Easy Round Steak and Gravy

My Grandpa Walker owns an Angus cattle ranch in Wyoming. He and my Grandma have always been very generous and shared an abundance of meat with us (both my family growing up, as well as David and I after we were married). If they didn't actually fill the freezer with meat, they would send meat money. We've been so incredibly blessed. A couple of months ago, my Dad showed up to my house to fill our freezer with a shelf-full of freshly packed meat. A variety of ground beef, roasts, steaks, etc. Not only is it the best quality meat you can find, but everytime I open the freezer to make tacos or some other dinner I am filled with gratitude for my Grandpa.

This story is going somewhere. Tonight I made this new recipe using a couple of round steaks from my freezer and again- not only was it so delicious but I was so grateful to just have the meat stocked up in my freezer. I guess that's where this is going.

My favorite thing about this, other than the flavorful gravy and tender meat, was that the way to prepare the meat made it easy for me to split it into two pans and add mushrooms to one and not to the other. David doesn't love mushrooms, and has recently reminded me that mushrooms soak into everything that they touch with their mushroom-y flavor, but I love them and so it worked out perfectly.

Easy Round Steak and Gravy

Source: Clark's Condensed 

Ingredients:
1 1/2 to 2 pounds thin cut round steak
Steak Seasoning and Seasoning Salt

1/3 cup flour
1/2 C cooking oil
1 C diced onion
1 small can mushrooms
2 cans beef (or chicken broth + one cube beef bullion)
1 T worcestershire sauce

Directions:
Cut each steak into desired serving sizes. Salt and Pepper to taste.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the cooking oil. Brown the steaks on both sides and set aside.
Pour off most of the oil, leaving about 1/3 of a cup. Add 1/3 C of flour to the oil and stir over medium/low heat until light brown. (For a gluten-free option, add cornstarch with chicken broth below.) Stir continuously so it doesn't burn. Add onion. Cook and stir for about a minute.
Slowly add the beef and chicken broth, stirring constantly. Add the worcestershire sauce and simmer for about five minutes.

Season steaks with steak seasoning and seasoning salt. Place in oven-safe baking dish, separating into two seperate dishes if you need a mushroom-free option. Pour half the gravy over one pan, then return to the stovetop while adding the mushrooms to the remaining gravy. Pour mushroom gravy over second pan. Bake at 275 degrees for one hour. (Or 200 for two hours)

Serve with mashed potatoes. 

Pork Loin Roast with Potatoes

I served this up for Sunday dinner and David looooooved it. He requested it go on the blog- so on it goes. (He was saying things like "best roast you've ever made" - but it was fast Sunday and we all know how good food tastes at dinner on Fast Sunday.) I think the biggest difference was making my own onion soup mix. I was just out of soup mixes, so I searched for a homemade one but it was really good. Unless you're in a huge hurry - it's totally worth it.




Pork Loin Roast with Potatoes
Source: Taste of Home
Onion Soup Mix Source: AllRecipes

Ingredients:
1 envelope onion soup mix OR

{1/4 cup dried onion flakes
{2 tablespoons low-sodium beef bouillon granules
{1/4 teaspoon onion powder
{1/4 teaspoon parsley flakes
{1/8 teaspoon celery seed
{1/8 teaspoon paprika
{1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon dried rosemary, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3 cups water, divided
1 bone-in pork loin roast (4 to 5 pounds)
2 to 3 pounds small red potatoes, cut in half (I used regular potatoes)
1-1/2 cups sliced onions


Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients. Stir in 1/2 cup water; let stand for 3 minutes.Place roast, fat side up, on a greased rack in a roasting pan. Pour remaining water into the pan. Combine potatoes and onions; spoon around the roast. Brush vegetables and roast with seasoning
mixture.
Bake, uncovered, at 325° for 2-1/2 to 3 hours (or 300 for 3-4 hours) or until a thermometer reads 160° and potatoes are tender. Baste and stir potatoes occasionally. Tent with foil if browning too fast.

Let stand 10 minutes before slicing. Yield: 8-10 servings.
Thicken juices for gravy if desired. (Add juices and about 1 cup of cold water and 1 tbs cornstarch to a small pan, heat until boiling.)

Best Breadsticks

I have a few breadstick recipes that I really like, but I was looking for one that was a little different and I was very pleased with this one. It calls for butter, but I replaced it with vegetable oil to make it dairy-free (Jacob/Jason safe) - it was a success!

Best Breadsticks

Source: Food Network

Ingredients:
1 package active dry yeast
4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 tablespoons unsalted butter,softened
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon fine salt
For the Topping:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter,melted
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Pinch of dried oregano


Directions:
Make the dough: Place 1/4 cup warm water in the bowl of a mixer; sprinkle in the yeast and set aside until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add the flour, butter, sugar, fine salt and 1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons warm water; mix with the paddle attachment until a slightly sticky dough forms, 5 minutes.

