Low Sodium Beef Stroganoff

Low Sodium Beef Stroganoff

So, there's a few people in my life that are concerned with how much sodium they eat because it negatively affects their blood pressure. There's a lot of sodium packed into a lot of pre-packaged foods, and together, we kind of have explored different recipes to try out to still have "real food" without sacrificing taste. I think this is one of the better ones. I also will save some substitute options until the end, and also a giant nutrition label calculator thing I found. This has roughly 193 mg of sodium per serving (this recipe makes 6 servings).

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of trimmed beef
• 8 ounces of light sour cream
• 1/2 large red onion
• 8 ounces of baby carrots (or 2 large carrots, peeled)
• 16 ounces of portabella mushrooms
• 1/2 cup of red wine vinegar
• 2 cups of unsalted beef broth
• 12 ounces no yolk egg noodles
• 1 tsp of black pepper
• 1 tsp of ground mustard

Directions:

1. Cook noodles per package directions. Set aside.
2. Cut up trimmed beef into bite size pieces. Cook until meat is done.
   Note: I cooked my beef in the crock pot on low, in about 2 cups of beef broth for 8-9 hours to make it all shredded and delicious. I would highly recommend that cooking method if you've got time, but if you don't, cooking it in a frying pan also works.
3. Dice onion, baby carrots, and mushrooms.
4. Add onion, baby carrots, and mushrooms to skillet on medium heat. Cook vegetables until they're soft (about 5-8 minutes).
5. Add red wine vinegar and beef broth to skillet. Cook vegetables and liquids until liquid starts to reduce. Mix in black pepper and ground mustard. Stir well.
6. Add beef to skillet.
7. Once liquid has reduced, shut off heat and combine all ingredients (skillet mixture, sour cream, and noodles).
8. Serve warm, makes about 6, 2 cup servings.

Here's the nutrition facts thing I put together online through a website. The nutrition facts will vary depending on what brands you use, or if you substitute anything. If you want less carbs but still want those noodles, I'd recommend using 6 oz of the yolk free egg noodles instead.

Happy cooking!

Salmon Rice

Those blurry photos. Someday I'll get better. Someday.

Salmon Rice

Turns out, I like fish. I've been trying to find more fishy recipes, and this is kind of a hodge podge of other recipes into one.

If you don't like broccoli, you can substitute in pretty much any other vegetable, I would just stay away from bell peppers. Bell peppers and the sauce don't go all that well together in my experience. Or live dangerously, get that bell pepper fix.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs salmon
• 8 oz shredded carrots
• 2-3 cups of broccoli
• 1 cup of uncooked basmati rice
• 9 Tbsp rice vinegar
• 6 Tbsp hoisin sauce
• 3 tsp ground ginger

Directions:

1. Cook basmati rice per package instructions.
2. Salmon: I prefer to bake salmon in the oven. I usually let it marinade overnight, then bake it in the oven for an hour at 375. Sometimes I forget to thaw the salmon (9 times out of 10 I buy it frozen), so I shove it in the crock pot on high for three hours with some additional hoisin sauce on top. At the two hour mark, I mix the fish so it's starts falling apart and is blended, before I let it cook for the remaining hour. Whatever you do, just make sure the salmon is cooked.
3. Chop up broccoli. How much broccoli you use entirely depends on how much you like broccoli.
4. Combine broccoli and carrots into a large skillet. Cook on medium high heat for 10 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.
5. Make sauce: Combine rice vinegar, hoisin sauce, and ground ginger in a small bowl. Mix well. Add sauce to skillet with vegetables. Bring sauce to a slow boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes.
6. Combine salmon, rice, and vegetables (plus sauce). Stir well.
7. Serve warm.

Rocking another easy recipe.

Happy cooking!

Seafood Udon Soup

Seafood Udon Soup

Surprise! It's a recipe!

This is something I've had at restaurants from time to time, and I had a craving for it the other day.

However.

Most of the recipes I was able to find online were an odd assortment of things (or perhaps I just suck at google, always a possibility). So I decided to do a combination of compare a ton of recipes, and analyze the common components before I arrived at this.

