Camping at Pinicon Ridge with IA friends we met in AZ

Last week we spent three days camping and eating (lots of eating) with friends (all from Iowa) that we met in AZ.  Some of them live pretty close and some live quite a drive away (SW Iowa).  We laughed, we played, we ate, and we ate, and we ate!  I was introduced to some great recipes and I wanted to put them on the blog so that they can forever be found when needed!

Chris (from Marion) shared the following recipe Cranberry Sauerkraut Meatballs.  This has some different ingredients than others I have had in the past and was quite tasty!

Ingredients
1 bottle Heinz chili sauce
3/4 to 1 cup brown sugar
14 oz sauerkraut - no seeds! (Rinsed and drained)
2 bags homestyle frozen fully cooked meatballs (not Italian) - thawed
1 can jellied cranberry sauce
1/4 cup water

Directions
Mix together and bake for 1 hour, stirring periodically....OR
Combine everything together (except meatballs) on the stove top and heat till it has melted together.  In a big bowl (or directly into the crock pot - if you have room) pour your meatballs in and then your heated sauce.  Stir until coated.  Cook on high for 1 hour or low for 3-4 hours.

Nutrition Facts

1 meatball with about 1 tablespoon sauce: 76 calories, 4g fat (2g saturated fat), 6mg cholesterol, 250mg sodium, 8g carbohydrate (6g sugars, 0 fiber), 2g protein.

Pam (also from Marion) shared her family-favorite recipe for Corn Casserole.  Although it isn't up my alley (I don't eat cheese) I've seen this at other potlucks and it is always gobbled up!

Ingredients
1 can cream style corn
1 can corn (don't drain)
1 cup cheese (could use shredded or velveeta)
1 cup macaroni
1/2 stick margarine or butter

Directions
Mix together in a casserole pan and bake for 1 to 1-1/2 hours at 350 degrees.  Can microwave, just be sure to stir every 10 minutes...OR
Cook on high in crockpot for 3-1/2 to 4 hours, stirring often.

Deb (from Sidney) brought a dish to one of our dinners that I really enjoyed.  I love carrots and this salad hit the spot!  It is called Copper Pennies Salad or sometimes simply called Carrot Salad.

2 lbs. carrots (peeled, sliced, salted and cooked)
1 green pepper (diced)
3 medium onions (peeled, sliced and broken apart in rings)
1 can tomato soup (can use tomato sauce)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup salad oil
1/2 cup vinegar
1 tsp prepared mustard
1 pinch of cloves (optional)

Directions
Toss carrots, green pepper and onions together.  Mix the soup, sugar, vinegar, salad oil and mustard together and pour over vegetables.  Let stand in refrigerator for at least 12 hours.

If I can get my hands on any of the other recipes from our campout I will add them to this posting!  Enjoy!

Sloppy Joes

I've been making this particular recipe for sloppy joes for several years now.  After serving it the first time it was apparent that it was very well liked and thereby designated a "keeper" recipe.



Sloppy Joes

(Better Homes & Gardens, Biggest Book of Slow Cooker Recipes)

Ingredients

2-1/2 pounds ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1-1/4 cups catsup

1 medium green sweet pepper, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1/3 cup water

3 tablespoons brown sugar

3 tablespoons prepared mustard

3 tablespoons vinegar

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon chili powder

16 to 20 hamburger buns, split and toasted

In a large skillet cook ground beef, onion and garlic until meat is brown and onion is tender.  Drain off fat.

In a 3-1/2- to 4-quart slow cooker combine catsup, sweet pepper, celery, water, brown sugar, mustard, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and chili powder.  Stir in meat mixture.

Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 6 to 8 hours or high heat setting for 3 to 4 hours.  Spoon onto toasted buns.

Nutrition facts per serving: 298 calories,  12 g total fat (4 g sat. fat), 44 mg chol., 579 mg sodium, 31 g carbo., 2 g fiber, 17 g protein.

Mexican Beef Dip

This hot dip has been around my family as far back as I can remember.  My mother made it regularly and all the family just love it.  This is the third and final hot dip that I made on for our Fourth of July party.  Enjoy!

This is what it looks like when I mixed everything together in the crock-pot.  The cheeses had not yet melted.  But in a relatively short amount of time everything melts together and looks yummy!

Mexican Beef Dip

3# ground beef
1 chopped onion
8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
8 oz shredded cheddar cheese
1# Velveeta cheese
1 pkg taco seasoning (or homemade – see below)
1 can picante sauce (or 2 cups salsa)
Garlic salt to taste

If making in oven:
Cook beef and onion until done.  Mix cooked beef with taco seasoning.  Combine all ingredients into a casserole dish.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  Serve with nacho chips.

