Italian Pot Roast, May 6, 2018

Yesterday, I wanted to make my wonderful wife something homey and delicious before she had to travel this week. As much fun as eating in restaurants can be, with the right company, it's not her favorite thing to do when traveling for work. She often just goes to whatever restaurant is closest to the hotel. So, cozy food it is, for the Sunday of a travel week! I also wanted to have the afternoon free to do something with the family, instead of being tied to home with something in the oven. So, I spent a little time in the morning getting an Italian-accented roast in the slow cooker and a chocolate cake in the icebox.

That cake was a bit of a disaster. I was using a modern recipe, from a modern magazine like Real Simple, so it never occurred to me that there would be eggs in a no-bake recipe. If I hadn't been feeding it to my toddler, I wouldn't have worried so much about it, but given a two-year-old salmonella poisoning isn't on my bucket list. So, I had a dilemma. Toss it all out (because, of course, I mixed everything up before reading the recipe) or bake it like I do my key lime pie? I decided that I might as well bake it, since it might turn out okay. If it turned out badly, well, I was just going to toss it, anyway. I burned the tips of the ladyfingers a bit, but not much. Most of them collapsed into the filling, though, and the filling was flat as could be, so it looked a fright. I chilled it, though, and gave it a try. Wee Boy wasn't interested in dessert at all (could be the ice cream I put in his before dinner "milk cocktail") and the wife took one bite and pushed it away. I thought it was a hot mess, but a pretty tasty one, so I saved the rest of it. If you want the original recipe, you can find it here. In the future, I will be using the tips on this page to help me stay safe while using raw eggs in uncooked desserts.

While the cake was a bit of a flop, the roast was a roaring success! I couldn't believe how much Wee Boy devoured. I served it with egg noodles and lush, silky asparagus from the farmers market.

Italian Pot Roast

2 1/2-3 lb chuck roast (We happened to have a London broil in the freezer, so that's what I used)

Salt & pepper

14 oz. diced tomatoes, with juice

1 white onion, sliced into thin half moons

8 oz. cremini mushrooms (or whatever sort you like), halved

4 cloves garlic, crushed

A couple teaspoons Italian seasoning

1 tsp. basil

1 tsp. oregano

A pinch of fennel seeds

A sprinkling of garlic powder

A couple teaspoons cornstarch, dissolved in cold water

Sprinkle both sides of the roast with salt and pepper. Place in slow cooker. Top with everything but the cornstarch. Cook on low 8 hours. Remove roast and mushrooms to a platter and tent with foil. Place remaining juices in a pan and heat, with cornstarch, until thickened. Next time I make this, I'm going to tip some wine into the sauce, too. Serve with roast. Serves 4-6. 

Ropa Vieja, March 22, 2017

Yesterday morning, I started a batch of ropa vieja, one of my favorite Cuban dishes, going in the crockpot. The name literally translates to "old clothes" in English. The messy, stringy appearance the beef gets makes it look, they say, like a pile of old clothes. The smell of it perfumed the air all afternoon, making my stomach growl. When it was nearly ready, I fixed a batch of lime rice, heated some Goya black bean soup, and had supper all done. The finished product tasted really good to my wife. To me, it needed something. It was good, just not as good as in Miami, a bit insipid. I think next time, I'll toss in some tomato paste and red wine, to give it a fuller-bodied flavor.

Slow Cooker Ropa Vieja

1/2 c. chicken broth (I will use beef broth next time)

1/4 c. red wine vinegar

1/2 lg. onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 green pepper, chopped

1 bay leaf

15 oz. can diced tomatoes

1/2 tbsp. cumin

Salt & pepper

1 1/2 lb. flank steak

Lime wedges

Mix broth, vinegar, onion, garlic, green pepper, bay leaf, and tomatoes together in your slow cooker. Combine the cumin, salt, & pepper. Rub all over the meat. Submerge in sauce. Cook 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high. Remove from pot and let rest about 10 minutes on a cutting board. Shred and mix back into the sauce. Serve with lime wedges. Serves 4-6.

Lime Rice

2 tsp. olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 lg. onion, chopped

1 c. rice (I like jasmine)

2 c. chicken broth

1/2 tsp. salt

Juice of 2 limes

Cook onion and garlic in oil until onion is translucent. Add rice. Stir and cook a couple minutes. Add broth, salt, and lime juice. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low heat 15-20 minutes. Fluff with fork. Serves 4-6. 

