Tag: slow cooker

Recipe Roundup
Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

LSiehLeave a comment

Mmm…crepes. They weren’t as good as my friend, Steph’s, but they were still delicious. She spent a year in Switzerland and learned how to make perfect ones there. I’m still learning. 🙂

My usual goal of 2-3 new recipes was definitely met this week. I surprised myself a little with how many I made.

I also made a second batch of the Pinch My Salt cinnamon ice cream, but this time, left it just vanilla. It was still so creamy and delicious. My plans for today include making another batch, but adding cocoa powder to make it chocolate.

So for new recipes, I used 3 online ones this week and one from a cookbook. Two were from Pinterest, one from a sewing blog, oddly enough. I’ll start with the one I have no pictures of. It wasn’t the prettiest of dishes anyway, so it’s probably okay.

It was Creamy Slow Cooker Portobello Chicken from Cutefetti.com. https://cutefetti.com/2015/04/portobella-mushroom-chicken-slow-cooker-recipe.html 

It needed more mushrooms, but I hadn’t had time to get more, so only had half. I also got nervous and added some water to the slow cooker and didn’t really need too. It was alright, not the best thing I had ever eaten, but not something I will probably make again either. The Husband agreed.

The next recipe was a hit. It was Spicy Beef Tortellini Soup, from The Slow Cooker Gourmet. https://slowcookergourmet.net/slow-cooker-spicy-beef-tortellini-soup/

The Husband thought it had a kick, but I didn’t really find it. There’s a chance I’m turning into a chili head without realizing it. It was a nice meal on a cold day. The stew meat was mostly frozen when I added it in, but it got so tender by the end that it just fell apart. I used my frozen tomatoes too. The Husband doesn’t like the skins on the tomatoes, so next time I use them, I’ll have to pull those first. He did like the soup though. I’ll keep this one in the soup rotation.

We also tried Salt and Pepper Chicken from Sew Petite Gal. http://sewpetitegal.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2014-08-17T12:38:00-07:00&max-results=2&start=32&by-date=false

While it felt a little weird to make a cooking recipe from a sewing site, it was a good recipe. The chicken was coated in cornstarch before being fried, so it was a new technique for me. It was also double fried.

We had it over rice and I added a bunch of veggies to it. It needs a sauce, I think. I’m pretty sure it’s meant more as a snack, rather than a meal, but it was easy enough to make a bigger amount and add veggies. It tasted good and wasn’t greasy, like I feared it might be. I’ll keep this and start experimenting with it. The Husband liked it and is requesting more fried foods.

The recipe we used from a cookbook was from Good Housekeeping, section: The Story of Meats. We had bacon wrapped burgers with sautéed mushrooms and onions.

We the Husband cut the onions and mushrooms and did an excellent job. You can just see Fancy’s feet in the corner, she was very jealous and grumbled and whined throughout the entire meal. We ignored her, but did laugh a little first.

We had a couple of leftover meals this week, so this was pretty much all we ate. It’s nice to have leftovers. I had intended on making longevity noodles yesterday to celebrate, but was sick with nasty migraine, so we ended up having the beef soup again instead. We have a shopping trip to the Chinese market today to get party foods, so we’ll probably have the noodles tonight.

I never got Fancy’s new collar made, as I kept forgetting to get the last part I needed. If I’m honest, my organizing work in my fabric this week has made me realize I can’t be trusted at fabric stores when upset, or when in a shopping mood, so I never went back to get it. I might have something that will work downstairs though, so I’ll look. She may just get a pretty bow to wear with her party harness. Either way, she will be thrilled to see everyone.

Stay tuned for party pictures on Monday and quotes tomorrow!

Recipe Roundup
Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

LSiehLeave a comment

Since I will be dancing my heart out this weekend, I thought I would post my recipes early. 🙂 We had a lovely brunch with Kayla on Sunday and I made a Quiche recipe that I actually liked! Typically, I’m not a fan of baked eggs, but this was very good and even better on the second day.  I also made a new freezer recipe, for which I cannot find the recipe and a new pork recipe for the Husband.

I’ll start with the food I can’t find the recipe for.

1- On the freezer bag, it’s called “Hungarian Beef Stew.” It specifically called for mini peppers and had caraway seeds in it. Betty Crocker has a similar slow cooker recipe, but it doesn’t have all the ingredients.

I believe I used a slow cooker recipe and just prepped it to freeze, but don’t remember. I cooked it for about 7 hours in the slow cooker. I liked it. The meat was very tender. The Husband thought it had a strange taste, most likely the caraway seed. I probably won’t make it again.

