Southern Yank Pulled Pork BBQ

Southern Yank Pulled Pork BBQ 

Source: tryrecipe.net via Bernadete on Pinterest

Ingredients
1 cup bottled barbecue sauce
3/4 cup ketchup
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup water
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco, or to taste
salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 (3 pound) pork shoulder roast


Directions
Mix together the barbecue sauce, ketchup, onion, celery, water, garlic, honey, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, hot pepper sauce, salt, and black pepper in a slow cooker until thoroughly combined. Place the pork roast into the mixture, spoon sauce over the meat, and set the cooker to Low. Cook 7 to 8 hours; to serve, shred the meat with 2 forks, and serve with sauce

I used 1 tsp of tabasco as my family  likes things   mild. Overall this tasted great. 

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Source: thisbirdsday.com via Bernadete on Pinterest

Ingredients

• pumpkin seeds
• melted butter or oil (olive or vegetable work well) enough to coat the seeds) We used olive oil
• salt to taste* (other seasonings you can try: seasoning salt, onion powder, garlic salt, etc.)

Instructions

1. Rinse pumpkin seeds. Use your fingers to remove all the pulp. Drain pumpkin seeds and discard pulp. Spread out on clean dish towels to dry overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 325° F.
3. Toss pumpkin seeds in a bowl with the melted butter, margarine or oil. You can let them sit for a 30 minutes to soak up the butter. Spread pumpkin seeds in a single layer on baking sheet.
4. Sprinkle seasonings of your choice over the seeds.
5. Bake for about 45 minutes or until golden brown. Stir occasionally. Cool pumpkin seeds before eating. Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 months or refrigerate up to 1 year. 

1. NOTE: If pumpkin seeds start to ‘pop’ or make a popping sound, then check on them, it means they are probably done

Review:

These tasted great. I seasoned  my first batch i n garlic salt and my second in sea salt. This is one of my favorite fall  snacks!

Cheesy Enchilada Casserole

Cheesy Enchilada Casserole

(Recipe from Just Get Off Your Butt and Bake)

Source: sixsistersstuff.blogspot.com via Bernadete on Pinterest

Ingredients
1 pound lean ground beef (90% lean) 
1 large onion, chopped or season with Onion powder or minced onion 
2 1/2 cups salsa 
1 can (15 ounces) black beans or red kidney beans, rinsed and drained 
1/4 cup reduced-fat Italian salad dressing 
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium taco seasoning 
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin 
6 flour tortillas (8 inches) 
1 small can of drained corn, or about 1 1/4 cups of frozen corn (optional) 
3/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream *Note: I used 1/2 cup 
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded reduced-fat Mexican cheese blend 
1 cup shredded lettuce 
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro 

Directions
In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.
Stir in the salsa, beans, dressing, sour cream, corn (optional), taco seasoning and cumin.
Spoon a generous layer of meat mixture on bottom of 2 quart baking dish. Sprinkle with grated cheese.
Place a flour or corn tortilla on top of meat mixture. Layer with half of the meat mixture, and cheese. Repeat as many layers as you like.
The  final layer should be a healthy dose of grated cheese.
Cover with foil that has been sprayed with pam or other and bake at 400° for 25 minutes, or until hot & bubbly. 
Let stand for 5 minutes before topping with lettuce, tomato and cilantro. Yield: 8 servings.

Review:We are making this tonight for dinner, but I love how simple it is.  

Crockpot Mongolian beef

Crockpot Mongolian beef
 

Source: onceamonthmom.com via Bernadete on Pinterest

Ingredients:

• 1.5 pounds beef flank steak, cut into stir fry sized strips
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 0.5 teaspoons minced ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 0.75 cup soy sauce
• 0.75 cup water
• 0.75 cup brown sugar
• 0.25 cup cornstarch
• 0.5 cup shredded carrots
• 3 medium green onions, chopped

Directions:

Coat flank steak pieces in cornstarch. Add remainder of ingredients to crockpot and stir well to combine. Place flank steak into the crockpot and cook on high for 2-3 hours or on low for 4-5 hours. Serve over rice or noodles, if desired.

