Pork Tenderloin

Crockpot Style! 

1 (2lb) Pork Tenderloin

1 Envelope Dry Onion Soup Mix

1 Cup Water

3/4 Red Wine

3 T Minced Garlic

3 T Soy Sauce

Pepper to taste 

Hey Crew - The First time I've posted in FOREVER, so you know this recipe must be good if I am dying to share it with you all.  I've never been confident with knowing when a good tenderloin is done aka mom's meat thermometers are all older than the hills so you never know!  But the slow cooker reassured me after 4 hours, we'd be good to go! 

1. Put all ingredients in crockpot, on LOW, for 4 hours. 
2. Use the liquid for au jus or I even took a bunch, heated it on the stove, and added some flour to make gravy.  The wine, soup mix, and seasonings make for an AMAZING sauce/gravy. 

Funny Sidebar about Dad - He jumped up and volunteered to get wine for the recipe.  Two seconds later he comes in with Blackberry Arbor Midst.  I didn't have the heart to send him back, so we made this delicious recipe with the nastiest wine and it was still to DIE for.  Once dad realized how crappy the wine was (when he had some at dinner), he agreed he wanted me to make it again but with legit wine instead of jungle juice.

*I served with Garden Canned Green Beans and Garlic Mashed Potatoes 

Cream Cheese Cupcakes, Moms (Family Picnic Staple).

1. Bake cupcakes at ___for ___mins (call Mom?).
2. Fill cupcake cups with chocolate batter; spoon in a clump of the white mixture to each.

Mix chocolate part using CRAZY CAKE batter recipe:

Mom's Crazy Cake Link

White Mixture:
8 oz. cream cheese
1 egg
dash salt
1/3 c. sugar
1 bag (12 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Crazy Cake, Mom's.

***DON'T GREASE PAN.***

3 c. flour
2 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. soda
1/3 c. cocoa
1 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. vinegar
3/4 c. salad oil
2 c. water

1. Beat well.
2. Bake 40 mins. at 350 degrees.

***

1. Blend 2 1/2 Tbsp. flour into 1/2 c. of milk.
2. Cook to thick paste and cool
3. Cream into bowl 1/2 c. oleo and 1/2 c. sugar.  
4. Beat until fluffy.
5. Mix into paste and beat real hard (??That was hard to read!)
6. Add 1 tsp. vanilla. Cool.

***

2nd Icing:

1. Boil together 1 c. of chocolate chips (small pkg.), 1/2 tsp. butter, and 1/4 c. milk.
2. Boil 3 minutes.
3. Dribble with fork.

Popcorn Cake. Mom's, aka, from Kathy Platkowski.

1 c. butter
1 # pkg. marshmallow
4 quarts popped popcorn
1 c. peanuts
1 c. M&M's
1 c. gumdrops (Skittles?  Raisins?)

1. In large saucepan melt: butter and marshmallows.
2. In large bowl, mix the other ingredients: popcorn, peanuts, m&m's, gumdrops.
3. Pack in greased tube pan; cool in fridge.
4. Remove from pan.

Stuffed Zucchini

• Prep
  10 m
• Cook
  1 h
• Ready In
  1 h 10 m

From AllRecipies

"This is good served with French bread and a salad."

Ingredients

• 3 zucchini
• 1 pound pork sausage
• 1 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1 clove garlic, minced

• 1 (32 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Trim stems from zucchini and slice lengthwise. Scoop out seeds and put in bowl. Mix seeds with sausage, garlic, bread crumbs, and parmesan cheese. Stuff squash with sausage mixture and place in 9x13 inch baking pan. Pour sauce over squash and cover pan with foil.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until sausage is cooked. Remove foil and cover with mozzarella cheese. Cook until cheese is melted.

Cherry Pretzel Torte, Mom's.

CHERRY PRETZEL TORTE

1 c. butter or margarine

3/4 c. sugar

2 c. coarsely crushed pretzels

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese (softened)

1/2 c. powdered sugar

2 pkg. whipped topping mix

1 can Wilderness Cherry fruit filling or other fruit filling

Melt butter in saucepan.  Add sugar and blend.

Remove from heat, add pretzels and stir in lightly.  Reserve 3/4 c. of pretzel mix for topping.

