Roast and Gravy

One of my favorite Sunday afternoon meals is to have Roast, Rice, and Gravy.  I love that you can throw it in the crock pot and it be ready when you get home.  It's also the meal I grew up eating most Sunday afternoons.  I've had several people lately ask me how we fix our roast, so I thought I'd share.

Cook Time: 8 hrs
Yields: 6 servings

Ingredients

3 lb Chuck Roast*
Pepper
Seasoned Salt
Flour
2 TBSP Olive Oil
3 cans Cream of Mushroom Soup
Potatoes (optional)
Carrots (optional)

Directions

1. Trim roast if it needs trimming.  Coat all sides in pepper, seasoned salt, and then flour.
2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet (use enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the skillet).  Brown roast on all sides to a golden brown, about 5 min per side.
3. Place roast in crock pot.  Add soup (use more cans if you want more gravy), potatoes, carrots, and anything else you want.  (I do not add potatoes or carrots to mine since Jarod and I don't really eat vegetables, and I absolutely despise the taste of carrots.  However, my Dad does add potatoes and carrots, so feel free if that's your thing!)
4. Cook on Low for 8 hrs.

* Please note the type of roast is EXTREMELY important.  People always ask why their roast is so tough and mine is so tender...it's all due to the type of roast, so make sure you get a Chuck Roast!

I normally throw this in the crock pot on Saturday night so it will be ready when we get home from church on Sunday afternoon.  My crock pot automatically switches to warm after the set amount of time, but it's not going to hurt it much to cook longer than 8 hrs, should just make it that much more tender.

From Katie's Kitchen

A Look Around My Kitchen

Ok, so you may be wondering why I'm so excited about cooking in my new kitchen.  It's because I'm kind of obsessed with it.  It is my favorite room in our new house.  Since Kelly is doing a Kitchen Tour today, I thought I would show you around my kitchen.  (Some of you may have already seen it on my personal blog, Amos Adventures)

Here is a look at the kitchen and breakfast area from the dining room.  We will eventually (once we have the money) buy a bar height square kitchen table to go there.  I also plan on buying some baskets to go in the spots under the bench so I can store my stuff without it looking cluttered.  We will also be buying some new curtains once we have the money, as these just aren't really our taste, but they work for now!  Please ignore any blue tape you may see in these pictures as it is my way of marking the areas that need to be touched up or something the dealer needs to fix!

This next picture is taken from the end of our kitchen where the sliding glass door leading out to the backyard is.

This is our induction cooktop, which was added at the request of the hubby, and I'm loving so far  :)  The cabinets were originally solid wood, but I had them add the fluted glass to give it a little more character.  I want to replace the canisters with some silver canisters or some decorative ones, but have not been able to find any ANYWHERE!  For now these tuperware ones will do.

This next picture shows two of my favorite things about my kitchen...the double oven and my refrigerator!  It is crazy how much room my fridge has, which comes in handy when I go on my cooking sprees and have tons of food to store, but most of the time it just stores lots of drinks, ha!  I'm super excited about my double ovens, especially with the upcoming holidays, as I hope to be hosting Thanksgiving and/or Christmas at my house this year.

The microwave was originally where the double oven is, but I was determined to have a double oven, so it got moved to the island.  I'm still not sure how I feel about the microwave being lower, but I'm sure I will get used to it, and I'm even told once we have kids who are old enough to microwave their own snack, I will love that it is at their level.  Time will tell...  The doorway to the left of the oven leads to my laundry room which also has my pantry in it.  The doorway on the far left of the picture leads back to the dining room which is where I took the first picture, so I guess we've come full circle :)

Now if I only had more time at home to cook all those recipes I want to try!

Roasted Okra

I saw this recipe for Roasted Okra and thought it would be a healthy alternative to the fried okra I normally fix.  Okra is one of the only vegetables I like, so I've gotten to where I try to fix them once every week or two.  I'm glad I now have another way to fix them.

Cook Time: 20 Minutes
Yields:  6 Servings

Ingredients

36 fresh okra pods, sliced 1/3 inch thick
2 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Combine okra, olive oil, salt and pepper in a ziplock bag and shake to coat.
3. Arrange okra on a foil lined cookie sheet and bake for 10 to 15 min.

