Pot Roast- In the Crock Pot!

I think one of everyone's favorite Sunday meals is the trusty pot roast and vegetables. It was a common smell on Sunday afternoons when we got home from church. My favorite part was always the yummy, tender veggies. I think I thought it was a difficult dish to make, when really it takes less than ten minutes to get it all in the pot and cooking! I heart crock pot meals. I especially love buying a bigger piece of meat on sale for a meal like this and then I use the leftovers for one or more meal remixes. I turned this leftover meat into yummy fried shredded beef tacos.

Here's what you need:
Serves at least 4 people (just two of us ate this and I had a ton of leftovers)
3-4 pound chuck roast (depending on the size of your crock pot)
3 non baking potatoes (I really prefer the creaminess of yukon gold)
Half a red onion
1 cup baby carrots
Big handful of green beans, stems cut off
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon season salt
All I did was put the roast on the bottom of the pot, put the season salt on it, then threw in the veggies, potatoes and onion cut into big chunks and everything else thrown in on top. Then I covered them in the seasonings and salt and pepper. You can add other seasonings if there's a flavor you prefer- These are just the seasonings we like here. I put the top on, put it on high for four hours (or you can do low for six or more hours). When we ate, the meat was SO tender, the veggies were perfect and not overdone or soggy. I took some of the juice at the bottom of the crock pot, ladled it into a pot on the stove and simmered it on low to reduce it a bit for a quick pan gravy. Make sure to taste it for seasonings because I added a little more salt. Serve the meat with the veggies and top it off with a little of the gravy. It's an all in one meal pretty much. All it needs is a little bread on the side. I think this dinner is fancy enough for Sunday dinner but simple enough for a weeknight meal, like we had it last week. Yum!

Swedish Meatballs over Mashed Potatoes

I love pretty much anything served over mashed potatoes (one of my absolute favorite things). I saw a recipe for Swedish meatballs last week and thought that it might be fun to try them out. I've never made them before but I have had them at Ikea :) The photo I saw of the pretty little meatballs sitting in a creamy, brown gravy really got my attention. I added it to my weekly menu and made them tonight. I cut the recipe in half and it made about 15 meatballs which is more than enough for the two of us. The meatballs were tender and flavorful and the gravy was sooo yummy. I mixed up my own version of my favorite potatoes to serve under the meatballs. 


Here's the recipe (below it's cut in half), and my variations are in parentheses.

1 slice fresh white bread (I used sourdough)
1/8 cup milk
4 tablespoons clarified butter, divided ( I just used regular butter and still used all 4 T)
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon kosher salt in the meat + 1 teaspoon koser salt in the gravy
3/4 pound ground beef (I only used beef, not pork)
1 large egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice (left this out)
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups beef broth (i used chicken)
1/4 cup heavy cream


You can read the directions on the actual post, but I'll break down what I did since I changed it up a bit.


Soak the bread in the milk in a little dish.
While it soaks, saute the onion (which I grated, not chopped) in one tablespoon of butter for about 3 minutes. Then turn the heat off of the onions and let them sit.
Now take the beef and put it in your kitchen aid bowl (if you don't have a kitchen aid, just mix it by hand. This tip was amazing tho, and from Stephanie Meyer's recipe). Add the egg yolk, salt, nutmeg, pepper to the meat. Add the cooled onions and milky bread. Now mix it for like 2 minutes in medium with the paddle attachment.


In the same pan you cooked the onions, add another tablespoon of butter, heat on medium-low and start forming meatballs. As you form them, put them in the pan. Brown them all over, but don't worry about cooking them through. As they are done browning, place them in the crock pot. 


Once all of the meatballs are browned, put in the last 2 tablespoons of butter, melt it, and whisk in the 2 tablespoons of flour. Cook it for about 30 seconds. Then add the broth and cream plus salt and pepper to taste. Stir it until it's decently think, then pour over the meatballs in the crock pot. I simmered mine for about 3 hours on low. That's it!


As for the mashed potatoes- let me tell you two things that will change your life. 1) YUKON GOLD. For mashed, NOTHING is better. They're creamy, golden and perfect. 2) A POTATO RICER. I thought they were a bulky piece of whatever that didn't make a difference. Well, I was wrong. 


