Roast Beef French Dip Sandwiches

I made this last Sunday to try out for my freezer meal swap.  We loved it!

Roast  (I used about a 3 lb. chuck roast)

1 can of French onion soup

1 can of beef broth1 TBL worchestire sauce

Cook in crock pot in high for 8 hours. (Maybe less depending on your crock pot). Shred meat. Pour drippings into a pot and boil about 5 minutes (mine boiled in the crock pot enough that I didn't do this. Toast buns and serve with meat inside. Dip in sauce. Could add a slice of provolone cheese to your sandwich.  This made enough for 10 sandwiches with plenty of leftovers.

We had a lot of left overs so I just put it in a bag with the extra drippings on top. It would even just be a great roast!

ETA: We had the leftovers for Sunday dinner yesterday just as a roast (I froze the leftovers from last week's meal). I added a cup of beef broth to my crock pot since most of the liquid was used from last Sunday's meal and just cooked it on low for 6 hours.   It was AWESOME and so tender!!!!

Baked/Crock pot Meatballs

This recipe came from my friend, Gina, from our freezer meal swap.  This is the second time she's made them.

1lb ground beef
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup grated/shredded Parmesan cheese (optional)
1 cup panko or bread crumbs - Italian seasoned
1 small onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt, freshly ground pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients with hands.
Form into golfball sized meatballs.

Cooking Method 1:
Thaw meatballs and bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes. (If frozen – add about 10-15 minutes to cooking time)
Add your favorite pasta/marinara sauce on top or simmer meatballs in sauce once they are finished baking

Cooking Method 2:
Place in crockpot and cover with your favorite pasta/marinara sauce
Low – 4 to 5 hours
High – 2 to 3 hours

Serve with spaghetti or make meatball sandwiches.

Boneless Ribs Crockpot

My friend Candi made this for our recent freezer meal swap.

In one bag combine:
boneless ribs
1/2 cup apple juice
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

In a second bag combine:
1 1/2 cups ketchup
1 TBL Worcestershire sauce
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 TBL apple cider vinegar
3 cloves crushed garlic

When it's time to cook, put the ribs in a crockpot on low for 8 hours.  The last hour, dump the liquid in the crock pot, and add the second bag.

I added the second bag at about 2 1/2 hours cooking on high.  I didn't dump the liquid.  We ate it 4 hours later.  It was GREAT!  I served this dish with rice because Dave grew up eating BBQ short ribs over rice so it's one of his favorite meals. :)

Crockpot Mongolian Beef

This is another meal from our freezer meal exchange that my family loved!  Thanks, Candi.

1 1/2 lbs. beef flank steak, cut into strips
1/4 c corn starch
2 TBL oil
1/2 tsp ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 c soy sauce
3/4 c water
3/4 c brown sugar
1/2 c carrots, shredded
3 green onions, chopped

Coat beef in corn starch.  Add beef and the rest of the ingredients to ziplock bag and freeze.

When ready to use, cook in crock pot for 4-5 hours on low or 6-8 hours on high.

Serve with rice or noodles.

Dr. Pepper Roast

This was one of my family's favorites from the freezer meal exchange this last time.  Thanks, Jennifer!

1 roast (you decide how much and what kind of roast)
1 can of Dr. Pepper
splash of Worcestershire sauce
1 clove garlic, minced

If freezing, put roast, worcestershire sauce, and garlic in a freezer bag.

When ready to cook, put contents of bag in the crockpot.  Pour a can of Dr. Pepper over the roast.  Cook on low for 8-10 hours.

Perfect Sunday dinner to cook while you're at church!

Texas Haystacks

While on our family trip this summer, each family cooked a dinner.  One of the new things we had was Texas Haystacks.  It's very similar to taco salad but just enough different that it was AWESOME. Brown 1 lb. hamburger and prep as you would for taco meat (I use salsa to make mine flavored).

On plate, layer:

Chili Cheese Fritos  (regular fritos will work but more delicious with chili cheese fritos)
Shredded Lettuce
Taco Meat
Shredded Cheese
Sour Cream
Avocado
Tomatoes
Salsa
Salad Dressing

Korean Beef

Tonight I tried a new dish from Pinterest/SixSisters.  The kids were asking if I made more after they tried it because they loved it!

