Slow Cooker BBQ Pork Ribs

Hey there!!

It's been harder & harder for me to plan ahead, lately, but I actually DID thaw out my boneless ribs so I could make them today.  I was excited like a child waking up on Christmas morning, knowing I get to cook my ribs today.  Is that silly?  Oh, I don't care!

Once again, I do what I always do - - I search and search and take information from a handful of different recipes and make up my own.  Here's how it went.... 

Ingredients:

(Roughly) 3 lbs of boneless pork ribs

1 large white onion, big chunks

1C water

Chicken bouillon powder (enough for 1 1/2 cups of 'stock')

Garlic powder

Cumin (I love this stuff!!!)

Mesquite seasoning

(small dash) of cinnamon

1/2 C white wine

Bay leaves

1 lg bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce (or your favorite)

1/2 C brown sugar

1/2 C applesauce (I used my homemade apple butter, but -of course- did not write down the recipe. Ugh)

Liquid smoke

Hot sauce or spicy bbq sauce (just a bit - to add a tad of Ooomph to it)

Directions:

1) Spray the inside of your crock-pot with cooking spray.  I found this tip in one of the many recipes and it just made sense.  I've never done it before, but not sure why.  Chop the onion into big chunks and cover whole bottom with it.  

2) Mix together the 1 C water and the next 7 ingredients in a cup & pour half of it over the onions.  Layer in all the boneless ribs and pour the rest of the mixture over top.

3) Sprinkle the brown sugar and applesauce/apple butter on top of the pork.  Put the crock-pot on High/6 hours, put the lid on it and walk away for awhile.  

4) After it cooks a little over an hour, I checked on it to see how it's coming.  The house is already starting to smell pretty good.  I stirred it a bit, moved some things around, re-covered it and let it go some more.

5) After another hour, I came back.  The ribs are starting to look tender, now, which is good.  I mixed into the juices about 1/2 C of the BBQ sauce I am going to use.  Moved the ribs around a bit with some tongs, re-covered then walked away, once more.

6)  Once they have been cooking for about 3 hours, I came back and they looked juicy and smelled delicious!!!

Still 6) I took out most of the liquid & discarded it.  I reserved a small amount (about 1/2 C or so) in a small bowl and mixed in the rest of the BBQ sauce.  Add in the liquid smoke & a few small squirts of the spicy BBQ sauce, to give it a bit of a kick.  Poured it all on top of the ribs (which are starting to fall apart now, yummy!!) lowered the temp to Low/10 hours, re-covered again and walked away.

7)  1 hour later the ribs were awesome and ready to be matched up with yummy sides and devoured.  My meal consisted of the BBQ Ribs, Buttery Dill Mashed Potatoes, Bacon & Green Beans and Parmesan Garlic Biscuit Knots (will post that recipe separately)  YUM!!  

It's My Birthday!!

Yeah... so it's another year gone by and September 27th has come and gone and I'm older.  Another year, o well, another year.  

Yay.

No big deal anymore, really.  I'm not at a number I despise (yet) and running out of the 'fun milestones' as far as birthdays go.  But, I still like to think I get a little something special on my birthday.  So.... 

I got myself some new Rachael Ray Pots & Pans set!  I truly wanted green but the closest I saw was blue.  They are beautiful, they are non-stick, they are wonderful and now.... they are MINE!  

I just wanted to share in my happiness with all my friends that read my ramblings.  I can't wait to use them and enjoy them!!  

Happy Birthday to me!! 

Birthday - Red Velvet & Cheesecake Cake

Hey everyone!  Today is my husbands birthday and he loves Red Velvet Cake.  I don't know why, I don't see the appeal, it's very bitter and blah to me, but he loves it.  So.... I thought I'd mix his favorite and MY favorite (cheesecake) and see how things turn out.

I searched the internet for awhile and found many recipes but I mostly stuck to just one.  I used this cake recipe AND cheesecake recipe.  For ingredients and instructions - check this out: 

http://galexicupcakes.blogspot.com/2011/02/ultimate-red-velvet-cake-cheesecake.html

I have made many, many different types of cream cheese frosting on my own and I always taste the powdered sugar.  I am MUCH better at just adding yummies to already made frosting, if needed.  So for this cake, I just used store bought, creamy cream cheese frosting.