Hobo Stew, October 22, 2016

This afternoon, before we left for Jeannene to get a haircut and to spend our Kohl's cash and pick up a few things at Target, I threw together a slow cooker full of stew for our supper. Paired with some flax bread and pineapple chunks, it made for a very simple and satisfying meal.

Hobo Stew

1 lb. ground beef, browned (can sub turkey, bison, veggie crumbles; I use 93% lean beef)

1/2 onion, diced

3 stalks celery, diced

A couple big handfuls of baby carrots (or about 2 c. diced regular), sliced

3 potatoes, diced

1 can cream of mushroom soup (I use the Healthy Request version)

1 can tomato soup (see above)

2/3 c. hot water

Salt & pepper

Coat a slow cooker with cooking spray. Mix everything together in it. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours. Serves 6. 

Brisket, April 25, 2016

Since the kids are moving away at the end of the week, I expect most of our dinners will be with them---and y'all should have seen Pie devour the fruit kugel I made last night! We weren't sure the kids, who both tend to like very basic food, would like last night's dinner, which was brisket, fruit kugel, tzimmes, and a romaine salad. Jeannene was very careful, when asked what those dark things in with the carrots were, to avoid the word "prune," but she wasn't being quite accurate when she told Bubbles they were a kind of date. I supplied, "Plums! They're a kind of plum!" I didn't notice whether or not she ate them. She said her favorite thing was the meat, but Pie said he really liked "the sweet noodles," and proceeded to go back for two more giant helpings. It wasn't the best kugel I've ever had, but I liked it pretty well, myself. I am not a big fan of sweet cooked carrots, but this version was better than any other I've had. They were a bit too tart for Jeannene and Pie, who are the big sweet carrot people of the family. I like my regular brisket recipe better, but this was also quite good and had the added bonus of not requiring my presence in the house during the long cook time.

Slow Cooker Brisket

1 onion, sliced

3 cloves garlic, smashed

3-4 lb. brisket, excess fat trimmed

Salt & pepper

32 oz. beef broth

Place onions and garlic in slow cooker. Season brisket with salt and pepper. Place atop onions, fat-side up. Add broth. Cover and cook on high 6-7 hours, until tender. Serves 4-6.

Fruit Kugel

8 oz. egg noodles, cooked and drained

2 tbsp. butter, melted (this can be omitted)

2 eggs, beaten

A small handful of raisins (I like golden raisins for this dish)

7 oz. cinnamon applesauce (cinnamon optional, but delicious)

7 oz. crushed pineapple

1 jar apricot preserves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toss noodles with butter. Mix eggs with fruit. Stir gently into noodles. Turn noodles into a greased 8x8 baking dish. Spread the preserves over the top (it helps to microwave them for about 30 seconds before spreading). Bake about 45 minutes. Serves 4-6

Carrot Tzimmes

1 1/2 c. tangerine juice (or use o.j., if you like---I had tangerine on hand)

1 lb. sliced carrots

1/2 c. prunes

3 tbsp. honey

Heat juice on medium heat and add carrots. Cover and cook 1/2 hour. Add prunes and cook, covered,  another half hour. Stir in honey just before serving. Serves 4-6. 

Chicken & Noodles, January 12, 2016

After having wonderful aromas permeating the house all day Monday, I got to have a repeat of the experience yesterday. I had signed up to take some food to friends who were recovering from surgery, in one case, and spending time with a new baby, in the other. So, I just made enough for us to have some of what I was delivering. It was a perfect night for chicken & noodles, all snowy and blowy and generally requiring comfort food. With our chicken and noodles, we had a green salad and peach slices.

Chicken & Noodles

1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cubed

Salt & pepper

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 lb egg noodles, cooked al dente

Put chicken in greased crockpot. Salt & pepper it. Top with soup, cover, & cook on low 6 hours or high 3 hours. Stir to break up any chicken pieces that have stuck together. Gently stir in noodles. If noodles are not freshly cooked & hot when added, cook another 1/2 hour on low to heat through. Serves 6. 

Pot Roast, December 15, 2015

My house smelled completely heavenly all day yesterday, thanks to the pot roast in my slow cooker. This rendition takes minimal prep and, when paired with store-bought mashed potatoes & steam-in-the-bag corn, makes a very simple dinner. Plus, it makes its own gravy!

