Crock-pot Mongolian Beef

This was a goodie and so easy! Everyone in my family liked it, except the 4-year-old who doesn't like anything that's not Cheeto-based. I don't count her opinion anymore.

1 lb beef flank steak, sliced thinly across the grain
1 medium white onion (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup light soy sauce or 1/2 cup Braggs liquid aminos
1 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground ginger or 1 inch piece fresh ginger grated
1/2-1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, to taste
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 cup cut scallion, in 1 . 5 inch pieces (green onions)
1/3 cup fruity white wine

1 Slice the flank steak thinly across the grain - the strips should be 2 to 3 inches long each; set aside.

2 Combine the onion, soy sauce, broth, garlic, hoisin, brown sugar, ginger, and pepper flakes, then put the mixture into the crock pot.

3 Put the cornstarch in a large Ziploc bag; add the sliced beef and toss well to coat. (It practically kills me to use up a gallon bag for such a simple task, but I did, and the food was worth it in the end.)

4 Add the coated beef into the crock pot, gently pushing it into the liquid to cover; pour the white wine over - do NOT stir.

5 Cook on low for 4 to 5 hours; an hour before you're going to serve, turn the crock pot to high, add the cut scallions, stir, and cook for an additional hour.

6 Stir, and serve over rice or noodles.

Whoopie Pies (America's Test Kitchen)

(serves 12...big whoopie pies)

Cookies:

4 cups flour

1 cup cocoa (preferably Dutch processed)

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 cups packed brown sugar

2 sticks butter, softened but still cool

2 large eggs, room temp

2 tsp. vanilla

2 cups buttermilk

Filling:

3 sticks butter, softened but still cool

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. salt

5 cups marshmallow creme

Directions: Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with a hand mixer...about 4 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients: flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Pour some of it into the butter/sugar mixture, alternating with the buttermilk..dry mix, buttermilk, dry mix, buttermilk, etc. Drop the batter onto sheet pans covered in parchment paper. Give the cookies plenty of room to spread. Bake for about 7 minutes, rotate the pan in the oven and bake for 7 minutes more OR until the cookies "spring bag" when lightly pressed with your finger.

For the filling, beat the softened butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the vanilla and salt. Beat in the marshmallow creme. Mix well. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Dollop on a cookie, take another cookie on top and press together until the filling spreads to the edges. Eat!

 

found this, this morning and can't wait to find a reason to make them!

Scotcheroos

Just got done making 2 batches of these for our Trip to Lake Powell!

I can't believe I haven't posted my very Favorite Recipe!!!  I guess that is because that is how long it has been since I made them!  For good reason I could eat the whole pan NO PROBLEM!!!  :)

1C Karo Syrup
1C Sugar
1C Creamy Peanut Butter
6C Crispy Rice Cereal
1C Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
1C Butterscotch Chips

1-cook corn syrup & sugar together in a large pan over med heat, stirring to dissolve sigar.  Bring mixture to a boil.  Remove from heat.  Stir in Peanut butter, mix well.  Add Cereal, stir until evenly coated.
2-pour into greased cookie sheet/pan 13x9 and pat into place.
3-melt chocolate & butterscotch chips together in sauce pan over low heat, stirring constantly.  Spread over cereal.
4-Cool at least 45 min, or until firm, cut into bars.

Swedish Berry Cream Dessert

This was on a blog I stalk. It sounded good so I'm posting it tonight and trying it out tomorrow. The best part is, since it has fruit in it, we can pretend it's healthy.


1 envelope Knox gelatin
1/4 c. cold water
2 1/2 c. heavy cream (to save a few calories, I use 1 1/4 c. half an half, 1 1/4 c. heavy cream)
1 c. sugar
2 c. sour cream (I use fat free)
1 tsp. vanilla
4 c. fresh berries (raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries -- whatever you love most)

Dissolve gelatine in water.
Heat (do not boil) cream, sugar, and gelatin; stirring gently.
Cool to room temperature.
Fold in sour cream and vanilla.
Pour over berries and chill (you can do individual serving bowls, or a big bowl)
Serves 8





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Cafe Rio Pork or Chicken Salad!!!! WONDERFUL!

I got all these recipes from except the chicken from:
http://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/2007/11/jared-and-i-love-cafe-rio.html

So I used raw Tortilla shells from Costco for these and fried them up!  I love them!

Pork-

2 pounds pork (we use boneless pork rib meat)
3 cans Coke (NOT diet)
1/4 c. brown sugar
dash garlic salt
1/4 c. water
1 can sliced green chilies
3/4 can enchilada sauce (I use Old El Paso brand, medium spiciness but any will work)
1 c. brown sugar

Put the pork in a heavy duty ziploc bag to marinade. Add about a can and a half of coke and about 1/4 c. of brown sugar. Marinade for a few hours or overnight.

Drain marinade and put pork, 1/2 can of coke, water, and garlic salt in crock pot on high for about 3-4 hours (or until it shreds easily, but don't let it get TOO dry) or on low for 8 hours. Remove pork from crock pot and drain any liquid left in the pot. Shred pork.

In a food processor or blender, blend 1/2 can Coke, chilies, enchilada sauce and remaining brown sugar (about a cup, you can add a little more or less to taste..). If it looks too thick, add more Coke little by little.

Put shredded pork and sauce in crockpot and cook on low for 2 hours. That's it!

.

You know me I never follow exactly!  I added the spicy stuff from the food processor straight into the crockpot with the marinade, I liked that it wasn't covered in enchilada sauce, but it had the taste!

RICE:

I am not going to share the recipe, you can follow the link and find it, because I like the lime rice recipe that Patti has already shared on this blog much MUCH better!!