I bought a spring form pan (finally) just for this project and was super excited to use it.  I can't believe how much easier everything was and even more fun!!  Can you believe it?  It made cooking more fun.... no, BAKING!  I hate baking, to be honest and now it's fun.  LOVE my spring form pan!  I used it on all three layers... the 2 with Red Velvet and 1 Cheesecake.

May I mention - - do you have ANY idea how much 2oz of food coloring is?  I thought I'd be fine with my normal red that comes in the 4 pack, it was full, I'd be good.  Right?  Nah... that's only 0.3oz.  What the hey?  I had to make an extra run to the store (across the street.... lol) to get two large bottles, 1oz each, of red food coloring.  Holy cow - that's a lot!  My hands look as thought I had a bloody run in with an intruder. Luckily I changed my shirt before I started.  Anyhoo - enough on that.

I'm not a layer person.... (remember the orange layered cake - Jan '12??) .... but I followed these instructions to a T and it turned out great.  I'm proud.  I had to trim a little bit around the edges, but all 3 layers stuck together and were completely servable and edible.  Yay!!  Success!!  (Now, the visual appearance of the outside was not so fancy, but I hid most of that with pretty red sprinkles!!)  

This cake was a bit rich for the little ones - I just ate the middle cheesecake layer.  However, the birthday boy enjoyed it.  Hope he plans on eating the rest.  xoxo

Bacon Pancakes, Makin Bacon Pancakes....

Christopher, my husband, had this once as his ringtone.  It's from a cartoon my boys all watch & love.... and I actually find it quite funny, too.  However - this song is HORRIBLY annoying because it sticks in your head worse than The Song That Never Ends!!!

Today is Chris's birthday and he loves breakfast, so what's better than breakfast for supper??  I'm going to make him eggs & chorizo (Ugh Chorizo - I don't like how greasy it is, but he loves it...), pears with raspberries and granola..... AND...... BACON PANCAKES!!

I've found a few different ways online to make bacon pancakes and a few of them made the bacon soggy.  That is a shame to bacon!  I like crispy, crunchity bacon, so (in 'me-fashion') I winged it.  I baked the bacon first until almost done.  I then poured out my batter like normal but placed the bacon pieces on top.  Sprinkled on some cinnamon (cuz Chris likes them like that) and flipped when ready.  The bacon sizzled up nicely (a FEW got a little too dark.... Ooops) and they looked totally yummy!! 

See how good they look?  

If interested - here's the whole menu for my husband birthday meal.  I have to say it - it's NOT what I would like, but it's his day.... so his choice.  

Pears w/raspberries & granola

Scrambled eggs w/chorizo & cheese

Bacon pancakes with strawberry syrup

Happy Birthday my love!!!  

** Bacon pancakes, makin bacon pancakes.  Bacon Pan-CAKES!!! **

Homemade Tomato Soup??

10:00am **
Hello!  So, today it's chilly outside in South Dakota so I'm feeling like making a soup.  I want to put something in the crock pot, that'll sit, simmer and make the house smell yummy!  So I'm going to try stewing my tomatoes all day and see how things turn out for my soup later tonight.

I have made homemade tomato soup before and it was good, but I'm not sure if stewing all the yumminess first would make a difference?  I have no clue.  Good or bad.  No idea.  So I'll mention how things are going along the way and hopefully I'll learn something from my boredom today.  Hm... hopefully.

I don't know much about tomatoes, I will sit down and learn more about them someday - but for now, please forgive my vagueness in the specific tomato area.  Having said that - here is what I added into the crock-pot just now:

8 'Tomatoes on the vine'
1 Md white onion
1/4 stick of unsalted butter
1 C water
Chicken Bouillon
1/2 C Red Wine
Garlic
Liquid Smoke (Just a tad - I always add too much and it becomes overbearing quickly!!)
Oregano
Basil
Salt & Pepper

I put the crock-pot on a lower setting for 8 hours.... I'll check it in a few and see how things are stewing.

Hehehe.

