No-Cook Pizza

I found this recipe after looking high and low for another no-cook main dish that wasn't all veggies and wraps hoping maybe my kids would eat it.


Cold Ham Sandwich Pizza

• 1/2 cup cream cheese with chives, softened
  
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 2 Tbsp. horseradish sauce
• 1 prepared Boboli® pizza crust
• 1-1/2 cups chopped cooked ham
• 1-1/2 cups chopped plum tomatoes
• 1/2 cup shredded lettuce
• 1/4 cup creamy Italian salad dressing

In small bowl, combine cream cheese, mayonnaise, and horseradish sauce and blend well. Spread over the pizza crust. Top with ham, plum tomatoes, and lettuce and drizzle with salad dressing. Cut into wedges and serve immediately. (6 servings)

I tweaked it a just a tad to fit what we had in our kitchen:
I used regular cream cheese and mixed it with the mayo and a little shot of dijon mustard since we're not a horseradish family.
I chopped up the deli ham I had, rather than cubed cooked ham, and made up my own pizza crust; I already had the oven on in the early morning making some quick breakfast bars, so I mixed up a Jiffy pizza crust (adding some garlic parmesan seasoning to the dough since I was going to be working with plain cream cheese) and popped it in the oven while it was on. Then I just left it out on the counter to cool and rest until we topped it cold at dinnertime.

Sawyer helped me spread the cheese mixture and sprinkle on the lettuce, tomatoes and ham. We threw some corn on the cob on the stove for a few minutes (so it wasn't a completely no-cook meal) and dinner was served.






























I had hoped Sawyer would be more likely to try it since he helped me make it; but notsomuch. He basically picked off a little ham off of his piece and called it good. Savannah did better, but didn't finish it. Ryan said he liked it but didn't seem blown away by it or anything. He did eat two pieces though...

I, on the other hand, loved this pizza! I was so nice and cool and refreshing. The cream cheese "sauce" was perfect and the fresh toppings were nice and light. I will definitely be coming back to this idea throughout the summer. I may pick up a Boboli or two to have on hand... or it would be really good on some focaccia bread or something similar.
Yum!!

Pulled Pork

We've been using this recipe regularly for going on a year and we're not even close to tired of it yet. It was our go-to company meal over the summer and it's not turned into that even this winter. It's perfect for a big group or just when you want a really really yummy really easy meal.
I originally found this super easy tasty method on this food blog.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
Here's all you need to get started:

a packet of chili seasoning mix
and a pork butt (or shoulder, but pork butt is more fun to talk about!)

Then all you have to do is rub your butt (see? told you it was more fun to talk about). Just take the seasoning packet and rub it all over, around and into your butt. The pork butt that is.
Then just stick the pork into your crockpot, turn it on low and leave it for 6-8 hours or all day long.

About 2 hours before you want to eat the pork, pull it out of the slow cooker and pull it all apart with two forks. Or your hands... once it cools a little, I find it easier with my hands. Once it's all pulled and shredded, throw it all back in the slow cooker (drain all the fatty juice) and pour a big bottle of your favorite bbq sauce all over it. Stir it up, put the lid back on and leave it for another hour or two. The longer the better, but I never can wait it smells so good!

Then just serve it up on some buns and a nice big salad... we love it with corn on the cob in the summer, or maybe some fresh seasoned green beans. Any of those summery bbq feeling foods!

Cheesy Tilapia

I saw this recipe on a blog documenting A Year of Crockpotting. I've taken quite a few recipes from there actually, because I love using my crockpot. This is my favorite so far.

This was a recipe using the same method of wrapping the fish in foil packets as my favorite salmon recipe. The foil traps all the moisture and juices in, making a beautifully tender fish, never dried out. This recipe simply calls for a crockpot instead of an oven, and I found myself wondering which was more energy efficient; using the crock pot for 3-4 hours or using the oven for 30-40 minutes. Anyone know the answer to that?
I definitely like having it prepared and out of the way before the dinner hour though!

