Back on the wagon with pot roast in July!

Delicious roast for lunch on a blindingly white paper plate that I enjoyed at my desk at work.

I'm terrible I know....I fell off of the face of the earth for a year and a half only to make my triumphant return with...pot roast? In the middle of July?! One of the hottest months of the year in Texas?!

HELL YEAH I DID!

I'd love to say that I disappeared because something stupendous and amazeballoons happened like finally receiving my acceptance letter to Hogwarts but the truth is that I got busy and distracted and this blog fell through the cracks. Sad face and sad tummies I know... :(

However, before you think that I am truly terrible and regretful, when I say that I got busy and distracted, I had a great reason! I am going back to school in my evenings (even if it's not Hogwarts) to be a veterinarian and joined a fantastic philanthropic organization that I mainly participate in on my weekends so YEAH, very busy.

Enough about me, more about the pot roast.

My mom is an amazing but reluctant cook. It continues to surprise me how she produces absolutely delicious dishes but claims to be a only "okay in the kitchen." She's much, MUCH more than "okay" and her tweaks on a traditional recipe really elevated it to the next level of awesome.

As for the origins of this recipe, I have no idea where it came from; all I know is that it's fantastic and perfect for a cool, fall evening or you know, a hot day in July.

Lauren's Mom's Effing Perfect Pot Roast

2 1/2 lb. chuck roast

1 pkg. onion soup mix

1 can whole-cranberry sauce

2/3 cup red wine (I prefer a Zinfandel for roast)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 small onion, very coarsely chopped

1/2 small bag of baby carrots

1 small pkg. button mushrooms

1/2 bag of very small red potatoes

• On bottom of crock-pot, layer potatoes, then carrots, then mushrooms, then onions
• Place roast on top
• Sprinkle onion soup mix over everything
• Shmear mushroom soup and whole-cranberry sauce, pour in red wine
• Cook on low for ~6-9 hours depending on the size of your roast

* Serve with horseradish

P.S. If you have time, skip the red potatoes and whip up mashed potatoes to go with this dish. I'm a big fan of being lazy so I jam everything in there and go with it this way.

Happy Eating! :)

Chicken Enchiladas

  

Ok so I know that I said that I would be M.I.A. *but* I was flipping through my pictures on my camera and I found one that I liked of the chicken enchiladas that I made for my grandparents on my last visit. On a side note, I made them my AWESOME SAUCE blueberry pancakes (ever so handily featured on this blog as well), and they loved them!

My friend Brittany first made these for me and they completely blew me away. Not only are they easy, but you can claim that they are legit since the guy who gave her the recipe is her dad's friend and is from Mexico. That makes them legit in my book at least.

I've made these loads of times for my family since they are stupid easy to make and have quickly become a favorite in our house. I've slightly modified the original recipe by baking the chicken breasts instead of boiling them. This makes them more flavorful (I think), and you can also bake them ahead of time if you're going to be in a rush or just plain tired when you get home from work.

These are a must-make. Go ahead and add them to your dinner planning list for the week and save yourself the time and trouble of thinking about it. They are YUMMY!

Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 bar cream cheese, ~8oz.
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 package shredded Monterrey jack cheese (or one brick, shredded)
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 10oz. can Old El Paso mild green chile enchilada sauce
• 1 package yellow corn tortillas

Sprinkle salt and pepper over and then bake chicken breasts at 350 degrees F for 30min or until done but still moist (no pink centers!).

Once chicken breasts have cooled, take two forks and shred into pieces. Dump shredded chicken in a large pan. On a low heat setting, put chunks of the entire bar of cream cheese into the pan with the chicken. You want to keep it on a low heat setting so that it will mix with the chicken, but not cook the chicken more or melt the cream cheese into a sauce. Mix the shredded chicken and cream cheese until everything is thoroughly coated (it'll be chunky).

Wrap several corn tortillas (about 5-6 at a time) in a wet paper towel. Warm up the corn tortillas in a microwave, ~20 seconds. Spoon shredded chicken and cream cheese mixture into tortillas, roll up, and place in a glass 9x13 dish.

With the amount of shredded chicken, you can usually get between 12-13 enchiladas.

