Something New: French Dip

At the suggestion of my middle sis, I prepared this dish for friends Wednesday evening. It was a last minute suggestions so we attempted to cook the meat on HIGH for 3.5-4hours, instead of the suggested 7 hour process on low. The taste was delicious, but the meat was not close to being tender, as I imagine it is with the low setting process.  All the reviews say so!

Give it a try! It's super simple, but don't make it last minute like I attempted - I think the results will speak for themselves. Delish!

Easy Slow Cooker French Dip

Ingredients

    * 4 pounds rump roast
    * 1 (10.5 ounce) can beef broth
    * 1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed French onion soup
    * 1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer
    * 6 French rolls
    * 2 tablespoons butter

Directions

1. Trim excess fat from the rump roast, and place in a slow cooker. Add the beef broth, onion soup and beer. Cook on Low setting for 7 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
3. Split French rolls, and spread with butter. Bake 10 minutes, or until heated through.
4. Slice the meat on the diagonal, and place on the rolls. Serve the sauce for dipping.  

 

Something New: Weight Watchers Tasty Soup

Thanks to the most recent Bunko Divas hostess, LaLa, I have a new recipe and was able to make this simple dish tonight. I do not know the name, all I know is that it's tasty soup and I was told it was a weight watchers recipe, I believe. Here is what it's made of...

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb lean ground beef
• 1/2 lb lean ground turkey
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 can of kidney beans
• 1 can of ranch style black beans
• 1 can of shoepeg corn
• 1 packet of ranch seasoning
• 1 packet of taco seasoning
• 1 can of ROTEL
• 3/4 cup of water

I have no idea what shoepeg corn is, so I got my hubby's favorite instead, white corn. And instead of doing 1/2 ground beef and 1/2 ground turkey, I wanted to keep it simple and prepare only one meat so I chose the leaner ground turkey for a full pound. Cook the meat along with the chopped onion, and add it to the pot of all the other goodies. Cook and simmer in the pot for 30minutes and wha-laa - a warm tasty simply treat.

I made it this evening and am thankful LaLa shared it with me because it will be added into my arsenal of dinners. Only thing I worry about is the remainder of the evening - - - there sure were a lot of beans in that soup... high fiber. Wonder if that will affect anyone in this house? ha ha. Only time will tell.

Bon Appetit!

Something New: Chicken Florentine Pasta

So thanks to a friend posting something about Chicken Floretine Pasta on her Facebook status, I was able to inquire with her about the recipe and later enjoy this delicious dish! Because I was only feeding my man and myself, I halved this recipe and put it in a 8x8 baking dish. We had plenty and even leftovers. Also, I used penne noodles instead of bowtie because that was what I had in the pantry. Mmm Mmmm good.

Ingredients:

4-5 Chicken Breasts

1 box Bowtie Pasta

1 pk Frozen, chopped Spinach

8 oz Sour Cream

2-3 cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese

1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup

1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese, shredded

To Do's:

Boil & chop chicken breast.

Cook & drain pasta.

Mix spinach (thawed & drained), sour cream, cheddar cheese, cream of mushroom soup, chicken and pasta. Top with Parmesan cheese.

Bake covered in greased dish at 350 for 45 minutes.

Uncover and bake till golden.

bon appetit!

Something New: Zesty Potato Cheese Soup

I know I've posted about a Potato Soup already, but I'm looking for that one super easy, but tasty recipe to stay in my collection. I have a "from scratch" potato soup recipe that I got from my mom. I love my mother's potato soup, and when I make it, it's not bad. But it takes lots of work, from boiling the potatoes to dicing celery and carrots and all sorts of things like that. Boiling potatos takes awhile, and if you're zoom zoom and do not have the time nor want to take the time to stand in front of the stove too long, I want a recipe to call for backup.

By the way, does anyone else have the same issue as me... every recipe I've gotten from my mom, dishes that are TO DIE FOR and super delicious when she makes them, when I prepare them (FROM THE SAME RECIPE), they somehow just don't turn out as good or right? Am I the only one that suffers from this issue? Perfect example, hashbrown casserole. I use my mom's recipe. Mom made it for Christmas brunch last year, my hubby and I devoured our servings, and probably got seconds. I made the same thing for my hubby's family Christmas event that same night (just hours later), and my man looks at me while he's eating it, and says, "do you do something different than you mom with this? It's good, but it's different". SEE?! What does my mom do that I can't seem to grasp and complete within a recipe!???

