Whole Dinner Roast Beef

I love when the main dish contains enough food groups that you don't need to add a side.... This crockpot meal is so easy, but it has some of the same problems that the roast beef with tomatoes and garlic has: sometimes there are too many leftovers and unless you want it to taste like I imagine soylent green would, you have to splurge on expensive meat. But this recipe is still really tasty and extremely easy, so in my repertoire it goes! It was adapted from a book called "Fix-It and Forget-It 5 Ingredient Favorites". You can add or subtract vegetables as desired-- the recipe is really flexible!

Ingredients:

3-4 lb roast beef (rib roast is a good choice)
10 3/4 oz can cream of mushroom soup
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
4 cups baby carrots
2 potatoes (cut into quarters)
1 cup sliced celery
1 small onion (cut into quarters)

1) Place veggies in crockpot.

2) Put meat on top of veggies.

3) Dump mushroom soup and dry onion soup mix on meat.

4) Cover and cook for 8 hours on LOW.

*****

When we made this recipe and I took this picture, I didn't add the celery or onions.



I also just realized that you can see the baby monitor in the upper right-hand corner of this picture. Ha! Andrew and I aren't able to eat dinner while Sonia is awake because he gets home from work only 15 minutes before she goes to bed. Maybe once she gets older, we can push back her bedtime so we can eat as a family, but for now, it's kinda easier (and more relaxing!!) to do it this way.

When Fever Strikes - Sick Mama's Mac N Cheese

Hi Ladies,

Sorry I haven't posted a recipe in awhile. We were celebrating Passover all last week, and although we enjoyed a number of delicious traditional foods, including Matzoh Brei, matzoh ball soup, gefilte fish, brisket, and potato kugel, I didn't actually make any of them. (If you're really curious, I'd be happy to put you in touch with my husband or mother-in-law - they have some great recipes!)

Anyway, my culinary skills during Passover are limited to matzoh pizza, matzoh with peanut butter and jelly, matzoh with ricotta cheese and honey, fried eggs, and lots of fruit. Hence, my lack of blogging last week.

Today I have a different kind of recipe for all of you. Not the kind that is going to challenge any of our culinary skills, and not even the kind that any of us can be proud of. But sometimes it's all we can do.

The thing is, I'm sick. I have a persistent cough, and a low-grade fever. I have no energy, no motivation, and even fewer coping skills. Also, I'm pregnant, which means every time I cough I have to change my pants. (If you don't understand why, you don't want to know. Trust me.) Needless to say, the thought of making a real dinner for the Chooch tonight was just more than I could handle.

So, here for your slackardly pleasure is my five step guide for Feverish Mamas With Hungry Toddlers:

1. Drag your tired ass to the grocery store. You may not have the energy, but at least your overly-energetic toddler will be somewhat contained in the grocery cart, and all you have to do is make your way to the freezer aisle.

2. Select a frozen Mac N Cheese dinner. Make yourself feel better about this by a) purposely not buying the meals with Grover or Elmo on them, and b) shelling out the extra cash for the organic brand.

3. Head home, being sure to ignore the copy of Michael Pollan's Food Rules on the coffee table. When was the last time he was ever pregnant with a fever and a toddler anyway? Jerk.

4. Put aforementioned meal in the microwave. At some point before it's done, toss in some frozen veggies and continue microwaving. Acknowledge to yourself that the veggies will be more effective in assuaging your own guilt than increasing the nutritional quality of the meal, as your child is likely to suck the cheese off each pea and green bean before reaching into her mouth, removing said vegetable and politely handing it back to you.

5. Continue to feel bad about the crappy meal, but then realize that you are no frickin' Martha Stewart, and if you were, you'd probably have a damn cook anyway. Enjoy the smile on your baby's face, and realize you are over it.

A challenger for Erin's banana bread recipe

I was looking for my copy of the banana bread recipe that Erin posted (and I stupidly forgot I could just look it up on the blog!) and came across this one I had stuck in my recipe box (without trying it first) ages and ages ago. I made it for the casual Easter dinner we just had with my husband's grandparents, and it was a big hit with everyone except my weirdo daughter. She wouldn't even try it for some reason. What a chucklehead. Oh well.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1/4 cup oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium ones)
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Grease and flour an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch (6-cup) loaf pan.
• In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.
• Mix in wet ingredients.
• Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts, the pour it all into the loaf pan.
• Bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 70 to 80 minutes. Tent loosely with foil if loaf browns too quickly.
• Cool loaf 10 minutes in the pan, the turn it out and cool completely on a rack.