Pour cream of chicken soup over enchiladas. Make sure that it's evenly spread over them. Pour green enchilada sauce over next. Sprinkle shredded cheese last. I use the entire bag.

Cover with foil and cook at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes. Uncover and cook for an additional 15 minutes or until cheese is slightly browned and bubbly.

Serve with a salad. Enjoy!

Comfort Food: Italian Stuffed Peppers

My mom is a reluctant but amazing cook. She doesn't love food like how my dad and I love food; for her, food is fuel for her body. This doesn't mean that she doesn't like trying new recipes on us or experimenting with different techniques, but she doesn't obsess over it like how we do. She has turned out some absolutely fabulous dishes and is always very modest when we compliment her cooking.

She has several recipes that always make me think of her and this one is my absolute favorite. If I am to ask her to make anything, this is it. Originating from my Nana, I think I was the first to actually put the pen to the paper and write it down. It is very easy to throw together during the week for a family dinner, and it makes great leftovers the next few days. Another plus is that it is relatively healthy. The flavor comes from the Italian seasoning, not fat. I love it. :)

Italian Stuffed Peppers - My Nana And Mom's Recipe

• 1 1/3 - 1 1/2 Lbs. ground beef, 93/7 works well
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 bell peppers, halved and cored
• 1/2 cup Italian style bread crumbs
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 can tomato soup
• Dried herbs such as oregano, basil, parsley to your taste
• Pepper

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine ground beef, onion, bread crumbs, cheese, and herbs in a mixing bowl (I use a more liberal hand with my seasonings as I like stronger flavors - modify this part to your tastes.) 

Form into meatballs and place into halved bell peppers (I had two meatballs left over). Place peppers and meatballs in a dutch oven and pour tomato soup over. 

Cook for roughly 45min to 1 hour - your peppers should be tender but not mushy. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and server over rice.

Happy eating y'all! :)

Pulled Pork

I was cruising Annie's Eats the other day looking for a yummy (and easy!) recipe to make this weekend and boy, did I sure hit the nail on the head with this one!!!

The prep time took NO TIME at all and all I had to do was stick around the house and turn my pork shoulder over every hour. My apartment smells AMAZING right now! :)

Shredded Pork

4-7 lb. pork shoulder

1 onion, quartered

1 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp. ground cumin

¼ cup brown sugar

3-4 garlic cloves

1-2 tbsp. salt

pepper

1-2 tbsp. olive oil

2-3 tbsp. white wine vinegar

2 cups water

Rinse and pat dry the pork shoulder.

 

Combine the onion, spices, brown sugar, garlic, salt and pepper to taste in the bowl of a food processor.  Add the olive oil and white wine vinegar.  Blend mixture until totally combined.  Pour over the pork shoulder.  Rub over the whole surface of the pork, being sure to cover any folds or crevices. *NOTE* I unfortunately do not have a food processor so my onions remained chopped. It was still delicious. :)

Place the pork in a Dutch oven or roasting pan and add water to the pan.  Cover tightly and roast at 300° for several hours, turning once every hour.  When it is fork tender turn the heat up to 425°, remove the lid, and roast skin-side up for 15-20 more minutes until crispy.  Let rest 15 minutes.

Shred the pork shoulder using two forks.  Pour some of the juice from cooking over the shredded meat to keep it moist.  Serve with warm tortillas, lime wedges, sour cream, guacamole, and pico de gallo. (And cheese if you're a cheese-love like me!!!)

 This was seriously nom-tastically delicous! Five stars!!!

Happy Eating! :)

* Recipe adapted from Annie's Eats

Woo hoo the blog is back!

Long time no talk foodies! After a long hiatus from blogging, I have returned in full force *cough* more like baby steps *cough* but HERE I AM! I'M BACK!

As an FYI, all of the posts below this one were recovered from my first blog. As of yesterday, I have consolidated all of the old ones here and am now using Blogger as my super duper awesome (and free) platform. Free = win!

Ask anyone who knows me, and he or she will tell you that I really enjoy food. Like...I enjoy food. I love the preparation, the presentation, the texture, the smells and tastes, all of that good stuff that goes into a meal that you are proud (or maybe not so proud of). When I dine out, I try to decipher all of the different elements that went into making the dish so I can attempt to make it at home in my own kitchen. I can't say that I've ever recreated a dish perfectly, but I've definitely improved on a couple enough that I'll make it my way again!

