Beef Bolognese Sauce

Beef Bolognese Sauce
Yield: Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

3lbs of ground beef
5 medium onions, diced
1 1/2 cups of chopped baby carrots or one whole carrot diced
4 stalks of celery, diced
2 15 oz cans diced tomatoes
1 15oz can of tomato sauce

2 jars of tomato sauce or 6 cups of homemade sauce
3 tablespoons of Italian seasoning
1 head of garlic (about 8-10 cloves), minced
1/3 cup of olive oil

1/2 cup fresh basil
Salt
Pepper

Directions:

1. Prep all of your vegetables, dice and mince when needed and set aside.
2. Turn your large saucepan on medium heat, coat with oil, and add you beef.
3. Sprinkle your salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and garlic on your beef and brown for 5-10 min.
4. Turn your slow cooker on LOW for 8 hours, add the contents of your saucepan to the basin of you slow cooker.  You can also cook this overnight. The longer you cook it for the more flavors marinate together.
5. Add your canned tomatoes, sauce, all your vegetables, and seasonings. Mix well and cover.
6. Serve immediately or cool and freeze in containers! Enjoy!

I make this huge batch every couple of months and freeze in containers for easy dinners. This flavorful and hearty sauce makes for a filling dinner and sneaking in the veggies makes me extra happy as I watch my kids gobble it up!

Rotisserie Chicken Fajitas

Rotisserie Chicken Fajitas  
Yield: Serves 6

Ingredients:

1/2 a Rotisserie chicken, de-boned and skinned
1 green bell pepper
1 jalapeno
1 onion
1/2 a cup of fresh cilantro
1 packet of taco seasoning
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of pepper
1 teaspoon of cumin
1 teaspoon of paprika
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 a cup of olive oil

Directions:

1. Drizzle your olive oil in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish
2. Take your cooked meat, dice it, and toss it into your baking dish.
3. Slice up your bell pepper, dice your jalapeno, and chop your onion. Toss all into the baking dish.
4. Sprinkle your salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, and taco seasoning into your baking dish coating your meat and vegetables.
5. Juice your lemon and drizzle the lemon juice over your ingredients. With a spatula, mix everything together well, cover with tin foil, and let marinate in your refrigerator for at least 3 hours.
6. Bake your dish at 375 F, with foil still covering the dish, for 15 minutes. Take the foil off and continue baking for an additional 10 minutes.
7. I added this mixture of meat and veggies to a base of black beans and cheese on a tortilla and topped it all off with some yummy salsa and sour cream!

Do you ever buy a Rotisserie chicken, eat half, and then wonder what to do with the thing? We buy one weekly because it is a great buy on meat at under $5 for a whole, cooked, chicken! I usually end up with half a chicken and have to come up with ways to use it in the rest of the meals I am fixing for the week. This is one of those many ways you can use that cheapo bird!
Overall, this is a really easy recipe and is pretty fool proof! My husband is currently sitting next to me devouring his food and narrating every bite for me, "Mmmm the peppers still have a nice little crunch to them..." "How many jalapenos did you add to this?" "The chicken is nice and tender..."  Oh husband of mine...

Note: This recipe is on the Medium/Mild end of the heat spectrum so if you want it spicier add a second jalapeno. Also, I seeded my jalapeno and did not add the seeds to the mixture. The seeds hold a lot of the heat so you could just keep the seeds for a little more heat! Enjoy! :)

Strawberry White Wine Spritzer

Strawberry White Wine Spritzer

Yield: Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 750ml bottle of white Moscato wine 

1 liter of Sprite

2 cups of diced fresh strawberries

Directions: 

1. In a pitcher, add your bottle of wine and diced strawberries. Chill in refrigerator for 2-3 hours prior to serving. 

2. Immediately before serving, add your chilled Sprite. Pour into wine glasses and garnish with a fresh strawberry.   Enjoy!

Note: I used Barefoot Moscato, but you could use any brand that you like!

We went strawberry picking at a local farm earlier in the day, so I was left with two huge buckets of fresh, ripe, strawberries. I made this recipe up on a whim mixing two of my most favorite ingredients together: alcohol and strawberries! Yummy! The strawberries got very drunk by the end of the evening and I ate them with a spoon out of the bottom of my glass because I am super Klassy like that! I hope you all enjoyed this beverage as much as I did! Leave a comment and let me know what you thought!

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Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Pulled Pork Sandwich 

Yield: Makes 6-8 sandwiches

Ingredients:

2 1/2 pounds of pork tenderloin

1 1/2 cups root beer

1 medium onion, diced

6 cloves of garlic, minced

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of pepper

1 teaspoon of garlic powder

1 tablespoon of ground cayenne powder

1 teaspoon of paprika

10 shakes of hot sauce

12 oz bottle of BBQ sauce

Directions:

1. Cut your tenderloin in two inch thick slices, making roughly five slices. Lay your tenderloin slices on the bottom of your slowcooker heated on LOW for 8 hours.

