Pot Roast

Here's another great meal for a working mom. Pot roast cooks all day while I'm at the office--or in Hinesville, which is where I went today.

Pot roast enables me to use several of my favorite cooking products:

• A slow cooker
• Reynold's slow cooker liners
• Campbell's soup

I keep at least a dozen cans of Campbell's soup in my pantry at all times. I never need that much soup during the week, but when I go to the grocery store, I examine the soup aisle and fail to remember which soups I have at home and which I'm out of. So I buy one can of each staple:

• Cream of mushroom
• Cream of chicken
• Cream of celery
  
• Consomme'
  

I also make sure I'm never without a box of Lipton's beefy onion dried soup mix. Right now, I have four boxes in the pantry. I don't think anybody ever eats these soups as soups. They just serve to make staple dishes such as green bean casserole and pot roast. And that's fine with me. I don't know where I'd be without Campbell's and Lipton's soup.

Sometimes I experiment with my soups in my pot roast. In the past I've used cream of mushroom with cream of celery. Sometimes I've used cream of mushroom with Lipton's beefy onion soup. Sometimes I combine all three. They're all good. But today, I stuck with cream of mushroom and beefy onion. Here's how I make my pot roast.

Ingredients:

1. One pot roast
2. Salt, pepper, & garlic powder to taste
3. One can Campbell's Healthy Request cream of mushroom soup
4. One packet Lipton's beefy onion soup

Instructions:
Line the slow cooker with Reynold's Slow Cooker Liner. Throw in a pot roast. Really. Throw it. Two points if you get it in the first time. That makes cooking a little more fun. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder (if the pot roast hits the floor, it gets a little more seasoning that way). Add both soups and stir with spoon. Put lid on crock pot and turn on to low. Cook at least six hours at low setting.

I serve my pot roast with whole grain brown wide egg noodles. Tonight I also served green peas. Mm. Mm.

Did Domino's Live Up to its New Ad Campaign?

If you've had your TV on in the last couple of weeks, you're sure to have seen Domino's new ad campaign. In case you've missed it, the new ad says this in a nutshell: "We used to suck, but now we're better. Give us a try."

Well, the St. Peter the Apostle fifth grade basketball season has left us at least twice a week a bit short on time for dinner. We've eaten out more during the week than usual. Tonight, we decided we'd bring dinner in. Domino's piqued our curiosity with their new ads and new low, low prices. Why not give them a try?

Granted, we're not hard to please where pizza's concerned. We hardly ever order pizza; in fact, I can't remember the last time we did. But when we do, we call Domino's because they're around the corner, they're fast, and they're cheap. Taste never really enters the equation.
So tonight after the St. Peter's Rams' unfortunate loss to the Calvary Cavaliers, Stephen stopped over at Domino's and picked up two pizzas: one with pepperoni and black olives and the other with ham and pineapple. We ate all but two pieces. Here's the verdict:

• Davis: It was good.
• Lawson: It could have been a little bit better. The crust was a little too buttery (He ate three pieces just to be sure of his opinion).
  
• Stephen: It's fine. I liked it before. It's a little more spicy now.
• Nancy: It tastes like pizza.

And there you have it! According to the Remler family, Domino's is worthy of staying in business. We're curious to know what others think of this gutsy new ad campaign and updated pizza recipe.

Kelley's Turkey with Rice and Gravy

Tonight's dinner is a breeze for a cook with kids and a full-time job. Few people cook turkey on a regular basis, saving the bird for holiday feasts. However, a turkey breast makes a tasty meal, and kids usually clean their plates. I used to be afraid of turkey. And then my sister in-law Kelley taught me the right way to do it.