If making in crock-pot.  Cook beef and onion until done.  Mix cooked beef with taco seasoning.  Combine all ingredients into crock-pot.  Cook on low for 3-4 hours, stirring once every hour or so.  Serve with nacho chips.

Homemade taco seasoning
2 TBSP chili powder
½ tsp cumin
½ tsp garlic powder

Suggestion - save clean-up time and use the crock-pot liners!

Hot Crab Dip

Here is the second of the three hot dip recipes that I made for our Fourth of July party:

Hot Crab Dip
(from Taste of Home, Quick Cooking, 2000 Annual)

Ingredients
½ cup milk
1/3 cup salsa
3 pkgs (8 oz each) cream cheese, cubed
2 pkgs (8 oz each) imitation crab meat, flaked (I like a little more)
1 cup thinly sliced green onions
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies

Combine milk and salsa.  Transfer to a slow cooker coated with nonstick cooking spray.  Stir in cream cheese, crab, onions and chilies.  Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours, stirring every 30 minutes.  Serve with crackers.

Yield: about 5 cups.  
Nutritional Analysis: One ¼ cup serving (prepared with skim milk and light cream cheese, calculated without crackers) equals 80 calories, 385 mg sodium, 23 mg cholesterol, 5 gm carbohydrate, 7 gm protein, 3 gm fat.  
Diabetic Exchanges: 1 lean meat, 1 vegetable


Suggestion - Use a crock-pot liner - it makes clean-up a breeze!

Meatballs in BBQ Sauce

Almost every Fourth of July we have a party in our yard.  Family and friends get together.  We eat, visit and then sit back and watch the fireworks display in downtown Cedar Rapids.  Because of the flood of 2008, the fireworks were moved out to Kirkwood Community College so we weren't able to have our annual party.  But, this year things returned to normal.  (I say that but there are many residents who are still not back to normal.  There are still many signs of the flood of '08 in many parts of the city.)  Anyways, the party was on.
Since we had not had our annual party since 2007 it seemed fitting that I should go back to some of the popular recipes that I had used throughout the years.  

The menu included three hot dips that were served in crock pots.  They were:  Hot Crab Dip, Meatballs in BBQ Sauce and Mexican Beef Dip.  They were served with a variety of chips and crackers.  Of course we had "sweets" too!  The Magic Cookies that I posted July 10th and the Salted Nut Squares that I will be posting in the next few weeks.  The Meatballs in BBQ Sauce was completely gone so I have determined it as the most popular item.  So, of the three hot dips, that is the one I'm posting first.  The fact that it is the easiest makes it even better.

Meatballs in BBQ Sauce

Need:
100-125 frozen Italian meatballs
2-3 bottles of Cookies BBQ sauce (26 oz each)

Put 2 bottles of the BBQ sauce in the crock-pot and set temp on low setting.  Bake meatballs according to package directions for 20 minutes.  (Just enough to start heating them up.  Do not bake the entire time directed on the package.)  Put the heated meatballs into the crock-pot with the BBQ sauce and mix well.  Add more sauce if needed.  Cook in crock-pot for 3-4 hours stirring every hour or so.  Serve with toothpicks.

Comments:
Meatballs - I get these from Sam's Club.  The bags of Italian meatballs have around 150 meatballs in them which is too many for my crock-pot, so I save some back for future meals.
BBQ sauce - I switched to Cookies BBQ exclusively a few years back because there is no high fructose corn syrup in it.  I really try to watch for that on the food I buy and avoid it as much as I can.  Plus we really like it!!!

Suggestion - use a crock-pot liner to make clean-up a breeze!

Slow Cooker Liners by Reynolds

Where have these been hiding all these years?  I don't know when these came out but they are the greatest time-saving item for those of us who love to cook in our crock-pot!  They fit my tall and deep crock-pot just as well as my shorter oblong one.  If you haven't tried them, make sure you do.  I still forget periodically to use them and then I get mad at myself for causing extra clean-up.  Check them out!!!

Crockpot Dressing, Crustless Pumpkin Pie, Butter Horn Rolls

I've been cooking all day! Our camping club had our annual Thanksgiving dinner together and eating was a big part of the agenda. (Although we did conduct a short meeting!). I had signed up to make a turkey (which I did in the roaster) and dressing (which I made in the crockpot). I started both of them this a.m. After an easy lunch (of Subway) I started itching to make some additional food items to take to the dinner. One of our family favorites is crustless pumpkin pie. The majority of the carbs in pumpkin pie is in the crust so if we cut the crust out of the picture then we can enjoy with less guilt! I found this recipe on the Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk can back in 2005 and have made it year round ever since! But that wasn't enough. I figured there might not be many rolls at the potluck, so I started hunting for a yeast recipe that wouldn't take hours and hours. I found one that I was able to throw together very easily - plus they were delicious. I love it when a new recipe works out. I'm going to share recipes for the dressing, pumpkin pie and the rolls.

