Lemon BBQ Roast Chicken

Come to Mama, baby. Come. To. Mama.

I have told yall before that I can't carve worth a cent. This time was no exception. But lemme tell you, I didn't need to carve, it tasted just as scrumptious having been mutilated by yours truly. If I could have I would have just buried my face into this bird, sinking my teeth into this tangy juciness. But, that's not very lady-like. Not very Hollis-like. Uh,Right.

*Sigh* A girl can dream, can't she?

Make this soon. You need to.


Lemon BBQ Roast Chicken
Serves: 6

Ingredients:
2 small Lemons
1/2 c BBQ sauce
1 tsp Italian seasoning
2 cloves Garlic,peeled
1 whole Chicken, 4 lbs

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grate 1/2 tsp lemon peel; set aside. Cut lemons in half, squeeze juice into small bowl. Set aside lemon halves for later use. Add BBQ sauce and seasoning to the lemon juice; mix well.
Place rinsed and dried chicken in a large baking dish. Place 2 lemon halves and garlic cloves inside the cavity of the chicken. Rub skins of chicken with remaining 2 lemon halves and discard. Tie legs together with kitchen twine.
Bake for 1 hour and 45 min or until chicken is cooked through, brushing with BBQ sauce mix every 5 min during the last 20 min of the baking time. Sprinkle with reserved lemon peel the last 5 min.
Remove and discard the lemon halves and garlic cloves. Serve with potatoes and stuffing.

M..M..M..Meatloaf

I know. I know.

I know exactly how you feel. I have been there.
You hear that very word and your jaws start salivating as your stomach turns over. All those childhood memories start to resurface. There you are, sitting at the dinner table with this brick of meat staring back at you. All the while your father is glaring at you, just daring you to try to toss it to the dog. GULP!

No fear. This meatloaf is so not like that. It's moist and flavorful, smothered in tangy tomato sauce.
So take a deep breath, close your eyes and enjoy. It's time to face your fears.


M..M..M..Meatloaf
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
1 lb Lean Ground Beef
1/2 lb Ground Turkey
1/2 Green Bell Pepper, diced
1/2 Med Onion, diced
2 Cloves Garlic
1/3-1/2 c Breadcrumbs
1 egg, lightly beaten
 Ketchup
 Heniz 57 Sauce

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Grease a meatloaf pan or bread loaf pan.
In a large bowl add the ground beef and turkey. Add the bell pepper,onion and garlic. DON"T MIX YET!
Add the egg and 1/3 cup of breadcrumbs, some ketchup and Heinz 57. Start to mix with hands. You do not want to over mix. If the meat is too soggy, add more breadcrumbs. You want it to come together, but still quite moist.
Add the meat to the loaf pan, shape into loaf. You will need to do some smoothing, leveling and packing here. Top with some more ketchup and Heinz 57, spreading sauce with back of spoon. Bake for 45 min to 1 hour.


TAKE THAT DAD!

Sausage and Tomato Rotini

I know that there is that "bacon craze" going on right now. Well, actually for like the last year or so. I'm not on that bandwagon. No sir, not me. I'm a sausage girl all the way. ( My arms actually might start looking like a sausage soon if I keep skipping my work out.) But that's another story. A story involving me walking, and I may have, perhaps, sorta, sprained my ankle. It was sorta like that "blonde" joke about walking and talking. Or was it walking and chewing bubble gum? Who cares! Again, another story for another day.

Anyway. The smoky sausage infused with the rich tomato flavor provide a zing that you and I both will die for. Any sausage will do, though I am partial to the Tuscan Red Wine sausage, but again, any will do.

Sausage and Tomato Rotini 
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
4 cups Rotini Pasta
1 lb Italian Sausage, cut into chunks
1/2 Red Onion, diced
1/4 c Tomato Paste
1/4 c Sun-dried Tomato Dressing
1/4 c Fresh Parsley, chopped
1/4 c Parmesan Cheese

Directions:
Cook pasta as directed on package.
Meanwhile, brown sausage in large skillet over medium heat. Drain if needed. Stir in onions and tomato paste; Cover and cook 10 min, or until onions are tender and sausage is cooked through, stirring occasionally. Stir in dressing.
Toss sausage mixture with pasta. Sprinkle with parsley and cheese.

Steak with Creamy Peppercorn Sauce

I often wonder why I bother spend hour after hour, day after day cooking and preparing meals for my family.

First, there is the mental preparation, ie brainstorming. Then, there is the shopping. Picking up a little of this, a pound of that.Obviously the cooking is next; the chopping, the dicing, melting and sautee..ing? And of course, the last and most important step. The step that only those if us in "food blog-land" could understand. The presentation. The 45 shots of a plate of food. Now I know what you're saying. " You don't have to take pictures!"( Mr S. has said this on more than one occasion.) "You don't actually have to cook!" But truthfully, Mr. S could survive on raw meat and fruit snacks, while Swayze, well she apparently survives on yogurt and dry cereal.(Despite my best efforts.)

