Homemade Barbecue Sauce

Last week, I made some barbecue chicken breasts in the oven. Grace loves chicken so I like to keep it made and in the fridge for her. It makes it easy for me on nights when she can't eat what we're eating.


We usually use store bought barbecue sauce but we ran out a couple weeks ago. The store was sold out of our favorite brand (Famous Dave's Sweet & Zesty) and I didn't care for the brand that Joe bought instead. It had way too much smoke flavor for my taste. 

I checked out my Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book (it's seen better days) and found a basic recipe. I was happy that I had all of the ingredients needed. As always, I adapted this recipe to suit our tastes and added or switched some of the ingredients.

Easy Barbecue Sauce

Ingredients:

1 C. ketchup
1/4 C. apple cider vinegar
1/2 C. water
1 1/2 T. brown sugar
1 T. Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce
1 T. brown mustard
3 T. finely diced onion
1 T. finely diced celery
1/4 tsp. celery seed
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 oz. liquid smoke
several dashes of Tabasco Chipotle Pepper Sauce
ground black pepper to taste

Method:

In a small sauce pot, stir together all ingredients. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring often. After sauce comes to a boil, reduce heat and simmer (uncovered) until sauce is thick, stirring often.


A couple of years ago, I never would have made my own barbecue sauce.  I wouldn't have even thought to do it.  I'm so happy that I made this sauce, it was so easy and so much cheaper than the store bought sauces.   I think we'll be sticking with this sauce for more daily use and save our favorites store bought brand as a treat. 
I'll be linking to the following blogs this week: 

• Homemaker Monday
• Motivate Me Monday
• Tasty Tuesday
• Tuesdays at the Table
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
• Kitchen Tip Tuesday
• Works For Me Wednesday
• Make It From Scratch
• Food On Friday
• Frugal Friday

Easier Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

I've been wanting to post more kitchen tips and other kitchen related topics to this blog but I've been focusing on recipes.  Since I haven't tried any new recipes lately, I thought I'd post this tip for easy grilled cheese sandwiches.

I  hate spreading butter onto bread.  Mainly because I always forget to take the butter out to soften and trying to spread the cold and hard butter on the bread tears the bread.  Sure I could soften it in the microwave, but I usually end up with an entire stick of MELTED butter.

For grilled cheese, I make it the way my Mom always made it for us.   With mayonnaise instead of butter.  It wasn't until I was in my late teens that I realized that most people used butter for their grilled cheese sandwiches. 

You've got to try it!  Instead of spreading butter onto the slices of bread, try some mayo!  I guess the oils in the mayo keeps the bread from sticking to the pan.  It still gets nice and golden brown too, just like a "regular" grilled cheese sandwich.  Joe even thinks that the mayo makes it taste creamier than the traditional way. 

Here's another tip:  For best results, use regular mayonnaise.  Don't use lite mayo or miracle whip.  The grilled cheese tends to stick when using those types. 

********Be sure to check out my other blog for a giveaway to celebrate it's 100th post!********



I'll be linking to:

• Kitchen Tip Tuesday  
• Works For Me Wednesday
• Food on Fridays

Ham and Cabbage Skillet

I'm not a huge fan of the traditional boiled ham and cabbage St. Patrick's Day dinner.  I also don't like Corned Beef and Cabbage.  Honestly, I am Irish!  :) 

When I eat ham, I tend to only enjoy it if it's a spiral cut ham from either Heavenly Ham or Honey Baked Ham.  Or if it's in the form of deli meat.  Even then, I'm picky about it. 

I will, however, eat ham steak.  And I do enjoy that!  MMmmm! 

In the past, Joe and I never really did anything to "celebrate" St. Patrick's Day.  Well, besides wearing a green shirt to avoid pinching! 

Now that we have Grace, I want to celebrate all the special occasions in little ways.  You know, heart-shaped pancakes on Valentine's Day and stuff like that. 

Grace is still too young to even realize that it's a special occasion and she's just starting on table food, so this year was "practice".   We were out yesterday during dinner, so I put off making our St. Patty's Day dinner until tonight.  I really enjoyed it and think it will be a keeper.  Not only for St. Patty's Day but as another way to serve ham steak throughout the year. 

