Asian Inspired Roast

Asian Inspired Roast

3 1/2-4 lbs chuck roast⁣

1 cup low sodium soy sauce⁣

1/4 cup honey⁣

1/3 cup rice vinegar⁣

1 cup chicken broth ⁣

3 tb brown sugar⁣

5 cloves garlic, mashed⁣

2 tb sesame oil⁣

2 tsp red chili pepper flakes

sliced jalapenos (to taste)

1 tsp kosher salt⁣

Prepare the marinade by whisking all of the ingredients together in a medium bowl. Pat the chuck roast dry and place it in the crock pot. Pour the marinade over the roast, turning it a few times so it’s well coated. Cover and cook on LOW for 8–9 hours or on HIGH for 4–5 hours, until the meat is very tender.

About 30 minutes before serving, check the roast and use two forks to gently pull it apart. If it doesn’t shred easily, cover and continue cooking until tender. Once ready, fully shred the meat and toss it with the juices in the crock pot.

Serve over rice and garnish with sliced green onions and sesame seeds if desired.

Beef and Cabbage Soup

Beef and Cabbage Soup

1 lb ground beef

1 large onion, chopped

2 cans diced tomatoes

1 can tomato soup

1 tbsp minced garlic

1 can corn

1 can diced jalapenos

1 package ranch dressing mix

1 tbsp cumin

2 cups beef broth

1 head of cabbage, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Brown the ground beef in a large soup pan.  Add the onion halfway through and cook together until softened and beef is brown.  Add all remaining ingredients to the pot, putting the chopped cabbage on top.  Bring to a boil then simmer for 25-30 minutes.  Alternately you can cook in the crockpot on low for 6 hours.  

Beef enchiladas fast

 I made these enchiladas in less than 30 minutes this evening.  I browned the ground beef and sprinkled it with my Epicure fajita seasoning.  Then made the enchilada sauce with water, tomato paste and the enchilada seasoning packet from Epicure.  Stirred a little of that sauce into the meat and then rolled the meat up with cheese in tortillas.  I put them in my steamer, covered them with the rest of the sauce and handfuls of cheese.  I steamed them for 6 minutes in the microwave.  The texture is absolutely perfect and the taste is delicious.  These are one of my favorites that I have tried from Epicure!  YUM! 

Hamburger noodles

1 package Fideo noodles
1 pound ground beef
Onion
14oz diced tomatoes
1 can corn

Boil noodles.  Brown ground beef with onion.  Add corn and noodle . Serve sprinkled with cheese.

Shredded tritip

Get a tritip and season it really good with Susie Q. Put in the crockpot with a tiny bit of water. Cook a long time on low until it shreds easily. The last hour or two put in 1 can french style green beans, 1 can sliced carrots and 1 can corn. Mix it all together with the shredded meat. It is SO GOOD!

Crockpot Barbacoa (shredded Mexican beef)

Crockpot Barbacoa

3-4 lb beef chuck roast
2 limes, juiced
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (just the peppers, not the sauce)
4 garlic cloves
1 heaping Tbsp cumin
1 Tbsp oregano
1½ tsp salt
1½ tsp ground black pepper
½ tsp ground cloves
1 cup chicken broth
3 bay leaves

In food processor (or blender), combine vinegar, lime juice, chipotle peppers, garlic cloves, cumin, oregano, pepper, salt and ground cloves. Process on high until smooth.  In large crockpot, add roast, pepper puree, bay leaves, and chicken broth. Heat on low 6-8 hours.  Shred beef and place back in juice, remove bay leaves.

Serve rolled in a tortilla with garlicky pinto beans, spanish rice, and a squeeze of fresh lime.  This is absolutely delicious!

Crockpot Sloppy Joes

Sloppy Joe's

1 lb ground beef
1 (14oz) can diced tomatoes
1 small onion, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
3 Tbs. packed dark brown sugar
2 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 t. ground cumin
1 t. chili powder
1/2 t. salt
6 hamburger buns

Brown ground beef. Stir all ingredients into a slow cooker. Cover and cook for 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low.

Sesame marinated flank steak

Sesame Marinated Flank Steak

24 oz flank steak (or any kind of steak)

¼ c. minced garlic

1 1/2 c. soy sauce

½ c. scallions

¼ c. sesame seeds

¼ t. red pepper flakes

½ t. black pepper

½ c. rice vinegar

2 T. sugar

Place all ingredients in a freezer bag.  Toss then let marinate overnight.

