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Archive for the ‘Cooking’ Category

Tomato Macaroni Soup

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , , , , on November 29, 2014| 2 Comments »

Six Sister’s Stuff is a great site for delicious recipes and neat crafts.  Today’s soup comes from Camille and it is a copycat of a dish from one of her favorite restaurants.  When I first read the list of ingredients, I was a little skeptical, but this is so tasty.  The A1 sauce really gives it a great kick.

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1 lb. ground beef

1/2 cup diced onion

6 cups beef broth

14 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 cup ketchup

6 oz. can tomato paste

3 tbsp. A1 sauce

2 tbsp. brown sugar

3 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

1 1/2 cups elbow macaroni, cooked

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Cook the macaroni according to package directions.  Drain and set aside.  Cook the ground beef with the diced onion until the meat is cooked through and the onions are soft.  Set this aside.

In a large pot, combine the beef broth, diced tomatoes, ketchup, tomato paste, A1, Worcestershire sauce, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Cook over medium high heat.  Bring this to a boil then reduce the heat to low.  Add the meat mixture into the soup pot and simmer for 10 minutes.  Add the macaroni to the soup and enjoy! I made a pan of cornbread to go with this and we all enjoyed every bite.

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Bacon Cheeseburgers

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , , , , on November 22, 2014| 3 Comments »

C loves a good bacon cheeseburger, even if his arteries do not.  Ha, ha!  I had never attempted to make one because frying and I, well, we just don’t get along.  So in my effort to be a good wife and fix things he enjoys, I got over my fear of frying and cooked this recipe from KevinAndAmanda.com.

The burgers turned out great even after I burned the first batch of bacon I cooked and then managed to smoke up the house while I was cooking the second batch. Oops!

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1 lb. bacon

1 lb. ground beef

1 pkg. dry ranch dressing mix

2 tbsp. A1 steak sauce

1 egg

Montreal steak seasoning

Sliced cheese of your choice

Hamburgers buns

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Cut the bacon in half and fry in a large skillet over medium-low heat about 10 minutes on each side.  Don’t do what I did and turn up the heat trying to make it cook faster.  Please, just don’t. 

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While the bacon is cooking, combine the ground beef with the ranch dressing mix, A1 sauce, and egg.  Mix this together with your hands and form into 6 patties.  Season both sides of the patties with Montreal steak seasoning.

When the bacon is done, leave just enough bacon grease in the skillet to coat the bottom.  Turn the heat up to medium high.  Put the hamburger patties in the skillet and cook for 3 minutes on each side.  While the burgers are cooking, spread a little butter on the buns and toast in a warm oven for about 5 minutes.

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Place the cooked bacon strips and a slice of cheese on each burger and place a lid on the skillet.  Turn off the heat and leave covered just until the cheese melts.  Build your burger and enjoy!

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Mississippi Pot Roast

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , , , on November 15, 2014| 3 Comments »

Y’all, let me tell you about this roast!  It is now my favorite way to cook a beef roast and it will be a long time before I try a different way.  This is one of those recipes that seems to always be popping up on Pinterest, but after my co-worker loved it and after Plain Chicken loved it, I knew it had to be great. 

This is so easy and tasty and I could just go on and on!  This is the perfect Sunday supper main dish.

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3 lb. pot roast (I used a chuck roast.)

1 packet Ranch dressing mix (I used Penzey’s Spices ranch dressing mix. It’s the best and no MSG!)

1 packet Au Jus mix

6 pepperoncini peppers

1 stick butter

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Spray the crock of your slow cooker with non-stick spray.  Place the roast in the crock.  Sprinkle the ranch dressing mix and Au Jus mix over the roast.  Place the peppers around the roast and, lastly, put the stick of butter on top.  Cook on low for 8-10 hours and try not to gobble the whole thing up in one sitting.  I dare you!! 

