I’ve got another crock pot recipe for you. These are the best, especially now that I’m a mom and I never know if I’ll have time in the evening to make dinner. So, I just prepare something in the crock pot when Eva takes her afternoon nap and get to smell the deliciousness all day long.
Ingredients
4 steaks (about 1 lb total)
1 1/2 cup water
Gravy packet
Ranch dressing packet
Italian dressing packet (next time I might eliminate this)
Red Potatoes
Carrots
Directions
Wash and cut potatoes into quarters. Add them to crock pot.
Add carrots to pot (I used about a half of the bag of baby carrots.)
Put steaks on top of veggies.
In small bowl, mix packets of seasonings and water.
Pour mixture over veggies and steaks.
Cook on low for about 5 hours.
You can substitute a roast in the place of steaks. I just used steaks because they were on sale at the grocery this week. Sorry, no pictures!
Last night I made the most delicious pork chops in the crock pot. It was super easy and they were so tender. You have got to try them!
6 pork chops (cut 1/2 – 3/4-inch thick)
1 onion (sliced or chopped)
1 tablespoon fresh minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional or to taste)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
1 -2 tablespoon fresh minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon black pepper (or to taste)
Place the pork chops in the crock pot.
Sprinkle with onions and garlic over and around the chops.
In a bowl mix together all remaining ingredients except the salt; pour over the chops.
Cook on low setting for about 7 hours or until the pork chops are cooked through and tender (cooking time will vary slightly depending on the size of your pork chops). I cooked mine for 4.5 hrs on high and they were cooked through.
Tonight we went to this Chinese restaurant on 3rd South… I can’t remember the name, but it was pretty good and so cheap. I told T.J. I wouldn’t judge it by it’s cover, although the lighting in there was pretty sketch. Overall, I’d give it 4 out of 5 stars, it lost one star because I asked if I could replace my eggroll for a wonton and she said without question, “No.” She kind of scared me.
This week I’ve had a cold, so I stayed in, except for a couple of little walks and picking up T.J. from school. By Friday, I realized I hadn’t worn makeup for days or worn a cute outfit so I decided I’d have a delicious dinner ready for T.J. when he got home and be dressed up… to show him that his wife is still in there!
I’m trying to use ingredients we have on hand right now and not but too many groceries, so I decided I would make chicken crepes. I don’t have any pictures, but I will tell you they were delicious and it made enough for leftovers which have been great.
First, while I thawed about eight chicken tenderloins, I made the crepe batter. I let that sit in the fridge while I cooked the chicken on the stovetop and then cut it into bite-sized pieces. Next, I made a roux. I actually made half of what the recipe called for and it was still WAY too much. I don’t like white sauce too much, plus it’s really fattening. So, I’m moderating the recipe a bit so next time I remember to make just a little bit. Then I made the crepes, folded them and lined them in a bottom of a baking dish, layering the cooked chicken, some white sauce, and two crepes to cover them on top. Sprinkle it with cheese (just a tinnnny bit of shredded cheese), and broil until the top is kind of crispy.
Next time I make it, I’m going to add some vegetables like tomatoes and mushrooms, but I didn’t have any fresh on hand. So, anyways… it turned out great and T.J. was very impressed that I had done my makeup and hair! But the sad thing about all of it was that at the end of the night, I was so tired/sick with the cold I didn’t feel like going on our date. Oh well!
Yesterday, I slept in until 11… but when my dad tried to give me a hard time about it, I reminded him not only that I am pregnant, I also am still on Mountain time and so it was really only 9 am back home. We got ready for the day and then I ran a couple of errands with my dad while my mom was teaching. For lunch, we ate at this fabulous German restaurant in Newport called the Hofbrauhaus. Cincinnati is known for its German heritage and so this place sits next to the river decked out in German decor with German music playing in the background. I got a schnitzel sandwich and my dad got a wurst with saurkraut. Delish.
A little bit later in the day, I met up with my mom and we went downtown to shop. For Christmas each year, we go to see the decorations downtown, but since I’m not coming home this year, we decided we’d see what was up at Macy’s at least. I couldn’t believe how dead the mall was down there, even Annie Anne’s had closed. So, other than Macy’s and TJ Maxx, the place was a ghost town.
Oh, when we were at TJ Maxx checking out, a very eccentric man (maybe he was homeless or had some mental problems… not sure) was talking to the girls at the counter. He looked over to me and said very loud for everyone to hear,
“You see that girl, she has two girls and a boy in her belly right there!”
He continued saying something like, “You know how I can tell? They’re moving and punching like this.” Then he started moving like Elaine from Seinfeld when she dances.
We all laughed, but then he kept going and I knew I needed to get out of there before the laughter turned to tears. Anyway, funny strangers. They always know what to say to pregnant women.