I also went kind of less is more as far as ingredient variations, but you could also easily add vegetables like carrots, cabbage, or whatever you want to this recipe too.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of raw (and thawed) shrimp
• 16 oz of scallops
• 16 oz of imitation crab, cut into bite sized pieces
• 8 oz diced portabella mushrooms
• 1/2 cup (approximately) diced scallions (aka green onions)
• 1/2 cup of low sodium soy sauce
• 8 cups of less sodium chicken broth
• 14 oz udon noodles

Directions:

1. Prepare udon noodles per package instructions. Set aside.
2. In a 8 qt soup pot (or a very large pot that can contain a lot of soup), add chicken broth and soy sauce. Cook on low.
3. Add portabella mushrooms and scallions to soup pot. Stir.
4. Add shrimp, scallops, and imitation crab.
5. Cover pot. Continue to cook on low for 15-20 minutes or until shrimp is cooked (turns pink), stirring occasionally.
6. Add udon noodles.
7. Simmer soup for about 10-15 minutes, stir occasionally.
8. Serve warm.

That's it! Pretty easy, right? Like I said before, different kinds of vegetables could be easily added to this, and add them at step 3. I also prefer less crazy amounts of salts, hence the low sodium soy sauce & chicken broth. If you love salt, just use the regular soy sauce and chicken broth.

Happy cooking!

Crock Pot Pizza Cake

Delicious decisions were made.

Crock Pot Pizza Cake

You heard me!

I made pizza cake in the crock pot.

If you don't know what pizza cake is, here's a short description.

It is three or more pizzas stacked on top of each other with the dough built up on the sides to give it the cake effect. Typically, they're made in a spring form pan, or a metal bowl that has a good size/oven worthy.

....or you could be crazy like me, wing it, and put it in a crock pot.

Aww yeahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

Anywho.

I strongly recommend using a crock pot liner for this recipe. The liner enables you to lift the pizza cake out of the crock pot without too much difficulty. Plus, you can cut it up a heck of a lot easier when it's out of the crock pot.

Ingredients:

• (2) 13.8 oz cans of refrigerated pizza crust (like the tubes you can get cinnamon rolls in)
  Note: This is for a three layer pizza cake, if you want more layers, get more crust!
• Pizza sauce - however much you prefer on your pizza regularly
• Mozzarella cheese - same deal as pizza sauce. Whatever your preference is
• TOPPINGS. What toppings do you like on your pizza? Pepperoni? Ham? Mushrooms? Peppers? Your imagination and potentially the grocery store is your limit!

Directions:

1. Insert crock pot liner into the crock pot per package directions and common sense.
2. As this is going in the crock pot, I would cook the pizza crust according to the package directions. The eventual plan for the pizza crust is to cut it in the shape of the crock pot.
3. When the pizza crust is done, cut it in the shape of the crock pot, place one layer of crust on the bottom. As there will be three crusts, I'd recommend not cutting it in the middle, cut it on one side. The extra crust bits will be used to stack along the edges.
4. Spread sauce on the crust evenly.
5. Put toppings/cheese on the crust evenly.
6. On the edges of the crust, stack about a half inch of crust all around the edges.
7. Repeat steps 3-6 until you're out of crust/want to be done, whichever comes first.
8. Turn the crock pot on low and cook for 5 hours.
9. Remove from crock pot with that SUPER HANDY LINER! :D
10. Put it on a cutting board, slice it, and PREPARE YOUR FACE FOR DELICIOUSNESS.

That's it. I personally put mushrooms/ham on my version for a potluck I went to. It turned out gloriously well. A little weird to cut into at first, but definitely worth the struggle.

Happy cooking!

Burrito Bowl

Burrito Bowl

...I might be mildly obsessed with burritos.

...

I think that's the only introduction this recipe really needs.

