Kitchen Tip Tuesday - Bulk Hamburger ( Slow Cooker)

For the past few years, I've browned hamburger, rinsed it, and divided it into smaller portions. Sometimes I'll use some of the meat to make sloppy Joes and/or taco meat and then freeze that. It's so convenient to have it in the freezer when I need it.

I was cooking it on the stove top but then discovered a trick I now cook it in my slow cooker on low for 4 to 5 hours. That way it will cook up while I'm doing other things.

Hints:

1. Use a slow cooker bag.  It will be easier to clean up the mess if you use the slow cooker bag.
2. Break up the meat into smaller pieces before you cook it.
3. Use some of the meat to make sloppy joes or taco meat.  Portion those out and then put them in the freezer.  There might one night you need some quick and easy.

Raw Hamburger

Cooked Hamburger

Cooked Hamburger (Closer look)

Pork and Sauerkraut (A Slow Cooker Recipe)

It's a family tradition to have pork and sauerkraut for our New Year's dinner.  My father-in-law would make a big pot of it and family members would eat the sauerkraut so that they would have good luck for the new year.  Since he died two weeks ago, I offered to make it this year.

I made some changes to how it was cooked.  First of all I made it in my slow cooker instead of in a big stock pot.  I also roasted potatoes instead of cooking the potatoes in the slow cooker with the meat and sauerkraut.  Hubby loved it and was impressed because it didn't have the bitter/sour taste you usually associate with sauerkraut.  He even took some to work with him to share with his co-workers.

The boys did taste the sauerkraut so they would have good luck but being kids didn't really like it.  At least they tried it which is better than on New Year's Eve.  I made fish for supper.  The fish was cooked with olive oil and a seasoning mix from one of my Foodie Pen Pals.  Hubby loved it but the boys wanted to give me excuses on why they could not eat it.  They still had to eat it but it was interesting on what excuses they came up with.  The best one is their brain was going to explode since I told them fish is brain food.

Now onto the recipe:

Pork and Sauerkraut in the Slow Cooker

Stars of the recipe:

• 1 -2 lbs. pork roast


• 16 - 32 oz. of sauerkraut (depending on how much pork you have)


• 1 big carrot or 2 small carrots, peeled and cut into small pieces


• 1 apple, peeled and cut into small pieces


• 1 - 2 Tbsp. brown sugar


• Salt and pepper to taste

Steps:

1. Drain and rinse the sauerkraut several times to remove the brine.


2. Place the pork roast in the bottom of the slow cooker.  (Mine is 5 qt.)  Sprinkle salt and pepper on the pork roast.


3. In a small mixing bowl, combine the rinsed sauerkraut, apple pieces, carrot pieces, and brown sugar.


4. Place the sauerkraut mixture on the pork roast.


5. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or on high for 4 to 5 hours.


6. Shred the pork and combine with the sauerkraut.


7. Enjoy with boiled potatoes, mashed potatoes, or roasted potatoes (just serving suggestions)!

Lemon Chicken

My husband loves getting food from the Chinese food restaurants in our local mall's food court.  So I decided to recreate one of the dishes he might purchase there.  This dish was healthier than what you get at the food court.  

When it was cooking in the oven, he thought it was a sweet and sour dish.  So he was super excited for dinner last night.

The only issue with the dinner was super lemony but it's an easy fix.  If you really love a lemon flavor, add the lemon zest and additional lemon juice.

[gallery ids="4377,4376"]

Lemon Chicken

Stars of the recipe:

• 1 lb. thinly cut chicken breast, chicken breasts pounded thinly, or chicken thighs pounded thin (If you are going to pound out the chicken, place wax paper on a cutting board and then the chicken.  Place another piece of wax paper on top of the chicken.  Using a heavy skillet, pound the chicken until it's about a 1/2 inch thick.  Hint:  An inch is from the tip of your thumb to the knuckle.  So a 1/2 inch would be to the end of your thumbnail.)


• 1/4 c, lemon juice


• 1/4 to 1/2 c, bread crumbs or panko


• Optional:  1 Tbsp. lemon zest and additional lemon juice


• 8 x 8 square dish sprayed with cooking spary

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.


2. In a bowl big enough to dredge the chicken in, place the lemon juice. In another bowl big enough to dredge the chicken in, place the bread crumbs or panko.


3. First dredge the chicken in lemon juice and then dredge the chicken in the bread crumbs or panko.


4. Place in the cooking dish.


5. Continue with the remainder of the chicken pieces.  If you want it really lemony, top with more lemon juice and lemon zest.


