Laziest Roast Ever

This was yummy and beyond easy. There was a sale on boneless shoulder chuck roast, so I picked up a 1.67 pound hunk-o-meat. The recipe is based on that and may need some adjusting if you have a bigger crockpot and a bigger chunk of meat.

Lazy Sunday Roast
Serves: 3

1. Lightly spray your crock pot with Pam.
2. Dump in a 16 oz bag of frozen stew veggies, a cup of frozen diced onion, and a cup of frozen corn kernels. Put the chunk of meat on top of the veggies.
3. Sprinkle on a packet of Lipton soup mix "savory herb with garlic" and top with a can of cream of mushroom soup.
4. Cook for 6 hours on high or all day on low.
5. Serve with bisquits and some fruit.

**Now this is simply the laziest way to do this. If you wanna be all fancy, you can cut up your own fresh veggies like carrots and potatoes. Today just wasn't one of those fancy kinda days.

Crunchy Shrimp

Matt loved these. I served them with garlic & butter flavored rice packet from Lipton and some cut up apples. It went really well together and Matt basically scarfed it up! Yay!

Crunchy Shrimp
Serves: 2

1. Get the rice going and immediately start on everything else.
2. I used the medium/large sized frozen shrimp THAWED that come like 55 to a bag with the tails still on. I had about half a bag left.
3. Put out 2 paper plates and 1 small bowl. On the first plate mix the following (adjustments may be made for the amount of shrimp you have to do):
-3 tablespoons of flour
-3 tsp cayenne pepper
-2 tsp black pepper
-3 tsp garlic salt
In the bowl, beat 2 eggs. On the second plate dump some Panko bread crumbs. Now you have an assembly line!
4. Heat up some veggie oil in a large skillet. Do not use olive oil for this. You want enough oil so it just about covers the entire bottom of the pan thinly.
5. Take a shrimp, dunk it in the flour mixture, then the egg, then the panko. Carefully put in the skillet. Repeat as necessary.
6. Fry each side about 2-3 minutes til golden brown.
7. Now your rice should be done. Serve together. No dipping sauce needed. YUM!

Umm Asian crockpot?

Alright so I wasn't the biggest fan of this one I have to admit. But I will post it in case someone wants to take a crack at improving it. I guess it wasn't the exact flavor I was looking for. If I ever attempt it again I might try using a the jarred brown sauce gravy instead of the Hoisin sauce. Maybe. It just wasn't spicy enough for us. I don't really know what I didn't like about it.

Asian Mess
Serves: 2

1. Lightly spray your crockpot with Pam.
2. Throw in 2 medium sized frozen chicken breasts.
3. In a small bowl mix the following ingredients then dump over chicken:
--1/2 cup prepared Hoisin Sauce
--1/4 cup honey
--4-5 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
--1 inch of ginger, peeled and grated
--1 tablespoon sesame oil
--1/2 cup soy sauce

4. Cook over low until you get home from work. Then dump in a drained can of La Choy stir fry veggies and a can of drained can of water chesnuts. Cook over low until hot. Serve with rice and an egg roll.

Mmmac & Cheese

I took Molly's mac & cheese and spiced it up. It was deeelicious. I made the whole recipe so we could have leftovers for lunch. To reheat I just add a bit of milk so it doesn't dry out. mmmm. I like to use the largest pan I have so that it is a thinner casserole and there is more surface area for the crumbs and for it to get crunchier.

Mmmac & Cheese
Serves: 5-6

Ingredients:
1 stick of butter
3 cups of milk
3 tbsp of flour
1/2 cup of italian seasoned bread crumbs
1 pound of cooked elbow macaroni
1 large chunk (16 oz?) of sharp cheddar (cubed)
1 medium chunk (8 oz?) of swiss (cubed)
3 tsp smoked paprika
3 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp black pepper

Instructions: Melt the stick of butter and add the flour to make a paste. Then add the cheese and milk and stir. Add paprika and peppers, stir. Add more milk or flour to get the consistency you like. Pour the cheese over the cooked macaroni in a casserole pan. Top it with the bread crumbs and bake for 30 minutes at 350. Then enjoy!

Cordon Crockpot

I had a bunch of stuff laying around the house and I figured... ehh I bet if I threw them all together it would taste good.... and man did it! I was pretty happy with this randomness. Matt isn't a huge ham fan, but he still liked it.