1 lb lean ground beef

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 Tablespoon oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon crushed red peppers
1 bunch green onions, diced
Rice, cooked

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and brown hamburger with garlic in the sesame oil. Drain the fat.  Add brown sugar, soy sauce, ginger, salt and pepper and red peppers. Simmer for a few minutes to blend the flavors. Serve over steamed rice and top with green onions.

I LOVED that you don't need a fancy cut of meat...just regular ground beef!

Beef Noodle Bowl

I got this recipe from my cousin-in-law.  We love it and it's super easy!!  Win, win!

Beef Noodle Bowl                                                                 

8 oz linguine                                                                3 cups broccoli florets
3 medium carrots peeled and sliced                            2 tsp veggie oil
1 pound sirloin steak cut into strips                            1/2 cup Italian dressing

1/4 cup teriyaki sauce                                                  1 tsp ground ginger

Cook pasta as directed on package, adding broccoli and carrots to the cooking water for the last 2 minutes.  Meanwhile heat oil in skillet add meat cook until browned on all sides. Then stir in dressing teriyaki, ginger; cook until sauce thickens, stirring occasionally.  Toss pasta and meat mixture in large serving bowl and EAT!

Baby Back Ribs

This recipe is from my friend Wendy on our Healthy Living blog.


4 lbs pork ribs (the man in the meat dept told Wendy 1 lb per person)
1/3 c dark brown sugar
1/4 tsp regular sugar
1 Tbls paprika
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp black pepper
3/4 tsp white pepper (optional)
3/4 tsp ground oregano

Trim excess fat from ribs.  Combine all ingredients and rub over the surface of the ribs.  Place ribs, standing on their edge with the meaty side out (bones in middle).  Cook for 6-8 hours on low.  Remove from cooker and brush with your favorite bbq sauce.

Chicken or Steak Fajitas in the Crock Pot

This recipe is from my cousin Kirsten.  She posted this recipe on our blog here.


2-3 frozen chicken breasts or 1.5 lb flank steak (sliced)
1 cup favorite salsa
1 1/2 tsp Chili pepper powder
1/2 tsp cumin
2 garlic cloves finely chopped
Mix together and pour over meat. Cook on low 7 hours, shred chicken after 6 hours and stir. Add sliced peppers and onions (however many you'd like) about 30-45 min prior to serving so they are crisp tender.   Serve with the usual fixings; tortillas, cheese, salsa, lettuce, guacamole, sour cream.

Roast Beef Burritos

Monday I cooked a roast in the crock pot.  Tonight I needed to use the leftovers.  I found a recipe online for Roast Beef Burritos so I used it to create my own.

1 tsp. vegetable oil
1/2 onion, chopped,
1 clove garlic, minced
3 roma tomatoes, chopped
1 cup roast beef, cooked and chopped
1 cup salsa
cumin
red pepper flakes
tortillas
shredded cheddar cheese
refried beans
lettuce
sour cream

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Stir in the onion and garlic and cook until tender.  Mix in the tomoatoes, beef, salsa, cumin, and re pepper flakes.  Bring the mixture to boil (add a few TBL of water if needed).  Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 25 minutes.  Serve in tortillas layering remaining ingredients.  Definitely will use this recipe again for leftovers!  Yum!

Tacos

Tacos are definitely a pretty basic meal at our house but it's one I know EVERYONE will eat.

Brown 1 lb hamburger.  Drain grease.  Add taco seasoning with about ¼ cup water  (although I actually PREFER to just use about 1/2 cup or more of salsa rather than taco seasoning).  Let simmer for 5 minutes.  Place a spoonful of meat on a taco shell or tortilla and add other toppings as desired.   Topping suggestions:  lettuce, shredded cheese, diced tomatoes, sour cream, beans, peppers, pico de gallo.

Can substitute diced or shredded chicken for hamburger.

Chili

This is the recipe I used for tonight's church chili cook-off. I didn't win an award but still got plenty of compliments.
1 lb. ground beef
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 TBL chili powder
1 tsp cumin
2 14 oz. cans stewed tomatoes
2 cans red kidney beans, rinsed & drained
2 cans pinto beans, rinsed & drained
1/2 onion, chopped
1 sm. can tomato paste

Brown hamburger, garlic, and onion. Add chili powder and cumin. Put in crock pot. Add tomatoes, beans, and tomato paste in crock pot. Cook on high for 4 hours...then turn to low until ready to serve. Serve with grated cheese.