6. Bake in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes.


7. Enjoy with rice!

Easy Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Mmm!  Comfort food makes you feel good inside.  Pot roast is one of those foods.  As I was coming up with this week's menu, I decided pot roast should be one of our dinners.  The interesting thing was we had pot roast for our dinner at my in-laws last night.  The difference was how we prepared the roast.  The side dishes were different also.

I've made this recipe for over 10 years.  It is super easy and delicious.  After we have roast for dinner, another night during the week I make a hash (minus eggs) with the left over roast.  Yum!

Even though I like making baked potatoes cooked in the slow cooker, I'm not a fan of potatoes cooked with the roast.  We had buttered noodles with our roast.

 

Easy Slow Cooker Pot Roast

[gallery ids="4352,4350,4351"]

Stars of the recipe:

• roast (size depends on the needs of your family)


• 30 oz. can of tomato sauce


• optional:  russet potatoes peeled and cut into chunks, onions cut into chunks, carrots peeled and cut into strips

Steps:

1. Place roast into the bottom of the slow cooker.


2. If placing vegetables, place them on top of the roast.


3. Pour tomato sauce over the roast.


4. Cook for 3 to 5 hours on high or 6 to 8 hours on low.


5. Enjoy!

Sausage and Sauerkraut

Stars of the recipe:

• 1 package of smoked sausage


• 1 jar or bag of sauerkraut, drained and rinsed off


• 3 Tbsp. of brown sugar


• 3 Tbsp. of Dijon mustard

Steps:

1. Cut the sausage into rings.


2. In a bowl, mix the sauerkraut, brown sugar, and Dijon mustard together.


3. Place sausage and sauerkraut into the crockpot.


4. Cook on low for 4 hours.


5. Enjoy with mashed potatoes or roasted red potatoes.  (I also had corn and baked apples with it.)

Ham and pineapple fried rice

Day 2 of using up ham left-overs was a success. In fact, Hubby told me that it was better than Bd's Mongolian Grill. Score!

A few weeks ago, we went to Bd's for supper. He loves the fact you can pick your own ingredients and then they grill it up. So this was saying a lot when he liked my version better.

Oh, I know there are a lot of versions of this recipe floating around. However this is my creation based on the concept.

Ham and Pineapple Fried Rice

Stars of the recipe:

• 1 tsp. sesame seed oil


• 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil


• 1/2 onion diced


• 1-2 carrots, peeled and diced


• 1 c. Broccoli cut into small pieces


• 1-1/2 c. Ham diced into medium sized pieces


• 1 sm. can of diced pineapple, juice drained and set aside (8 oz.)


• 1 lrg. Egg, beaten


• 1 c. Cooked brown rice, cooled


• 2-3 Tbsp. soy sauce


• 1 Tbsp. ground ginger


• 1 Tbsp. hot sauce

Steps:

1. Heat oils in a skillet. (Medium heat)


2. Add veggies to the skillet. Cook until tender.


3. Add ham and pineapple. to skillet. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes until warmed through.


4. While the ham and pineapple are cooking, combine the pineapple juice, soy sauce, hot sauce, and ginger in a separate bowl.


5. Push all veggies, ham, and pineapple to side of skillet.


6. Add the beaten egg. Stirring the egg until it's cooked.


7. Add the rice. Pour the pineapple juice, soy sauce, and ginger mixture over the food in the skillet.


8. Cook for about 5 minutes longer.


9. Enjoy!

Ham and Black Bean Soup

So on Easter Sunday, I decided to cook Easter dinner.  Yes, on Easter Sunday at about 11:45 am, I committed to making dinner.  Okay it was only going to be for 6 of us so that's not too bad.  

My family of four headed to the grocery store to plan out the meal because I had no clue was I was going to make.  I ended up cooking crock pot ham, honey and cinnamon carrots, mashed sweet potatoes, mixed veggies, and spinach salad.  We had lots of ham left-over.  Fortunately for us, we love ham!  

I'm finding ways to transform the ham into delicious dishes so we are not just eating ham over and over again even though the Imaginative One would love that.  Last night I made ham and black bean soup using Bob's Red Mill's Black Bean Soup mix.  You can use any black bean soup mix or dried black beans to make this soup.

