My psychic but fuzzy visions...and Pulled Pork of course!

I had no idea that when I created this blog earlier in the week and named it Crista's Fresh Start, that it was so prophetic.

On Tuesday, my job of over five years came to an end.  Of course the immediate response was shock and awe.  My company was a wonderful company to work for and it was a crushing experience to be told I no longer had a position. Many of my co-workers and the sales reps I supported and reached out and told me what a great asset I was and that I will be missed, and this makes me feel much better.

Alas, hind sight is 20/20.  While I loved my job, it was very much dead-end. I had often thought about trying something new or even going back to school.  This forces me to step out of my comfort zone and do just that. 

In the mean time, I will take at least a few days to enjoy the "real house-wives of Indianapolis" lifestyle.  Yeah, I know I'm not a wife, or a housewife, but neither was Bethany Frankel and look where she is now! 

So as I enjoyed my first day of as a lady-of-leisure, I whipped out the crock pot and made some delicious dinner.  Without further ado, I give you...

Delicious Pulled Pork

5 lb. Pork Shoulder
1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup of water

Mix spices together and rub over the pork roast.  Place roast in a 5-6 qt. crock pot and add the cup of water.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-5.

Blake likes his with slaw and bbq sauce on top!  I like it just as it is.  There is no wrong way to eat this delicious meat!

Jinxed Meatloaf

I hadn't done a crock pot recipe for a while, so we picked this one to try. Sunday night I mixed it together, gingerly placed it in my crock pot liner, and put it in the fridge. Scott is in charge of starting the crock pot the next morning. Well as fate would have it, somehow the temperature setting was turned to "Keep Warm" instead of "Low." I'm fairly sure it would have taken a good 25 hours to cook the loaf at that rate. As luck would have it, I happened to run home at lunch, which I don't normally do, and popped the setting up to low. I figured it wouldn't matter much since we normally eat dinner late. Everything was cooking happily until sometime in the afternoon during a thunderstorm, our power went out. When the power finally came back on around 6:30pm, I finally said to hell with it and threw the meat loaf in the oven. Surprisingly it turned out very moist and tasty, considering its rocky cooking time.

Crock Pot Meatloaf

2 lbs lean ground beef
2 eggs
2/3 cup quick-cooking oatmeal
1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix
1/2 cup ketchup

Reserve 2 T. ketchup. Combine ground beef, eggs, oats, soup mix and remaining ketchup. Shape into loaf and put into crock pot. Top with remaining ketchup. Cover, cook on low 8 - 10 hours.

Source: Rival

Second Best Lasagna

I found this recipe on one of my favorite cooking blogs, The Pioneer Woman Cooks. It touts itself being the Best Lasagna Ever. It was delicious, and I will be making it again, but I still have to stay that my grandmother's lasagna was the best ever. This comes pretty darn close though! Definitely try this recipe the next time you are craving some gooey lasagna!




Pioneer Woman's Best Lasagna Ever

1-1/2 pounds ground beef
1 pound hot breakfast sausage
2 cloves minced garlic
2 14.5 oz cans whole tomatoes
12 oz can tomato paste
2 T dried parsley flakes
2 T dried basil
1 t salt
8 lasagna noodles, cooked to al dente
1 lb sliced (deli-style) mozzarella cheese
3 cups lowfat cottage cheese
2 beaten eggs
½ cup Kraft Parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
2 T dried parsley flakes
1 tsp salt

In a skillet, combine 1 1/2 pounds ground beef, 1 pound hot breakfast sausage, and 2 cloves minced garlic. Cook until brown. Drain off about half the fat (or more, to taste). After that, add two 14.5-oz cans of whole tomatoes, two 6-oz cans of tomato paste, 2 tablespoons of dried parsley flakes, 2 tablespoons dried basil and 1 teaspoon salt. Mix together thoroughly and simmer, uncovered, about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While the meat mixture is cooking, mix 3 cups lowfat cottage cheese in a bowl with 2 beaten eggs. To the cottage cheese, add 1/2 cup Kraft Parmesan Cheese, 2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes, and 1 teaspoon salt. Mix together well.

