Perfect Pot Roast

Posted on September 25, 2011 by jgisvold

I can’t believe how tender and good this pot roast was! Every time I walked into the kitchen it smelled so good and it made my mouth water. Pair that with some apple butter cooking in the crock pot at the same time, and it smells like heaven. Two perfect things to make for a nice cool Fall day.

The only thing I wished I would have done was turn the liquid in the pot into a thicker gravy. It still tasted good over the mashed potatoes and beef. Next time… I’m also going to add in some more onions and carrots. The onions and carrots practically melted in my mouth. Thank you Pioneer Women for the perfect pot roast recipe ever! Too bad, I didn’t make the blackberry cobbler that went a long with this show.

I figured out the nutrition info for this since I thought it was pretty healthy and mostly protein. 55 grams of protein, that’s a lot and this was very filling.

Mmmm, look at all that brown food!

Serves 8

Calories 485 | Fat 24.72g | Carbohydrate 6.74g | Fiber 1.5g | Protein 55.43g

Ingredients from Ree Drummond

Salt and freshly ground black pepper
One 3 to 5-pound chuck roast
2 or 3 tablespoons olive oil
2 whole onions, peeled and halved
6 to 8 whole carrots, unpeeled, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 cup red wine, optional
3 cups beef broth
2 or 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 or 3 sprigs fresh thyme

Directions

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.

Generously salt and pepper the chuck roast.

Heat the olive oil in large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the halved onions to the pot, browning them on both sides. Remove the onions to a plate.

Throw the carrots into the same very hot pot and toss them around a bit until slightly browned, about a minute or so. Reserve the carrots with the onions.

If needed, add a bit more olive oil to the very hot pot. Place the meat in the pot and sear it for about a minute on all sides until it is nice and brown all over. Remove the roast to a plate.

With the burner still on high, use either red wine or beef broth (about 1 cup) to deglaze the pot, scraping the bottom with a whisk. Place the roast back into the pot and add enough beef stock to cover the meat halfway.

Add in the onions and the carrots, along with the fresh herbs.

Put the lid on, then roast for 3 hours for a 3-pound roast. For a 4 to 5-pound roast, plan on 4 hours. The roast is ready when it’s fall-apart tender.

Cheeseburger Mac

Posted on June 16, 2011 by jgisvold

If you like hamburger helper like we do, you’ll like this. It’s pretty much the same, but I thought it was wayyyyy better. It’s very spicy and when making it, it only takes up two pans. Pretty easy to clean up. I’ll be making this again whenever I’m craving my favorite boxed meal. No velveeta cheese was used to make this either.

I was thinking of ways to reduce the amount of sodium in this dish. There was a lot when I figured out the nutrition info, over 1000 mg! You could make your own taco seasoning, which I need to do and keep a big bag of it stashed in the pantry. Use reduced sodium chicken or beef broth with no fat added. The only other way you’d be getting sodium is from the Rotel tomatoes. I also left out the 1/2 teaspoon of salt the recipe calls for in the cheese sauce.

Serves 4

Nutrition Info: Calories 417 | Fat 14.32g | Carbohydrate 30.06g | Fiber 1.8g | Protein 38.86g

Points Plus: 10

Ingredients from Kevin & Amanda’s recipes

1 lb lean hamburger meat
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 can Rotel tomatoes and green chilies (or petite diced tomatoes)
2 cups beef broth (or water)
1 cup elbow macaroni

Brown and drain hamburger meat. Stir in taco seasoning, Rotel, beef broth, and macaroni. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat and cover pan. Simmer 12-14 mins until macaroni is tender.

Meanwhile, make the cheese sauce….

2 Tablespoons butter
2 tbsp flour
3/4 cup milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook, whisking for 5 minutes until fragrant and light brown in color. Whisk in the milk and bring to a boil. Whisk until smooth and thickened. Remove from heat and stir in the shredded cheddar cheese until melted. Add the salt and pepper to the cheese sauce. Pour the cheese sauce over the hamburger mixture. Stir gently to combine.

Serves 4.

Jenna’s Weight Watcher Recipes

Sour Cream Noodle Bake

Posted on March 19, 2011 by jgisvold

Serves: 6

Ingredients from the Pioneer Women

1-¼ poundGround Chuck
1 can15-ounces Tomato Sauce
½ teaspoonsSalt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper
8 ounces, weightEgg Noodles
½ cupsSour Cream
1-¼ cupSmall Curd Cottage Cheese
½ cupsSliced Green Onions (less To Taste)
1 cupGrated Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Brown ground chuck in a large skillet. Drain fat, then add tomato sauce. 1/2 teaspoon salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Stir, then simmer while you prepare the other ingredients.
Cook egg noodles until al dente. Drain and set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine sour cream and cottage cheese. Add plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Add to noodles and stir. Add green onions and stir.
To assemble, add half of the noodles to a baking dish. Top with half the meat mixture, then sprinkle on half the grated cheddar. Repeat with noodles, meat, then a final layer of cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, or until all cheese is melted.
Serve with crusty French bread.

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This recipe is a definite keeper! It almost reminded me of a lasagna casserole. You could go so many different ways. I used lean ground turkey, low fat cottage cheese and sour cream, and a 2% cheddar cheese. I also added about 3 teaspoons of chopped garlic in the sauce. We both really liked this recipe and I ended up having two servings of it. It was so good! I’d figure out the points plus per serving, but I’ve seemed to have misplaced my calculator. When I find it, I’ll start putting in the points for some of these recipes too.

This weekend has been good for finding recipes. I really enjoyed the Banana Nut Muffin Tops, Crab Cakes, and this Sour Cream Noodle Bake.

Taco Bowls

Posted on February 23, 2011 by jgisvold

Ever wondered how to make your own taco salad bowls???? Here’s how.

1. Place 4 ramekins on a cookie sheet tray large enough to fit 4. Preheat Oven to 400 degrees.

2. Spray corn tortillas with non stick cooking spray on both sides. and ramekins. Place corn tortilla over ramekins.

3. Bake until golden. About 12 minutes. While taco bowls are baking ground some beef or turkey.

4. Add seasoning to beef/turkey mixture and prepare your fixings. I like avocados, lettuce, salsa, cheese, etc.

5. Once ground beef mixture is cooked, make your taco bowl salad. Errr…. mine was more like a taco plate. They were still very good.

Here is the recipe I used for the taco seasoning. Making your own seasoning mix is another way of reducing sodium in your daily diet. Those packets that you buy in the store are loaded with sodium! Serve some Tostitos Black Bean and Garlic Artisan chips with your taco bowl salads. Yum, those are my new favorite chips now. A good thing there kind of expensive (mine were $4.00 a bag) because I’d be buying them all the time if they weren’t.