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

3 lb. boneless chuck roast

Garlic salt & pepper

1 onion, sliced

2 or 3 bay leaves

3 crumbled beef bouillon cubes

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 can cream of mushroom soup (I use low fat, low sodium)

1/2 c. dry white wine

Rub roast with garlic salt & pepper. Brown on all sides in a skillet that's been coated with cooking spray. Place in slow cooker and scatter onions over top. Top with the other ingredients. Cover with just enough water to cover everything. Cook 8 hours on low. Serves 6. 

Beef Tips & Noodles, October 23, 2015

Since we intended to run around Friday night picking out nursery furniture, I popped dinner in the crockpot in the morning and we were able to eat quickly and hit the store. It was delicious & homey, a great fall meal. I made the beef tips in the crockpot, then cooked egg noodles at the last minute. I also made applesauce from scratch and baked an acorn squash.

Beef Tips

1 lb. beef tips

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 packet of crockpot pot roast mix

3/4 c. 7-Up

1/2 green pepper, chopped

Mix everything together in a crockpot that's been coated with cooking spray. I know the 7-Up sounds really weird, but it works. However, if you like, use beef broth, instead. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours. 

Pulled Pork, September 6, 2015

On a busy Sunday, it's nice to be able just to stick something in the crockpot and be assured you'll have a yummy dinner that night. This is especially true if you have people coming to dinner, as we do nearly every Sunday. Sunday dinner ended up being cancelled on the 6th, but dinner sure wasn't. We had leftover mashed potatoes and corn with this, so it practically a no-effort meal. I was too tired to take the extra step of making the cooking juices into serving sauce and waiting 20 minutes, so I just opened a bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce to serve with our pulled pork. However, I am including instructions, should you wish to make your own. By the way, this is also great the next day for lunch on hamburger buns. You could also toss it on nachos.

Crockpot Pulled Pork

3 lb. boneless pork shoulder roast

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 can tomato soup (I use Healthy Request)

2-3 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

2 tbsp. brown sugar

1 tsp. dry mustard

1 pinch salt

2 tbsp. flour (if making sauce)

1/4 c. water (if making sauce)

Place pork in crockpot and toss in the onions and garlic. Mix everything but the flour & water and pour over the roast. Cook on low 6-8 hours. Remove from crockpot and tent with foil. Mix the flour and water. Whisk the mixture into the cooking juices. Cook on low 20 minutes. Shred pork, once it's cooled a bit, using either 2 forks or your hands. Serve with sauce. Serves 6-8. 

BBQ Chicken, July 8, 2015

Yesterday was a perfect cozy dinner day, a good day to have the crockpot filling the house with good smells. I made bbq chicken breasts in the crockpot, then added some oven fries and broccoli to round out the meal. I am still not used to making broccoli without a steamer, so I ended up overcooking it. I guess that's better than undercooking it, as I am willing (if not thrilled about) to eat it mushy, while my darling wife will not eat it too crisp. The fries were perfect. I made them by cutting some potatoes into thin wedges, with the skin on, then tossing them with a smidge of olive oil and some seasoning mix I keep on hand that has salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Then, I put them on a baking sheet in a 450 degree oven for about 40 minutes. The chicken was beautifully tender, but I was not a fan of the sauce, as it turned out to taste too boozy for me. That said, I would very cheerfully give it another try, with half the Jack Daniels. Jeannene really liked it.

Slow BBQ Chicken

3-4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (skin-on, bone-in is fine, too)

1/2 onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed

15 oz. tomato sauce

1/4 c. apple cider vinegar

1/4 c. dark brown sugar

2 tbsp. Jack Daniels (or similar)

1 tbsp. worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tbsp. hot sauce (or more, to taste)

Place the chicken in a slow cooker. Mix everything else well and pour over chicken. Cook on low 8 hours or high 4 hours. Serves 3-4.

Valentine-Making Party, February 7, 2015

I love to have a Valentine-making party each year! I also love potlucks, because I get to eat things I normally wouldn't think to make. So, Saturday night, I combined the two. I decided to make red beans and rice, given the Valentine's Day theme and the color red. I'd considered making apple and brie toasts and lavender truffles, but, given the cold, something a bit less frouffy seemed in order. What, I wondered, would go great with red beans and rice? How about some Mexican Espresso Brownies? Perfect! I decided to play around and see what I could come up with. I used a box of Duncan Hines chewy fudge brownies and mixed them up according to the package directions, using melted butter instead of oil because I'd run myself out of oil on the fried chicken and forgot until the last minute. I like my brownies chewy much more than cakey, so I used just one egg, instead of two. Into the mix, I put 2 tsp. cinnamon, 2 tsp. chile, a big pinch of cayenne, and about a tablespoon of instant espresso powder. They were stellar, as were the red beans.

