Crockpot Fantasies/Failures, etc. 4

It's very late, and I shouldn't be blogging, but I am kicking off what will hopefully be a month of good eating habits tomorrow, and so I need to stuff myself with everything yummy in the house tonight! I've got food cooking in the oven while I type--eight minutes left! Yesterday I had high hopes for this recipe:

Steak with Mushrooms and Onions

2-2 1/2 lb. boneless beef bottom round steaks (or braising steaks), fat-trimmed, cut into 6 equal pieces
1/2 cup steakhouse sauce
1 T vegetable oil
4 cups sliced mushrooms
1 medium onion chopped
1/4 t salt
1/2 t ground pepper

1. In Ziploc bag, combine steak and sauce. Seal and refrigerate at least one hour, up to 8.
2. Remove stakes from marinade.
3. Heat oil over medium high heat. Add steaks and brown, turning once, 2 minutes per side.
4. Layer mushrooms, onions, and browned steaks in slowcooker. Deglaze skillet with a small amount of water and add pan juices to cooker. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
5. Cover. Cook on low 6 to 8 hours or on high 4 to 6 hours, until meat is tender and cooked through.

Because I lured Lorena away from her cooking duties by loaning her North and South, I offered to share some of this with them, knowing we would not eat it all (only 1/6 of us really appreciates beef). They were excellent food critics, and agreed with me that the meat was not very tender, although the flavor was good. Dan really liked it just the way it was and didn't think anything was wrong with it. We didn't all eat dinner together because everyone was every which way that night, so none of the kids tried it. I would like to try it again, because I think the recipe had thicker steaks in mind--it says to divide the meat up into six pieces and mine came already cut up into 8 pieces. Any experts on bottom round beef out there? Maybe it's always that way. If anyone tries out this recipe, let me know it turns out.

Crockpot Fantasies 3

Tonight's meal was more of a success! Dan and I really liked it, and Anna said it was better than the chicken (but refused to take more than two bites). It calls for a pork shoulder roast, which required me to go to the meat counter at the store for maybe the second time in my life. What the lady got for me had the word "butt" in it, so I'm a little confused because the butt can't be anywhere near the shoulder, can it? Well, whatever body part it entailed, it tasted good. I can't scan the recipe because our other computer has quit working, but it's pretty short (and easy!):

Pepper Pork Sandwiches

3 lb. pork shoulder roast
2 cans enchilada sauce (this is so annoying to me that they don't say what size!!! I used one big one.)
1/2 pkg. taco seasoning
2 habanero chile peppers, seeded and diced (I used jalapenos)

1. Put all ingredients in slow cooker. Cook on low 8 to 9 hours.
2. Remove pork, and shred with two forks. Return to cooker. Turn heat to high and cook 20 more minutes.
3. Serve on sandwich rolls and top with shredded cheese, if desired.

Makes 6 servings.

Mr. Thornton and Ms. Hale of North and South

I also must announce that I am now the proud owner of North and South, the best Brit-Lit-Chick-Flick to date. I got it just to share the joy with others, so if anyone is interested in watching it, let me know. I promised it to Lorena first, and then it's available to whomever. If you like it, I also recommend Wives and Daughters, another miniseries based on one of Elizabeth Gaskell's novels (It's available from Netflix, and I got the one I watched from the library). It's almost as good as N&S, and has an original ending love scene that was brilliant. I also got the soundtrack to Pirates of the Caribbean (what a RUSH!!) and Living With Ghosts by Patty Griffin (six stars out of five). I know I'm spoiling myself, someone stop me!

Crockpot Fantasies 2

Just a note--if you click on the pictures, they get really, really big so you can read them better. Next time I will do it right and they won't be quite so huge, but easier to read.

This soup was just a basic chicken noodle soup--Anna progressed from saying dinner was "disgusting" to "interesting." It is one of those 3 hours recipes that makes me think, "Why do this in the crockpot?" Instead I would just buy a couple of cans of Healthy Choice soup.

First of all, I think they used a completely different bread for the picture. Mine turned out looking like a giant muffin. I did enjoy the novelty of putting a bowl in the crockpot. And I did use my food storage wheat and freshly ground it. As far as taste, I would say save the recipe to use with your stored wheat for when the terrorists launch chemical warfare and you have all your windows and doors duct-taped and there's not much else to eat.

I did the bread early enough that I had a free crockpot to do dessert. This was pretty good for being low-fat, low-calorie fare. The chocolate makes a pudding like sauce over the cake. I think it's worth a try if you have the ingredients on hand; however, I believe if you're going to have dessert you should just have the real thing--hmmmm, maybe that's why I'm overweight?????

