Crock pot roast with gravy

I tried this a Sunday or two ago and have been wanting to pass it along. It was one of the easiest and best Yankee-style pot roasts I've had ever - you don't even have to brown the roast first. Don't let the extreme ease fool ya - it's super tasty.

You'll need:

a 1 and 3/4 lb. beef roast (I used a cheap old chuck - my favorite)

1/2 c. flour

salt and pepper to taste

1 envelope onion soup mix

1 envelope brown gravy mix

2 c. cold water

Rub the roast with about 1/4 c. of flour (or more, if needed) and salt and pepper. Place in a 5 quart slow cooker.

In a bowl, combine soup, gravy mix and remaining flour; stir in water and continue stirring until well blended. Pour over roast. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until meat is tender. Slice roast beef and serve with gravy.

(I haven't tried cooking the veggies in with the roast because it is a very thick sauce, but when I do, I'll report back.)

Crock Pot Lasagna

This recipe might be old news to many of you, but I tried it out for the first time a few weeks ago and really liked it! Your lasagna isn't going to come out of the crock pot in a pretty nice square like Stouffer's, but I firmly believe the messier the food looks on the plate the better it tastes!

-1 lb. ground beef
-1/2 cup chopped onion
-1-2 garlic cloves minced
-2 cans (15 oz. each) tomato sauce
-1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
-salt, oregano, basil and/or Italian seasoning to taste
-12 oz. lasagna noodles, uncooked and broken down to fit in crock pot
-12 oz. cottage cheese with a dash of dried parsley added to it
-1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
-8-12 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese

Brown beef and onion in skillet; drain off excess fat. Add garlic, tomato sauce, tomato paste, seasonings and cook long enough to heat thoroughly.

Spoon a layer of meat sauce onto the bottom of crock pot. Add a double layer of broken lasagna noodles and top with a layer of the cheeses. Repeat with sauce, noodles and cheeses until all are used up. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Aunt Nena's Enchiladas

Growing up, at most family gatherings we had these wonderful cheese enchiladas. They were one of my most favorite dinners, and their flavor still reminds me of being a little girl at my grandmother's house.

It wasn't until I was older that I learned a little bit of the history behind these enchiladas. My grandfather was one of 12 children, and his father was Rey L. Pratt (a direct descendant of Parley P. Pratt) who once served as the mission president over the Mexican mission. If you have ever seen an old Spanish LDS hymn book, you will notice that most of the hymns, including "Nuestro Querido Santa Clos" (Our Beloved Santa Claus) were translated by him. The family story goes that once, Pancho Villa was terrorizing the countryside and made a stop at the mission home. My great-grandmother Mary Stark Pratt had just given birth and was still in bed when she gathered all the missionaries and had them lay down on the floor of her bedroom for safety. Pancho Villa shot up the place, and one of the bullets lodged in her head board. After the excitement, she dug the bullet out of the head board and wore it as a necklace.

It's no wonder that his family came back with several delicious Mexican recipes, including the one below:

Aunt Nena's Enchiladas
3 cans Beef Consumme'
24 oz tomato sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
3 - 4 tablespoons chili powder
3/4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
1 teaspoon smooth peanut butter
3/4 teaspoon cumin
1 dash MSG

1 cup corn oil
24 corn tortillas
2 cups (or more to taste) grated cheddar cheese
1 cup grated onion (if desired)
2 cups shredded lettuce

Combine consomme', tomato sauce, sugar, chili powder, chocolate, peanut butter, cumin, and MSG in a large sauce pan. Allow sauce to simmer while tortillas are being prepared. Heat the corn oil in a frying pan. Saute' each tortilla separately in the hot oil; do not allow tortillas to become too crisp. Drain excess oil by holding tortilla up bwteen two forks, and stack each tortilla between paper towels. When tortillas are all cooked, dip each tortilla in the sauce, then add about 1/4 cup cheese and 1 teaspoon of onion. Roll the tortilla around the filling and place in a baking dish. When enchiladas are complete, cover with the remaining sauce and top with more grated cheddar cheese. Bake in a warm oven (300 - 350F) until thoroughly heated -- about 15 - 20 minutes. Serve with lettuce and extra sauce for those who desire it.

