April 6: Turkey Paprikash

I made the Turkey Paprikash on Sunday (April 7), along with the veggie lasagna because we had guests over after church. Since you can't make 2 recipes in the crockpot at a time, I cooked this one on the stove. I started when I got home from church. Here are the ingredients:

 

First I put a little four, salt, pepper, paprika, and red pepper flakes in a plastic bag. I put some bite sized-turkey breast pieces in the bag and shook it up well:

 

I browned the turkey in a skillet, then removed it to a plate. Then I put some onions and garlic in the skillet and cooked it for about 2 minutes. I returned the turkey to the skillet and stirred in a can of diced tomatoes. I covered it and simmered it for about 10 minutes. If you were making this in the crockpot you would cook it on low for 1 to 2 hours. I cooked some egg noodles and put out some sour cream and green olives for garnish.

 

I put sour cream on mine and stirred it all up to make it creamy. It is the one in the front (the one in back is the veggie lasagna).

This recipe was really good and tasty, and simple to make. It comes from the "fall favorites" section of the cookbook. I really liked it, and all it needed was a bit of salt. Everyone else seemed to like it too. It's one of those good comfort food recipes.

April 5: Korean Barbecue Beef

I made Korean food tonight out of the "patio party foods" section of the cookbook. It was going to take a while to cook, so I started it at about 9:30 this morning. Here are the ingredients:

I placed 3 lbs of boneless beef short ribs in the crockpot. In a mixing bowl I combined 1/4 cup chopped green onions, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup beef broth, a tbsp brown sugar, 2 tsp minced fresh ginger, 2 tsp minced garlic, and 1/2 tsp pepper.

I poured the sauce over the beef and set it to cook on low for 7 to 8 hours.

I removed the ribs from the liquid, cooled slightly, trimmed the excess fat and cut the meat into bite sized pieces:

I  skimmed some of the fat from the cooking liquid, added 2 tsp sesame oil, then put the meat back in to heat up for a few minutes. Meanwhile I cooked some noodles. I served the meat on the noodles, garnished with toasted sesame seeds:

The recipe said you could use rice or linguine. Since we had rice yesterday, I decided on the pasta, but I only had vermicelli. I really liked it. The recipe also calls for 4 to 4 1/2 pounds of bone-in short ribs, but there is a tip that says, "Three pounds of boneless short ribs can be substituted for the beef short ribs." That's what I found at my grocer, so that's what I got. This recipe was very tasty. We all really liked it, the baby liked the meat especially. The girls liked the pasta the best, but they ate the meat ok too. This one's definitely a winner.

April 4: Sweet and Sour Shrimp with Pineapple

Tonight I made this recipe, but I didn't finish with my grocery shopping until 5PM! So I didn't make it in the crockpot. I made it pretty quickly on the stove. Here are the ingredients:

I drained the pineapple chunks (24 oz), reserving 1 cup juice. I combined 1/3 cup sugar and 1/4 cup cornstarch in a large saucepan.

I dissolved 2 chicken bouillon cubes in 2 cups boiling water (I boiled it in my electric kettle). I added that to the saucepan, then mixed in the reserved pineapple juice, 4 tsp soy sauce and a tsp ground ginger. I boiled it for one minute:

Here is where I was supposed to put it in the crockpot along with 12 oz frozen snow peas and the pineapple chunks, and set it to cook on low for 4 1/2 - 5 1/2 hours. Instead, I added the pineapple and sugar snap peas (I couldn't find frozen snow peas), covered it up, and cooked it on low while I made the rice. It cooked about 20 minutes.

Then I added a pound of peeled, deveined shrimp and 1/4 cup of cider vinegar and let it cook for about 5 minutes on medium high. The recipe says to add it to the crockpot and cook for 30 more minutes.

I served it over rice. It ended up taking 45-50 minutes in all.

This meal was really pretty good. It did have a funny smell initially, but I think it was just the ginger. It's one of those things that tastes better than it smells... like broccoli. :) My girls ate it up quickly with a little soy sauce seasoning it. The baby didn't even touch it. I forced a little of the rice into him, but soon gave up on that. I guess he was more thirsty than hungry. Well, I think he did eat his pineapple, come to think of it. But he did not like the shrimp or peas.

April 3: Oatmeal Creme Brulee

I made this recipe on Sunday for the church Easter breakfast potluck. I (the Easter bunny) got up in the night to go to the bathroom, so I stayed up to get the baskets ready, hide the eggs, and decided to make breakfast while I was at it. I started at about 4:30am. Here are the ingredients:

I coated the crockpot with cooking spray. I covered it and preheated it on high while I brought 4 cups water to a boil. I poured the water into the crockpot and added 3 cups quick oats and 1/2 tsp salt:

I combined 6 egg yolks with 1/2 cup sugar and mixed it well. I heated 2 cups whipping cream with 1 tsp vanilla until it simmered. I removed it from the heat, then quickly whisked 1/2 c of that mixture into the egg yolks so they wouldn't curdle:

Then I whisked the warmed egg mixture into the cream and spooned it over top of the oatmeal without stirring:

I cooked it on low for 3 1/2 hours, then I went back to bed. When it was done, I sprinkled 1/2 cup brown sugar over it and let it cook (covered with a paper towel-lined lid) for 15 more minutes. I took it to church to serve at the potluck breakfast:

I didn't think this looked very good, but man, it tasted great! It was really rich and sweet, but perfect for a holiday brunch! I will put this on my list of things to make in the future.

 

April 2: Tarragon Turkey and Pasta

I didn't make this recipe. We were still chowing down on ham and green bean casserole leftovers. Yum!

April 1: Chicken Saltimbocca-Style

I did not make this recipe this year. I decided we would have Easter leftovers instead. We got a really big ham. I actually went to a concert that was an hour away, so I didn't even eat at home. I got a delicious "up-north grinder" at the college. It had turkey and fried cheese curds. Yum! I really enjoyed the concert, too. The kids and DH enjoyed their leftover ham and biscuits.

March 31: Hearty Chicken Chili

DH thought chicken chili would be a good Easter dinner, but I didn't, so we got ham instead. I hope you all reading this had a wonderful and worshipful Easter.