Recipe from AllRecipes.com

Lemon Meringue Pie

I saw this recipe and thought it sounded great, so I of course filed it away to try one day when we were having people over to help us out.  I honestly don't think I've ever had any kind of lemon pie, so I wasn't really sure if I'd like it or not.  Let's just say it was good, but I doubt I will make it for myself again.  I found out I'm not a huge lemon fan, however my guests thoroughly enjoyed it and commented on how good it was, so it's not the recipe, it's just my taste buds!

Cook Time: 40 Minutes
Yields: 8 Servings

Ingredients

1 cup white sugar
2 TBSP all-purpose flour
3 TBSP cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups water
2 lemons, juiced and zested
2 TBSP butter
4 egg yolks, beaten
1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked
4 egg whites
6 TBSP white sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. To Make Lemon Filling:  In a medium sauce pan, whisk together 1 cup sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt.  Stir in water, lemon juice and lemon zest.  Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until mixture comes to a boil.  Stir in butter.
3. Place egg yolks in a small bowl and gradually whisk in 1/2 cup of hot sugar mixture.  Whisk egg yolk mixture back into remaining sugar mixture.  Bring to a boil and continue to cook while stirring constantly until thick, about 12 minutes.  Remove from heat.  
4. Pour filling into baked pie shell.
5. To Make Meringue:  In a large glass or metal bowl, whip eggs with a hand mixer until foamy.  Gradually add sugar, continuing to whip until stiff peaks form.
6. Spread meringue over pie, sealing the edges at the crust.
7. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, or until meringue is golden brown.

From AllRecipes.com

I'm Back!

We've finally moved into our new house and are starting to get settled.  I unpacked most of the kitchen last night, so I'm ready to start cooking and trying new recipes again!  I promise to post pictures of my new kitchen once we get everything put away and cleaned up.  For now, I thought I would give everyone an idea of the recipes I'm excited about fixing during the upcoming week in my new kitchen!

Sunday, October 3


Appetizer:  Cheese Ball
Main Dish:  Roast
Side Dishes:  Rice, Gravy, Roasted Okra, and Rolls
Dessert:  Lemon Meringue Pie


Monday, October 4


We have our Women's and Men's Ministry meetings at church so I won't be cooking


Tuesday, October 5


Main Dish:  Buffalo Style Chicken Pizza


Wednesday, October 6


We eat at church on Wednesday nights


Thursday, October 7


Main Dish:  Hamburgers
Side Dish:  Rotel & Chips


Friday, October 8


Neither of us like to "cook" on Fridays, so we'll just throw some frozen chicken fingers or pizza in the oven


Saturday, October 9


Breakfast:  Traditional Breakfast of eggs, bacon, grits, and biscuits
Appetizer:  Artichoke Dip served with Pita Chips
Main Dish:  Garlic Herb Grilled Pork Tenderloin
Side Dish:  Macaroni Casserole


Is your mouth watering as much as mine is?  I'm so excited about cooking again and trying out new recipes.  Most of all, I'm excited about trying out our new induction cooktop and double oven!  If you are interested in any of those recipes, I will be posting them in the next couple of weeks, after we try them and I know they are worth keeping.

Chocolate Trifle

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted any new recipes!  We're still in between houses, so I haven't been trying as many new things.  We will hopefully be in our new home in about a month and I will have a MUCH NICER kitchen than I am used to to be able to try out new recipes in.

I did try a new dessert recipe this weekend though and it was a BIG hit.  I'm not a huge chocolate fan (GASP!), but even I loved this recipe.  It is very rich though!

Cook Time: 1 Hour
Yields: 12 Servings

Ingredients

1 package brownie mix
1 package instant chocolate pudding mix
1/2 cup water
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 (8 oz) containers cool whip, thawed
1 bar chocolate candy

Directions

1. Prepare brownie mix according to package directions and cool completely.
2. In a large bowl, combine pudding mix, water, and sweetened condensed milk.  Mix until smooth, then fold in 8 oz cool whip until no streaks remain.
3. In a trifle bowl layer half the brownies (crumbled), half the pudding mixture, half the remaining 8 oz cool whip.  Repeat layers.  Shave chocolate candy onto top layer for garnish.  Refrigerate 8 hours before serving.