Ham and Black Bean Soup

Stars of the recipe:

• 2 cups of black bean soup mix or dried black beans


• 8 cups of water


• 3 cups of diced ham


• 1/2 lrg. onion, diced


• 4 cups of chicken stock


• salt and pepper to taste

Steps:

1. Rinse and sort the black beans or black bean soup mix.


2. Put the black bean soup mix or black beans, water, and 1 c. diced ham in a large soup pot.


3. Bring the water to a boil and then turn down to a simmer.


4. Let cook for 1-1/2 hours until the beans are soft.


5. Add the chicken stock, onion, remaining diced ham, salt, and pepper.  Cook for another 10 - 15 minutes.


6. Enjoy!  (We had ours with a pretzel roll.  We shared the soup with my mother-in-law.  She had hers with rice.)

 

A week and a half ago, I posted a recipe for Buffalo Wing Hummus.  I used the hummus to make a chicken salad full of veggies and with less fat.

Buffalo Wing Chicken Salad

Stars of the recipe:

• 1/2 c. cooked chicken, cubed or shredded


• 1 carrot, thinly sliced and diced


• 1 celery stalk, thinly sliced and diced


• 1/4 red pepper, thinly sliced and diced


• 1/2 c. Buffalo Wing hummus

Steps:

1. Mix all the ingredients together.


2. Enjoy on bread, flat bread, or on a bed of lettuce!

(2 servings)

I knew we were going to have pork chops for dinner but I did not know how I was going to fix them.  As I was driving home that night, a light bulb went off in my head.  "Why don't I make them like the baked chicken nuggets we had a few weeks prior?"

I like the simplicity of the recipe and how it is healthy for you. My husband raved about it so I'll say it was a success!!!

Breaded Baked Pork Chops

Skinny Taste

Stars of the recipe:

• 4 boneless pork chops, cut in half


• salt and pepper to taste


• 2 tsp. Extra virgin olive oil


• 6 Tbsp. whole wheat bread crumbs (I got mine at Whole Foods.  Use regular if you can't find the whole wheat or make your own.)


• 2 Tbsp. panko


• 2 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese


• 2 tsp. Italian seasoning


• olive oil spray

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Farenheit.


2. Spray a baking dish with olive oil spray. (9 by 13 rectangular)


3. Put Extra Virgin Olive Oil in one bowl and breadcrumbs, panko, Parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning in another bowl.


4. Season the pork chops with salt and pepper.  Dip in the Extra Virgin Olive Oil making sure to get all sides evenly coated.


5. Dip in the breadcrumb mixture until it's coated.  Place in the baking dish.


6. Repeat with the other pieces of pork chops.


7. Spray the top with olive oil spray.


8. Bake for 20 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 145 degrees.  (Turn once while baking)


9. Enjoy!  (We had ours with baked sweet potato and steamed broccoli.)

My family doesn't like shrimp so traditional shrimp scampi is a no go at my house.  So I decided to make scampi with chicken instead.  You know a meal is a winner when hubby, the Wee One, and Imaginative One all love the meal.  There was no complaints about the meal.  

About five years ago, I got a spaghetti pot that cooks the spaghetti whole.  The boys loved eating the whole pieces of linguine.  They loved slurping up the pieces.  It made the meal fun for them.

Chicken Scampi

Stars of the recipe:

• 1/2 box of linguine, cooked (reserve 1 cup of the cooking water) - I used whole wheat pasta.


• 1 lb. of chicken, cubed


• 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil


• 5 Tbsp. butter (seperate into a 2 Tbsp. piece and a 3 Tbsp. piece)


• 1/2 onion, diced


• 2 Tbsp. minced garlic


• 1 c. white wine


• 2 lemons, juiced (microwave them for 10 seconds before juicing them)


• 1 Tbsp. dried parsley or 2 Tbsp. fresh parsley

Steps:

1. Cook the linguine, reserving 1 cup of the cooking water.


2. In a skillet, heat the oil and 2 Tbsp. of the butter over medium heat.


3. When the butter is melted, add the chicken, onions, and garlic.  Cook until the chicken is cooked.  (5 to 10 minutes)


4. Remove the chicken, onions, and garlic.  Tent a piece of foil over the chicken to keep it warm.


5. Place the skillet over high heat.  Add the lemon juice and white wine.  Deglaze the bottom of the skillet and then cook until boiling.  Add the cooking water and 3 Tbsp. butter.


6. Lower the heat.  Once the butter is melted, add the chicken, onions, and garlic.  Cook for about 3-5 more minutes until the sauce is thickened.


7. Add the parsley and remove from heat.


8. Pour over the cooked linguine and combine.


9. Serve and enjoy!

Top Clicks of 2012

According to my stats counter, these are the top 10 recipes that were clicked on.

Taco Crescent Bake was #1 - It was published in February of  2011.

Sloppy Joe Pizza was #2 - It was also published in February of 2011.

Watermelon Cookies was #3.  These continue to be my kids and students favorite cookies.  It was published in July of 2010.

