Slow Cooker Queen- Pork Chops & Rice

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless Pork Chops
• 1/3 Cup uncooked brown rice
• 2/3 Cup uncooked white rice
• 1/2 Cup Chopped Onion
• 1/4 Cup Butter
• 8 oz Green Peas
• 5 oz can water chestnuts
• 4 oz mushrooms
• 1/2 cup water
• 10 oz beef broth
• 2 Tbs worcestershire sauce
• 1 envelope dry onion soup mix
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Spray Slow Cooker with cooking spray

Place Brown & White Rice, Onion, Butter, Peas, water Chestnuts, and mushrooms in slow cooker. Pour in water, broth and worc. sauce. Stir in Onion Soup Mix, season with pepper and top with Pork Chops.

Cover and cook on low 7-9 Hours or high for 4-5 hours.

**I also added (2) red potatoes cubed to this recipe since Andrew likes potatoes with everything.

Lemon Garlic Sirloin Tips

I love watching the Food Network... I get so many ideas for recipes to make and the following recipe for Lemon Garlic Sirloin Tips is one I saw on Rachel Ray's show. I am not usually a fan of sautéing meat in the skillet because I think it comes out chewy but these turned out FABULOUS! I also learned what "deglazing" the pan means.... it means to get all the "good stuff" that has collected on the edges and bottom and mix it in with the sauce as you stir.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds sirloin tips, trimmed and cubed into bite-sized pieces (I bought Sirloin Steaks and Cubed them myself)
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley, a couple of handfuls
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• 1/2 cup white vermouth or dry white wine ( I used Red Wine since that is what I had on hand)

Directions

Bring meat to room temperature and pat dry. Heat the extra-virgin olive oil in large, heavy skillet or cast iron skillet over medium-high to high heat. When the oil smokes, add the meat and caramelize before turning. Once evenly browned all over, about 5 minutes, season liberally with salt and pepper, add the garlic and toss with the meat for 2 minutes. Stir in the parsley and a little lemon zest and cook for another minute. Add the white vermouth and deglaze the pan. Turn off the heat, add the lemon juice and toss to coat. Transfer to a serving platter and serve immediately.

Red Velvet Cheesecake Cupcakes

These are an EASY and Delicious Dessert!

Red Velvet Cheesecake Cupcakes

Ingredients

Filling:

• 2 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Batter:

• 1 box Duncan Hines Red Velvet Cake Mix
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs

Baking Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Place paper baking cups in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups.
2. Make Filling - Place cream cheese, sugar, eggs, vanilla and lemon juice in medium bowl. Beat with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Set aside.
3. Make Batter - Prepare cake mix as described on box using the water, oil and eggs. Fill each muffin cup about 2/3 full with batter. Drop about 2 tablespoons of filling in center of batter.
4. Bake in center of oven 22 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes; remove from pan. Place on wire rack; cool completely.
5. Store covered in refrigerator.
6. Garnish with powdered sugar, if desired.

7. 
   

Everything tastes better with a little balsamic!

I think that if you put a little brown sugar and balsamic on anything it will taste better... hence the following recipe for Green Beans with Carmelized Onion:

Green Beans with Carmelized Onion

Ingredients:

1 Pound Fresh Green Beans

2 Medium Sweet Onions

2 Tbs Butter

2 Tbs Brown Sugar

2 Tbs Balsamic Vinegar

Cook Green Beans in boiling water to cover 15 minutes. drain.

Cut Onions into thin slices and cut each slice in half

Cook onion in nonstick skillet over medium high heat 8-10 min-do not stir

Cook stirring often 5-10 m in or until golden brown. Reduce heat to medium; stir in butter and brown sugar.

Add green beans and cook 5 minutes or until heated. Toss green bean mixture with vinegar.

Enjoy!!

Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken

This recipe started because Harris Teeter had whole chickens on sale... I have roasted a couple of whole chickens in the oven but I decided I wanted to make one in the crockpot.

As I was prepping I realized that the recipe said to "de-skin" the chicken... DE-SKIN A CHICKEN!?!?! They must be crazy, this does not sound very pleasant. As I started to "de-skin" the chicken I was thinking to myself "wow this is the most disgusting thing I have ever done... this recipe better be PRETTY DURN GOOD if I am ever going to do this again!!!

Well... the recipe turned out GREAT and Andrew even went back for seconds AND ate it as leftovers the next day... therefore I will share it! Good luck with the "de-skinning!"

Prep Time:
15 Min

Cook Time:
8 Hrs

Ready In:
8 Hrs 15 Min

Ingredients

• 1 (3 pound) whole chicken, skin removed
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic

Directions

1. Remove skin from chicken, and empty inner cavity of contents within. Pat chicken dry with a paper towel, and place inside the slow cooker.
2. In a bowl, stir together the chicken broth, soy sauce, olive oil, honey, Worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, sesame oil, and minced garlic. Pour mixture over chicken, and cover.
3. Cook chicken on low setting for 8 hours, or 4 hours on high setting.

I served with White Rice and Carmalized Onion Green Beans (recipe to follow) :-)

Okay...I have been talking about it so here it is!

I absolutely LOVE to cook. To me...spending my whole day standing in the kitchen making different recipes is therapeutic and fun! Husband Andrew is a "meat and potatoes" kinda guy so he is a really good sport putting up with my constant urge to try a new recipe. I'm not quite sure why I have an aversion to making the same thing twice... but I do!

I get most of my recipes from Southern Living Magazine, The Food Network and Taste of Home Magazines I buy at the grocery store checkout. :-)

I always talk about the recipes I make and people want "copies" of them so I decided... why not start a blog so everyone can just access this for the recipes they want!!? My goal with this blog is to share with everyone the recipes that Andrew went back for seconds on... and of course the ones that I think are delish! As I make new recipes I will post them and give feedback on what we thought. Most of the ones I make are "work all day long and come home to cook" friendly recipes which don't take tooo long and don't require to many ingredients or pots & pans!

Enjoy the recipes...

Melissa