Prepare a grill to med-high.  (Save marinade)  Grill meat for 10-12 minutes per side, depending on thickness.  Or spray a broiler pan with nonstick spray.  Broil 10-12 minutes per side.

Let meat rest for 5 minutes before slicing across the grain.  Meanwhile boil the remaining marinade for 5 minutes on the stove top and serve over the meat. Delicious served over rice.

Crunchy Taco Hamburger Helper Made Better

Tonight I made Hamburger Helper for our dinner, but I jazzed it up a bit and it turned out so much better!  So while this isn't exactly a "from scratch" recipe, it does make a very good and inexpensive dinner so I wanted to share it. Plus it is very "kid friendly."  My 20 month old son could hardly get enough of it (for that matter, neither could I!).  Yum!

This is the flavor of Hamburger Helper I used.  Make sure you get the right one!

1 box of  Mexican "Crunchy Taco" Hamburger Helper (you will need milk, water, and one pound of ground beef also, detailed on back of box)
1 cup of frozen corn kernels
1 can of pinto beans (drained)
fresh cilantro leaves, finely cut up

Prepare the Hamburger Helper according to the directions on the box. During the last 10 minutes of cooking stir in the corn kernels, pinto beans, and cilantro leaves.  Continue cooking until the rice is soft and it is heated through.  Top with the cheese mixture and chips that came with the Hamburger Helper.

Savory Sliders

Savory Sliders

 1 lb. ground beef

2-3 generous shakes of Susie Q's seasoning

2-3 generous shakes of Pappy's seasoning

1 generous shakes of smoked paprika

Worcestershire sauce
A-1 Steak sauce
Cheese

Combine the ground beef with the dry seasonings.  Form into small patties, and use your thumb to create a small indention in the top of each one.  Sprinkle Worcestershire sauce and A-1 over each one, and pool a small amount into each indention.  Grill until no longer pink in the middle.  Just before done cooking melt cheese over the top of each one.  Serve on slider buns with desired toppings (mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, lettuce, tomato, and red onion.

(Note:  If you don't have the dry seasonings listed above, use your favorite blend of savory dry seasonings.  For me, Susie Q's and Pappy's are my "go to" seasonings, and I always have them on hand.)

Mom's Taco Salad

Mom's Taco Salad

For Salad:

1 pound ground beef, cooked and drained
1 can pinto beans, drained
3/4 head of iceberg lettuce, chopped
2 medium tomatoes, chopped

can of corn, drained
1 avocado, sliced small
2-3 big handfuls of shredded mozzarella cheese
Crushed tortilla chips (as many as desired)

Dressing:

1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 bottle of Del Monte cocktail sauce
1/2 cup of La Victoria Thick n Chunky Salsa Verde (medium)

Combine the salad ingredients together thoroughly.  In a shaker type container combine the dressing ingredients and shake to mix well.  Top salad with desired amount of dressing.  (Note:  You can make this ahead, just wait to add the chips until just prior to eating, then top with the dressing.)

We generally eat this with grilled chicken and fresh fruit on the side.  It is a perfect summer meal!

French Dip Sandwiches

14 ounces beef broth
1 packet onion soup mix
1-2 pounds boneless eye of round steak
San Francisco french rolls
shredded mozzarella cheese

Combine beef broth and onion soup mix in a crock pot.  Add steak.  Cook on low 6-8 hours.  Remove steak and shred.  Spread butter or olive oil on french rolls and broil until slightly browned inside.  Add desired amount of meat on top of one side, top with cheese, and broil until cheese melts.  Serve with dipping sauce from inside the crock pot on the side.  Delicious!

*Adapted from emeals.com

Coca-Cola Roast

Coca-Cola Roast

2 lb. beef roast(bigger or smaller depending how much you want)
1 mini can of Coca-Cola
2 small cans of cream of mushroom soup
1 envelope of onion soup mix

Put the roast in a crockpot.  Sprinkle the onion soup mix over the top. Glob on top the mushroom soup. Pour the Coke around the edges. Cook for 5 hours on high or 8 hours on low. Serve the roast and gravy with mashed potatoes.

Absolutely delicious dinner!

I made my first authentic Mexican meal tonight, and it was absolutely delicious!  I made Braised Short Ribs in Tomatillo Sauce.  I followed the recipe exactly as written, other than leaving out the avocado leaves.  I had no idea where to get those, and it said optional anyway, so I just left them out.  The Arbol peppers are dried and are found in the Mexican aisle.  I found them at 3 separate stores, so it seems they are readily available.  The flavor in the finished dish was amazing, and it wasn't overly spicy at all.  I cannot recommend enough putting in the time to make this recipe.  It's wonderful!