11:05am**
I've already learned something... after doing some research on homemade tomato soup and stewed tomatoes, I have realized I did NOT cut out the stiff, hard white centers of the tomatoes.  I have taken each half out of the pot and now done that.  I've also realized that I probably should have boiled the tomatoes first, blanched them & then taken off the skins.  Hm... however, it's a bit too late for that, so we'll just see how it goes and I'm sure I'll be able to skin them later, down the road.  Trial and error - that's how I cook.  Oh fun!!



1:15pm **
So I'm having doubts on my stewed tomato soup.  It just doesn't look right.  I used my potato smasher and mushed around a little and the tomatoes crushed easily, which is a good thing, to me.  I mix it all together and the tomatoes are smashed pretty well, but it just doesn't look right.  I taste it and it's yummy.  So....  just like most everything else I make, it looks a bit 'odd' but it tastes great!  So... I'm sticking with it.

However, I did add a few things to it; cumin (I could be blamed for cumin overload - - I love it!!), a small sprinkle of sage, a bit more garlic & a bit more liquid smoke.  I'm trying to give it a more hearty, full taste and hopefully that'll do it.  We'll check it some more in a little bit.

Side note: I did have a thought, while trying to make my tomato soup more hearty... I have a can of Hormel Chili - no beans.  Once the soup is finished I may add half or the whole can of that.  I'm teetering between that possibly ruining my day-long efforts in making a wonderful tomato soup or would it enhance the soup (which could end up badly, honestly) and truly make it hearty?  It's possible, in the end, that I add it to just the kids' portion, so that they will eat it for sure.  Hm.... I'll debate this a little further before it's finished.  Just a thought.  

2:25pm **

I have officially scorched my tongue testing my creation - and it hurts like hell!!  BUT... I am actually very happy with how it's tasting and do not feel like adding a can of pasty, chunky, greasy chili to it would do it any justice.  I do love those Hormel chili's in the right circumstance, however if I'm going homemade, might as well go all out, huh?  So.... no canned chili in my stewed tomato soup.  And my boys will still eat it.... I'm sure of it.


4:00pm **
My tomatoes are making the house smell wonderful and I think they are 'stewed' to their full capacity by now.  I have turned off the crock-pot and took the lid off... hopefully they will cool off enough for me to blend the heck out of them later.  My tongue still hurts but the tomato juices taste even yummier than before. So far, I'd say things are going quite well.

(Pardon the dirty crock-pot.  How in the WORLD could it stay clean with such yumminess inside??)

5:50pm **

So I have blended the stewed ingredients and prepared to heat it up.  I got my pan out, placed a bit of sour cream in the pot as I turned the heat on and then added the soup.  It heated up appropriately and then I made the grilled cheese while the soup heated up.  Overall, it was quite yummy, however I'm not sure if the stewing all darn day made a difference, other than it gave me something to do on my (obviously) very boring day.  

My main problem is that when I cook for a long period of time, I tend to NOT want to eat anything later.  Ugh!  However, this was yummy and much better than canned tomato soup, yet I do not believe I'll spend all day simmering & stewing the ingredients again.  Not for a soup.  It pretty much was a success, though, I do believe.

Hope you enjoyed my adventure today.

Apples!!

Last weekend, I took all my boys to the Apple Festival at the local Apple Orchard and we had a blast!!  We have gone a few times and I tend to forget that it's for fun.... NOT necessarily to get apples.  I buy too many bags to fill up while we're out in the orchard and thus... end up with way more apples than we need!  (And spend more money than I'd like, but it's for the 'experience', right??  I keep telling myself that.  lol)

So now... what to do with all these apples??  My littlest boy, Micah, LOVES apples and he can eat and eat and eat them, so that takes care of a few, but we are still left with FOUR bags of apples that I need to find recipes for.

Unfortunately, I have NO idea what kinds of apples we have.  There are signs at the beginning of each row of trees, but we don't tend to follow the lines very well - - we didn't go up and down the rows, to keep track.  Oh no!!  We weaved in & out, back & forth, side to side.... and have NO clue what types of apples we have.  

** ALL my boys.  I love them so much!!  **

Now I'm on a hunt for some yummy, creative and fun apple recipes to use up my stash.  Whenever I find some... I will, of course, let you know how they go.  Good, bad and yummy!!

Oh.... these apples!! 

Best Homemade Spaghetti Sauce Ever!!

