Country Style Pork Ribs for Dummies

Do you ever see something in the local grocery sale ad and think ‘Wow! That’s a great deal, but I have no idea what to do with it.’ So, you pass on it, not having it in your wheelhouse. Understandable, I do it regularly. Being in the midwest, we have ribs all around us. St Louis style ribs. Kansas City style ribs. Memphis style ribs. Country style ribs? Hm, not so much. Not unless you know what to do. I wanted to share this b/c one of our local grocery stores has country-style pork ribs for $1.69/lb this week which is a good deal.

Wanna know what to do with country-style ribs? Are you easy? Me too. Well, no, not like that, get your mind out of the gutter. I mean do you like easy to prepare meals? Yep, I thought so, me too! So, if you’re into easy meals, read on!

*NOTE: This is kind of an as-you-go recipe, hence the lack of specific quantities. You can add as many or as few onions, use as much or as little bbq sauce, alter it to your taste.

Easy Country Style Ribs
1 pkg ribs (any size)
1-2 med/large onions
barbecue sauce

1. Place ribs on a broiler pan and place in a preheated oven (300F). Cook 2 hrs, turn ribs, cook another 1-2 hours, depending on the time you have.
2. Slice onions and place in bottom of large slow-cooker. Lay ribs on top of onions. Pour barbecue sauce on ribs. Cook on low for 6 hours or high 4 hours, or until tender.
3. Serve with barbecue sauce on the side.

The leftover ribs make great sandwiches if you chop up the meat.

I’m making these today!

*PS I forgot what happens to bbq sauce when it cooks too long, it burns. Nobody likes burned tasting food. Next time I make them I’ll cook them on low in the slow cooker for about 3 hours first, then pour on barbecue sauce, so they’re good and saucy, but not burned. Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Over the summer, my slow cooker is my best friend. In cooler weather, it’s my friend too! I’ve got several delicious recipes I like to use it for. Our summer ended rather abruptly this year <NO, I”m not complaining!> so rather than waiting for October to make soups & stews, I get to do it now! One of my husband’s favorites is this one I’m getting ready to share. I got this from my husband’s twin sister. Thanks Kim! I will tell you , I didn’t take any pictures of it, it doesn’t photograph well, but it’s super easy and delicious! It’s warm and hearty, without being really heavy.

Slow Cooker Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

1/2C wild rice

5-1/2C water

2 stalks celery sliced thin

2 carrots peeled and sliced

1 medium onion chopped

2 tbsp chicken boullion crystals or 3 chicken bullion cubes crushed

2 cans chicken breast

2 tbsp flour

1C heavy cream or half & half

1. rinse wild rice. Place first 6 ingredients in slow cooker. Set to high and cook for 4 to 5 hours, or until rice is tender. (if not cooked long enough, the rice is crunchy….gross!)

2. pour undrained cans of chicken in crockpot. Mix flour and cream/half & half and pour into crock pot. Cook another hour or so.

Serve with crusty bread. Delicious and you hardly had to do a thing! If you need to, I think you could totally cook this on low all day, and then add the chicken/cream when you get home from work and give it time to finish cooking. My children grumble and don’t like it, but hey, that’s more for us, right? 😀 Enjoy!

Omelets to Go

My husband’s breakfast of choice is coffee. sound familiar? Well, stop it right there. You have to eat something. How else are you going to get your day started right? What? no time? I’m so glad you found my page, I’m going to take care of that for you right now. No, no applause, really, just throw money. This is an amazingly simple and completely customizable recipe. What’s better, it freezes well, and reheats well. Would I lie to you? Read it first, then try them and tell me how awesome they are! Sorry, I don’t have pics for you, I haven’t made them in a while, but had a request from a friend.

Omelets to Go

12 eggs beaten

1/2 C dry bread crumbs

3 tbsp butter melted

1-1/2 C chopped deli ham

1/4 C shredded cheese-cheddar/jack/Kojak/swiss whatever you have or like

1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt

 

1. beat eggs in a large mixing bowl.

2. add all other ingredients and stir until well blended

3. fill greased muffin pan 3/4 full

4. bake @ 375 15 to 20 minutes, or until knife inserted at the center comes out clean.

 

These refrigerate/freeze/reheat really well. I have made a double batch, and put the extras in Ziploc/glad-type reusable plastic containers and freeze them. I put four in a container and when I’m ready, I put them in the fridge to thaw over night. Then to reheat, 30 sec each does the trick! They are fabulous.

Optional add-ins: spinach, garlic, sautéed onions & peppers, mushrooms, bacon, whatever you have on hand or what you like. They are really wonderful. I will let you know, being the person I am, I try to cut out as much fat and calories as I can, but I promise you if you don’t put the butter in this, they come out dry and very flat.

enjoy, you can thank me later!

