Overnight Apple Pie Oatmeal

Anyone else nearly sick of pumpkin by now?  I blame Pinterest.  I haven't actually eaten much pumpkin this Fall, but with the overload of pumpkin eighty-two different ways in my Pinterest feed, I'm ready to move on. At least until Thanksgiving actually arrives.  Then it's all about the pumpkin piiiiiiie.

Food Rule 34 and The Bomb Chili

True Story:  I once made this oh-so-delicious chili recipe for a group of friends, and as we began eating, I was raving about how healthy my recipe is.  Especially when I make it with the ground venison my dad packages just for me, without any fat added to it.  Venison?  You all are ok with venison, right?  I'd forgotten that I was sitting at a table with a group of people raised in an enormous city and who'd probably never even met someone who hunts.  To this day, my best friend teases me about "that time you served us venison and asked if we were ok with it after we'd already started eating."  Ha!  And sorry, guys.

But, really, as a red meat, venison is insanely healthier than the beef you typically find in grocery stores.  And that's because it is wild game.

Plants and animals that are left to raise themselves turn out to be healthier options for eating, because they've grown as nature intended.  Without bulking-up feeds and fertilizers.  They're hearty because they've survived nature.  And therefore, healthier for us to consume. 

Wild game is packed full of Omega 3s, Vitamin E, and antioxidants and is typically very lean.  Yes, it can taste "gamey," but I nearly always use it chili or taco recipes where the spices stand out as the main flavor.  For those who don't have dads who fly clear across the country with a cooler full of venison and dry ice, you can definitely substitute with ground beef.  Try to find some that's labeled "grass fed" and "free range" in order to get the greater health benefits.

Enjoy!


p.s.  It was completely unintended, but that green towel in my photos looks like I'm trying really hard to be Superbowl festive!  I didn't even think about it looking like football turf until I uploaded my photos later.  But, I love it!

        

The Bomb Chili

1 medium onion, diced
1 – 2lb. ground venison or extra lean ground beef
4, 16oz. cans beans, rinsed and drained
2, 28oz. cans diced tomatoes in juice
1/4 c. Dijon mustard
2-4 Tbsp. red chili garlic paste
3 cloves garlic
1/2 bottle beer
6oz. can tomato paste
Johnny’s season salt (or your favorite seasoning salt), to taste

Cook the onion and ground meat in a skillet over medium-high heat until cooked through and onions are translucent.  Drain any grease.  Stir all ingredients into a crock pot or large roasting pan.  Cook in crock pot on High for 4 hours or Low for 8 hours, or bake in large roasting pan at 250 degrees for 5 hours. Stir occasionally. Makes a vat (about 14 cups).

        

Ingredient Lineup:

(MIA:  ground meat, beer, and tomato paste.  Whoops!)

Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches

We've had such pleasantly chilly weather lately, that I'm obsessing about all the recipes I can toss into my Crock Pot.  I'm falling more and more in love with my slow cooker, because it cooks up such cozy meals with so little effort.  And what better way to celebrate feeling cozy than with a dripping and cheesy gooey sandwich dunked into a rich broth?

Enjoy!





Slow cooker French Dip Sandwiches (Au Jus)
adapted from Allrecipes

2-4 lb beef roast
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 c. low-sodium soy sauce
12 oz. water
1 packet onion soup mix
12 oz. beer
8 oz. beef broth
1/2 tsp. dried thyme, crumbled
1/4 tsp. dried oregano, crumbled
4 cloves garlic, minced
black pepper, to taste 

Throw all ingredients into a slow cooker and cook covered on High for 4-5 hours.* Remove the roast, and slice it thinly across the grain. Return slices back to the slow cooker and cook on High, for one more hour. Serve on buttered, toasted french rolls with small bowls of the broth for dipping.

* Note: Or, just put it on the Low setting all day.

Ingredient Lineup:

Throw all the ingredients into your slow cooker.

Slice the roast across the grain...

... and return the slices to the slow cooker for another hour, on High.

Pile into a toasted sandwich roll with cheese.

And serve with a bowl of the broth for dunking your sandwich into.

To Die For Pot Roast

We just had a Sunday Supper kind of dinner on a busy week night and I couldn't have put less effort into it if I tried. It literally took about 5 minutes to throw this together and that included taking pictures so that I could share this To Die For Pot Roast with you!

You will need:

4 -5 lb beef roast, any kind
1 package brown gravy mix, dry
1 package ranch dressing mix, dry
1 package Italian dressing mix,dry



Place roast in crock pot, mix dry ingredients in a small bowl and sprinkle over top. Pour 1/2 cup water around roast. Cover and cook on Low for 7-9 hours.