Burritos. They're delicious. Sometimes they need to be made in 'bowl' form. Excellent.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of Long Grain Rice (prepared according to package directions)
• 12 ounces of Steamed Broccoli
• 15 ounces of Pinto Beans
• 8 ounces of Salsa (whichever variety is your favorite)
• 3 chicken breasts cooked and diced up

Directions:

1. Add the pinto beans and salsa to a large pot. Simmer on a medium heat for 7 minutes.
2. Stir in the chicken to the pot, turn the heat to low and simmer for 3 minutes.
3. Add broccoli and rice to the pot, stir very well. Remove from heat.
4. Let stand for 5 minutes.

Super simple. Super tasty. Burrito goodness.

Happy cooking!

Crabby Onigiri

...I got a little excited.

Crabby Onigiri

Onigiri (aka rice balls) are something I've always been curious to know how to make.

Luckily for me, I have a friend with similar curiosity. We cobbled some together one evening, and now I can't stop (won't stop) making them.

They're insanely delicious.


For those of you that don't know, it's pretty easy to make Onigiri. The most challenging part (for me) is to decide what kind of filling you want to put inside. I'll detail the recipe with the filling I made.

Ingredients:

• (1) Cup of Sushi Rice
• (1) Packet of seaweed (whichever flavor you prefer)
• (8) Ounces of imitation crab meat (for the filling)
• (4) Ounces of cream cheese (for the filling)
• (1) Teaspoon of garlic powder (for the filling)

Directions:

1. Cook sushi rice per package directions. Let the rice cool, you're going to be handling it a lot, so it's better to have it cold.
2. Cut seaweed into in 2" x 1" rectangles; you'll want about 8 of them.
3. Find a way to keep your hands wet. The rice will stick to your hands if they're dry. I prefer to keep a large bowl nearby that I can just dunk my hands into. I can't stress how important it is to keep your hands wet so the rice doesn't stick to them.
4. Mince the crab meat.
5. Combine crab meat, cream cheese, and garlic powder in a bowl. Stir well.
6. There are different methods that people have done to make the ball aspect of the rice ball. I take a scoop of rice in my hands (wet hands) and form a little cup. Then I add a scoop of filling, before putting more rice on top. I kind of push it around until it's a ball and then apply the seaweed.
7. Repeat step 6 until you've used all your rice/filling. It should make about (8) rice balls.

That's it! My photo above is when I made a double batch as I was having some folks over. It's a pretty quick, filling, and tasty dish.

Happy cooking!

Pulled Pork & Miscellaneous

The return of potato phone.

Pulled Pork & Miscellaneous

A lot of times when I have a leftover food item, I come up with a new dish to use it before it goes bad. I think it's been pretty efficient so far.

This is one of those dishes. It turned out stupidly good though, so I think I'm just going to add it into my cookbook. Yes.

Ingredients:

• (1) Pound of pulled pork (the pulled pork I used was coated in honey BBQ sauce)
• (15) Ounces of steamed broccoli
• (4) Servings of white rice (already prepared - for me this was 1 cup of uncooked rice that I prepared according to package directions)
• (4) Cloves of garlic
• (6) Fresh Mushrooms
• (3) Tablespoons of olive oil

Directions:

1. Prepare rice per package directions.
2. Chop garlic cloves and add to a large sauce pan.
3. Add olive oil to the sauce pan.
4. Turn heat on medium low, saute garlic cloves.
5. Chop fresh mushrooms and add to the sauce pan.
6. Add steamed broccoli to the sauce pan.
7. Simmer and occasionally stir for five minutes.
8. Add pulled pork to the sauce pan.
9. Simmer and occasionally stir for five minutes.
10. Add rice to the sauce pan, mix all ingredients.
11. Reduce heat to low and occasionally stir until all food is heated through. 

This was created just from ingredients on hand, but it turned out very well.

...nothing says creative like the dishes born in your kitchen? Eh?

Happy cooking!

Taco Soup

New phone: Less potato quality!

Taco Soup

This recipe was given to me by my sister in law who got it from Stephanie O'Dea of Crockpot365 Blog.

This is also a crock pot recipe. I adore crock pot recipes because you can set it and forget it (like a terrible commercial), except you don't want to forget it forever, just for the cook time.

I didn't tweak the recipe much because it was already tasty, but I make it a little spicier than 'necessary' I suppose. Not much, just a wee bit.

