salt and pepper. Mash to combine.

**I served them at this point but if you want to go ahead with the original recipe you can find it here. 

And here is my final plate! I served them with buttered green beans and a side salad...

P.S....im still trying to decide/learn how to use my new camera. Im not 100% sure if I am gonna keep it yet or get a new one. We shall see.

Grilled Pork Chops with Peach Salsa and Caprese Salad Stuffed Tomatoes!

If there is one word to describe this dinner it would be DELICIOUS! Even my husband who the only way I know if he really likes something (because for the most part he will eat whatever I put in front of him) is if he goes for seconds. ACTUALLY said the words "Wow this is really good Babe" **talking about the pork chops with peach salsa** As for the stuffed tomatoes, everyone else loved them...him not so much but he isn't a huge fan of caprese salads in general so I was expecting that comment from him, but he still ate his entire plate! :) 

I was really proud of myself for even trying the pork chop recipe because I have always thought (due to a very traumatic...ok maybe not THAT traumatic but to me as a kid it sure seemed like it) I didn't like Peaches. But ever since my transplant I have been noticing that I like things now that I never liked pre-transplant. 

SO I told myself that I was going to start trying new recipes that I wouldn't normally choose to see if I like whatever food happens to be in it that I don't eat. If I don't like it, ok I won't make that recipe anymore. If I do, well then I just found something I can add to my list of likable foods! 

This was my first dinner with my new venture and boy was it a WINNER and guess what...I LIKE Peaches!! Who knew?? LOL

Ok so here are the recipes for both which I got from good ol' Sandra Lee by watching the Food Network...but don't worry I didn't have Cocktail time OR do a table scape. :) 

Grilled Pork Chops w/Peach Salsa 

Ingredients

Peach salsa:

• 1/2 red onion, diced (reserve the other half for Online Round 2 Recipe Orzo Soup with Pork)
• 2 peaches, halved, pitted and diced
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro leaves
• Pinch kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pork chops:

• 5 pork chops, end cut
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
• 
  

Directions

Salsa:

In a bowl toss all of the salsa ingredients together and set aside.

Pork chops:

Heat an outdoor grill or grill pan over medium-high heat.

Brush the pork chops with the oil. In a small bowl combine the chili powder, salt and pepper. Generously sprinkle the rub over both sides of each pork chop. Grill the chops until cooked through, about 4 to 6 minutes per side. (Set 1 chop aside for Online Round 2 Recipe, Orzo Soup with Pork.) Arrange the chops on a serving platter and let rest 5 minutes before serving.

Serve the chops with the peach salsa.

Caprese Salad Stuffed Tomatoes

Ingredients

• 5 beefsteak tomatoes
• 1 (1-pound) block mozzarella
• 1 (16-ounce) package orzo, cooked according to package instructions
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Cut the tops off of 4 tomatoes and with a spoon remove the pulp from the inside, to form a bowl. Dice the pulp and half of the remaining tomato (reserve remaining half for the Round 2 Recipe Grilled Margherita Pizza). Dice the mozzarella to measure 1 cup. (Reserve the rest for the Round 2 Recipe Grilled Margherita Pizza.)

In a bowl, combine 2 cups of the orzo (reserve the rest for the Online Round 2 Recipe Orzo Soup with Pork), diced mozzarella, diced tomato, vinegar, olive oil, basil, and salt and pepper, to taste. Divide the mixture among the 4 tomatoes and serve.

There was A LOT of this orzo left over after stuffing the tomatoes!

SO good...I LOVE tomatoes! 

and here it is ALL put together in its yummy wonderful-ness! :)

As always, let me know if you try this recipe and what you think! I have SEVERAL dinners back logged that I have to type out and post then I have one recipe this week that goes in my "try new things" category so we will see how well that turns out! I can only do one weird recipe a week to try...im not that adventures! 

**watch these two recipes when you go to buy your ingredients because she has you buy more so that you have enough food for what she calls "round two recipes."  If you don't plan on looking those up (she tells you what they are in the directions of each) you can get away with buying less ingredients of some things**

Good Night! Xo

Let's Try This One More Time!! Easy Crock Pot Meal...

Well hello. Shall we try this blog thing again?? Every time I (think) am home for good and ready to start cooking again....BAM! Just like that something else happens and I am back in the hospital.