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Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , , , on November 8, 2014|

Whenever I start thinking about favorite fall flavors, my first choice is always apple.  Some people LOVE pumpkin with a capital “L”, but I’m an apple girl.  This recipe from King Arthur Flour Company (also one of my faves) is awesome!  How can you go wrong with a caramel apple in cake form?

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For the topping:

2 medium apples (I used Galas.)

4 tbsp. unsalted butter

3/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

2 tbsp. thawed apple juice concentrate (or boiled cider if you have it)

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 cup light corn syrup

For the cake:

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

2 tbsp. thawed apple juice concentrate (or boiled cider)

2 large eggs

1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I use King Arthur.)

1 large apple, peeled & finely chopped (I used gala.)

3/4 cup chopped pecans

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Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 9 inch round cake pan at least 2 inches deep.  Line the bottom of the pan with parchment or wax paper and spray that as well with non-stick spray.

Slice and peel the top with the stem off one of the apples and set it aside.  Peel and slice 2 apples into 1/4 inch wedges. Place the apple top, stem side down, in the middle of the pan, and overlap the rest of the apple wedges in a ring around that piece.

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Over low heat on your stovetop, melt the butter with the 3/4 cup brown sugar, 2 tbsp. apple juice concentrate, 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon and 1/2 cup light corn syrup.  Stir until the sugar is dissolved.  Pour 1/2 cup of the syrup mixture over the apple slices and set the rest aside.

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For the cake: Beat the vegetable oil, 1 cup light brown sugar, 2 tbsp. apple juice concentrate, eggs, spices and salt together for 2 minutes at medium speed.

Sift together the flour and baking soda then stir this into the batter.  Add the chopped apples and nuts and mix until just blended.

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The batter will be thick so scoop the batter into the pan over the apple slices then carefully spread it so it completely covers the apples.  Bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

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Remove from the oven and run a knife along the outside edge of the cake to loosen it from the pan.  Let the cake cool for 5 minutes then turn it out on to a serving plate.  Make sure and save any of the tasty topping that might stick to the pan.

Reheat the reserved topping and pour it over the cake.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Yield: 8-10 servings

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Menu Plan Monday

Posted in Menu Planning, tagged , , on November 3, 2014| 2 Comments »

Good Monday morning and happy November, everyone!  Wait a minute…it’s November?   It is so hard to believe that it is holiday time again!  Where did my summer go?  Oh, well, maybe we will have an Indian summer.  Maybe, please?

I hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween.  We had a great time with all of our trick-or-treaters and I think Ellie enjoyed it as much as any of us.  She loved all of the extra attention she got from the kiddoes and they loved to love on her.

This is a busy work week for me and I desperately need to go to the grocery, so this week’s menu is full of simple, old favorites except for the bubble up apple pie.  That was supposed to get made last week, but I had promised to make C an Oreo pie sometime, so I made that instead. Have a great week!

Bubble up pizza with fresh fruit

Cheesy steak sandwiches with oven fries (2 nights)

Grilled pork chops with butter roasted potatoes and salad

Pizza night

Apple braised pork loin with butter roasted potatoes

Bubble Up Apple Pie

Please join me at I’m An Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday.

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Homemade Taco Seasoning

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , on November 1, 2014| 1 Comment »

We love all things taco around here and I always seemed to be running low on taco seasoning.  While browsing Pinterest one day, I found this recipe for homemade taco seasoning and it is delicious.  No more running out for me! 

The recipe below makes enough for one pound of taco meat, but I like to mix up several batches of the seasoning and store it in a glass jar in the pantry. 

The original recipe is at Chef Mommy and the only change I made was to make it salt-free.  Believe me, you don’t even miss the salt with all of the other great flavors.

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1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon black pepper

Mix all of the above ingredients together and add to one pound of cooked ground beef or turkey with one cup of water.  Stir and cook until thickened.  The jar above has about 3 batches of the recipe.

