Crock Pot Pulled Pork

Crock Pot Pulled Pork

Happy Memorial Weekend Friends!

For fun here is me last memorial day at 8 months preggo!!! AHH!! :)

Now I have my baby here to celebrate!!

Shopping List

1 large pork shoulder roast

seasoning of choice

one orange

one sweet onion

BBQ sauce ( I always use sweet baby rays)

Procedure:

Season pork how you like it ( for me I always do salt and pepper only)

slice your sweet onion and lay all around the pork 

quater an orange and squeeze the juice all over the pork, then lay the wedges in between pork

top with a ton of BBQ sauce

** Cook for 8 hours on low

I love this recipe because it is SO versatile. I can add some cilantro and put into some tacos or put the pork atop some Hawaiin rolls and make mini sandwiches..or you can even stuff these in a sweet potato and top with some green onions and melted monterray jack cheese. It is so easy! Just throw it in!!!

  

Tuscan Bean Soup

#vibes

Today was fabulous!! We had our pumpkin patch day at St. Thomas which meant a longggg day on my feet running around after excited three year olds. I knew I was going to be tired and would not feel like cooking so I got my crock pot out of course!!!! I found this recipe on Pinterest and tweaked it to make it my own.  This is such a yummy fall comfort food..I made ours meatless but this soup would be fabulous with some keilbasa or chicken thrown into the mix. I woke up and literally dumped all of my ingredients into the crockpot...done. Just the way I like it! 

Shopping List:

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 2 medium carrots, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1 medium zucchini, diced
• 1 yellow summer squash, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, pressed
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
• ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 quart vegetable (or chicken) broth
• 2 (14 ounce) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed ( I added an extra can of butter beans)
• 1 (14 ounce) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes with juices
• 3 cups chopped kale, ribs removed
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• One to two cans of cream of celery soup for texture ( cream of mushroom or chicken would work great too)

Procedure:

Literally dump everything in the crockpot and leave!

In all seriousness though..
Place all of the ingredients inside of the crockpot and cook it.. for 8 hours...season as needed!!

Enjoy!!!

Buffalo Turkey Meatballs

UM seriously all you buffalo sauce lovers you can just thank me for this recipe it is SOOO worth making!!! At our house we have a slight addiction with Franks red hot sauce as well as their buffalo sauce.. its a little much. I mean we buy them in bulk.. like FOUR of the HUGE bottles at a time. I know its weird..but I have an obsessive personality so whatev. Anyways I stumbled across this recipe on pinterest of course, and knew immediately that we would be having these the next night for dinner. Everyone loved it!!! So I wrote it down in my "Caleins" cook book for a staple recipe.
** Side note.. try not to get the "extra hot" version of franks buffalo sauce.. I didn't read the label very well and ended up having some serious issues. " Think Will Smith in the movie Hitch after he eats shellfish." yep.

 

 

Shopping List:

 

1 1/2 lb ground turkey ( the recipe calls for ground chicken but I used turkey)

one jar of Franks Buffalo Sauce

Green onions chopped

blue cheese

one cup plain bread crumbs

celery salt

salt/pep

one egg

onion powder

crockpot

 

 

Procedure: * preheat oven to 350
Combine the following ingredients in a large bowl:

ground turkey, all of the spices listed, green onions, one egg, and the breadcrumbs

once the mixture is very well mixed together, start balling them up into meatballs(whatever size you want: I did larger sized ones since it was our main dish for dinner but you could do small ones if you are making a superbowl appetizer!!) and place on a foil lined baking sheet. Cook in the oven for about 7 minutes.

Once they are slightly browned on the outside pop those babies in the crockpot and pour the ENTIRE bottle of franks on them. Cook on low for about 2 hours.

garnish with blue cheese dressing and some extra green onions.

 

AMAZING I TELL YA!

