BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches (Crockpot)

*So, I LOVED this recipe. And it was easy with little mess. Not much better than that! This picture just doesn't do it justice.

BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Recipe from OurBestBites.com (with a few of my changes)

3 lb. boneless pork roast
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Salt
Pepper
Smoked paprika or liquid smoke (I used cayenne pepper)
1 Bottle BBQ sauce
Rolls, biscuits, or bread (I used Pillsbury homestyle biscuits)
Coleslaw (recipe here)
Thick cut dill pickles (optional)

Rinse pork in cold water and trim excess fat. Pat dry. Sprinkle roast with seasonings and place in slow cooker. Add about 1/2 inch of water and cook on low 8-10 hours. When roast is cooked, drain liquid and then return to slow cooker and shred. Pour enough sauce over the meat so its well-incorporated, but not soupy. Return the lid to slow cooker and heat through until ready to serve. To serve, slice rolls and add meat. Top with coleslaw and pickles.

Freezer instructions:

Prepare meat through seasoning step. Instead of placing in slow cooker, place seasoned meat in a freezer bag or freezer-safe container. When ready to prepare, follow same instructions. Just make sure you have buns, coleslaw, and BBQ sauce.

Tortilla Soup

*When making this I'm always skeptical...but when I taste it I remember how much I love this dish. Eden even loved it. After every slurp she said, "MMM!!"

Tortilla Soup
Recipe from the Finlinsons

1-2 Medium tomatoes, cut up
1/2 Onion
1-2 Garlic cloves
8 Cups chicken broth (1 quart or 5 cans)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Toppings:

Tortilla strips or chips
Salsa (preferably with tomato chunks)
Shredded cheese
Avocado (optional)

Blend tomatoes, onions, and garlic in a blender until smooth. Put in a large pot and heat until boiling, stirring frequently. Simmer on low, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Add chicken broth, salt, and pepper. Heat to boiling. Turn down and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Add toppings.

Stuffed Green Peppers

*Orange peppers are a little sweeter, so my kids liked it better than green peppers. Plus, they were cute on Halloween.

*Can use pre-cooked rice. If you use cooked rice then take out the water and the 15 minute cooking time. You could also make with Italian sausage and hot sauce if you like it spicy.

Stuffed Green (or Orange) Peppers
Recipe from the Finlinsons

6 Green peppers
1 Pound ground beef
1/3 Cup onion, diced
1/2 teaspoon salt
Dash pepper
1 lb (16 oz) can tomatoes
1/2 Cup uncooked long grained rice (white, brown, or wild)
1/2 Cup water
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 Cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 Cup corn (fresh, frozen, or canned), (optional)

Cut off tops of green peppers (save and dice tops), remove seeds and membranes. Cook green pepper cups upside down in a little salted water about 5 minutes; drain. Sprinkle inside of cups with salt.

Cook ground beef, onion, and green pepper tops until meat is lightly browned. Season with salt and pepper. Add tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, corn, water, and uncooked rice. Cover and simmer until rice is tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in 1 cup shredded cheese. Stuff peppers; stand upright in baking dish. Bake, uncovered at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Chicken Fajitas

*This recipe is a friendly reminder to myself that in order to "make dinner" I don't need to "make everything from scratch". I don't need to take out every spice I own just to make an original recipe. I often try to find new and exciting recipes...but sometimes I need something easy.

Chicken Fajitas

Recipe from my mom

Veggie & Chicken Mix:

2 Chicken breasts, cubed or t-strip

1 Green pepper, sliced lengthwise

1 Red pepper, sliced lengthwise

1/2 Onion, sliced lengthwise

1/2 Fajita/taco seasoning packet

1/2 Cup water

Fajita:

Tortillas

Sour cream

Salsa

Lettuce

Cheese

Can refried beans (heated through)

Any other condiments you would like

For the veggie/chicken mix: With a little oil in the bottom of a large skillet, cook chicken over medium-high heat until cooked through. Add vegetables and continue cooking until vegetables are soft (however soft you like them to be). Mix in seasoning and water. Let it come to a boil then reduce heat to low and cover with lid until ready to serve.

Lay down the tortilla and create fajita using condiments of your choice and the veggie/chicken mix.

Chicken Alfredo Pizza and Pizza Dough Recipe

Chicken Alfredo Pizza
Recipe from Liz Cox

Pizza Crust (only use 3/4 of dough and use the rest for bread sticks):

1 Tablespoon yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Cup water
2 Tablespoon oil
3 cups flour
Italian seasoning and fresh garlic (optional)

Mix ingredients together, rise once in a warm place. Spray pizza stone or pan with pam and then dust with cornmeal. Form pizza crust.


Alfredo Sauce:

1/4 cup butter
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream (evaporated milk also works)
salt
nut meg
1 cup parmesan cheese

Melt butter, add cream and cook until boiling, stirring. Boil for a couple of minutes, add salt and nutmeg. Turn off heat and stir in cheese.