But...

What I have realized is that I do it for you. Ok, I do it for me, too. Because it makes me feel good to see a project all the way through, beginning to end. And lets face it, you have to see cooking till the end. The end result is the best part. Eating. Eating all that scrumdildly-umptious-ness!  So please, enjoy!

And someone please come to my house and give me a real reason to cook!

Steak with Creamy Peppercorn Sauce

Serves:4

Ingredients:

1 boneless Beef Strip Steak (1 lb) well trimmed

2 tsp Olive Oil

1 tsp Cornstarch

1/2 tsp Brown Sugar

1/2 c Beef Broth

1/2 c Cream Cheese, softened

2 tbsp Peppercorns

Directions:

Heat a large skillet or grill to med-high heat.

Brush both sides of steak with olive oil. Grill or cook on each side 4-6 min or until desired doneness. Remove from heat.

Meanwhile, mix cornstarch and sugar with whisk in medium saucepan. Gradually stir in broth, cook on medium heat 2 min or until thickened, stirring constantly. Add the cream cheese and peppercorns. Cook and stir 2-3min. 

Slice steak and serve topped with sauce.

Sweet Cranberry Stuffing Pork Chops

This has easily become my favorite fall meal to date.
Well, not "to date", but to-date.
You get my drift.
I love the tang from the cranberries mixed with the bold flavors of the smoky bbq sauce. I also relish the fact that the stuffing is baked on top the pork, because let's face it- pork being the "other white meat" is choice when it comes to health. Because as we all know, I'm very health conscious over here. That's why all meals, breakfast, lunch and dinner should be prepared with a healthy dose of whole milk or butter. (Sometimes both)

Yep, Heart Healthy. That's me! ( Notice the salad in the background! )



Sweet Cranberry Stuffing Pork Chops
Serves: 4-6
 
Ingredients:
6 Bone-In Pork Chops
1 pkg  Stove Top Stuffing (can use any variety)
1 15 oz can Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce
3/4 c BBQ Sauce ( any variety)
2 tbsp  Brown Sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Brown the chops on a skillet  over medium heat for 5 min per side of until browned.
Meanwhile, prepare the stuffing as directed on package.
Place the chops in a 13x9 baking dish, set aside. Mix cranberry sauce, bbq and sugar. Add to stuffing, and mix lightly. Spoon evenly over pork chops and bake for 25-30 min, or until pork is cooked through.

Sweet Pork Smothered Burritos

If you have not had the euphoric experience of eating Cafe Rio's Sweet Pork, I have only one thing to say to you; "Na-Na-Na-Na! Ha!"

It really is amazing. I can only imagine that it must be one of the very few reasons that people live in Utah. Lucky you, you don't have to move to the "Green Jello Capitol of the West" in order to share in this bliss. Thank you, World Wide Web! This pork is great for many reasons. First and foremost, it's delicious flavor. Second, it's versatility. It really can be used in so many dishes.Roll it up in a homemade tortilla, serve it on a bed of leafy greens, or between two toasty buns with melty cheese. I don't care how you eat it, just eat it!
I would love to be able to take credit for this ingenious recipe, but I can't. So, I won't. I will however give credit to my sister R, for sharing it with me though. Thanks!

Sweet Pork Smothered Burritos
Serves: 8-12

Ingredients:
4lb Boston Butt Pork
Rub pork with:
1 tbsp Chili Powder
1 tbsp Dry Mustard
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1/2 tbsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tbsp Salt
1/2 tbsp Pepper

Directions:
Put in slow cooker and cover pork with:
16 oz Coke
about 1 cup Brown sugar, adjust to taste
1/4 c Worcestershire Sauce, adjust to taste
1/4 Bottle BBQ sauce, adjust to taste
Cover and cook over low heat for about 6-8hrs. Shred with fork and serve burrito style.
For the enchilada sauce, use a small can of El Pato tomato sauce, and warm in a small saucepan. Stir in a 1/4 cup of cream cheese. Stir until melted.

Steak Fajita Nachos

I have a little confession to make.
We are all friends here, right?
Good.
So it begins like this. While I was working out one morning, in my half awake attempt to duke it out with Jillian Michaels I could only think about 2 things. One being how badly I wanted to fling my dumbell at her face, and two what was on tap for dinner that evening. I ran through the list of meals I had previously planned for that week, but as usual, nothing struck me. I started to think about cheese. Melty, gooey cheese. Cheese turned into nachos. Nachos reared it's ugly head and turned into fajitas. Dang. Which one?! Let's go nachos. Nachos with fajita style toppings! And so it went, I plugged through my workout, all the while my brain was on nachos.
Are we still friends?
If you are anything like me, this story does not strike you as odd. Totally normal, right?
That's what I said.