 

 

 



BBQ Chicken Tacos

Last night for dinner I wanted to make something quick, easy, and simple. I recently re-read my Rachel-Ray 30 minute meals cook book for the hundredth time and came across a pretty yummy sounding taco recipe. While I always make my own little spin on things (BBQ was my idea:)) I loved the spices she used to marinate her chicken and thought it sounded very appealing! A quick side of sautéed zucchini and squash medley was my side of choice and also pretty quick and easy..which we love!!! For this recipe you will need"

Four boneless skinless chicken breasts
two zucchini and two squash
cumin, cayenne, chili pepper
salt/pepper
BBQ sauce of your choice ( I use sweet baby rays)
one can of black beans
1/2 of a yellow onion chopped
tortillas ( I love the black bean tortillas from artisan!)


Directions:
** If you have a crockpot marinate your chicken the day before and pop them in the crock pot to let them cook all day. That way when you are ready for your dinner you only have a few steps to follow!

marinate your chicken with a little salt/pep, cumin, cayenne, and chili pepper, and BBQ sauce. Be sure and rub them really good so the spices settle in and really make your chicken tasty! Then pop those chicken in the crock pot and let them sit with a little chicken stock.  Cook for about 6-8 hours. Once the chicken is cooked you can take two forks and shred them...

NEXT

pour your beans (drained and rinsed) into a sauce pan with your chopped onions and let the onions cook with the beans. Add a couple of glugs of BBQ sauce to give them a smoky flavor! Once the beans are cooked, take your shredded chicken and add it to the beans and onions.. mix them all around until the chicken is coated with the beans and onions.. the spices from the chicken will marry with the BBQ flavors of the black beans and make for a great taco filling!!!!

Fill your tacos up with the mixture and top with fresh tomatoes and romaine lettuce!!!! YUM!


For the squash and zucchini medley

I simply sliced them in rounds then quartered them to make them into smaller bites.
Then I sautéed them in EVOO, salt and pepper and cooked until browned.

EASY!!

Steak Roulade, Rosemary Sweet potatoes, and Sauteed Kale

With all the southern cooking I have been fixated on  lately I decided it was time to switch it up and lean on something a little more.. Italian :) crushed tomatoes, steak.. cheese.. more cheese.. all of this yummy goodness is tucked away inside of these amazing flank steak rolls also known as Steak Roulade. I was in the grocery store line when I saw one of my favorite magazines "food network" and as I was flipping through it I came across this amazing and EASY recipe. One word. Crockpot. Yep I was sold. I bought the magazine and went home to make this dinner. It turned out fabulous!!! For this recipe you will need:

Ingredients:

2 6 oz cans tomato paste
1 28 oz can whole San Marzano tomatoes, ( crush them with your hands)
1/2 tspn red pepper flakes
1/2 tspn sugar
1 small bunch of basil torn
1 1/2 pound flank steak- I was new to cooking a flank steak so mine actually were packaged with the label ( fajita steaks) ..basically its the same thing as a skirt steak.
kosher salt and fresh pepper
1 2/3 grated provolone cheese
2 small garlic cloves minced
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated romano cheese
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup pine nuts or chopped walnuts
1 cup fresh parsley

*** when I made this dish I did not stick to what the measurements were. When I was placing the ingredients on top of my steak I just eyeballed it to see how much would fit.. do as you please since this is your dish!!!

procedure:

combine two cups hot water and the tomato pasted in your beloved crockpot. add the crushed tomatoes, red pepper flakes, sugar, and basil and stir to combine. Cook on high while you prepare the meat.

lay your flank steak out on a flat surface..season the steak with salt and pep. then scatter the provolone cheese evenly over the steak, then top with garlic, breadcrumbs, romano cheese, raisins, pine nuts and parsley.

start rolling up  your steak like a jelly roll and make sure you roll it tight so the goodie doesn't fall out! secure with twin or tooth picks.

place in the slow cooker and cook on high for about seven hours!!! YUM!

