Crockpot Thursday: Pork Goulash

I saw this recipe in the March 2009 edition of Family Circle. This makes 6 servings. I wasn’t sure we were going to like it at first because there is so much paprika, but it was so yummy! Our pork cooked a little longer then it should have so it was more like shredded pork, but it was still super yummy!

Ingredients:

1 boneless pork lion roast(about 1 3/4 pounds) trimmed ad cut into 1/2 inch pieces

3 medium sized parsnips, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch coins

2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch coins

1 large onion, chopped

4 tablespoons of sweet paprika

2 cups low sodium chicken broth

1/2 pounds of green beans, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces

1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream

2 tablespoons of cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

Directions:

1. Place pork, parsnips, carrots and onion in slow cooker. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of the paprika, stir to coat. Pour in broth.
2. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours or low for 4 1/2 hours.
3. Add green beans, cook 30 minutes.
4. In a small bowl, blend remaining 2 tablespoons of paprika, sour cream, cornstarch, salt and pepper. Stir into slow cooker bowl until thickened.

Enjoy!

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Linguine with Garlic

I’m always looking for easy and healthy recipes to make for us for dinner after a long day of work. I saw this recipe in Woman’s Day Magazine, and saved it for a while in my recipe file, but never made it. I’m glad we finally tried it and we liked it a lot. It’s very easy to put together and very  yummy! It makes four servings and has 448 calories per serving.

Ingredients:

1 pound of linguine

1 tuna steak, sliced into small pieces

1 teaspoon of minced garlic

Directions:

1. Cook pasta as package directs; drain, reserve 1 cup of pasta cooking water.
2. Add a small amount of olive oil in pan and sear tuna, remove tuna, preserve oil  and add garlic and stir 1 to 2 minutes until fragrant. Stir in tuna and 1 cup reserved water. Toss with pasta and serve.

Enjoy!

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BBQ Bacon Burgers

We love burgers in our house! I saw this recipe in the September 2009 edition of Family Circle. I knew right away I wanted to try this approach on making a burger. I typically like my burger’s plain, while my husband likes to add BBQ sauce to his. I finally tried it with some BBQ sauce and it made the burger so moist and juicy!  It makes 3 servings and has 360 calories per serving.

Ingredients:

4 slices of turkey bacon

1/2 package of ground turkey (10 ounces)

1/2 cup (1 ounce) of french’s fried onions

4 tablespoons of bottles BBQ sauce

1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce

1/4 teaspoon of ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Heat grill or grill pan to  medium high heat. Heat broiler.
2. Cook 2 slices of turkey bacon in a medium size non stick  skillet over medium heat ,7 minutes. Set aside. Chop reaming 2 slices uncooked turkey bacon and place in large bow..
3. Add ground turkey, fried onions, 2 tablespoons of the BBQ sauce, the Worcestershire and the black pepper to a bacon in bowl. Stir to  evenly blend mixture into 3 patties.
4. Grill hamburger patties for 6 minutes. Flip over, continue to grill an additional 5 minutes or untill instant read thermometer  reads  into center of burgers registers 160 degrees.
5. To serve, place burger on roll, top with 1 tablespoon of BBQ sauce and 1 slice cooked bacon, broken in half.

Enjoy!

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Chicken Lo Mein

Chicken Lo Mein is my husband’s favorite take out food. I have been looking for a “healthier” version of chicken lo mein for some time now and finally came across one! This was super delicious! It tasted just like take out lo mein! I found this recipe in November 2009 issue of Woman’s Day. It makes 5 servings and has 381 calories per serving.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons of cornstarch

3/4 cup of chicken broth

1/2 cup reduced sodium teriyaki marinade & sauce

2 teaspoon of sesame oil

2 teaspoon each of chopped garlic and fresh ginger

1 package (8 ounces) of wide lo mein noodles

1 pound of chicken tenders

2 tablespoons of oil

3 cups broccoli florets

4 ounces sugar snap peas

1 red bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces

3 scallions, sliced

Directions:

1. To make sauce; in a small bowl, stir 1 tablespoon of the cornstarch, the chicken broth, teriyaki, sesame oil, garlic and ginger until blended; set aside.
2. Cook noodles as package directs in salted boiling water; drain. Meanwhile, cut chicken diagonally into 1/4 inch thick slices; place with remaining 2 tablespoons of cornstarch in a large Ziploc bag. Seal bag and shake until evenly coated.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in large  non stick skillet over medium high heat until hot but not smoking. Add chicken; stir-fry 4 minutes or until lightly browned and cooked through. Remove to serving platter.
4. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in same skillet, stir fry broccoli; sugar snap peas and red pepper for 5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Stir sauce to re-blend, add to skillet and cook 30 seconds or until thickened. Stir in chicken and noodles. Sprinkle with scallions.

