5/22/08

What's For Dinner?

This morning I woke up, and before I drank my cup of coffee, had a clear thought in my head or opened my eyes the whole way, dinner was already cooking. Oh the joys of a slow cooker. Whoever invented it, deserves a high five.

I am curious to know what's going on in your lives outside of the blog-world. I thought I'd pass along the recipe for what we're having for dinner tonight . . . on one condition: you have to tell me what's on your menu. Will you use a recipe, make it up, order take-out or serve up a bowl of cereal? Leave a comment and your recipe, if you'd like. I could always use some new dinner ideas to change things up.

Barbecued Beef Sandwiches

  • 1 1/2 cups ketchup
  • 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons prepared Dijon-style mustard
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 teaspoon liquid smoke flavoring
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 (4 pound) boneless chuck roast
  • buns
Directions
  1. In slow cooker dish, combine ketchup, brown sugar, red wine vinegar, Dijon-style mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and liquid smoke. Stir in salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
  2. Place chuck roast in the slow cooker. Cover with sauce, and cook on Low for 8 to 10 hours.
  3. Remove chuck roast from slow cooker, shred with a fork, and return to the slow cooker. Stir meat to evenly coat with sauce. Continue cooking approximately 1 hour.
(From Allrecipes.com)

Note: It's hard to go wrong with this one. I normally just estimate amounts and throw the stuff in. We don't have liquid smoke, so I just put in a pinch of cayenne pepper.

This is one of our favorites. Enjoy!

4 comments:

DianaPaisley419 said...

Tonight, we have friends coming over for dinner, so I am making my favorite dish: linguini and tomato gravy (aka spaghetti with tomato sauce to all you non-italians ;-))
I never use a recipe for this- I make it the way my mom and grandma do...using their hands as measurments and tasting as I go to see if it is good. Here is what you definitely need tho.
-2 cans of tomatoes (I like to use diced tomatoes and puree them with a hand blender until they are just chunky)
-enough extra virgin olive oil (evoo) to cover the bottom of your gravy pot
-garlic (LOTS of garlic- I prefer to chop my own)
-basil
Pour the evoo into the pan and let the garlic sizzle and brown. Then pour in the tomatoes and puree them with a hand blender (or pour them in already pureed)
-add garlic and basil to taste and let cook on medium for about an hour. Serve over any pasta
Now here are some of the things I have added:
-butter (or I can't believe it's not butter spray)
-herbs de Provence
-oregano
-fresh basil
-mozzarella cheese
-sugar or Splenda
-vodka or white wine (just a tablespoon or two)
try whatever you like!

Jen said...

Wow...you're already entertaining! Sweet.

Sounds scrumptious!

Stephanie said...

I don't often use recipes, but look for general ideas to work from; I think that cooking is more fun that way, and Chris (willingly) gets to be the official tester of my experiments.

Here's an easy Asian salad that serves four:

*6oz. baby spinach leaves (6 cups)
*1/2 large cucumber, sliced thin lengthwise, then in half
*1 large carrot, "peeled" (I use the peeler to make super thin pieces that are about 2" long
*1 cup bean sprouts
*1 lb. boneless flank steak, grilled and sliced thinly
*1/4 cup chopped cashews (optional)

*dressing (drizzled over)
1/2 cup Italian dressing
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
3 Tbsp. brown sugar (firmly packed)
3/4 tsp. ground ginger

**Arrange salad in the order that ingredients appear

**Other good dressings at the store are sesame ginger, asian vinaigrette, and rasberry balsamic vinaigrette, but Chris just uses ranch :)

Jen said...

Steph,

Anything that has cashews and steak, gets five stars in my book. You are gifted in putting together your own "recipes". I think though, that I am growing. It's the creativity gene that I am lacking!