Freezing Directions:

Coat flank steak in cornstarch. Combine remaining ingredients and place in freezer bag. Add steak to bag. Label and freeze, To serve: Thaw. Cook in crockpot on high for 2-3 hours or low for 4-5 hours.

Review:
 I love that this can be frozen, it had good flavor.

Chicken and Biscuit Casserole

Chicken and Biscuit Casserole

Source: mariescookingadventures.blogspot.com via Renee @ on Pinterest

1 tube of pilsbury biscuits
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup of Sour Cream
1/2 stick of butter, melted
1 can of peas
2 cups cooked chicken, (I boil mine and then shred it)
1 cup mild cheddar cheese
3 TBS milk

What to do now:Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix soup and 1/2 cup sour cream in 8-inch square baking dish. Stir in chicken, and peas, milk, and melted butter: flatten out, and sprinkle cheese evenly on top.

place  biscuits on top of the cheese you just sprinkled. Just layer them in a single layer. If you did buy the thicker biscuits I would probably flatten them out a little, or cut them in half so they are not as thick, they will cook better.

Cook for 35 minutes or until the biscuits on top are golden brown and the amazing mixture underneath is hot and bubbly.

Crock pot Cheesy Chicken and Rice

Crock pot Cheesy Chicken and Rice

Source: southernplate.com via Bernadete on Pinterest

Ingredients

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 large onion, chopped (I use Vidalia)
• 1 -8 ounce box Zatarain's Yellow Rice Mix, cooked according to directions
• 1 cup cheddar cheese
• 1 - 10.5 ounce can cream of chicken soup (regular or fat free)
• 1 -15 ounce can whole kernel corn, drained

Instructions

1. Place chicken in bottom of slow cooker. Scatter chopped onion over top. Spoon cream soup over top of that. Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours or on high 3-4 hours. A few minutes before serving, add in cooked rice, corn, and cheese. Stir to combine. Serve hot

Review: 

 This was just OK, it was a little bland and lacked flavor.  I did like that it was simple to prepare though. 

Weekly Meal Plan-October15

This week I am preparing some  frezzer meals for a swap group I belong to. I will be making the following and preparing 3 batches (1for me and 2 for the swap members):

Source: joyful-mommas-kitchen.blogspot.ca via Bernadete on Pinterest

From the site above I will prepare goulash, and layered enchilida bake.

Source: thecountrycook.net via Bernadete on Pinterest

I will also prepare Cheesy Chicken Tater Tot Casserole as  a frezzer meal. This was hubby's idea, so you know he loved the recipe since we just had it last week!

Slimmed down loaded potatoe and buffalo chicken bake

Source: cooklisacook.blogspot.com via Bernadete on Pinterest

Source: cooklisacook.blogspot.com via Bernadete on Pinterest

Mangolian beef in the crockpot.

Source: onceamonthmom.com via Bernadete on Pinterest</

Chicken and biscuit  casserole

Source: mariescookingadventures.blogspot.com via Renee @ on Pinterest

Chicken Parm Bake

Source: life-as-a-lofthouse.blogspot.com via Renee @ on Pinterest

Chicken Divan

Chicken Divan from here

Ingredients
cooked chicken breasts (I boil 1-2 and then shred it with a fork)
bag of frozen brocolli
2 cups (+/-) shredded cheddar cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 tablespoon- 1/4 cup of mayo
curry powder to taste
cooked rice

Directions
1. Layer 13x9ish glass pan with broccoli, chicken and cheese.
2. In a bowl, mix together soups and mayo. Stir until uniform color. Add curry. Pour over broccoli/chicken/cheese.
3. Sprinkle a dash of curry for decoration.
4. Bake at 350ish for 30-45 minutes. (The longer you cook it the yummier it is.)
5. Serve over rice.

Review: This tasted great and was very filling. This was a recipe that was made as part of a meal swap and freezes well. 

