What's Cookin', Good Lookin'?

Over the last couple of months, I've been really trying hard to cook at least two meals per week (sadly, the cold cereal industry has taken a hit because of this decision). Getting this done has been a challenge for three reasons: 

1. I'm not crazy about cooking.

2. Big Tex has the pallet of a 4-year old child (I'm not exaggerating; he doesn't like yogurt, squash, avocado, or pudding because they have textures that are "gross.")...but I love him lots and lots!

3. Big Tex and I both work full-time an hour away from our house; we're out the door by 6:45 am and never get home before 6 pm, so preparing a big meal after work is just not happening. 

Therefore, I've relied a lot on my crock pot and/or meals that can be prepped and ready to just throw on the grill when we get home. They also have to be pretty small-child friendly so that my almost 40-year old husband will eat them.


Partly so that I don't lose track of the recipes, and partly to share their greatness for you, I'm posting a few of the best I've discovered so far. Some of them are so easy, they'll make you cry with joy. None of them are difficult because, well, I just don't usually do difficult when it comes to food. I'm kind of lazy.

Hawaiian Chicken Kabobs
I added red bell peppers and served with rice. Yum!

Chicken Taco Filling
Use this easy-peasy homemade taco seasoning instead of store-bought


Taco Meat 
I made it with venison hamburger and it was the bomb


Guinness and Venison Stew
Too heavy for a hot Texas summer, but so nice for a cold winter's evening


Zesty Slow Cooker Barbecue Chicken 
Serve on slider buns and you will die of the deliciousness


Bonus: Overnight Oats
This is not a dinner recipe, nor will Big Tex even try it (it has yogurt and pumpkin in it. The horror!), but it's kind of changed my life and I just had to share it. Don't let the weirdness of cold oatmeal or the way it looks prevent you from trying it. It's super grab-and-goable, and it's loaded with nutrition. The "add-ins" I use are packed with fiber and deliciousness:

• 2 tablespoons Grapenuts
• 2 packets of stevia
• 1/4 cup canned pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling, just real pumpkin)

I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as we have! Let me know what you think :-)

What's Cookin', Good Lookin'?

I swear, I'm still here! Projects are coming along slow as molasses in January, so I haven't had too much to report on. But I did make this delish meal the other night and wanted to share!

Venison French Dip in the Crock Pot

I got the inspiration and majority of this recipe from one of my favorite go-to websites, All-Recipes (check out the original recipe here). I'm really trying to minimize the amount of meat I buy in the grocery store, so I decided to alter the recipe to incorporate the venison meat that we have in our freezer. We currently only have back strap, steaks, and hamburger meat, so I chose to the use the steaks. 

Ingredients

2 pounds venison steak (thawed or fresh)

1 can beef broth

1 can Campbell's French Onion Soup (condensed)

12 ounces stout beer (like Guinness)

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon onion powder

A few shakes of salt and pepper

1 loaf of French bread

Sliced Provolone cheese

Directions

*Place steaks in crock pot, pouring broth, soup, beer, and Worcestershire sauce over them. 

*Add garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. 

*Set crock pot to cook on low for 7 hours.

*When the meat is done cooking, remove it from the au jus and slice it up, then put it back into the au jus.

*Meanwhile, cut up the bread (cut the loaf in half long ways, then cut up each half into sandwich-sized pieces).

*Place one slice of Provolone on half of the pieces of bread.

*Place in the broiler for 1-3 minutes, keeping a constant eye on the bread. I AM SO NOT KIDDING ABOUT THIS - I left mine in for 4 minutes and burnt it to death. 

*Make sandwich with the sliced meat between one cheeseless slice of bread and one cheesed slice. 

*Serve with a ramekin 0f au just for dipping (and Zapp's crawdad potato chips ;-))

Enjoy!

What's Cookin', Good Lookin'?

Venison Lasagna

This is a report on the venison lasagna I wrote about yesterday, and it turned out SO FREAKIN GOOD that I just had to put the full recipe on here before I forgot how I did it. (Note: The sauce is based on this recipe; I made a couple changes to tailor it to my anti-pork-and-fennel taste, but the majority of the sauce recipe came from Ezra Poundcake, who cited the Hunter Angler Gardner Cook blog for its origin. The cheese filling recipe came from the Skinner Oven-Ready Lasagna Noodles box ;-))

2 pounds ground venison

1 onion, chopped finely

1 head of garlic, chopped finely

2 tablespoons of sugar

1/4 teaspoon of fennel seeds

1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped finely

2 tablespoons of oregano

1 cup of red wine (I used Oak Vineyard Merlot)

