Tonight's Menu

We are having our neighbors over for a thank-you dinner. He did some work on our internet and cable and made it much faster! Here is our menu:

New York Strip Steak (Kroger has these on sale for a great price)
Baked potatoes (rubbed with olive oil and covered in sea-salt)
Salad
Sweet Corn
Texas Toast

And for dessert:
Peach Cobbler served with vanilla ice cream

I am sooo hungry!

Slow-Cooker Beef Stew

This is a wonderful and easy recipe:

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

3 large potatoes, cut into 1 in pieces
4 large carrots, cut into 1/2 in pieces
2 lbs. stew beef, cut into bite-size chunks
1 large onion, chopped
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup flour
1 cup condensed beef broth
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce

Place potatoes in bottom of slow cooker. Add carrots on top. Then, add beef and cover with onions. Combine the soy sauce, salt, paprika, pepper and flour in a bowl, mix and pour over the meat mixture. Combine beef broth and tomato sauce in a bowl and pour into cooker. Cook on high for 5 hours or on low for 8-10 hours. Delicious!!

Pink Lemonade

One of my student's mother gave me this recipe last year. It is soooo good and easy to make.

1 gallon jug
1 cup of sugar (i usually only used 1/2 to 3/4 cup)
Pink and yellow cans of Country Time lemonade (not individual cup ones)
2 oranges, quartered and squeezed
1 orange, sliced for serving

Measure lemonade powder for 3 qts of yellow and 1 qt of pink, add sugar and squeezed oranges. Fill the rest of the jug with water. Let it sit the night before. Remove oranges quarters. Serve with new orange slices

I used this for a wedding shower, graduation, picnic and even for a family birthday party. Everyone loves it!

Quick, Easy Meal

My secrets for quick, easy meals:

* Buy a rotissori chicken from Sams (WalMart and Kroger also have them), pull chicken off, add bbq sauce, simmer. Throw frozen fries into oven before you start tearing up the chicken and they will be done at the same time.

* Chicken from above, lettuce, any other salad toppings and salad dressing. Good! I bought this salad dressing while I was at the Biltmore for Thanksgiving. It is Parmesean Italian Dressing and it is wonderful. (you can order it online from Biltmore.com)

*Buy sausage, hamburger in bulk. Cook, drain and divide into serving sizes in freezer bags. Freeze. Just set out when needed for a recipe. I use these for: spaghetti sauce, pizzas and ugly biscuits. Makes cooking so much easier.

*Buy chicken in bulk. Cook in crock-pot all day-just add seasonings (salt, pepper,etc). Let cool and chop/shred into serving sizes in freezer bags. Freeze. Just like above meat, set out when ready to use in a recipe. I use these for: any chicken casseroles, quesadillas, and salads.

Do you have any secrets that you are willing to share?

Butterfinger Cake

My mom makes a caramel cake (devil's food cake,sweetened condensed milk, caramel) that is wonderful. When I was in college, she would make one for me to bring home. My suitemates would be waiting on me on Sunday afternoons so that they could eat some.
Anyway, this is similar but uses a yellow cake mix instead of the chocolate one. It is also covered in butterfinger bars. Wonderful!

Butterfinger cake

1 yellow cake mix, mix and bake according to directions
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 jar of caramel
4 butterfinger candy bars, chopped
1 8oz. cool whip

Bake cake. When still hot, poke holes into top. Pour sweetened condensed milk and caramel over top. Sprinkle with butterfinger bars. Refrigerate overnight or at least 3 or 4 hours. Cover with cool whip and serve.