Pot Roast

Finally a Pinterest recipe that we liked!  This was super easy and really delicious.  Even the kids loved it...Kate licked her plate clean.

3-4 pound Boneless Cross Rib Roast (or shoulder roast)
1 McCormick's Slow Cooker Savory Pot Roast seasoning packet
1 can of Pepsi or Coke
1 powdered Au Jus packet

Put your roast in the crock pot.  Mix the Slow Cooker seasoning mix with 1 cup of water.  Pour on top of roast.  Add the whole can of Pepsi.  Cover with the lid and cook on low for 8 hours.  Do not lift the lid.  Right before you pull it out, sprinkle the Au Jus packet over the top of the roast.  Remove from the crock pot and slice.

Recipe source: www.youretoocrafty.blogspot.com

Meatballs and Spaghetti with Creamy Tomato Basil Sauce

These were the easiest meatballs I've ever made and Nate loved them. I used a package of ground turkey (1.25 pounds) instead of ground beef and cut down the water to 3/4 cup. Using my cookie scoop to form the balls, the recipe made 35 meatballs so I froze half for future use.

Meatballs

2 pounds ground beef

1 package Stove Top, chicken flavor

1 1/4 cup water

Preheat oven to 400. Mix all ingredients together and form into 1 1/2 inch balls. Bake for 16-20 minutes.

Sauce

1 jar (14 oz) spaghetti sauce

2 oz cream cheese

2 TB chopped fresh basil

Heat all sauce ingredients in a pan. Pour over spaghetti and top with meatballs.

Recipe Source: www.addictiveallens.blogspot.com

Glazed Meatloaf

This is Nate's favorite meatloaf.

Glaze:
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Tobasco sauce

Meatloaf:
2 teaspoons vegetable or canola oil
1 onion, chopped fine
2 garlic cloves, minced
2/3 cup crushed saltine crackers (about 17 crackers)
1/3 cup milk (not skim)
1 pound 90% lean ground beef
1 pound ground pork or turkey
2 large eggs plus 1 large yolk
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon pepper

Whisk all the ingredients for the glaze in a small saucepan until the sugar dissolves. Reserve 1/4 cup glaze mixture in a small bowl and simmer the remaining glaze over medium heat until it is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Cover and keep warm.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and coat lightly with cooking spray. Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Cook the onion until godlen, about 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Transfer to a large bowl.

Process the saltines and milk in a food processor until smooth. Add the beef and pork and pulse until well combined, about ten 1-second pulses. (You can also do this process by hand, although the beef and saltine mixture won’t be as well mixed.) Transfer the meat mixture to the bowl with the cooled onion mixture. Add the eggs and yolk, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, parsley, 1 teaspoon salt and 3/4 teaspoon pepper to the bowl and mix with your hands until combined.

Adjust the oven racks to the upper (about 4-inches away from broiler elements) and middle positions and heat the broiler. Transfer the meat mixture to the prepared baking sheet and shape it into a 9- by 5-inch loaf. Broil on the upper rack until well browned, about 5 minutes. Brush 2 tablespoons of the reserved, uncooked glaze over the top and sides of the loaf and then return to the oven and broil for another 2 minutes.

Transfer the meatloaf to the middle rack and brush with the remaining uncooked glaze. Change the oven temperature to bake at 350 degrees and bake the meatloaf for 40 to 45 minutes, until cooked through. Transfer the meatloaf to a cutting board and tent with foil. Let it rest for 20 minutes. Slice and serve, passing the cooked glaze at the table.

Recipe Source: Cook's Country

Meatloaf Muffins with BBQ Sauce

I substituted ground turkey for the ground beef and omitted the green pepper. We had mashed potatoes on the side and that helped cut the richness of the meatloaf. Next time I'll cut the recipe in half as it made about 15 muffins--way too much food for our little family.

1 2/3 to 1 3/4 pounds ground sirloin
1 medium onion, cut into chunks
2 ribs celery from the heart of the stalk, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 green bell pepper
1 large egg plus a splash of milk, beaten
1 cup plain bread crumbs
2 TB grill seasoning (recommended: Montreal Steak Seasoning by McCormick)
1 cup smoky BBQ sauce
1/2 cup tomato salsa
1 TB Worcestershire sauce
Vegetable oil or extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 450.

Place beef in a big bowl. Put onion and celery into a food processor and pulse to finely chop. Add to meat bowl. Add egg beaten with milk, bread crumbs, and grill seasoning. In a separate bowl, mix together the smoky BBQ sauce, salse, and Worcestershire sauce. Pour half the sauce mixture into the bowl with the meatloaf mix. Mix the meatloaf together with your hands. Wash up. Brush a 12-muffin tin (1/2 cup each) with oil. Use an ice cream scoop to help you fill meat into each tin. Top each meatloaf with a spoonful of extra sauce. Bake about 20 minutes.

Recipe Source: Rachael Ray (www.foodtv.com)

Blue Cheese Crusted Steaks

This is Nate's FAVORITE special occasion recipe (and what I'm making for Valentine's Day), always served with the Spinach Cheese Cakes. It's very strongly flavored, so I use a much smaller amount of the cheese topping on my steak.

The steaks will turn out fairly rare. If you prefer your steak more well done, leave them in the oven until they reach a higher internal temperature. The purpose of this method of cooking is to allow you to get a really good sear on the steaks without getting tough steaks by cooking them all the way through on the stovetop.

8 oz blue cheese
2 TB butter
1/4 Panko bread crumbs
2 tenderloin steaks

Preahet oven to 275 degrees. Pat steaks dry and season with salt and pepper. Place on a rack in the oven until they reach an internal temperature of 95 degrees, about 20-25 minutes.

Place blue cheese, butter, and Panko crumbs in food processor and pulse until smooth. Set aside.

Heat a couple tablespoons of oil in a large skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Brown steaks on all sides until nicely seared all over.

Spread half of the blue cheese mixture onto each steak. Broil until topping is lightly browned and bubbly (a couple of minutes or so).