Roast Beef (Double-Duty Dinners, Part 2)

As promised, I'm posting a second double-duty dinner idea. I apologize for the really quick post today...This was the first week back to school for us, so finding time to cook was pretty hard...finding time to blog was even harder. I made this roast on Tuesday afternoon, using the oven. I like to use the crock pot for roasts, too,but I wanted to be able to slice leftovers for sandwiches, and crock pot roasts usually are so tender, they fall apart when you slice them. Sirloin tip roast was on sale this week, so that's what I ended up using. The first night, the roast was served with mashed potatoes and carrots that were roasted in beef broth and the drippings from the roast. Two nights later, we enjoyed roast beef sandwiches for dinner. Another good use for leftover roast beef is shepherd's pie, which my family loves. To make the shepherd's pie even easier, you could double the mashed potatoes from the first night and use them to top the pie the second night.
I highly recommend a meat thermometer for making oven roasts. I've found that cooking times vary widely from roast to roast. This one cooked much faster than anticipated. Other times, they seem to take twice as long!

Roast Beef

1 3-5 pound oven roast
1 tablespoon seasoned salt
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 cup beef broth

1) Preheat oven to 350.
2) Place beef broth in the bottom of a roasting pan. If your pan has a rack, place the rack on top of the broth, then place the roast on top of the rack. If you are just using a baking pan, put the roast on top of the broth.
3) Rub down all parts of the roast with the seasoned salt and Italian seasoning.
4) Set a meat thermometer in the fattest part of the roast. Cook until the center reaches medium. It took my 4 pound roast, about 1 hour and 45 minutes...but the label on the meat said to allow up to 2 1/2 hours.
5 Allow roast to rest for 15 minutes before slicing.

Ideas for leftovers:
*Roast beef sandwiches
*Cheesesteak sandwiches: Heat up roast beef, saute onions and peppers in a skillet. Put peppers, onions, and beef on a steak roll and top with cheese.
*Shepherd's pie: Pour 1/2 cup of beef broth to the bottom of a pie plate. Add about 2 cups of chopped roast beef. Add 1 cup of frozen mixed vegetables. Spread mashed potatoes on top of the veggies. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Top with cheese for the last 5 minutes, if desired.
*Roast beef hash. Cook frozen hash browns according to package directions. Add leftover sliced roast beef, and heat until warm. Top with a fried egg.

Turkey Breast (Double-Duty Dinners, Part 1)

Roasted turkey with veggies

We all have those weeks where life is just crazy! There is something that either begins or ends close to dinner time, 3 or 4 days of the week. I really don't like those weeks. But, they happen. And this month seems to be full of those weeks for my family. There are nights where it's pretty much impossible to avoid eating out (example: a swimming lesson that ends at 6:00 and a meeting at church that begins at 7:00), but I've been working hard on feeding us at home whenever possible. The easiest way to do that has been through double-duty (or even triple-duty) meals. These are wonderful meals where you cook one thing, usually in the crock pot, then use the leftovers for different, quick, easy meals.I know that side dishes on busy evening can be hard, so I'll try to include easy side dishes, even if the ones pictured aren't so easy.

Turkey dip with sweet potato fries

The first double-duty meal is actually a triple, or even quadruple-duty dinner. Turkey breast, turkey dips, turkey soup, and even easy lunches of turkey sandwiches, depending on the size of your family. I've been making turkey breast in the slow cooker since I got married. My mom made it for us year-round when I was growing up. I know there are people who see turkey as a Thanksgiving-only food, but I'm not one of them.  A friend of mine came across the recipe for turkey dips and posted it on her blog about a year ago. I quickly made it a few weeks later when I found turkey breasts on sale. The big change I made to this recipe was to have the sandwiches the second day. I did this for two reasons: the first being that I really love turkey as a meal by itself. The second was that I wanted to dip the sandwich in just the broth, and skim some of the fat off the drippings, and that's just easier if you let it sit in the fridge over night. I also changed the cheese on the sandwich to something more kid and budget-friendly.

For the turkey soup, I threw all the turkey bones into the slow cooker with carrots, celery, onions, and 12 cups of water, and cooked on low for 12 hours to get nice broth. The recipe is an old post , and is a favorite at our house. We eat it year-round, even in the summer. The soup can even be thrown together in the slow cooker in the morning and it's ready by dinner time.