For dinner, we had Skyline of course. That’s always first on my list when I come into town. And to finish up the night, my parents and I headed to Newport on the Levee to see a movie called The Big Year. It is with Owen Wilson, Steve Martin, and Jack Black. It is seriously one of the best movies I have seen in a really good time. It’s a PG, so it’s very clean, very funny, and has such a sweet ending. Go see it!!!
https://katiederrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo.png00Katiehttps://katiederrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo.pngKatie2011-10-20 11:50:492011-10-20 11:50:49"You see that girl..."
Last week I had a bunch of bananas that we forgot about that were about to go bad, so obviously I needed to make banana bread. But here’s the thing, I didn’t have any chocolate chips and I firmly believe you can’t make banana bread without chocolate chips. So, I thought maybe I could find a recipe for chocolate banana bread instead because I had cocoa powder on hand.
Brilliant idea.
It turned out wonderfully and was a little different texture than my normal banana bread. I definitely recommend it. (P.S. add chocolate chips though, if you have them.)
1 cup margarine, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
6 bananas, mashed
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup lite sour cream
1.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease two 9×5 inch loaf pans.
2.
In a large bowl, cream together margarine, sugar and eggs. Stir in bananas and vanilla. Sift in flour, baking soda and cocoa; mix well. Blend in sour cream and chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared pans.
3.
Bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of a loaf comes out clean.
Last Sunday for dinner, I made this delicious wonder. You know me… anything where I don’t have to actually cook the chicken myself, I’m sold. It was absolutely wonderful and very filling… try it this week!
1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil
6-10 frozen chicken breasts tenders (I only used 6, but had a lot of extra sauce and wish I would have made more)
1 large onion, chopped (I substituted some dried onion instead because I didn’t want to get onion smell on me since we were about to go to church)
2 cans (14.5 oz each) diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
1 can (14.5 oz) crushed tomatoes, undrained
2 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
2 cups hot cooked couscous
Chopped dry roasted peanuts to top it off (optional, but wonderful)
In 4- to-5-quart slow cooker, mix onion, diced and crushed tomatoes, honey, cumin cinnamon, and peanut butter. Add chicken. Spoon tomato mixture over chicken.
Cover and cook on Low heat setting 7 to 8 hours. (Or high for 4-5 hours)
Serve chicken and sauce over couscous. Top with chopped peanuts.
Last night, I made stuffed green peppers for dinner. I’ve made this before, but it was a different recipe by Betty Crocker with tomato sauce. I was interested in seeing which one was better. In the end, I liked both but I think having the extra sauce in the Betty Crocker recipe really helped. So, if I make this recipe again, I might add tomato sauce into the recipe or just pour some on top once cooked. Also, next time I’m going to actually use italian sausage instead of ground beef. I just had some on hand and didn’t feel like buying more ingredients.
Oh, and funny story to go along with this meal… It took me about an hour to prepare and cook dinner and so it was about 7 pm and T.J. was getting really hungry. I promised him it would be ready in five minutes. He went to the kitchen cabinet, pulled out a box of cereal and was about to pour himself a bowl when I said to him again firmly, “It will be ready in five minutes.” (Meaning, if you eat a bowl of cereal right now I am never cooking for you ever again.) He understood my undertone and put everything back.
Guys, I tried another crock pot recipe this week (thanks to, Erica Messerly). I’m seriously loving these recipes where you just throw in frozen chicken and don’t have to deal with it at all. I don’t have a picture (oops) but you must try it. Oh, and p.s. I’m making a few modifications in the recipe…
Ingredients
1/2 cup dry roasted peanuts (chopped in food processor)
1/4 cup Vinegar
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp Sugar
1 Tbsp Tabasco Sauce
1/2 cup peanut butter
4-6 pieces of frozen chicken
Blend all ingredients, except for chicken in a small bowl. Place frozen chicken in the crock pot and pour peanut sauce over chicken. Cook on low for about 6 hours. Serve over rice and top with cilantro. Enjoy!
I saw on Pinterest an idea to make your own banana and apple chips. So, I sliced up an apple really thin and a banana really thin, sprinkled them with lemon juice and a dash of sugar, put them in the oven for about an hour on 200°, and then tried this new homemade snack.
Apples: Thumbs down
Bananas: Thumbs up
I think I didn’t like the apples because they weren’t dried enough. I should have kept them in the oven another half an hour I think, but I lost my patience. The bananas were WONDERFUL and I wanted more. Unfortunately, I didn’t have parchment paper on hand so I baked them on aluminum foil. I should have sprayed the foil because a lot of the bananas wouldn’t come off. So, word to the wise… use parchment paper if you want to try this yourself, and cut up more than one banana because you will want more!
https://katiederrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo.png00Katiehttps://katiederrick.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/logo.pngKatie2011-08-18 15:13:032011-08-18 15:13:03I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas...
