Crockpot French Onion Roast

I sure do love me a good roast. I didn't always, but once I learned the secrets of getting a yummy roast every time (low and slow; lots of salt), it's one of my favorite dishes. This was a good roast, the kids and Brad loved it, but I though the gravy fell a little flat. It didn't have as much flavor as a roast made the same way with Onion Soup mix. But it was still pretty good.

Crockpot French Onion Roast
kosher salt
coarse ground black pepper
3-4 pound boneless beef chuck roast
1-2 Tbsp canola oil
8 carrots, peeled and cut into large pieces
1 onion, quartered
1 (10.5oz) can Campbell’s condensed french onion soup
flour (optional)
water (optional)

Rub the roast with a generous amount of salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large skillet and sear meat over high heat. You want a nice brown color on each side of the roast. Add more oil and lower heat if needed. Remove from heat and set aside. Add the carrots and onion to the bottom of the crock pot. Pour the soup into the bottom of the crock pot along with 1/2 can of water.
Place roast in the crock pot on top of the vegetables. Cook on low for 10 hours.
Slice or shred roast removing and big pieces of fat. You can serve it like this with the "juice" from the roast or you can make gravy, like I did. Ladle most of the "juice" into a saucepan and bring to a simmer. In a small cup, mix 3-4 tablespoons of flour with a little water until it's the consistency of school glue. Pour slowly into the saucepan, a little at a time, whisking furiously to (hopefully) avoid lumps. Keep adding the "glue" until it's the consistency you desire...you may have to make more glue. Taste and adjust seasonings. I had to add salt and pepper.

Adapted from REAL MOM KITCHEN

Family Rating:
Brad: ****
Jordan: ***
Eli: ****
Phoebe: ****
Overall Family Rating: 15/20

Baked Spaghetti

This was really good. Everybody liked it and it made enough for 2 whole meals. I was worried about it not being enough due to only using 8 oz. of spaghetti noodles, but I shouldn't have.

Baked Spaghetti
1 lb. Italian sausage
1 24 oz. jar spaghetti sauce (I used CLASSICO CABERNET MARINARA WITH HERBS)
1 can tomato sauce, 15 oz
salt, pepper, sugar, Italian seasonings (or whatever seasonings you usually use in your spaghetti sauce)
8 oz. grated Mozzarella (about 2 cups)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan (I didn't measure this, but just added a good handful over the mozzarella)
8 oz spaghetti

Brown the sausage in a large skillet. Break the noodles in half and cook according to the package directions. Be sure to salt the water generously. (This is a crucial step in making any pasta that I don't ever skip! Trust me, it's worth it!) Drain and stir it together with the meat, sauces and extra spices. Put it into a casserole dish and top with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or till hot and bubbly.

Adapted from EATING AT HOME

Overall Family Rating:
Brad: ***
Jordan: ****
Phoebe: *****
Eli: *****
Overall Family Rating: 17/20

Ham and Cheese Muffins

When Brad has a "night meeting", I try to do something easy with the kids for dinner, but I'm not one for picking up fast food (as if we had any out our direction, anyway). I try to plan for leftovers, but Pinterest has got me pinning all kinds of "lunch" foods. You know, foods that the kids and I would love that are fast and easy, but that Brad wouldn't consider quite up to "dinner" standards. That's how I came about making these muffins. I wanted to try them for dinner and then have some left over to send in lunches. They were perfect! The kids really liked them.

Ham and Cheese Muffins
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup diced ham
1 1/2 cups Cheddar cheese, grated (I used sharp cheddar)

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease and flour 12 regular muffin tins. In a large bowl stir together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. Whisk together the egg, buttermilk and oil in a small bowl. Stir in the ham and cheese. Using a rubber spatula, stir the egg mixture into the dry ingredients just until combined. Do not overmix. Spoon into each of the prepared muffin tins approximately 3/4 full. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from muffin tin and let cool.

Adapted from PORK: BE INSPIRED

Family Rating:
Brad: N/A
Jordan: ***
Phoebe: *****
Eli: ****
Overall Family Rating: 12/15

Crockpot Honey Sesame Chicken

Everyone in my family loooooves rice. Except me. So anytime I make Asian inspired food (I'm not naive enough to believe that this is an authentic dish), they all rave about it and I think it's just good enough. I doubled the recipe so we'd have enough leftovers for two meals. I'm pretty sure this would freeze well.

Crockpot Honey Sesame Chicken
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, about 5
Salt and pepper
1 cup of honey
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup diced onion
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
Cornstarch
Sesame seeds

Place the chicken thighs in the crockpot insert and sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides.
In a medium sized bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, ketchup, oil, garlic, onion, and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine well. Pour over the chicken in the crockpot. Cook on low for 3-4 hours or high for 1 1/2-2 1/2 hours. When done, remove chicken from stock pot and cut into chunks. Prior to putting the chicken back in the stockpot, combine some cornstarch (I used a couple big tablespoons) in water and whisk it into the crockpot to thicken up the sauce a bit*. Throw the chicken back in and stir around to recoat the chicken in the sauce. Serve hot over a bed of white rice and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top.

* When I did this, it didn't thicken up the sauce very much and I was kind of disappointed. Then, for leftovers, I heated it back up in a skillet on the stove and the sauce thickened up much more to my liking. Next time, I'm going to pull the sauce out of the crockpot and thicken on the stove so it will be the way I want it.

Family Rating:
Brad: ****
Jordan: ***
Eli: *****
Phoebe: *****
Overall Family Rating: 17/20

Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches

I do love me a good philly cheesesteak sandwich!  The recipe I found seemed easy enough...and fast, too, since Eli now has baseball practice 2 days a week. I used Worcestershire sauce to moisten my meat and veggies, but next time I think I'll use just a little sauce and beef broth. I wrote the changes in below.

Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 onions, thinly sliced
1 green pepper, sliced
2 tablespoons butter
1 pound thinly sliced roast beef
6 hoagie rolls, split
6-12 slices provolone cheese (We like our cheesesteaks reeeeeeaaallly cheesy!)
a couple of big splashes Worcestershire sauce
1/2-1 cup beef broth

In a large skillet, saute mushrooms, onions and green peppers in butter until tender. Break up the roast beef and stir into vegetables until hot. Moisten with Worcestershire sauce and beef broth, only using a little at a time. Split rolls and toast very lightly in the oven. On each roll, place some of the meat mixture and top with cheese. Toast until cheese is melted.

Adapted from OUR KRAZY KITCHEN

Family Rating:
Brad: ***
Jordan: ****
Eli: *****
Phoebe: ***
Overall Family Rating: 15/20