I have also modified this recipe slightly by using shredded chicken with cheese and flour tortillas instead of corn and they have turned out yummy as well!

Enjoy a little bit of the Pratt family history!

Is That Homemade Spaghetti?

1 Lg Jar of Rago Spaghetti Sauce
1 lb. of ground beef
Spaghetti
Boiling Water
Garlic Bread
Salad

Okay, I have spent hours making spaghetti in the past. It wasn't until recently that I decided to let Rago, and their famous chefs, do the work for me. I brown ground beef (drain) and pour the contents of the Rago bottle over the beef.

Butter bread, sprinkle with dried garlic and broil for 5 minutes or so.

Throw a bag of salad in a bowl and add dressing.

Viola!!!

Dinner tonight SLOPPY JOES!

OK I am finally jumping on the dinner blog bandwagon but I find I am not as witty and cute as you other cute contributors! So here is my boring dinner that we had tonight...Sloppy Joes. My friend made fun of my easy little recipe and said I could make it even easier if I would just buy the already made in a can by the one and only Chef Boyardee. But here is my easy, but not the easiest, recipe :)

• Brown hamburger
• put in a can of Chicken Gumbo (it has rice in it too)
• put some ketchup and mustard in and heat it up

And ta da!!!! Sloppy Joes! I like to put provolone cheese on the bun or something with it. Then I cut up vege's and we had chips and that was the Rose family dinner on this fine windy, rainy night!

What's for Tea, Mother?

"Chips!"

This is a very common question that kids ask here in the UK and chips (what you all call French Fries) is often the reply.

Tea means dinner, in case you didn’t know. Historically, it was “Afternoon Tea” and was just that, tea and cakes and was served around 4 pm. Somehow, the name became synonymous with dinner and dinner became the name for lunch. So, when your kids ask, “What’s for tea?” they mean dinner, and when you ask your children “What did you have for dinner?” you mean lunch. And yes, my kids are British, so I get to do all of that translating! Oh, and they still do a "proper" Afternoon Tea here, which makes it even more confusing.

Yes, the Brits are a confusing lot, and I’ve had the fortune, or misfortune (take your pick) to live amongst them for 14 years. I’m Afton, AndreaRed’s little sister, and hopefully I will be able to blog some of the interesting and fun things about British food that can be made out there in the US of A and the foods I miss and my various cooking woes and wishes.

My next blog will be, “Victoria’s Sponge Cake”... Yes, like my sister, I am also addicted to cake and it is all our Grandma’s fault. She made the best Graham Cracker Cookies when we were kids.

My Name is Andrea, and I'm a Cake-aholic

"...Hi Andrea..."

Welcome to the first meeting of Cake-aholics anonymous. For all those of us who enjoy the deliciousness of sweet, moist cake topped of with ambrosia-like buttercream frosting, this is your place of refuge and of sanctuary. For all those for whom birthday cake is not enough, who must celebrate every occasion with cake (anniversaries, national holidays, your friends' birthdays, Arbor day, Bastille day, triumphant completion of triathlons, Guy Fawkes Day), we understand you. For all those who when having a cake craving will just go down to Super Target and get one of their little 1/8 sheet cakes and bring it home to snack on all weekend, we welcome you.

Unlike all those other "anonymous" groups, here at Cake-aholics anonymous, we encourage your addiction, we share your cravings, your need for frosting, and we're here to help. The latest and greatest place to give in to your cake fetish is at Sweet! By Good Golly Miss Holly, (www.sweetbyholly.com), conveniently located in the Waterford Town Center between Too Jay's and Bose. There you will find a very large and delicious selection of gourmet cupcakes, just the right size to satisfy your cake-related needs without completely ruining your diet. Check out their website and marvel at the many specialty cupcakes that range from Red Velvet and Cookies & Cream to White Out and Dulce De Leche. In addition to these reasonably priced ($3 per cupcake) morsels of ambrosia, they also serve ice-cold milk with free refills to cleanse your palate and prepare you for your next confectionary delight.

What words can we here at Cake-aholics anonymous use to describe Sweet! you ask? Shangri-la, Nirvana, the Garden of Earthly Delights, Paradise. Come and delight in the deliciousness.