Slow Cooked BBQ Sandwiches

WOW!!!!
It has been an extremely long time since I have posted a cooking blog! What is the reason you ask???? Well, I haven't been cooking as much. I don't know what happened, but we have been eating out a lot more than usual. I think being busy has something to do with it. Being lazy might have more to do with it :)

Well, today, I made some delicious BBQ sandwiches, so I thought it was worth breaking the trend of not blogging about cooking. I was pleasantly surprised at how all of the ingredients came together to make some yummy goodness. I have no pics, oh well.

Oh, and don't get used to this. School is starting soon, so I highly doubt that I will have much time to cook, let alone blog about cooking. But who knows...

Ingredients (all measurements are approximate because I didn't actually measure)
- 3 lb round roast or chuck roast
- 1 cup beef boullion
- 1/4 to 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup ketchup
- 3 tablespoons mustard
- 2 tablespoons worcheshire (sp??) sauce
- 1/4 cup bbq sauce
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinagerette (I'm convinced that this is the key ingredient)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- t tablespoon garlic powder

Directions: Place the roast in a slow cooker. Combine all of the other ingredients and pour over the round roast. Cook on low 8-10 hours. About an hour before serving, shred the beef and cook on low for another hour. Serve on kaiser rolls or buns. We are going to use the leftovers for some nachos :)

Enjoy!

Fajitas... and Chris does the cooking!

Good evening folks! Happy Monday to all.

Well, tonight Chris is doing the cooking and I am really thankful for that! Usually if Chris does the cooking, it involves unwrapping a frozen pizza and putting it in the oven. But tonight, he is making fajitas, and he wanted me to put his recipe on the blog. This is a pretty quick and easy recipe that has veggies in it, so it's good for you too!!!

This is the first time that Chris has ever cut an onion! He ran into some mishaps (cut his finger while cutting the green pepper, wondered why the chicken was taking so long, only to realize the burner wasn't on, etc).

But, while I do poke some fun at my husband for his cooking "skills," I am really so thankful that he put the effort to cook in tonight, I get a yummy meal, and I got to relax a little bit! Thanks babe! It turned out great!

Wife rating: 10!

Ingredients:
1 green pepper- sliced
1/2 onion- sliced
1 package of pre-cut chicken for stir-fry
1 package of fajita seasoning
Tortillas
Toppings: whatever you want (sour cream, guacamole, etc)

Combine the fajita seasoning according to package. Cook chicken with sauce mix until no longer pink. Add veggies and cook until tender. Put into tortillas and add toppings. Yum!

How about some soup?

Wow, it's been super long since I have updated this blog... yikes! Well, I guess I should share a recipe, so how about Chicken Noodle soup. If anyone has variations, share them!

I got this one from my mom and it is yummy!

- 1 whole chicken cut up (it comes with gizzards but I get rid of them).
- 1 large package of Grandma Noodles (in the frozen section)
- 4/5 sticks of celery- sliced
- 4/5 carrots- sliced
- 1 onion chopped
- spices- Seasoned salt, pepper, salt. You could also add some thyme, basil, marjoram and garlic powder... whatever floats your boat... just taste as you go. I also added some chicken boullion this time.

Fill a big pot with water (pretty full) and bring it to a boil. While it is boiling, tear the skin off of the chicken (wow, that sounds morbid). Once it is boiling, add the chicken pieces and turn the heat down. Let the chicken cook for about 30 minutes.

Once the chicken is cooked, take the pieces out and set them aside to cool. Skim the fat off of the top of the water and bring the water to a boil. Add all the other ingredients and turn heat down. Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, rip up the pieces so that they are bite size and add them back to the water. Cook everything until the veggies and noodles are done.

I will be the first to admit that it is not fun handling a whole, raw chicken. But, it is totally worth it because the soup is delicious and it can feed a lot of people, or two people many times. I love having leftovers!

Enjoy!

Mexican Casserole

I didn't take any pictures of this one because it was last minute and made with ingredients in the pantry. Easy and delicious

Husband Rating: 9

Ingredients:
- Tortillas- torn up
- Cooked chicken- cubed
- 1 package of Spanish or Mexican rice- prepared according to package
- 1 can of beans- drained (I only had kidney beans, but black beans would be better)
- 1 can of corn- drained
- 1 can of Mexican style Rotel Tomatoes

Grease a casserole dish and layer tortillas on bottom. Then layer 1/2 of all ingredients in this order: Rice, chicken, beans, corn, tomatoes. Lay down some more torn tortillas. Layer the other half of the ingredients in the same order.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or so.

