Three Beef Recipes for the Crockpot

I love to use my crockpot. You put the in the food in the morning and by five or six in the evening you have a completely cooked meal. These are three beef recipes my family and I have enjoyed.

I am a meat lover. I love steaks, roasts, burgers and even hot dogs. I also really enjoy cooking with my crockpot. You can put in the meat, in the morning and by dinner time it’s ready. I’d like to share three recipes for cooking roast in the crockpot.

Roast in Beef Broth

3-5 pound brisket
2 cans beef broth
1 cup red wine
Cut up onions and celery

Cook on low about 8 hours.

This is one of the simplest recipes, yet is very tasty. We have substituted a tri tip roast for the brisket and it also came out quite well.

Roast with Mushroom Gravy

2-3 pound roast
1 packet Lipton's Onion Soup mix
2 cans cream of mushroom soup

Cook for 8 hours on low.

Both of these recipes are so simple to make with only the few ingredients, yet full on flavor.

Roast in Beer Sauce

2-3 pound roast
1 package of Good Seasons Garlic Dressing
1 package of Italian (or Zesty Italian) Dressing
1 can of beer (do not use dark beer)
Cut up vegetables
Water

Pour one envelope of the salad dressing in the bottom of the crockpot. Place the roast on top. Pour the other package of salad dressing over the meat. Add your cut up vegetables. Then pour the beer over the top. Add enough water so that your crockpot has enough liquid in it, (I fill my crockpot about 3/4 full) Cook on low for 8-10 hours.

When you cook a roast all day in the crockpot it becomes very soft, so the cut of meat you buy is not important. If there is fat on the roast, I trim it off before putting the roast into the crockpot. Watch for sales at the store on roasts.

When we cook roasts in the crockpot, we add onions, celery, carrots and sometimes baby potatoes or red potatoes. The potatoes can be pierced before cooking. They then absorb in the liquid. If you like bell peppers, consider adding red or green bell peppers to your recipe.

Enjoy these very simple yet delicious recipes.

Audrey :)

Choosing Almond Butter

Almond butter is similar to peanut butter, but without the peanuts. This makes the spread less salty and also a wonderful alternative for those with peanut allergies. Several studies have been done with the results all finding that eating nuts is linked to lower risk of heart disease.

Almond butter can be purchased in most health food stores, but can also be made at home. I’ve seen recipes that call for blanched almonds only, run through a food processor until a butter forms. I personally prefer a bit of salt in my spread.

To create the spread with a bit of salt, start with one cup of blanched almonds. Put the nuts into the food processor with ¼ teaspoon of sea salt. Process.

If you want a chunkier consistency, chop up ¼ cup of blanched almonds and add after processing.

If you would like your spread, a bit smoother, you can add oil in the food processor. Try about ½ tablespoon.

Use almond butter as you would use peanut butter. Use it on sandwiches, on toast, on muffins, on celery etc.

Once you’ve made a batch, what about using it to make almond butter cookies? Again, for those with peanut allergies these are a wonderful alternative. Here is just one recipe for these wonderful cookies, using maple as a sweetener:

Almond Butter Cookies

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour, sift before measuring
1 cup almond butter
¼ cup canola oil
¼ cup maple syrup
½ teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Lightly grease a baking sheet. Mix together the almond butter and oil; beating until smooth. Mix in the maple syrup and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, stir together flour and salt. Add mixture to almond butter mixture and mix until just combined. Cover bowl and refrigerate for 10 minutes.Roll dough into 3/4-inch balls. Place on baking sheet and then flatten. If you want the “lines” that peanut butter cookies have, then flattern with a fork. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes, until bottoms are lightly browned. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack.

I personally love a good old fashioned almond butter and jelly sandwich. Enjoy experimenting with your almond butter and improve your health at the same time.

Audrey :)

Using Hot Dogs in Recipes

People eat hot dogs for many reasons. I actually love hot dogs. Other people make them because they are a child friendly food. Still others make them as they are inexpensive and you can create a meal with a half package of hot dogs.

My kids have always loved hot dogs. We buy only the all beef hot dogs and over the years we have discovered many uses for hot dogs.

For a simple meal, grill them on the barbeque, add your favorite toppings and serve with a salad. When I make hot dogs, I put ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise on the table, along with relish and chopped up onions. My own personal favorite is mustard and onions.

When the kids were young, we used to tempura hot dogs. We’d buy batter at the store, and then coat and fry both hot dogs and veggies. It was a great way to get the kids to eat vegetables. We’d offer both tempura sauce and also ketchup. I think kids like most anything dipped in ketchup.

