Five Meals in a Day

I am a left overs queen. I am always taking left overs and creating something new and a friend of mine challenged me to create a weeks worth of meals in one day, and I had to try it. Little did I know that the day I was planning to cook, they would  schedule my daughter's softball practice that afternoon and I would have a meeting as soon as we were done with practice. Needless to say I was able to do it but I was up later than I planned.

Slow Cooker Pork Roast Vegetables
Pork Roast ( I don't remember the size, I just bought the biggest one I found)
6 packages of baby carrots
6 new potatoes
1/2 onion sliced
2 cans of beef broth
1tsp rosemary
1 tsp minced garlic
1tsp oregano
1tsp cumin
Black pepper and Salt to taste

Layer the vegetables in the bottom of a slow cooker. Pour one can of beef broth over the vegetables. Mix all the spices in a small bowl and then rub on all sides of the roast. place on top of the vegetables.Pour the remaining can of broth over the meat. Slow cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours. Serve side by side. Reserve the juices in an air tight container in the fridge. Save remaining vegetables for Baked Chicken side dish.

Use the left over pot roast for He Man Stew and BBQ roll.

While pot roast was cooking, I switched over to baking chicken.

Baked Chicken
6  large chicken breasts
1 can of whole green chilis
1 can of cream of chicken soup
salt and pepper to taste

Place chicken in a 13 x9 inch baking dish. Layer the green chilis along the top of the chicken breast and then pour soup over the  chicken and chilis. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the top. Bake at 375 uncovered for 25 minutes or until cooked.

Let this cool completely and take half of the chicken and store in the refigerator until ready to serve still covered in the sauce. On the night that you serve it. Heat in a 350 oven for about 15 minutes. Serve over rice with left over vegetables from Pot roast. With the other half of the chicken make Enchilada Casserole.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Half a bag of tortilla Chips
3 chicken breasts shredded
1/2 onion chopped
2 roma tomatoes diced
1/2 bell pepper chopped
1tsp cumin
1tsp chili
1 tsp black pepper
1tsp dried cilantro or five sprigs if fresh, chopped
1 carton sour cream
1 package of shredded cheese

Mix the chopped onion, tomatoes, bell pepper stir in sour cream. Add seasonings and stir well. Pour over shredded chicken. stir until chicken is completely covered. Place half of the tortilla chips on the bottom of a casserole dish. Pour in chicken mixture. Sprinkle about 1/2 cup of shredded cheese over the mixture and add another layer of tortilla chips sprinkle the rest of the shredded cheese over the top. Cover and put in the refrigerator until ready to serve. On the night that you serve it place in oven for about 20 minutes until cheese melts and casserole heats. To prevent your cheese from burning, cover dish with foil or lid and uncover the last five minutes. Serve with beans or like me I served with a peas/fruit salad mixture (see recipe below)

Peas and Fruit Salad
Like I said before, I have to be sneaky with my kids so this is an easy way to sneak in a vegetable when they least expect it.
1 cup oranges
1 cup pineapples diced
1 cup apples diced
1 cup fresh peas
Dressing
1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all of the ingredients in a jar, cover tightly and shake vigorously until sugar dissolved. Place all the peas and fruit in a bowl. Pour dressing over the fruit and toss well. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Toss right before serving.

He Man Stew
3 1/2 pounds pork, chicken, or beef, cut into bite size pieces
Reserved juice from pot roast
1 can of lite beer (I used Bud light)
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 package frozen corn (if using canned drain before using)
1 package frozen peas (if using canned drain before using)
1/2 onion sliced
1/4 cup spicy brown mustard
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp chili powder
4 cups elbow macaroni

In a large stock pot, combine roast juice, beer, tomatoes, onion, mustard and seasoning. Add pork. Cook on medium-high. Bring to a boil. Stir. Reduce heat and simmer for about an hour. Serve with garlic bread or corn bread.

BBQ Roll
1 pound pork roast shredded
1tbs olive oil
1/2 onion finely chopped
1 clove of garlic diced
2 cups of your favorite BBQ sauce (mine is Head Country)
1/2 stick of butter softened

Already risen Bread dough
I have an incredible bread recipe that was my Aunt Fontella's. She called it Dicky Bread because she said that it was her brother Dicky's Hawaiian bread recicpe. She walked me through all the steps of making it when I was in high school and to this day, this is the only bread I will make. She used this basic bread recipe for everything from Cinnamon rolls, dinner rolls, dill bread, sweet bread, etc. So I happened to have all of the ingredients still from my Superbowl baking fest and just used this basic recipe and halfed it. It is long but I can make it in my sleep now so if you want the recipe let me know. I think if I didn't have the ingredients and the time already (about an hour and a half), I probably would have bought the pilsbury french bread and made it the same way and cut out the time, but it wouldn't have been as good. So let me know and I will post the bread recipe.