Ham and Cabbage Skillet

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbs. butter
• 3 potatoes, scrubbed and diced
• 2 cups onion, chopped
• 2 cups carrot, chopped
• 4 cups cabbage, chopped
• 1/2 cup water
• Mrs. Dash, paprika, black pepper,  to taste
• 1 lb. ham steak, diced 

Method:

• Boil potatoes in a pot until tender, drain.
• In a skillet, melt butter and cook onions and carrots until onions just begin to become translucent. 
• Add cabbage and cook for about 2 minutes.
• Stir in water.  This will help the cabbage cook and also deglaze the pan. 
• Cook until vegetables are tender.
• Season to your liking and combine well. 
• Add diced ham, heat through.  
• Mix in the drained potatoes.  You may want to add another Tbs. of butter. 
• Cook a few minutes more. 

If you happen to make the traditional boiled ham dinner.  This would be a great way to serve the leftovers.  Just drain the juices, add to a hot skillet with melted butter and saute until slightly browned.  

Chicken Rice Soup ~ Easy, Fast and Frugal

Last week, I made some homemade chicken broth.  I had a quart left in the fridge that needed to get used, so I threw together a quick soup. 

I'm posting this, at the request of my friend Lisa.  Although, it's a pretty easy recipe, I thought I'd share! 

Chicken Rice Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 quart homemade chicken broth
• 1-2 cups water (or additional broth) *
• 1 cup carrots, carrots
• 1  medium onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup celery, diced
• 2 cups cooked chicken, diced
• 1-2 cups cooked rice

Directions:

• bring homemade broth to a boil in soup pot on stove, medium-high heat.
• add water (or additional broth) if needed
• add vegetables, cover and reduce heat to low
• simmer until vegetables are tender
• stir in chicken and rice
• heat through

Notes:

* I made the homemade broth (more about that in a future post) using the cooking juices and bones/carcass from a whole chicken cooked in the crock pot (recipe on my other blog).  The spices on the chicken made this a very dark, spicy broth.  I needed about 1 1/2 cups of water to dilute it enough to be a light flavored broth for a light soup. 

This soup turned out great!  It was a really quick, easy and frugal meal!  I really just cleaned out the fridge of some veggies that needed to get used and the homemade broth I had made the week before!  Joe picked up a loaf of crusty bread on his way home from work! 

There is just one small bowl left and I'm eating that for lunch today! 

Easy Tomato-Bacon Pasta Sauce

This is a yummy pasta sauce that is a step away from the traditional tomato and meat sauce that we normally eat.

I read about this recipe on the Parents Magazine website. I was hooked as soon as I read the first ingredient: BACON! MMmmm! I knew I had to make this recipe.

Easy Tomato-Bacon Pasta Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb bacon, diced
• 1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes, with juice
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 1/4 cup sour cream

Directions:

• Cook bacon in saucepan on medium heat until cooked through, but not crisp.
• Drain bacon on paper towels. DO NOT WIPE OUT PAN.
• Turn heat up to medium-high.
• Add tomatoes (with liquid) and the seasonings, stir.
• Cook for 5 minutes (simmering vigorously), stirring occasionally.
• Remove from pan, add peas, sour cream and drained bacon.
• Serve over your favorite, cooked pasta. (we use linguine)

Notes: I've gotten the bacon a little crispy on occasion and it's just fine. When it's added to the sauce it softens up a bit. Also, I've let it simmer a bit longer than the 5 minutes. Sometimes I let it go for about 10 minutes.

I like to serve this with a salad and some garlic bread. We usually get dinner for 2 nights from this recipe.

On weeks that I put this into our menu plan, I like to also plan a night for breakfast for dinner, to use up the other half of the bacon.

Also, this can be a frugal meal if the bacon is bought on sale or in bulk from Costco.

I will be sharing this recipe with the following blog carnivals:

• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
• Tuesdays at the Table
• Tasty Tuesday

Fool Proof Fruit Dip

I suppose this is a bit late to be posting a fruit dip recipe, since summer has gone away and has taken the good prices on fruit along with it. But for those of us that crave fruit during the off season and occasionally splurge on an over-priced, off-season melon, then this easy fruit dip recipe will come in handy.

But for readers that are really good at not giving in to cravings and sticking to your budgets, I'll repost this recipe next spring or summer!

This fruit dip is so easy and really kid friendly. I serve this with a fruit salad when they visit, instead of a cake or pie for dessert. It's always a hit!


Easy, Kid Friendly, 2 Ingedient, Fool Proof Fruit Dip

Tub of Cool Whip
6-8 oz, strawberry yogurt

Mix together the Cool Whip and the yogurt, chill.


See? So simple, right??? And soooo yummy! You could even make it diet friendly using Lite or Fat Free Cool Whip and fat free yogurt. Also, I'm sure that any flavor yogurt would work! I've always used strawberry yogurt. The kind with the fruit pieces in it. Adds a "homemade" look to the dip with the little bits of strawberry mixed through.

