Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Slow Cooker Italian Beef Sandwiches

Since we have late church this year, we're ALL about the crock pot dishes. This one came from My Kitchen Cafe.


1½ cups beef broth
1 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon onion salt
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 bay leaf
1 (.7 ounce) package dry Italian salad dressing mix (such as Good Seasons brand)
1 (5 pound) chuck roast
24 slices provolone cheese
12 sandwich rolls

Combine water and beef broth with salt, ground black pepper, oregano, basil, onion salt, parsley, garlic powder, bay leaf, and salad dressing mix. Whisk to combine.Place roast in slow cooker, and pour salad dressing mixture over the meat. Cover, and cook on Low for 10 to 12 hours, or on High for 4 to 5 hours. When done, remove bay leaf, and shred meat with a fork (I did this step about 45 minutes before eating so the shredded meat had time to absorb more of the juices in the crock pot). Serve on crusty rolls with cheese.

- Jensa

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Baked Rigatoni

One of my favorite meatless dishes....

1 TB olive oil
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
¼ tsp. red pepper flakes
1 ½ tsp dried oregano
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp sugar
1 cup heavy cream
½ + ¼ cup grated Parmesan
16 oz rigatoni

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until golden but not browned, about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and their juices, red pepper, oregano, salt, and sugar. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until the sauce thickens slightly, about 20 minutes. Stir in cream and ½ cup Parmesan cheese. Cook rigatoni according to the package directions. Add the drained rigatoni to the tomato sauce and toss to coat. Transfer to a 2-quart casserole dish and top with ¼ cup grated Parmesan. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

-Jensa

Pepperoni Pizza Hot Pockets


To cook a Hot Pocket, put it inside its little crisping sleeve and shove it into your microwave. Nuke according to your directions (for the extremely lazy, just put two in the microwave and press the number 3 thrice to get 3:33), and wait a few minutes once they're cooked for the heat to disseminate throughout the filling. The odd part about Hot Pockets is that if you eat them right away, the outside will be blistering hot... and the inside will still be frozen. I suspect this has something to do with the crisping sleeve, but just letting itsettle for a few minutes seems to solve the problem.
This is obviously just a joke. But I thought Jensa and Elise would get a kick out of it! ;)
Jim Gaffigan gives more thorough instructions...
-Megan

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Grandma's Snickerdoodles

This is an old family favorite!



1 cup butter (room temperature)
1½ cup sugar
2 eggs
2⅔ cup flour
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt

Mix butter, sugar, and eggs thoroughly. Sift dry ingredients and add to cream mixture. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Roll into balls (walnut size) then roll into mixture of 2 TB sugar and 2 tsp. cinnamon. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes or until golden brown but still soft.

- Jensa