Some like it hot. I like to feel my mouth. ... so my version of the recipe has just a wee bit of spice to it.

You also want at least a 6 quart crock pot for this recipe; it's pretty big.

Ingredients:

• 2 (15 ounce) cans of kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 (15 ounce) cans of pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 (15 ounce) cans of corn (keep the juice!)
• 1 (26 (or 28) ounce) can of petite diced tomatoes
• 1 (10 ounce) can of diced tomatoes with chiles
• 1 packet of taco seasoning
• 1 packet of ranch dressing mix
• 1 pound browned hamburger or ground turkey
• (Optional) 2 teaspoons of cayenne pepper
• (Optional) 1 teaspoon of dried cilantro OR a couple sprigs chopped up of fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. Cook meat to appropriate internal temperature to avoid food poisoning.
2. Drain fat from the meat and add drained meat into the crock pot.
3. Sprinkle both seasoning packets on top of the meat.
4. Add both kidney and pinto beans (make sure their drained and rinsed first) to the crock pot.
5. Add all tomatoes and corn (don't drain them!) to the crock pot.
6. (Optional) Add cayenne pepper and cilantro to the crock pot.
7. Stir very well; you don't want lingering chunks of seasonings left in there.
8. Cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-5.

You can eat it like soup (as pictured above) OR you could be fun and drain it a bit (once it's done cooking) and spreading it on tortilla shells. It also makes a great dip (if a little wet, although you could probably add a little corn starch to thicken it up a bit if you wanted the more realistic dip route).

It's a pretty easy recipe to tailor it to whatever situation you'd like to consume it.

Happy cooking!

Crab Salad

I got a new phone! The photos look
only slightly less like I took them
with a potato. Crab Salad is featured
in a container instead of a bowl! YAY!

Crab Salad

I love seafood.

I don't mean fish; I mean crab, shrimp, clam, calamari, etc. The occasional tuna is alright as well.

With that in mind, I love to make things with seafood (in case you couldn't tell) and I recently tried out a recipe and flavored to be awesome to me.

So.

Without further ado, Crab Salad.

ENJOY!

Ingredients:

• 16 ounces small sea shell pasta
• 1/2 cup of purple onion
• 1 tablespoon of parsley
• 1 cup of miracle whip (or mayonnaise I suppose)
• 1 teaspoon of ground mustard
• 4 teaspoons of sugar
• 4 tablespoons of sour cream
• 4 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
• 3 hard boiled eggs
• 1 teaspoon of paprika
• 40 ounces of imitation crab

Directions:

1. Cook small sea shell pasta per packaging instructions.
2. Mince the onion, hard boiled eggs, and the crab.
3. In a LARGE bowl (I hilariously/inconveniently always misjudge appropriate bowl sizes which results in disastrous stirring adventures) mix together miracle whip, parsley, ground mustard, sugar, sour cream, apple cider vinegar, and paprika together.
4. Add onion, eggs, and crab to bowl. Mix.
5. Add pasta to bowl. Mix well.
6. Let cool for 25-30 minutes (for optimal chilled flavor; you can eat it right when you're done stirring as well but it'll be warm from the pasta most likely).
7. EAT. Enjoy the leftovers, unless you made this for a large party, then yay for trusting my dish creating abilities!

I've made this just once but I love it and had to share.

Happy cooking!

The Tomato Shrimp

I put it in a smaller bowl this time.
THIS IS MY LIFE. THESE ARE MY CHOICES.

The Tomato Shrimp

....so lately I feel that I've been ignoring the recipe aspect of this blog. This is my extra effort to post another recipe before I get distracted by books.

Don't worry, more books are always in the future.

I've also been accidentally making surprisingly tasty things lately, yet my creativity for naming these things that I create is lacking.

So The Tomato Shrimp.

ENJOY.