Golden Mashed Potatoes:


4 Large Yukon Golds
2 Tablespoons of butter
2/3 cup sour cream or cream cheese or both
1/2 cup milk OR cream OR buttermilk
1 or 2 or 3 teaspoons of salt (add it slowly and taste as you go)
1 teaspoon of pepper (I like a lot of pepper)


Cut your potatoes the same size (like 1 inch). Place in a pot and cover them with cold water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, simmer for about 10 minutes or until you can pierce the potato piece and it falls apart. Rice the potatoes a scoop at a time into a bowl. I like to put the other ingredients in first so as the hot potatoes fall on the cream cheese and butter, it melts it. Then add in the liquid and stir. DON'T stir your potatoes for ten minutes. They'll get gummy and cold. Stir until everything is incorporated and thank me later. 

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I hereby declare that this is the easiest meal EVER.  This is serious. I said EVER.  For one, you probably already have everything on hand.  And the original directions for the recipe pretty much consisted of "open up cans, dump everything in, heat through".  If that doesn't sound easy, well then I don't really know what to do for you.

I originally got this recipe from my Aunt Jenny.  I made a few adjustments to make it a little more hearty, but still - easy peasey.  Since the weather is rather dreary outside today, I thought it was the perfect day to share it.  It tastes similar to a taco soup, but with chicken and my addition - rice.  I used to defrost the chicken, cut it up, maybe even BBQ it. Then I eliminated the BBQ step and would throw the defrosted chicken chunks into the soup to cook. Last night? I just pulled a chicken breast out of my freezer and threw it in. When it was thawed enough, I just pulled it out of the soup, shredded it and threw it back into the pot.  I also used to add in rice I had previously cooked, but then I just started throwing in raw rice and adding extra water.  Give it a try tonight! You know you don't know what to make and going to the store doesn't sound fun!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

1 can diced tomatoes
1 14.5  oz can green chili enchilada sauce
1 14.5 oz chicken broth
1 can black or kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can corn (or about 1.5 cups frozen or fresh corn)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 chicken breast (thawed, frozen, cooked, whatever)
1 envelope taco seasoning
2/3 c. white rice (optional)
1-2 cups water

 Combine all ingredients in a medium stockpot. Bring to a simmer.  If you use raw chicken or rice, simmer until cooked through (about 25 minutes). Add water as needed when the rice starts to soak up the juices. Stir consistently - especially the bottom of the pot as all of the heavy ingredients fall there.  Serve with sour cream, guacamole or avocado (my favorite), cheese, and tortilla chips

Dresden's Menu

Another week is already here, I seriously feel like August flew by faster than any month this year. Which is weird cause my birthday is this month and it usually goes by really slow. We've been super busy every week this month so that's probably why it's has gone by so quickly. I have a few new recipes I'm trying this week, click on the green ones new recipes to try.

Monday: Hamburgers with fruit

Tuesday: Crock Pot Orange Chicken & rice

Wednesday: My birthday!

Thursday: Enchiladas with salad

(I can never have too many of my mom's enchiladas:))

Friday: Chicken Alfredo with broccoli

(this is my favorite alfredo sauce recipe)

Saturday: Steak with Crock Pot Ranch Potatoes

I was looking for a healthy granola recipe for awhile when I came upon this. My old roommate is a super incredibly healthy strong girl. She has lots of great workout and healthy eating tips over at her blog here. These little babies are peanut butter oatmeal banana granola bars, a recipe from her blog. I made a batch of them, wrapped each one in freezer paper + tape and grab one on my way out the door from the freezer every morning. I highly recommend them as a snack at work, they are yummy!

Crock Pot Chicken

Ok. This is seriously one of the easiest dishes I've ever made, especially when you taste how good it is! I'm writing it from memory, but I found it in a family cookbook. I will say that it's far from healthy. But sometimes you need something quick and easy and delicious. Serve a big salad next to it to make yourself feel better about the butter! :)

Here's what you need:

1 brick cream cheese
1 stick butter
1 ranch packet
1 can cream of chicken soup (you could use cream of anything probably)
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
1/2 cup chicken stock or broth
3-4 chicken breasts

Let the butter and cream cheese come to room temperature, then mix everything together (I mix it all in the crock pot, then add in the chicken on top.) Cook for about 4 hours and serve over cooked rice. It's so good!

bbq pork sandwiches

these are so easy and delicious. even david makes them for me sometimes :)

put these in your crock pot:
1 pork tenderloin (it's super lean but very flavorful)
1/2 c bbq sauce
1/4 c brown sugar
1/4 cup vinegar (white or cider)
1/4 c orange marmalade
1/3 c of water

put on low and cook for 6-8 hours. i serve it on french rolls with extra bbq sauce on top. it makes your house smell so good!