2. Sprinkle your salt and pepper over your meat. Add your chopped garlic and onion along with all your spices.

3. Pour your root beer over your meat and cover.

4. When you have one hour left on your timer (hour seven) use a wooden spoon and work your pork until shredded. Mix well to incorporate all the juices. Add in the bottle of BBQ sauce, mix well, and cover for the remaining hour.

5. Enjoy hot on ciabatta rolls and I bought mine at Costco. You can also store any left over pork in a Ziploc bag and freeze. Enjoy!

Stuffed Shells

Stuffed Shells

Yield: Serves 6-8 

Ingredients:

2lbs Ricotta Cheese

2 cups of shredded Mozzarella Cheese (divided)

1 1/2 cups crumbled Parmesan and Romano (divided)

1 egg

1 teaspoon dry basil

1 pinch of salt

1 pinch of pepper

1 tablespoon of Olive Oil

1 box of Jumbo Pasta Shells

8 cups of homemade tomato sauce (my recipe here)

Directions:

1. In your Kitchen Aid Mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, add you ricotta cheese, olive oil, egg, basil, salt, pepper, and mix well for 1-2 minutes. 

2. On medium speed, slowly add in 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and 1 cup of Parmesan and Romano cheeses. Mix well for 1-2 minutes.

3. Fill a large pot with water, add salt and a drizzle of olive oil, and let come to a boil. Once at a boil, add your pasta and cook for 7 minutes. Drain in a colander and run under cold water for about 20 seconds. 

4. Add your tomato sauce to the bottom of a 9x13 glass dish.

5. Scoop your cheese filling into a gallon sized Ziploc bag, seal, and then snip off one corner. Pipe your filling into each pasta shell. Place each cheese filled pasta shell in the tomato sauce filled pan one at a time until you have used up all of your filling. 

6. Sprinkle the remainder of your mozzarella, Parmesan  and Romano cheeses on top of your pasta and then cover your dish with tin foil.

7. Bake at 425 F for 20 minutes WITH foil on your dish. Then, take the foil off, reduce the temperature down to 400 F and bake for an additional 25 minutes. This ensures your pasta and cheese is perfectly baked!

This dish is a staple in my house! I make this almost weekly. It is so easy to make, so filling, and their are always leftovers for the next day. The added bonus is that both my kids gobble this dish down...which is rare! I love it and I hope that you will too! :)

                             

Cook-Off Chili in the Slow Cooker

Cook-Off Chili in the Slow Cooker

Yield: Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

2 lbs ground beef

2 medium onions, minced

6-8 cloves of garlic, minced

32 oz chicken broth

2-4 tablespoons tabasco sauce

1 15oz can of tomato sauce

2 tablespoons of paprika

3 tablespoons of cayenne powder

2 tablespoons of cumin

2 teaspoons of salt

1 teaspoon of pepper

1 tablespoon of sugar

1 stick of butter

vegetable oil

Directions:

1. Turn your slow cooker on low for 8 hours. Add your minced garlic and minced onions to your slow cooker and let sit for 20-30 minutes.

2. Brown your beef in vegetable oil in a frying pan on medium heat. Make sure all your beef is browned before adding it to your slow cooker.

3. Add your broth, tomato sauce, all your spices, and sugar to your slow cooker. Stir well and cover.

4. When there is 30 minutes left on your 8 hour timer, add in your stick of butter. Stir well and cover.

5. Serve immediately and enjoy with your garnish of choice!

I came up with this recipe after watching a couple chili cook off shows on television. In chili cook-off's there are time limits on how long you have to cook your chili (I think its about 3-4 hours), so nobody uses a slow cooker. I prefer the ease the slow cooker provides me and also I think it is a fool-proof method to not burning something! I came up with this recipe a couple months ago and just made it for the second time yesterday. My husband actually prefers beans in his chili, but I wanted to try a "chili cook-off" type chili, which has no beans, to see what he thought. He loved it! :) 

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Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Drumsticks

Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Drumsticks

Yield: Serves 2-4 people

Ingredients:

3-4 raw chicken drumsticks
1 12oz bottle of Frank's Red Hot
20-30 shakes of Tabasco sauce (depending on your heat preference)
1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
1 medium onion (diced)
4-6 garlic cloves (smashed)
2 dried jalapenos
1 stick of butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika

Directions:

1. Put all of your ingredients, besides your chicken, in to your slow cooker for 1 hour and 30 minutes on high. After your ingredients have marinated together take out one of your dried jalapenos. With your immersion blender, blend your sauce until it is smooth and creamy!
2. Add your chicken drumsticks and cover your drumsticks in sauce with a large spoon. Cook on high for 4 hours. Periodically stir/rotate your chicken drumsticks about once an hour.
3. After four hours in the slow cooker, take your chicken out and place on a cookie tray that has been sprayed with cooking spray (heavily). Use a slatted spoon to scoop your chicken drumsticks out individually so as to not have excess sauce on them. Broil on high for five minutes. Serve immediately with blue cheese or ranch dressing and celery.  Enjoy!

My husband ate this entire tray (4lbs of chicken) in one sitting...Men... :)

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