Crock-Pot Dressing

1 cup butter
12 to 13 cups bread cubes (2 X 14 oz pkgs)
2 cups chopped celery
2 cups chopped onion
¼ cup parsley
2 beaten eggs
4 cups chicken broth
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 ½ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp sage
1 tsp thyme
½ tsp pepper
½ tsp marjoram

Mix all ingredients together in crock pot. Cook on high for 45 minutes, then turn to low and cook 4 to 6 hours.

Variation: May add cut-up turkey or chicken, if desired.

Original recipe called for 1 (8 oz) can drained mushrooms.

Perfect “Crustless” Pumpkin Pie

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin (2 cups)
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk (I used no fat)
2 eggs
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. With wire whisk or mixer, beat all ingredients. Pour into a pie pan (greased). Bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven heat to 350 degrees F. Continue baking 35-40 minutes or until knife inserted 1 inch from edge comes out clean. Cool. Garnish as desired. Store covered in refrigerator.

The original recipe called for it to be put into an unbaked 9-inch pie crust.

Butter Horn Rolls
(from America’s Best Lost Recipes Cookbook)

Makes 24 rolls

12 tsps (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter – DIVIDED
1 cup warm milk (110 degrees)
½ cup sugar
3 large eggs
4 ½ - 5 cups all-purpose flour (I substituted one cup of regular for whole wheat flour)
1 pkg rapid-rise or instant yeast
1 ½ tsp salt

1. Lightly grease a large bowl with cooking spray. Melt 8 tbsp of the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat; let cool. Mix the melted butter, milk, sugar and eggs in a large measuring cup. Mix 4 ½ cups flour, the yeast, and salt together in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the dough hook. With the mixer on low, add the milk mixture. After the dough comes together, increase the speed to medium and mix until shiny and smooth, 4 to 6 minutes. (If the dough is sticky after 3 minutes, add the remaining ½ cup flour, 2 tbsp at a time.) Turn the dough out onto a heavily floured work surface, shape into a ball, and place in the greased bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rest in a warm place until the dough is doubled in size, about 1 hour.

2. Spray two baking sheets with cooking spray. Melt the remaining 4 tbsp butter over medium heat; let cool. Divide the dough into three equal pieces. Working on a lightly floured work surface, roll each piece of dough into a 10-inch circle; brush with melted butter. Using a knife or pizza cutter, cut each circle into eight equal wedges. Starting at the wide end, roll up the dough, ending with the pointed tip on the bottom. Place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets and curl in the ends slightly to form a crescent shape. Cover the rolls with plastic wrap coated with cooking spray and let rise until the rolls are doubled in size, about 45 minutes.



3. Adjust two oven racks to the upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Bake the rolls until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes, switching and rotating the baking sheets halfway through baking. Serve hot or warm.



Everything turned out wonderful and tasted just great! The new recipe was the rolls and they will now move into the "keeper" recipe file.

Crock-pot Turkey Breast

This recipe is one that I go back to over and over again. There is very little prep and the results are always wonderful. I can guarantee that you'll put this recipe in your favorite recipe file after you try it the first time!

Crock-pot Turkey Breast
source: Cedar Rapids Gazette, Desperation Dinners column

1 turkey breast (6 to 6-1/2 pounds), frozen (see note)
2 tsp vegetable oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 medium onion
4 garlic cloves

Rinse the turkey and pat it dry with paper towels. Rub the turkey all over with oil. Sprinkle the breast lightly with salt and pepper to personal preference.

Place the breast, meaty side up, into a 5-quart slow cooker.

Peel the onion, cut it into quarters, and place the pieces around the edges of the pot. Peel the garlic cloves and place them around the sides of the cooker. Cover the cooker and cook the breast on low for 9 hours, or until the meat thermometer registers 170 degrees. Remove the breast from the cooker and let the bird stand at least 10 minutes before slicing. (The internal temperature will continue to rise while the bird is standing.) Discard the vegetables in the cooker. Serve the breast sliced, preferably without skin.

Note: If the turkey breast is not frozen, check for doneness (170 degrees) with a meat thermometer after 7-1/2 to 8 hours of cooking on low. Be sure to wash your hands well with soap and water immediately after handling raw poultry. Wash sink and counter surfaces the meat touches with soap and hot water.

If you do not use the entire turkey in the meal you can refrigerate, covered for 24 hours before chopping the meat and freezing. Place the meat in a freezer-weight plastic bag and freeze for up to 2 weeks.