In a large pot, sautee onion and garlic in the olive oil until translucent but not brown over medium heat. Add shredded pork. Pour BBQ sauce over pork, onions, garlic and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Take your bread dough and pull off about a fist full of dough, flatten it with your hands until it is like a pancake, spoon the BBQ mixture in the middle of the dough and fold the edges of the dough around the BBQ mixture until completely enclosed in the dough. Brush top of roll with butter. Place on a greased cookie sheet seam side down. Repeat. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes until brown. I made 6 large rolls. Serve hot with your favorite BBQ sides. We had pinto beans and sweet potato fries.

So there you have it! This turned out so simple and easy for the busy week we had, I think I am going to try this again for next week and make everything ahead of time.

Chili Dogs

Okay so Chili Dogs are not really that great of a culinary experience, but I have to admit I always take the easy road (buy a can of chili). So when I came to this receipe in a cookbook, I decided to try it out. Chili Dogs are a sure ticket to a super easy meal when you come home from work only to take your kid to their after school activities and rush back home to fix dinner so the family is not sitting down to dinner at 8:00. This recipe truly turned out even better than I thought and I am going to really have a hard time buying that can of chili especially since I can control the amount of sugar and sodium when I make it myself. This chili took me about 45 minutes to make from scratch, but I had already precooked the ground beef the night before and put it in the refigerator.

Ingredients
3 pounds of ground beef
6 tbls Chili Powder
1 tbls Salt
1tbls Black Pepper
Water (enough to cover the beef)

Place the cooked beef in a pot and cover with water. Add all the seasonings and stir. Bring to a boil over meduium high heat, then reduce heat and boil gently for about 30 minutes. Use a ladle to remove any of the grease from the top and discard. Serve over your favorite hot dog and condiments. This chili freezes beautifully.

Fried Potatoes
1/4 cup vegetable oil (I subsituted with olive oil)
6 medium potatoes, peeled  and cubed
Salt and Pepper to taste (I also added rosemary and garlic)

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the potatoes and season. Stir. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally until browned and tender. (These potatoes were finished by the time I was skimming grease from the top of the chili, it was just perfect timing)

Caramelized Pineapple Rings
6 Pineapple rings
2 tbls honey

Brush the honey on both sides of the pineapple ring. Place in a skillet or on griddle pan. Cook on both sides until warm (about 2 minutes each side)

Sorry we have been gone

Sometimes life's priorities knock you down with unbelievable force and it's hard to get back up and jump into the place you were before. We are so sorry that there has been no recent activity, but we have been dealing with personal issues and this is the first time that one of us has been able to even sit down and share our culinary experiences. We kindly ask your understanding and now that all is well, I will attempt to catch up on a months worth of blogging.

Spicy Tuna and Linguine - One Dish Meal

THIS WAS A TERRIFIC MEAL! I am even attaching pics of the youngest around the table tonight enjoying their delicious dinner.

Recipe
2tbs olive oil                              2 1/2c chopped plum tomatoes
4 cloves garlic, minced                 1 can Chicken broth plus 1 cup water
2c sliced mushrooms                   1/2tsp salt
1/2c chopped onion                     1/2 tsp pepper
1/2tsp crushed red pepper           1pkg fresh linguine
1pkg tuna

In a 12" skillet, heat olive oil, saute garlic, mushrooms, onion and red pepper until golden brown.  Add tomatoes, chicken broth, salt and pepper and bring to a boil

Add linguine by strands and spoon sauce over.  Reduce heat to simmer cook for another 4min on low. Toss gently and add tuna to the mixture.  Toss again.

I did not add the mushrooms or the onion because I forgot! I also used cayenne pepper instead of crushed red pepper and 1 can of chili tomatoes instead of fresh tomatoes.  Instead of adding salt, I used 1 jar of drained artichoke hearts!

The sauce is very liquidy but it isn't supposed to be thick either.  This made enough to serve 6 with at least 1 bowl of left overs.  Again another meal for under $10 (this one was actually closer to $5)!!! (If you check your paper for the Butoni Linguine coupon you can get it for $1 off.  I used it at Homeland and I got it for  $.99! ) The tomatoes were also on sale and with coupon at Homeland they were FREE!

Hope you enjoy this recipe and as you see you can make it your own.

Fire and Ice Skillet for Dinner?!