Ingredients:
-16 ounces of Shrimp (deveined and deshelled)
-16 ounces of Imitation Crab
-1 14.5 ounce can of Italian Diced Tomatoes
-6 ounces of Snow Peas (while they're still in the pods)
-12 ounces of cooked per packaging instructions Rotini Pasta
-30 ounces of Mushroom Alfredo Sauce (I suppose regular Alfredo sauce works as well, I just dig mushrooms)

Directions:
1. Get a LARGE saucepan; all of these ingredients are eventually going to wind up in there.
2. Put tomatoes in saucepan; do not drain. Turn on low heat.
3. Cut snow peas up into bite sized pieces and add to sauce pan.
4. Cut crab up into bite sized pieces and add to sauce pan.
5. Simmer for five minutes or so while occasionally stirring.
6. Add 15 ounces of mushroom alfredo sauce. Stir.
7. Add shrimp and simmer for three minutes or so. Stir occasionally.
8. Add pasta and remaining mushroom alfredo sauce. STIR!
9. Let simmer for five minutes all on LOW heat. Stir a few times while it's simmering.
10. ...it should be done then.

I've made this a few times and I love it.

That's all.

Happy cooking!

Chicken Potato Casserole

My phone takes crap pictures and everything I eat goes into a bowl.
You now know all the secrets of my LIFEEEE.

Chicken Potato Casserole

....do you ever have one of those nights where you look around your kitchen, throw some meat in the oven, and then figure out what to do with it later?

...maybe it's just me.

So I threw some chicken to cook in the oven while I walked around, pulled some random dry goods out, and came back later once the chicken was done.


This method is how I make some of my best/most interesting recipes. Or boredom. Sometimes they are a delicious combination of WHATTTTT.

Anyways.

Tonight's result was Chicken Potato Casserole!

Ingredients:
-8 cooked & diced chicken breasts
-3 washed and diced large russet potatoes (uncooked; skins can be on or off)
-1 16 ounce frozen bag of California blend vegetables (carrots/cauliflower/broccoli)
-2  10 1/2 ounce cans of Cream of Celery soup
-1 8 ounce bag of shredded cheese (whatever variety you like)
-1 teaspoon of pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Combine chicken, potatoes, vegetables, soup, and pepper. Stir together.
3. Spread combination from step 2 evenly in a 9x13 glass baking dish.
4. Sprinkle the whole bag of shredded cheese on top.
5. Cook in the oven for about 45 minutes or until potatoes are soft. (I covered mine with aluminum foil so the cheese didn't burn.)
6. Take out of the oven and let cool for about five minutes before serving.

Now if you're like me, I definitely spaz checked the dish every fifteen minutes or so. That probably had an impact on the cooking time so I ball parked it at 45 minutes.

...so yeah. This was my first time making it as it was definitely an experiment but I will be making it again in the future.

Happy cooking!

Ghoulash

It got to the table before I remembered to take a picture.

Ghoulash!

So this might be called something different, but this is what my family calls it and it's rather delicious.....

...so now I'm sharing it with you.

It's pretty good, and pretty dang easy and if your meat isn't frozen; it can be mildly quick.

BE PREPARED FOR A DELICIOUS ENCOUNTER.

Side note: the most beautiful thing about ghoulash is that it's really easy to tailor it to specific tastes. We usually like it with a little more zing...so it gets cayenne pepper. But only a hint or else mouth flames.

So....here you are!

Ingredients:

-16 ounces of elbow macaroni

-2 cans of diced tomatoes (plain; stewed and Italian kind of work as well)

-1 4 ounce can of mushrooms (stems and pieces) **very optional

-1 pound of Ground beef (I use venison but I know it's not an option for all)

-1/4 cup of diced onion

-2 teaspoons of Garlic Powder

-1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

Directions:

1. Cook ground beef (or venison) with onion and drain fat.

2. Cook elbow macaroni as described by packaging instructions.

3. Combine ground beef, tomatoes (DO NOT DRAIN THE TOMATOES), mushrooms, cayenne pepper, and garlic powder in a large sauce pan (you'll add the noodles to it, plan accordingly). Cook on very low heat for about ten minutes. (I usually cook this combination and the elbow macaroni at the same time.)

4. Add cooked elbow macaroni to the large sauce pan.

5. Simmer for about five minutes.

6. DONE.

 

I usually like to make corn bread with this, but it's a hearty winter meal.

 

Happy cooking!