For the sweet potatoes:

peel and cut your potato into rounds..
place on a baking sheet with foil
drizzle olive oil over them and add salt pepper and rosemary
cook them at 400 degrees for 30 minutes

DONE!

Sautéed Kale
Pretty simple.
Place kale in pan..drizzle olive oil salt and pepper ..little lemon juice and fresh garlic
cook down

DONE!

Chicken and Sausage Etouffe'

Everyone from the south loves some good ole' Louisiana style cookin' every once in a while. I hope! Especially when this weather is as crazy as it has been.. hot one day..freezing the next. I just get a craving for something hearty and good for my soul :) For some people its fast food, for others its soup, but when you just feel like you need a dish that will instantly make you feel warm and fuzzy and happy.. this is the one. I collect cook books..and read them front to back like novels. Yes that may sound weird but when I started cooking at the age of 18 I started asking for cook books. At first my mom and grandma started me out with easy ones like the Gooseberry patch series. This has been by far the best cook book EVER. Go and get one now. Run. I also enjoy Southern Living and Rachael Ray. UM YUMMO! For this recipe you will need:

Disclaimer: For this recipe it asks you to cook the chicken while you are making the recipe..um I AIN'T GOT TIME FOR DAT! One simple trick I use all the time is putting my chicken in the crock pot in the morning with a little chicken stock and spices and let it cook on low all day that way whatever recipe I have that calls for chicken.. the chicken is done and waiting on ME. Not the other way around.

yields 4-6 servings:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion chopped ** I am not a huge onion fan so I tend to buy a large onion and then only use half
1 green pepper** I used two chopped and seeded
three celery ribs chopped
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1 lb smoked sausage sliced** we used axis deer sausage and cooked it on the grill first. Fabulous.
2(10 oz) cans of tomatoes with green chilies-rotel
1(6 oz) can of tomato paste
2(10 0z) cans of cream of mushroom soup
salt/pepper
Cajun all seasoning


Preparation:

Heat oil in a large dutch oven and add the celery, onions, and peppers. Cook them until soft and juices run clear. Then add your chicken( remember you were all smart girls who cooked ahead of time and used that fabulous crock pot!!!) after you have added your chicken you can start adding your cans of tomatoes and chilies, tomato paste, and cream of mushroom soups. Finally add your already cooked or smoked sausage. let this mixture simmer until the mushroom soup is not so pasty and more soupy..also season it up a little to your taste. We love spicy over here so we add pepper and Cajun all seasoning ..a little paprika and salt.
Pour this mixture over hot cooked rice and enjoy. I got a thumbs up from my husband and BFF :):)

Hot cooked rice

Crockpot Chicken Taco Bowls

I LOVE me a crockpot!!!! If you are working all day or busy with errands and don't have time to chef it up in the kitchen for a big ole' meal then your  new best friend is the crockpot. I cook approx. 2 dinners a week in this thing simply because its easy and I love the way my meals turn out! Chicken taco bowls are a  yummy Mexican and low carb bowl to make starting with:

four boneless skinless chicken breasts
two cans of black beans
1/2  cup of frozen corn
one jar of salsa-I use pace medium
cumin
chili powder
cayenne pepper
salt/pep
one clove of minced garlic
cilantro for garnish
shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

Directions:
Simply place the chicken on the bottom of the crock pot-it doesn't matter if they are frozen or not
then add the beans and corn and pour over the chicken
pour the jar of salsa over
add the spices ( I typically add about two tspns of each however you can always add more)
add the garlic

place on low ( if not frozen)
place on high( if frozen)

for about 6-8 hours

once its done the chicken will easily shred with a fork and you will have a yummy delicious taco bowl!!!

garnish with my fave CILANTRO, some monterray jack cheddar, and hot sauce :)

* I apologize for my not -so -pretty- food picture.. I forgot to snap a picture and I had already begun eating my food!