What's Cooking Wednesday - Crockpot Roast Beef and Yorkshire Puddings

I served this on two different days:

• Day 1 was roast beef, mashed potatoes and caesar salad (make extra mashed potatoes and keep all the liquid from the roast beef).
  
• Day 2, I carved the roast beef into slices & heated it in the juice from the crockpot on the stove and served it with Yorkshire Puddings and brocolli.

Both days got big thumbs up from Dewey. This will definitely be added to the rotation.

Sliced beef in gravy on Day 2

Mushroom Slow Cooker Roast Beef from allrecipes.com

1 pound brown mushrooms, sliced
1 onion cut in half & then sliced
~1.25 kg roast (I used a Cross Rib Pot Roast)
1 envelope dry onion soup mix (I used Knorr)
1 can of beer

Put sliced mushrooms in the bottom of the crockpot. Add onions. Set roast on top of mushrooms and onions. Sprinkle with onion soup mix. Pour can of beer over everything.

Set Crockpot to low and cook all day (I cooked mine about 9 hours).

Right Out of the Oven

Yum!

Yorkshire Puddings recipe from @wfehler on Twitter

4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
pinch of salt

Bring eggs to room temp before making the recipe. Preheat oven to 450°F.

Beat ingredients together in a bowl. Beat well. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Heat 1 tsp of canola oil in 9 cups of a 12 cup muffin tin for 10 minutes in the oven.

Remove muffin tin from oven and immediately fill the 9 muffin cups almost to the top with batter.

Bake for 20 minutes. Watch closely. Let them brown on top but not burn. They will rise like crazy and then fall once out of the oven.

Don't forget to head over to Shan's to see what else is cooking this Wednesday!

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What's Cooking Wednesday - Slow Cooker Pulled BBQ Chicken

I am really loving my Crockpot/Slowcooker these days! It's just so easy to get everything ready the night before in the crock, stick it in the fridge over night & then pop it in the crockpot & turn it on. When you get home from work your house smells yummy and supper is DONE! Sweet!

This recipe kicks major butt. It is soooooo good. We made sandwiches out of it twice and then Evan and I polished off the leftovers over white rice. I think it would also be awesome on top of baked potatoes and Dewey wants to try it in tacos. Yep, it's that yummy that you want to figure out how else you can eat it so that you can taste it again.....soon!

Slow Cooker Pulled Chicken by @ScatteredMom over at Recipes from the Cookie Jar

2 1/2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1/2 chopped onion
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup bbq sauce (I used 1/2 cup Cattleman's and 1/2 cup Tony Romas)
1/2 cup ketchup
1 Tbsp cider vinegar
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes
1 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar

Put everything in the crockpot and stir together. Cover & cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 4 or 5. When done, take chicken out and shred with two forks. Add juice from the crockpot until the chicken is coated and well moisened. You will probably have some sauce left.

Serves 4-6

Recipe Notes: Add this to your dinner rotation. You will not be sorry. Very kid friendly....even Evan the meat hater ate it!

Head on over to Shan's to see what else is cooking this Wednesday!

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What's Cooking Wednesday - Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup

Dewey loves Split Pea Soup. Me.....not so much. I love him, though, so I figured I would make him some with all the leftover ham I had in the freezer (from when I had the *bright* idea to make a 1/4 of a whole ham for just me and Evan (aka the boy that doesn't eat meat)but digress). Since it's not my favorite food, I decided that a slow cooker recipe would be perfect b/c it would allow me to put it on the table with little muss or fuss.

Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup Recipe
from About.com

1 (16oz) pkg. dried green split peas, rinsed
1 meaty hambone, 2 ham hocks or 2 cups diced ham
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 ribs of celery plus leaves, chopped
1 or 2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped or 2 tsp dried parsley flakes
1 tbsp seasoned salt (or to taste)
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
3 cups chicken broth
3 cups hot water

Layer ingredients in slow cooker in the order given; pour in water. Do not stir ingredients. Cover and cook on high for 4 to 5 hours or on low for 8 to 10 hours until peas are very soft and ham falls off the bone. Remove bones and bay leaf. Mash peas to thicken more if desired. Serve garnished with croutons. Freezes well.

Serves 8

Recipe Notes: Dewey loved it. He was very happy. We ate about half and froze the rest. I served it with a fresh baguette. I must admit it was pretty good. I'm sure I'll be making it again.

Don't forget to head over to Shan's to see what else is cooking this Wednesday!

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What's Cooking Wednesday - Oven Braised Beef and Beer

Ever wonder "what should I cook this week"? I do, all the time. There is much talk in the blogosphere about meal planning so that you can avoid just such questions. Unfortunately, I royally suck at it. I try, really I do but I just don't stick with it very well and life often gets in the way. Having said that, I have found that if I think about it on Sunday and write down a brief idea of how the week will go, I have a much higher chance of eating at home instead of dragging the family out or ordering takeout.

One thing that can be very helpful are websites that post mealplans. One is the website Everything Mom. I love Everything Mom b/c they have lots of blogs in one place (including mine which syndicates there), printables to help you get organized, forums, give aways and NOW....mealplans). Each mealplan is put together by my blogging and twitter buddy Scatterdmom. The recipe I'm featuring today comes from her mealplan from a couple of weeks ago. You should really check it out!