Kelley's been cooking turkey breast for years. Her daughters love turkey, rice and gravy. When they were little and staying home with a nanny, Kelley would put the turkey breast in the fridge and ask the nanny to put it in the oven at about 3:00 or so. Well, one day Kelley's girls had a doctor's appointment (or something like that), so she asked the nanny to put the turkey in the oven and then bring the girls to town to meet Kelley before going home. The nanny did as she was told, but it wasn't until 5:30 or 6:00 that she remembered she'd forgotten to remove the plastic wrap covering the turkey breast! Of course, by that time, Kelley and her kids had gotten home from their appointment, and when they took the turkey out of the oven, it was shiny with a plastic coating. But it smelled delicious. Kelley had to throw the turkey away and serve peanut butter sandwiches for dinner.

From then on, Kelley realized the turkey cooking was up to her. But with a full-time job, she knew roasting the turkey breast wasn't an option. So she pulled out the crock pot. Here are the instructions (you may want to read them twice before trying this method out yourself):

Put a turkey breast in the crock pot. Sprinkle it with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Put the lid on. Turn the crock pot on.

That's it!

Select the setting that best fits your schedule. Because turkey breasts are so big, I usually ask the butcher to cut them in half. I freeze on half and cook the other. I turn the crock pot on low before I leave for work in the morning. When my son comes home from school, he always turns it off for me. Six hours on low is just right for half a turkey breast. If you're cooking the whole breast, maybe it'll need eight hours.

Now, one of my favorite products in the world is Reynolds Slow Cooker Liners. Not only do they make crock pot cleanup a breeze, but they also allow me to collect all the drippings from the turkey breast, which makes the gravy a breeze too. Here's how I make the gravy:

I put the turkey drippings in a small sauce pan. Then I mix up about a cup of chicken bouillon and heat it in the microwave. I add that to the drippings. I heat the mixture until it boils. While it's heating, I mix two tbsp. of corn starch with cold water. When the bouillon/drippings mixture boils, I add the corn starch mixture and stir until it comes back to a boil, at which time it thickens up into gravy.

I serve the turkey breast and gravy with Uncle Ben's whole grain brown rice (I always use Uncle Ben's. It's the best.), cranberry sauce and a green vegetable. Tonight it was broccoli. I wish you could see the meal. But we were halfway through dinner before somebody asked, "Are you going to blog about this meal?" Although I don't have a photo, I can report that everybody belonged to the clean plate club tonight.

Grilled Lamb Chops with Orange Marmalade Glaze

I love lamb chops about as much as I love Brussels sprouts, so when I get to have them both for dinner, that's a really good night. Adding to the pleasure of the evening was that both my children were away for the night (one camping with a friend, the other spending the night with JoJo), so my husband and I got to enjoy our meal with no complaining about the vegetables and no bickering among siblings.

Can't ask for more than that.

Now, though, I've made lamb chops, and this is the only way I know how to make them, so I can't have them again until I finish this project--whenever that will be.

These lamb chops were cooked on the Big Green Egg. Here's how to cook them:

Ingredients:
8-10 T-bone lamb chops
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 Vidalia onion
3/4 cup orange marmalade (I use the low sugar kind)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp soy sauce (use the low sodium kind)

Instructions:
Light the Big Green Egg and let it heat to 350 degrees or so. While it's heating, season the chops with salt, pepper and garlic powder. When the Egg is hot, put the chops on and cook them about 7 minutes per side. While the chops are cooking, chop up the onion. Put the olive oil in a small sauce pan and add the onion bits. Cook them on medium heat, stirring constantly, until the onions are limp. Turn the burner to low and remove the onions from the heat. Add the marmalade, lemon juice and soy sauce. By this time the burner will have cooled. Return the pot to the burner and stir the marmalade mixture slowly until it's warmed through. Serve with the chops.

Tonight I served my lamb chops with roasted white potatoes and roasted Brussels sprouts. The potatoes are easy. I just peel them and cut them into little pieces. Then I toss them in some olive oil and roast them at 425 degrees for about 30-40 minutes. I like it with the sides get a little brown and crunchy. I use the same technique for the Brussels sprouts. I cut them in half, then toss them in olive oil and salt. Then I roast them at 425 (with the potatoes in the oven too) for about 20 minutes or so (depending on how big the sprouts are). I watch the sprouts carefully because if they cook to long they get mushy and they're no good.

