Slow Cooker Sundays are definitely one of my favorites. This was one of the easiest meals to make and it was sooo good! Felt more like lazy Sunday, but isnt that what Sunday’s are for?
Only a couple changes on this one. I did not use bone in pork chops, I only had pork loin chops in my freezer so that was what I was using. Bone in would have been amazing though!!! I do not use low sodium anything, I already had to give up enough with my food, I have to draw a line somewhere. My pork chops were even a touch frozen in the middle still but that doesn’t matter, the beauty of slow cooking.
Total fix it and forget it, which is beautiful for a lazy day or even busy days when you dont have time. I try real hard to NOT be busy on Sunday.
I set my Crock pot on Low for 6 hours. Half way through cooking, I added about a pound of new potatoes, halved, in with the pork. I used a mix of red and yellow potatoes.
At the end of the time, I literally just put it on a plate. The gravy needed nothing added and was the perfect thickness. To finish the dish off, I added some steamed broccoli. I use my rice cooker and it steams veggies like a dream. I dont think there is an easier meal to make. Enjoy!
This casserole was fantastic! A perfect comfort meal, just the kind that I love to have on cold nights, eating dinner in bed. This should have been a fairly easy meal to make however I ran into a few snafus but just keep swimming. It may have been way later than planned but damnit it was getting made!
For the chicken, I roasted a boneless, skinless breast on the Traeger a couple hours before. I seasoned the chicken with salt, pepper, Traeger Anything Rub, and Smoked Paprika on both sides. (I love Smoked Paprika on chicken! It gives it a wonderful smokey flavor.) Placed that in a small glass dish and put about half a cup of chicken stock in the dish. I used Better Than Bouillion Chicken Base and mixed about a TBSP into hot water. Topped with a TBSP of butter, in this instance I used Country Crock Plant Butter with Avocado Oil. I set the Midnight Meat Train at 425 degrees and roasted it for about 45 minutes, until the top is golden browned. I left the chicken in the stock and set it aside to cool. Once cooled, I shredded the whole thing. You could just chop it too but I prefer shredded. I poured the left over chicken stock in a storage container and put in the fridge for later use. Never let good stock go to waste!
While I was cooking the chicken on the Traeger, I threw a few pieces of bacon on there too. Cooked these about 8 minutes a side, until they were nice and crispy and almost all the fat was cooked off. I set these aside to cool as well. Once cooled, I roughly chopped into bits.
Once it was time to get cooking, I picked bionaturae Gluten Free Rice & Lentil Penne Rigate Pasta for this one. It says there is no soy, starch, or gums. I like these because the texture is good, they hold up to handling after cooked and dont fall apart, and they dont have any weird after taste. I cook these to al dente as the recipe directs.
For the vegetables, I did the purple/red onion, canned diced tomatoes and fresh spinach but I left out the green pepper. We both have a sensitivity to them, they cause hellacious heartburn, so unless they are a key ingredient to the dish, I either leave them out or I will substitute with a pablano. I’m also not suppose to eat chicken, but I dont listen to that one as much as I should because I love it so much.
Okay, so now on to the sauce and this is where I ran into my issues. I got my mozzarella cheese out and when I opened it up, I immediately noticed that it was bad, the smell hit me first. I think to myself, no worries, I have more in the freezer. I will just take enough for what I need and the warm milk will melt it, no biggy. So, I bang it on the counter a bit to break it up and then just dumpped what I needed into my milk. Well…. the top of that cheese was moldy too, which is now in my milk. I have frozen moldy cheese just glaring at me in my pan. Fuck. Thankfully, it was still frozen because I did not have any more evaporated milk on hand. I strained the milk and removed all the cheese, moldy pieces and all. Now, I need to figure out what to use, I grab the shredded Cheddar Jack cheese I had in the fridge. I figured it was pretty close, its a mix of mild cheddar and monterey jack cheese, so it has a mild, soft cheese flavor and texture to it. A solid substitute I felt.
I followed the recipe the rest of the way through, topping it all off with a little pepperjack cheese to add a nice bite to it. I did not add the cheddar to the top since I used the cheddar jack in the sauce. Even with all the malfunctions with the cheese sauce it still came out amazing! The Cheddar Jack was a great alternative, next time I will try it with the mozzarella and see which one I like like best.
Overall, very cheesy, with the tang from the ranch dressing and the bite from the pepperjack, the flavors were popping. So good! A perfect hearty cassole meal. It does take a bit of pre-planning unless you already have some cooked chicken you need to use up or if you pick up a rotisserie. It is definitely going in my favorite casserole dish list. Its even just as good reheated the next day!
Whatever Wednesday had me trying out some new steaks from Imperfect and a new recipe for oven roasted baby potatoes. Both were successes and made for an excellent meal!