Buy refrigerated crescent rolls. Roll up one hot dog in each crescent and bake until rolls are done. You can also add mustard to the uncooked dough before rolling up.

Do you like corndogs? Make your own corn dogs by preparing a cornbread mix, and rolling the hot dog in the mixture. Add a bit of extra milk to make the batter a little bit thinner for dipping. Add a popsicle stick and cook until bread is done. While I enjoy dipping corn dogs in mustard, you can also dip them in ketchup and barbeque sauce.

Another favorite of mine are chili cheese dogs. We make a batch of chili, smother the hot dog with the chili and then add cheese on top.

A lot of people enjoy a casserole of baked beans with cut up hot dogs. You can also try barbeque baked beans. Both offer a very different flavor.

If you like bacon, try wrapping a slice of bacon around the hot dog and then adding melted cheddar cheese.

There are so many ways to enjoy a hot dog, and almost all of these recipes are kid friendly also.

Audrey :)

Four Quick and Easy Dip Recipes

Have you ever been invited to someone’s home and you wanted to bring a food item but had very little time to cook? I’d like to share four dip recipes that are very quick and easy to prepare:

Quick Spinach Dip

1 – 10 ounce package frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 package dry vegetable soup mix
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup minced onion

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate as long as possible, overnight if possible. Serve with crackers, tortilla chips, bread chunks or cut up raw vegetables.

Quick Guacamole

2 ripe avocados, mashed
1 – 8 ounce container sour cream
1 package onion soup mix
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Combine all ingredients and mix well.

Since the avocados can turn brown, I suggest putting all other ingredients in the bowl first, then mash the avocado and add them last. You can also put the pit in the bowl, with the dip, which also helps prevent browning.

Cucumber Dip

2 medium cucumbers cut in half lengthwise and seeded
16 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Hot sauce to taste

Grate cucumbers into very fine pieces.

Combine all ingredients except cucumbers and mix well. Add cucumbers to mixture and chill.

Serve with raw vegetables or crackers.

The two vegetable dips can be served in hollowed-out round sourdough loaves. Remove the bread and cut into chunks. Place the dip in the bread and then serve with the bread chunks.

If you want to make a hot dip, this is a very simple hot artichoke dip:

Hot Artichoke Dip

1 – 14 ounce can of artichoke hearts
1 cup of miracle whip
1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Mix these 3 ingredients together and pour into a pie tin. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Dip will begin to brown. Serve with assorted crackers.

Audrey :)

Challah French Toast Casserole For Breakfast

One of my favorite breads is Challah. Many weeks, we’d start a loaf on Friday and by Monday, it was gone. French toast made with challah is just wonderful.

We have made our own challah and we’ve bought challah at both stores and bakeries.

If you make your own challah, you can knead by hand and allow to rise, or you can use a bread machine. We’ve tried many different challah recipes. We do have our favorite but several of them have been very good.

There are also a few stores that make challah that we all like.

I’d like to share a French toast casserole recipe that uses one full loaf of challah.

French Toast Casserole

1 loaf of challah
1 cup of milk (whole milk or half and half works best)
(if your challah is large add additional liquid to the recipe)
¾ cup brown sugar
8 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Salt to taste

Slice the challah into 1 ½ inch thick slices. Place in the bottom of a casserole dish. Tear the bread as needed to fit into the casserole dish. Mix together the remaining ingredients. Pour over the casserole, cover and store in refrigerator over night.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 45 minutes.

I have seen both ginger and nutmeg used in French toast casserole recipes. If you like those flavors, you can add ½ teaspoon of nutmeg or ¼ teaspoon ground ginger. Both will add additional flavor to the casserole.

You can also add either cranberries or raisins to the recipe. Pour the fruit on top of the bread in the casserole dish before pouring the liquid mixture on top.

When the casserole is done, cut into squares to serve. You can sprinkle powdered sugar on top, spoon fruit filling over the top or pour syrup on top.

Audrey :)

Western Style Meatloaf

A huge thanks to my friend Tammy for providing today's recipe for us:

Ingredients
2 lb lean ground beef
1 cup french dressing
1/4 cup chili sauce
1 tablespoon cream style horseradish
1 teaspoon dried minced onion
1 cup quick rolled oats
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine chili sauce, dressing, horseradish and minced onion in large bowl. Reserve 1/3 cup for topping. Stir oats, egg, salt and pepper into remaining dressing mixture. Stir in beef until blended. Place in meatloaf baking pan and make a slight depression on top. Fill depression with reserved sauce. Bake at 350 degrees F. for one hour or until meatloaf is no longer pink in center.

Enjoy!

~~Tammy~~
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Hope you enjoy Tammy's meatloaf recipe.

Audrey :)