For most of December and January, I made double batches of slow cooker meals for supper a couple times a week. The Man of Steel and I ate half the food and the other half went into the freezer for later transport to my son and daughter-in-law, who have a new baby this winter.
This recipe comes from Loving My Nest, which features all sorts of freezer meals/slow cooker meals. My version, found below, received the coveted Hiram seal of approval. He liked it so much, there was barely enough left of the double batch to freeze for the new parents!
Slow Cooker Pork and Veggies
1 pound pork roast, cut into 1/2 inch strips
1 large onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, sliced
4 medium carrots, sliced
½ pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 8 ounce can tomato sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Combine ingredients in the crock pot. Cook on low for 6–8 hours. Serve over rice or with French bread or baguette. Feeds 6–8.
Egg bakes are so yummy, but because of their high dairy content, they’re often off limits to people with dairy allergies. But this egg bake, served by my daughter-in-law at our Christmas brunch, is not only dairy-free, but also delicious. So delicious it received the coveted Hiram Seal of Approval, which may have something to do with the pound of bacon on top. The original recipe can be found at All Recipes. Below you’ll find the modified dairy-free version.
Directions: Place bacon in a large skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until evenly brown. Drain and set aside. Add the mushrooms and onion to the skillet; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent and the mushrooms are tender, about 5 minutes.
Spray a 9×13-inch casserole dish with cooking spray. Place potatoes in bottom of prepared dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top with crumbled bacon, then add the onions and mushrooms.
In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs with the milk. Add the garlic. Pour the mixture over the casserole. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour or until set. This casserole can also be baked immediately after it’s prepared. In that case reduce the baking time to 45 minutes.
Guess who’s back in the kitchen? Not only cooking again, but also looking for ways to use meat from our half of a hog purchased from our farmer son. The meat in our freezer and a craving for cilantro pesto prompted a “pork and cilantro recipes” internet search. It turned up a deceptively simple Better Homes and Gardens recipe for pan-seared pork chops with cilantro pesto.
I substituted cilantro pesto from my freezer instead of making it according to the original recipe’s directions. But the rest of the instructions were followed exactly. The pork chops were delicious enough to receive the coveted Hiram seal of approval. They received my seal of approval because they were tasty, as well as easy to make and a very fast meal to throw together.
Cilantro Pesto Pork Chops
2 cubes of frozen cilantro pesto, thawed 1/4 cup fresh pesto
4 1/2 inch thick, bone-in pork chops
1 teaspoon packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon olive oil
Mix the brown sugar and chili powder together. Sprinkle on pork chops and rub mixture in with fingers. Flip chops over and do the same on the other side.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork. Cook for 5–7 minutes on each side, turning once, until they are no longer pink. Serve chops with cilantro mixture.
What’s a person to do when the vegetable drawer is stuffed with summer produce that needs to be used? How about typing the names of all those veggies, along with “recipe” and “salad” into a search engine to see what turns up? That’s a strategy that worked beautifully for me. I settled on a dish at the All Recipes site, and added a few more veggies we had on hand.
This recipe makes a big batch, which was fine because we had a houseful of company. But for an intimate dinner at home with the Man of Steel, I would halve the recipe. That said, we found a delicious way to use the leftovers for supper a few days later. I browned a pound of ground sausage. We put the sausage in pita bread and piled on the salad (Man of Steel added ranch dressing, too) to make sandwiches reminiscent of gyros. They received Hiram’s enthusiastic seal of approval.
Late Summer Cucumber, Tomato, & Zucchini Salad
2 large cucumbers, diced
1 zucchini, seeded and diced
3 large tomatoes, diced
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 medium sweet pepper, diced
1 cup chopped kalamata olives
2 tablespoons fresh, chopped basil
2 teaspoons fresh, chopped thyme
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon white sugar
1/4 teaspoon cracked, black pepper
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
In a large salad bowl, mix together the cucumbers, zucchini, red onion, tomatoes, sweet pepper, kalamata olives, basil, and thyme. In a separate bowl, whisk together the red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, lemon zest, lemon juice, kosher salt, sugar, and white pepper until thoroughly combined. Pour the olive oil slowly into the dressing mixture, whisking to combine. Pour the dressing over the salad. Can be served immediately, but is better if allowed to marinate for a couple hours in the refrigerator.
One cooking puzzle I’ve never been able to solve is how to achieve the perfect marinara sauce to pasta ratio. My tendency is to overdo the pasta, which means that 9 out of 10 times we have left over spaghetti noodles. If it’s just a little bit, we throw it away. But recently, I made way too much. So much that my guilty conscience kicked into high gear at the thought of wasting so much food.
Therefore, I did the logical thing and created a new recipe to make good use of the leftovers. The resulting meal was a big hit and received the coveted Hiram Seal of Approval. It is dairy-free and versatile, as the cook can add or substitute ingredients, especially the veggies, depending on what’s available.
Basil Pesto Pasta
12 ounces cooked spaghetti noodles
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup walnuts pieces (or use pine nuts or almonds)
1/2 cup basil pesto
1/3 cup red sweet pepper, chopped
1/2 cup onion, chopped (optional)
1 cup kale, torn into small pieces (or use broccoli, green beans, or cauliflower)
1/2 cup kalamata olives, sliced
1/2 cup thin-sliced pepperoni, each slice quartered
Heat oil over medium heat in large, heavy pan. Add walnuts and stir fry for 2 minutes or until they begin to brown slightly. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper toweling.
Add vegetables and stir fry until hot, but still fairly firm. Add cooked pasta and stir well until coated with oil. Add the pesto and stir until the pasta is evenly coated. (This takes patience!) Add olives, pepperonim and nuts. Stir for another minute. Serve immediately. Sprinkle with feta or Parmesan cheese if desired.