Press remains into ungreased 9x13" pan.  Blend softened cream cheese and powdered sugar together.  Whip topping mix according to directions on pkg.  Fold into cheese mix.  Spread 1/2 of cheese mix over pretzel crust.  Carefully spread cherry fruit filling over cheese mix.  Then spread remaining mix over cherries.  Top with reserved pretzel mix.  Refrigerate 2-3 hours.  

8 Year Birthday Cake Choice, 2016.

AND, Rita's 8th Birthday Cake Pic, too!

Mom's Chicken Cordon Bleau. Complements Ruby!

Mom’s Cordon Bleau.

Chicken Breasts (or veal), pound thin and fold or slice in half to stuff.

1.  Stuff with fontina and proscuitto (I use mozzarella and summer sausage if the Italian choices are not available.)  Tie stuffing in.
2. Roll stuffed pieces in a mix of flour and salt & pepper.
3. Brown both sides in a mix of 3T. olive oil and 2T. melted butter.
4. Then, brown on each side for ten minutes, covered.
5. Remove from pan and put on serving platter.  Pour ¾ c. chicken stock and ½ c. dry white wine into drippings bring to boil,  scraping residue.  Simmer a few minutes and pour over chicken.  Whala!!!

Honey BBQ Oven Baked Chicken Thighs

Honey BBQ Oven Baked Chicken Thighs Recipe

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

40 mins

Total time

50 mins

Ingredients

• 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
• ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup barbecue sauce
• ½ cup honey
• 2 teaspoons mustard
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder

1. Preheat oven to 425°F
2. Line a baking sheet with tin foil and spray with non stick cooking spray.
3. Place the chicken on the prepared baking sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4. In a small bowl combine the rest of the ingredients until well blended.
5. Using a basting brush, brush chicken with sauce. Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
6. Remove chicken thighs from the oven and turn each piece over using tongs. Brush the other side of the chicken and place back in the oven for an additional 20 minutes.
7. Serve hot.

Mom's Plum Cake

1. Sift together:

• 1 c flour
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/4 t salt
• 2 T sugar.

1. Add 3 T butter.  Work these ingredients like pastry.  
2. In a measuring cup combine 1 egg with 1/2 t vanilla.  Add enough milk so that it reaches the 1/2 cup line on the measuring cup.  Mix this into the flour mixture.  
3. Press into the bottom of a square baking dish or pie pan.  Add 3-4 cups sliced plums (apples or peaches work as well) to the top of the batter and press them into it.  
4. Mix in a separate bowl 1 c sugar, 3 T melted butter and  2 t cinammon.  Spread over plums/batter.  
5. Bake at 425 for 25 minutes.  This sounds putzy but is quite easy to whip together.

Angie's Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti Squash

1. Preheat Oven to 375
2. Half and clean out the squash
3. Put in pan with some water on the bottom
4. Drizzle with Salt and Olive Oil 
5. Bake for an hour - Really you can't over bake this, so just throw it in the oven and leave it for a while.  We baked it, shut the oven off, went to the splash pad for an hour and came back, and it was finally luke-warm, to where you could handle it a bit 
6. You just take a fork, and gut out the cooked squash.  You can stop here and just eat it with whatever sauce you want, but I found that the saute step is yummier! 
7. Heat some olive oil and garlic/spices if you want
8. Put the shredded squash into the saute pan, and saute, adding water, periodically to not burn the squash / it can help soften and cook it to give it the noddle taste.  
9. Monica and I added pesto to this, and it was AMAZING!!! 
10. Don't get overwhelmed with my wordy junk - bake, saute, enjoy! 

*From Monica: I read an article saying the best thing to do is put the whole squash in the slow cooker with a cup of water and put on low all day.  Eager to see what this tastes like... 

**From Noelle:  Sometimes instead of the pan biz, with brussels I'll just toss in oil salt n pepper and bake, turning twice, until getting brown, then I'll make a tangy sauce mixture of balsamic, Dijon mustard, honey and coat the sprouts on the stove top in a skillet so they caramelize a little.  And if you have bacon crumbles to throw in at this time, forget about it... amazing... 

Monica's Brussels Sprouts

KIDS LIKE BRUSSELS SPROUTS

1.5 lbs Brussels sprouts, bottom

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

5 cloves garlic

1 T balsamic

1. Cut the bottoms off the Brussels sprouts and then cut in half lengthwise (I have a kid do this for me but if you've none around, the extra work is worth it.). Crush and peel garlic cloves
2. Oven to 400.
3. Heat a large skillet with a layer of olive oil on medium-high.
4. Put Brussels sprouts cut side down in pan with garlic and a little salt and pepper.  Shake from time to time until the bottoms of all sprouts is brown.
5. Put whole pan in the oven for 5 minutes.  Open oven, shake pan around a bit.  Close oven for 5 minutes.  Take out.  
6. Stir over 1 T of balsamic and serve.  My kids fight over every these.  