Knead the dough by hand on a floured surface until very smooth and soft, 3 minutes. Roll into a 2-foot-long log; cut into 16 1 1/2-inch-long pieces. Knead each piece slightly and shape into a 7-inch-long breadstick; arrange 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover with a cloth; let rise in a warm spot until almost doubled, about 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Make the topping: Brush the breadsticks with 1 1/2 tablespoons of the butter and sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt. Bake until lightly golden, about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt with the garlic powder and oregano. Brush the warm breadsticks with the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter and sprinkle with the flavored salt.

Pork Carnitas (Instant Pot)

*Notes: I used some super cheap pork chops that I got on sale and they were awesome. You could make this in a slow cooker and then just crisp them up at the end the same way.


Pork Carnitas

Source: Pressure Cook Recipes

Ingredients: 

3 ¼ pounds pork shoulder meat, cut into 2–3 inch cubes
1 cup chicken broth

Marinade
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon soy sauce
juice from 1 fresh orange or 3 Tbs orange Juice Concentrate
salt and black pepper


8 – 12 corn tortillas
Salsa (pico de gallo)
1 lime

Directions:
Peel and crush garlic, chop onion, cut pork into cubes. Combine marinade ingredients. Place pork, onions and garlic into the Instant Pot's inner pot and cover with marinade. Let sit for 20 minutes.

Add chicken broth to the inner pot. Close lid and pressure cook:

Pressure Cooking Method: High Pressure for 30 minutes
Pressure Release Method: 15 minutes Natural Release

Release the remaining pressure after 15 minutes and open the lid carefully.

Crisp Pork Shoulder Cubes by transfering the pork shoulder cubes onto a baking tray. Drizzle some of the cooking liquid on to each piece. (The cooking liquid should be mostly fat. If not, mix ¼ cup cooking liquid with 2 tbsp of vegetable oil and drizzle over each piece of pork. The fat & oil will protect the meat from drying out and the surface will crisp faster.)

Place pork shoulder cubes under a broiler or the top rack of a preheated 450°F toaster oven until the surface is crisped. Roughly 8 – 10 minutes.

Flip the pork shoulder cubes, drizzle each piece with more cooking liquid and place in the oven again until the surface is crisped.

If you are serving the Carnitas with corned tortillas, you can heat up the corn tortillas when the pork is browning in the oven.

You can shred the meat with forks or leave them as chunks. Serve hot, on top of tortillas and topped with salsa and lime!

Waffle Bar

David and I are always looking for good meals to make when hosting a large amount of people. Something easy, delicious, relatively inexpensive, and nice. When we were planning to host a large gathering of family of friends to celebrate the birth and the Baby Blessing (similar to a Christening, find more about our faith at www.lds.org) of our third child, we decided to have a brunch before church. After all was said and done we concluded that it had been a huge success and that we should blog the details so that we could remember what we bought and that it was a great idea. So this post is a little different, in that it's not really a recipe for a meal (I mean, we just used pancake mix for the waffles) but rather - it's the details for a waffle bar / family gathering. 

Waffle Bar
Serving about 30-40 people.

Food Supplies:
1/2 bag Pancake Mix (abt 5 lbs) - $6/bag
2- 50 ct bags Banquet Brown-N-Serve Sausages - $5.50/bag
Maple Syrup and Raspberry Syrup (purchased at Maceys) - $6
2 gal Chocolate Milk
24 eggs - $5

Asked people to bring:
Raspberries (topping)
Strawberries (diced, topping)
Strawberries (quartered)
Grapes
Mini Chocolate Chips
Whipped Cream
Orange Juice

Other Supplies:
3 waffle irons
2 electric skillets
Paper cups, plates
Plastic Silverware


Setup/Notes:
We found that 3 waffle irons was the perfect number. We started making waffles about 20 minutes before people started arriving and that was enough to give us a good stack so that waffles were still warm but we didn't have people waiting around for a waffle. We had eggs cooking in one electric skillet and the sausages cooking in another. There were plenty of toppings, with the fruit and the chocolate chips. I am glad that I grabbed the raspberry syrup, because although it was a last minute addition I think it made the whole thing feel nicer. (But I am glad that I didn't get a whole lineup of specialty syrups.)

We thought that this went really well and we'd definitely do it again.

