Grandma Jackson's Pot Roast

 This is my Grandma Jackson's pot roast recipe. Absolutely the best pot roast I've ever had. Made only more special because it was hers. 

Chuck Roast

Potatoes

Carrots

Onions

Better than Bouillon or your favorite beef broth soup base

First, you will coat both side of your chuck with vegetable oil and a liberal amount of salt and pepper. Then, on medium heat, you are going to sear both sides of your chuck roast. Add your seared roast to your baking dish. Then add your beef broth or water/bouillon mix. For the water/bouillon mix, you add three spoonfuls for every four cups of water and mix well. Then pour this over your chuck. 

Cover with foil and cook for one hour at 375. 

Turn down to 275 and cook that puppy all day. You definitely need to have it in by noon if you're serving at dinner time. 

Add your vegetables to the baking dish. Cut your potatoes in quarters, long ways. I don't know why, but it makes a difference. Salt and pepper the veggies, leaving covered. Bake at 350 for an hour and then uncover for the last 15 minutes or so. 

It is important that you don't let the juice run dry. If you need to make up more of the broth mix, do it. 

Note on the Better than Bouillon. That is what my store had that was like what I was told to use. The original recipe called for a beef soup base from an Amish supply store, and I didn't have it on hand. But I've eaten it both ways and I think the taste is very similar, if not identical. 

Oxtail Stew

 

 

So this recipe came about because I had a few random leftovers from a cow that we had butchered last fall. I saw "OXTAIL" on the wrapper and was like, what?! What am I supposed to do with that? I was determined to cook it, somehow, someway. So, I scoured various recipe sites and saw that Oxtail is used in a lot of Asian cooking, Caribbean cooking and Italian cooking. Well, Italian cooking speaks my love language, so I started looking at the Italian recipes. I decided I wanted to cook it slow and didn't really want to have to mess with it, and this is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did, because it turned out simply amazing.

Ingredients:

2-3 lbs of oxtail chunks (If it doesn't come already chunked or segmented, ask your butcher to do it for you. You really want the marrow to be visible)

1 lb baby carrots (I get these because I really don't like chopping carrots)

6-8 golden potatoes

2 cans of diced tomatoes (regular size)

Italian seasoning

Kosher Salt

Ground Black Pepper

Red Wine

My kiddos don't like onions, but I think pearl onions would be fantastic in this.



I did this in my crock pot; which is 5.5 quarts. First put down a layer with your carrots covering the bottom. Then chop your potatoes into good size chunks and place those on top of your carrots. Then a layer of the diced tomatoes with the juices. Place the oxtail on top of this. Do a healthy sprinkling of salt and pepper and the Italian seasoning. I think people are afraid of seasoning and beef really responds best to a good sprinkling. Around your beef, pour enough of your red wine to not quite cover your carrot layer. I saw people suggesting a burgundy wine with this, but I really just think any good table red would work. I put mine in the crockpot on low for 3 hours and then thought it might take too long on low, so I bumped it up to high and cooked it for five hours like that and it was perfect. I think if you cooked it on high for 6 hours that would be a good place to start. Maybe start it on low if you're going to put it on early in the morning.

Braided Spaghetti Bread

A friend told me about this wonderful recipe and I just had to make it for my family... it is basically spaghetti wrapped in garlic bread!!! Doesn't that just sound delicious!?!? And if you have a child like one of mine who doesn't really like spaghetti with meat sauce... they still might like it!!! Mine did!!!

1 roll of Pillsbury French Loaf
6 oz spaghetti, cooked
1 cup thick spaghetti sauce (I added meat to ours)
8 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 egg white
Parmesan cheese
Parsley flakes
Garlic Powder

~Place loaf on parchment paper and roll it out into rectangle. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 10-15 minutes.
~Cook spaghetti according to package instructions. Drain and let cool slightly. Mix sauce together with spaghetti.
~Remove wrap from dough. Place spaghetti lengthwise in a 4-inch strip down the center of dough. Top with cheese.
~Make cuts 1 ½-inches apart on long sides of dough to within ½-inch of filling. Begin braid by folding top and bottom strips toward filling. Then braid strips left over right, right over left. Finish by pulling last strip over and tucking under braid.
~Transfer parchment paper to baking sheet. Brush with egg white and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, parsley and a little garlic powder.
~Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly and slice to serve. Enjoy!!!