 Last year was AMAZING and I was hardly ever sick and so far this year I have lost count with the amount of times I was admitted to the hospital. If I wasn't admitted I was sick as a dog at home not wanting to cook anything and BARELY wanting to eat anything! Not a good combo I can assure you! 

So I get home on Sunday night with stuff that I have already planned on making once I got home I just needed to go food shopping (I was in the hospital 3 weeks I had A LOT of time to look up recipes!) 

I was REALLY craving some Shepards Pie that my one good friend Amanda was telling me she makes for her son but unfortunately when I went to cook dinner Monday night my feet where the size of watermelons and there was no way I was gonna be able to stand in the kitchen and make dinner so I called the hubby and told him my dilemma. When he got home from work he quickly showered while I made him a list (a very short list he isn't the best grocery shopper when I am not with him!) of things to grab from the store. On that list was Publix Fried Chicken that we could just eat that night without having to cook anything since it was already so late (and Publix fried chicken is to DIE for!) plus I had decided that since my feet swelling was a problem that was worse in the afternoons I planned to do a crock pot meal that I could throw in the pot in the morning while the feet where relatively "normal" size and not very painful and by dinner time when they were gi-normus (yes that is a word) all I had to do was some last minute touches so I wasn't on my feet very long! Am I genius or what? 

Well, let me just say that the meal I picked which I found on the Crockin' Girls Facebook page (it was one of their Crockin' Monday Videos) was I think the easiest crock pot meal I have ever made. You know how sometimes with crock pot meats they make you sear the meat or cook the chicken first or whatever, well you don't have to do that with this recipe which saves a step and another pot you don't have to clean! Also, everything just gets mixed right in the crock pot I seriously had no clean up except what I was throwing away in the trash. Amazing I tell ya..

So here is the recipe for what I put in the Crock and then I will tell you what I made to go along with it! 

Little Meats and Gravy

Ingredients

• 2 Pounds of chuck or stew beef, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 Package of onion soup mix
• 2 Cans of low sodium cream of chicken soup
• 2 soup Cans of water
• 1 Package of cooked noodles, rice or potatoes for serving

**I served ours over rice cause thats what we had!!**

Directions

1. Step One

   Combine all ingredients into 6 quart slow cooker; stir.

2. Step Two

   Cover and cook on LOW for 8–12 hours or on HIGH for 5–6 hours. If you've frozen this recipe you can cook it for 10-12 hours on LOW.

3. Step Three

   Thicken, if desired, and serve over noodles, rice, or potatoes.
   **I think all said and done mine was in the crock for about 9 hours on low and it was perfect!**

(This was when I was just putting it in and stirring all the ingredients together)

Then as I said before I chose to serve this over rice cause that's what we had available in the pantry and then for the veggie part of the plate I decided on fresh green beans (cause quite frankly I LOVE green beans and could eat them every night) but have kind of gotten in a rut with just throwing them in the oven with some garlic, olive oil, some S&P and roasting them so I wanted to try something new that I made once before when I was in NY on vaca but haven't made here at home yet. So I gave it a whirl tonight to see what the Dear Hubby would think...and luckily he approved! :) 

Green Beans w/ Mushroom and Shallots

Ingredients

• Fresh green beans, ends trimmed
• 2 tsp olive oil
• Button mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 a small shallot, sliced into thin rings
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste

Directions

Add the green beans to a pot of boiling water and cook for 3-4 minutes. 

Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking and to retain the bright green color. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and let them cook (without stirring) for 3-4 minutes; stir and add the shallots to the skillet. 

Cook the shallots and mushrooms for 2 minutes before adding the minced garlic and green beans. Cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute or until the green beans are nice and hot. Season with sea salt and pepper, to taste.

(YUMMY....these where very tasty!)

Then, of course you know me I had to take a picture of my final plate along with my (don't judge) Pillsbury Grand Buttermilk Biscuits from a can which I slathered in honey before eating! :) 

Quick, easy, delicious, and everyone was happy when dinner was finished and the best part is I have lunch for tomorrow that I am VERY excited about! WIn, WIn! 

  

That is all I got for you tonight. I hope you try this meal and if you do try it let me know what you think! I haven't decided if I am going to use the crock pot again tomorrow or if I am going to make that Shepards Pie finally. Either way I am sure to take some pictures and hopefully I can crank out another blog to you guys so you can see what I am cooking up! Good Night!! :)