BLACK BEANS

2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/3 c. tomato juice
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. fresh chopped cilantro

In a nonstick skillet, cook garlic and cumin in olive oil over medium heat until you can smell it. Add beans, tomato juice, and salt. Continually stir until heated through. Just before serving stir in the cilantro. (**NOTE** we added a can of corn, drained, to the beans with a dash of cumin and chili powder, it was AWESOME! We recommend doing this even though it's not "traditional Cafe Rio")

 

And the MOST important part!

The Cilantro Lime Dressing!

1 packet TRADITIONAL Hidden Valley Ranch mix (not BUTTERMILK)
1 c. mayonnaise
1 c. buttermilk
2 tomatillos, remove husk, diced
1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro
1 clove garlic
juice of 1 lime
1 jalepeno (we like it SPICY so we kept the seeds in it, if you like it mild, just remove the seeds)

Mix all ingredients together in the blender. That's it!

We also did Avocados instead of guacamole, shredded cheese & some of my homemade salsa.

It was perfect!  and I am excited to have it again today!!! 

of and for the chicken I used this recipe:

Chicken

5 lbs chicken breast- boneless skinless

Some zesty Italian dressing

1 Tbsp chili powder, I used crushed red pepper

1 Tpsp cumin

3 cloves garlic, minced

Mix all ingredients together in a large crock pot.

Cook on high for 5-7 hours. Remove chicken and shred with fork. Reserve a small amount of juice and pour over shredded chicken to keep moist. Keep warm.  I also added most of a can of caffeine free Pepsi after I shredded it, and returned it to all juices it cooked in!  :)

Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup

1/3 C Oil or Butter - I used coconut oil
4 tsp minced garlic
about 1 lb chicken
1/3 C flour
1/2 C carrots, shredded
1 stick of celery
1/2 C chopped spinach
2 1/2 C milk - I used 1%
1 1/2 C heavy cream - I used coconut cream
1C chicken stock
cracked pepper to taste
about 16 oz of Gnocchi - I used whole wheat

on med heat
melt butter/oil in a soup pot, add in the garlic and saute, add chicken and cook thoroughly.
Add flour and stir in flour and mix well until flour is cooked in.
add milk & cream
then add veggies
add stock
add gnocchi last it takes 3-4 min to cook through
mix until soup thickens & stir occasionally.  cover and simmer for 10 min

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole by Sheryl

8 slices ham
8 slices Swiss cheese
8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 c. cheddar cheese, grated
1/3 c. parmesan cheese grated
½ pkg Stove Top stuffing (chicken)
Or
¾ c bread crumbs (save the crumbs from slicing home-made bread)
1/4 c. melted butter

Sauce:

1 can cream of mushroom (or celery, chicken (or one of each if tripling)) soup
¼ c. milk
1 sm. Can mushrooms (optional)
1 T parsley
½ tsp garlic or lemon pepper
1-2 Tbsp diced green onions (optional)

Place slices of ham separately in a casserole dish. Place Swiss cheese and then chicken on each slice of ham. Mix ingredients in sauce and pour over chicken. Sprinkle grated cheeses over sauce. Top with bread crumbs. Drizzle butter over bread crumbs. Bake covered at 350 for 50 minutes. Remove cover and bake 10 minutes more.

**For the freezer: Assemble as above except do not add bread crumbs and grated cheese: Add these after defrosting, before putting into the oven. I like to make at least three of these at a time especially when ham is on sale during the Holidays (Easter is coming up!) I buy a spiral sliced ham specifically for this recipe. One ham will easily make 3 casseroles plus plenty for other recipes. Also I just triple the sauce recipe instead of making single batches to save time. Keeps 3+ months.
***A cheap freezer container: line your pan with heavy duty foil before assembling casserole. Assemble then put in freezer-allow to freeze solid. Once frozen, remove foil lined casserole from pan and wrap again with heavy duty foil until it's sealed. Then put back into the freezer until you're ready to use. Once you're ready to use your casserole just unwrap the outer foil layer & pop it back into your original casserole dish.

ENJOY!

Aebleskivers

These are Danish pancakes, that kind of look like light, fluffy pancake balls. You need a special pan to make them, but they're a lot of fun if you have it. As always, we ate them before I remembered I wanted a picture of the food.

4 separated eggs
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 C. buttermilk
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
2 C. flour
butter, margarine, or shortening

Beat egg whites until stiff. Set aside.

Beat rest of ingredients until batter is very smooth. Fold in egg whites.

Heat pan at medium with 1/8 tsp. butter in each hole. Cook for a few minutes on each side.

Serve with syrup, powdered sugar, jam, etc.

Makes approximately 48 pancakes (4-5 servings)

Making your own gnocchi - watch for upcoming soup recipe using gnocchi!

Gnocchi
2 qt water
6 oz all-purpose flour
2 eggs
2 lbs russet potatoes
2 tsp salt
OR
1 lb gnocchi (potato dumplings), cooked according to package directions

Procedures
NOTE: You may make your own gnocchi by following the steps below, or you may purchase them already made.

Gnocchi

WASH potatoes and place in water. Cook potatoes until soft (cook time will depend on size of potatoes). Remove potatoes from water and cool in refrigerator.

PEEL cooled potatoes and push them through a fine grater (rice grater) until mashed; do not over-mash potatoes or they will get tough.

COMBINE potatoes, flour and eggs in a mixing bowl. Mix well until dough does not stick to hands (add small amounts of flour at a time if needed).

DIVIDE dough into 4 sections. Roll out each section into a long rope. Cut each rope into &frac; pieces. Push fork tines on each piece for the classic gnocchi appearance.

BRING water to a boil in a sauce pot. Drop in gnocchi and cook until they float.