Homemade Applesauce

My phone camera is
professionally bad at taking pictures.

Homemade Applesauce

In my family it's been a bit of a tradition to go apple picking every year as the apple's ripen in Michigan.

...that also means that we always have a lot of apples for a couple months. We get a little creative with apple recipes that are simple and easy, but not necessarily quick.

This is a very easy apple treat!





Ingredients:

• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• About 14 medium-size apples (essentially enough to fill the 1 quart cooking pot about 3/4 full)

Directions:

1. Peel and core apples. Cut them into eights.
2. Dump all the apples in the cooking pot.
3. Stir in sugar and ground cinnamon to the apple pile in the cooking pot.
4. Cover and cook for about 45 minutes on VERY low heat. If you like chunky applesauce, cook it for a little less. If you like your applesauce the consistency of mushed baby food, cook it for an hour.

That's it!

It's delicious, pretty freaking simple, and only time consuming in the preparation of the apples and the actual cooking of the apples.

Happy cooking!

Peanut Butter Balls

Peanut Butter Balls

So this is my third attempt at making these, and I have to say it's the tastiest.

However, I did leave the chocolate shell off of them because I haven't figured that bit out yet. So here's the recipe without the chocolate because that was just a mess. I also like to think of these as a tasty bite size peanut butter pie, just sans the chocolate on these.

...

I'm not slightly annoyed for not being able to figure out the chocolate part at all.

Noooo.

Nope.

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces of cream cheese, softened (not melted, just squishy)
• 3 cups of powdered sugar
• 1 cup of peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt

Directions:

1. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. Combine powdered sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl.
3. Add cream cheese, blend well.
4. Add vanilla extract and peanut butter to the mix. Stir well. It should be about the consistency of cookie dough.
5. Roll into bite sized pieces, and place onto prepared cookie sheet. They don't have to be spread too far apart on the cookie sheet because they won't expand it all. They'll stay exactly as you rolled them.
6. If you are in a rush for delicious, you can put them in the freezer for twenty minutes. OR, you can put them in the refrigerator for an hour. They should be stored in the fridge when not being consumed.
7. ENJOY.

It's a very easy recipe and goes over very well with everyone I've come across. Plus there's no baking. YES.

Happy culinary adventures!

Peanut Butter Pie

Giant delicious death....I mean, Peanut Butter Pie!

Do as I say, not as I do. I poured the chocolate layer
on too quickly. It blooped over the side.

Once upon time, my sister in law made this pie, brought it to a family gathering, and I think everyone dog piled on it after we realized how truly delightful it is.

It's a giant reese's peanut butter cup essentially.

OH MY BATMAN.

I have a mini food attack every time I make this.

It's almost too easy to make...as in too tempting at all times.

I don't even, have some directions on how to make this wonderful pie.

Ingredients:

• 1 premade oreo crust
• 1 cup of creamy peanut butter
• 8 ounces of cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• 1 pint of heavy whipping cream
• 4 ounces of semisweet chocolate (Baker's chocolate squares works great for this)
• 1 tablespoon of butter

Directions:

1. In a mixing bowl, beat peanut butter, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until smooth and fluffy.
2. In a different bowl, with really clean beaters (mixers, whatever you want to call them (STIRRING UTENSIL)), whip 1 cup of whipping cream into whipped cream.
3. Fold whipped cream into peanut butter mixture until well combined.
4. Spoon into the premade oreo crust. Chill until set (most likely an hour or so).
5. Place chocolate and butter into a microwave proof bowl. Microwave in 15-30 second bursts until melted, stirring well in between. Once chocolate and butter have melted, stir in 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream. It should be a consistency of barbecue sauce (or close to it).
6. Pour evenly over the pie. Let the chocolate settle on top; refrigeration is recommended.
7. Try not to die from delight. :)

Afraid of fridge gremlins getting into the pie while it's chilling?
Flip the protective covering over that came with the premade
oreo crust. It's an awesome shield protector thing
and it fits perfectly!.

Happy cooking!

Dr. Pulled Pork

The Doctor is delicious.

