The Moistest Slow Cooker Pot Roast

This was seriously the moistest pot roast I have ever made...and probably least healthy. It was good though!

INGREDIENTS

Roast (mine was about 2.5 lbs)
1 can of Roasted Garlic Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 pkg of Lipton's Beefy Onion Soup Mix
1.5 to 2 cups of water
pepper
thyme

DIRECTIONS

Combine the last five ingredients in the slow cooker and mix until well combined. Place your roast in and cook on low. I cooked mine while I was at work...about 11 hours, but it does not have to cook that long. If you want to use the juice as a gravy you can coat the roast in flour before you place it in the slow cooker and that will help make the juice more like a gravy.

Stuffed Peppers and Tomatoes

I had some leftover fried cabbage (cabbage sauteed in oil and bacon grease...so bad for you, but oh so good) and had this great idea to use it in stuffed peppers. Since I do not like green peppers I also made a stuffed tomato version.

INGREDIENTS

ground beef, cooked and spiced how you like it

cook cabbage, chopped up

cooked rice

can of tomato sauce

tomatoes/green peppers for stuffing

cheese (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Combine the first four ingredients and set aside (keep warm). Cut the tops off the tomatoes and green peppers and scoop out the insides. Place your tomatoes and green peppers open side up in a baking dish. Sprinkle some shredded cheese in the bottom of each, fill with the meat mixture, and top with more shredded cheese. Bake on 350 for about 20 minutes. For a softer pepper and quicker cook time try blanching your pepper before stuffing it.

Eat to the Beat -Be My Guest for Beef Ragout

This was my first blog event...Eat to the Beat from Elly's Blog. I went with my favorite Disney movie, Beauty and the Beast. There is a song titled "Be Our Guest" and it mentions many dishes. Here are part of the lyrics:

Be our guest! Be our guest!
Put our service to the test
Tie your napkin 'round your neck, cherie
And we'll provide the rest
Soup du jourHot hors d'oeuvres
Why, we only live to serve
Try the grey stuff
It's delicious
Don't believe me? Ask the dishes
They can sing, they can dance
After all, Miss, this is France
And a dinner here is never second best
Go on, unfold your menu
Take a glance and then you'll
Be our guest! Be our guest!
Beef ragout
Cheese souffle
Pie and pudding "en flambe"
We'll prepare and serve with flair
A culinary cabaret!
You're alone
And you're scared
But the banquet's all prepared
No one's gloomy or complaining
While the flatware's entertaining
We tell jokes!
I do tricks
With my fellow candlesticks

I know nothing about Beef Ragout so I did some searching on the Internet and found this Beef Ragout - Country Style recipe. I really enjoyed the recipe and next time I plan to add some tomato paste and something with more salt.

INGREDIENTS

2 pounds beef chuck roast, cut in 1 1/4 inch cubes
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 large onions,each cut in 8 pieces
4 large garlic cloves, peeled and minced
28 ounces tomatoes, canned, drained, quartered
5 tablespoons parsley leaves fresh chopped, divided
1 teaspoon thyme leaves dried
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup red wine burgundy
1 cup beef broth
1/2 pound mushrooms quartered
6 ounces olives pitted, ripe, drained

DIRECTIONS

Trim excess fat from beef cubes.

Brown cubes in hot oil in Dutch oven over high heat (in 2 batches, if necessary).

Add onions; brown lightly; add garlic.

Stir in tomatoes,3 tbsp. parsley, thyme, salt and pepper.

Add wine and beef broth to just cover; bring to boil.
Reduce heat; cover and simmer 1 hour.
Add mushrooms;cover and simmer 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until beef is tender.
If desired,simmer, uncovered, last 10 minutes to reduce liquid.
Add olives; heat through; stir in remaining parsley.
Serve ragout with hot cooked noodles, rice or mashed potatoes
Garnish with parsley.
Makes 4 to 6 servings

Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs

This recipe has a long story....but let me just say that my oven stopped producing heat while I was making this dinner, and because of that I learned you can cook pasta in the microwave! I am not sure where I found this recipe....but I am pretty sure it was adapted from a Rachael Ray recipe. It was SO good. This was also the first time I had ever made meatballs.