As promised, I'll share some easy side dish ideas. If you have an hour to work on sides- including prep-time: roasted potatoes, rainbow veggies, mashed potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes, or roasted cauliflower. If you have less than 30 minutes: frozen vegetables, fruit salad, frozen french fries, green salad, or even chips with the sandwich (my favorite are BBQ chips).

Hopefully these turkey recipes will help if you have a busy week where just thinking about cooking stresses you out.

Roasted Turkey and Turkey Dips
Adapted from Cooking Channel 

4 tablespoons softened butter (or if you forget to set out the butter, like me, just melt it)
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
note: substitute 1 tablespoon of dried Italian seasoning if you don't have the fresh herbs on hand
Kosher salt
Black pepper
1 large onion, sliced
1/2 cup chicken broth
4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 bone-in turkey breast

1) Spread the onions in the bottom of a slow cooker. Pour the chicken chicken broth and Worcestershire sauce over the onions.
2) Sprinkle the turkey with salt and pepper and place in the slow cooker.
3) Mix the herbs and butter together in a small glass bowl.
4) Spread the butter over the turkey breast, trying to get some of it under the skin.
5) Cook on high for 4-6 hours, or on low for 8 hours.
6) Slice and serve with sides of your choice. Save the broth and drippings from the slow cooker in a glass jar in the fridge. Use for dips with leftovers.

***If you figure out an easy way to get a turkey breast out of a crockpot without making a total mess, please let me know.

Turkey Dips
Serves 4

2-4 ounces of sliced turkey per person
4 ciabatta rolls, slices of french bread, sandwich rolls, or crusty bread of your choice.
4 slices of your favorite melting cheese- we like Gouda, double Gloucester, and Munster.
softened butter
Turkey broth/drippings from the previous night. Optional: scoop the fat off the top before heating.

1) Heat the leftover broth and drippings in a saucepan over medium heat.
2) Preheat the broiler to high.
3) Split each roll or slice of bread in half. Spread butter on cut side and broil for about 1 minute. Top with turkey and cheese, and broil another 1-2 minutes, until bread is browned, turkey is warm, and cheese is melted.
4) Place the buttery top of the bun on the side with the cheese and turkey. Serve with broth for dipping.

Pinterest Shrimp

Real creative title, right? I didn't know what else to call it, and this is what I write on my menu board when I'm planning on making it. This is one of those recipes that pops up on Pinterest all the time! But it's also one of those really annoying pins that has all the directions under it, but when you click on the picture, it's just a picture. I know how to do the fancy reverse image search on Google, but decided to just play with this recipe on my own. It called for one package of "dried Italian seasoning." I assumed that meant one package of Good Seasons. This is one recipe where I'm confident using the copycat version of Good Seasons, so I'll post the recipe with both the package and homemade mix.
This is a favorite recipe for the grown-ups at my house. My kids really aren't big shrimp eaters (more for Mommy and Daddy, so I won't complain). At some point, Saturday nights turned into a night where my husband and I wait and eat after the kids go to bed. Those are the nights when I make more grown-up foods or just things my kids aren't wild about. I've made this recipe and variations on it a few times because it's easy and both my husband and I love it! When I make this, I pay the extra dollar per pound for the peeled and deveined shrimp. Peeling and cleaning shrimp is not one of my favorite jobs, so unless I'm doing cajun shrimp that really needs the shell to keep the dish from being too spicy, I use peeled shrimp. Experiment with this recipe as you see fit. If you like spicier shrimp, add a tablespoon of cajun seasoning. Add fresh garlic if you like a more scampi style shrimp.


The most important part of this recipe is bread! Either make or buy a nice, crusty loaf of french bread and warm it up right before you eat the shrimp. It does a great job of mopping up the garlicky, buttery sauce that goes with the shrimp.





Pinterest Shrimp
Serves 4

1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined (if your pan holds more, you can do 2 pounds)
1 stick salted butter
1 lemon, cut in half and sliced
1 package of Good Seasons Italian dressing mix or 2 tablespoons homemade mix (recipe below)
Crusty bread

1) Preheat oven to 350.

2) Once the oven is preheated, place a large baking sheet  and stick of butter in the oven. Allow the butter to melt. Check after 2 minutes, then continue checking every minute.

3) Place the lemon slices on top of the butter. Top with shrimp, then sprinkle the shrimp with the Good Seasons.