Cuban Ropa Vieja

For the main course of our Florida meal, Allie made Cuban Ropa Vieja which she served with rice and as tacos... it was delicious!!!

Cuban Ropa Vieja

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 pounds beef flank steak

1 cup beef broth
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 small onion, sliced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced into strips
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon white vinegar

1.Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the flank steak on each side, about 4 minutes per side.
2.Transfer beef to a slow cooker. Pour in the beef broth and tomato sauce, then add the onion, bell pepper, garlic, tomato paste, cumin, cilantro, olive oil and vinegar. Stir until well blended. Cover, and cook on High for 4 hours, or on Low for up to 10 hours. When ready to serve, shred meat and serve with tortillas or rice. Enjoy!!!

***A little tip... to shred meat quickly throw it into a mixer- in large chunks- you will end up with perfectly shredded meat:)

Fajitas

This is a really awesome fajita marinade that actually came to me through a MOPS cookbook for a steak marinade. We tried it for the steak and thought it would make super fajitas and now that's what we use it for.

Fajita Marinade:

1 1/2 pounds Steak (I use half sirloin and half top loin)
2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon onion flakes
1 tablespoon lemon juice

First, trim your steaks, getting as much fat off as possible. Next, slice lengthwise into strips and then half lengthwise again, depending on the size of your steak. Prepare your marinade and then place your strips in, making sure to stir to coat and cover the strips with the marinade. Chill this in the fridge for at least six hours, but overnight is best.

You will cook the strips over medium heat until done and then to low to keep them warm, tossing occasionally.

We like peppers and onions with ours, which you can cook with the meat, but I find the veggies cook much better (don't turn to sludge) if you cook them separately in olive oil.

Serve with tortillas, sour cream, guacamole, cheese, tomatoes and salsa.

Note: You can make this ahead and freeze your marinade covered raw beef strips in a Ziploc to use later.

Beef Enchiladas

1 28 oz can enchilada sauce
1 pound ground beef, browned and drained
1 medium onion browned with the ground beef
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese
6-8 flour tortillas (depending on how big you fill them) fajita size

Optional: Some people like to add a can of corn and green chilies to their enchiladas, but I don't really like to have that much spice inside because of the girls. We'll add more spice to the outside. I also see a lot of recipes that add a cup of sour cream to the inside. I don't do this and am not sure how well that'd freeze.

Serve with your typical sides: Lettuce, sour cream, refried beans, salsa, guacamole...

Pour 1/3 of your enchilada sauce into the bottom of your pan. Mix another third with your ground beef and Monterey Jack cheese. Fill your tortillas, about 1/3-1/2 cup each and roll up. I place them in the pan seam side down, which is not the traditional way, but what I do. Top with the remaining 1/3 can of enchilada sauce and your cheddar cheese. Spray a piece of foil and place sprayed side down over your enchiladas.

Bake at 350 degrees from fresh for about 45 minutes to an hour until warmed through and bubbly. From frozen, either thaw and bake the same way or give it an extra hour from frozen.

Beef Stew

This is the stew that I grew up on. One that "stands on it's own." :) Anyway, I think it's awesome and pretty easy to make, too.

This is just kind of an outline. You can change it based on the size of pot of stew you're making.

Beef (It is easiest for me to just get the stew meat that you get already cut up in the packages. It's marked for use in stew)
Potatoes
Carrots
Tomato Juice
Flour
Salt and Pepper


First, put your carrots cut up into bite sized pieces into your pot. I myself prefer to get the baby carrots. The amount of carrots that you put in should be a bit less than a third of your pot. Next comes your potatoes. Again, cut up into bite sized pieces. You can peel them or leave them unpeeled; completely up to you. I like them unpeeled better. This should be a little less than two thirds of your pot. Cover this with tomato juice. Place on your stove top at Medium Low to Medium heat.

