Crock Pot Italian Beef

4-4 1/2 lbs of shoulder roast (typically 2 pkgs)

Mix together and pour over roast:
1/3 cup white vinegar
1/3 cup peperoncini juice
1 pkg dry au jus (McKormick)
1 pkg dry zesty Italian dressing
Put peperoncinis on top ( I actually mix in with above ingredients.  As many as you like.)

Cook in crock pot on low all day or high for 5-6 hours

Verdict: I've tried a lot of different crock pot beef recipes, and this is by far the best and most flavorful. This recipe makes enough for a large crowd, so I usually use a smaller piece of meat when making it and still have plenty to freeze.

I served the meat on mini rolls with a piece of cheese melted on top. YUM!

Source: Vicki G.

Garlic Pork Tenderloin

1lb. pork tenderloin

1Tbsp. GOOD SEASONS Garlic & Herb Dressing Mix

1/2tsp. each paprika, dried thyme leaves and dried sage leaves

HEAT oven to 425°F.
PLACE meat in foil-lined shallow baking pan. Mix dressing mix and seasonings until blended; rub evenly over meat.
BAKE 20 to 25 min. or until done (160°F).
CUT into slices. Serve with barbecue sauce.

Verdict: Again, I've tried many different pork tenderloin recipes, and this one is by far the easiest and tastiest.

Source: kraftfoods.com

Chicken Fried Rice

1 egg

1 tablespoon water

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 onion, chopped

2 cups cooked white rice, cold

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 cup cooked, chopped chicken meat

Frozen peas & carrots (i used matchstick carrots this time b/c i didn't have any frozen)

1. In a small bowl, beat egg with water. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium low heat. Add egg and leave flat for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from skillet and cut into shreds.
2. Heat oil in same skillet; add onion and saute until soft. Then add rice, soy sauce, pepper and chicken and frozen veggies. Stir fry together for about 5 minutes, then stir in egg. Serve hot.

Verdict: I love fried rice and this is an easy way to use leftover rice. I usually already have all the ingredients I need to make this on hand. This is especially good with rotisserie chicken. If you're cooking the chicken, pound it flat and cut into thin strips, then cook before doing everything else.

Source: all recipes dot com

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Time: 25 minutes prep - 8 hours cooking

Ingredients:

• 1 boneless beef chuck roast (3 pounds)
• 2 large russet potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 medium parsnips, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 large carrots, sliced thickly on the diagonal
• 2 large ribs celery, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 large onion, cut into chunks
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) beef broth
• 1 can (14-15 ounces) diced tomatoes

Directions:

1. Cut roast in half; place into a 5-qt. slow cooker. Top with potatoes, parsnips, carrots, celery, onion, and garlic.
2. In a medium bowl, combine thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, pepper, broth, and diced tomatoes; pour over vegetables.
3. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or until meat and vegetables are tender. Remove bay leaves before eating

Verdict:
This was good pot roast. Allison loved the meat and carrots. She wasn't big on the parsnips, but Dave and I enjoyed the different flavor they added. Pretty decent recipe as far as crock pot things go.

Pasta with Tuna Sauce

Source: allrecipes.com

Servings: 6
Total Time:

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves crushed garlic

1 tablespoon capers

1 (14.5 ounce) can crushed tomatoes

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 (6 ounce) cans tuna, drained

1 (16 ounce) package dry pasta

Directions

1. In a large saute pan, heat oil over low heat. Add onion and garlic; cook and stir until onion is tender. Stir in capers, tomatoes, lemon juice, and parsley. Season with red pepper flakes to taste. Simmer gently for 3 minutes to thicken sauce. Fold in tuna, and heat through.
2. While sauce is cooking, add pasta to a large pot of rapidly boiling water; cook till just tender. Drain well.
3. Toss pasta with sauce, and serve.

Verdict:
This was pretty good. i think next time i'll use a different pasta, probably just spaghetti. But it was a really easy recipe using things i had on already in the pantry. (i used dried parsley instead of the fresh). And it was a good way to eat more fish. Allison thought it was chicken!

Easy Italian Chicken

Servings: 4
Total Time: less than 5 minutes prep; 50-60 mins cooking

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 bottle italian dressing
package of pre-sliced mushrooms

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a bag and marinate for several hours. I use frozen breasts, combine everything in the morning before work, put in the fridge and allow breast to marinate and defrost all day.

Pour contents of bag into a foil lined (optional, but makes clean up easy!) baking dish. Bake on 350 for 50-60 minutes or until chicken is cooked.

Verdict:
This was really yummy and so so so super easy. This will definitely be a keeper in our house for weeknight meals.

Beef and Broccoli

Everytime I post a picture of the food I make, I really think, wow, I should use a better camera than my cell phone. But then I get lazy again. And really, who has time to break out the big camera when your yummy dinner is just sitting there waiting to be eaten.

So not the best picture, but this is so yummy!

Recipe source: canyoustayfordinner.com

Servings: 4

Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 pound flank or sirloin, sliced thinly across the grain
• 1 pound broccoli florets, blanched or bag broccoli wokly
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp cornstarch, dissolved in 1 tbsp water

Beef Marinade:

• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry)
• 1/2 tsp cornstarch
• 1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Sauce:

• 3 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tbsp brown sugar

Directions:

1. Make the marinade: Stir together the beef marinade ingredients in a medium bowl. Add the beef slices and stir until coated. Let stand for 10 minutes
2. Make the sauce: Stir together the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside. 
3. Blanch the broccoli: Cook the broccoli in a small pot of boiling, salted water until tender-crisp, about 2 minutes. Drain thoroughly.  OR If you want to cheat (which is what I did): buy a bag of broccoli wokly florets that steam in the bag. I cooked it in the microwave for about 1.5 minutes.
4. Heat a wok over medium-high heat until a bead of water sizzles and instantly evaporates upon contact. Add the sesame oil and swirl to coat. Add the beef and immediately spread the strips out all over the surface of the wok or pan in a single layer (preferably not touching). Let the beef fry undisturbed for 1 minute. Flip the beef slices over, add the garlic to the pan and fry for an additional 30 seconds to 1 minute until no longer pink.
5. Pour in the sauce.
6. Add the blanched broccoli and bring to a boil.
7. Pour in the dissolved cornstarch and cook, stirring, until the sauce boils and thickens, 30 seconds.
8. Serve over rice and enjoy!

Verdict: 

This was super yummy and so super fast and easy. It took the rice longer to cook than it did for me to make this. And it's pretty healthy to boot. 

Per Serving (not including rice): Calories - 292 Fat - 17 Carbs - 10 Prot - 25 Fiber - 2