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. 

Bacon & Bleu Meatloaf, April 3, 2018

When winter is encroaching on spring, as it frequently does here in Colorado, a good comfort dinner is perfect. The weather's been all over the place and I'm not averse to having a great leftover meatloaf sandwich when the outside temperature is in the 70s, either, but this dinner was perfect for the snowish weather. I made a different kind of meatloaf than usual, adding blue cheese where I seldom use cheese at all and adding bacon both crumbled within and laid across the top. It was delicious! My wife doesn't like blue cheese and didn't detect it at all, while I felt like it added to the overall flavor fulness, without being aggressive. I made mashed potatoes, corn, and veggies with Caesar dip to go along with the meatloaf.

Bacon & Bleu Meatloaf

5 or so strips bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled (save grease)

1/2 small onion, chopped

2 lb. ground beef

2 eggs

1/2 c. mayonnaise

1/2 c. dry breadcrumbs

1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

4 oz. blue cheese crumbles

3 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

4 or 5 more slices bacon, uncooked

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook onion in bacon fat (it's fine to sub olive oil, though) until translucent and softened. Mix together everything but the uncooked bacon. Pat into a loaf, either in a regular loaf pan or in a 13x9 baking pan. Top with uncooked bacon strips. Bake about an hour and 15 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes or so before slicing to serve. Serves 6. 

Caesar Veggie Dip

1/2 c. mayonnaise

1/4 c. sour cream

1/4 c. shredded parmesan cheese

Juice of 1/2 lemon

3 cloves garlic, minced

Pea-sized dollop anchovy paste

Salt and pepper, to taste

Fresh veggies for dipping (we had baby carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and sugar snap peas)

Mix everything but veggies together. Serve with veggies. Makes enough for 4. 

Shepherd's Pie, Of Sorts, May 4, 2017

In one of those old church cookbooks---you know, the ones where the recipes are never tested---I found a recipe for shepherd's pie that included ingredients (which I updated a bit, believe it or not) and what to do with them up to the baking point (largely, opening cans). Then, nada. Well, it was pretty easy to decide what to do after that, so I jumped in, thinking it sounded homey. It was pretty good, to me. To my wife, it was fabulous! She said it reminded her of the hamburger gravy they used to serve at her school. We had just been talking about school lunches the other day and she had told me how very much she loved hamburger gravy day. So, I was very happy I made it. Thanks, Punxsutawney UCC folks! I'd planned to serve this with salad and fruit, but I got lazy.

Shepherd's Pie, Of Sorts

1 lb. ground beef, browned (I use the 96% lean)

Salt & pepper

1 can cream of mushroom soup (low-fat & low sodium)

1 can green beans, drained well

1 package Bob Evans prepared mashed potatoes (or whatever brand you like)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place ground beef in a 2-qt. casserole dish. Top with green beans and mushroom soup. Spread mashed potatoes evenly over the top. Bake 30-40 minutes. Serves 4-6. 

Curried Turkey Pot Pie, May 2, 2017

Tonight's dinner was perfect for a cool, rainy evening. Wee boy gobbled everything up with gusto and I quite enjoyed it, as well. I did a simple curried turkey "pot pie" (in a casserole dish, with a Bisquick topping as the "crust"), with roasted cauliflower, as well as mashed potatoes inspired by a Madhur Jaffrey recipe for North Indian style mashed potatoes. The last was sent to me by my mom and I've been meaning to try it, as well as feeling skeptical about it, for ages. The dish sounded pretty odd to me, but ended up being quite tasty and definitely different. My baby, who usually is not a big fan of mashed potatoes, couldn't get enough of them. I just made regular mashed potatoes and added sprinkles of cayenne (not terribly much), cumin (more), chopped parsley (plenty), and lime juice (just a splash). As for the cauliflower, just toss florets with some olive oil, salt, and pepper before roasting 20-25 minutes in a preheated 425 degree oven.