Next prepare your meat. I cut the meat into bite sized pieces as well. The pieces in the stew meat package are usually still too big and have to be cut down. I then place those cut up pieces into a ziploc bag with about a half a cup to a cup of flour, enough to coat the meat. Toss it around a bit to make sure that each piece is coated. After you coat your meat, you will cook them in a deep skillet with about a half inch of crisco melted in the bottom of your pan. Cook until done, drain and put into your pot with the veggies.

Next, take about 1/4 cup-1/2 cup of flour in a bowl(depending upon the size of your stew pot) and pour about 2-3 cups of tomato juice over it. Whisk this together and pour into your pot. This will be your thickener for the stew.

That's all there is to it. Just cook until your carrots are completely cooked through. Salt and pepper to taste.

BBQ Spare Ribs

We were able to get a really good deal on Spare Ribs at Sam's and enjoyed a wonderful meal because of it:)

I found a recipe online that was absolutely delicious:) All you do is boil the meat in a BBQ sauce of your choice for 40-60 minutes... the longer you boil it the more tender the meat will be. You can add an onion quartered if you desire but it is not necessary (we have tried it both ways and they both turned out well:) After you boil the meat, place it on a grill for a few minutes to 'caramelize' the sauce... you will want to watch it fairly closely or you will have charred meat. This recipe is one that we will continue to make... it is that good:)

Beef Bourguignon

Oh...my...goodness. This was so easy and was insanely yummy. Plus, it made the house smell wonderful on a lovely, rainy Fall day. I HIGHLY recommend it, and the site that I found it at is my new favorite recipe blog (crockpot365.blogspot.com).

3 pounds beef roast, or beef stew meat (I myself used half of a chuck roast that I had saved from when I made beef stir fry and about a pound of beef tenderloin that I got at a Kroger clearance meat sale)
6 slices of bacon, uncooked
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, sliced in rings
1 cup carrots, I used a bit more carrots and the baby ones
4 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped (I used a substitute of garlic powder and minced onion flakes for the missing texture)
1 tablespoon herbs de provence ( I just used a healthy sprinkling of the herbs listed here under a recipe for herbs de provence)
1 teaspoon kosher salt (I personally thought it needed more salt than this)
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
2 cups red wine

Use a large slow cooker. Mine is 5.5 quarts and it was perfect. In the bottom of the stoneware, spread out your olive oil. Then 3 slices of bacon. Layer the onions and the garlic. Put the beef into the pot on top of the onions and garlic and sprinkle on dried spices and herbs. Toss the meat to distribute the spices to all sides. Add tomato paste. Lay the other 3 slices of bacon on top of the meat, and throw in the carrots. Pour wine over the whole thing.

Cover and let cook on low for 8-9 hours, high for 4-5, or until meat has reached desired tenderness. I did mine on low for 8 hours and it was perfect.

Serve on top of whipped mashed potatoes and a ladle full of the juices.

This is soooo a keeper and one that we will be making again.

Sarah's Meatloaf Recipe

I vary this a lot depending on how many people I'm making it for.

This is the "recipe" I use when I make it for my family.

1 lb ground beef (or chuck, it doesn't matter)
1 lb sausage (I use the Jimmy Dean Sage sausage)
1 large white onion, chopped into large chunks
2 rolls of Ritz crackers, crushed
2 large eggs
1/2 palm of Kosher salt (that's just what I use. I guess its about 1 tablespoon of coarse salt, maybe 1/2 tablespoon of table salt)
About 4 turns of crushed pepper. (I don't know if you have a pepper mill or not, but its probably 1/2 teaspoon or there abouts)

Mix this all together. I use my hands and press into a 13x9 glass baking pan.

