Creamy crock pot cube steaks

6 cube steaks

1 medium onion sliced in rings

1 can cream/chicken soup

1 can cream/celery soup

1 packet Lipton Onion Soup Mix

1/2 can of water 

Salt and pepper each cube steak. Place a layer of steaks in the bottom of the crock pot. Top with onions. Continue to layer. Pour the soup mix over it all and cook on high all day. 

Seared Steaks

16 oz. of New York Strip steaks (or another kind of similar steak)

¾ tsp Kosher salt. 

¾ tsp pepper

4 tsp olive oil

½ c. onion, chopped

½ tsp fresh rosemary, chopped

8 oz. sliced cremini mushrooms

2 tsp. whole wheat flour

¾ c red wine

1 T unsalted butter

 

Sprinkle the steaks with salt and pepper.  Cook in oil in a skillet until they are cooked through.  Remove the steaks and add onion, rosemary, and mushrooms to the pan.  Sautee until the mushrooms are brown.  Sprinkle the mushroom mixture with flour and cook for about a minute.  Add in wine and bring to a boil.  Cook for one minute.  Add butter and stir until the butter is melted.  Cut the steaks into thin slices and serve with the sauce.  Adapted from Cooking Light. 

3 Envelope Roast

This recipe has circulated around social media, and it is really easy and a favorite at the Green house. 

1 packet of Ranch dressing mix
1 packet of Italian dressing mix
1 packet of brown gravy mix
1 1/2 cups water
4 lb roast
3 chopped carrots (or a couple of handfuls of carrot chips)
3 small potatoes, quartered

Put this all in the crock pot and cook for 6 hours.  Serve with a green salad. 

Crock Pot Philly Cheese Steaks

While I could never hope to replace Donnie’s philly cheese steak sandwiches, or anything you can eat from a cart in NYC or Philadelphia, this recipe from my friend Jennifer looks like a good sub! 

2 lbs extra lean ground beef (90/10)

1 cup frozen chopped onion

1 cup frozen chopped bell pepper

3 Tbl steak sauce

1 cup all natural beef broth

4-6 Hamburger buns (or we used hot dog buns since it’s what I had at home).

4-6 slices of provolone cheese

Place all ingredients (except bread and cheese) in a large zipper bag.  Zip and squish around to mix.  You may put the bag in the freezer until you are ready to cook.  Pour beef mixture into slow cooker.  Cook on low for 6 hours.  

Pour mixture onto bread.  Put a slice of cheese on top.  Your meat mixture should be hot enough to melt the cheese, but if not, put in the microwave for a few seconds. 

Eat with baby carrots, ranch dip, and some chips!

 

Taco Soup

From my law school friend Jamie.

1 lb. ground turkey or beef
1 large onion, chopped
1 can of Rotel
1 can black beans
2 cans Mexican-style stewed tomatoes
1 can pinto beans
1 can water
1 can yellow hominy
1 package of taco seasoning
1 package Hidden Valley Buttermilk Dressing mix
1 small can green chilies or 1/4 to 1/2 cup
Cumin, salt, pepper to taste

Brown the meat together with the onion. Drain. Mix in the other ingredients in the crock pot. Cook all day on low.

Sloppy Joes

My girls used to call this "Funny Hamburgers."

1 1/2 lb. ground beef (can mix in ground turkey too)
1 diced onion
1 T celery seed or celery salt
2 c. tomato or tomato sauce

Brown the ground meat and then add the rest of the ingredients. Simmer together for 15-20 minutes. Serve on toasted buns with a slice of cheese.

Meatball Soup

This recipe is modified from something I found in Rachael Ray's 30-minute meals 2. I have a bag of yummy meatballs from our meat order, so I'm not going to make my own, so I skipped that part.