Curried Turkey Pot Pie

1 c. chicken broth (I always use reduced sodium)

2 tbsp. flour

2 tsp. curry powder

1/4 tsp. cumin

1 large can Veg-All Homestyle or other large-cut veggies, well-drained

About half a pound of turkey, cubed (I just get the deli to slice me a nice, thick slab)

Salt & pepper

1 c. Bisquick

1/2 c. milk

1 egg, beaten

A handful of chopped parsley

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk broth and flour until smooth. Heat the spices, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat and whisk in broth. Cook, stirring, until bubbling and thickened, 5-7 minutes. Add veggies, turkey, salt, and pepper. Mix well and turn into a casserole that has been coated with cooking spray. Mix the other ingredients. Spread evenly over the top of the casserole. Bake 1/2 hour. Let stand at least 5 minutes before serving. Serves 6.

Curried Pumpkin Soup, November 18, 2016

I sent Jeannene, who was in Vancouver for work all week, a text giving her 3 options for tonight's dinner. She very promptly responded that she wanted curried pumpkin soup---"Yum!" We picked her up at the airport at nearly 7 and came home to throw together supper. Along with this quick, easy, very delicious soup, I heated some brown & serve rolls and opened a jar of chunky applesauce.

Curried Pumpkin Soup

1 c. chopped onion

2 tsp. olive oil

2 1/2 tsp. curry powder

Salt and pepper

32 oz. chicken broth

15 oz. pumpkin purée (I actually used an extra half can I had left over from pancakes, too)

2 potatoes, peeled and cubed

Chopped parsley, for garnish

Sauté the onion in the oil, in a soup pot, until translucent. Add seasonings, stirring until the onions are coated. Add broth, pumpkin, and potatoes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook, partially covered, another 10 minutes. Serve garnished with parsley. 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. 

Roasted Cauliflower Soup, October 4, 2016

Last night, we had a delicious roasted cauliflower soup. I'd intended to serve t with rolls, salad, & some kind of fruit. However, Jeannene had picked up some asparagus and some pre-diced butternut squash she hoped I might make. I was delighted to sub those for the salad. I tossed the squash with olive oil, salt, & pepper, then roasted it for half an hour in a preheated 400 degree oven. I broke the asparagus into smaller pieces and cooked it, with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt & pepper, on high, covered and stirring often, for a couple minutes. Then, I added a dash of key lime juice because I am out of lemons. I added some bolillo rolls from the grocery's bakery and canned pears.

Roasted Cauliflower Soup

1 head cauliflower, cut into florets

A drizzle of olive oil

Salt & pepper

1/4 c. diced onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 c. chicken broth (sub veggie broth for vegetarian)

1 1/2 c. half & half (I used fat-free)

1/2 c. milk (I used 1%)

A pinch of tarragon (use fresh, if you can get it & the bagger doesn't forget to put it in your sack)

Shredded cheddar (I used 2%)

Sour cream (I used light)

Chopped scallions

Crumbled bacon or veggie bits 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss cauliflower with oil, salt, & pepper. Roast, on a baking sheet lined with foil, half an hour. Cook onion until translucent in a soup pot that's been coated with cooking spray (or use a bit of butter or olive oil). Add garlic & cook until fragrant. Reserve a small handful of roasted cauliflower. Add the rest to the pot, along with half the broth and 1/2 c. half and half. Cook 5 minutes, then blend until mostly smooth. I love my immersion blender for this, but if you haven't got one, you can do this (carefully) in a regular blender in two batches. Add the rest of the liquids and heat through. If you have the time & inclination, you can simmer it another half hour. If you're impatient like me, you don't have to do that. Chop the reserved cauliflower and dump into the pot, along with tarragon. Cook another 5 or so minutes. Serve with the cheese, sour cream, scallions, & bacon. Serves 4-6.

Corn Chowder, September 10, 2016

It's not exactly soup weather in Colorado yet, but with my wife recovering from surgery, it seemed like a good, nurturing thing to have for supper. I made a pot of corn chowder, with some rolls from the grocery's bakery and raspberry-flavored peaches Pie and Bubbles left behind when they moved out of our house. I'd always avoided the flavored peaches at the store, but they weren't bad. The corn chowder wasn't the best corn chowder I've made, but it was pretty good.