Sorry, didn't meant to get sidetracked that substantially, back to the Zesty Potato Cheese Soup. Super Easy, And Yummy. I made it and my husband concurs, Mmm Mmm. So we're going to put this one in the recipe book to keep for a quick meal. It seriously took 10 min. Quick!

Zesty Potato Cheese Soup

Prep/Total Time: 10 min.

what you need:

• 3 cans (10 3/4 ounces each) condensed cream of potato soup, undiluted
• 2 cans (12 ounces each) evaporated milk
• 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 3/4 cup shredded pepper jack cheese (we did without this go around)
• 6 slices ready-to-serve fully cooked bacon, crumbled (we used the bacon bits we already had)

what to do:

• In a large saucepan, combine the potato soup and milk.
• Cook over medium head for 5-10 minutes or until heated through.
• Ladle into serving bowls.
• Sprinkle with cheeses and bacon.

Yield: 6 servings

This one is a keeper. bon appetit!

Something New: Layered Mexican Bake

So we finally slowed down a little bit, well as much as we can to an extent, and I have tried three new recipes in the last several days. Yup, three new recipes. So I'll post one for the next few Mondays. They were all SUPER SIMPLE, so don't get your hopes up to find something fully Julia Child worthy, but they were all edible. One we'll definitely make again, one probably, and another I probably will not add to my recipe book.

The first one I'll post is the:

Layered Mexican Bake

what you need:

• 3/4 lb. extra-lean ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 2 tsp. chili powder
• 1 1/4 cups Thick N Chunky Salsa - the specific recipe recommends Taco Bell Home Originals brand, I just used Pace Picante brand.
• 1 pkg. (10 oz) frozen corn
• 3 high-fiber whole wheat tortillas (8 inch) - I used flour tortillas because that's what was in the pantry
• 1/2 cup Light Sour Cream
• 3/4 cup 2% Milk Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese, divided - my hubby does not like Sharp cheddar, so he brought me back Mild from the grocery.

make it:

• heat oven to 375 
• brown meat with onions and peppers in large skillet on medium-high heat. Stir in chili powder, cook 1 min. Add salsa and corn; mix well. Simmer 5 min.
• spread 1 cup meat sauce onto bottom of 8-or9-inch square baking dish; top with layer of 1 tortilla. 1/2 cup meat sauce, sour cream and 1/4 cup cheese. Cover with 1 tortilla. 1 cup of remaining meat sauce and 1/4 cup of remaining cheese; top with remaining tortilla and meat sauce. Cover with foil.
• bake 25 min or until casserole is heated through. Top with remaining cheese; bake; uncovered; 5 min or until melted.

I forgot to put the onion on the grocery list, so I did without (sad day, because I love onions), but the dish was still good without it. This is one we'll probably make again, but not something I'd put as a staple meal in our schedule. bon appetit!

Something New: Easy Potato Soup

After a food event at the office, I had to get the recipe from a coworker of her delicious potato  soup. She quickly shared the recipe and confessed that it was "easy", so I had to give it a whirl.

To celebrate my father in law's birthday yesterday (Happy Birthday, Larry!) , we invited family and a friend or two over for dinner and birthday cake. I made an attempt at the "Easy Potato Soup" and folks came back for seconds, so I think I did alright. I doubled the recipe to feed 6 adults and 1 kid, I had PLENTY of leftovers, so I probably should have gone with just one recipe, not the double.

Time to share the recipe. Easy Potato Soup:

1 bag of hash brown potatoes (I think they are called country style)

1 can of chicken broth

2 pkts of country gravy mix (I used one regular and one pepper flavor)

1 block of Velveeta cheese – cut in chunks

Cover the potatoes with water and boil til soft

Pour out about the equivalent of 1 can of water and add the can of chicken broth

Bring back to a boil and then empty the pkts of gravy mix one at a time and stir with wire whisk til dissolved

Turn down heat a bit and add velveeta 

Season to taste

Put some yummy bacon bits on top and serve. Enjoy.