4) Bake at 350 for 15 minutes, or until shrimp are pink and curl.

5) Serve in bowls with warm bread on the side.


Good Seasons Copycat
Makes 1/2 cup

1 tablespoon garlic salt
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon white sugar
4 tablespoons dried Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
1 tablespoon coarse salt

Combine in a jar and shake to mix. Store in an airtight jar.

Greek Chicken with Tzatziki

I've been making this dish quite a bit lately. Some variation of it has appeared on our table at least twice a month since March.  I've served it with rice pilaf and salad. We've had it on pita bread and made chicken gyros. It makes a great lettuce wrap with some sauteed peppers and onions on the side. My favorite way to enjoy this is with some roasted potatoes that have just a little bit of Greek seasoning on them and some crisp-tender red bell peppers. And lots of tzatziki. The tzatziki recipe I use with this is amazing. When I first started making it, I only made a half recipe. Those days are long gone. A full recipe doesn't last long in my house. We love to dip chicken, veggies, pita chips, and tortilla chips in the tzatziki.
For many years, chicken marinated in Italian dressing was a staple in my cooking (starting in college). But at some point I just got tired of it. Then I found this recipe...and it's turned into our new go-to chicken dish at the house. If you are looking for something different to do with chicken breasts, I highly recommend this recipe.


Greek Chicken
Serves 4
Adapted from One Perfect Bite

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 3/4 inch pieces
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus 2 tablespoons for pan
zest of one lemon (I use 1/2 teaspoon of lemon pepper)
1 tablespoons (6 cloves) minced garlic, or more to taste
2 teaspoons dried parsley
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika

1) Mix the olive oil, lemon zest, garlic, parsley, salt, black pepper, and paprika in a shallow dish.
2) Place the chicken in a large glass bowl or baking dish. Cover in marinade.
3) Allow chicken to marinate in refrigerator for at least two hours.
4) Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
5) Add chicken and saute for 5 minute, turn, and saute 5 minutes longer. Depending on how thick your chicken is, it may be done at this point, or you may need to continue cooking an additional 5 minutes, until chicken is no longer pink inside.
6) Serve with tzatziki.

Note: For some reason, I almost never have fresh lemons on hand. I buy a bag, never use them, and they go bad. So, I've started using lemon pepper instead of lemon zest in this recipe.

This is great with rice, on a salad, in a pita, with potatoes, any way you want to enjoy it! My next experiment will be combining it with orzo, feta, red peppers, and olives.



Tzatziki
serves 8-12
Adapted from Food Network

2 cups Greek yogurt
2 cucumbers, unpeeled and seeded (if using a large, hothouse cucumber, just use one)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar (or any white vinegar)
1 teaspoon dried dill
3 cloves minced garlic
1 1/2-2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1) Grate the cucumber on a box grater and squeeze the water out of the cucumber shreds using a paper towel.
2) Place the yogurt in a bowl and stir in the cucumber. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
3) Chill for 30 minutes before serving.

Dill Dip

I never intended to take this much of a break from blogging, but my kids started getting older and I started spending more time in the car and less time in the house. I'm still doing quite a bit of cooking and gardening. Most nights, I still take a picture of what I've made in the hopes of finding 15 free minutes to write up the recipe. While we were on vacation a few weeks ago, I realized that I really do miss my blog, so I'm making a point to try and keep up with it. Hopefully this will be the first of many posts!

This is a favorite at our house around football season! It goes great with potato chips or veggies. I hadn't made it for a while, but we were recently in California, visiting my friend Cheryl (who gave me this recipe in college).  She made it for a cookout on the 4th of July. My 7 year old son gobbled it up and loved it. The original recipe calls for sour cream, but to make it healthier, Cheryl started making it with Greek yogurt. There is a ton of protein in the dip and I don't notice any difference in flavor. I would eventually like to use a homemade Good Seasons copycat in his recipe, but I'm still tweaking the recipe I use. Since the recipe is so good with the packaged Good Seasons mix, I didn't see a reason to experiment too much for our afternoon snack today.


Dill Dip
Serves 8-12

2 cups sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
1 package Good Seasons Italian dressing mix
1 1/2 tablespoons dried dill weed (or 3 tablespoons fresh)

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes before serving. Serve with vegetables or potato chips.

This is also really good as a dip for french fries or oven roasted potatoes.