Here's the recipe:

Cheesy Tilapia

• 3 or 4 Tilapia filets (or any other favorite white fish)
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese (cheddar is fine, parmesan is yummy!!)
• juice of 2 lemons
• 4 chopped garlic cloves
• pinch of salt and pepper

1. mix all ingredients except for the fish in a bowl
2. lay out pieces of foil for each piece of fish
3. rub sauce mixture on both sides of each piece of fish
4. fold foil over fish to make seal packets
5. toss the packets into the crockpot and cook on high for 3-4 hours; fish should flake easily with a fork

Ryan and I really liked this fish. One discovery I made was that the sauce was extremely watery when first taken out of the crockpot... I had cut some up for the kids and when I returned to the packet to transfer the rest of the fish to my plate, the sauce had thickened up and turned "cheesier". I used parmesan cheese and the whole thing was really yummy.

French Dip Sandwiches... YUM!

I've been craving a good French Dip sandwich lately. I used to always order them in restaurants, but then I ran into a few too many blah ones and got tired of it. There's nothing like a really good perfectly tender juicy french dip sandwich though....
So when I found an easy yummy sounding recipe for it, I decided to try it. (First I found the recipe I wanted to try here, but ended up over here as in our house it's much more likely to find beer than a good red wine. hehe.)
So here's what we ended up with:

In the crock pot goes
1 can beef broth
1 can condensed french onion soup
dash of both garlic salt and onion powder
and 1 bottle (12 oz) of beer (I used an IPA because that's all we had in the house (well, that's not true-- we had plenty of light beers, but really I didn't need to be adding water to the broth!) but comments on the Allrecipe recipe mentioned the darker the beer the better)

Then I salt and peppered a 2+ lb sirloin tip roast and plunked that into the broth, turned the crock pot on low for 7 hours and that's it.
I had Ryan slice it up and put it back in the pot about 30 minutes before we ate to let the beef soak up more of the juices.
We piled the slices up in little french rolls, doled out the juice in individual ramekins, and French Dipped away!
It was really good. It may be just that I haven't had one of these sandwiches in so long, but I was quite impressed. I love easy recipes, I especially love easy crock pot recipes, and I loved this one! I will definitely be making this again!

Grilled Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin

Gotta love Aldi.
I personally love the premarinated pork loins you can get in the stores. A great base for some great recipes, but also yummy enough and easy enough to just cook it and eat it as is.
And when Aldi sells some great quality pork loins for about half the price of most grocery stores' sale prices... what is not to love about that??

We used a simple Teriyaki marinated tenderloin tonight and slapped it right out of the package onto the grill. Cooked up some asparagus next to it and we were good to go!
It was so moist and flavorful... didn't need any sauce or dips or anything. Unless you ask the kids of course and then I'm sure you'd be pouring on the ketchup right along side them...

you should try these

a couple of catch-up recipes from last week:

Wednesday we had
Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin with Apple Glaze

Ingredients
-		1 HORMEL® ALWAYS TENDER® Teriyaki Flavored Pork Tenderloin (17 oz.)
-		2 tablespoons butter
-		1 cup apple juice

Directions
Preheat oven to 425ºF. Remove tenderloin from package. Place butter in an ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. When butter foams, add the tenderloin and brown it well on all sides (about 3 minutes per side). Remove tenderloin from the skillet and whisk in apple juice, stirring up browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. Return tenderloin to skillet and baste with juices. Place skillet in oven and roast meat, turning every 5 minutes and until internal temperature reaches 155ºF (about 20 minutes). Remove skillet from oven and allow tenderloin to rest for 5 minutes. Slice tenderloin into ½-inch medallions and place on a serving platter. Before serving, drizzle medallions with remaining glaze.

We serve this over our favorite brown rice.
I love this dish.
Savannah even finished hers without complaining.... so you know it's okay!

Later in the week, I was going to make Beef Stroganoff, but Ryan was complaining he wasn't in the mood for more pasta. I came across this recipe I had floating around in my recipe book so I decided to give it a spin:

Beef Stoganoff Pot Pie
1 pkg Pillsbury Pie Crusts, softened as directed on package
1 lb extra-lean ground beef (I used the beef I had for the noodley stroganoff... cubed sirloin, probably just over a pound)
1 cup chopped onions
1 garlic clove minced
1 cup soft bread crumbs
1 cup chopped parsley
1/2 tsp pepper
2 eggs
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
4.5 oz sliced mushrooms
1 egg white, slightly beaten