The glaze that I put on top is simple. It's just brown sugar and regular mustard. What I usually do is put a big scoop of brown sugar in a bowl and add mustard to it until its a thick glaze. I think its probably a loose cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cup mustard. I really do this part to taste, so you might take a little taste before you put it on your meatloaf, and add more brown sugar or mustard depending. The glaze gets spread over the top before you cook the meatloaf.

The meatloaf gets baked at 350 for about an hour or until the meatloaf is browned and cooked through.

This does produce a lot of oil in your cooking pan, so it is best to remove it to a serving platter for the table. :)

Sometimes I'll add an extra pound of hamburger when we have company coming over. You just add an extra egg and roll of ritz crackers and maybe another onion if you like onions. But, don't do more than two lbs of beef per roll of sausage. You can fit three lbs of meat in the 13x9 pan just fine, but if you do more than that, its best to split it up into two pans.

Brown Bag Burritos

This is another one of those recipes that I am not sure where it came from but boy, am I glad that we found it... almost all of my family likes these:) They are delicious and the best part is we can just microwave them!!!

Brown Bag Burritos
2 lb. ground beef
2, 31 oz cans refried beans
1 1/3 c. enchilada sauce (We like El Paso)
1/2 c. water
1/3 c. minced onion
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dried oregano
3 c. shredded cheese (cheddar, Mexican blend, whatever)
20 flour tortillas (burrito-size, not thin)

~Brown ground beef; drain. Add remaining ingredients (except tortillas). Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
~Heat 3-4 tortillas at a time (you can put a wet paper towel on the top and the bottom of a stack of 10 and microwave for 10 seconds and it does the same thing). Spoon 1/4 c. beef mixture down the side of each tortilla (a cookie/ice cream scoop keeps the mess to a minimum:)
~Roll up. Wrap each burrito in a paper towel.
~Refrigerate or freeze. You can pack them back in the tortilla ziplock bag... usually you can fit 10 in a bag:)
~When ready to eat, remove foil and microwave for about a minute. The paper towel keeps the burritos moist. You can also stick them in the oven to reheat them:)

Hamburger Stuffing Casserole

We had this for dinner tonight and it went over pretty big for a casserole. It has a bit of a Mexican spicy side to it, and next time around instead of putting stuffing on the top, I'll probably just spread a Jiffy corn bread mix over the top of it. There would be no difference on the baking time. We also topped it with sour cream and shredded cheese.

1-1 1/2 pounds of hamburger
1 pkg stuffing mix, prepared
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp chili powder
1 can diced tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste

Brown meat and onions. Add corn, tomatoes, chili powder and salt and pepper to taste. Put in a 2 quart casserole bowl and top with stuffing. Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees

Mini Meatloafs

This is a recipe I found on Money Saving Mom that is absolutely delicious. Raegan ate three of them by herself:)

~Favorite Meatloaf recipe (like the one found here)
~BBQ sauce (I used KC Masterpiece... best BBQ sauce in my opinion:)
~salt & pepper
~cheddar cheese

Thoroughly spray your muffin tin with cooking spray. Place in a handful of prepared meatloaf into each muffin tin. Press your thumb into each meatloaf ball, making a space for toppings. Squirt a dollop of BBQ sauce into the space and salt and pepper. Bake in a pre-heated 375* oven for 30 minutes or until cooked through (160F). Add your favorite cheese and bake for another 5 or so minutes. Enjoy!!!

Easy Meatloaf

This is a recipe from Kraft that is so easy, so fast and so delicious.

Easy Meatloaf
2lbs. ground beef
1 cup water
2 eggs, beaten
1 box stuffing
1/2 cup ketchup or barbecue sauce, divided
1/2 cup onion
1/2 cup (or more, if desired) shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Mix ingredients together. Shape meat into 4 oval loaves on a foil-covered baking sheet; top with remaining sauce. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until done.

Lasanga

Here is my go to recipe for lasanga... after several bad attempt to make lasanga, Drew had some over at some friends of ours' house (Andrea & Aaron) and 'begged' for the recipe after telling her that mine was not that great. Oh, well... I am glad that he did. This lasanga is wonderful.