Nutrition facts per serving (without skin): 326 calories (8 percent from fat), 3 g fat (1 g saturated), 194 mg cholestrol, 70 g protein, 0 g carbohydrates, 0 g dieteary fiber, 122 mfg sodium.

Comments from me:
I like to have this turkey breast for my Sunday dinner, but I don't want to get up at 3:00 a.m. to put it in the crock-pot. What I've done the last several years is cook it overnight. I wait as late as possible (10 - 11:00 p.m.) to start the crock-pot. When I get up the next morning it is done. You then have two choices (I've done both), either keep it warm in the oven (put the whole crock pot in the oven) at 150 degree F; or let it cool, slice it and warm only what you need for the meal.

I don't always have an onion in the house, so I've used celery as my veggie on the bottom and it works. Make sure you use the garlic though - I oftentimes use more then 4 cloves. I also season with garlic pepper (my favorite seasoning).


It always amazes me that you don't need to add any water to the crock-pot if you are cooking the frozen turkey. You will get plenty of broth to make gravy!

Swiss Steak and Slow Cooker Cobbler

I usually have a plan when I make a meal. Today I needed to accomplish two things. First I had to have something that I could put together ahead of time and not have to mess with till just before eating time. Secondly, I needed some mashed potatoes to use in my kolaches that I'm mixing up tonight. I normally use instant mashed potatoes but decided to go with the real thing this time.

Dinner was to be served around noon so at 8:30 I started on the main course - the Swiss Steak. I had seasoned it with garlic pepper (which I use on everything I can) last night so it was in the fridge ready to go. I dredged it in flour (with more garlic pepper) and browned both sides in my electric skillet. I was doubling the recipe so I had to brown the meat in batches. While the meat was browning I put baby carrots in the bottom of my pan, laid the meat on top as it came out of the skillet and the scattered the sliced onions all over the top. After pouring the water/Worcestershire sauce over everthing, into the oven it went for 3 hours. Hubby peeled, cleaned and cut up the potatoes so they were ready to turn on at 11.

Sunday dinner isn't complete without dessert. Unlike the Swiss Steak recipe which is tried and true (many times over), I opted to try something new for dessert today. I had picked up Taste of Home - Potluck, which was new on the newstands. This dessert was to be made in the slow cooker and it had only four ingredients. The recipe called for using cherry or apple pie filling, but because I had 5 cans of blueberry pie filling in my cupboard I decided to go that route. I'm giving you the recipe exactly as it was printed with my variation following.

Here are the recipes:

So Tender Swiss Steak
From Taste of Home, Annual Recipes (2000)

Ingredients
¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
2 pounds round steak, cut into serving size pieces
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 cups water
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

For the Gravy:
¼ cup all-purpose flour
¼ tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1-1/4 cups beef broth or water

Hot cooked noodles or mashed potatoes, optional

In a shallow bowl, combine flour, salt and pepper. Dredge steak, a few pieces at a time. Pound with a mallet to tenderize. In a Dutch oven, brown steak in oil on all sides. Arrange onion slices between layers of meat. Add water and Worcestershire sauce. Cover and bake at 325 degrees for 2 to 2-1/2 hours or until meat is very tender. Remove to a serving platter and keep warm. In a small bowl, combine flour, salt, pepper and broth until smooth; stir into the pan juices. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Serve steak and gravy over noodles or mashed potatoes if desired. Yield: 8 servings

My variation – I use minute steak (cheaper grade but already tenderized). I cut the onion into thick slices so I know when I’m eating them.

I put carrots in the bottom of the pan, cover with the browned meat, arrange the onion slices and then bake. I wanted a longer baking time of 3 hours so I reduced my temp to 300 degrees.

Slow Cooker Cobbler - the official name in the magazine - Minister’s Delight
So named by the contributor because it originated from a minister’s wife who was said to fix it every Sunday.

Ingredients
1 can (21 oz) cherry or apple pie filing
1 package (18-1/4 oz) yellow cake mix
½ cup butter, melted
1/3 cup chopped walnuts, optional

Place pie filling in a 1-1/2 qt. slow cooker. Combine cake mix and butter (mixture will be crumbly); sprinkle over filling. Sprinkle walnuts if desired. Cover and cook on low for 2-3 hours. Serve in bowls.

Variations:
I used blueberry pie filling as I stated earlier. And because I always try to make things a “little bit” healthier I used Smart Balance instead of butter. I used more then the 1/3 cup walnuts – as I’ve always believed the nuttier then better! I served it warm with vanilla yogurt ice cream. Very easy and everyone enjoyed it a lot!