Something New: Shrimp Creole

What can you make when you have a green pepper, onion, celery, shrimp, and some rice? I say, if you're lucky enough to have all of those ingredients ready to grab in your kitchen, then shrimp creole is the way to go!

I'm proud to say, I can handle this shrimp creole receipe and I successfully served it to my man and father in law with compliments coming from both.

Shrimp Creole

Ingredients:

1.5 cups chopped onion

1 cup finely chopped celery

2 med. green pepper, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced 

1/4 cup butter/margine

1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce

1 cup water

2 tsp snipped parsley

1 tsp salt

1/8 tsp cayenne red pepper

2 bay leaves, crushed

14-16 oz cleaned shrimp

3 cups hot cooked rice

Cook and stir onion, celery, green pepper, and garlic in butter until onion is tender. Remove from heat; stir in tomato sauce, water, and seasoning. Simmer uncovered 10 minutes. 

Stir in shrimp. Heat to boiling. Cover and cook over medium heat 10 to 20 minutes or until shrimp are pink and tender. Serve over rice.

I served the above recipe with a side of garlic bread, and voila! Dinner is served. Mmm, Mmm, good. 

I used Salad Shrimp that I got in the frozen aisle at my local grocery. Salad shrimp are itty bitty, just right for this recipe. I asked my main sqeeze to model the meal for me, and then forced a shot out of my father in law to prove that they both ate the meal. ha ha 

 

Something New: Sausage'n'Cream Cheese Casserole

After a week of slacking when the hubby was sickly, I am back to my "Something New" routine. This week I made a Sausage and Cream Cheese Breakfast Casserole for the first time. This lovely dish has been made for me plenty of times at work by a coworker. And every time it's served there is little to anything left in the dish... Mmmm MMmmm goood.

So with our first Sunday of the month Sunday School class potluck, I gave the casserole a try. It was a success. Another recipe to keep and put in the books. Simple and delicious.

Sausage & Cream Cheese Casserole

Ingredients:

1 log of Sausage

8 ounce Cream Cheese

2 Crescent Roll Cylinders

Cook sausage. Mix cream cheese and sausage together. Put one can worth of crescent rolls on the bottom of a casserole dish. Layer on top with sausage/cream cheese mixture. Put second can of crescent rolls on top to cover the mixture. Cook according to crescent roll package directions until lightly browned on top.

Serve and enjoy.

Something New: Baked Tilapia & Sauteed Corn w/Tomatoes & Basil

Well the odds were that at SOME POINT my "Something New" approach would bring about a less than delightful dish. It's just the way it goes with cooking... everything cannot be the most amazing thing you've ever had... it just doesn't work that way. Unless you're Julia Child and use a pound of butter per every recipe... ONLY THEN will everything be amazing.

So I wasn't totally distraught after my Baked Tilapia and Sauteed Corn with Tomatoes and Basil didn't turn out to be the bomb diggity for the hubby and me. It was just kind of blah, which is odd because the description under the baked tilapia said, "so much flavor... so few ingredients". Maybe I did something wrong, because in my hubby's words, "I wouldn't want you to make it again".

But nevertheless, I tried something new, and someone else may enjoy it. Here's are the recipes for both items...

Baked Tilapia
Ingredients:
3/4 cup soft bread crumbs
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp dried oregano
4 tilapia fillets (5 oz each)

In a shallow bowl, combine the bread crumbs, cheese, garlic salt and oregano. Coat fillets in crumb mixture. Place on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.
Bake at 425 degrees for 8-12 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork. 

Sauteed Corn with Tomatoes and Basil
Ingredients:
1 cup fresh or frozen corn
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
3 fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced

In a large skillet, saute corn in oil until crisp-tender. Stir in the tomatoes, salt and pepper; cook 1 minute longer. Remove from the heat; sprinkle with basil.

Something New: Rotel Chicken

Although I again attempted a new recipe, this week I slacked a little. The following Rotel Chicken recipe is VERY simple. I didn't do anything that was even considered adventurous for me, I wasn't nervous or worried about it turning out, because it's a simple chicken casserole recipe (hard to go wrong with that). But it was still new to me (so it still counts).