Fantasies of a Desperate Housewife

No, this has nothing to do with Ralph Fiennes, Gregory Peck, or Dr. Archung. In actuality, I have often fantasized about selecting a cookbook and making every single recipe in it. So tonight I have begun to make my dreams come true--with Prevention Guide Slow Cooker Recipes, one of the recipe books you buy at the check stand. There are sixty main dishes, five sides dishes and six desserts and y'all are going to hear about all of them! This particular book helps me in two ways: Crockpot meals can be prepared earlier in the day, before the pain in my legs and laziness kicks in; and the recipes are supposed to be healthy. Because they are healthy, I'm not expecting to be wowed, just to be nourished without gagging. Which brings me to tonight's dinner:

Quickest Chicken
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 package dry Italian dressing mix
1 cup warm water or chicken broth (I used chicken broth)

1. Place chicken in slow cooker. Sprinkle with dressing mix. Pour water over chicken.
2. Cover. Cook on low 8 to 10 hours.

This wasn't spectacular, but it was better than other crock pot chicken experiences I have had. The dressing packet gives it a good flavor, and the broth is really good. Five out of six of us ate it, but not all were happy about it. Jeremy put mustard all over his and had seconds--whatever works! Anna fought gagging throughout dinner (which is not surprising for her), and it didn't help that Dan was trying to "get her sugar" while her mouth was full.
I have two crockpots, so I also made a side dish:

Wild Rice Pilaf
1 1/2 cups uncooked wild rice
1/2 cup finely chopped scallions
14 oz. low sodium chicken broth
1/2 t dried thyme leaves

1. Coat slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Rinse rice and drain well (Oops, I didn't do this! I hope we'll live.) In slow cooker, combine scallions, chicken broth, and 2 cups water and mix well.
2. Cover. Cook on high 3-4 hours. Add thyme and stir gently, adding salt and pepper to taste.
3. Cook on low 30 to 60 more minutes, or until rice is tender.

This had a good flavor but was pretty mushy. Anna called it "Crazy Rice." I cooked it for 4 hours and if I made it again, I would try just 3 hours. The problem with that is that's just too late in the day--I'd rather get it done in the morning.

Would I make this again? Probably. Mostly because the chicken was WAY EASY. But I would pick another side dish.

Family Picture

I was cleaning out some drawers and came across this picture of my mom's graduation from nursing school. This is one of my favorites--it's one of the few pictures of all of my family together. From the left there's my dad and me, Shawnna peeking in from the back, my mom (obviously, being in the nurse's uniform) who already at that point was thinner than me, and my Grandma and Grandpa Rairigh.

Shelley's Classic Film Festival

This week I've had my own private classic film festival--only Ben and Jerry were invited. I'm pretty green to the whole movie classics scene. I've seen a lot of Hitchcock movies and a handful of others, but that's about it. Anna walked in during one movie and said, "This movie is ugly! It's all black and grey and old looking!" What do you say to that? Here's what Me and B and J have to say about the old flicks:

Gentleman's Agreement(1947) Starring Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, and John Garfield. Winner Best Picture.

Gregory Peck plays a journalist assigned to write a series on Anti-Semitism, and decides to pretend he is a Jewish man to find out what it's like to be a victim of religious intolerance. I know I should write something deep and meaningful about such an important topic, but all I can say is that Gregory Peck was a total hottie! (Does anyone know the origin of this word "hottie?" Is that even how it's spelled? I was going to call him a total babe, but is that only used to describe women? I'm so behind on all of this terminology, but to say he was "a very handsome man" just doesn't have the oomph it deserved. )

Guess Who's Coming To Dinner(1967) Starring Spencer Tracy, Sidney Poitier, and Katherine Hepburn. Winner Best Screenplay and Best Actress-Katherine Hepburn.
The daughter of liberal upper-class parents comes home with her fiance, a black doctor. Although the parents have always supported black rights, the father has trouble accepting the interracial union. It was a touching story with excellent dialog. Forty years later it's hard to imagine how this movie was received by audiences. I read that interracial marriage was illegal in 17 states up until June of the year the movie was made, so it must have been a hot topic. Being from a different generation, I have no problem with interracial marriages--I think culture is more of an issue that skin color, which doesn't make it wrong, just challenging. Spencer Tracy was dying when he made the film, but did it because he felt it was so important. He died 17 days after the shooting ended. Katherine Hepburn never watched the completed film because she felt it would be too painful. I would definitely recommend this movie, and it made me want to see "Guess Who?" with Ashton Kutcher again!

The Maltese Falcon(1941) Starring Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor. Winner Best Picture.
To know the plot of this movie, just refer to the terribly exciting blog on the audio book. I thought the movie looked cool, but I still wasn't wowed by the story. The back of the case says, "Many say it's the best detective drama ever. Each time you see it, you'll find it hard to disagree." Well, I'm not finding it hard. Maybe it's Post-Da Vinci Code Syndrome.



By the way, two thumbs up to Ben and Jerry's Magic Brownie flavor!