My boys are not big Brussels sprouts fans (they'll come around soon enough), but my brother Harley loves them, so when he's in town, I try to serve them.

In Appreciation of Diana Wheeler: Beef and Broccoli

In 1988, when I moved to Savannah, my roommate, Rhonda, and I lived in a fantastic attic apartment one block away from Forsyth Park in a building that used to be a funeral home. Climbing the stairs felt like climbing Mount Everest, especially after grocery shopping, but every room inside our apartment was bathed in sunlight by the cupolas in every room. We loved that apartment and lived there for two years.

Meanwhile, a former high-school and college classmate, Camille Herring, lived a mile or so away in a little apartment in Trustee's Garden. One spring weekend, another high school friend, Diana Wheeler, came to Savannah for a visit. Camille brought her to my apartment to say hello, and we spent the afternoon together, eventually deciding to make stir-fry together for dinner.

At the local Food Lion, Diana chose a lovely head of broccoli, and when we came home, she fascinated me with the way she cut it. I had always cut my broccoli vertically so that every piece made a little tree. Diana, though, cut her broccoli horizontally, and the cross-sections of the stalk just under the florets took such funny shapes, like an illustration I'd find in a biology textbook.

Call me easily amused, but I've always enjoyed eating broccoli that looks like amoeba. For the last twenty-two years, because of Diana's influence, I've always cut my broccoli that way.

Last night I remembered Diana again as I cut broccoli for dinner. Beef and broccoli is an easy meal, and it includes vegetables my ten year-old will eat without complaining. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. boneless sirloin steak, cut into thin strips (or just get whatever top round steak the grocery store has already cut into strips for you)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
  
• 2 tbsp corn starch
• 1 1/2 cups broccoli florets (I include the amoeba-looking stalks)
• 1 medium onion, cut into 8 wedges
• 1/8 tsp garlic powder
• 1 can consomme

Instructions:
In one cup, stir together the corn starch with 1/2 cup water and set aside. In a skillet or wok, add olive oil and stir-fry the beef in two batches until browned. Remove. Add broccoli and stir-fry until tender-crisp. Add onion. Stir fry until softened a bit. Add consomme and corn starch mixture. Cook until mixture boils and thickens. Stir constantly Return beef to skillet. heat through.

My mistake last night was that I cooked this meal from memory, even though I haven't made it in a long time. I forgot to remove the beef. It cooked the whole time and became tough. Not too tough. We could still eat it. But it didn't consist of the juicy morsels we prefer. Hence, my ten year-old ate the broccoli and rice and put his beef aside. That was fine. I'd prefer he eat the veggies anyway.

Usually, serving this meal with rice is plenty for dinner. But I had lots of vegetables in my fridge that I'd been unable to cook this week because basketball games interfered with kitchen time. So I cooked them up too. Therefore, last night's beef and broccoli came with cauliflower roasted in olive oil and stir fried yellow squash. They weren't as interesting, though, as Diana's amoeba-shaped broccoli stalks.

Boston Butt on the Big Green Egg

When I started this project, I decided not to impose my rules on my husband's nights to cook. But tonight, he volunteered to cook a meal so delicious it warrants a write-up.

Tonight's dinner was Boston butt, and the butt my husband cooks in his Big Green Egg is the best butt in east Chatham County.

If you like to grill but don't have a Big Green Egg, get one. It's fabulous. I'm not exaggerating. It's Georgia's best product since the cotton gin. And ever since my husband got one more than ten years ago, we've been egg-thusiasts. If you live in the metro Atlanta area, just go over to the Big Green Egg headquarters on Lawrenceville Highway. Or, if you live in coastal Georgia, you can get your Big Green Egg from Ross Daniel at Daniel Lumber Company. Tell him the Remlers sent you.