Lets start with the potatoes, as these take longer than the steak to cook so you would need to start these first. OVEN ROASTED HERB AND GARLIC PARMESAN POTATOES by Mom on Timeout. Now she grows her own Yukon potatoes which she used for this and even though I live in Idaho, I do not grow my own potatoes so I used new pototes that I buy at Costco. Any little, baby or new potatoes will work for this, mine is a mix of both Yukon and Red. They were even a little soft but that did not effect it at all so this is a good recipe to use when you have some older potatoes you need to use up.
Fresh herbs are definitely a must for this one too, it makes a huge difference. I have actually started buying the little containers of herbs like Rosemary and Thyme and then freezing what I don’t use. When I need them again, I just pull them out that morning or at least a couple hours before to thaw. Maybe one day I will grow my own and just have fresh herbs on hand at all times.
These turned out to be the best roasted halved potatoes I have ever made, the hubs agrees. They were nice and browned, crispy on the outside with creamy middles. Just perfect!
While the potatoes were roasting, its time for the steaks. Now, I had seasoned these earlier in the day, and put them uncovered in the fridge to dry out a little. This isn’t necessary but it does help with browning. For my seasoning, I used Traeger Anything Rub, Killer Hogs The A.P., and Killer Hogs TX Brisket Rub. The Anything Rub is a mix of salt, pepper, garlic, onion, jalapeno, and lime. The A.P. is an all purpose seasoning, good for literally anything, mix of salt, black and red pepper, garlic, and coriander. The TX Brisket Rub I love to use on beef, its a mix of salt, garlic, onion, and pasley. You can get all these seasonings at Amazon or Walmart.com if you cant find them at your local store. Be careful not to be too heavy handed when using all 3 because they all include salt.
I grilled these steaks at 425 degrees for about 5 minutes a side. They were thinner so this cooked them to a Medium doneness. Let rest for at least 10 minutes.
To finish the dish off, I added just a simple salad of Spring Mix with croutons and feta crumbles, topped with an Italian dressing. This was a super simple, easy meal to make, less than 30 minutes, and it was amazing! Definitely one to satisfy any meat & pototes man, like mine! Enjoy!
It’s been a minute but I’m back! Feels good to just get some words down on the page no matter what they are. Still haven’t gotten back to traveling, and not much time for reading yet, but you gotta eat every day.
Things got crazy here with the launch of our new business in reptile breeding, Wild Roots Reptiles. (Check us out on IG and FB!) A house full of animals has been keeping us hopping. Also doing a bit of home reno and that hasn’t left us with much extra time. All my books are currently in boxes in the spare bedroom closet. I have managed to get a few audio books in but I just cant do reviews on audios. I had stopped menu planning too and going rogue is not working for me. Dinner ends up being hamburgers, taco, or “what do we have in the freezer?”. Gets old very quick.
I am a planner and it may sound boring but for me, a planned day keeps the anxiety away. So weekly menu planning is back and running and I’m loving it already! Started up last week and had some great dinners! That has surely been missed. The hubs is very thankful too.
Here’s my layout:
Meatless Monday
Taco Tuesday
Whatever Wednesday
Casserole Thursday
Freezer Friday
Soup/Salad Saturday
Slow Cooker Sunday
Every Sunday, while I am relaxing in bed watching football, I scour Pinterest for dinner ideas. Start with ones that I have all the ingredients for and then add to the grocery list things I need for ones later in the week. My imperfect shopping days are Monday and Tuesday with Thursday delivery day, so that usually works out that I can get everything I need there, with maybe just a quick trip to the supermarket if not. Freezer friday is hub’s choice, I leave that one up to him. He can either pick something out of the freezer or we can get take out. This also helps me mix up my proteins throughout the week so we aren’t having beef 3 days in row. And it is great on using up the food that I have in the fridge, keeping my food waste to a minimum. Which is really important to me, also why I use Imperfect Foods.
Last week’s menu:
Tomato and White Bean Soup
Gluten Free Hard Shell Tacos
Grilled Mahi with Lemon Rice and Salad
One Pot Cheeseburger Casserole
Take out from Sweet Lou’s Restaurant & Tap House (I had the Bleu Cheese and Mushroom Burger, so good!)
BLT Balsamic Chicken Avocado Salad
The Best Pot Roast with mashed potatoes and canned corn
Grilled MahiBLT Balsamic Chicken Avocado SaladThe Best Pot RoastThe Best Pot Roast
They were all so good but these were definitely my top 3!
I finished up the menu for this week last night and here it is:
Crispy Jack Patties with fries
Brisket Tacos
Grilled steak with Oven Roasted Herb & Garlic Parmesean Potatoes and salad
Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Bake
??? We will have to wait and see what he chooses.
French Onion Soup
Crock Pot Pork Chops & Gravy with mashed potatoes and brocolli.
Stay tuned thoughout the week for updates on how they turned out!