So here it is: Rotel Chicken Recipe

Ingredients
4 chicken breasts
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 lb worth of Velveeta Cheese
1 can Rotel tomatoes
Tortilla Chips

Instructions
Boil chicken, cut into small pieces. Combine Cream of Mushroom Soup, Rotel tomatoes, and chicken bits. In a casserole dish, layer tortilla chips, chicken mixture, and velveeta cheese. repeat. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Another success. I served my youngest sis and hubby with this dish and a side of salad. All parties involved cleaned their plate and went for seconds. Yummy.

If you have any recipe suggestions, feel free to send them my way. If it tickles my fancy, I'll give it a try!

Something New: Pork Roast AND Cuban Sandwiches

For the Yopp Cuban Themed Couples Baby Shower a weekend or two ago, I ventured out of my comfort zone once again and tried something edible and new for the party. 

I was in charge of the Cuban Sandwiches. Not only had I never attempted to put together such sandwiches, I also had never once cooked one of the necessary ingredients within them.

The recipe for the cuban sandwiches is as follows: 

Ingredients - 

thin slices of ham

thin slices roast pork hot or cold (I use hot, slow roasted pork)

thin slices of Swiss cheese

slices of pickles (dill)

mustard (yellow) 

Cuban bread hard crust (or French bread) 

Directions -

You should be using fresh, crusty Cuban bread, but you can always use a 12" loaf of French bread cut in half.  Slice the bread open face so that both halves are still barely connected and spread mustard on both halves.  Add the ham, and then the roasted pork.  Add your Swiss cheese and then a few pickle slices. Put the halves back together and place the completed sandwiches in the oven on broil. Let the cheese melt and the bread heat up a bit. Enjoy!

The most dramatic part of the cuban sandwiches for me was the necessary "roast pork" ingredient. Uh hello? I had no clue on this one! To help me figure out how to make it, I asked a coworker or two and then went the handy dandy "google it" route and talked to my hubby... with information from all of the necessary sources I settled on the following pork roast recipe (and it worked).

1 pork roast
cover it with brown sugar, rubbing it into the meat
1 crock pot (slow cooker)


Set the meat covered in brown sugar into the crock pot, set the timer for 8 hours on low, and voila! Meat came straight of the bone! Tender and delicious!!!

 

The sandwiches were yummy and were another success! Yay!

Something New: Beautiful Baked Squash

If you remember, in mid July I announced that I would start a new routine in honor of the upcoming movie, Julie&Julia. I planned on making one new meal or rather, one new recipe per week and post them (the good, bad, and the ugly) on Verbal Vomit. My goal in introducing this change was two fold: a) that I become more comfortable with cooking by stepping outside of my normal box of recipes and b) that my hubby will get a new (hopefully tasty) treat once a week.

I started off strong and began my adventure with a tasty Red Beans and Rice recipe that proved to be successful. The following week I successfully completed my Happy Meal Dessert that received multiple raves. However the following week my routine was halted due to our amazing trip to Bermuda (see the beginning of August posts for full details on that), and since that time, I hadn't gotten back into the routine. Thanks to UFrank, I was reminded of my plan and goal, and have a new entry to share.

Firstly, I did have the opportunity of seeing Julie&Julia with my dear Observations of the Ordinary friend. I liked it. It was definitely a chick flick (not many men would enjoy it) and it's focused strictly on character development and dialogue. No action here. But I liked it anyway.


Now on to the recipe. This go around I attempted Beautiful Baked Squash. On a whim I took this recipe and GASP.... I changed it up and experimented. Oh my! For those that know me well, you know that this is quite shocking. Seriously. I'm a by the book kind of gal when it comes to recipes. Every measurement, every ingredients, I have to have it all to attempt it. I, however am learning to just go with the flow on cooking a bit and doing my best to exercise that lesson. So I tried on this one.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 pound Zucchini
• 1 pound Yellow Squash
• 4 whole Roma Tomatoes
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• ½ teaspoons Lawry's Seasoned Salt
• 2 teaspoons Fresh Thyme Leaves
• 5 Tablespoons Chicken Stock
• 2 cups Fresh Bread Crumbs
• 3 Tablespoons Melted Butter

Preparation Instructions

Slice squash, zucchini and tomatoes into 1/8 - 1/4 inch rounds. Arrange in an overlapping pattern in a quiche dish or 1 1/2 qt. casserole. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle on the Lawry’s and 1 t. of the thyme. Pour the chicken stock over. Mix the bread, melted butter and rest of the thyme. Sprinkle bread mixture on the veggies. Bake 45 minutes at 350.