I love spaghetti!!  I make it so many different ways and put different things in it.  The possibilities are truly endless when it comes to this meal.  One thing I've never done, though, is make my very own sauce and today I've decided to do that.  It was a great decision and I was told after supper, that it was the best spaghetti sauce ever.  Hm...  I would agree.  (Granted, the fact that all the ingredients were fresh would alone be enough to make it better than canned... however, I believe I did a great job overall.)  The sauce is so flavorful and is thick enough that it doesn't run off your plate.  It sticks right to the pasta and evenly coats all the other goodies you'd put in your s'getti!!  Enjoy!!

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

6 large tomatoes (I don't know differences, but the large ones you'd slice for BLT's)
1 large yellow onion
olive oil (or veg oil)
5 cloves of garlic
liquid smoke
1 tbsp butter
1/2 C brown sugar
small can of tomato paste
1/4 C white vinegar
1 pkt of Beef Onion soup mix
hot sauce - your favorite, go-to hot sauce
1/3 C Burgundy Red Wine
garlic powder
celery salt
basil (I used dried... didn't have fresh)
Fresh parsley
** grated parm cheese **

1) Heat up about 1/4 C oil in large pot with the chp'd garlic cloves until they are cooked & the oil is infused with garlic.  Remove the garlic chunks from the oil and then quarter the large tomatoes & chunk-chop up the large onion.... lightly salt & pepper them & place them in the pot.  Drizzle the liquid smoke on top of veggies, as much or little as you like.... I used quite a bit.  Once it warms a little add in the butter.

2) Once butter melts & the tomatoes start to mush a bit when you stir it - - add in the brown sugar, paste and vinegar.  Stir frequently while on medium heat.  The tomatoes will become mushy & more sauce-like, but many chunks will still remain.  Add in the soup-mix packet & let it bubble & boil for a few minutes, then turn down to a simmer and let simmer for 3-4 hours, then turn off heat.

3) Once the mixture cools.... blend it until as smooth as you like your sauce.  (If you put something in the blender that's got a kick of heat in it, it will cause a lot of pressure build-up and cook burst out of the blender. Thus a big mess for you to clean up!  Thanks Bobby Flay, I never knew that!!)  Heat the sauce back up... add in your spices.  Garlic powder, celery salt, dried basil, salt & pepper, hot sauce and stir in the red wine.

4) Chop up the fresh parsley and top your spaghetti with the parsley & grated parm cheese.  Yummy!

For the rest of the meal - - this is what I did.... 

** Brown 1 lb ground beef in skillet, adding salt & pepper & garlic powder before finished.  Adding in 1 Tbsp butter & about 10 small white mushrooms, chunked up.  Cook on medium heat until almost done, then add in 1/3C red wine and turn heat up while stirring.  The wine will soak into the mushrooms and cook off.  Once liquid is gone, it's done.
** For the spaghetti, I tend to always lean toward the thin spaghetti and I buy 1 lb, since my family loves leftovers. 

** I usually buys large garlic bread that I can cut up on my own.  I cut them into 2-3 in long pieces this time and only put in the oven for 6 min or so, instead of 10, like the package told me to.  Meanwhile....

** I cook 1 bunch of fresh asparagus (rough, hard ends trimmed off) in reserved bacon grease.  ( I love bacon, as you might know now, and sometimes reserve the grease for future foods.  Great for flavoring potatoes and veggies and other things...)  I used about 1 Tbsp of the grease.  When almost done, I sprinkle some salt & lemon pepper on top & let it cook a min or so more.  (I really like the way the lemon pepper enhances the asparagus flavors!) 

** Once the bread is out of the oven, turn the broiler on.  Top the garlic bread with the asparagus spears & then sprinkle on some white 'Italian' shredded cheese.  Place under the broiler for a few minutes, just so the cheese melts and tips turn a bit brown.  (Notice: My 4 year old Carter's piece only has 3 asparagus spears... You get in what you can, huh?)

This turned out really great... if you try it, hope you like it just as much!!

  ** ** ** ** ** ** 

I got an 'early Christmas gift' from my husband - - a nice spaghetti handler!!  (I don't know the technical term, but I've always bought the cheap ones and they suck.)  Now I have a nice, new one and it works great!!  Thanks Chris, I love it!!