[caption id="attachment_2286" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Watermelon Cookies[/caption]

Makes It Own Crust Apple Pie was #4.  It was published in November of 2011.

[caption id="attachment_1692" align="aligncenter" width="228"] Makes It Own Crust Apple Pie[/caption]

Baked Spaghetti was #5.  It was published in January of 2012.

[caption id="attachment_1790" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Baked Spaghetti[/caption]

Homemade hamburger helper was #6.  It was published in October 2010.

[caption id="attachment_1185" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Homemade Hamburger helper[/caption]

Charleston Cheese Dip was #7.  It was published in January 2012.

[caption id="attachment_1787" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Charleston Cheese Dip[/caption]

Ranch Chicken Legs was #8.  It was published in March 2011.

Peanut Butter Blossoms was #9.  It was published in October 2010.

[caption id="attachment_1656" align="aligncenter" width="200"] Peanut butter blossoms[/caption]

Green beans, potatoes, and ham was #10.  It was published in April of 2012.

[caption id="attachment_2037" align="aligncenter" width="240"] Green beans, ham, and potatoes[/caption]

Here's to a successful 2013!

Reader's Favorites

I went to my stats' summary page to find the recipes that get the most clicks.  This is the top post of 2012.
Baked Spaghetti

Here's the 2nd to 5th top posts of 2012:

Charleston Cheese Dip

Green beans, potatoes and ham

Bacon Cheeseburger Soup

Peanut Butter Blossoms Redone

I thought I had blogged about this before but when I was looking for it, I couldn't find a blog entry about crockpot chicken.  If there is one, I apologize.

Cooking for a semi-picky eater is a challenge.  The Imaginative One is often fearful about trying new foods especially if he doesn't know what ingredients are in the meal.  This is one of his favorite ways to eat chicken and he has requested it for a birthday dinner before. 

I wanted to post this recipe because I have a few future recipes that are going to use some of the left-over chicken.  Any of the other left-over chicken is put in the meal size portions and then frozen for future meals.

Crockpot chicken

Star of the recipe:

• 4-5 pound chicken, giblets and neck removed and washed


• spices

Steps:

1. If there is any gibblets and neck, remove those.


2. Wash the chicken.


3. Place the chicken in the crockpot.  Breast side up.


4. Season with salt, pepper, or any other spice - it's your choice.


5. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.


6. Once cooked, save the juices for stock.

Two days ago, I posted about the Foodie Pen Pals, I participated in.  Shania who sent my package lives in the area stricken by Superstorm Sandy.  She is a reader of my blog.  I just want to let her know that my thoughts and prayers are with her and her family.

One of my favorite blogs is Eat at Home. I've been following Tiffany's blog for the past 2 years. Each week she provides free weekly menus featuring recipes she has posted. The majority of her recipes are fuss free or little fuss recipes. The recipes are also delicious.

I got this recipe from the blog. She named it Skillet Chicken with Peppers and Tomatoes. I renamed it Italian chicken because my boys would have told me they didn't like it because it had peppers and tomatoes. When they did their daily ritual of asking me what was for supper, I told them Italian chicken.

I was lucky to find thin chicken breasts on sale when I did my weekly shopping. They were in a family pack for $10 and some change. I was going to be able to use the pack for 3 meals. That is a deal! Even though I told the Imaginative One that I spent a lot on the chicken and he needed to eat all of his serving. LOL!

The chicken needs to marinate overnight so plan ahead.

Italian Chicken

Based on a recipe from Eat at Home

Stars of the recipe:

Chicken marinade:

• Chicken tenders or chicken breasts thinly pounded (pounded between two pieces of wax paper - take all of frustrations out on the chicken)


• 1/2 bottle of Italian dressing


• 1/4 c. of soy sauce

Italian Chicken:

• 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil


• 3 to 4 pieces of marinated chicken


• 1-2 Tbsp. minced garlic


• 1/2 package of frozen onion and pepper mix


• 1 15 oz. can of crushed tomateos


• 1/2 box of penne pasta

Steps:

1. Cook the penne pasta, drain, and set aside. (This can be done while the chicken is cooking.)


2. Put the olive oil in the skillet. Heat it on med. heat.


3. Place the chicken in the skillet. Cook on both sides until browned. (Discard the left over marinade.)


4. Add the garlic and onion and pepper mix to the skillet. Cook for a few minutes.


5. Add the can of crushed tomatoes.


6. Simmer over med. low heat for 10 minutes.


7. Serve with the penne pasta.


8. Enjoy!

Last week, I cleaned out my corner appliance cabinet.  It's in this weird shape that makes it a good place to store appliances.  While cleaning it out, I pulled out my food processor and have been using it more faithfully.