Bacon Chicken

I really couldn't figure out what to call this. It's made in a skillet/on the stovetop so maybe "skillet chicken" (because most chicken I make is baked). It's seasoned with ranch dressing mix, so "ranch chicken"? It's got bacon and cheese. It's also got bacon and cheese, so maybe add to my numerous "chicken bacon ranch" list of recipes? I don't know. I gave up and just called it Bacon Chicken. Because it's got bacon and it's delicious. The end. 

As I said before- I usually bake my chicken and when I bake it, I like reallllly bake it. Basically bake it to death, until it's so dry that it's obviously done, no question about it. Pink chicken scares me a bit. I was throwing this together one night and realized that I didn't actually have time to bake it, so I just stuck it in a skillet on the stove and it was the juciest most delicious chicken I think that I've ever made myself. (I'm not really joking about baking my chicken until it's completely dry.)

Bacon Chicken

Source: The Peaden Kitchen

Ingredients:

8 chicken tenders (or 4 chicken breasts)
4 slices of bacon, cut into small pieces

1 tbsp dry Ranch Dressing Mix
1/2-3/4 cup cheese, shredded

salt and pepper, to taste

Optional additions:

1 tomato, diced
2 green onions, sliced
salt and pepper, optional

Directions:
Fry bacon in a large skillet until crispy. Remove bacon pieces from skillet with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper-towel lined plate. Place chicken in pan, season with salt, pepper and half of ranch seasoning, when first side is browned, flip over to second side. Season with more salt, pepper, and ranch seasoning. Top with cheese and bacon. After chicken has been cooked 2-4 minutes on each side, turn heat to low and let cook until chicken is done and cheese is melted.

(I've been told that this would be delicious topped with tomato and green onions. So next time I'm going to try that, too.) 

Serve immediately.

Mexican Haystacks

I looove this dish. It's got all the flavors that we love, but it's freshened up in a different application. Plus, the addition of the mango on top of the taco meat and rice is so refreshing (don't skip this ingredient - the mango really makes it!) This isn't the prettiest picture because we'd basically eaten all of the food before I remembered that I needed to take a picture so I just added the few remaining things that I had - but we've made this at least 4-5 times and never gotten a picture - so I knew I just needed to take a picture to get it on the blog, because this recipe is a keeper for sure! (We've also made this when guests were over and it was a huge hit.)  

Mexican Haystacks

Source: Adapted from Whole and Free and The Girl Who Ate Everything

Ingredients:

3 cups uncooked rice

1 bunch fresh cilantro

1 lb ground beef
2 TBS taco seasoning (chili powder, onion salt, garlic powder, cumin)

1 onion, chopped
¾ cup water
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened

salt & pepper to taste
2 cups salsa

Toppings: diced mango, diced avocado, black beans, corn, shredded cheese, sour cream, cilantro, salsa

Directions:
Start rice in a rice cooker. In a large skillet, brown ground beef and chopped onion. Add taco seasoning, salt, and pepper. When browned, add salsa and cream cheese. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer until cream cheese is melted. Add a tablespoon of water at a time until desired consistency is reached.  In the meantime, chop the cilantro, avocado, and mango and prepare remaining toppings. When the rice is done, stir in almost all of the fresh cilantro, leaving just enough to garnish each dish. 

Plate with rice on bottom, then meat mixture, then any of the desired toppings. 

{Leftover} Pork Chop Soup

I occasionally find pork chops for a really good price, and when I do I tend to stock up on them. I usually portion them out pretty well - but sometimes we end up with extra pork chops from dinner and I'm not sure what to do with them.  I was really pleased with the way that this soup turned out. 

Leftover Pork Chop Soup

Source: Very loosely based on this soup from the Food Network. Although they cooked their pork chops separately and laid them on top of the soup when it was done and I chopped up my leftover pork chops and added them to the soup. 

Ingredients: 

1-2 leftover pork chops, cubed

3 tablespoons butter or oil
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 can tomato sauce
32 ounces vegetable broth*
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 large potato, skin on, sliced 1/8 inch and then into bite sized pieces**
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried Italian seasoning

(Notes: *I stock up on chicken broth and almost never have vegetable broth on hand. I know some people might frown on adding chicken broth to a pork dish - but I din't mind, that's what I use for just about everything. **When I made this soup, I also had leftover potatoes from the pork dish that I made. I just chopped those up and added them as well and it turned out perfectly.)

Direction:
In a large pot over medium heat, melt butter/heat oil and saute carrots, celery and onion until softened, about 6 minutes. Add the flour to the vegetables and blend well. Cook the flour until it achieves a slight blonde color. Next, stir in the tomato sauce and allow to slightly cook, about 1 to 2 minutes. Pour in broth while stirring and bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat and add the can of diced tomatoes and the potatoes. Simmer until potatoes are cooked through, about 20 minutes. Add the cubed pork chops to soup and simmer until warmed through.