Lots of Leftovers too : )

Herbed Pork Chops with Carrots... Best Husband Rating Yet

This is one of those recipes that hides in the box and hasn't been made in a while... but it is a classic and really good. This is one of Chris's all time favorites and he loves when I make it. I got this recipe from my mom, who I believe got it out of a Taste of Home magazine. I know you all have an "old classic," recipe hanging out in your recipe box somewhere... so pull them out and comment on this blog so we can all share in the deliciousness!



The ingredients seem a little odd, but I promise... the outcome is great! Enjoy
Husband Rating: 10 (I finally got a 10)!!!

Bonus: This meal only cost me about $5. The pork chops were on sale, and I had everything else except the asparagus... AND I have leftovers. Can't beat that! Also, it only takes about 15 minutes.

Ingredients
-Pork Chops (3 or 4 or however many you need).
- 1 Tbls butter
- 1/3 Cup chopped carrots
- 1 Tbls Parsley
- 2 tsp flour
- 1/2 tsp of either basil or Thyme (I used Basil)
- 1 tsp. instant beef boullion
- 2/3 Cup milk
- 2 Tbls. of either white wine or water (I use water)



Melt butter in a skillet and cook one side of the pork chops (about 5 minutes depending on thickness). Flip pork chops and add chopped carrots. Cook pork chops through (about another 5 minutes). Once cooked, remove pork chops and set aside. Stir parsley, flour, spice of choice, beef boullion and a little bit of pepper into the drippings/carrots. Add milk. Cook until thick and bubbly. Stir in water/wine and stir. Put pork chops back in and heat.

You can choose whatever side you would like. We had cous-cous and asparagus. Enjoy!

Southwest style soup

Well, unfortunately the weather in Fort Collins is no longer 70 degrees... now it is more like 16 degrees. Lucky for us, we have a nice warm home, a fireplace and a crockpot! I love crockpots because you can throw a whole lot of random ingredients in, hit a button, and you're good to go. Here's what I threw in yesterday, and it turned out great!

Husband rating: 8

1 onion- chopped
1 jalapeno- chopped fine (I would say this is optional)
2 garlic cloves
1 can of corn
1 can of black beans
1 can stewed Mexican style tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes with jalapenos and green chilies
1 small can of green chilies
About 2 cups chicken broth
2 chicken breast- I chopped mine, but your probably could put them in whole and shred them once they are cooked (for you vegetarians, you could opt to not put the chicken in, I bet it would be great!)
Some salt, pepper and a little sprinkle of cumin

Throw it all in the crockpot with the meat on top. Cook on low for about 7/8 hours. Eat it with tortilla chips and sour cream. And the best part... leftovers! Yum!

Easy Chicken Tenders

Here is a cheap and easy recipe for Chicken Tenders. Just go to the store and purchase some chicken tenders: They are already cut for you and they are super cheap (around $3 for a package).

Husband Rating: 7
Jeremy (aka college brother) Rating: 7- He says "It's good!"

Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup Mayo
- 1/2 cup Ranch
- Sprinkle of garlic salt
- Sprinkle of onion salt
- Sprinkle of Paprika (about 1/8- 1/4 tsp for all of the spices)
- A bag (about 10 oz) of potato chips- crushed
- Chicken Tenders (about a pound)

Mix all of the ingredients except the potato chips in a bowl. Put the crushed potato chips in another bowl. Dip and cover the chicken in the Mayo mixture. Then dip and cover the chicken in the crushed potato chips. Put in a greased casserole/baking dish. Bake for 20-22 minutes in a 400 degree oven.

We ate it with a salad, but you could also bake some potatoes or make potato wedges... however you like!

Enjoy!

Thank you Jenna!