2- Quiche Lorraine from Bacon 24/Seven by Theresa Gilliam

This was delicious! I had one less egg than I needed, so I added more cheese. I used smoked Gouda. I also made it crustless.

We had it with a salad and some yummy almond flour muffins that Kayla brought. The Husband loved it! He requested it again on a future weekend.

3- Baked Pork Chops and Rice from Baked at Midnite. https://bakeatmidnite.com/baked-pork-chops-on-rice/

The Husband said he liked this. I need to find different ways to cook them, but there don’t seem to be too many different ways that don’t require searing or stove top, neither of which the Husband is comfortable doing on his own. We’re going to try having him do that when I’m home.

4- Sautéed Spinach and veggies, method by me.

I sautéed sliced garlic, mushrooms, garden tomatoes, and spinach in some olive oil, salt and pepper. It was delicious. The Husband doesn’t eat spinach, so I didn’t even have to share! We ate it with smoky paprika turkey tenderloins and boiled carrots with butter.

It was a pretty good week for new recipes. The Husband has some leftovers for the weekend, but also has the play, so he’ll be on a weird eating schedule.

I made some tea blends for Ooky to go with my tea wallets too. There’s three green tea blends, and three black teas. They are in cute little 4 oz. Mason jars.

Wish me lots of sales this weekend! I know the dance part will be a ton of fun already!

Recipe Roundup
Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

LSiehLeave a comment

I took lots of pictures this week and the Husband helped too! I took a few different shots to see what looked good, so you’ll have to tell me which ones you liked best.

1- Salted Caramel Gelato from KitchenAid. I bought it along with the mixer attachment. https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/kitchenaid-reg-2-pack-fanzese-gelato-salted-caramel-mix/1047357136?Keyword=Salted+caramel+gelato

Modifications: None. It was my first time using the attachment, so I didn’t deviate from the instructions at all. We just added the milk and made it up. It was extremely fun and made us feel ever so fancy. We froze it for a few more hours to make it more of a harder texture, but it was still nice and soft. We ate it with mini chocolate chips. Fancy was very sad that she couldn’t eat it.

The Husband helped me take pictures, as it is impossible to pour the gelato mix into the mixer and take a picture.

It was definitely a hit and I have a bunch more recipes pinned on the blog’s Pinterest page. The Husband has requested a rich vanilla ice cream next, because we can put all sorts of toppings on it. I want to try a basil  ice cream recipe that I found as well. It looks very interesting and I bet it would be good if I used the lime basil too.

2- Mongolian Ginger Beef Freezer Meal from Freezer Meals: 365 Days of Quick and Easy Make Ahead Meals for Busy Families by Julianna Sweeny. Section: Beef Freezer Meals

Modifications: I added a little bit more water to the crock pot and added white pepper as well. I also used chuck steak instead of flank. We couldn’t find flank or skirt steak and it was going to be cooking for a long time in the slow cooker.

It was delicious! My first thought when I took a bite was “oh my gosh, this is melting.” The meat was so tender! I thickened the sauce more at the end, as it was a bit watery. I might make a double recipe of this, it seemed like it wasn’t going to make a lot. I will definitely make this again. The recipe includes directions to freeze the meal and then make it in the slow cooker, but we cooked it right away this time. This book was a birthday present from a friend and it will be put to good use.

3- Freezer Spicy Enchilada Soup from the above cookbook. Section: Chicken

Modifications: I added garlic and garlic powder, because who makes a recipe for an enchilada soup with no garlic? I used diced tomatoes instead of crushed, because it was what I had, and I didn’t crush the bay leaf. I just left it whole and then fished it out at the end.

This was another slow cooker recipe and it cooks for 8 hours, so was perfect for my long day on Monday. It was also delicious.

I did notice a few odd things about the cookbook. One, there are page numbers in the index, but no page numbers on the actual pages, which makes it a little confusing to find things. Two, there seem to be some repeat recipes with different names and slightly different instructions, but the same ingredients. The beef recipe has a twin about 10 pages in front if it that just has differently worded instructions, but that mean the same thing.

Overall, I really like the cookbook and will probably break my rule about one recipe per section, mostly for the sheer simplicity of it. We are in desperate need of meals that go in the crockpot, or can just be put in the oven by the Husband too and this book has plenty.

4- Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup from Our Best Bites. http://ourbestbites.com/2009/10/tortellini-sausage-soup/

Modifications: First off, I finally made the soup! I had only been talking about for weeks and it somehow never got made. I don’t use the recipe anymore, just kind of throw things in, but the one thing I do not ever leave out is the apple juice. The recipe says it is not the same without it and they are totally right.