Cordon Crockpot
Serves: 3-4

1. Lightly spray oil in your crockpot. Place 2 medium sized frozen chicken breasts in. Sprinkle on about 5-6 oz of julienne or diced ham chunks- which does not mean deli slices (I am lazy and buy the pre cut up stuff by the deli meats). Dump on a can of cream of chicken soup and a few splashes of chicken broth. I am sure milk could be used if you don't want to open up a container of broth.

2. Cover and cook on low all day.

3. When you get home, break up the chicken so its all shredded. Throw in about 4 oz cubed swiss cheese and a few cranks on your pepper grinder. Stir. Recover and cook for another hour or until the cheese is all melty and delish.

4. Serve. We had it with green beans, bisquits, and pineapple.

Grown up Sloppy Joes

Not just meat, manwich and a bun........ these have a little more to them. They were pretty tasty and Matt went back for seconds, so it was a success!

Grown up Sloppy Joes
Serves: 3

1. In a skillet brown up about 3/4 pound of ground whatever (we had chuck leftover so that'll work). Throw in a handful each of diced sweet onion, red pepper, and green pepper. Drain and put back on the burner.

2. Bust out a handy packet of sloppy joe seasoning (found in the seasoning section by the gravy and dressing packets). Throw that in with the amount of tomato paste and water it recommends (laugh in the packets face that it asks for 1 pound of meat). Simmer according to packet directions.

3. Toast a bun and put on a slice of pepper jack cheese and a fat slice of red onion. Top with the meat. Enjoy!

Pizza Blobs (haha)

Ok so these are nothing fancy, but I just got home from grocery shopping and I needed to make something quick that didn't require a lot of brainpower.

Pizza Blobs
Serves: 2-3

1. Preheat the oven to 25 degrees less that what it says on your tube of pizza crust dough.
2. Open a tube of pizza crust dough (by the crescent rolls at the store) and cut into 3 or 4 rectangles. On a cookie sheet, lay them out so half hangs off the pan. Slightly flatten the part on the pan so you have room for toppings.
3. Mound up your toppings on half of each rectangle. We used diced green and red peppers, onion, pepperoni, mushrooms, pineapple, and minced garlic. Add some shredded mozzarella cheese.
4. Fold over the crust and pinch the seams together. It doesn't need to be pretty.
5. Bake about as long as it says to on the tube. Probably around 15 minutes.
6. Take out of the oven and rub a stick of butter all over the top crust and sprinkle on some parm, mozz, and italian seasonings. Pop back in the oven for about 2 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, dump some prepared pizza sauce on a plate and microwave until steaming hot (like 45 seconds). Remove blobs from the oven and place one on top of the sauce and serve.

BroccoCheese Chicken

It's crockpot time!! This is another quick and easy one. It wasn't phenomenal, but it was tasty and so welcoming to come home to. I think next time I will use some velveeta or cheese soup to thicken it up.

BroccoCheese Chicken
Serves: 2

1. In a lightly oil sprayed crockpot, place 2 medium to large frozen chicken breasts.
2. In a bowl combine the following: 1 can broccoli cheese condensed soup, 1 cup milk, 1/2 sweet onion (diced), 1/2 teaspoon dried basil, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, 1/4 teaspoon salt. Pour over the chicken.
3. Cover and cook on low all day while at work. Do not stir it, it will break the chicken up.
4. When you get home, boil some water and cook up about 3 handfuls of medium egg noodles. Drain.
5. Serve chicken and sauce over noodles.

Grown up Hamburger Helper

I found this recipe in my Rachel Ray cookbook and adapted it. I cut the recipe in half because apparently RR cooks for an army in her house. This was pretty good and much better than that boxed crap. And it really didn't take much more time or effort.

Edited 1/24/12

Grown up Hamburger Helper
Serves: 3-4
Calories:  Approx 625 per 1/4 recipe


Ingredients:
-2 cups pasta (I used elbow macaroni. Cavatappi or penne would work too)  Mini Penne
-1/2 pound ground beef
-2 big tablespoons of grated onion
-2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce

-2 tablespoons butter
-1 1/2 tablespoons flour  2 Tb
-1/2 cup chicken stock  1 cup
-1 cup of half and half
-1/2 tablespoon dijon mustard  2 Tb
-1 1/4 cup shredded colby jack cheese  1.5 cups Kraft Triple Cheddar

Garnish:
-chopped dill pickles
-diced tomatoes or salsa

1. Boil a pot of water and add the pasta, cook per the box. Don't drain until the rest is ready.

2. In a large skillet brown the meat. Add the onion and worcestershire then some salt and pepper. When fully cooked, remove to a paper plate and get rid of the grease.