Monica's Oven Fries

MONICA'S OVEN FRIES

3 large potatoes

2 T oil

1/2 t salt

Parchment paper

Cooking spray

Oven to 450

1. Cut potatoes into 1/4 inch matchsticks.

2. Toss with oil and salt.

3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and coat with cooking spray.  Spread out potatoes in a single layer.

4. Cook for 35 minutes, checking the last 5

Mom's Ketchup Fries.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

1/4 c. melted butter
1 t. mustard
1/4 t. salt
1/4 c. ketchup
1/2 t. paprika
3 large potatoes, unpeeled, wedged

1. In a small saucepan, melt butter over low heat.
2. Remove from heat; stir in rest of ingredients and mix well.
3. Toss potatoes in the sauce, or coat them well with mixture, somehow.
4. Bake 35 minutes, or until tender; toss them around to re-coat every 10 minutes or so.

ENJOY!

Dr. Pepper Ribs

Servings: 9

4.5 racks baby back ribs
4.5 liters bottle Dr. Pepper cola
5/8 cup salt
2-and-1/4 tablespoons chili powder
2-and-1/4 tablespoons canola oil
1-and-1/8 medium onion, minced
2-and-1/4 garlic clove, minced
1-and-1/8 cups ketchup
4-and-1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
4-and-1/2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/3 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions:

1. 1) Place the ribs in a large cooler. Pour in Dr. Pepper and cover them, reserving at least 1/2 cup for the sauce. Add the salt and soak the ribs for 8-10hrs. (covered in ice)
2. Heat the oven to 350°F Remove the ribs from the liquid, dry them (paper towel), and coat with the chili powder. Place them on a baking dish on top of foil, add 1 cup of water (to steam), and cover tightly with foil. Cook for 2 hours, until the meat nearly falls off the bone.
3. For BBQ Sauce: Heat the oil in saucepan over medium heat. Saute the onion and garlic until they're soft and fragrant and add the ketchup, Worcestershire, vinegar, cayenne and 1/2 cup of Dr. Pepper. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the sauce thickens.
4. Fire up the grill, and brush the ribs with sauce. When the grill is hot, cook them bone side down for 10 to 20 minutes for however you like it. (Flip them and cook until lightly charred and smoky.)
5. Remove and brush on more sauce.

Takes a few attempts before perfecting your "style" but it's fun trying.

Slow-Cooker Corned Beef & Cabbage. *Marya's yearly go-to!

4 large carrots, peeled and cut into matchstick pieces

10 baby red potatoes, quartered

1 onion, peel/cut into bite-sized pieces

1 (4 pound) corned beef brisket with spice packet

1/2 head cabbage, coarsely chopped

6 ounces beer

4 cups water

Instructions:

1. Place the carrots, potatoes, and onion into the bottom of a slow cooker, pour in the water, and place the brisket on top of the vegetables. Pour the beer over the brisket. Sprinkle on the spices from the packet, cover, and set the cooker on High.
2. Cook the brisket for about 8 hours. An hour before serving, stir in the cabbage and cook for 1 more hour.

Slush & Old Fashion's. Mom and Dad's Recipes.

Slush.

*Full batch fills a gallon, ice cream pail (about), and 1/2  batch makes approximately a large coffee tin amount.






1 can OJ concentrate (12 oz.)
1 can Lemonade concentrate (12 oz.)
2 cups sugar
4 green tea bags

1. Boil together and cool 7 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar.
2. Make tea of 2 cups water (boil) and 4 green tea bags; allow to cool (separate of the above mixture).
3. Pour together.
4. Stir in defrosted (or frozen) cans of concentrate.
5. Put in freezer; stir every-so-often until frozen (I usually set a 45 minute timer, and more or less do that throughout the day when it rings, or when I think of it).

Old Fashion's: the Tom Gross Version.

*Serve with SQUIRT for best results.

Scoop of slush

2 squirts of bitters

1/2" of brandy (or so)

Squirt soda

Cherry, & cherry juice if you want!