Red Beans & Rice

1 lb. dried red beans

4 c. water (plus more for soaking)

1 onion, chopped

1 can diced tomatoes

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

2 tsp. salt

1/4 lb. diced ham (you can sub bacon or salt pork or omit altogether for a vegan dish)

2 tsp. cumin

Cooked rice

Soak beans in cold water to cover by at least 4 inches for at least 8 hours. Drain and mix with rest of ingredients, except rice, in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 6-8 hours. Serves 6. 

My sweet wife's contribution was yummy little shredded beef sliders with honey chipotle sauce. Ken & Meghan brought brownies, too, but theirs were topped with York mini patties before baking (in a heart-shaped pan!) & then they were sprinkled with Valentine sprinkles. Meghan's always got adorable desserts! They also brought delicious honey garlic meatballs. Brenda & Kenny brought an Italian sub they sliced up into teeny individual subs, along with some chicken salad (oh, yum!) and palmiers for dessert. Frank & Connie brought all the makings for Bananas Foster and we had quite a show, what with the flames and the cinnamon sparkles! 

La Luna Cooks Gooseberry Patch: Chai Tea

Sometimes, I do remember to put the crockpot on in plenty of time. When my sweetie arrived home from work last Friday, I was able to offer her one of her favorite Starbucks orders, chai tea. [Just an aside---is it my imagination or have they recently changed the recipe for their chai tea, making it much spicier? I don't like it nearly as much these days] It's a perfect relaxer for a chilly fall evening at the end of a hard work week and I imagine I'll be making a lot of this over the winter.

The recipe is very, very simple, relying solely on plain old black tea (I only had family-sized Luzianne iced tea bags and whole spices, with milk at the end. Oh, and sugar. I used a little less than the scant end of the suggested spectrum and would happily go with even less. I think it can be drunk quite cheerfully with no milk, as well. When we'd each had 2 of our Good Luck Cat mugs-ful of the tea, Jeannene went looking for more and was terribly disappointed that I'd only made half the recipe. Now, I know better. I would like to get some whole cardamom pods to add to this next time, as suggested in the recipe, and perhaps some star anise, which was not suggested, but which would look and taste scrumptious!

La Luna Cooks Gooseberry Patch: Hot Spicy Cider for a Crowd

I don't know about you, but I am forever forgetting to start crockpot dishes on time. Sometimes, it means dinner is something else entirely (pizza, anyone?). Sometimes, it simply doesn't matter. The case of this cider is the latter. It has just begun to be really blustery and chilly in Michigan. My mom and I had been out at the art museum all afternoon. My sweetie has a cold, with a very sore throat. I wanted to make her something warm, cozy, and soothing on the throat. Had I been thinking before we ran off to ogle the Diego Rivera murals and fabulous African masks, I would have set a pot going when we left so my honey would have something delicious to sip, all along.

However, when we got home and I remembered that I'd intended to make the cider, my mom agreed that we should go ahead and make it to go with dinner, anyway. This is all to say that if you are making a crockpot cider recipe and run out of time, you should feel free to pop it on top of the stove, instead. This particular recipe calls for ground cloves and allspice, plus cinnamon sticks. I worried that the cinnamon sticks would not have imparted their flavor to the drink by the time it was hot, but it was plenty redolent of cinnamon.

My mom referred to this drink as "cider punch" which is an apt description. It calls for sugar and orange juice, in addition to the spices. I used half the sugar and still felt it could be reduced. Frankly, I don't think it needs any sugar added at all. The cider and juice have plenty of sugar theirownselves. So, next time, I will skip the sugar. Furthermore, I need to remember that I dislike loose ground spices in my drinks. Even making this stovetop, I believe I'd rather use whole allspice and cloves next time. Better yet, I will stick a Post-It note on the door reminding myself to throw everything in the crockpot before I go gallivanting!

P.S. "For a Crowd" is a little misleading. Perhaps the recipe creator is thinking of wee punch cups, rather than the hearty mugs we use around our house, but just 2 of us (my wife bowed out, despite the soothing qualities, when she got a whiff of the strong dose of cloves) drank about a quarter of the recipe with one serving each. I made a half-gallon, which is half the recipe, and poured the leftovers back into the jug, leaving it half-full of spicy cider. So, if you use bigger mugs like we do, count on the whole recipe serving about 8 people, rather than the 16 the recipe claims to serve. Perhaps we are simply cider gluttons, though!