I like to use my clear glass, chip and dip bowl when I serve fruit salad with this dip for a party. When it's an afternoon snack with my nieces, I usually give each of them a small bowl of the dip and let them choose what fruit they want to eat. The individual bowls, allows for double dipping!

I'll be sharing this recipe at the following blog carnivals:

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
Tuesdays at the Table
Tasty Tuesday

Be sure to check them out for more great recipes!

Crock Pot Ravioli ~ Super Easy Meal

One of my favorite crock pot meals during my pregnancy (and even now, after the baby's been born) was Crock Pot Ravioli. I found the recipe posted by the Aldi Queen.

At first, I was leery about trying it. I thought for sure that the ravioli would turn to mush after cooking in the crock pot, but after my friend Lisa told me that she tried it and liked it, I figured I'd give it a try. We really liked it! It's so easy and really tasty!

The last time I made it, my mom came over while it was cooking in the crock pot. She thought I was making a homemade lasagna, she said it smelled that good!

Here's how I'll be making it this week:

Crock Pot Ravioli

Ingredients

1 (25 ounce) bag cheese ravioli
3-4 cups pasta sauce
1 cup water
1-2 handfuls of shredded mozzarella cheese

Pour about half of the pasta sauce in the bottom of slow cooker. Add frozen ravioli. Pour additional pasta sauce, and water over ravioli. Sprinkle cheese on top. Turn slow cooker on low and cook for four to five hours.

I like to serve this with either Texas Toast of garlic bread sticks.

**This makes enough for my husband and I to have hearty portions, my husband usually has seconds, plus a pretty good lunch portion for him to have later in the week.**

I am sharing this recipe at the blog carnival Crock Pot Wednesday, hosted by Dining with Debbie. Be sure to check over there for more great crock pot recipes!

Crock Pot Kielbasa Soup

I am really starting to look forward to soup season. That's funny coming from me, since up until about 6 years ago, I hated soup. I was not a fan at all. But over the past 6 or so years, I've really been enjoying soup a lot!

Kielbasa Soup is one of our favorites and it's excellent paired with Corn Bread Casserole.

Here's the recipe for the soup:

Kielbasa Soup

58 oz. fat-free chicken broth (four 14.5 oz cans)
16 oz. reduced-fat kielbasa, cut in half lengthwise and then slice
15 oz. canned pinto beans, rinsed and drained
15 oz. canned black beans, rinsed and drained
4 medium carrots, chopped
3 medium celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 tsp. thyme
14.5 oz canned diced tomatoes, with juice

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients, except tomatoes*, in crock pot. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for at least 6 hours or until beans are tender.

Stir in tomatoes*; cover and cook on high-heat setting until heated through, about 15 minutes more.

8 servings (heaping cup)

* I add the tomatoes at the beginning when all of the other ingredients are added to the crock pot.

I found this recipe when I was a member of Weight Watchers online.

3 points (be careful though, I sometimes use regular kielbasa and the points value jumped to 7.)

For more great recipes, go to Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, or Tasty Tuesday, or Tuesdays at the Table.

And for more tasty crock pot recipes, go to Crock Pot Wednesday, hosted by Dining with Debbie.

Also, be sure to check out the October Fest Carnival of Super Foods hosted by Katie at Kitchen Stewardship. October 1st will be all about beans!

Crock Pot Beef Stew

My husband works outside, which means he suffers through the heat in the summer time or is chilled to the bone in the winter. Because of this, I try to make meals that will be a comfort to him.

I don't concern myself too much about our summer meals. I worry more about keeping the house cool and comfortable for when he gets home. The air conditioner is on most days, so eating soup or stew in the summer is okay.

But there's nothing like a nice, warm bowl of beef stew after a really chilly day at work.

Here's an easy recipe that I like to use:

Crock Pot Beef Stew

Ingredients:

1 pound, beef cubes
potatoes, cubed
onions, chopped
carrots, chopped
celery, chopped
1 - 2 cans condensed tomato soup

Add all ingredients to crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Note: I never use the same amount of vegetables. It varies each time I make it, according to what I have in my veggie bin. If I'm running low on potatoes, I add more carrots. If I'm out of celery, I skip it. It's really a fool-proof recipe.
Also, the only other liquid I add to the stew, is just a bit that I add to the can to get as much of the soup out of the can as possible. I use one or two cans of soup depending on how much of the veggies I use.