2-4 hours before you are ready to eat cut up an onion, 5-6 carrots and 4-5 potatoes.



Compare your roast to mine...if you think it looks as good or even better...it's time for some veggie action.



Not sure that it is completely necessary but I took a spoon and bathed my veggies in gravy a bit before replacing the lid. If not necessary - it certainly made them look more appetizing for this picture.



Enjoy.

Or if you don't like pot roast...let your family enjoy it. I am not a big fan. I did eat a bit of everything but I have never been a big fan. As a kid I would pick out the veggies and eat them with crackers. But when I told Hubby my crock pot plan to make sure that we stayed out of the drive thru - He was quick to request this meal. Every Single person in my family had seconds...except me.

I hope they really enjoyed it since I won't be making it again for at least a year.

No Golden Arches for Us This Week

I have officially taken on 2 more roles in my life. Soccer Mom (complete with a mini van, but have already been rocking it since we have 4 kids) and Mom Taxi. Up til now the kids have shown no interest in sports. They were the kids on the team whose parents had to shoo and/or bribe to get them back onto the field. They complained about every aspect of being on the team. So we gave up a couple of years ago thinking it wasn't worth the effort since they didn't seem to be having fun. 

A couple of weeks ago friends of ours asked if the kids liked soccer...that their was a soccer league starting up and suggested that we bring the kids by. It was funny really - we showed up just to get out of the house...but the kids - they were out there practicing with the team for 2 hours straight. I was amazed that they didn't even look up or walk over to us once. 

We were so unprepared for that first night....

The kids didn't bring their soccer balls. 

They didn't have cleats or shin guards.

And I didn't give a thought to dinner until 2 hours later. I had 4 kids that had been basically running for 2 hours, 2 on the field and 2 off the field and it was almost bed time. There was nothing else to do by drive-thru. While sitting under the golden arches my kids kept asking me why we were eating there when I had clearly told them that we eat at home. <--it's what we do. But there was nothing that I could have done. I didn't have anything ready at home and wasn't up to the marathon of cooking, eating, 4 baths and bedtime. 

So this week I made a plan. I would come home from work and get supper ready in the crock pot, make sides and set the table so that we could walk in the door and be ready to eat within 10 minutes. 

Chicken Tacos - Before hand I shredded cheese. When we walked in the door I flipped the oven to 375 to toast taco shells, wrapped soft tortillas in a kitchen towel and heated them for 1 minute in the microwave, shredded chicken and took crock pot straight to the table with shredded lettuce and sour cream. Chip and salsa and dinner was done. 

Lasagna- Before hand I sliced loaf of bread in half length wise and added butter, garlic salt and Mozzarella cheese. Wrapped in foil and stuck in the fridge with a simple salad of romaine and more cheese. When we walked in the door I took crock pot straight to the table. Toasted bread under broiler and dressed the salad. 

I was able to get dinner and my family to the table in under 10 minutes both night with way less calories and money. I will be trying new crock pot recipes each week since this was such a success. 

If you have any tried and true crock pot recipes that you would like to share, please leave a link below. 

Have a great weekend!

2 Days - 2 Meals - 1 Clean Up

A few weeks ago my friend Le'Cinda gave me this great recipe for making 2 meals for 2 nights in a row in the crock pot. Besides tasting supper yummy - you only have to clean the crock pot once! You read that right. ONCE.




Night One: Brisket with fingerling potatoes, carrots, asparagus and salad.



Buy a preseason-ed brisket and place it in a crock pot with enough water to almost cover it. Cook on low over night and the next day. Serve with veggies and a salad. I made fingerling potatoes, carrots, roasted asparagus and a garden salad. Since the main dish was busy cooking away in the crock pot I was able to bring my kids into the kitchen to help with the veggies. They had a ball breaking the tough ends off of the asparagus and peeling carrots. I had a ball because I wasn't stressing out about making sure that everything got done in time for supper. Win -Win.

Night Two: Brisket Beans with fried potatoes and skillet cornbread.



In the cooking liquid that is left over from night one, dump in a bag of brown beans that you have picked. Make sure that you take the time to pick out the broken ones and any stones. Add any remaining brisket and cover with water. Cover and cook on low over night and the next day. Serve with a side and cornbread. I made fried potatoes and skillet cornbread.

Note to self: It's time to upgrade to a bigger crock pot. You have been able to scoot by with the medium size for a while now...but with 4 growing like weed kids...it's past time that you bought one that matches the size of your family. 