Oven Braised Beef and Beer from Canadian Living via Everything Mom meal plan

2 lb cross rib pot roast, boneless, cut into 1 1/2 in cubes
1/4 cup diced bacon
2 carrots, sliced
2 onions, diced
2 cloves minced garlic
3 cups button mushrooms, halved
1/4 tsp each salt, pepper, and dried thyme
3/4 cup each beer and beef broth (or all beef stock)
2 Tbsp tomato paste
2 Tbsp flour
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley (optional)

In a skillet, heat up 1-2 tbsp of oil. Dredge beef cubes in flour & brown in the oil. Transfer beef to the slow cooker.

In the same skillet, fry up the bacon until it's starting to crisp. Add to the slow cooker.

Drain most of the fat from the skillet. Add carrots, onions, garlic, mushrooms, thyme, salt, and pepper. Cook until the onions are softened, which will take about 3 miutes. Add teh beer to the skillet and scrape the browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Add all to the slow cooker. Top with beef stock and tomato paste. Stir and then cover and cook on low for about 6 hours or until meet is tender.

Whisk flour with 1/4 cup of cold water, stirring into the cooked stew, then cover and cook on high for about 15 minutes or unitl it thickens up. Top with some freshly chopped parsley.

Recipe Notes: Scattered Mom's recipe didn't mention flour in the ingredients so I didn't know how much to use . I used 1 heaping tablespoon of cornstarch mixed in water instead. It worked okay but it could have been a bit thicker.**Note- the amount of flour to use is now fixed in the recipe above.** I also used turkey bacon instead of regular bacon b/c it's what I had on hand. We loved this recipe. I served it with mashed potatoes and it was awesome. The leftovers taste even better the next day!

Don't forget to head on over to Shan's to see what else is cooking this Wednesday!

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What's Cooking Wednesday - Slow Cooker Pork Goulash

Pork Goulash
from Family Circle magazine

• 1 boneless pork loin roast (about 1 3/4 lbs) trimmed & cut into 1/2" pieces
• 3 medium sized parsnips, peeled & cut into 1/2" coins
  
• 2 large carrots, peeled & cut into 1/2" coins
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 Tbsp sweet paprika, divided
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 lb green beans, trimmed & cut into 1" pieces
• 1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream
• 2 Tbsp corn starch
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Place pork, parsnips, carrots & onion in the slow cooker. Sprinkle with 2 Tbsp paprika. Stir to coat. Pour in broth. Cover & cook on high for 3 hours or on low for 4 1/2 hours.

Add green beans & cook for 30 minutes.

In a small bowl, blend remaining 2 Tbsp paprika, sour cream, cornstarch, salt & pepper. Stir into slow cooker bowl until thickened.

Recipe Notes: This was one of "those recipes". You know the one where you change almost EVERYTHING. Yep, one of those. I used pork chops cut up instead of a roast b/c that's what I had in the freezer. I've never had parsnips & Dewey won't touch them with a 10 foot pole, so I subbed 1 large sweet potato and 2 small white potatoes for that. I couldn't be bothered to cut up the green beans so I just threw them in. I also cooked it much longer than called for. In the end, the sweet potatoes turned into mush which was okay b/c then Dewey didn't really realize they were there (he hates them) & the green beans didn't get done. I fished the green beans out & microwaved them so it turned out okay. I found that I needed to add salt to the final product.
After that addition, it was pretty tasty. Dewey loved it & said that he wanted me to make it again.

Don't forget to head over to Shan's to see what else is cooking this Wednesday!

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What's Cooking Wednesday - Crockpot Beef Stew

I'm going to start taking pictures again soon....really! Just not this week. :)

Crockpot Beef Stew
from www.allrecipes.com

• 2 lbs beef stew meat cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1/4 cup all purpose or whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups beef broth
• 3 potatoes, diced
• 4 carrots, sliced
• 1 cup mushrooms (added for the last 30-45 minutes)

Place meat in the crockpot. In a small bowl mix together the flour, salt and pepper; pour over meat and stir to coat. Stir in the garlic, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, onion, beef broth, potatoes and carrots.

Cover and cook on low for 10 to 12 hours or on high for 4 to 6 hours. Add mushrooms in the last 30 minutes to 1 hour of cooking time.

Recipe Notes: This is a great recipe jumping off place. Add however many veggies you like. If you like to spice it up, add hot sauce. If you like tomatoes, add those. That is what I love about the crockpot so much. You can change things up & it still turns out super yummy!

Don't forget to check out what else is cooking this Wednesday over at Shan's!

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What's Cooking Wednesday - Taco Soup

This is one of those "throw it together" kind of recipes. I have attempted to remember everything I put in but if you think it should have something else....just throw it in. I promise it will be good!

Taco Soup

1 lb ground chicken, turkey or beef
1 can beans (I used Romano beans but pinto beans, kidney beans or mixed beans would be good too)
1 cup corn (frozen or canned (drained))
1 can diced tomatoes (or Rotel if you can get it (i.e. you live in the US))
1 bell pepper, cubed
1 cup chicken broth
1 packet Taco seasoning
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup salsa
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 Tbsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 Tbsp lime juice

Brown the ground meat. Put everything in the crockpot & cook all day. Yum!

Recipe Notes: I cooked the ground turkey last night while I was cooking supper. I then put everything in the crockpot & stuck it in the fridge. This morning I took it out & popped it in the Crockpot base & turned it on. Viola...supper's done! Note that the last 4 items were things I added b/c I thought it needed something...I did not measure anything so the measurements are very approximate. ***After eating this I have to admit that I did not like the bell pepper after it had cooked in the crockpot all day. It was mushy. I would either omit it next time or stir it in for the last 30 minuts or so of cooking.**** Dewey and I both gave this recipe two thumbs up!

Don't forget to check out what else is cooking this Wednesday over at Shan's.

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