Corn Chowder 

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 large stalk celery, finely diced

1/4 green pepper, finely diced

32 oz. chicken broth (I used fat-free, lower sodium)

2 c. milk (I used 1%)

1 bay leaf

1 can corn (do not drain)

Chopped scallions & crisp bacon crumbles (veggie bacon strips work nicely) to garnish

Sauté the vegetables in the oil until softened. Add broth, milk, bay leaf, & corn. Simmer about half an hour. Garnish with scallions & bacon. Serves 6-8.

Roasted Chicken, May 25, 2016

When I roast a chicken, I usually keep it very, very simple. A little butter or olive oil rubbed on the surface, along with salt & pepper. Then, a squeeze of lemon over the top, with the spent remains stuffed inside the chicken. Rosemary sprigs tucked under the skin & placed inside.

Last night, I tried Ina Garten's directions, from her Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, figuring hers would be infinitely better than my usual chicken. I skipped the gravy, as I was already overdoing it with an incredibly rich cheese sauce for our broccoli. Perhaps it would have been better with the gravy. I love garlic, but the entire head of garlic called for would have been better used, in my opinion, as a stand-alone treat, to be spread on sturdy sourdough. Furthermore, the thyme flavor permeating the chicken was entirely too strong for me. However, my wife liked it and, if you love thyme, you might also like it. You can find the recipe here, although the version in the cookbook doesn't call for any carrots or fennel and it does include directions for gravy. Personally, I would definitely do the carrots and fennel. I usually do carrots, potatoes, & onion with my own recipe. The onions with the chicken I made last night were completely delicious!

Since the recipe didn't call for any veggies besides onions, I baked a couple of potatoes to serve, along with making a bunch of steamed broccoli and this decadent cheese sauce that would be great for a traditional orange mac & cheese, too:

Cheese Sauce

1/2 stick butter, melted (this could probably be less or you could use a little olive oil)

1/4 c. flour (2 tbsp, if you use less butter)

2 c. milk, heated (2% works just fine---I expect skim would, as well)

16 oz. jar Cheez Whiz type sauce

2 c. shredded cheddar (2% melts fine, but I wouldn't go with fat-free)

A grinding of pepper

Blend the butter and flour until it makes a smooth paste. Mix in the milk with a whisk until everything is smooth. When hot through, add Cheez Whiz, whisking to incorporate. Next, add the cheddar, stirring to melt. Add pepper. When everything's all melty and hot, use on broccoli or what-have-you. Makes 8 cups.

Chicken Broccoli Casserole, April 9, 2016

Saturday, I'd planned to make chicken & broccoli casserole with baked sweet potatoes and Old Bay slaw. However, we got home so late from swimming and the grocery that I decided just to do the casserole with boxed almond pilaf (I like Near East brand best) and a green salad. The casserole was completely delicious, the sort of thing people used to bring to carry-in dinners at church.

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

24 oz. frozen broccoli, chopped sort, cooked & well-drained

3 large skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cooked and chopped

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 c. mayonnaise

3 tbsp. milk

Juice of 1 lemon

Generous 1/2 tsp. curry powder

Salt & pepper

2 c. shredded extra-sharp cheddar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat 13x9 baking pan with cooking spray. Arrange the broccoli in a layer in the pan. Mix soup, mayo, milk, lemon juice, curry, salt, & pepper. Pour a little over the broccoli. Top with a layer of chicken. Cover with remaining sauce. Finish with a layer of cheese. Bake 1/2 hour. Serves 8-10.

An Irish Feast, March 17, 2016

When I was growing up, my mom and I always made potato soup for St. Patrick's Day. Now, I have shifted to a tradition of making lamb stew, colcannon, and soda bread for the holiday. I've been making the same stew (based on Darina Allen's Ballymaloe School recipe) and bread for years now, but am still tinkering with the colcannon. I'm not much of a baker but the soda bread gets better every time I make it. It makes a great breakfast on the 18th, too!