1 6-oz. can of tomato paste

1 8-oz. can of tomato sauce

1 28-oz. can of crushed tomatoes   

4 cups of shredded mozzarella (I used 2%)

1 15-oz. container of ricotta (I used low-fat)

1 egg

1. Brown the venison in a large saute pan.

2. Add the onion and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes.

3. Add the sugar, fennel seeds, oregano and basil. 

4. Add wine and tomato paste.

5. Bring the mixture to a boil. 

6. Add the tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes.

7. Mix the sauce and allow to simmer for about an hour.

8. While sauce is simmering, combine ricotta cheese and egg in a small bowl; mix together well.

9. Using a ladle, scoop a ladle-full of meat sauce onto the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan.

10. Place 3 (UNCOOKED!) lasagna noodles evenly in the bottom of the pan; they'll only fit one way (Note: the directions emphasize that you should not let the noodles touch each other or the sides of the pan since they'll expand in the cooking process).

11. Take 2/3 cup of the ricotta mixture and spread it evenly over the 3 noodles.

12. Scoop another ladle-full of sauce on top of the ricotta mixture and spread it evenly over the whole surface.

13. Sprinkle 1 cup of mozzarella evenly over the whole surface. 

14. Repeat steps 10 through 13 twice. 

15. Place your last 3 lasagna noodles on top, and cover with the remaining meat sauce.

16. Sprinkle the rest of your mozzarella on top.

17. Cover with foil and bake at 375 degree F for 35 minutes.

18. Remove foil and bake for another 15 minutes, or until cheese is golden brown. 

I've made a lot of lasagnas in my day, and they've all been pretty delicious. But Chris and I both agree that this is my best lasagna yet. So, thank you Hank Shaw, Rebecca Crump, Skinner, and, of course, Boney (the deer). 

What’s cookin’, good lookin’?

I love a potpie. Yum! And this past week I was scouring the Internet for a good venison potpie recipe and just couldn’t find one that spoke to me. A lot of them incorporated secondary meats like bacon (blech) and other culinary evils such as mushrooms (it’s fungus, people). So I decided to create my own. Credit where credit is due, though: my recipe was inspired and influenced by my favorite chicken potpie recipe. But I tweaked it to work for venison and also to optimize the crust-to-filling ratio. Serve with a side of mashed potatoes and a little bit of apple sauce, if you’re so inclined (my mom and I love apple sauce with red meat dishes, cranberry sauce with white meat dishes…so good!).

Oh, and I imagine this would also be delicious with stew beef if you'd prefer it. 

Widgapae Perfect Venison Pot Pie 

• 1 box refrigerated pie crusts (should come with two crusts)
• 1 package deep dish frozen pie crusts (should come with two crusts)
• 2 ¾ pounds cubed venison steak (like you’d put in a stew)
• Olive oil
• 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• Half a bag Steam n’ Mash potatoes (these are in the frozen French fry section at the grocery store)
• 1 bag steamable frozen mixed veggies
• 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon steak seasoning
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon onion flakes
• ½ teaspoon garlic-in-a-jar 
• 1 ¼ cup skim milk
• 1 can (10 3/4 ounce) 98% fat free cream of celery soup (Campbell’s or store brand both work fine)
• 1 can (10 3/4 ounce) beef broth
•  ¼ cup fat free sour cream

~Heat oven to 375°F. 

~Remove refrigerated pie crusts from box so that they can soften.

~In a 3-quart sauté pan, cook the venison meat in olive oil and the Worcestershire sauce (I cooked it, covered, over a very low heat for about 30 minutes). 

~Microwave and drain vegetables per directions on packaging. 

~While the meat and vegetables are cooking, whisk together flour, salt, steak seasoning, pepper, onion flakes, garlic, and milk in 2-quart saucepan until blended. Cook mixture over medium heat until sauce thickens (should take about 5 or 6 minutes). Be sure to stir continuously so the mixture doesn’t cling to the bottom of the pan and burn. 

~Stir in soup, beef broth, and sour cream. Add meat and vegetables (don’t mash the potatoes obviously; just put the little chunks in whole). Mix well. Cook until heated through (remember to keep stirring). 

~Open frozen pie crust bottoms and separate. Pour filling equally into each crust. Unroll top crusts (the refrigerated ones) and place one over each pie. There will be excess around the edges; flute it however you like (I like to make thick edges rather than let the excess hang over the side). 

~Cut a few slits in the middle of the pies to vent them. 

~Bake the pies at 375° for approximately 50-65 minutes (the cooking time will vary depending on your oven, but you want the crusts to be brown and you should see the filling bubbling through the slits). When it’s done cooking, let it sit for about 10 minutes before serving it because it will be piping hot!

Enjoy, and definitely let me know what you think!