A FRIDGE FULL OF FOOD...

Slow Cooker Reuben Chowder: Corned Beef, Potatoes, & Cabbage

 

My name is Glenna and I'm a huge Reuben addict.  Love the combo of corned beef and saurkraut. There's just something deliciously sweet, salty, crunchy, cheesy wonderful about it!  Imagine my pleasure when I accidentally stumbled on a recipe for reuben chowder...and then Googled for more recipes...and then took all the things I liked out of each one and made my own--in the slow cooker!

Heaven...I'm in heaven....

All-American Sloppy Joe Pockets

All-American Sloppy Joes, what a lot of us here in the states grew up on as a regular meal, basically also called a "loose meat sandwich" which sounds terrifying. It's not, really,To the uninitiated it's a dryer version of beef spaghetti sauce made to fit on a bun:  ground beef, Italian seasonings, and tomato paste. Taking it one step further, it feels like a treat to kids and Hubbies (who are really just big kids) as a fancified hand-held pocket sandiwch.

Great for a normal weekend dinner, a children's sleepover, children's parties or anytime you just want to do something a little extra special without making yourself crazy!

From scratch is always best but I will tell you that the Sandra Lee version is even easier if you're short on time and patience:  thawed bread dough from the supermarket, ground beef, cheese, and jarred Sloppy Joe or Manwich sauce.  Nobody will know the difference and you look like a hero!  But. Sometime do do the from scratch verion, you'll be glad you did and surprised at how easy it is. I promise.

This is my entry for World Bread Baking Day #57. Check the roundup to see all the great loaves of bread being baking in ovens both near and far from you.

 

Good & Good For You: Ground Beef, Potato, & Veggie Chowder

 

There's something about cold, rainy nights that demand soup, isn't there?  Something warm and comforting on the inside to combat the dreariness of the outside.  This soup started out as a simple potato and milk soup but then Hubby Gene said "Can you put hamburger in it?" I thought "Why not?"  I knew I'd put lots of onion and celery in it, but on the heels of the ground beef addition, I also chopped fresh parsley, sweet red and green pepper, carrots, and fresh mushrooms so that our Yukon Gold simple potato soup became a very hearty and tasty ground beef, potato, and tons of veggies chowder, so yummy it's a pleasure to eat leftovers the rest of the weekend. 

 

 

Baked Mostaccioli w/ All Day Slow Cooker/Crockpot Meat Sauce

 

 There's nothing like pasta, the ultimate comfort food, to feed a small army of company at the holidays.  It's tasty, it's easy, and it can usually be made ahead, all pluses in my book so that I can serve a delicious meal to my friends and family but also be able to relax on the day of and during the party instead of running myself ragged, cooking. 

Traditionally at New Year's Eve, I make a big lasagna, but this year I went to the same song, different verse, choosing to created a Baked Mostaccili dish instead. 

Several of my guests plus friends on Facebook asked for the recipe, so this is it:  Glenna's Baked Mostaccioli for a Crowd.  Even though the recipe easily serves 8-10, it can easily be cut in half for a family dinner or can be made as a whole and split into two separate baking dishes, freezing one for later. 

   

Folks Who Use My Recipes: No Work Crockpot/ Slow Cooker Chili

My sister, Suzanne, posted this photo to Facebook tonight after posting this morning that she'd come home from a great night's work and decided it was chilly enough for...well...chili!

Yummy.  My recipe, the result of an experiement several years ago, makes a chili with a texture where the meat and beans become very harmonious.  It sounds like an odd thing but by putting the extra lean ground beef difectly into the pot instead of browning it and addit last, the resulting texture is one that even people like me who aren't huge meat texture fans can love.

Excuse me, I have to make a trip across town to see if there are leftovers.

Fast & Tasty: Coney Dog Casserole

This is another of those Pinterest recipes that is so simple and so tasty that I automatically wonder why I never thought of it.  Four ingredients, five minutes prep time, 30 minutes in the oven or toaster oven, and dinner's on the table with the exception of a salad or quick vegetable. It can also be prepped the night before a work day or church so it's even more accommodating to busy lifestyles.