Dr. Pulled Pork

A friend of mine gave me this recipe and I tweaked it a little bit. I present to you, Dr. Pulled Pork; dangerously delicious medicine for the taste buds.**

**It's not medicine, please never treat it as such.

Alright, sometimes my efforts at humor just get in the way of being taken seriously.


The ingredients:

• 2 to 3 pounds of pork shoulder (or butt)
• 24 ounces of Dr. Pepper
• 2 teaspoons of Garlic Powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of Ground Mustard
• 1 teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of black pepper
• 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar
• 3 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon of Hoisin Sauce
• A bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce (I personally used Sweet Baby Ray's regular BBQ sauce, I know that the honey & hickory varieties have been tried and liked as well)

Directions:

1. Use a big crock pot. I mean big enough to fit your giant chunks of pork into it with all of the ingredients (sans BBQ sauce).
2. Mix garlic powder, ground mustard, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, vinegar, worcestershire sauce, and hoisin sauce together in the crock pot.
3. Cut pork shoulder (or butt) into four pieces and put into the crock pot.
4. Pour the Dr. Pepper over top, and stir slightly. It's going to be slightly weird because of the giant pork pieces, but you can do it. I believe in you!
5. Cook on high for 4-5 hours, or low for 8 hours of more. I personally cooked mine on low all day because it's an older crock pot and so I could 'set it and forget it' for the day. Makes for a delicious dinner.
6. Carefully remove pork. Shred it with 2 forks (or whatever suits you best) on a cutting board. Return the pork to the original mixture in the crock pot. Stir. No seriously, STIR IT.
7. Cook for another hour in the crock pot on low.
8. Drain the juices.
9. Toss the pork in your choice of BBQ sauce. I used about half the bottle on mine, but I like mine with a little less sauce so I didn't put an amount for sauce. Like it saucey? Add more sauce. Don't like the sauce as much? Don't put as much sauce in! Simple. ...still confused? Only add a little bit of sauce to the pork at a time until it's a consistency that YOU like.
10. Recommended to be served on hamburger buns. Also makes great nachos.

Questions? Leave a comment!

Want a better picture? TOO BAD. :D

...

Happy cooking!

Feta Chicken Pasta Salad

Aww yeah, crappy picture of the dish courtesy of my phone.
Mmm, delicious. Also, the thing on the right is a spoon
handle. Just so you know it's not a malformed piece of
chicken or something.

Feta Chicken Pasta Salad

So basically, I'm terrible at naming things. One day I put all of these delicious things into a dish and it turns out the whole dish was delicious! Now I'm sharing it!

Huzzah!

...I'm also going to put weird space in here so everything will line up nicely. BECAUSE I CAN.






Ingredients:

• 4 cooked chicken breasts, cubed
• 12 ounces of penne pasta, cooked (I used tri-color because of delicious, but regular penne should be fine)
• 4 ounces of feta cheese
• 8 ounces of italian dressing (light)
• 1 1/2 cups of broccoli, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups of crinkle cut carrots
• 1/4 cup of thinly sliced onions (which you can kind of see in the picture)

Directions:

1. Ensure that chicken breasts and pasta have been cooked. I put them in the ingredients as such, but it's always good to know that I expect you to have already accomplished this. I personally bake my chicken in the oven with some light seasoning of black pepper and garlic powder on it.
2. Combine carrots, broccoli, and onions into a large bowl. Stir in feta cheese.
3. Pour the Italian dressing over mixture.
4. Add penne and chicken.
5. Serve warm.

That's it. I like assuming that you know how to cook pasta and chicken. It makes the directions a lot easier. This is what I like to think of as a 'gather and mix' sort of recipe, but it's tasty while being relatively quick.

Happy cooking!

Burrito Bake

Everyone can just agree that I suck at taking
pictures of food. Seriously. It is way
 tastier than this picture makes it seem.

Burrito Bake

So, this is basically the burrito form of a lasagna. It's a layered dish and it's quite tasty. I haven't come across this anywhere else on the internet (to my knowledge) so this might be a Seeber original. WHAT. (I know.)