And here is how I changed it up:
I replaced the tomatoes with onions (my fav). I cut the recipe in half, using a 1/2 pound of squash and a 1/2 pound of zucchini plus 1/2 of a large sweet onion. I only had 1/4 cup of bread crumbs, so I used what was available. For the chicken stock I actually used the water/mixture from the chicken I was boiling at the time for another recipe.


I cooked it all and it turned out very well. Yum. Yum. The only thing I would have changed is that some of the veggies ended up getting a bit soggy due to the many mixtures within the dish. Later I saw (online, because it did not print out on the printed version) that the recipe also states, "You may want to do a “poke” test on the veggies, beginning at 30 minutes baking time. You know, to avoid the whole soggy-mushy-slimey thing." Next time I'll follow that hint along the way. Great smelling and tasty side dish. Mmmm Mmmm.

bon appetit!

Something New: Happy Meal Desserts

After seeing these adorable burger desserts on my friend, Britt's blog, I was instantly interested in giving them a try one day. Brittany had made them for her husband on Father's Day and they turned out great. I just needed the right event to take them to and try my hand at the Betty Homemaker style presentation.

So the opportunity finally arrived this past week as my office has something called Fun Food Friday during the the months of June and July. We all split up into groups of five and when our team's day arrives, we supply our coworkers with breakfast and an afternoon snack. It was my team's turn to shine this past Friday and I was willing to do my best to make these burger desserts work. I went to the website that Britt referenced when she posted a blog about her burger desserts, and found out that Bakeralla not only did burgers, but she had a "how to" on making a full Happy Meal Dessert.

I was instantly hooked and determined to give it a whirl. So without further adieu, I'm pretty happy to say that my dessert presentation was a SUCCESS!

A quick shot of the burgers right after completion:

24 Happy Meal Desserts served:

Burgers = Cupcake bun + Brownie meat + Vanilla Icing mustard, ketchup, and lettuce.
French Fries = Sugar Cookies + Sugar salted

Proud "baker" after receiving many compliments on presentation, and even better, compliments on tastiness.

Getting proof of tastiness as model, Amanda shows the dessert actually being eaten.

Something New: Red Beans & Rice

In honor of the upcoming movie (which I hope to see), Julie & Julia, I have decided to attempt something new. I say attempt, because I'm very aware that sometimes things do not go according to plan, imagine that. I will try to make one NEW meal I've never done before every week (posting the event on Monday). It should not be too difficult to figure out recipes to make because, let's face it, I either cook the same thing over and over or do not cook very well anyway. So this will go one of two ways: a treat or a disaster. Let the games begin.

Tonight I attempted Red Beans & Rice without a box that held all the ingredients except adding water and the sausage. This was one step up, a simple recipe that I found on Kevin & Amanda's Recipe Blog. I started with the following ingredients and then followed this recipe step by step:

1 cup long grain white rice
2 cups hot water
1 teaspoon salt
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 pkg (14 oz) smoked sausage
1 can red beans
Zatarains Creole Seasoning

Add the rice, water and salt to a sauce pan with a lid. Bring to boil, reduce heat to low, then cover & simmer for 15 mins. Meanwhile, thinly slice the sausage and drain the juice from the red beans into the sink. Add 2-3 tbsp olive oil to to a large skillet and begin heating over medium heat. Add the sausage, give a sprinkling of creole seasoning and stir occasionally for about 7 mins until the sausages start to get sizzly on both sides. Add the red beans and stir until warmed through. About this time, your rice should be done too. Serve the beans and sausage over the rice. Add extra creole seasoning as desired at the table. Serves 2-3.

I had my niece read the recipe to me while I cooked. She was my little helper. Isn't she adorable.


As easy as this recipe sounds and is... I was worried because I have an "issue" with rice. For some reason, whether it's instant or any other kind, it's a struggle for me. Either too watery or too chewy... so I was very thankful it turned out this go around. The hubby, the niece, and even I was pleased with the end result tonight. Adding this one to my recipe cards. Yum.

My niece even took a photo of me while we cooked (below). New dish #1 was a success... encouraging me to try again.