PS. I probably gained like 4 pounds just thinking about this. Which really means my workout was all in vain. Yeah, that sounds about right.


Steak Fajita Nachos
Serves: 2 or more

Ingredients:
1 lb Flank Steak, cut into bite size pieces
Corn Tortilla Chips, 2 platefuls
1 1/2-2 c Shredded Mexi Style Cheese
1 15 oz can Black Beans
1 Green Bell Pepper, sliced fajita style
Pico de Gallo
Guacamole
Sour Cream

Directions:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
On a grill or skillet, cook the steak to desired (wellness/doneness?) Remove from skillet.
Turn the heat to medium high, melt butter in skillet. Dump the peppers in the pan. Let sit for 1 min. Do not touch. After 1 min, toss to coat. Allow to get a bit charred. Remove from pan.
On 2 oven safe plates, arrange chips. Divide the cheese in 2 and sprinkle on chips. Place in the preheated oven, warming until cheese melts. Remove from oven.
Top the chips with black beans, peppers and steak. Place back inside the oven and allow to heat through.
Remove from oven top with guacamole, pico and sour cream. Share with friends! ( Or go hide in your walk in closet and eat fast!)

Baked Penne with Mini Meatballs

 

Lasagna.
Yum-ME!
Love Lasagna.
Meaty. Veggie. Not picky.
Love Lasagna.
Don't you?
Ok. Just checking.

We are not making lasagna.
This has all the ingredients that lasagna does, though.
Feeling any better?

This is so simple. I am almost embarrassed to share it with you.
Almost being the operative word there.
But as we all know, almost does not count.
Just like we are almost making lasagna.
Try to cheer up, the ease and pain free cooking of this meal really makes up for it's lack of lasagna-ness.
It's a weeknight meal.
'Nuff said.


Baked Penne with Mini Meatballs
Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:
Leftover Meatballs, or frozen meatballs
10 oz Penne Pasta, cooked
1 to 1 1/2 c Pasta Sauce, jarred or homemade
1/2 c Ricotta Cheese
1/4 c Grated Parmesan Cheese
Salt and Pepper,to taste
Italian Seasoning, to taste
1/2 c Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
 Fresh Parsley

Directions:
So if you have some leftovers from here, use these. Otherwise, you can use frozen meatballs or throw together some of your own. * Cook them first*
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cook pasta as directed on package. Drain and set aside.
In a small bowl mix the Ricotta, Parm, and seasonings.
In a casserole dish add the cooked pasta and meatballs. Add the Ricotta mix. Pour in the pasta sauce, parsley and sprinkle with shredded cheese. Toss to coat thoroughly. Bake in preheated oven for about 25 min or until heated through. Garnish with more parsley.

Baked Meatballs

Meatballs. Meat. Balls. Balls of Meat.
Meatballs are definitely man food.
You know, food that men eat.
Food that is not all dressed up.
Food that does not include the words, low-carb or fat-free.
Food with one syllable.

I have never been much on meatballs, especially spaghetti with meatballs...
I think it stems from watching one of those Kidsongs ( remember those movies?) movies, and the song "On Top of Spaghetti" comes on and this GIGANTIC meatball is rolling all around the set, from the campground table all through the dirt. I think it even rolls up on the dock where a man happens to be fishing, and somehow lands back on the kid's plate by the end of the song. Umm.. ew?

I will say, that I have actually come around, must be from being forced to make them, ya know, the man food. I will occasionally be spotted topping my spaghetti with a ball or 2.  But... these meatballs are not for spaghetti. I mean, they could be. But we ate them a la carte, along side some Rosemary Mashed Potatoes. Feel free to sub the tomato sauce for a gravy. That was my intention, but I figured jarred tomato sauce was so much easier at that point in the day.


Baked Meatballs
Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:
1 lb Lean Ground Beef
1 Egg
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1/3 cup Parmesan Cheese
2 Garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp Dried Basil
1 tsp Dried Parsley
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
1/4 cup Panko Bread Crumbs
2 cups of your favorite pasta sauce OR gravy

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients, except the sauce. Mix until combined, careful not to over mix. This will result in tough meatballs!
Spray a large baking dish with cooking spray. Pour in the 2 cups of sauce.
Form the meatballs to desired size; mini for sandwiches or just to be cute or large if you want to eat them a la carte.
Place meatballs in sauce, top with additional cheese and breadcrumbs. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25min or until cooked through. Yum!