Today I decided to make spaghetti for supper, a family favorite.  I made a sauce of fire roasted tomatoes, zucchini, carrots, onions, and sausage and then served it over whole wheat pasta.  Hubby gave it two thumbs up and then went back for seconds.  The Imaginative One doesn't like sauce so he didn't want to try it.

Chunky Vegetable - Sausage Pasta Sauce

Stars of the Recipe:

• 1/2 pound Italian Sausage


• 1 to 2 carrots, peeled and ends cut off


• 1 can of fire roasted tomatoes (I used garlic fire roasted tomatoes.)


• 1 zucchini, with ends cut off


• 1 small onion, peeled and ends cut off


• Italian seasoning, to taste


• 1/2 box of dried pasta (I used whole wheat thin spaghetti.)
  

Steps:

1. Brown the sausage and then drain it.


2. Meanwhile, shred the carrot(s).


3. Place the shredded carrots into a saucepan.


4. Place tomatoes, zucchini, and onion in the food processor and dice them up into small pieces.


5. Place the mixture in the sauce pan.


6. After the sausage is done browning, place it in the saucepan with the carrots and tomato mixture.  Season with Italian seasoning.  Mix together.


7. Warm the sauce in the saucepan. at med. heat until bubbling.  Then turn down to low.  (About 10 to 15 minutes)


8. Cook the pasta.


9. Serve the sauce with the pasta.

Brown sugar ham steak

I'm embarrassed to even call this a recipe.

We had ham steak for dinner. I decided to fry it up. As it was cooking, I sprinkled about a tablespoon on brown sugar on both sides. Then I sprinkled another tablespoon of brown sugar on one of the sides. The Imaginative One raved about the taste. He has already asked for it to be on the menu again. Score!

Stars of the recipe:
Ham steak
3 or more tablespoons of brown sugar
Cooking spray

Steps;
1. Warm up pan (med heat). Spray with cooking spray or use a tablespoon of butter.
2. Place ham steak in pan. Sprinkle one side with brown sugar.
3. Flip it over and sprinkle the other side with brown sugar.
4. Cook until browned and then brown the other side.
5. You may add more brown sugar if wanted.
6. Take out of pan and serve.
7. Enjoy!

There is no picture of the ham because this was all that was left.

Paprika Chicken

We had this for dinner on Monday.  When I asked Hubby if he liked it, he told me that it was rude to talk with their mouth full.  I take it that he liked it a lot.

Paprika Chicken

Stars of the recipe:

• 3 lbs chicken thighs, bone in, skin on


• 2 onions, chopped


• 1 garlic clove, minced


• 1 tomato, chopped (You can also use diced tomatoes in the can.)


• oil as needed


• 1 green pepper, chopped


• 1 3/4 c. chicken broth, divided


• 2 Tbsp. paprika


• 1 C. sour cream

Steps:

1. In a large pot, saute the onion, garlic, and green pepper in oil until soft, add the paprika and mix well.


2. Add the chicken, tomato, and 1 cup of the chicken broth.


3. Bring to a boil then turn down to low to simmer.


4. Cover and cook for 30 minutes or until chicken is tender and cooked through.


5. Add remaining chicken broth and sour cream, stir to mix and serve immediately over rice or egg noodles.

 

Ranch Chicken Legs

I found this recipe right after hubby and I got married.  It was in our regular main dish rotation for a few years.  The ranch chicken legs were also a go to recipe for when I entertained family members.  During the past few years, I have made it infrequently.  So when I found chicken legs on sale, I decided to put it on our menu.

I love how simple this recipe is and how tasty the chicken is. 

Stars of the recipe:

• chicken legs (I would try to have 2 legs per person)


• 1/2 cup of bisquick (More if needed ~ really depends on the number of chicken legs.)


• 1 package of dry ranch dressing mix


• 2 Tbsp. butter

Steps: 

1. In a ziplock bag, place bisquick and ranch dressing.  Mix well.  Set aside.


2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.


3. Place butter in a 9 by 13 baking dish.  After the oven is done preheating, place the pan in the oven until the butter is melted.


4. Once the butter is melted, pull the baking dish out of the oven.


5. Dredge each piece of chicken in the bisquick-ranch mixture.  Make sure each piece is coated.  Place each chicken leg in the baking dish skin side down.


6. Bake at 400 degrees for 20  minutes.  Pull the baking dish out of the oven.


7. Flip the chicken and then bake for an additional 15 minutes.


8. Enjoy!