For me, the best use for Guinness is in cooking and my stew is the perfect place for it. I usually buy a six-pack of it, use one bottle, and give the rest to my 23-year-old the next time he comes to visit. This year, I cheated on the colcannon. I boiled thinly-sliced cabbage until it changed color, then drained it. While it was cooking, I crisped some diced pepper bacon in another pot. After the cabbage was well-drained, I stirred it into the bacon & cooked it further. Finally, I stirred in leftover cheesy mashed potatoes with a little milk. It was yummy, even though I forgot the scallions I usually add.

Lamb Stew

2 lb. lamb shoulder chops

Salt & pepper

2 tbsp. oil

3/4 c. Guinness stout

1 lb. potatoes, diced (I used Yukon Golds this year, to good effect)

1 lb. baby carrots

1 bag frozen pearl onions, thawed

32 oz. beef broth

A couple tablespoons butter roux

Season the lamb with salt & pepper. Sear on both sides in hot oil, in a soup pot. Remove from pan. Add Guinness and deglaze pan. Return lamb to pot, along with veggies. Cover with broth and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer a couple of hours (until lamb falls off bones). Remove bones from stew. Add roux and cook another 10 minutes to thicken. Serves 4. 

Irish Soda Bread

3 c. flour

1/4 c. sugar

1 tbsp. baking powder

 1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

4 tbsp. butter, cut into pieces

1 tbsp. caraway seeds

1 c. raisins or currants

1 c. buttermilk (or 1 c. regular milk mixed with 1 tbsp. lemon juice, if you've forgotten to pick up buttermilk)

1 egg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix the dry ingredients together. Add the butter and cut in with a pastry blender until it disappears into the flour. If you don't have a pastry blender, you can mix it in with your fingertips. Add caraway seeds & raisins/currants. Whisk the milk & egg together well. Add to dough and mix lightly, using your hands, until it comes together. Place on a floured surface and fold it over on itself several times, shaping it into a round loaf as you work. Place on a foil-covered baking sheet and cut a cross in the top. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees. Cook another 15 minutes or so. Serves 6-8. 

This year, I also added some lime jello with mandarin oranges mixed in, to honor both the Catholic and Protestant folks of Ireland. My great-great-grandmother, Maggie, was a Scots-Irish Protestant who came to America in the 19th century. My granddad always wore orange on St. Patrick's Day and I wear orange and green. So, it was fun to have an orange and green dessert, too. Plus, I love any excuse to eat jello. Reminds me of my grandmom. 

Zuppa Toscana, February 24, 2016

We went from no snow at all this morning to probably 6 inches this afternoon. On such a snowy day, it's lovely to have hot soup for dinner. Luckily, I had a copycat of Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana slated for tonight. I served it along with some Texas garlic toast and clementines. Very simple, very satisfying. You can make this healthier by subbing veggie crumbles for the sausage and skim milk for the cream. To make it vegetarian, just use all veggie broth with veggie crumbles replacing the sausage.

Zuppa Toscana

1 lb. hot sausage

1 lb. regular sausage

56 oz. chicken broth 

14 oz. beef broth

16 oz. whipping cream

6 or 7 potatoes, sliced

1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 bunch green kale, chopped

Brown the sausages. In a soup pot, mix broth and cream. Heat until almost boiling, stirring often. Add everything but kale. Cover & simmer on low about 45 minutes. Add kale and cook another 5-10 minutes, to wilt kale. Serves 4-6. 

Split Pea Soup, February 22, 2016

I will never understand how my wife can love split pea soup, but hate lentil soup. She hates anything lentil, while I love lentils. One of my favorite things we ate when I was a kid was lentil pilaf. She thinks they taste like dirt! Anyhow, I am grateful she loves split pea soup, at least. Last night, I was especially pleased because she declared of my pea soup, "This tastes like my dad's!" Her dad was an excellent cook of a wide variety of things. He loved to really get fancy and make Beef Wellington and other classic 1960s special occasion dishes. He was also extraordinarily adept at Southern comfort food, dishes like biscuits and gravy, having been raised poor in Kentucky coal mining country. In their household, Jeannene's dad was the primary cook, although her mom made a mean pecan pie and excelled at fried chicken. The first meal of Travis' I ate was Easter dinner and I was impressed. I somehow never got to have his soup, though. Maybe it wasn't special enough for company?