To go along with them I made Basic Mexican Pinto Beans.  The only change I made was I added a piece of bacon during the cooking, and just left it in there to boil.  I think it added an extra little kick of taste.  Branden had to work 2 1/2 hours late tonight, and I ate, hmm, several bowls of beans waiting for him.  I just couldn't stop eating them.  They were very good!

I was planning to have Branden pick up some fresh tortillas from a Mexican bakery on his way home, but by the time he got off work it was already closed.  So instead we ate the meat on tortilla chips, and I must say it was really good that way.  In the future I'm not sure I'd even want tortillas with it, and may just go for the tortilla chips again!

The Shortribs take a bit of time and labor to make, but are so totally worth it.  The beans are extremely easy to make, so that helps balance out the time spent on the meal.  Definitely give this one a try.  You will not regret it!  We had a little bit of the Shortribs left over, so I am going to mix it with scrambled eggs in the morning.  Totally looking forward to that as well!

Two easy, delicious meat pie recipes

A few days ago I made Ground Beef Pie from Mealtime Makeover.  It was surprisingly good, considering how few ingredients and how simple it was.  I wanted to share the recipe, as it's a quick weeknight meal that Branden and I both really enjoyed!

Ground Beef Pie

1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 cup of onion, chopped
10 oz can tomato soup
8 oz can peas and carrots, drained
4 oz package instant potatoes (I used Idahoan brand)
1 egg

Brown meat and onion; drain.  Mix with soup and peas/carrots.  Spread out into a glass pie pan.  Meanwhile, prepare potatoes according to package directions, then stir in one egg.  Spread potatoes on top of meat mixture and bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes. 


Using the above recipe as inspiration, I revised my Meat Gravy recipe into Meat Gravy Pie.  We had it for dinner tonight, and it was also delicious and super easy!

Meat Gravy Pie

1 pound ground beef
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1/2 soup can of milk
1 tablespoon A-1 steak sauce
3/4 cup frozen peas
4 oz package instant potatoes ( I use Idahoan Buttery Golden)
1 egg
garlic salt (I use Susie Q's seasoning)

Brown the meat and drain.  Mix the mushroom soup, milk, and A-1 together with the meat.  Add the peas, then put the meat mix into a glass pie pan.  Meanwhile, prepare potatoes according to package directions, then stir in one egg.  Spread potatoes on top of meat mixture, sprinkle garlic salt over the top, and bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes. 

Meat Gravy Pie

Easy Crockpot Roast

I threw this together in the Crockpot a few nights ago, and the smell of it drove me crazy all day long!  It was so easy to put together, and got the "husband seal of approval" for taste.  This will be a repeat recipe for us in the not too distant future!

1 to 2 lb chuck roast beef
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 soup can of water
garlic seasoning (I use McCormick Perfect Pinch Garlic and Herb)
1/2 a bag of wide egg noodles (cooked and buttered)

Lay the thawed roast in the bottom of your crockpot.  Pour the cream of mushroom soup on top and kind of smear it around.  Pour 1/2 a soup can of water next to the roast, so there's some moisture around it.  Sprinkle the roast and water liberally with garlic seasoning.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Remove the roast and slice roast into individual portions.  Stir the mushroom gravy together well and serve over buttered wide egg noodles, with the roast on the side.

Note: Next time I make this I am going to shred the roast when it's finished, then stir it back in with the mushroom gravy, and serve all of it over the noodles.

Moose's Menu: Beefy Noodles

I made this for our dinner last night, and saved a portion for Moose.  All I did was mash his up a little bit and he had no trouble at all eating it.  It filled him up pretty quickly, and he really enjoyed it.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture. But imagine it looking like Hamburger Helper, only homemade, and you will have a pretty good idea of what it looked like.  It was really yummy!

Beefy Noodles

1/2 large onion, chopped
1/2 Anaheim pepper, minced
Olive oil
1/2 lb ground beef, browned and drained
14 oz can stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 cup water
4 oz. wheat elbow macaroni, uncooked
Salt and pepper
Mozzarella cheese

Saute onions and Anaheim pepper in olive oil.  Add browned and drained ground beef, tomatoes, water, salt/pepper, and raw macaroni.  Cook for 15-20 minutes or until macaroni is tender.  Top with the Mozzarella cheese.