Enjoy!

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Crock Pot Thursday: French Onion Beef

As I said before I love crock pot meals, it’s so nice after a long day of work with the kiddies, that I know I can come home and dinner is all ready for us to eat! Well just about, this took about an additional 10 minutes more to finish, but it’s worth the wait. With so few ingredients, it was so flavorful! I found this recipe in the Pillsbury Cook Book. It makes 6 servings and has 400 calories per serving.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 pound boneless beef round steak (1/2 to 3/4 inch thick)

1 package(8 ounces) slice fresh mushrooms (3 cups)

1 large onion sliced, separated into rings

1 can (10/5 ounces) condensed french onion soup

1 package (6 ounces) 10 minute herb stuffing mix

1/4 cup of butter, melted

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Spray slow cooker with cooking spray. Cut beef into 6 serving size pieces. In cooker, layer half of each of the beef, mushrooms and onions; repeat layers. Pour soup over top.
2. Cover cook on low heat setting for 8 to 10 hours.
3. In medium bowl, mix stuffing mix, butter and 1/2 cup liquid from slow cooker; toss to mix. Place stuffing on top of mixture in cooker. Increase heat setting to high. Cover; cook 10 minutes longer or until stuffing is fluffy. Sprinkle with cheese. Cover and cook till cheese is melted.

Enjoy!

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Pumpkin Pancakes

Nothing tastes better in the fall then pumpkin! I love pumpkin anything, so I figured why not make some yummy pumpkin pancakes for breakfast! I originally was going to cheat a little bit and just use a pancake mix, but I figured they would be much more yummier from scratch! I found this recipes on Libby’s Recipes. This recipe makes 8 pumpkin pancakes.

Ingredients:

2 cups of all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons of brown sugar, packed

1 tablespoon of baking powder

1 1/4 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon of salt

1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk

1/2 cup of Libby Pure Pumpkin

1/4 cup of water

1 large egg

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

A few pinches of powered sugar

Directions:

1. Combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and salt in a large bowl. Combine evaporated milk, pumpkin, water, egg and 2 tablespoons of oil in small bowl; mix well.  Add to flour mixture. Stir until just moistened; batter may be lumpy.
2. Heat griddle or skillet over medium heat; brush lightly with oil. Pour 1/4 cup of batter onto hot griddle; cook until bubbles begin to burst. Turn and continue cooking for 1 to 2 minutes.  Repeat with remaining batter.
3. Sprinkle with some powdered sugar and serve!

Enjoy!

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Buffalo Chicken Wings

My husband being from Buffalo, constantly gets cravings for his chicken wings. This makes 24 wings.  This recipe requires a deep fryer.

Ingredients:

12 chicken legs

1/2 stick of butter

1 small bottle of Frank’s Original Red Hot Sauce

Directions:

1. Cut the chicken leg into 2 pieces. Discard the tip of the wing. This way you have a “drumette” piece and a wing piece.
2. Set deep fryer to 350 degrees, and place chicken wings in fryer for 13 minutes.
3. Melt butter and combine with sauce. Once chicken wings are cooked, place is sauce mixture, toss and serve!

Enjoy!

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Crock Pot Thursday: Chicken, Braised Fennel with Artichokes

Another great crock pot meal! I found this recipe in the July 2009 Edition of Family Circle. It takes about 26 minutes to prep, but I did it the night before, so it would save me time in the morning! This makes four servings. I was a little worried about not liking the flavor, as we never have eaten fennel. But the flavor was delicious. The chicken picked up the flavor. It was very moist and tasty!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup of EVOO

2 fennel bulbs, trimmed, cored, and cut into 1/2 inch thick slices

1 onion, sliced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped

1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon of dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of black pepper

1 tablespoon of flour

1/2 cup of white wine

3/4 cup vegetable broth

1/2 cup canned diced tomatoes, drained

1 can (13.75 ounces) of artichoke hearts, drained and quartered

3 tablespoons of chopped parsley

Directions:

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of EVOO in large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook fennel about 6 minutes, stirring or until browned, remove from skillet.
2. Add  1 tablespoon of EVOO to skillet; stir in onion; cook for 2 minutes. Add garlic, rosemary, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper; cook 1 minute. Stir in flour until onions are coated. Add wine and boil 2 minutes. Add broth and tomatoes, simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Coat slow cooker with remaining EVOO. Layer half the fennel slices on the bottom, them half the artichokes, then half the onion mixture. Repeat the layers. Cover, cook on high for 3 hours or low for 6 hours. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Enjoy!

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