Anyway, I sliced up a couple of pears and made a batch of spoon rolls to go with my soup. What a cozy, yummy dinner!

Split Pea Soup

1/4 lb. bacon, chopped 

2 potatoes, peeled & chopped

2 carrots, peeled & chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 onion, peeled & chopped

64 oz. chicken broth (I like the low-sodium kind)

1/2 tsp. salt

1 lb. split peas

Cook the bacon in a soup pot until crisp. Drain on a paper towel lined plate. Cook veggies in bacon fat for a few minutes. Add broth and salt. Bring to a boil. Add split peas and cooked bacon. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer an hour or so. Serves 6. 

Spoon Rolls

1 envelope yeast

2 c. lukewarm water

4 c. self-rising flour

1/4 c. sugar

1 1/2 sticks butter, melted

1 egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix yeast and water in a large bowl. Let stand 5 minutes. Add the other ingredients and mix well. Place in well-greased muffin tins. Bake about 20 minutes, until golden. Makes 2 dozen. 

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. 

Hot Chicken Salad, December 19, 2015

We'd planned to have dinner out last night, but my poor sweetheart appears to have a touch of the flu and only wanted toast for dinner, so I drove through McDonald's. I should have had toast, actually, and cocoa. So, I was glad tonight to have a home-cooked dinner. It was a very retro sort of dinner, with the main course, hot chicken salad, coming from my mother-in-law's West Point Hostess cookbook. I'd planned to serve green salad with the casserole & potato soufflé, but we had already eaten it, so I just served some pineapple on the side. Not a very healthy dinner, at all, but really delicious and pretty easy to throw together. Boot is visiting for Christmas and he and Jeannene really liked it, especially the potatoes. He put his third serving of potatoes on a tortilla. He can eat like y'all would not believe, probably because he works out 4 or 5 hours a day.

Hot Chicken Salad

2 cooked chicken breasts, chopped

1 1/2 c. chopped celery

1/2 c. chopped pecans

3 tbsp. dried minced onion

3 tbsp. lemon juice

Salt & pepper

1 can cream of mushroom soup (the original recipe calls for cream of chicken, but I used what I had on hand and it worked out great)

3/4 c. mayonnaise (I use the olive oil mayo)

Potato chips to crumble on top (I used plain Lay's, but I think perhaps sour cream and onion or BBQ might be interesting)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix everything but the mayonnaise, soup, and potato chips. Put in 2-quart casserole. Mix the soup and mayonnaise and pour over the top of the chicken mixture. Do not mix it into the chicken. Top with an even layer of crushed potato chips. Bake about half an hour. Serves 6-8. 

Potato Soufflé

About 6 c. mashed potatoes (I just used a package of Bob Evans pre-made mashed potatoes)

8 oz. chive cream cheese (the sort in the tub)

2 eggs

1/4 c. sour cream

A pinch of salt

4 tbsp. butter, melted

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix well and place in greased (I use cooking spray) 1 1/2-2 qt. casserole or soufflé dish. Bake 45 minutes. Serves 6-8. 

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. 

Green Tomato Bounty! And Rhubarb, Too!

Last week, a friend from church found out I collect Boyd's Bears and invited me to come over and pick some of hers to take home with me. I was bowled over by the kindness of that invite and will be going later this week to see her collection. Today, I received a Facebook message from another church friend, asking if I like fried green tomatoes. I responded that I love them. Her husband is a tremendous gardener and had just brought in a couple dozen green tomatoes---did I want some? Did I ever! Not only did they extend that lovely offer, but they threw in a couple of beautiful ripe tomatoes and a bunch of rhubarb! The best part of all, though, was getting to visit with them, meet their gorgeous German Shepherd, and have a tour of her quilt studio! She is terribly creative and makes beautiful pieces of art in fabric.

Because of their generosity, we get to have fried green tomatoes and rhubarb cake! I told her I would post my tomato recipe before I actually make them, so that she can use it, too. The tomato recipe is my adaptation of the Neelys' recipe.