Grilled Vidalia onions

I’m really sad. I love summer, but it’s hovering around 100 today and it’s only the first part of June! I’m scared, I’m very scared.  And, needless to say, my oven has been put on temporary hiatus because of it. which means, my grill is my new best friend! I’m always looking for new ways to use it and this is an oldie but a goody.

If you’ve seen the Vidalia onions in the grocery but didn’t know what to do with them besides slice them and put them on a sandwich or a burger, you’re gonna love this! You can also do this in the oven and essentially roast them. I know, an onion is never something you think of as a side dish with your chicken or pork chops, but you really have to try this!

4 to 6 Vidalia onions (more or less depending on how many people you are serving)

butter

salt and pepper to taste

heavy duty aluminum foil

1. Preheat a grill to approximately 300, or medium heat

2. cut the top off the onion and cut out the core, leaving the stem on the bottom, and remove the papery outer layers of the onion & discard.

3. put 1tsp to 1tbsp (to taste/personal preference) in the well created by removing the core. sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

This is what it looks like before you seal it tightly in a little packet and put it on the grill.

4. wrap the onion tightly in a square of heavy duty aluminum foil

5. grill over indirect heat for 20 to 30 minutes, or until onion is tender.

6. unwrap and serve with chicken, pork chops, etc. The onion is delicious and tender and sweet.

Yum! Enjoy!

Look at that! It's tender and sweet and a wonderful side dish!

Keep checking back, I’ll be sharing more summer/grilling/cool kitchen recipes!

Cheaters Chicken and Dumplings

I love me some chicken and dumplings, but have never attempted making it. The only times I’ve ever had it, it’s been prepared by a little old lady and I know for a fact, these little ladies take hours to boil the chicken, bone the chicken, make the dumplings-by hand-from scratch. And I’m also pretty certain there’s no real recipe involved. One main reason I have not attempted, I am impatient to the 10th degree, so there is no way I am going to undertake a recipe that will take me that long. Imagine my joy coming across a recipe, which I immediately altered, that would yield the delicious, golden comfort food in my crock pot! AAAAAAHHHH a choir of angels singing in the back ground! So, here is my version, which turned out incredibly well. So well in fact I will be making this again, with one minor alteration: more chicken broth. I used all I had, but another can I think would’ve made it perfect.

Cheaters Chicken and Dumplings

1lb boneless skinless chicken cut into 1″ pieces

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 can chicken broth

1 can water

1 onion finely chopped

2 tsp pepper (if desired)

1 can refrigerated biscuits (10 count) torn

Step 1.  place everything into a 4 qt slow cooker and mix.

Step 2. cook on high 4 to 5 hours (or low 6 to 8 hours-while you’re at work), or until chicken is cooked through. Stir after 2 to 3 hours.

Step 3. thirty min prior to eating, put torn biscuits into the crock pot and stir to make sure biscuits don’t stick together.

Step 4. ladle into bowls and serve with biscuits or crusty bread.

Soup is very creamy, if you like it to be a bit thinner, add a second can of chicken broth (I will next time). To cut some calories, next time I will use the reduced fat version of cream of chicken soup and reduced fat biscuits. That will cut some of the guilt, but not much of the flavor.

MMMMM perfect for a busy work day and cold weather. Yum-o-rama!

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming….

Hey everyone! I have not shared any recipes the past few posts. I had other things on my mind, but tonight, food is on my mind! Delicious, easy, healthy, meal-in-one-pot kind of food is on my mind. Sound good? Well, pull up your cuppa joe (or vino) and take a gander at what I’ve got today!

Creamy Bowtie Pasta with Chicken and Broccoli

10 oz uncooked whole wheat bow tie pasta

3 to 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2″ thickness and cut in half

2 C spaghetti sauce

2 to 3 cloves of garlic minced (or pressed)

 3 tbsp Italian salad dressing (I use Ken’s Italian with aged Romano)

4 oz reduced fat cream cheese

2 to 3 C broccoli florets

shredded parmesan

1. Cook pasta according to package instructions. Add broccoli for last 3 minutes of cooking.

2. Heat dressing in a large non-stick skillet on medium heat. Add chicken and garlic. Cook 5 min. Turn chicken and continue cooking until chicken is cooked through.

3. Drain pasta and broccoli and return to pan and set aside.

4. Add spaghetti sauce and cream cheese to chicken. Cook on medium/low heat until cream cheese is completely melted and mixture is well blended.

5. Coat chicken with sauce, remove from pan and keep warm.

6. Add sauce mixture to pasta/broccoli and mix well.

7. Place pasta in bowls and place chicken on top, sprinkle with parmesan.

Serve with a nice green salad and you’re good to go!

Doesnt’ that sound terrific? It is! so quick and easy, all of the major food groups and it comes together in about 20 to 30 minutes. Oh, another tip, rather than throwing away the broccoli stem, I chop it up and put it in the pot with the rest of the broccoli. It cooks up nicely and there’s no need to waste it!

Enjoy! And let me know what you think!