I put this in the crockpot before I left for work, made the tortellini when I came home and then added them in. The spices cooked off a little and it wasn’t as flavorful, so I think I will stick to the stovetop for this.

5- Thin and Lacy Pancakes from Food Network Magazine: The Big Breakfast Issue, April 2015. V. 8, N.3.

Modifications: None! I love crepes. I cooked down frozen strawberries and peaches to make a sauce.  I completely forgot about the vanilla yogurt in the fridge, which was perfect the next morning for breakfast as a topper. I actually made these for dinner on Tuesday, as I was feeling rather horrible and wanted something gentle for my stomach. (Apparently stress is bad for you. My doctor told me I should stop having so much of it… Thanks, I guess?)

I didn’t have to share any of them either, as the Husband doesn’t like them. I also played around with the picture and was pretty pleased. Maybe a lighter color plate might be nicer next time.

6- Leg of Lamb from A Taste of Lebanon by Mary Salloum. Section: Entrees. 

Modifications: This was a circus. A full circus with clowns, tigers, and bears. I thought it was only a pound and a half of boneless leg of lamb, but apparently it was 2.38 pounds, which meant it was nowhere near cooked when I had said it should be cooked. The Husband, who was cooking it for us was extremely distressed and I had clients, so couldn’t tell him to do anything until later in the night. It did work itself out, he found the package and had the recipe, so figured it out. By the time I got home, it just needed a few more minutes. Recipes that have a set time to bake seem to be a better idea.

I used Lamb Seasoning from Penzey’s Spices. It has allspice, ginger, oregano, pepper, cumin, and something else that I can’t remember. The recipe called for allspice, salt, pepper, and 6-8 cloves of garlic. The garlic was sliced and stuffed into slits in the meat. It made the lamb delicious and it wasn’t overcooked at all. I highly recommend any Penzey’s spice. My brother and sister-in-law gave us some spices from them several years ago and they were all wonderful. Plus, Penzey’s is currently supporting various peaceful protests and attempting to spread kindness through food, which I highly approve of.

7- Wheat Free Peanut Butter Pumpkin Dog Treats from Doggy Dessert Chef.

http://doggydessertchef.com/2011/11/08/wheat-free-peanut-butter-pumpkin/

Fancy is undeniably a spoiled pup. Lately, she has been waking me up for morning snuggles when the Husband leaves for work and now thinks she can sleep on the bed whenever she wants! Silly puppers. I really should snuggle her on the couch, but it’s normally half an hour before my alarm goes off and it seems like a lot of work to get up and move.

Modifications: I used Chickpea flour for this recipe instead of brown rice flour, since it was all I had. They smell funny, but she seems to like them. I’m still on the hunt for a hard biscuit recipe for her, but can’t seem to find one that bakes up hard. I’ve got a few more to try. This was her, waiting patiently for her treats.

I don’t remember making homemade things for your dogs being a thing in the past. I know our dogs when I was a kid got table scraps and vaguely remember giving them treats, but certainly never actually making stuff for them. I tend to go nuts when buying her treats though, so as long as I make ones with things we have on hand, it might be cheaper. I just can’t resist when I think she might like something. Plus, I bake for everyone else, so why should she be any different?

8- Spicy Beef from Wok and Stir-Fry. Section: Poultry and Meat. 

Modifications: I am not supposed to eat spicy foods for at least two weeks thanks to my stomach being dumb, so I left out the spicy part. I also really only used the recipe for the sauce recipe, as I have trouble with proportions when making stir-fry sauces. The recipe doesn’t call for any veggies, just scallions. I added red pepper, broccoli, zucchini, and mushrooms. I cooked the separately and used already seasoned beef left over from kebabs at a friend’s house that we had frozen. It turned out really good.

Reenergized by my sad review last week, I made a lot of new recipes. Now I just have to remember that feeling in the next few weeks, so my next review is full of new things. I also need to realize that my new recipes can also be breakfast, side dishes, or lunch dishes, they don’t always have to be dinner. I’ve used a lot of the entree sections of cookbooks and need to look for sides to go with my familiar dishes as well.

I’ll leave you with those thoughts and a picture of Fancy with her new favorite toy. We now get our cardio by playing tug with her. She has an amazing grip and gets so excited while playing. She likes playing tug with the Husband more, because he’s a little rougher with her. She’ll go bark at him until, he comes out of his office and plays with her. Last night she did that four times. She just couldn’t get enough playtime. Hopefully, you all have something that makes you as happy as she gets with her toy.