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Menu Plan Monday

Posted in Menu Planning, tagged , , , on October 27, 2014| 2 Comments »

Wow, where did the last couple of months go?  I am so behind on blogging that it just isn’t funny, but hopefully this post is the beginning of normal again.  Sorry I have been MIA, but C & I have been so busy that something had to give and that something was the blog.  Now I am ready to jump back in with some new photos and recipes. 

Thanks so much for sticking with me and reading what few posts I had pre-planned.  I haven’t been doing a lot of cooking lately and the few new things I have tried really haven’t turned out as well as I had hoped.  The new recipes planned for this week mostly come from tried and true sources like The Pioneer Woman and Plain Chicken so they should be yummy!

Have a great week, everyone, and I am so happy to be back to blogging!

Tomato macaroni soup (new) and cornbread

Taco ring with salad (2 nights)

Bacon cheeseburgers (new) with oven baked fries

Pizza night

Pioneer Woman’s sloppy Joes (new) with curly fries

Bubble-up Apple Pie (new)

Please join me at I’m An Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday.

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Tomato Herb Roast

Posted in Cooking on October 4, 2014| 3 Comments »

A lot of the new recipes I try come from other bloggers, but this is from the Better Homes & Garden website. My Nanny has subscribed to BHG for as long as I can remember and they always have tasty recipes to try.  Their version is made in a Dutch oven, but I made mine in a slow cooker and it was delicious.  It is a perfect Sunday supper idea.

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Beef chuck roast, 2 to 3 pounds

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

2 tbsp. olive oil

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

15 oz. can tomato sauce

1 tbsp. tomato paste

1/2 cup beef broth

1 tbsp. Italian seasoning

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Season the roast with salt and pepper.  In a large skillet over medium-high heat, warm the oil and then brown the roast on both sides in the hot oil.

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Once the meat is brown, set it aside on a plate to make the sauce.  Add the onion and garlic to the leftover oil and cook until tender, 3 to 5 minutes.  Stir in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, beef broth and Italian seasoning.  Bring this to a boil for about 3 minutes.

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Spray your slow cooker with non-stick spray and pour about a cup of the sauce into the crock.  Place the roast in the crock and cover with the rest of the sauce.  Cook on low for 5-6 hours or until the roast is cooked through.

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Fried Pork Chops

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , on September 27, 2014| 1 Comment »

If you are a regular reader here, you know that I don’t fry food a lot.  Every once in a while, I get an urge for something fried and when I make it, the reason I don’t do it a lot comes right back to me.  These chops were really good, but my whole house smelled like grease after I made them.

I have to say they were worth it.  Check out the original recipe at Deep South Dish.

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4 bone-in pork chops

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup self rising flour

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

1/4 tsp. granulated sugar

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. seasoning of your choice (I used Penzey’s BBQ of the Americas.)

2 tsp. onion powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

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Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  While the oil warms, combine all of the remaining ingredients except the chops in a pie pan.

Dredge the chops in the flour mixture to completely coat them.

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Carefully put the pork chops into the skillet.  Don’t overcrowd the pan, but you should be able to cook two at a time.  Fry until browned on the first side, about 3 to 5 minutes.  Flip the chop and cook for another 3 to 5 minutes or until cooked through. 

Transfer to a paper towel lined plate to let the excess oil drain.

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Menu Plan Monday

Posted in Menu Planning, tagged , , on September 22, 2014|

Good morning and welcome to a long overdue Menu Plan Monday post! I have been trying to get back into a menu plan posting routine, but haven’t been very successful.  Hopefully this post will get me back on track for a while and the motivation to menu plan will come back.

This week is full of easy favorites while C & I tackle a few projects around the house.  Have a great week!!

Salsa sloppy Joes with oven baked fries

Sausage cheese dip with Fritos scoops

Sausage bake with salad

Pizza night

Grocery night

Fall apart pork chops with butter roasted potatoes and salad

Please join me at I’m An Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday.

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