Pizza Topping:

1-2 boneless chicken breasts, cubed or tsrips
1/2 bag of baby spinach (use as much as you want)
1/2 onion largely diced
2 cloves minced garlic

1-2 fresh tomatoes, sliced
Mozzarella Cheese

Put a little oil in frying pan, cook chicken until completely cooked. Add garlic and onions until tender. Add spinach and heat through.


Assemble:

Make pizza by spreading Alfredo sauce on uncooked pizza crust, add pizza topping, top with grated cheese (mozzarella or any other kind). Lay down sliced tomatoes and add a little bit more cheese.

Bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes on a pizza stone (or if you don't have a pizza stone, find instructions here).

Lime Chicken Linguine with Cilantro Cream Sauce

*Original recipe has baked zucchini under the chicken but I left it out because I didn't have any on hand. But I'll leave it on this recipe in case I ever want it. I also just diced a tomato and added it on top instead of using cherry tomatoes mixed with the pasta.

Lime Chicken Linguine with Cilantro Cream Sauce
Recipe from AllRecipes.com

Chicken

1/4 cup lime juice
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Whisk together 1/4 cup lime juice, garlic powder, cumin, salt, and pepper in a large bowl; add the chicken breasts. Cover and refrigerate 1 to 2 hours, turning the chicken occasionally. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook the chicken breasts, turning once, until no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear, about 20 minutes.

Linguine

1 (8 ounce) package linguine
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
8 cherry tomatoes, quartered

Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, stir in the linguine, and return to a boil. Cook the pasta uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the pasta has cooked through, but is still firm to the bite, about 11 minutes. Drain well in a colander set in the sink. Transfer linguine to a large mixing bowl; add 2 tablespoons olive oil, the Parmesan cheese, and the quartered cherry tomatoes; toss until the pasta is evenly coated in oil.

Zucchini (optional)

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large zucchini, quartered lengthwise
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 425. Lie the zucchini on a baking sheet. Coat the zucchini with 1 tablespoon olive oil with a pastry brush. Place zucchini on middle rack in the oven, and bake, turning every 5 minutes, until nicely browned, 15 to 20 minutes.

Sauce

1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup white wine (I substituted with more chicken broth)
1/4 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/2 cup heavy cream or half and half
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the cilantro and garlic, cook and stir 1 minute. Pour in the wine, chicken broth, and 2 tablespoons lime juice, and return to a simmer. Transfer the mixture to a blender and blend until smooth. Return the mixture to the sauce pan and stir in the cream and green onions; bring to a boil and remove from heat.


*It was a little hectic when I was cooking this because I was doing everything at the same time (I was on a timed schedule and had to be somewhere that night). So, here's the sum up of the order in which to cook this meal.

When cooking entire meal

1. Marinate chicken 1-2 hours beforehand.
2. Start cooking pasta, slice and bake zucchini, and start frying chicken at the same time (all take about 15-30 hour.)
3. Add other ingredients to pasta after cooked.
4. Make sauce.

Butternut Squash Saute

Butternut Squash Saute
Prep: 20 mins. Cook: 20 mins.

*Tip on cutting squash: Use a peeler to peel off skin first, cut in half, dig out the seeds, and then dice. Can use frozen, chopped onion as well.

4 Slices of bacon (for vegetarian, take out bacon and add a little butter instead)
1 Medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
6 Cups 1/2 inch pieces peeled butternut squash (2 small)
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh or 1/8 dried thyme leaves
1/8 teaspoon pepper
3 Cups firmly packed baby spinach leaves

Cook bacon in 12-inch skillet over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp (or just melt butter for vegetarian style). Stire in onion. Cook about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion is crisp-tender. Stir in squash, thyme and pepper. Cover and cook 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until squash is tender. Stir in spinach just until wilted.

Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs

*I used leftover hamburger buns that were kind of small and the meatballs were large. It only took one meatball to fill the sandwich cause they were so large.

*I liked this recipe but I'm sure it would have been pretty good using any type meatball recipe....but I suppose all the extra stuff adds to it.

Mozzarella Stuffed Meatball Sandwiches
Recipe from Picky-Palate.com

1 lb ground beef
1 egg
2 Tablespoons mlk
1 Tablespoon hot sauce
1/2 Cup Italian Seasoned bread crumbs (I used crushed crackers)
1/2 Cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried basil

12-15 inch Mozzarella balls, marinated in olive oil (I used shredded and formed into balls)
1 26-oz jar of favorite pasta sauce
4-6 Buns or rolls of choice
4 slices of Provolone cheese, each cut into halves

Preheat the oven to 350. Place beef, egg, milk, hot sauce, bread crumbs, parmesan, salt, pepper, oregano and basil in a large bowl. With hands or large spoon, mix until well combined. Scoop about 1/4 cup meat mixture in hands, press 1 mozzarella ball into the middle of meat and form a ball around the cheese. Do this until all the meat and cheese is used up (makes about 12-15 large meatballs. Place meatballs into a 9x13 baking dish that has 1/4 cup olive oil in the bottom. Bake for 20 minutes, flip meatballs and cook for another 15-20 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through. Place pasta sauce into a large pot, add meatballs and simmer on low heat. Place 1/2 of the provolone cheese onto the cut sides of the rolls. Place onto tin foil or baking sheet and broil for 1-2 minutes or until rolls are toasted and cheese is melted. Place meatballs on bottom half of rolls, spoon sauce over meatballs and sprinkle with parmesan. Close with top roll and serve warm.

