My Mom's Pot Roast

Courtesy of Catherine Wiltsey (my Mom!)

You'll need what ever type of roast you usually use for a pot roast. My Mom always used a rump roast, but I'm finding that when it's going into a crock pot that the type of meat doesn't matter as much.

For the first part I do actually use my cast iron pot and a little bit of olive oil to sear all the sides of the roast. My Mom just left her pot roast to cook in the cast iron pot. I've just transferred everything to the crock pot.

Spray the inside of your crock pot with non-stick spray and put the roast in with the fat side up.

Ingredients:

3 to 4 heaping teaspoons of beef bullion
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1 tbsp parsley
6 peppercorns
3 bay leaves

Pour all these ingredients over the top of the pot roast. You don't really need to do this, but that's the way I've always done it.

With most of the dry ingredients on top of the roast pour 1/3 cup of white vinegar over the top. The pour 3 to 4 cups of water over the top of that. There will probably still be a tiny bit of spices or bullion on the roast but that's okay.

Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. When it's done, remove from crock pot and let it sit while you do the gravy.

Use a slotted spoon (small holes) to strain out the peppercorns and bay leaves and transfer about 3 cups of stock to a medium sized pot. Turn the heat to medium-high and bring it to a boil. Take about 3 to 4 heaping teaspoons (actual spoons not measuring spoons) of corn starch and mix with about 1 1/2 cups of water. It should kinda look like skim milk.

Once the stock has boiled pour in 1/2 of the cornstarch/water mix. Don't stir right away ... let the stock start to boil again. Use a whisk to stir the gravy and you should start to see it thicken up.

We like our gravy very thick so I add the rest of the cornstarch/water mix and stir using the whisk again.

Slice your pot roast and you're done.

Grilled Mango Cilantro Lime Chicken

Courtesy of Teri Masello

Ok this is a recipe I came up with myself and LOVE! I try not to use any salt but this recipe definitely needs a bit to bring out the flavors even more. You will want to make this a few hours before you are ready.

Ingredients:

8 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 1/4 cups olive oil
2 cups fresh cilantro
1 1/2 cups fresh Mango
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp fresh garlic
3 limes
1 tbsp lime zest

First clean the chicken and remove all the excess fat. Poke some holes into the top with a fork. Put in large baking dish.

In a small bowl add olive oil, salt and garlic. Finely chop cilantro (leaves only) and add in. Peel and cut Mango and puree the "Meat" of the fruit, add into the oil mixture. Cut the limes in half and squeeze the juice out into the oil mixture and add in zest. Pour mixture over chicken and cover with plastic wrap. Marinate in the fridge for 2-3 hours. Cook over medium high heat on the grill until juices run clear.

Cupcake Quiches

Courtesy of Melissa Dodge

Ingredients:

8 oz breakfast sausage, no casing and crumbled into small pieces
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup shredded cheese of your choice
about 1 tsp pepper
5 eggs
3 egg whites
1 cup milk (1% works best)
a drizzle of olive oil

preheat oven to 325

grease/spray your nonstick muffin tin

get your large pan nice and hot over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook til golden brown. Move sausage to a bowl to cool. Add the oil to the pan then add mushrooms, stirring often til they golden up a bit. Throw the mushrooms in with the sausage and let cool. Stir in the cheese and pepper with the sausage.

Whisk up the eggs, egg whites, and milk in a mid-sized bowl. Divide the egg mixture among the muffin cups

Sprinkle heaping tablespoon of sausage mixture into each cup.

Bake til tops golden (25 minutes).

I let em cool a bit, then flip em out onto a rack to cool quicker.

Oh, and you can use foil muffin cup liners if you don't have a non-stick muffin pan.

Artichoke Pasta Sauce

This is my own varient where I use the slow cooker. It's SO tasty and easy and goes amazing with any kind of pasta.

Ingredients:

3 14oz cans diced tomatoes (with or without basil, oregano, and garlic)
2 14oz cans artichoke hearts drained and quartered
4-6 cloves garlic (minced)
1/2 cup whipping cream
Italian seasonings (basil, oregano, parsley ect) and salt and pepper to taste
a drizzle of olive oil

Add oil and garlic to the slow cooker (on high) and stir until heated. Add two cans of tomatoes (drained), the remaining can (undrained), the artichoke hearts, and the seasonings/ s+p.

Cover and cook on low (6-8 hrs) or high (3-4 hrs).

Stir in whipping cream and let heat through.

While it's heating, cook pasta, then dish up. It goes really well with a little parm on top! :)

Jello "Cheesecake" Pie

Courtesy of Melissa Dodge

I have several "odd" recipes in my head that I've lost the cards for ages ago.

This is one of my favorite desserts that I tweaked to make it simpler and tastier. I've always used Cherry flavored jello/filling... but you could easily change it around.

Ingredients:

2 graham cracker pie crusts
2 c boiling water
2 boxes Jello (Fruit flavor to match the Pie Filling)
1 can pie filling
20 oz can crushed pineapple (with juices)
8 oz cream cheese
1 c sour cream
1 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Mix water, jello, pie filling, and pineapple together. Pour into pie crusts and let set a bit. Whip the cream cheese, adding in sour cream, sugar, and vanilla. Spoon and spread on pies.

Let set overnight (or 4-6 hrs) and voila!

There's usually enough left over filling to need a container and too little to make an extra pie.