Crockpot Roast

When it's vile outside & all you want to do is hibernate (something we saw entirely too much of this winter), this roast, my adaptation of a recipe from Paula Deen, is perfect. It makes the house smell cozy and, boy, is it good! Easy, too. I serve it with mashed potatoes and corn. It would be great for busy clergy types to throw on before worship on a Sunday that includes a congregational meeting, serving at a soup kitchen, and youth group. Even when you work all day Sunday, you can have a proper Sunday dinner.

Crockpot Roast

3 lb. boneless chuck roast

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 c. oil

1 thinly-sliced onion

3 bay leaves

3-4 beef bouillon cubes, crushed

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1/2 c. chardonnay

1/2 c. water

Rub roast with seasonings. Heat oil in a large skillet and brown all sides of the roast. Place the roast in your crockpot. Put onions, bay leaves, crushed bouillon, garlic, and condensed soup on top. Mix wine and water and pour over roast. Cook 8 hours on low. Serves 6. 

Breakfast in Bed Day!

My mom and I found or created a holiday for every day of the year back when I was a teenager. Some of the holidays have changed, but, since the 1980s, January 2nd has been Breakfast in Bed Day for us. This year, I finally tried the crockpot oatmeal recipe I've been hanging onto for the last few years. I never was a big oatmeal fan, reserving my hot cereal love for cream of wheat (which, incidentally, is magnificent with a little apple butter and a handful of walnuts). However, this overnight sensation could make an oatmeal lover out of anyone! It's the perfect consistency and tastes wonderful. It's perfect for breakfast in bed, too, because all you have to do is scoop some up and climb back into bed. I recommend adding some of your favorite nuts and a little cinnamon.

Slow Cooker Oatmeal

Coat your crockpot with cooking spray. Add 2 c. regular oatmeal (or steel-cut oats. Just no instant or quick cook oats.), 1 c. fruit (I used dried cherries & raisins. You can use whatever you like. Apples or peaches would be good.), 4 c. water, and a pinch of salt. Cook on low 8-10 hours. Serves 6-8.

Mango Madness

Friday night, we had an impromptu (okay, planned a week in advance, which counts as impromptu in my world) game night & potluck supper. It was a small crowd, but some delicious food and much hilarity during several rounds of Scattergories. Since I have a tendency to be rushing about like a crazy person minutes before guests arrive, trying to get food finished, so that I answer the door all sweaty and flushed and breathless, I decided it would be wise to do something in the slow cooker. Riffing on a Gooseberry Patch recipe, I popped a pork roast in the pot, poured a jar of Newman’s Own Medium salsa and a 4 oz. can of chopped green chiles over the top, and let it cook for 8 hours on low. Shredded, it made lovely little soft tacos. I thought we had sour cream, but we didn’t, so one of the guests offered a quick improvisation, handing me the goat cheese that went on his spinach & strawberry salad. It turned out to be a great accompaniment. We did have scads of tomatoes, but everyone wanted their tacos pretty plain.

Since I wasn’t sure if everyone would be up for spicy, and since Boot was in town, I made my chicken pot pie, too. It was always his favorite as a kid, his chosen dinner for more than one birthday, so I wanted to make it while he was back from college. I learned it from my friend, Teresa, who lives near Nashville. It’s incredibly simple:

Teresa’s Chicken Pot Pie

1 double-crusted pie shell (I never make my own)

1 can cream of chicken soup (reduced fat is perfectly fine)

1 can cream of mushroom soup (as above)

1 can Veg-All, well-drained (I expect you can use another brand of mixed veggies, but I never have)

About a pound of cooked chicken, cut in bite-size pieces (I am often lazy and just get a couple packages of the pre-cooked kind)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the bottom crust in a 9” pie plate. Mix the soups, veggies, and chicken together. Put in pie shell. Top with the other crust, seal, vent, and crimp. Bake until golden brown on top, about 45 minutes. Serves 6-8.

I also made my favorite Tuscan kale salad and picked up a cherry pie from the grocery. I think the biggest hit of the party, though, was Steve and Jeff’s Mango Madness cocktail. They first discovered it on a trip to Aruba and have tinkered with possibilities until they’ve come up with a swoony concoction of Daily’s Mango Mix, Captain Morgan Mango Rum, and Bacardi Coconut Rum, all blended with ice. Mmm!