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I Wouldn’t Mind Eating This For Two Weeks In A Row!

Being the work-from-home parent in our house, I’ve decided it’s my job to plan the menu and take care of all the dinner preparations.

My husband would be more than happy to take turns, but since I personally hate grocery shopping I’m just letting him do that, instead. To me, that’s a big win!

To be honest with you, ever since I got my first slow cooker, making dinner has been a breeze. I didn’t think meals would turn out as delicious in the crockpot but I was so wrong!

Some of them turn out even better than their stovetop counterparts, and I guess that’s because they get to slowly cook to perfection, for hours.

This recipe from the Slow Cooker/Crockpot YouTube channel is one of my favorites. I had made Salisbury steak a hundred times before, but never in the crockpot.

Once I tried this recipe, there was no going back. I’m so glad I came across their video, you should check it out, too!

I always buy ground beef in bulk, and freeze it in portions so that I can easily thaw as much as I need for the next meal.

That’s also a very inexpensive way to buy meat, not to mention ecological. When you buy in bulk, there’s no extra packaging and that’s always good for the nature!

If you like to make your own bread crumbs out of stale bread, those will work really well for this dish, as well. Just season them as you like, or use different seasonings each time, for new flavors

Ingredients

2 pounds lean ground beef

1 (1 ounce) envelope dry onion soup mix

1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs

1/4 cup McArthur milk

1/4 cup Gold Medal all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup

1 (1 ounce) packet dry au jus mix

3/4 cup water

Instructions:

In a large bowl, mix together the ground beef, onion soup mix, bread crumbs, and milk using your hands. Shape into 8 patties.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Dredge the patties in flour just to coat, and quickly brown on both sides in the hot skillet. Place browned patties into the slow cooker stacking alternately like a pyramid. In a medium bowl, mix together the cream of chicken soup, au jus mix, and water. Pour over the meat. Cook on the Low setting for 4 or 5 hours, until ground beef is well done.

Check out this awesome how-to video!

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Quick tip: Cream of mushroom soup will work for this, too.

Recipe and image courtesy of YouTube and Slow Cooker/Crockpot. Don’t forget to view all of their great recipes!

I Never Thought Adding This One Ingredient Could Make This Salad So Amazing!

A good friend of mine thought it was weird that I was going to serve potato salad for Thanksgiving.

In her opinion, potato salads were for summer parties and BBQ’s, not for Thanksgiving or Christmas. It’s funny; sometimes we are so used to doing things the way we’ve always done them, that we don’t even think about other options.

When I was young, potato salad was definitely a barbecue dish for us, too. But pretty soon after I got married and started a holiday tradition of my own, it became a Thanksgiving and Christmas side dish.

I think it goes together perfectly with all the other holiday foods. Besides, everyone seems to love potato salad!

I haven’t always made the same exact recipe, though. But this one, from Melanie Cooks, has quickly become my favorite. There is one special ingredient I had never thought of adding – it made such a big difference!

It had never occurred to me to add sweet pickle relish to a potato salad recipe but once I tried it, there’s no going back!

Also, for mustard I used Dijon – I think it works perfectly and gives this salad even more flavor.

Don’t worry; this is not going to taste mustardy at all. In fact, you could even add a little bit more of it, and it would still turn out awesome. I like to cut the potatoes into smaller pieces but you can leave them in bigger chunks, too, if that’s your cup of tea!

Ingredients

8 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered

2 tbsp white vinegar

5 hard-boiled eggs, peeled

2 celery stalks, diced

4 green onion stalks, diced

1½ cup mayo

1 tbsp mustard

2 tbsp sweet pickle relish

1 tsp sweet paprika (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook for 25 minutes. Drain and cool for 15 minutes.

Cut the potatoes into ½ inch pieces.

Put potatoes in a large bowl, drizzle with white vinegar and stir.

Chop the eggs and add to the potatoes.

In another bowl, mix mayo, mustard and sweet pickle relish.

Add the mayo mixture to the potato salad and stir to combine.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Put the potato salad in a serving bowl and sprinkle with paprika.

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Quick tip: You’ll get 12 servings from this recipe.

Big thanks to Melanie Cooks for this delicious recipe!

No Such Thing As Picky Eaters When You Make This Scrumptious Dinner

Oh my goodness, I have had it up to here with packing lunches and snacks, driving back and forth, vacuuming, dusting and doing laundry.

The last thing I need right now is chopping, boiling and standing by the stove – on top of it all my slow cooker broke down last week and I haven’t had a chance to get a new one yet!