2 tablespoons EVOO
2 carrots, chopped
2 ribs of celery
1 medium onion, chopped
2 bay leaves
salt and black pepper, to taste
6 cups chicken broth (one of those boxes)
2 cups water
1 1/2 cups dried pasta
1 pound spinach, coarsely chopped
1 bag of meatballs

Cook oil, carrots, celery, onion, and bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper Cover and cook for 5 or 6 minutes until soft. Add broth and water to the pot of veggies. Add in meatballs and bring to a boil. Add in the pasta, cover and simmer until pasta is tender. Add in spinach, and when it is wilted, the soup is ready to serve.

Roast recipes, including spicy beef sandwiches

In some of our meat order* we get roast, and I have grown to love having them. There are so many great things to do with roast.

1. Throw roast in crock pot with fresh green beans, 3 or 4 cups of water, and Grandmothers Sunday Roast mix from Homemade Gourmet**

2. Throw roast in crock pot and cover with onion soup mix and 4 cups of water. If you have any potatoes or carrots, throw those in there too.

3. Roast recipe from the Gooseberry Patch Cookbook I got for Christmas (modified for the crock pot)
5 lb pot roast (ours is 3 lbs, and it will be fine, I'm sure)
EVOO (enough to sautee some veggies)
1 large onion
6-8 cloves of garlic
1 stalk of celery
1 tablespoon of rosemary
2 tablespoons of parsley
1 tablespoon of black pepper
1 tsp basil
2 cans of beef broth
2 cans of cream/mushroom soup
2 c. hearty burgandy wine (I might open some kind of red to throw in there, or I might not)
6 medium potatoes (but I'm going to use red potatoes)
8 carrots

Saute onions and celery, add to crock pot. Throw in the roast, and all the rest of the ingredients. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or overnight.

4. Spicy Beef Sandwiches from the Crock Pot recipe collection cookbook
1 boneless beef roast
12 oz. pepperoncini
14 1/2 oz. beef broth
12 oz. bottle of beer (we'll use Shiner Bock or Rolling Rock)
1 onion, minced
2 tablespoons dried Italian seasoning

Place roast into the crock pot. Drain pepperoncini and pull off the stems. Dump into the crock pot with the rest of the ingredients and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

Shred beef with two forks and return to broth. Mix well, and serve on french loaf bread with provolone cheese. We love these! And they are not spicy

* I can't remember if I've mentioned it (or mentioned it 100 times), but we order our meat in 6 month allotments (which lasts us 7 or 8 months, usually) from Town and Country foods. They deliver the best meat-fresh, grain-fed, low-fat meats, great variety (steak, chicken, beef, ground turkey, sausage-they also have fish, but we don't order any), as well as organic veggies and other extras (we usually get some pasta, corn dogs, meatballs, things like that).
** If you ever get invited to a Homemade Gourmet party, GO! And buy lots of stuff, and get on their mailing list. These are great mixes that let you have easy peasy dinners for cheap.

Meatloaf recipes-SUPER EASY

what you need

Mix 2 lb. lean ground beef, 1 cup water and 2 beaten eggs and mix & match your recipe from these options...

1. Chicken Stove Top Stuffing, 1/2 cup KRAFT Original BBQ Sauce, 1/2 cup chop onions
2. Cornbread Stove Top, 3/4 cup TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Thick N Chunky Salsa, 1/2 c chop grn pepper
3. Savory Herbs Stove Top, 1 jar (14 oz.) spaghetti sauce, 2 cloves mince garlic
4. Pork Stove Top, 1 jar (12 oz.) mushroom gravy, 1/2 cup each chopped onions & mushrooms

Then follow our simple steps:

HEAT oven to 400°F. Mix ground beef, water, eggs, 1 pkg. (6 oz.) STOVE TOP Stuffing Mix, 1/4 cup sauce and seasonings.

SHAPE meat mixture into 4 oval loaves on foil-covered baking sheet; top with remaining sauce.

BAKE 30 min. or until meatloaves are done (160ºF).

Slow cooker lasagna

Chef Meg's Slow Cooker Lasagna

I love Chef Meg--she is a contributor to a lot of great recipe websites and has healthy things to contribute. I am a little hesitant about cooking with eggplant, since I've only tried one eggplant recipe before, but I'm not going to skip it in this recipe.