Vanilla Extract

I first made my own vanilla extract as Christmas gifts for friends and family 2 years ago...and I gave every jar of it away, so I never had a chance to test it out.  A few months ago, I decided to make myself a jar of extract. I don't think I can ever go back to the store bought stuff again! If you are looking for nice, homemade Christmas gifts, I highly recommend this one. You can make it as cheap or expensive as your budget allows. I've seen recipes where it is one vanilla bean in a half pint jar with one cup of very inexpensive vodka (probably the cheapest route) and I've seen versions that call for 25 beans in a pint jar with high-quality bourbon (definitely more expensive). Christmas is still about 3 months away, but if you want to give extract as a gift, I recommend starting now. It needs a few months (usually 3 or more) for the vanilla flavor and smell to really come through the alcohol.  I posted the recipe I used for this jar (which I've been using for about 4 months). In my experience, extract that uses vodka is ready to use sooner than extract that uses bourbon, since bourbon has a stronger flavor and scent.  The bourbon, however, gives the extract a much more rich and complex flavor than the vodka, so it really is up to you.  I also plan on adding more bourbon to the jar when it starts getting low.  I used quite a few beans and they still have a strong vanilla scent to them. When I have a recipe that calls for a split vanilla bean, or I make a glaze for a coffee cake, I like to scrape a few beans out of a pod from the extract, just to add a little something extra.  I order my vanilla beans online. People have strong opinions about vanilla beans...I don't. I ordered what was on sale the day I needed beans.  This is easy and worth the time and money. If you give it as a gift, make sure you save a jar for yourself!


Vanilla Extract
makes about 1 pint

8-12 large vanilla beans, split, with some of the little tiny beans scraped into the jar (I used 12)
14 ounces bourbon or vodka (I used bourbon)

Place the vanilla beans and alcohol in a pint-sized mason jar. Add the lid and place in the pantry for at least 2 months (3 if you are using bourbon).  Give as gifts or keep for yourself. Use in any recipe that calls for vanilla extract.

Easy Fajitas

I learned how to make fajitas in a cooking class I took in high school (Nutrition and Wellness I). To this day, I still think it was one of the most useful classes I took in high school. I love fajitas, but I've never really settled on one recipe. I've used bottled marinades, envelopes of seasoning mix, liquid smoke with lime juice and garlic, and a few other recipes. Last month, I was going through my Betty Crocker Bridal Edition cookbook, looking for something new to try. I came across a recipe for fajitas and decided to give it a try. My kids have never been huge fans of fajitas, and I think it was because of the liquid smoke flavor. When I made this recipe, the kids ate a ton of the chicken. My son made his own fajitas with chicken, lettuce, sour cream, and cheese...and he ate 3 of them! This is a great chicken marinade recipe. It would be great with yellow rice and chicken, chicken tacos, or even a grilled chicken breast with a baked potato.  I've shared this recipe with a few friends and they all loved it (and so did their children). If you love to go out for fajitas, but don't make them at home because you think they are too much work, I highly recommend trying this recipe. It is easy and very kid-friendly!


Fajitas
Adapted from Betty Crocker
Makes 12 fajitas

Fajita marinade (recipe follows)
1 pound chicken breast or thighs, pounded to uniform thickness
2 tablespoons oil
2 large onions, sliced
2 medium green or red bell peppers, cut into 1/4 inch strips
Optional Toppings:
Sour cream
1 cup shredded Monterey jack or cheddar cheese
Shredded lettuce
Diced tomato
Salsa
Sour Cream
Guacamole

1) Place chicken in a glass dish or bag. Pour marinade over chicken and refrigerate 4 - 24 hours.
2) Heat oven to 325. Wrap tortillas in aluminum foil. Heat in oven about 15 minutes, or until warm. Remove tortillas from oven; keep wrapped.
3) Set oven to broil. Remove chicken from marinade. Broil chicken 4 minutes, turn and broil 3-4 minutes longer, or until chicken is no longer pink. Discard any leftover marinade.
4) While chicken is cooking, heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook onions and peppers until tender, but not too soft, about 6-8 minutes.
5) Cut chicken into strips before serving.
6) Assemble fajitas with chicken, onions, peppers, and your choice of toppings.

Marinade
1/4 cup oil (I used grapeseed)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Mix all ingredients in a shallow glass dish.