Ok, I think that’s enough venting for one day. Thanks for listening! In return I’m going to give you this awesome, lifesaver of a recipe from Erin over at Making Memories With Your Kids.

I’m telling you, those memories will take a turn for the better for me AND my kids when I can whip up this yummy casserole in a heartbeat, instead of slaving away in the kitchen for hours!

A few simple ingredients, that you most likely already have on hand, is all it takes to make this tasty dinner. And what a meal it is!

My children are crazy about tater tots (aren’t we all?) so anything that has to do with them, is an immediate hit at our house.

You can make a few tweaks here and there; for example add some frozen veggies or use sausage instead of chicken. Here’s what Erin said about this casserole:

It is pure deliciousness!  I make it quite a bit.  It’s that good and it freezes great.  Perfect to divide up into single serve containers and freeze.  (And then perfect for me to take to work for lunch.)

 

That sounds perfect! I think I’m going to whip up two of these casseroles and freeze the other one for a rainy day!

Ingredients

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

2 cups Daisy sour cream

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

1/4 tsp. McCormick onion powder

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

2 lb. bag frozen tater tots (not thawed)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix all of the ingredients together and put into a 9 x 13 baking dish.

Bake for 1 hour or until hot and bubbly.

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Oh Em Gee, These Are Incredible!

I’m so excited about today’s recipe that I almost can’t sit still! I’m crazy about potatoes, any way you make’m, so I have collected a vast amount of potato recipes over the years.

I didn’t think it was possible to top them – you see, I figured I had already found and perfected the best of the best recipes out there. It turns out I was wrong, and I’m actually really happy about that!

I came across this caramelized roasted potatoes recipe on Vegan Food Lover’s channel, and it is TO DIE FOR.

Honestly, I could eat these potatoes seven days a week and twice on Sunday! Vegan Food Lover really has found a heavenly combination of ingredients for that marinade – and I didn’t even realize you could marinate potatoes!

I highly recommend checking out all of his recipes; that’s what I’ve been doing for the past couple of days, and I’ve found quite a few favorites already.

Let’s just say I’m going to pamper my family with these incredible dishes for the next couple of weeks, and you all should do the same!

These caramelized roasted potatoes from Vegan Food Lover are a staple in our dinner routine now, and trust me – I make them often!

I could probably live on these alone for a few weeks and I wouldn’t even miss any of my old favorite recipes!

If you haven’t taken a look at Vegan Food Lovers recipes yet, you should really do it now. My daughter said these taters were better than the ones she had at her favorite restaurant, and I believe her. These are amazing!

Ingredients

10 small potatoes

Veggie broth or veggie paste

Vegetable oil

For the Marinade:

1 tbsp Kikkoman soy sauce

1 tbsp mustard

1 tbsp Heinz ketchup

1 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp sage

1/2 tsp marjoram

1/2 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp liquid smoke

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 fresh squeezed lime

2 cloves minced garlic

1 tsp chopped cilantro

1/2 tsp parsley

1/2 tsp sliced ginger

1 tsp hot sauce – optional

Instructions:

Wash your potatoes thoroughly and chop into big chunks.

Bring a pot of light vegetable broth to a boil. If you don’t have veggie broth, plain water is fine. Add a few dashes of salt, then add the potatoes. Cover and let simmer on medium heat for 10 min.

Drain the potatoes and set them aside in a colander.

Fill a deep, heavy bottom pan or casserole dish with 1/4″ of vegetable oil. Be sure to use an oil with a high smoke point, such as peanut oil, avocado oil, or refined sesame oil. We used the latter. Place the oil in the oven for 5 min at 425º F.

Remove the oil from the oven and place the parboiled potatoes in it. Use a pair of tongs to turn the potatoes and evenly coat them in oil. Put the pan back in the oven on the top rack for 30 min.

While the potatoes are cooking, start on the marinade. Add all ingredients to a blender and process until evenly mixed. Transfer marinade to a bowl and set on the stove top until ready to use.

Remove the potatoes from the oven, and in a separate bowl, toss them in the marinade. Transfer them back to the pan, and put them in oven for another 15 to 20 min, or until dark golden brown.

Toss the potatoes one more time in the left over marinade, and then transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Check out this great how-to video:

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Quick tip: Don’t let the tanginess of the fresh marinade scare you; when the potatoes are cooked, the flavor is perfect!

Recipe and image courtesy of YouTube and Vegan Food Lover – check out his great how-to video!