1. prepare pie crust as directed on package for two-crust pie using 9" glass pie pan.
2. Heat oven to 375*. In large skillet, cook ground beef (or beef cubes!), onion and garlic over med-high heat until beef is browned and cooked through. Drain. Stir in all remaining ingredients except egg white; mix well. Pour into crust-lined pan.
3. Unfold second crust. Cut out shapes or vents in several places. Place crust over filling; flute edge. Brush with beaten egg white.
4. Bake at 375* for 45 to 55 minutes or until crust is deep golden brown If necessary, cover edge of pie crust with strips of foil after 15-20 minutes of baking to prevent excessive browning. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

It's definitely not low-cal, but it was really yummy! Savannah helped me bake it all, but she wasn't too interested in eating the "meat pie". It's a nice warm, homey, meal for grey days!

Cheesy Tuna Noodle

Hold on to your hats, the kids ate a meal!
Well, that may have something to do with the fact that it's little more than they're stand-by of mac and cheese, but still... they ate it! With a little extra protein!!

Here's my super quick, super not-good-for-you, Cheesy Tuna Noodle Casserole:
2 boxes of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, prepared
2 cans of Cream of Mushroom Soup
2 cans of tuna, drained
mix together
ta-da!

This is one of my favorites. Don't ask me why. And I'm not a big leftover fan, but I will eat this every day warmed over out of the fridge until it's gone.

Beef Kebobs

Super excited about this meal!! It was so quick and easy and it was delicious. Also, something different for us. I mean, we do plenty of grilling around here, but can't say that I've ever done kebobs and this was so simple and so good!
Recipe is from familyfun.com

	1/2 pound lean round or stew beef, cut into 1-inch cubes
	Salt to taste
	Cherry tomatoes (20 or so)
	1/4 cup soy sauce
	1/4 cup honey

1. Combine the beef cubes, cherry tomatoes, soy sauce, and honey and toss to coat. (I put it all in a tupperware bowl and it was Savannah's job to shake it up!)
2. Skewer the beef cubes and tomatoes, alternating. If you're using wooden skewers, soak them in water for 20 minutes or so beforehand. (Ryan had the kids help him do this. Savannah is very into making patterns right now!)
3. Place the kebobs on a small baking sheet and keep them covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator until you're ready to cook them. The kebobs can be broiled for 10 to 14 minutes (turn once) or grilled. Serves two adults and two kids, with leftovers.
We served the kebobs with herb buttered angel hair pasta and steamed (and buttered) green beans. This was definitely my favorite meal of the week. Savannah loved the cherry tomatoes and the noodles... she did try some of the meat for us. Sawyer, of course ate nothing.

Crusty Lemon Chicken

I found this recipe where I found this blog idea in the first place...
Melissa's Did They Eat It? blog.
The Crusty Lemon Chicken is a quick and easy recipe she got from a book called Seat of the Pants Suppers.

I loved how easy this chicken was and then how good it tasted even with all that ease! Definitely one we'll do again. I made up some cheesy broccoli rice and some crescent rolls and we also ate the applesauce we made today.
The kids basically stuck to the applesauce and rolls, but I made Savannah eat at least half of her chicken and she didn't complain too much. She didn't even need ketchup!!

Crock Pot Potatoes

I love this meal. If you can find 20 minutes at some point during the day to do some peeling, slicing and cubing, you can get it in the pot, and you're set and it'll be ready and waiting for you by dinner. I love my crock pot! I can't wait till fall and winter weather to make me want to make these warm and hearty meals again on a more regular basis...

Country Scalloped Potatoes and Ham
8 potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 lb fully cooked ham, cut into 1" cubes
1 pkg (1 oz) country style gravy
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 cups water
2 cups shredded cheese

Combine potatoes, onion and ham in lightly greased crockpot. Combine gravy mix, mushroom soup and water; whisk until combined. Pour gravy mixture over potatoes. Cover and cook on Low for 8 hrs or High for 4 hours. Top with cheese during the last 20-30 minutes.
Tip: to prevent darkening of potatoes, toss sliced uncooked potatoes in a mixture of 1 cup water and 1/2 tsp cream of tartar; drain and proceed with recipe.

Sawyer didn't touch it, but Savannah actually ate some this time. I think she was just starving. After five or six bites (when she realized what she was eating) she started asking what else she could have...