I did the foil tent thing and baked it for 80 minutes. The result was delicious. I actually had oranges in the house so I used fresh grated zest, but I bet the jarred stuff would be just as good. There's still half a loaf left, but I bet it won't stick around for long.

I was distracted and failed to take a picture of the loaf when it was fresh out of the oven, so to distract you from this faux pas I'm posting a photo of the two cutest Easter egg hunters in Tennessee:



You're welcome.

Charlotte and her Granny Great tackle Chicken a la Niki

Tonight, Charlotte and her Great Grandmother Kappy (aka "Granny Great") were my sous chefs while I made Chicken a la Niki. Yes, I made it the way Corey likes it -- with saltines. I also went a little wild and added some garlic powder to the breading. Even though Charlotte helped me add it and went a little crazy, I really couldn't taste it. Verdict - don't bother with it. The seasoned salt and Italian seasoning are much more important.

Here are Charlotte (wearing a teal tutu given to her from her buddy, Alicia) and her Granny Great helping me smash the saltines:

Whatever-You-Want Quiche (without crust!)

mmmmmmm! Quiche! The great thing about this recipe is that it's totally flexible. Use whatever kind of cheese you want! use more or less spinach depending on your taste! Forgo the onions! Add garlic! Get cray-zee!

1 tbsp olive oil
1 Onion, chopped
about 1/2 a bag of fresh spinach, chopped
about 1/2 a block of feta, chopped (or about 1.5 cups of other shredded cheese)*
5 eggs, beaten
1/8 tsp pepper

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 9 inch pice pan.
2. Saute onions and spinach in olive oil until spinach is wilted and onions are tender.
3. In a large bowl combine eggs, cheese, pepper, (maybe salt)*, and the spinach and onion mixture. Stir until mixed well.
4. Scoop mixture into pie pan.
5. Bake in over about 30 minutes or until eggs have set. Let cool for 5 minutes. Serve.

* If you don't use feta, add a 1/4 tsp salt

Get on the Quiche Train! Toot! Toot!

Mom's One Pot Pasta

This recipe is ridiculously easy and fast And yet I have still managed to screw it up... twice. I'll share my failures with you in hopes that you will be able to avoid my errors.

Ingredients:
1-2 cloves garlic
28 oz can of crushed or diced tomatoes
12 oz pasta (rigatoni or penne works best - we use whole wheat noodles)
1/2 cup cream (I use half and half - it's the lowest in fat and calories)

Optional toppings:
ground beef
fresh spinach

Use a large, deep saucepan.

Saute the garlic in olive oil over medium heat - cook until you can smell the garlic, but don't let it get brown.
(You could also saute some chopped onions at this point if you so desire.)
Add the can of tomatoes and 3 cups of water.
Salt.
Bring to a boil, and add the pasta.
Cover the pasta, and check it again in 12-15 minutes. You want the noodles to have absorbed a lot of the tomato sauce.
Add the cream, stir well.
At this point, you can turn off the heat and add the fresh spinach, stirring well, and let it wilt.

You can also brown some ground beef on the side and add it, but I haven't done this.

This is a super easy and delicious way to cook a big pot of pasta and tomato sauce!

Oh, and as promised, here are the moron mistakes I made:
- Be sure to actually saute the garlic before adding it. I forgot once, and tried to add the raw garlic later. Needless to say, it went poorly.
- Use crushed or diced tomatoes, NOT pureed. The sauce is fairly tasteless with pureed tomatoes.
- The cream is important - it really thickens up the sauce well.

It May Be Too Easy Even for the Flaming Toaster Dessert

I have never posted to a blog before and am excited to do so on one called The Flaming Toaster! The fact that it is a recipe blog is ironic since I have, in my culinary history, made frozen pizza without removing the cardboard tray, roasted a turkey with the baggie of innards still inside, and baked brownies that doubled as a paper weights.

So here it is, the super-easy, healthy, yet satisfying, all about presentation, yogurt parfait dessert!

Prep Time: Less than 5 minutes barring interruption or spills



Ingredients and Supplies:

Big container of vanilla yogurt (not fat-free, creamier the better)

Various berries (if you are feeling patriotic go for strawberries and blueberries)

Tall parfait glasses or any other tall, pretty glass (yes, I did register for these for reasons I cannot recall)

Long handled spoons

Fresh mint (optional, but a nice I’m-so-gourmet touch)

Cinnamon if you are so inclined

Steps:

1. Put 2 – 3 spoonfuls of yoghurt into tall glass

2. Put layer of strawberries

3. Put 2 – 3 spoonfuls of yoghurt in tall glass

4. Put layer of blueberries

5. Repeat until glass is full

6. Top with sprig of fresh mint (optional)

7. Sprinkle with cinnamon (if you like)