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.

Menu Week 1 2011

I slacked a little toward the end of last year, resulting in lots of "I don't know--just figure something out!" conversations, as well as frozen pizzas or dinners out. Some of that was good, since it led to my sweet husband making things that I usually don't make (see, Potato soup recipe below), but it is not a good way to start the year. Back on the horse, and now I have our meals for this week planned. I'll post, and then also post the recipes that are not on here yet.

Sunday:
Spaghetti-squash spaghetti (slice in half, take out seeds, bake at 350 for 45 minutes, pull out the "spaghetti" with a fork, cover with pasta sauce and serve)
Breadsticks from a can
Salad from a bag
Mini pita pizzas (mini pitas, cover with a tablespoon of pasta sauce and grated Italian blend cheese, bake for 10 minutes on 350)

Monday:
Meatball soup
Grilled cheese sandwiches

Tuesday:
Stroganoff-my mom's recipe she invented
with whole wheat "egg" noodles
Green beans or whatever we still have frozen (peas?)

Wednesday:
Spicy beef sandwiches (they aren't really spicy)
Chips
Salad from a bag

Thursday:
Dinner group

Friday:
Beef Fajitas (beef strips marinated in Fajita Quick, cooked with coarsely chopped onions and green peppers), served on flour tortillas with grated cheddar cheese
Rice
Refried beans

Saturday:
Roast

Easy smores to go

I don't know if I dreamed this recipe or someone told me about it, or what...but I made a ton of these this Christmas.

Box of graham crackers (honey flavor, not cinnamon)
Jar of marshmallow creme
Bag of milk chocolate chips

Break the graham crackers into quarters
Spread marshmallow creme on one of the quarters, and top with another, to make a little sandwich
Dip in melted milk chocolate chips
Let cool on wax paper. Can put in the freezer after they have set a little, but not directly from dipping (or they will be a mess)

Baked Potato soup

++BIG HIT with the kiddos. This was found, adjusted, cooked and served by my sweet husband. Served with salad. Yum-o.

Ingredients

* 12 slices bacon
* 2/3 cup margarine
* 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
* 7 cups milk
* 4 large baked potatoes, peeled and cubed
* 4 green onions, chopped
* 1 1/4 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
* 1 cup sour cream
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
+1 tsp onion powder
+20 drops of Tobasco sauce


Directions

1. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium heat until browned. Drain, crumble, and set aside.
2. In a stock pot or Dutch oven, melt the margarine over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Gradually stir in milk, whisking constantly until thickened. Stir in potatoes and onions. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
3. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Mix in bacon, cheese, sour cream, salt, and pepper. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until cheese is melted.

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).

Butternut Squash Risotto

Reading Bittersweet by Shauna Niequist has inspired me to cook some risotto (or learn to cook some). I'm going to try this recipe this week:

Parmesan Cheese, shredded, 4 tbsp
vegetable broth, 4 cup
White Wine, 2 fl oz
Olive Oil, 2 tsp
Nutmeg, ground, .25 tsp
Butternut Squash, 1 cup, cubes
Garlic, 1 clove minced
Swiss Chard, 1 cup, chopped
Collards, 1 cup, chopped
Arborio rice, .75 cup
Leeks, .5 leek sliced



Directions
Heat 4 cups of vegetable broth or stock and keep warm on low heat.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Toss peeled and cubed squash with 1tsp olive oil, dash of salt, pepper and minced garlic clove. Roast about 20 minutes, until tender. Set aside.

Boil some water and simmer greens for about 4 minutes. Drain, cool, chop coarsely and set aside. (You can sub kale for either or both the chard and collards)

Heat 1 tsp oil in a heavy saute pan and saute the leeks for a couple of minutes, until they soften. Add the rice and cook for another couple of minutes, stirring constantly.

Add wine and allow rice to absorb it. Add stock, slowly, 1 cup at a time, continuing to stir gently and allowing rice to absorb stock before adding more. Add two cups of broth total.

Stir in the squash and the greens. Reduce heat to low and continue to cook, adding stock 1/2-3/4 cup at a time until rice is tender. The rice should be a little saucy.

Add pinch of nutmeg and stir in the cheese. Adjust seasoning to taste. Serve immediately.

Peanut butter banana bread

Peanut Butter Banana Bread
From: Cooking Light Made by: Jennifer Green
New recipe-not in COH Cookbook

Ingredients
Bread:
• 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana
• 1/3 cup plain fat-free yogurt
• 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 6.75 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• 2 tablespoons chopped dry-roasted peanuts
Glaze:
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon 1% low-fat milk
• 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. To prepare bread, combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed. Add granulated and brown sugars; beat until blended.
3. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through allspice) in a small bowl. Add flour mixture to banana mixture; beat just until blended. Stir in nuts. Pour batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Remove bread from pan; cool.
4. To prepare glaze, combine powdered sugar, milk, and 1 tablespoon peanut butter in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Drizzle glaze over bread.

Nutritional Information: Calories:198 ; Fat:7.4g
(sat 2.3g,mono 2.7g,poly 1.8g) ; Protein:4.7g; Carbohydrate:29.7g;
fiber:1.9g; Cholesterol:28mg; Iron:1.1mg; Sodium:200mg; Calcium:27mg