Lay four cooked lasagna noodles in the bottom of the pan, overlapping as you go. Spread half of the cottage cheese mixture evenly over the noodles. Then lay 1/2 pound of mozzarella cheese slices on top of the cottage cheese mixture. Spread a little less than half of the meat mixture over the mozzarella cheese slices until it’s evenly distributed.

Repeat and finish with meat mixture. Top with a pretty generous layer of good ole Kraft grated parm. Now pop it in a 350-degree oven for 20-30 minutes, until hot and bubbly. (Alternately, you could cover and freeze it, unbaked, at this point or cover and refrigerate, unbaked, for up to two days before baking.)

Source: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/

Winding down from a nice weekend

This weekend has been nice and quiet...for me anyway. Scott did have to get up around 5am on Saturday because his wrestling team started sectionals. It was a very long day for him, so I wanted to make him a nice dinner to come home to on Saturday night. I was inspired by a recipe I saw on Bobby Flay's Throwdown last week on the Food Network, and it got rave reviews from a very tired and hungry boyfriend.

Grandma Maroni's Meatballs

1 pound ground chuck

4 ounces dried bread crumbs

4 large eggs

4 ounces whole milk

6 ounces grated Romano

3 ounces grated Spanish onion

2 ounces finely diced fresh garlic

2 ounces finely chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves

2 ounces finely chopped fresh basil leaves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with olive oil cooking spray.
Mix all ingredients thoroughly in large bowl. If mixture seems a little loose add more bread crumbs. Roll meatballs loosely about the size of a golf ball and place on baking sheet. Place into preheated oven for approximately 35 to 40 minutes. Enjoy!

Grandma Maroni's Sauce

6 ounces good olive oil, not extra-virgin

12 cloves garlic, finely sliced

1 large or 2 medium Spanish onions, finely diced

2 (28-ounce) cans imported crushed tomatoes

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon white or black pepper

1 large handful julienned fresh basil leaves

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add oil. Once heated add the finely sliced garlic and onions to the pan. Cook over medium heat until soft and slightly brown. Next add the canned crushed tomatoes, salt and pepper and stir. Allow the sauce to come to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the julienned basil.

recipes from Foodtv.com

I served the meatballs and sauce over spaghetti along side some good ol' cheesy texas toast garlic bread and a nice bottle of Chianti. I of course made dessert, but I'll have to give Mrs. Smith all of the credit on that one!

Slowly but surely, I'm getting him trained.

My boyfriend Scott is a great guy, no questioning that. However he isn't a big planner. I'm a total planner, and on a personality trait test our HR department had us take, my #1 trait out of 34 was "Futuristic," meaning I like to (and most importantly) have to plan ahead.

On Sundays, I plan out our menu for the week and hit the grocery. I always involve Scott when planning so I know what nights we'll be home and what nights he has a wrestling meet, ect. This week we discussed how we would both be home late on Monday night and he said, and I quote:

"Since we are both going to be home late on Monday, we should do something in the crock pot."

I could not have been prouder...and dinner couldn't have been tastier.





Saucy Swiss Steak in the Slow Cooker

(4 Servings)
1/4 cup Italian Dressing
1 boneless chuck blade or shoulder steak (1 lb.), cut into 4 pieces
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 cup beef broth
1 cup chopped green peppers (about 1 medium)
1/2 cup shredded Swiss Cheese

Heat the dressing in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Meanwhile, coat steaks evenly with flour; gently shake off excess flour. Add to skillet; cook 2 to 3 min. on each side or until each steak is browned on both sides. Remove from heat; cover to keep warm.
Combine the tomato paste, tomatoes and broth in slow cooker. Add steaks and peppers; cover with lid. Cook on high 3 to 4 hours. (I did low for 8.)
Sprinkle with cheese just before serving.

Nutrition per serving: Calories 270 Total fat 12 g Saturated fat 4.5 g Cholesterol 60 mg Sodium 700 mg Carbohydrate 17 g Dietary fiber 3 g Sugars 5 g Protein 23 g Vitamin A 20 %DV Vitamin C 40 %DV Calcium 15 %DV Iron 20 %DV

recipe adapted from Kraftfoods.com