Fried Green Tomatoes

6 green tomatoes, sliced about 1/4" thick

Salt, pepper, and a smidge of cayenne

3/4 c. flour

3/4 c. buttermilk

Dash hot sauce (I like Louisiana Hot Sauce best, but use your favorite)

3/4 c. cornmeal

1 1/2 c. panko

Oil for frying

Sprinkle tomatoes with salt, pepper, and a little cayenne---or a lot, if you are a big fan of very spicy food. Whisk the buttermilk with the hot sauce. Mix the cornmeal with the panko. Dredge the tomatoes in flour, then dip in buttermilk, and coat in panko. Fry until golden on both sides---make sure your oil is nice and hot before you put the tomatoes in or they will be greasy and soggy. Don't be afraid to get them deep golden. Place on a baking sheet lined with paper towels. Adjust seasonings, if needed. Serves 4-6. 

These are good with remoulade or

Basil Mayonnaise

2 c. fresh basil

1 c. mayonnaise

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1 tbsp. Dijon mustard

Salt & pepper

Pulse together in a blender or food processor (of chop basil finely and whisk together by hand). Also good on sandwiches. 

My favorite thing to do with rhubarb is to my my friend Shawna's rhubarb dump cake:

Rhubarb Dump Cake

1 lb. rhubarb, cut into 1/4" pieces

1 c. sugar

3 oz. strawberry jello

1 box yellow cake mix

1 c. water

1/4 c. butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13x9 baking pan. Put the rhubarb in the bottom. Sprinkle with sugar, then jello, the cake mix. Pour water and butter over the top. Do not stir! Bake 45 minutes. 

Baked Bean Soup, October 7, 2015

I didn't get home yesterday from a day with our baby's bio mom until quite late, thanks to insane Detroit traffic, so I was very happy to have a dinner planned that was easy and quick to throw together. It is great comfort food, too! I made a pot of baked bean soup, with Jiffy corn muffins, sliced honey crisp apples, and Marzetti caramel apple dip.

Baked Bean Soup

1-2 tbsp. olive oil or butter

1 package kielbasa ( I like the turkey kind, but use what you like), sliced

1 onion, chopped

1/2 green pepper, chopped

1 large clove garlic, minced

1 large can baked beans (I like Bush's)

1-1 1/2 c. milk or half and half or some combination thereof---even skim milk works

Salt & pepper

A few dashes hot sauce

Heat oil/butter in a soup pot. Cook the meat and veggies 5-7 minutes. Add beans and simmer another few minutes. Add a cup of milk---and more if the soup is too thick. Add salt & pepper, along with hot sauce, and heat through. Serves 4. This can be made completely vegetarian by adding another can of beans in place of the kielbasa---or you can use veggie sausage. If you're vegan, use olive oil and sub soy milk or nut milk for the regular milk. 

Kielbasa & Kraut, September 26, 2015

I always make pork and sauerkraut on New Year's Day, but I forget to make it the rest of the year. I love it so much, as does the wife, so I need to make it more often. Last night, we had kielbasa and kraut, with baked acorn squash on the side. A simple and scrumptious fall meal!

For the main attraction, I cut a couple links of kielbasa on the diagonal so I had thick, chunky slices. I coated a big skillet with cooking spray and browned the sausage pieces. Then, I stirred in a large can of well-drained sauerkraut and cooked it to heat it through and get the kraut a bit browned, as well.

The acorn squash, the orange variety, I sliced in half and scooped out the seeds and stringy part. Then, I mixed a couple tablespoons of room temperature butter, a couple tablespoons of maple syrup, a couple tablespoons of brown sugar (I favor the dark kind for most things), and a little salt and pepper. I filled the squash cavities with the mixture and rubbed it along the cut edges, too. Then, I popped it in a pre-heated oven, on a baking sheet covered with foil, and roasted it for about an hour. Jeannene's half got the bulk of the sweet, buttery filling---mine was still really deeeeeee-lish! It really doesn't need much at all to make it wonderful!