Ribs

When I bought this package of ribs, I didn't even pay attention that it was pork ribs. In December I went to a party we had for a friend. We had a potluck...one of things there was YUMMY ribs. I asked for the recipe and couldn't wait to try it out. Good thing to know it works just as great on pork ribs :) Thanks, Debbie!

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Salt and pepper both sides of ribs. Place on a cookie sheet (I lined mine with foil). Cover ribs with foil. Bake for 3 hours. After 2 1/2 hours, take out of oven and spread one side of ribs with BBQ sauce. Put back in oven for 15 minutes. Take out, flip to cover other side of ribs with BBQ sauce, and put back in oven for last 15 minutes.

BBQ Beef

This recipe came from my sister-in-law, Cara. We had it a few years back at a family gathering and it's become a family favorite. The best part is that you fix it and then forget it for the rest of the day.

3 lbs. boneless chuck roast
1 ½ cups ketchup
¼ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup white vinegar
2 TBL Dijon-style or regular mustard
2 TBL Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp liquid smoke flavoring
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp garlic powder

Place chuck roast in Crockpot. Combine remaining ingredients in mixing bowl. Pour barbecue sauce mixture over chuck roast. Cover and cook LOW 8-10 hours. Remove roast and shred meat with fork. Place shredded meat back in Crockpot. Stir meat to evenly coat with sauce....usually best if it can sit for about 30 minutes after you've shreeded the meat. Spoon meat onto sandwich buns...or if you're picky like my kids, you can just eat the meat without the bread.

This seriously makes SO MUCH! We ate this twice this week, and I still had plenty to put another meal in the freezer.

Meatball Sandwiches

Remember the meatballs I made before we demolished the kitchen? I used them for meatball sandwiches this week. I put them frozen into my crockpot, added about 2 cups of spaghetti sauce, and heated it up for 4 hours on high. Served them on buns with a slice of mozzarella cheese. Quick and easy! :)

Cafe Rio Meat

This recipe was shared with me by Annie one of my cousins-in-law. It's super yummy and super easy!! :)

1-2 lbs.of beef or pork or whatever meat you can find that's cheap (Annie's even used elk meat and still claims it's yummy)
3/4 c. salsa
3/4 c. brown sugar

Brown the meat in a skillet on HIGH heat. Only a few seconds on both sides will do. Place the meat into the crock pot. Combine the sugar and salsa in a bowl and mix well; pour it over the meat.

Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 7. With 1 hour remaining shred the meat with a fork and knife. Cook for another hour. (Annie think this takes too much time and work, so she skips this step and then cut the meat in little slivers instead at the table. It STILL tastes great!)

Serve with tortillas that have been browned with cheese. Roll it all up with black beans, rice, tomato sauce, salt, lettuce and juice from a lime. Enjoy!

Flank Steak Marinade

We were first introduced to this delicious marinade several years ago when we first moved to San Diego. Andrea had invited us over for dinner (if I remember right it was Easter) and they made this marinade. We don't just use it on flank steak...although, it's definitely the best with flank steak...but it works for other beef cuts as well :)

1 ½ cup oil
1/3 cup lemon juice
¾ cup soy sauce
½ tsp parsley
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp pepper
¼ cup vinegar
1 tsp salt
2 TBL dry mustard
1 clove minced garlic

Pierce 3 flank stakes and marinate for 3 DAYS. (very important) Grill. Cut crosswise in thin slices and serve.

Can also marinate other beef steak cuts, but the key is the time (3 days...if you don't have time for 3 days, you must marinate for at least 6 hours) and cutting it crosswise.

Beef & Broccoli Stir-Fry

1 lb Round steak cut crosswise (very thin slices)
½ cup water, divided
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 TBL brown sugar
3 TBL white grape juice (I've substituted vinegar and it works just the same)
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cornstarch
3 TBL oil
4 cup broccoli
1 large onion, cut in wedges

Marinate steak in mixture of ¼ cup water, soy sauce, brown sugar, grape juice, garlic, ginger, and cornstarch at least 10 minutes. Drain well, reserving marinade. Heat oil in skillet. Add steak slices, half at a time, and stir-fry over high heat until browned. Remove from skillet, set aside. Add broccoli and onion to skillet. Stir-fry for 1 minute. Add remaining ¼ cup water. Cover and steam 3 minutes or until broccoli is crisp and tender. Return meat to skillet with marinade. Stir-fry to heat thoroughly. Serve over rice.