Gene and I both liked this, sort of non-messy Coney's you can easily eat with a knife and fork (and don't have to get in the car and go to Sonic to get), plus I used only half a tortilla per hot dog so it has much less breading and more hot dog/chili goodness!

Good & Good For You: Easy Slow Cooker/Crock-Pot Swiss Steak over Creamy Polenta

 

I probably should have photographed Gene's bowl where there was lots of meat with some sauce instead mine which is a little bit of meat with a lot of sauce. Oh well.  Next time I'll think about it a little harder before I pic up the camera.

This is a super easy recipe for Swiss Steak for the slow cooker/Crock-pot. No braising, no fuss, no muss, just throw all the veggies into the crockpot, put the meat on top, pour the tomatoes over, turn that baby on, and go to  work (or for nightshifters like me, to bed) for the day and then come home or wake up to a lovely dinner. One of the other great things about this recipe is that you use a stick blender at the end to blend the veggies into a smooth sauce or you can leave it chunky. I like it somewhere inbetween so I blend most but not all and leave some chunks. Great over mashed potatoes, rice, polenta, or egg noodles. 

Broiling the Perfect Steak in Five Easy Steps

Going out to dinner for a nice steak can be just the thing after a long day, but doing the same thing at home, only in t-shirt, shorts, and no shoes, can be just the ticket as well.  Steaks are one of those things that seemed intimidating to me years ago, but it only took a little practice to gain confidence quickly.

Lots of folks are very accomplished on the grill. To be honest, I'm not so much simply because with only me and Gene in our small family, it feels like way too much work to drag out the grill for two steaks.  The answer? Broiling.

 With four simple ingredients and five simple steps, the process is painless.

Better Than Mom's (Sorry Mom!) Lasagna

 

 

Sorry, Mom, even though you were a fabulous cook, I think in this one instance I beat you at your own game. 

I love lasagna but with only two of us it's something I only get to make when we're having company.  You just can't make a small lasagna!

So for New Year's Eve, that's what I did, although I stepped up a few of the ingredients my Mom used to use, switching out ricotta and cream cheese for the cottage cheese, and using a 50/50 mix of ground beef and country sausage for my Slow Cooker Meat Sauce. 

We were all pretty pleased, patting myself on the back. The result was rich without being overwhelming and not too wet, not to dry, perfect texture. Will be making these changes always from now on.

 

Timpano di Maccheroni: The "Mythic Pasta Dome"

  

This recipe was so much fun to make!  I'd seen it years ago, a classic Italian dish made famous by Stanley Tucci's movie "Big Night" , the story of two restauranteur brothers (Tucci and Tony Shalhoub, more recently starring as Adrian Monk) whose fortunates are on the wane.  In a last mad dash, they have one "Big Night" extravaganza to save the restaurant and this is one of the dishes they served.

I served it our Dexter Dinner group to celebrate the season six premiere of Dexter. We gathered for Timpano, Death in the Afternoon cocktails, and Dexter (Apple) cake. Everything, including Dexter, was delicious!  This recipe is definitely a showstopper and very flexible. I'll be serving it again.

Several years ago, I had planned on making it for my pasta-lovin' niece Jordan's birthday party as a truly celebratory entree but at the last minute I flinched, afraid I would leave the whole family in the lurch if I messed it up, and simply served baked mostacciola instead. While the dish does have several steps, almost all of them can be made ahead and the whole dish can easily be finished early on the day of serving and baked a bit before serving.  Actually, with at least a half hour cooling time it's a great dish to take to a potluck or to serve at an open house. I only made a 2qt bowl full and not only was it plenty of food for the four of us watching Dexter that night, there were leftovers, and during the dinner, the dish was still warm to the touch 45 minutes after cutting.

As much as I sort of dreaded and anticipated and was scared and excited all at the same time about preparing this dish, it really is much easier to make than it looks! I promise.