BBQ Country Style Ribs (Crock Pot)

We are busily cleaning up broken branches and bushes from our 12+ inch snowstorm, so I decided to do something easy for dinner today.  Yesterday was the last day of our farmers market (*sigh*) so I stocked up on meat and winter squash (they were less than $1 each which I thought was a great deal).  Here's what's in the crock pot:

1 package Pork Country Style Ribs (it was about 1.5 lbs)
1 small bottle of BBQ sauce
Water - 1/2 of BBQ bottle (super scientific)
1/2 of one onion
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt & pepper

I placed 1/2 of the BBQ sauce and onion on the bottom, added the ribs, and then added everything else.  I put it on high for 2 hours and then low for the remainder (total of about 6 hours).  Also, the pork was still pretty frozen but I don't think that makes much of a difference.

We are having sweet potato fries on the side.  Yum!

Return of the Meat!

Thank goodness - we have found a local, free-rangey, good for the animals (at least up to the obvious point) meat  supplier.  I was worried we would just have to go and stand in line at the meat packing plant.  Okay, not really (eww), but my mind is resting much easier now that I now we are not ingesting hormones and antibiotics as a side dish.  I am also in a good mood because Brett cooked said meat for dinner.  Rub your eyes and re-read that line.  Here it is in case you missed it... Brett cooked tonight.  Yep.  He grilled chicken (from our meat man - does that sound inappropriate?) after dousing it with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Then he made a honey mustard "sauce" to use when it was done cooking.  Here's what he used:
- Dijon mustard
- Maple syrup (real stuff)
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder
- Yellow mustard (he didn't want it to be too fancy)
- Fake syrup (again, he had to scale it down a notch)
- Salt
- Pepper

I made couscous (large pearl, yum), wild rice, and green beans for the side.  Hey, I didn't say he made the whole dinner... baby steps!  Oh, and Addie ate some of the chicken, too, but I cooked it in my favorite pan (eco pan - check it out) without any oil, etc.  I did end up sprinkling some onion powder on it and that encouraged her to eat it up (or, maybe it was the peas and bananas that I threw in).  Either way, we are all happy and fed.

What did you have for dinner?

Tomato-Basil Crab Bisque

Yields: 4 to 6 servings
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
10 ounces fresh crabmeat, divided*
1 tomato, peeled, seeded and chopped (about 1/2 cup)**
1/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups clam juice (or you can use chicken stock)
1 (5.5-ounce) can V8 vegetable juice (or you can use tomato sauce)
1 cup whipping or heavy cream
1 to 2 teaspoons old bay seasoning
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons freshly-squeezed lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:
In a large heavy soup pot over low heat, melt butter. Add 3/4 of crab meat, chopped tomato, 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil, and garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Whisk in flour; stir 2 minutes. Whisk in clam juice, V8 vegetable juice, whipping cream, Old Bay seasoning, and hot pepper sauce. Simmer over low heat until slightly thickened, approximately 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let soup cool slightly. Puree soup in batches in a food processor or blender until smooth OR immersion hand blender (which is what I used.) Return soup to pot. Stir in water and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper; bring to simmer before serving. Sprinkle with remaining crab meat and basil.

Can be made 1 day ahead. Chill uncovered until cold, then cover and keep refrigerated.

MY NOTES: Use low heat for the whole process. If your crab meat is in cubes or chunks chop it further. This was very important when it came time to puree, as I used an immersion hand blender as opposed to a food processor. It also helps to have smaller bits when you whisk in the juice and flour in the second step. This is pretty rich, so we had it as our main course and would have been delicious with a good bread.

Adapted from: http://whatscookingamerica.net/Soup/TomatoCrabBisque.htm

Weeknight Chicken

Not a crock pot recipe, but this is the easiest dinner I make for busy nights. It takes approximately 1 minute of prep and then cooks for about 40 minutes.

1. Put boneless skinless chicken breasts in a baking dish.
2. Add a can of corn.
3. Add a can of black beans, drained.
4. Add a jar of salsa, whatever kind you like.
5. Cook for 40 minutes at 350 degrees.
6. Serve with sour cream, shredded cheddar, and cilantro. Or not!

New England Pot Roast (Crock Pot)

Thank you for suggesting the crock pot challenge! This is my favorite pot roast recipe, from my trusty Betty Crocker. Secret ingredient? Horseradish.

4 pound beef arm, blade or cross rib pot roast
1 to 2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 jar (8 oz) prepared horseradish
1 cup water
8 small potatoes, cut in half
8 medium carrots, cut into fourths (I usually just use a bag of baby carrots)
8 small onions

1. Cook beef in 12 inch skillet over medium heat until brown on all sides.
2. Place potatoes, carrots, and onions in 4- to 6-quart slow cooker. Place beef on vegetables.
3. Mix horseradish, salt, and pepper, and spread evenly over beef.
4. Pour water into slow cooker, cover and cook over low heat for 8 to 10 hours.

Smore's Cookie Bars

I got such a kick out of this video, I had to share!




Ingredients:

1 stick of butter (room temp.)
½ cup white sugar
¼ brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 & 1/3 cups of flour
¾ cup crushed graham crackers
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 (7.5 oz) jar of fluff
2 4oz Hershey’s Bars

Preheat oven to 350.

In mixer, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg. In a separate bowl mix flour, graham cracker, baking powder, and salt. Add mixture to wet ingredients in mixing bowl.

Spray 8x8 baking pan with cooking spray. Place half of the cookie mixture in the bottom of pan. Spread evenly. Lay Hershey’s bars side by side on top of the cookie mixture. Smear a whole jar of marshmallow Fluff over top. Take the second half of the cookie mix and flatten the pieces in your hand; lay over fluff.

Bake for 30-35 minutes at 350 until top browns. LET COOL before cutting.

NOTES: Don't try to use chocolate chips or wafers in place of the choc bars. It makes it impossible to spread the fluff without pulling all the pieces up. Eat this dessert pretty quickly - we found that after a day the marshmellow fluff gets really chewy and a bit hard. Solution: warm in bowl & serve with ice cream.

Crockpot Chocolate Cake

Oh my stars, this cake is sooooooo delicious and super easy! Make it tonight with vanilla ice cream!

Chocolate Crockpot Cake

1 package chocolate cake mix

1 container of sour cream (8 oz)

1 cup chocolate morsels

1 cup water

4 eggs

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 package instant chocolate pudding mix

Spray crock pot with nonstick cooking spray. Mix cake mix, sour cream, chocolate morsels, water, egss, oil and pudding mix in a bowl by hand. Pour into crock pot. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours or high 3-4 hours. Makes about 12 servings.

From--http://blog.cjanerun.com/

Crockpot Carnitas

I just discovered Mama Pea's blog a few weeks ago and as a family that usually eats vegetarian and fish (the mister has a high cholesterol so for the most part, we gave up meat this year), her recipes really appeal to us http://peasandthankyou.com. Oh, and she is really funny too!

I made this on Sunday evening and the house smelled delicious. I have to admit that this was my first time cooking with Seitan (a wheat protein) so I was slightly nervous but both Nathan and I LOVED this dish. I only made half a recipe for the two of us but if you want leftovers go for the whole deal--we definitely will next time around! Carnivores, I promise, you will enjoy it!

http://peasandthankyou.com/recipage/?recipe_id=6003917&prev_term=seitan%20carnitas