Bet You’ve Never Tried Pork Chops This Way Before!

I love making casseroles with ingredients that you normally wouldn’t make a casserole with.

However, this isn’t your ordinary casserole. In fact, some of you might even say it’s not a casserole at all. I think it’s a casserole but that’s just me. I found this over at Savory Moments and I thought it looked absolutely delightful. So, I just had to give it a go. And I’m so glad I did!

This is the perfect way to make pork chops when you want exceptionally delicious flavor.

It is a very easy one pot meal and you can double the ingredients if you’re making this for more than two people. Sauerkraut is the perfect match for those juicy pork chops – to switch things up a little you could use sausage instead of chops!

I like to serve this casserole with a dollop of sour cream and some homemade dinner rolls. It makes the perfect, comforting meal on a cold fall or winter night!

Be careful when making this, though – the wonderful aromas might bring the neighbors at your door!

I guess this isn’t your typical casserole as you’ll be making this in a skillet instead of a casserole dish, and there’s no cream or cheese involved.

However, I think this skillet casserole is one of the tastiest I’ve ever tried! The prep is easy and the results are pleasy – that’s what makes this one of my favorite meals on the planet.

This recipe serves two but you can add 2 more chops and potatoes to get 4 servings. Or add those chops in hopes of having leftovers – I gotta warn you, though, you probably won’t have any because this is delicious!

Ingredients

1 pat of Land O’ Lakes  butter

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 pork chops, preferably bone-in

1 medium white onion, diced

1 large Granny Smith apple, cored and diced

1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds

2 large Russet potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/4-in discs

about 1-1/2 cups sauerkraut

3/4 cup chicken broth

Instructions:

In a large cast iron skillet, heat a pat of butter. Season the pork with salt and pepper. Add the pork to the hot pan and lightly brown on both sides. Remove the pork and set aside on a plate.

Add the onion, apple, and caraway seeds to the skillet. Stir well and cook until the onions begin to soften. Place on the plate with the pork.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Layer the potato slices on the bottom of the skillet in concentric circles. Season them with salt and pepper. Top with half on the apple-onion mixture. Then top with the sauerkraut and the remaining apple-onion mixture. Nestle the chops into the kraut and pour in the chicken broth.

Cover tightly with foil and bake until you can pierce the potatoes with a fork and the pork is cooked through, about 45 minutes.

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Quick tip: Serve with a dollop of sour cream or some cranberry jam.

Big thanks to Savory Moments for this delicious recipe!

My Grandma Used To Make These All The Time, Yummy!

I love all kinds of vegetables, but I know quite a few people who are not as fond of them as I am.

I have no idea why – at first I thought maybe they didn’t have that many vegetable dishes when they were growing up. Then again, I’m not sure I did, either. Growing up on a farm we obviously ate them, but vegetable were never emphasized in our diet, in any way.

Even when we had veggies, there was always some kind of meat mixed into the dish.

So I never had vegetable patties at home. The first time I ever tried them was in school and I immediately fell in love!

And you can imagine they weren’t the fresh type of veggie patties one makes at home – no, they were those industrially made, frozen patties and yet, I loved them. So, this recipe right here? This one totally blew my mind.

These veggie patties are outstanding!

As long as you remember to squeeze any excess moisture out of the ones that are moister than others, you can make these with pretty much any grated vegetables.

I love serving these with mashed potatoes – my husband’s favorite is when I fill a pitta bread with lettuce, tomatoes and yogurt dressing, and then add a couple of these patties in there!

Quickly frying them in the pan first will hold them together better, but overall baking in the oven is a healthier choice!

Ingredients

9 to 10 oz potatoes – cooked and mashed

1 garlic clove – mashed

1 small red onion – finely chopped

1 Eggland’s egg

grated cheese (low-fat or regular)

1 medium sized zucchini, grated (squeeze the water out of this)

1 medium sized carrot, grated

a small handful of sunflower seeds

salt & pepper

1 tablespoon Bertolli olive oil

fresh herbs, chopped

1 small green chili – chopped (optional)

Gold Medal flour

Instructions:

Pre-heat oven to 400 F.

Mix potatoes, garlic, onions and egg in a large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients (not the flour). Stir to combine well.

Form into patties and coat very lightly with the flour.

Quickly fry the patties on both sides until they just start to color.

Take out and pat dry. Put the patties on a baking tray and bake in the oven for approx. 15 minutes.

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Quick tip: Add oriental spices and a little bit of tahini sauce!