Italian Focaccia Sandwiches

*Good side for soup.

*I had leftover focaccia bread from the other night. It was thinner so I just used two pieces of bread instead of cutting the bread in half.

Italian Focaccia Sandwiches
Recipe from Betty Crocker

1 Round focaccia bread (8 or 9 inches in diameter), cup horizontally in half
1/2 Cup chopped drained sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil (reserve 2 Tablespoons oil)
(or I used my own sun-dried tomatoes, recipe here, and used olive oil)
2 Cups shredded mozzarella cheese (8oz)
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh or 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/4 teaspoon pepper

1. Heat oven to 400.

2. Place bottom half of bread on ungreased cookie sheet. Lightly brush cut sides of both bread halves with reserved tomato oil. Sprinkle bottom half with 1 cup of the cheese to within 1/4 inch of edge. Top with tomatoes. Sprinkle with rosemary, thyme, and pepper. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup cheese. Top with other bread half; gently press down.

3. Bake 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted and sandwich is heated through. Cut into wedges.

*Focaccia bread recipe found here.

Sun Dried Tomatoes

Sun Dried Tomatoes
Recipe from somewhere online

Tomatoes (Roma recommended)
Salt

Slice tomatoes lengthwise. Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, so they don't overlap each other. Lightly salt tomatoes (or maybe try add some seasonings to them). Place in an oven at 200 or the lowest setting oven will allow. Bake for 6 hours. Let cool and store in bag until ready to use.

Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Three Ways to Eat...

1. Eat the cookie dough.
2. Eat like regular cookies.
3. Fill with ice cream to make an ice cream sandwich. (Although, these cookies are MASSIVE so I definitely recommend sharing this with a friend.)


Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe from Macie Stratton

2 Cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 Cup unsalted butter, melted
1 Cup packed brown sugar
1/2 Cup white sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 Egg
1 Egg yolk
2 Cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Sift together four, baking soda, and salt. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until well blended. Beat in vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand, using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time (its huge, fits only 6 on a cookie sheet, you can do smaller if you want) onto a greased cookie sheet or lined with parchment paper. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart from each other. Bake at 325 for 15-17 minutes or until browning on the edges.

Grandpa Fin Carrots

Grandpa Fin Carrots
Recipe from the Finlinsons

6 Carrots, peeled and cut
1 Can chicken broth
3 Tablespoons honey

Put carrots and broth into a saucepan and let it come to a boil. Add honey. Let simmer until carrots are soft.

Banana Boats

Banana Boats
Recipe from somewhere online I can't remember

Bananas
Chocolate chips
Marshmallows
Other toppings of choice (peanut butter, coconut, candy bars, caramel, anything)
Ice cream (optional)

Cut banana open being careful to not slice all the way through the other side. Push together ends so the banana opens up (like a boat). Fill with desired toppings (technically you don't even need to use chocolate chips and marshmallows...just whatever you want inside). Cover with tin foil and put on a cookie sheet. Bake at 300 for 5-10 minutes or until toppings are melted or warm (ours took longer than that and didn't quite melt all the way but was still good). Serve with ice cream.

Ranch Cheddar Chicken

Ranch Cheddar Chicken
Recipe from Macie Stratton

4 (about 1 lb) chicken breast halves
1/2 cup ranch dressing
1 Tablespoon flour
1/4 cup cheddar cheese (can use Colby jack), shredded
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Cooked rice

Combine dressing and flour in a bowl. Coat each chicken breast with the dressing mixture. Place in ungreased baking pan. Combine cheeses and sprinkle over chicken. Bake at 375 fro 25 minutes or until no longer pink and juices run clear. Serve over rice.

*Really good over the cilantro rice found here.

Cilantro Rice

Cilantro Rice
Recipe from Macie Stratton

5 cups water
3 cups rice
4 teaspoons chicken broth
4 teaspoons garlic, minced
3/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 Tablespoon butter
1/2 onion, chopped

Put all ingredients in a pot and cook like regular rice.

Spaghetti Pie

Spaghetti Pie
Recipe from my mom

1/2 Bag of spaghetti noodles (maybe a little less)
1/2 Lb ground beef, cooked (optional)
1 Cup cottage cheese
1/2 Cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 Egg
1 Tablespoon butter or margarine
Spaghetti sauce

Cook spaghetti noodles according to package and drain. Pour noodles into a pie pan, 8x8 baking dish, or similar dish. Mix in Parmesan cheese and butter to noodles until butter is melted. Mix together cottage cheese and egg, layer over noodles. If adding ground beef, add a layer on top of cheese and egg mixture. On top, put a layer of spaghetti sauce (may be about 1/2 the bottle...needs lots). Poke holes into the spaghetti noodles for the sauce to get inside. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until bubbly.