What an interesting meal this one turned out to be.  The name made it sound fun and the ingrediants were simple and in the pantry already.
FIRE AND ICE SKILLET Recipe
1 pkg rice-a-roni Spanish rice
2tbs butter
1 jar (16oz) Salsa
1/3c sour cream
1/4c finley chopped green onions
4 large eggs
1 c cheddar cheese

1. saute rice with butter until golden brown
2. stir in 2 c water, salsa and the seasoning mix from the package.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, simmer on low until tender.
3. Stir in sour cream and onions. Using Large spoon make 4 indentions in the rice and break 1 egg in each of them. Cover, cook on 8 min or until eggs are cooked through.
4. Sprinkle with cheese
Prep time: 5 min
Cook Time: 30 min

Okay as I said this one was interesting.  I cooked as directions called, but mine turned out more "soupy" than "Ricey".  My indentions never worked so I ended up stiring the eggs in and almost "scrambeling" them until they were cooked through.
My family did like this one and so did The sister, but we all decided it would be a great enchilada filler or dip on chips.  I think The sister ate it as a left over with Blue Corn Tortilla Chips the next day.
I am attaching pictures of what mine looked like but also the cook book page of what it is supposed to look like.
If you try this one, comment so I can know what you do to make it work differently!

Southern Plate-Homemade Banana Pudding

So tonight we had left overs so I had plenty of time to make a dessert. I chose Homemade Banana Pudding and to my surprise it only took about 30 minutes to make and 30 minutes to cool. I followed this recipe to the letter and am proud to say this is the first time I have ever made pudding from scratch!

Pudding
1 box vanilla wafers
5 bananas
1/2 cup splenda
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/8 tsp salt
3 egg yolks (reserve whites for the meringue)
2 cups milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Place a layer of vanilla wafers in the bottom of a medium bowl. Slice a banana over the top. Repeat two more times with another layer of wafers and the remaining bananas.

In a saucepan, combine the sugar, flour, salt, egg yolks, and milk. Stir well with a wire whisk and place over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring constantly to prevent scorching, until thickened, about 15 minutes (on my gas stove about 7 minutes). Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Immediately pour over the wafers and bananas. Let sit for 5 minutes or so to give the wafers time to absorb the pudding.

Meringue
3 Egg whites
1/4 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Make the meringue: in a large bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer on high speed until foamy. Add the sugar and continue beating on high speed until soft peaks form. Pour onto the top of the pudding and spread to edges to seal well. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the top is golden. Allow to cool completely before serving.

Southern Plate-Slow Cooker Cornbread Dressing/Cranberry Relish

This is a complete meal in one and I keep forgetting to take pictures, but this was pretty simple and reminded me of Thanksgiving all over again. There are two major preperations and I think in the future I will take some short cuts and it will be just as tasty, but this time I followed the recipe and made everything from scratch.

Chicken Mixture
1 large chicken, cooked, deboned and cut into pieces
1 10.5 ounce can cream of checken soup, undiluted

Note: To cook the chicken place in a large saucepan, cover with warm water and simmer, covered, until the chicken is tender approcimately 1 hour. Save the broth for the dressing.

(I think this is what I would shortcut next time. My eaters prefer all white meat so I will probably just pan fry a couple of chicken breasts and shred)

Mix the chicken and soup together and set aside.

Dressing
1 large skillet cornbread (2 quarts crumbled)
(I used the same cornbread recipe from the blog-my favorite!)
2 tablespoons Sage
1 medium onion chopped
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1 stick margarine, melted
3 to 4 cups chicken broth, from cooking the chicken
1 10 ounce can cream of chicken soup

To make the dressing, mix all of the ingredients together, except for the cream of chicken soup. Layer in a slow cooker in the following order: half can cream of chicken soup, half of the dressing mixture, half of the chicken mixture, the remaining dressing, remaining chicken mixture, and remaining cream of chicken soup. Cover and cook on low for 3 hours. Serve hot.

Makes about 8 to 10 servings(So I froze half for another time)

This made my house smell like Thanksgiving dinner so I decided to make a cranberry relish to go with it for me and a fruit salad for my girls. The fruit salad was a mixture of apples, mandarin oranges, and pineapple chunks with a tbsp of honey flavored yogurt-one of my girls' favorites. The cranberry relish is my favorite and I just so happened to have some cranberries in my freezer.

Bobby Flay's Cranberry Relish

1 cup fresh cranberries (I use frozen)

1/4 cup brown sugar  

3 tablespoons finely diced red onion (I used a white onion) 

1 tablespoon minced jalapeno

1/4 cup coarsely chopped cilantro

1/4 cup fresh orange juice

Salt and freshly ground pepper

In a hot skillet combine cranberries and brown sugar, cook until berries start to pop. Add all other ingredients, except cilantro, and heat, (add a spoon of water if sauce appears dry). Just before serving, toss in the cilantro

This is one of the easiest recipes from Bobby Flay and usually takes me about 10 minutes for prep and about 20 minutes to cook down.