Ingredients:

• 1 package of 8 wheat tortilla shells (the large variety)
• 1 can of fat free refried beans (16 oz)
• 1 can of green chilies; the chopped and peeled variety (4 oz)
• 1 package of Knorr Spanish rice (or Mexican rice)
• 1 cup of salsa (spice level - your preference)
• 3 cooked & shredded chicken breasts (Or 1 large turkey breast works as well)
• 1 1/2 bags of shredded Mexican cheese
• 1 can of enchilada sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Prepare Knorr Spanish rice according to package directions.
3. While rice is cooking, spray a 9" x 13" pan (I used glass) with cooking spray and arrange 2-3 tortilla shells on the bottom of the pan. Make sure the bottom is almost completely covered with tortilla shells. I broke my shells in half so I could completely cover the bottom a bit better rather than leaving them whole.
4. Spread refried beans in an even layer over tortilla shells. Spread green chilies over the refried beans.
5. Once the rice is prepared, mix the salsa in with the rice. Then add it as the next layer in the pan (make sure to spread it evenly).
6. Spread shredded chicken (or turkey) in an even layer in the pan.
7. Spread 1 bag of shredded cheese in an even layer in the pan.
8. Spread 2-3 tortilla shells as the last layer and make sure the top is completely covered with tortilla shells.
9. Spread enchilada sauce over the entire dish.
10. Bake for 35 minutes at 375 degrees.
11. After the 35 minutes of baking, take the dish out of the oven. Spread the remaining half bag of shredded cheese on top. Put the dish back into the oven until the cheese is melted (I usually turn my oven off and just let the cheese melt as the oven cools down).

Done! All the delicious things!

Some toppings that go well with it are sour cream, guacamole, or just salsa. I think it makes about 12 servings depending on how you cut it up.

Any questions or suggestions? You can always feel free to leave a comment...eh? eh?

Enjoy!

Happy cooking!

The Teriyaki Monster

The Teriyaki Monster (poorly pictured)

The Teriyaki Monster


Ingredients:
-1 package of Knorr teriyaki rice (because I'm lazy)
-1 1/2 cups of vegetables (I usually use frozen carrots, frozen broccoli, or frozen peas that I thaw before adding to the dish)
-1 1/2 cups of cooked chicken, diced
-2 tablespoons of hoisin sauce
-2 tablespoons of sweet chili sauce



Directions:
1. Cook the teriyaki rice according to the package directions. It should consist of putting 1 3/4 cup of water into a pot, mixing it with the contents of the package, and bring it to a boil. Then let it simmer on the stove top for 7 minutes while it's covered.
2. While the rice is simmering, add all the other ingredients and stir thoroughly.
3. Let simmer for at least 7 minutes (covered), stirring periodically; sometimes I let mine simmer for 8 or 9 minutes because it ends up a little soupy otherwise.
4. Let stand for 2 minutes.
5. EAT AND BE MERRY.

The Knorr teriyaki rice

Happy cooking!

Tuna-licious!

Dressing up tuna!

I don't think I've posted a recipe in a bit, and I've had a few folks in real life wanting to know how I make my tuna sandwiches.

Here are my 'secrets'.

I like my sandwiches boring. Sometimes I throw dashes of things in, but most times I just like them boring.

So when I dress up tuna, I'll either combine:

-1 can of tuna (drained)
-2 tablespoons of Italian dressing (lite)

or

-1 can of tuna (drained)
-1 avocado

or

-1 can of tuna (drained)
-1 tablespoon of miracle whip (light)
-1 tablespoon of honey mustard

That's basically all I do. Sometimes I'll add a dash of paprika (because I'm still trying to figure out if it has a specific flavor), sometimes I'll add a bit of black pepper.

I'll always put it on some sort of 'healthy' bread and usually there's enough for two sandwiches (especially if I combine it with avocado). My healthy breads are usually Oatmeal bread, wheat bread (enriched with fiber or something, low calorie), and multi-grain bread.

This seems pretty basic to me but now it's out there for everyone! YAY!!!

Happy cooking!

Tuna with Italian dressing!

Avocado with tuna. I put in a little Italian dressing
with this one as my avocado was not quite ripe yet.