*Review: I made this recipe for my family and it was not a big hit. Three of the five people in my house refused to eat any or more than a bite. I assembled it the night before (using regular lasagna noodles) and put the crock pot in the fridge. Then, it was ready to crock the next day, slowly. It was all OK, but was missing something. My husband suggested using Italian sausage instead of ground beef, and I may try that next time. Either that or add some Italian seasoning, basil, or more red pepper. I also think that you could substitute squash or zucchini for the eggplant and be fine.

INGREDIENTS
16 oz (1 lb) ground beef,
2 c eggplant, diced (no need to peel it) <--- I'm going to peel it.
1 jar marinara sauce (I will use Classico's Tomato Basil since it does not have added sugar)
1/4 t red pepper flakes
2 t dried thyme
1 1/4 c water
15 oz. ricotta cheese, part skim
1 T parsley chopped
1/4 c egg substitute(or 1 egg white)
1 c shredded Italian blend cheese (or mozzarella)
6 lasagna noodles, dried, no boil variety

DIRECTIONS
Brown the ground beef in a skillet over moderate heat; drain any excess fat. Stir in red pepper flakes, thyme, tomato sauce, eggplant, and water. In a bowl combine the egg substitute, ricotta, Italian cheese blend, and parsley. Place enough meat sauce to cover the bottom of slow cooker. Top with 2-3 noodles, broken to cover the meat sauce. Repeat layer. Top second layer with cheese mixture and finish with a top layer of the meat mixture. Cover and set slow cooker on low. Cook for 3 1/2 to 4 hours.

Number of Servings: 8

A different taco salad

1 lb ground beef, browned
2 c. salsa
1/4 c. cilantro

Mix above and serve with the following (I let everyone assemble their own so we each get what we like)

lettuce
plum tomatoes
cheese
tortilla chips
green onions
black olives
sour cream
chopped avocado

Bierox

What do you call an ox that drinks beer?
A Bierox.

Yes, Natalie will be available for all parties and special occasions to provide witty stand up like this.

These are yummy German breads filled with beef, and can be eaten plain or dipped in mustard or ketchup. I've tried adjusting this recipe by making the bread with whole wheat flour, and also by adding cheese inside, and neither were great adjustments.

Filling:
1 lb. ground meat
1 c. onion
2 c. cabbage
1 T salt (or less)
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. allspice
1 T flour (optional)
Brown the beef and onion together. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook until the cabbage is mushy. It works best if you can make this the day before, and refrigerate, but you don't have to.

Bread:
2 pkg. yeast
2 c. warm water
4 T. shortening
1 tsp. salt
6 c. flour (you can mix some wheat with the white or use all white)
4 T sugar
Dissolve the yeast in the water. Mix the ingredients, and let the bread rise twice (punch down in between). Roll out and put 1 T (or one ice cream scoop) of mixture in each bun. Pinch the buns closed. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes (or until the rolls are browned)

Asian BBQ with fried rice

This doesn't taste like Asian food, really, but it is delicious! Next time we'll throw some peanuts in there.

TRADITIONAL KOREAN BBQ- GRANDMA'S
SECRET RECIPE!

short ribs cut lengthwise
or
flank steak or any other thin cut of meat

Marinade:

2 cups water
2 cups low-sodium soy sauce
2 cups sugar
6 garlic cloves, minced
4 tablespoons sesame seed oil
3 tablespoons black pepper
1 white onion, grated

Grate white onion into a non-metallic bowl after peeling and mix with water, soy sauce, sugar, minced garlic, sesame seed oil and black pepper to make marinade. Place meat in marinade, turning to coat. Allow to marinate for 30 minutes or longer, turning frequently. The longer you marinade the more intense the flavor will be. It's a wonderful flavor so try 24 hours!

After marinating, drain and discard liquid and pat the meat dry.

Heat grill or skillet to HIGH. Since the meat is a thin cut, it will only take a few minutes on each side to cook. Serve with grilled onions and white rice.