My break from blogging was largely in part due to the fact that I live on my own. As much as I love being in my kitchen, it is so easy to to come home from work and choose to pop a frozen dinner in the microwave instead of tie my apron on and get to work. Living on my own, I don't have anyone other than myself to cook for and the cats could care less if I make anything or not. Cats are not good motivators people, not one bit.

If anything, Murphy and Jenny inspire me to be lazy and take naps:

Yesterday, I had a bit of a "come to Jesus" talk with myself about getting back into the kitchen. I was trying to remember the last time I had prepared something....ANYTHING for myself and nothing came to mind. I made my grocery list, went to the store on my way home, and tied the apron around my waist and it felt great!

This chili casserole is incredibly fast and easy to make -- perfect for a weeknight when you're home and tired from work. I tweaked a few things to try and make it healthier. "Healthy" and "casserole" are not two words that you typically see in the same sentence but I did my best and I didn't feel like the dish lacked flavor or mouthfeel.

Texas Two-Step Chili Casserole

• 2 Lbs. lean ground beef
• 1 Jar (34oz.) Cookwell Texas Two-Step Chili Mix (I purchased this at H-E-B)
• 1 Bag (16oz.) frozen tater tots
• 2 Cups (8oz.) 2% Sharp Cheddar Cheese, Shredded

1.) Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Coat a 9x13-inch baking dish with non-stick spray. Place tater tots over bottom of baking dish; when oven is hot, place dish in oven until "taters" are slightly crisp.

2.) Brown ground beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in chili mix; bring to a boil and simmer 5-10 minutes.

3.) Pour chili mixture over tater tots and top with shredded cheese.

4.) Bake 10-15 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

* I chopped up green onion to put on top of mine. Other topping ideas include: sour cream, avocado, pico de gallo.

 

Besides being incredibly easy to make (and to clean up!), this was flavorful and something to consider serving to picky eaters. Seriously...who doesn't like cheesy-chili and tater tots?!

Happy eating! :) 

P.S. I'm still using the camera on my iphone...bear with me!

Perfect Scrambled Eggs!

Eggs! Eggs! Eggs!

Just like Julie Powell from "Julie & Julia," I long to learn how to cook the perfect poached egg. Eggs are packed full of protein and are a healthy and yummy way to add richness to your meal. Ever added a fried egg to pizza? I have! That's one of the toppings you can add if you order a pizza at Dolce Vita (yum!).

Recently, someone sent me a link to a video where Chef Gordon Ramsey creates the "Perfect" scrambled egg meal. Watching this video made me want to not only get in the kitchen, but do it right then and there! I stopped at the store on my way home from work and took a crack at it (pun intended hehe) in my kitchen!

Here is the link to the video: Perfect Scrambled Eggs

What you'll need:

• 3 large eggs
• Dollop of creme fraiche
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Lump of unsalted butter
• Fresh chopped chives

Melt butter in a quart-sized pot on a low/med heat. Crack eggs and wisk together. Continue stirring on low heat. When eggs start to cook/form together, take off of heat, continue to stir. Add dollop of creme fraiche, stir. Add salt and pepper to taste, stir. When eggs are cooked, sprinkle with fresh chives and serve.

The video is awesome in place of my directions -- I highly recommend watching it. :)

Happy eating!

Mom's Meatloaf

Mmmmm comfort food! I think every daughter thinks that her mom's meatloaf recipe is the best but my mom's recipe IS SO YUMMY! It's quick, easy to throw together, and makes for great meatloaf sandwiches the next day (if there is any leftover!). This was my first time making it EVER and I'm so happy that it turned out well.

Mom's Meatloaf:

• 1 pkg. Lipton Onion Soup Mix
• 1 large egg
• 1.5 lbs. ground chuck
• 1 tsp. celery seed
• 0.5 cup plain breadcrumbs
• 1 small can of tomato sauce
• parsley for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine chuck, soup mix, egg, celery seed, and bread crumbs. Pat into a rectanglular shape and place in a loaf pan. Pour tomato sauce over top and sprinkle with parsley. Cover with foil and bake for one hour.

Voila! Happy eating! :)