Overnight Slow Cooker Oatmeal

How on earth had I not cooked with steel cut oats before this?  I'd heard of them, and I'd certainly seen the cans of them on the bottom shelf of my grocery store, looking all fancy and expensive.  But, my life was certainly lacking until I finally bought my very first can of steel cut oats.  They have an amazing aroma when you open the can - it's kind of nutty, and as weird as it sounds, they smell cozy and warm.  The steel cut oats look like they come straight from a wheat field, and something about that made me feel good about what I was cooking.  Ahhh...

Anyway, our task at hand - Overnight Oatmeal.  I adore this recipe.  It's only a few ingredients that you toss into a crockpot, and when you wake up the next morning, it's cozy warm breakfast time with zero effort.  The oats cook up fluffy, almost like a tapioca pudding.   And the recipe itself is a cinch to remember:  8 hours, 8 cups, 2 cups, 2 Tbsp, 2 tsp...  Something about easy numbers makes my heart skip a beat.

Enjoy!






Overnight Oatmeal
Adapted from Foodista

8 c. water
2 c. dry steel cut oats
2 Tbsp. butter
2 tsp. cinnamon, optional
1 c. dried fruit

Stir all ingredients together in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours overnight. In the morning, stir well and add milk, spices, or additional toppings to your liking.  To reheat, add water or milk and cover tightly with plastic wrap.  Microwave until steamy, and stir before serving.  Makes 8 1-cup servings.

Ingredient Lineup (minus the butter, whoops!):

Steel Cut Oats are very coarse (and remind me of chicken feed, lol).

Do not try this recipe using anything but the steel cut oats, 

because other kinds will just turn to gross mush after 8 hours.

Sausage with Spinach

Ready for a great meal good for any night of the week?  Or maybe you are looking for a super bowl for Super Bowl?  Throw this in the crock and it will be done just in time for dinner time or half time.  Yumm.



Ingredients:
6 sweet Italian turkey sausages (I used regular sausage)
1 1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
1 (1 pound) bag frozen pearl onions, thawed
1/2 cup golden raisins
large pinch kosher salt
large pinch black pepper
11oz package of baby spinach
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
3 cups cooked rice

Directions:
1.  Spray large heavy skillet with nonstick spray and heat over medium-high.  Add sausages and brown.  Set aside.
2.  Add broth to skillet and cook, scraping browned bits from bottom.
3.  Transfer to 5 or 6 quart slow cooker.  Stir in onions, raisins, salt and pepper.  Top with sausages.  Cover and cook until until fork tender, 4-6 hours on high or 8-10 hours on low.
3.  Transfer sausages to cutting board and slice. 
4.  Stir spinach into slow cooker, cooking just until wilted.
5.  Stir in sliced sausages and vinegar.
6.  Serve with rice.

I'm unsure where I got original recipe but think it is from the Weight Watchers magazine.

Buffalo Chicken Sliders

I have to admit something:  A big part of the reason that I like to cook semi-healthy is to support my sugar habit.  If I can whittle calories from savory foods, I won't even hesitate.  But, nearly all of my desserts are full-blown whirlwinds of sugar and fat and all the deliciousness those two nasty ingredients bring to the mixing bowl.  So, of course, when I found a recipe for a healthified version of buffalo wings, I jumped all over it.  


And then I forced our friends to guinea pig it with us over New Years.  Know what?  It's darn good.  Darn good!  It's all the yum of buffalo chicken without the skin and the deep-frying.  Plus, you get to make it in a crock pot, so it's pretty easy to haul to a Super Bowl party and serve up.  And then dig into the cookies and cupcakes.  You have my blessing :)


Enjoy!





Healthier Buffalo Chicken Sliders
adapted from Allrecipes


2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

• 8 oz. buffalo wing sauce
• 1 oz. (or 1 1/2 Tbsp.) dry ranch salad dressing mix
• low-sodium chicken broth
• 
  shredded cabbage
• ranch dressing or bleu cheese dressing

10 small sandwich rolls or small buns, split

• 
  
• Place the chicken breasts into a slow cooker, with the wing sauce and the ranch dressing mix. Add enough chicken broth to almost cover the chicken.  Cover, and cook on Low for 6 hours (or High for 3 to 4 hours), flipping the chicken breasts over occasionally.
• 
  
• Once the chicken has cooked, shred the meat with two forks.  Cook for another 30 minutes or so, to allow the shredded chicken to soak up juices.  In a separate bowl, toss shredded cabbage with enough dressing to lightly coat.  Pile the meat onto the hoagie rolls, topping with the cabbage mixture, and additional dressing and hot sauce, if desired.  Makes 10-12 sliders.
  

Ingredient lineup:

Dump the hot sauce, ranch mix, and chicken broth into a crock pot.

 Shred the chicken with a fork and allow to soak up juices for half an hour.

Dig in!