Lasanga:
-6 lasanga noodles- cooked according to the directions on box
-3/4 to 1lb. ground chuck
-1 large jar (2lbs. 13oz) Ragu Sauce (I use chunky Tomato, Garlic & Onion)
-4-6 oz. sliced mushrooms... fresh or in jar (I use fresh)
-4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
-cooking spray or solid crisco
-3 Tbsp olive oil
-1 tsp onion powder
-1/4 tsp garlic powder
-1/4 tsp ground black pepper

*In a med. to large frying pan, brown meat over medium heat. As meat browns, add seasonings. Drain grease from meat and return to frying pan. Measure 1 1/2 cup Ragu sauce and reserve. Add remaining sauce to meat and stir well. In separate pan, saute sliced mushrooms in olive oil until just tender. Drain off oil and add mushrooms to meat. Lightly grease sides and bottom of a 13x9 baking dish. Spread 1 1/2 Ragu sauce evenly on bottom of dish. Place 3 lasanga noodles on top of sauce, then spread 1/2 of meat mixture on noodles, then 2 cups cheese on top of meat. Repeat layering with rest of noodles, meat and cheese. Cover baking dish with foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Remove foil and return to oven for 5-10 minutes. Enjoy!

You can also freeze your lasanga... which is what I usually do because I make 3 at a time- so that there is always one in the freezer. Just thaw and bake the same way you usually would. You may have to add a few more minutes of cooking time if it is not quite done.

Meatballs

This is a delicious recipe for meatballs that I absolutely love... it is one of the only ways that my family will eat spaghetti now:) I believe that it is from the wonderful kitchens of the Greenwood family or at least one of its family members...

Meatballs
1lb ground chuck (or 1/2lb ground chuck and 1/2 ground pork)
1/2 cup fine breadcrumbs
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
Dash of pepper
2 tsp Italian seasoning

~Mix together. Form into balls and bake for 1/2 hour at 350 degrees on a rack on a cookie sheet. Drop into spaghetti sauce and simmer (after sauce comes to a boil) for 30-40 minutes.

You can also freeze them after you have baked them (before you have put them in the sauce). Just thaw and then drop in spaghetti sauce and cook them as you would usually.

Feta Burgers with Grilled Red Onions

Oh, my goodness. Last night I decided to use up a little extra feta and make feta hamburgers. These were absolutely heavenly. So easy. They were meant to be cooked on a grill, but as I was "home alone" I decided to just do the whole of it on my stove top which did take a bit more doing, but it was soooo worth it. Nummy. I highly recommend these the next time you make burgers.

Found at epicurious.com but I did tailor the recipe to fit our needs.

1 1/2 lbs of ground beef (I used chuck and it seemed just fine, although I had to make certain to chill it before cooking)
2 teaspoons oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt (I always use Kosher salt and just did a healthy sprinkling)
1/2 teaspoons of pepper
1-1 1/2 teaspoons of garlic powder ( I put garlic powder in the meat mix because I didn't have cloves of garlic to make the garlic oil for the buns)
Cooking Spray
Large Red Onion-cut in large slices-like onion ring slices
Large Tomato
Buns
1/2 cup Olive Oil with about 1 teaspoon of garlic powder stirred together to coat the cut side of your buns before toasting them and your onions before grilling them

Break up beef in large bowl. Sprinkle feta, oregano, salt, and pepper over; toss. Divide into portions; form each into a patty, pressing in center to form slight indentation. The above recipe made 6 good sized hamburgers. Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill.

Prepare your buns with the garlic oil. Using your pastry brush coat the cut side of your buns.

Spray grill rack with nonstick spray. Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Brush onion with oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place burgers and onions on grill. Cover; cook 5 minutes. Turn; cook until onions are charred in spots and burgers are medium-well, about 4 minutes longer. Transfer to plate. Brush cut sides of buns with garlic oil. Place buns, cut side down, on grill; toast about 1 minute. Turn; cook until heated, about 1 minute.Place burgers on bun bottoms. Top each with onion, tomato, and bun top.