Football season afternoons, cold winter nights, and cool rainy spring evenings all mean one thing — what’s for dinner is chili.
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Tag Archives: recipe
Instant Pot Journey: Trash Night Penne
Trash Night…
… is the night I go through my fridge or freezer and pick one thing that’s been sitting longer than I’d like. It either gets cooked or tossed. On this journey, I eliminated frozen Italian sausages, 3 partial bags of frozen veggies, the remains of a container of sour cream and the last of a block of parmesan.Continue reading
Quick & Dirty Chicken Cassoulet
Yes, I know… it’s not authentic without the duck and the smoked sausage. So call it chicken and beans if you must… it’s just as satisfying to eat for 20% of the effort.Continue reading
Crusty Bread So Easy You’ll Make It Every Day
I don’t believe in doing anything the hard way… and I’ve got this bread down to as simple as bread can be. You may have to invest in a few tools you don’t have, but it’s worth it.Continue reading
Crock Pot Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 1 pounds stew beef
- 1 cup flour
- oil, for browning meat
- 1 package Crockery Gourmet Seasoning For Beef
- 2 cups water
- 1 can Condensed French Onion Soup
- 1 can Condensed Beef Consommé
- 1 tablespoon granulated garlic
- 2 cans diced tomatoes, undrained
- 4 potatoes, cut into 1 1/2″ chunks
- 3 carrots, cut into 1″ chunks
- 2 celery, cut into 1/4 ” chunks
Directions
- Coat stew beef with flour and brown in hot oil over medium high heat 2 minutes per side. Do not crowd pan.
- Transfer beef to bottom of slow cooker.
- Combine beef seasoning and water. Add soups, water, garlic and tomatoes. Pour over meat.
- Spread potatoes, carrots and celery on top of meat.
- Cook on high 6 hours or low 10 hours.
Wicked Easy Pork Loin
Weekends were made for crockpot cooking. It’s the one time when you can actually sit down and enjoy a leisurely meal, but who wants to spend a lot of time preparing it? Crockpot to the rescue.
What you’ll need…
1 3-4 lb. boneless pork loin (not tenderloin — they’re not the same thing)
1 pkg. Superior Touch Crockery Gourmet Seasoning Mix for Pork
1 can Campbell’s Condensed French Onion Soup
2 cans water
course black pepper
dried herbs (optional)
What you’ll do with it…
Place the roast fat-side down in the bottom of a crockpot.
Mix the seasoning mix, soup and water with a whisk.
Pour the soup mixture over the roast.
Sprinkle on a liberal dose of pepper and herbs. Don’t add salt… the onion soup has plenty.
Cook on low 2 hours.
Turn the roast fat-side up and baste.
Continue cooking on low 5-6 hours more, basting every 2-3 hours.
Let it rest on a cutting board for 10 minutes before cutting.
Serve it au jus with the liquid straight from the pot or use the liquid to make gravy if you want something a little thicker.
If you don’t want to worry about turning the roast, start it fat-side up… but I think it turns out better if you turn it and baste it.
Holiday Leftovers: HoneyBaked Ham & Bean Soup
Ingredients:
Bone from HoneyBaked ham (fat and scraps in tact)
1 pound bag of dried mixed beans
12 cups water
1 T garlic powder
1 T dried onion flakes
2 T cajun seasoning
2 T Superior Touch Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Base
1-2 cups diced onions and carrots
1-2 cups diced ham
Directions:
Soak beans in room temperature water for 24 hours. Don’t attempt to cheat with the hot water method. It’s not the same.
Place the beans, water, ham bone, water, spices and vegetable base in a large crock pot. Cook on low for 4 hours.
Add the onions and carrots. Continue cooking on low for another hour.
Add the diced ham and cook on low for one more hour.
Super Easy Bok Choy “Stir Fry”
Bok choy is my new favorite vegetable. Add a little garlic, ginger and vinegar and you’ve got a great summer side in 15 minutes.
Mix a few tablespoons each olive oil, minced garlic and minced ginger in a cool dutch oven. Just let it sit while you prepare the other ingredients.
Remove any wilted leaves from 8 or 10 stalks of bok choy. Cut off and discard the root end; cut the rest into 1 1/2 inch pieces. Leave the little center heart in tact.
Cut 6 to 8 shiitake mushrooms into bite-sized chunks and coarsely chop a red bell pepper.
Warm the oil in the dutch oven over medium high heat until it starts to sizzle. Toss in the red pepper and cook for 1 minute. Toss in the shiitake and cook for another minute. Pour in a few tablespoons of lime-flavored Kikkoman Ponzu Citrus Seasoned Dressing & Sauce, 1 to 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, toss it around and simmer for another minute.
Add the bok choy and stir well. Make sure it’s coated with the garlic infused oil and vinegar. Cover the dutch oven, cut the heat back to medium and let everything steam for a few minutes — 3 minutes will give you cooked but still crunchy bok choy.
If you want to make it a complete meal, toss in thinly slice grilled steak tips and serve it with sweet (aka sticky) rice.
Guiltless Dessert
1 regular size package instant sugar free vanilla pudding mix (100 calories)
1 regular size package sugar free lemon jello (40 calories)
2 cups water
1 cup fat-free whipped topping (120 calories)
2 medium bananas, sliced (210 calories)
Extra whipped topping for garnish (15 calories per tablespoon)
Boil water, add jello, stir until dissolved and cool.
Whisk in the dry pudding mix until smooth.
Whisk in the whipped topping until smooth.
Stir in the sliced bananas and chill until set.
Serve in chilled custard cups with 1-2 tablespoons of whipped topping on top.
Serves 6 — about 100 calories each.