Because of Jenna's delicious recipe, Chris and I have eaten well for 2 nights, AND I don't have to cook tonight either. This is one of those meals that tastes even better as leftovers than the night you made it. In fact, we probably could go for 4 or 5 nights with this lasagna, but Chris doesn't necessarily enjoy eating vegetarian that much. But, I don't mind, so now I have lunch for a few days too! Thanks Jenna!!! It was delicious, cost effective and created less work for me :)

Husband rating: 8.5 general 10 veggie (please note that Chris will never give a vegetarian meal a 10 on the general scale. He was kind of disappointed that there was no meat in this one, but once he tasted it, he stopped complaining... it was wonderful!).

lasagna noodles- cook according to package
spinach
sauce-however much you like! ( i usually use at least 2 jars cuz i like lots of sauce)

2 small zucchini- chopped
1 small yellow squash- chopped
1/2 lb. mushrooms (I chopped these pretty finely)
1 small onion-chopped fine
garlic to taste (I used 3 bulbs)
olive oil to cover

Mix all of these well and roast at 425 degrees 30 min. or until brown and tender. Or you can saute them.


2 cups cottage cheese
2 cups mozzarella
1 cup parmesan
1 egg
salt and pepper

combine all of these

In 13x9inch dish spread 1c sauce. layer noodles over sauce. top half with each in order-cheese mixture, spinach, veggies, and 1/3 sauce. Repeat layers. Top with remaining noodles and sauce. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. uncover- top with mozzarella and bake 15 more minutes. let stand 10 minutes.

Veggie chili

I try to make a vegetarian meal at least once or twice a week. It keeps us healthy :) I love this recipe because it is so versatile and you can use anything that you have in you cupboard/fridge. I'll tell you how I made it, and I will give some other options. You can be as creative as you want with it! It is so easy because you just chop some veggies and then open some cans. And you can use whatever veggies you want. Yum.



Some people don't like beans, but even so, you'll like this. Chris doesn't like beans, but he likes this recipe. He gave it 2 veggie thumbs up. Oh, and if you want to make it a little more filling, you can eat it with crackers, tortillas, tortilla chips, cous cous, noodles, etc...

Oh and hint to those of us who live in Fort Collins... the cheapest place to buy canned goods is Sunflower Market. For those of you who don' t live in Fort Collins... bummer. You should consider moving :)

Husband rating: Chris gave this one 2 ratings: 10 on a veggie scale and 8.5 on a general scale (he would always rather have beef). So that's pretty good!

Time: 50 minutes (only 15 minutes of real work though:))
Feeds: 3 or 4 or 2 with leftovers

Ingredients


- Olive oil (eye it... I think about 2 tablespoons)
- 2 garlic cloves- crushed
- 1 onion- chopped
- 1 yellow squash- cut in half and sliced
- 1 medium zucchini - cut in half and sliced
- 1/2 green pepper- chopped
- 2 carrots chopped
- Oregano (about 1/4 tsp) (I always add extra spices so I used more than this...)
- Basil (about 1/4 tsp)
- Cumin (about 1/4 tsp)
- Chili powder (about 2 tsp)
- 1 can of garbanzo beans- drained
- 1 can of kidney beans- drained
- 1 can corn- drained
- 1 can of diced tomatoes- drained
- 1 can of tomato sauce
- 1 cup of veggie broth (I use Better then Boullion Vegetable Base and mix with water).

Directions:
Saute onion and garlic in olive oil, about 5-10 minutes. Add the rest of the veggies and continue to saute, about 5-10 minutes. Then throw in your spices and stir. Then throw in all of the canned ingredients. Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat to medium and simmer. About 30 minutes. Just make sure that the carrots are tender enough. Enjoy!



Variations
- You can use any veggies that you want. This is the first time that I have ever used carrots and green pepper. Be creative!
- You can also use different kind of beans. Don't have kidney beans and garbanzo beans??? Use black beans, pinto beans or whatever you do have. It's all delicious and beans are a great source of protein.
- Try different kind of tomatoes if you don't have diced... how about stewed??
- For the liquid you can be creative. What about beef broth, chicken broth or just water. Or, you can throw in another can of tomato sauce. Or skip the liquid all together for a thicker chili.
- Mix up the spices- add more or less depending on your taste.

Does anyone have other suggestions or ideas????

Who couldn't use some yummy ideas?

Have you ever asked yourself "what should I make for dinner tonight?" I think we all have. Our lives are so busy and sometimes dinner is our last priority. It is so easy to wait until the last minute, and then you end up going out to grab something quick to eat or you throw a frozen pizza in the oven; but these options are never satisfying!

So, this blog is meant to give us all some new ideas about what we can do to give our families delicious and nutritious meals without too much hassle. I will share my ideas, and I would love it if you all could share your ideas too! Now who can argue with that???

Bon appetit!