Friday, April 30, 2010

BBQ

Sometimes I get so caught up in trying to exciting recipes that I forget some of the old favorites we love. BBQ beef is one of them. Today I popped a small roast in the crock pot with a sliced onion, a little water and some garlic. I let that cook for about 7 hours on low. I shredded the beef, and poured off all the remaining liquid. (I strained it and saved it in the fridge.) Popped the shredded meat back in the crock pot and poured a bottle of bbq sauce on it.

Served it on whole wheat buns with potato wedges (Store bought.) and some tasty corn.



Saturday, April 17, 2010

CHEESE!



When my husband works late I have to feed my family in shifts. Quesadilla's are an easy way to do just that.

First I mixed up some guacamole. My son and I are the only ones that eat it so I don't have to make much. I grabbed a couple of avacados, garlic salt, onion powder, few green onions, lime juice, and a few shots of hot sauce. Came out pretty good considering I just tossed it together.

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I've swapped out the sour cream at my house with Greek yogurt. It really does a bang up job impersonating the taste of sour cream.




I decided to go extra cheesy today and ripped some provolone cheese up for my first layer. Followed that up with some seasoned chicken. I cooked it with some spicy v-8 juice for a little extra UMPH. Topped it with some cheddar cheese and some baby spinach.








I like to use a pizza cutter for this sorta stuff. Gotta love a multi tasking kitchen tool!

This picture doesn't quite do it justice. It was WAY tasty and a nice change of pace.


So if you are in the mood for a little change this might be the dish for you.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Philly

I have to preface this post by admitting that I have never had a REAL Philly cheese steak sandwich. I have always wanted to try them but didn't want some crappy knock off. That being said..... I found a recipe in Rocco Dispirito's new cook book NOW EAT THIS. I figured I'd give it a try.



I sliced up some green pepper and onions.

Sauteed them with a little salt and pepper.
Here is where I feel the recipe strays from a REAL cheese steak sandwich. Rocco's book is going for low cal but it felt more like a french dip. I poured beef broth and chicken broth in a pan and heated up the roast beef from the deli. I thought it was sorta bland and needed a little sumpin' sumpin'. So I added some Worcestershire sauce and some fresh ground pepper. I topped some toasted bread with the beef, topped with the sauteed veggies and melted the cheese on top. His recipe said to serve the broth to dip the sandwich in.. Hmmm...


Real cheesesteak sandwich or not it was pretty darn tasty. The whole family voted it a "keeper".




Tuesday, April 6, 2010

I'm a bread freak!

I love to bake bread. It's still a work in progress, I am still learning, but I love the feeling of knowing I put it all together from scratch.

In my quest to get rid of as many processed foods and preservatives as I can, I am attacking those tubes of stuff in the dairy section I think I can do better. A couple of packets of yeast, some flour and water and look what you get! Wholesome, tasty light wheat bread!

I only baked up a portion of the dough I made today. The rest I rolled into little balls and I put them into the freezer. It's an effort to make my own CONVENIENCE food. Later I will take out what I need and let it defrost and rise. VIOLA! Fresh baked bread! Let's hope I did it right......

Intro

So I have this love of cooking. I enjoy trying new things. I strive to get rid of as much processed food and preservatives as I can. Don't know if I can eliminate them all but I'm doing my best! Care to come along?