From AllRecipes.com

Herb Roasted Pork Loin and Potatoes

This recipe was absolutely wonderful!  The pork was very flavorful and moist!  I'd prefer cooking my Roasted Potatoes recipe by itself instead of adding the potatoes in with the pork, but they were still very tasty as well.

(We were in such a hurry to eat that I forgot to take a picture!)

Cook Time:  2 Hours
Yields:  8 Servings

Ingredients

6 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp chopped fresh chives
salt and pepper to taste
1 (4 lb) boneless pork loin roast
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a pot with enough water to cover, boil potatoes for about 10 minutes.  Drain, cool, place in a bowl.  Toss with olive oil, 1/2 tsp thyme, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, chives, salt, and pepper.
3. Rub the pork loin roast with 1 tsp thyme, 1 tsp garlic powder, and onion powder.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4. Place roast in a shallow roasting pan and cook 50 minutes in the preheated oven.  Arrange potatoes around the roast, and continue cooking another 50 minutes, to an internal temperature of 160 degrees.  Remove from heat, cover with foil, and let sit 15 minutes before slicing.

This recipe may seem like it's not worth the effort due to the cook time, but let me assure you it is well worth the time to cook!  We will be making this a regular recipe around our house.

From AllRecipes.com

Chicken Scampi

I knew I wanted to try this recipe as soon as I saw it.  It was absolutely DELICIOUS!  Everyone in the family loved it, including my 2 year old niece!

Cook Time:  25 Minutes
Yields:  4 Servings


Ingredients

1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried oregano
3 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp lemon juice
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, sliced lengthwise into thirds

Directions

1. In a skillet heat the butter and oil over medium high heat until the butter melts.  Add parsely, basil, oregano, garlic, and salt and mix together in the skillet.  Stir in lemon juice.
2. Add chicken and saute for about three minutes or until white.  Lower the heat and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and the juices run clear.  More butter can be added if needed.

This recipe suggested serving over noodles or rice, but we just had the chicken by itself and it was delicious.  Next time I will probably try it over some noodles as I'm sure that would be tasty as well.

From AllRecipes.com

Fresh Strawberry Upside Down Cake

I have yet to try this recipe, but my mom made it and says it is absolutely scrumptious!  I look forward to buying some strawberries and giving this recipe a try in the very near future.  If you make it, please take a picture and e-mail it to me so I can show everyone just how delicious this cake is!

Cook Time:  45 minutes
Yields:  18 servings (this is a guesstimate)

Ingredients

2 cups crushed fresh strawberries (slice most and crush some)
1 (6 ounce) package strawberry flavored gelatin mix
3 cups miniature marshmallows
1 (18 ounce) package yellow cake mix, batter prepared as directed on package - yellow butter cake mix works well

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Spread sliced and crushed strawberries on bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.
3. Evenly sprinkle strawberries with dry gelatin powder and top with mini marshmallows.
4. Prepare the cake mix as directed on the package and pour on top of the marshmallows.  Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 to 50 minutes.  Cool in the pan for 15 minutes.  Run a knife around the pan to loosen the sides and turn the cake out onto a serving tray.  Best for tray to have sides because some of the topping will run to the sides.  Store cake in the refrigerator.  When ready to serve, cut into pieces, place on serving dish and top with Cool Whip.

From Lynn's Kitchen

Cajun Chicken Pasta

This is another favorite around my house.  My husband loves spicy foods and we both love chicken and pasta!  Don't worry, this one isn't too spicy...just enough to give it a great flavor!

Cook Time:  30 Minutes
Yields:  4 Servings

Ingredients

1/2 lb linguine pasta
4 boneless, skinless, chicken breast halves, sliced into thin strips
1 Tbsp and 1 tsp Cajun seasoning
1/4 cup butter
2 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 green onion
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp lemon pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Directions

1. Cook pasta and drain.
2. Meanwhile, place chicken and cajun seasoning in a bowl and toss to coat.
3. In a large skillet over medium heat, saute chicken in butter until no longer pink and juices run clear.  Add green and red bell peppers and green onions; cook for 2 to 3 min.  Reduce heat and stir in heavy cream.  Season the sauce with basil, lemon pepper, and garlic powder and heat through.
4. Toss linguine with sauce and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

I normally only use one green bell pepper as we are not huge vegetable people, so two green and one red bell pepper were a little much for us.

From Allrecipes.com