Mississippi Roast In Crockpot

I saw this roast recipe popping up on Pinterest and thought I'd give it a try.  It turned out just as good as everyone was bragging it would be.  It's a keeper.  I used a chuck roast......

One stick of unsalted butter, one package of McCormick Au Jus Gravy mix, one package of Hidden Valley Ranch Dip and six peperoncini's.  No water needed.

Here's the order:  Roast, gravy mix, ranch mix, stick of butter, and last the peperoncini's.

I cooked on high for two hours, then turned to low for the next five.  Here's how it looked half way done........

I really wanted mashed potatoes to go with it but forgot to buy them at the store.  I had brussel sprouts in the fridge, so that's what my side dish had to be.  I sauteed onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent, then added chopped fresh brussel sprouts and bacon bits.  Stir fried for about five minutes and it was ready.

Amazingly good !!!!

Cucumber Salsa

Cucumber Salsa is at the top of my list right now.  It's so flavorful.  To make it yourself you will need:
1 cucumber
1 small tomato
1/4 red onion
1 jalapeno
1 T minced garlic
4 T chopped fresh cilantro
1 T chopped fresh parsley
2 t each of lemon and lime juice
1 t seasoned Salt
1/2 t cumin
1/2 cup Sour Cream

Chop the vegetables, the parsley and the cilantro....

Mix the sour cream, the lemon and lime juice, the cumin and seasoned salt all together......

Mix the sour cream mixture into the vegetables......

Serve with chips of your choice.....

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Chocolate Sea Salt Almond Clusters

Two of my favorites.....chocolate and almonds.  I saw this recipe last week and wanted to try it.  

Roasted salted almonds
Chocolate
Sea Salt

Chop almonds in food processor for a few seconds.....

Melt chocolate in a double boiler.  I don't have one, so I used two different size sauce pans.  I put the smaller one on the bottom, filled it with water and placed a larger pan on top and filled with the chocolate pieces.  I had to hold the top pan in place but it worked!

After chocolate is completed melted, stir in the almonds and drop onto a plate in spoonful sizes.  Sprinkle with sea salt and place in fridge for a little bit.

Find someone to share them with because they are very addicting.

Gefu Spirelli Spiral Slicer Zucchini Noodles

Last September I went wheat free.  My mom went to a nutritionist because she was diagnosed as pre-diabetic and she learned about the Wheat Belly Diet.  I looked into it and decided I wanted to go wheat free as well.  It's been much easier than I thought it would.  I've only gone off of it once and that was at Thanksgiving. 

I've been wanting one of these Gefu Spirelli slicers for about 3 months and finally decided to go ahead and spend the $30 and get one.  I found one on Amazon.com and used it for the first time today.  I made zucchini noodles to make spaghetti with.  The Gefu spiraled the zucchini in one long piece.  I then boiled it for about five minutes and it was ready to top with a meat sauce.

To keep this meal on a healthy track, I used some ground turkey and made my sauce by diluting one small can of tomato sauce with some water.  Then added some garlic powder, parsley flakes, basil and seasoned pepper.

Topped it with some freshly grated whole milk cheese and it was a perfect dinner!

Brigadeiros

Christmas day I made Brigadeiros for the first time.  They are similar to a truffle.  You will need:
Condensed milk
butter
Cocoa 60% or higher chocolate baking bar
Sprinkles of choice
Paper candy cups

I set the stove to medium low.  In a saucepan, combine one can condensed milk, two squares of chocolate and one teaspoon of butter.  Stir constantly for 20 minutes, always scraping the sides so nothing has a chance to stick.

It will be ready when it becomes shiny and thick.  You should be able to drag your spoon/spatula through the mixture and have it hold it's shape.  Transfer to a shallow dish.

Before getting your hands in the candy, arrange your paper cups on a cookie sheet and get your sprinkles organized.  I also used coconut for some of mine.

While keeping your hands buttered, grab a small amount of the chocolate caramel and roll into a ball then into your sprinkles or coconut.  I chose to wash my hands between each candy ball to get the sprinkles off my hands and not have sprinkles mixed inside the next ball.  This uses more butter, but well worth it to get pretty brigadeiros.

After all brigadeiros are made, put cookie sheet in the refrigerator for 15 minutes or until party time.

My mom loved these.  Between her and my dad, they finished off the whole batch of them!

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Brussel Sprouts With Bacon And Garlic

A couple of weeks ago while on a visit in Texas, Judy made us some Brussels sprouts that were amazing.  A few days ago, I tried my own version.  You will need:  Olive oil, garlic, red onion, bacon bits and Brussels sprouts.

Cut the ends of the Brussels sprouts and discard any browned leafs, then quarter the sprouts.  Mince the amount of garlic you want and finely chop some onion.  Heat however much olive oil you want to use in a hot skillet, add the garlic and onion.  Saute until they become translucent, add the sprouts and bacon pieces.  Keep sauteing until the sprouts are tender and the bacon is crispy.  You may have to add more olive oil.

Truly delectable !

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Tis The Night Before Thanksgiving - Time To Make The Pies

The night before Thanksgiving.........there is as much prep in this night as there is in the night before Christmas.  I've been making daily trips to the grocery store for the last 5 days.  Always forgetting something or deciding to add another dish to the line up.  For desserts, I'm making the chocolate and the pecan pies.  Katie is bringing the pumpkin pies and my sister is bringing chocolate covered strawberries.

Tonight I got my four pies made....

I used my mother's favorite recipe for chocolate pie.......Hershey's Cocoa Cream Pie.....and yes, all the pages in my recipe book look this well loved!

Mom, Dad and I have been following a wheat free diet the last few months, so for the pecan pies I decided to try a crust less recipe.....

Six eggs per pecan pie!  Oh my!  Hope we will be good about just taking a small slice!

The pies are now made....the chocolate ones will go in the fridge and I'll let the pecan spend the night on the stove top....

Cleanup took a while.....

but the dishwasher is now running....

The start of the buffet line is set up........

the tablecloth is ironed and on the table...

the kitchen is closed for the night now....

but will buzzing again come 6 am....dinner is at noon

Happy Thanksgiving 2012 !