Fried Rice:

ngredients:

* 1 - 2 green onions, as desired
* 2 large eggs
* 1 teaspoon salt
* Pepper to taste
* 4 tablespoons oil for stir-frying, or as needed
* 4 cups cold cooked rice
* 1 - 2 tablespoons light soy sauce or oyster sauce, as desired

Preparation:
Wash and finely chop the green onion. Lightly beat the eggs with the salt and pepper.

Heat a wok or frying pan and add 2 tablespoons oil. When the oil is hot, add the eggs. Cook, stirring, until they are lightly scrambled but not too dry. Remove the eggs and clean out the pan.

Add 2 tablespoons oil. Add the rice. Stir-fry for a few minutes, using chopsticks or a wooden spoon to break it apart. Stir in the soy sauce or oyster sauce as desired.

When the rice is heated through, add the scrambled egg back into the pan. Mix thoroughly. Stir in the green onion. Serve hot.

Cheeseburger Tacos

There is a restaurant in my building called Tin Star, and they make the yummiest Cheeseburger Tacos. I eat mine with a side of tortilla soup (instead of the fries that usually come with it) and chips/salsa. Yummy, and surprisingly easy to duplicate.

4 Hamburger patties, cooked
8 flour tortillas
Tomatoes, sliced
Purple onion, sliced
8 Cheddar cheese slices
Mustard and mayonnaise

Assemble with a flour tortilla, 1/2 a hamburger patty, slice of cheese, tomatoes and onion, mustard and mayonnaise. I think they add seasoned salt, too, which tastes great if you have it. You can also add lettuce if you want.

Make Ahead Mexican Casserole

1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
10 oz. Rotel
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
10 oz. enchilada sauce
24 corn tortillas cut into eighths
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Brown ground beef with onion. Stir in other ingredients except tortillas and cheese. Layer meat mixture and tortillas, beginning and ending with meat. Sprinkle with cheese and bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

Shepard's Pie

Ingredients
• 1 1/2 lbs ground round beef
• 1 onion chopped
• 1-2 cups vegetables - chopped carrots, corn, peas
• 1 1/2 - 2 lbs potatoes (3 big ones)
• 8 tablespoons butter (1 stick) (there is no way I’ll use this much)
• 1/2 cup beef broth
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• Salt, pepper, other seasonings of choice
Directions
1 Boil potatoes and prepare them as you would for mashed potatoes.
2. Saute onion and carrots in butter, and then add in mixed veggies, corn, and peas.
3. Add ground beef to the veggies and cook until the beef is no longer pink.
4. Add salt, pepper, worcesterchire sauce and beef broth. Cook uncovered over low heat for 10 minutes.
5 Place beef/veggie mixture in baking dish. Distribute mashed potatoes on top. Rough up with a fork so that there are peaks that will brown nicely.
6 Cook in 400 degree oven until bubbling and brown (about 30 minutes).

Review:
YUM! Natalie said that it should be in the rotation.

Keema

INGREDIENTS
1.5 lbs lean ground sirloin
1 cup chopped onions
2 cups canned crushed tomatoes
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup diced potatoes
1/2 teaspoon each cinnamon, tumeric, ginger
1 tbsp curry powder
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
Brown ground sirloin in pan with onions until browned.
Add tomatoes, peas, potatoes and spices along with salt and pepper to taste.
Bring to a simmer and cook for 25 mintues.
Add water if it becomes too thick. It should have the consistency of chili.
Serve over brown rice or whole wheat couscous.

Taco Salad-EASY dinner

1 lb ground beef
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 can refried beans
1 can Ranch Style beans
grated cheddar cheese
sour cream (low fat, of course)
tortillas and/or tortilla chips (whole wheat tortillas, corn tortillas, or baked chips are the healthiest choices)
salsa

Brown ground beef. Add taco seasoning and Ranch Style beans. In the meantime, warm the refried beans.

Serve with lettuce/spinach on the bottom, beef/beans on top of that, sour cream, cheese, and salsa. Crunch chips on the top or bottom, or use to dip.

FAST and EASY.

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