One of my great time-saving tips comes in handy this week. On Sunday, cook up 5lbs or so of ground beef or ground turkey (whichever you'll be using this week). Divide it into 1lb portions and put in ziploc bags and freeze. You will use these later on in a few of my recipes. Goes right into the crock pot frozen!!

Easy Steak and Gravy

4 pieces of cube steak
1 cup flour
1t seasoned salt
1t peper
1 can cream of mushroom soup or golden mushroom soup
1 small jar sliced mushrooms
1 cup water

Put flour into a quart size ziploc bag; add seasonings. Add steak one or two pieces at a time and shake the bag to coat. Place steak in the crockpot. Add soup, mushrooms and water. Place crockpot on low and cook for 8 hours. The steak comes out very tender and the flour on the meat mixes with the soup to make it's own gravy. This is great with rice. Add a biscuit and some peas and you've got dinner!

Creamy Italian Chicken

3lbs chicken
2T melted butter
salt and peper to taste
2T dry Italian Seasoning mix
1 can cream of mushroom
8oz cream cheese, cut into cubes
1/2 c dry white wine or chicken broth
1T chopped onion, optional

Brush the chicken with melted butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in slow cooker and sprinkle seasoning over all. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours. About 45 minutes befor its done, mix the soup, cream cheese, wine, and onion in a small saucepan. Cook until bubbly and smooth. Pour over hte chicken and cover and cook 30-45 min longer. (you can also add a can of mushrooms here) Serve over hot buttered noodles or rice. Serve with a salad and you've got dinner!

Easy Crock Pot Pulled Pork

1/2 c Ketchup
1/3 c worcestershire sauce
1/3 c apple cider vinegar
1T ground mustard
1T garlic powder
1/2 t paprika
1/4 c brown sugar
1/2t liquid smoke
dash red chili pepper flakes
pinch salt and pepper
1 med sweet onion, chopped
3lb pork shoulder, trimmed of fat

Combine all ingredients except for onion and pork into crockpot. Whisk all ingredients until well blended. Place pork and onions into mixture, coating both sides of meat. Cook for 8-10 hours under low cook setting. After meat is cooked, remove from slow cooker and plate to break apart with fork. If meat has any bones, discard at this time. Place meat back into the warm sauce to reheat. Serve on hamburger buns or kaiser rolls.
Great with coleslaw on top!!
You can also not make your own sauce and buy your favorite bottled BBQ sauce, pour over the pork shoulder and cook 8-10 hours.

Alana's Crock Pot Roast

I like to use a shoulder roast but sometimes they're hard to comeby. If so, you can always use a chuck roast. Take the roast, sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Put in crockpot. Pour a can cream of mushroom over the top. Fill the can up with water, pour over roast. At this time, youc an add chopped onion, carrots, and potatoes. If you're short on time canned will work fine. If not, add fresh baby carrots, 2 whole potatoes, diced. Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours. If should be falling apart. Great for a main course just add some veggies. The next day, you can take the leftovers in the form of a roast beef sandwich, yummy!

Ideas for your frozen hamburger meat...

Sloppy Joes
Spaghetti-
Beef Stroganoff
Chili

August 26, 2010

I know that now's the time when everyone's getting back into the swing of things with school starting back up and along with that comes Football and fall baseball. That's no excuse to feed your kids through a different drive-thru everynight (guilty of this). I can give you some great recipes and really good hints to make your life a little easier and still have time to sit down and feed your family a good meal. Statistics show that kids that sit down with their family at dinnertime are more likely to talk to their parents about sensitive situations, get better grades, less depressed, and less likely to do drugs and alcohol. All too often family meals are the first thing to get squeezed out of a family's hectic schedule. Even if you're picking up a pizza coming home from dance or football, come home and sit down at the table and eat it together. This is something that your kids will remember and you'll be amazed at how better you'll feel about yourself too!

Sorry, I just had to get serious for a moment. Now, on to some yummy recipes.

Yes, it has been awhile. It seems like after Easter, T-ball started up then we had dance rehearsals and recitals and then school was getting out and then summer came. We spent lots of great times at the lake with some great friends. Now that school has started back so has the menu/supper planning. I will soon be posting some of my new favorite recipes back on my blog. Please tell me what you think! See you soon...in the kitchen :)