Pancake bites

I saw this idea on pintrest and loved it! Their directions where to  use your favorite mix, pour into muffin tins, add fruit, nuts, sausage, bacon... bake 350 for 12-14 min.Here is my  take on this:

Source: pin2fun14.blogspot.com via Bernadete on Pinterest

Ingredients: 
5 cups of  krusteaz pancake mix
3 2/3 cups of water
(This made 24 pancake muffins). We had some for breakfast and I froze the remainder to have a quick breakfast on hand). 

Mix In's
1 ripe banana 
1/2 cup strawberries, sliced
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350

Spray muffin tins with cooking spray.

Prepare pancakes according to package directions. (My package of pancake mix simply required mix and water).

Pour 1/4 cup of batter into each segment of muffin pan.

Add your favorite mix in's we used strawberries, bananas  and mini chocolate chips. The pinner on pintrest also used blueberries, sausage and bacon. 

Review: I loved this recipe. Everyone got to eat breakfast at the same time (nobody gets stuck flipping pancakes). This is one of those things that freeze well for those CRAZY weekday mornings. The kids also enjoyed this one because it  was kid friendly and they got to help!

Chile Colorado Burritos

Chile Colorado Burritos

Source: food-pusher.blogspot.com via Kelly on Pinterest

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 to 2 pounds stew meat or other beef cubed (top sirloin is great)
• 1 large can mild enchilada sauce* (at least 19 oz.)
• 2 beef bouillon cubes
• 1/2 can refried beans (optional)
• 5-7 burrito size flour tortillas
• 1 cup or so of shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Put beef, bouillon, and enchilada sauce into a crock pot and cook on low for 7-8 hours**, or until meat is very tender.

When beef is done (very tender and flakes off when stirred), taste and add more salt, if desired.

Heat up refried beans in the microwave.

Put your oven on broil. On an oven-proof plate, or cookie sheet even, lay out a tortilla. Place on tortilla about 1/2 cup of the meat, drained by using a slotted spoon, and a spoonful or two of beans. Roll into a burrito 

Pour some of the remaining enchilada sauce from the crock pot over the burrito to cover it. Sprinkle with some cheddar cheese. Broil until cheese is bubbly, about 2-4 minutes.


Serve.
Makes 5-7 burritos, depending on how full you make them.

Review:This is cooking now in the crockpot. We are excited to try this one tonight for dinner. 

Easy French dip

Source: askchefs.net via Bernadete on Pinterest

Ingredients
1 (10.5 ounce) can beef consomme
1 cup water
1 pound thinly sliced deli roast beef
8 slices provolone cheese
4 hoagie rolls, split lengthwise

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Open the hoagie rolls and lay out on a baking sheet.
Heat beef consomme and water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat to make a rich beef broth. Place the roast beef in the broth and warm for 3 minutes. Arrange the meat on the hoagie rolls and top each roll with 2 slices of provolone.
Bake the sandwiches in the preheated oven for 5 minutes, or until the cheese just begins to melt. Serve the sandwiches with small bowls of the warm broth for dipping.

Review: This tasted good. We loved the sauce for dipping.    I loved that it was simple to prepare!

Parmesan Chicken Bake

Parmesan Chicken Bake(adapted from Food.com)



Ingredietns:
6 chicken breasts
1 C light mayonaise or greek yogurt (I used Mayo)
1/2 c fresh parmesan cheese, plus more for the top
1 1/2 tsp seasoning salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray the inside of a 9x13 glass pan. Lay the chicken inside the pan.
2. Mix together the remaining ingredients and spread evenly over each piece of chicken, being sure to cover all the exposed raw meat (so it doesn't dry out.) Sprinkle on a bit more fresh parmesan over all the chicken.
3. Bake for 45 minutes. This dish is even better the next day, so just reheat in the microwave!

Review:
The kids liked the recipe. It was simple to put together and only took 10 minutes to prepare. Hubby said I could make it again!!