3. In the same skillet, over medium heat, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and cook for a minute. Whisk in the half and half and the chicken stock. Bring to a bubble and cook for a few minutes until it thickens up. Stir in the dijon. Add the cheese and keep stirring until all melted into gooey goodness. More salt and pepper.

4. Drain the pasta and add to the sauce skillet along with the meat. Serve with the dill pickles and tomatoes/salsa if you wish.

Matt wants to add that he sprinkled on his most favorite ingredient in the world and it made the dish unbelievable. What is this secret ingredient that makes everything better? A Little Caesars spice pak of course!

Onion and Garlic Pasta

Ok so this isn't the prettiest picture, but I promise it was very yummy. We will definitely be making this again. It is a spin off of something I found on Allrecipes.

Onion and Garlic Pasta
Serves: 2

Ingredients:
-2 and 1 tablespoons of unsalted butter
-1/4 cup of finely chopped onion
-3 cloves of fresh garlic, coarsely chopped
-2/3 cup chicken broth
-1 heaping tablespoon of dried italian seasoning
-8 oz uncooked spaghetti noodles
-1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
-salt and pepper

1. In a large skillet over low heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the onions and brown for about 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook about 2 minutes until fragrant. Mix in the broth and seasoning and increase the heat to medium. Cook about 8 minutes or until the sauce has reduced a bit.

2. Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the spaghetti. Drain. Add to the sauce skillet. Stir in the extra tablespoon of butter and parmesan. Sprinkle on some salt and pepper.

3. Serve! If the pasta is too dry, add a little bit of olive oil or a splash of broth. Don't let the sauce reduce so much next time.

Cookie Dough Dip

This came from my friend Jill. Makes a fabulous snacky appetizer! I really like the variation I came up with, but the party was split 50/50 on which was their fave.

Cookie Dough Dip
Serves: a party

1. Take a 8 oz block of (reduced fat) cream cheese and a stick of butter out to soften.

2. In a stand mixer (or a hand mixer and bowl) beat together the following:
-cream cheese and butter
-3/4 cup powdered sugar
-1 Tablespoon vanilla extract (not that imitation crap)

3. Stir in 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips. Chill and serve with graham cracker sticks (or graham crackers or vanilla wafers).

VARIATION:
Do everything above but add 1/4 cup of peanut butter in step #2. Then change the chocolate chips to 1 cup of peanut butter chips.

GBC!

(Sorry for the 'half eaten' picture...) I went to a Thanksgiving party and hosted my parents for the big turkey day itself. Both times I had to make my delicious new version of green bean casserole (GBC). It is hard to improve on such a classic comfort food, but I really like the minor additions. Hope you do too!

GBC
Serves: 6-8

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, mix together the following:
-2 cans french style green beans, drained
-1 (10.5 oz) can cream of mushroom soup
-8 oz. Velveeta, cubed
-About a 1/2 cup of milk
-1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
-1/4 teaspoon of onion powder
-salt and pepper

2. Transfer to a baking dish and bake for about 25 minutes. (I like to use a dish that has more surface area for the French's onions)

3. Remove from the oven and top with lots of French's french fried onions. Bake additional 5 minutes. Mmmmm.

Ice Cream Sammiches

Ummm yum? Ok so this isn't really a RECIPE... more of a make it like this and enjoy post =) Use my Nom Cookie Recipe for fabulous chocolate chip cookies to use for these sammiches. I used Schwans Cinnamon ice cream for this.

Ice Cream Sammich
Serves: 1 per person

1. Set out some ice cream to soften.
2. Scoop and pack into a 1/3 cup measuring cup. Stick into freezer if needed to firm up.
3. Place 2 small cookies upside down on a piece of plastic wrap. Run a knife around the edge of the measuring cup to loosen the ice cream and plop down onto one cookie. Top with the other cookie.
4. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in freezer. Enjoy.