INGREDIENTS

1 lb hamburger
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
2 tsp parsley
1/2 cup shredded parmesan
salt
Mozzarella, cut into 1/2 in cubes
garlic
Italian blend seasoning

DIRECTIONS

Mix milk with bread crumbs set aside to soak up milk. Add hamburger, egg, parsley, parmesan, salt. Mix all together until well blended. Scoop 2 tsp of meat mixture into your hand, add a cube of cheese in the middle, roll a ball around cheese cube. Bake on cookie sheet at 350 for 25-30 min.

Melissa's Three Bean Beef Chili

I had a craving for Chili that would not go away. There are so many chili recipes out there and I could not choose! So, I made up my own and it came out GREAT. I did use a package of chili seasoning mix since this was my first time....but you will see I added my own spices to it as well. I'm ready for another bowl right now!

INGREDIENTS

1 lb ground chuck
1 lb stew meat
1 - 29 oz can diced tomatoes and green chilies
2 - 15 oz cans tomato sauce
1 can pinto beans
1 can black beans
1 can red chili beans
4 stalks of celery
Texas Pete hot sauce
hot chili sauce
mild jalapeno hot sauce
1 pkg McCormick's chili seasoning
my own seasonings - garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, chili powder, cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, chipotle seasoning, cumin, thyme, oregano and brown sugar

Optional

sour cream

shredded cheese (I used Chipotle Cheddar)

DIRECTIONS

Cook the ground chuck on the stove top with some garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, chili powder, cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, chipotle seasoning, cumin, thyme and oregano.

In your slow cooker combine all the above ingredients (including all the spices you cooked the meat in).

I cooked mine on low while I was at work...which was over 10 hours.

Please note: I put my stew meat in the slow cooker raw so it would cook slowly and be nice and tender...and it was!!

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Since I work 10 hour days I am try to use my slow cooker more so I can get other things done in the evening. I made this up just by using what I had on hand.

Bottom Round Roast

1 can tomato sauce

2 cups of water

2 beef bullion cubes

1 whole garlic clove

onion flakes

salt
pepper

thyme

I cooked mine on low for about 12 hours (it does not have to cook that long). It was very good!!

Need a side dish??? We used the broth in the slow cooker to make some rice...very tastey!

Creamy Stuffed Shells

Ingredients

Half a box large shells

1/2 pound ground hamburger (I used 93% lean)

1/2 bulk ground sausage (I used half of a Jimmy Dean roll)

4 ounces cream cheese

6 ounces sour cream

shredded mozzarella cheese

chopped garlic

dried oregano

dried thyme

red pepper flakes

salt and pepper

Directions

Boil shells.

Brown hamburger and sausage, add in spices to your taste. Once meat is cooked drain fat and add in cream cheese, sour cream and mozzarella cheese. Mix until everything is incorporated. Fill cooked shells with mixture and place open side up in a baking dish. Sprinkle more mozzarella on top and bake until cheese is melted.

Other Successful Options: You could add mushrooms to the meat mixture, and you could also serve marinara sauce over the shells.

Hot Dog Boats!

Ok...so it really isn't a recipe, but it sure is a fun way to eat a hot dog. I had some leftover hoagie rolls and thought it would be nice to use that as a hot dog bun. All I did was cut out some of the middle and put it under the broiler with a thin layer of butter or mayo to crisp it up (depends on my mood). Then just fill your boat up with all your goodies....chili, cheese, sauerkraut, onions, jalapenos, relish, mustard, ketchup...whatever you'd like! The bonus is if you cut your hot dog in half lengthwise you can fit two in there. Happy Hot Dog Eating!