Okay, here's how to make the Boston butt:
First, get a Boston butt. Now, today we got ours at Publix. We've always been happy with their meat counter. But if you happen to live in middle Georgia, it would be worth your while to take a drive to Hawkinsville, Georgia to M&T Meats (their store is on the Lower River Road). They've got the best pork around.

Okay, so once you've got your Boston butt, spread it all over with Big Green Egg seasoning (available at most Big Green Egg distributors or online via the Big Green Egg website). Then put it on the Egg. Using a meat thermometer, cook the Boston butt somwhere between 200-250 degrees until the thermometer says the meat is 200 degrees. Now, most thermometers or cookbooks will tell you the pork is done when it reaches 170 degrees. That's true. But we like to cook ours a little longer. At 200, the meat is cooked well through, but because of the Egg's expert (Eggspert?) design, the meat is tender, juicy, delicious!

My husband chops up the meat before serving it. We can make sandwiches out of it, but usually, I just put a small pile on my plate. Why mess with the bread? The meat is so good that it really doesn't need sauce, but if you're a sauce enthusiast, you must try Miss Alma's barbecue sauce, produced by Gooseneck Farms.

Tonight, I served the Boston but with corn on the cob, cabbage, and asparagus. My boys gave the meal a big thumbs up, not because of the vegetables, which they ate because I made them, but because of their father's expert grilling skills.

We keep begging him to open a barbecue stand. Maybe one day he'll do it.

January 8: Sabra's Macaroni Casserole

Half my family is camping on the Ocmulgee River. I'm sure they're getting something good to eat while they rough it in the bitter cold. My ten year-old and I are enjoying the comforts of central heating and Kingsdown mattresses.

What with hauling boat trailers up and down I-16 and taking my ten year-old to basketball games, I've not been able to cook dinner in the past three nights. But tonight I was back in the kitchen.

Tonight's meal is great for Friday nights when you're tired from working all week and don't feel especially inspired at the stove top. It's also great for kids. In fact, it's easy enough for kids to make, as long as they're tall enough to operate the stove and don't have a tendency to burn things (or themselves).

My sister Sabra taught me how to make this dish when we were on vacation at Amelia Island. I don't know where she got the recipe, so I might be republishing someone else's dish. If I am, I apologize. Here's how to make it.

Ingredients:

1 pkg. macaroni & cheese, prepared
1 lb (or so) ground beef (I get the leanest I can find)
1 jar spaghetti sauce (I use Ragu Light)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (I use fat free)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 360 degrees. While the oven heats, prepare mac and cheese. Brown meat in a 2 qt. pot. Drain fat. Add spaghetti sauce and heat until bubbly. Spread mac and cheese in a casserole dish (I usually spray the casserole dish with cooking spray, just for good measure). Cover the mac and cheese with spaghetti sauce mixture. Sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Now, this dish has no vegetables in it (Unless you want to count the spaghetti sauce. Ronald Reagan did it; why can't we?). So if you want your kids to get in some green at dinner, you can serve this casserole with a nice salad. Tonight, I served Viviane's Special Salad.

Viviane is a good friend of the family who always brings salad when she has dinner with us. My boys love her salad about as much as they love Viviane. The salad part is pretty simple--Romaine lettuce with chopped celery--but Viviane makes it special with her secret dressing and her salad crunchy things.

Viviane is pretty tight-lipped about her secret dressing because she might write a cook book one day. So when I make her salad myself, I use Hendrickson's dressing. If you've never used Hendrickson's get some as soon as possible. I used to buy it at Fresh Market, but they've stopped carrying it. If you live in the Savannah area, you can drive out to the Landings and purchase some at Smith Brothers. But I think it's easier just to get on Hendrickson's website and have it delivered to my door. Hendrickson's dressing is an olive-oil based fat-free, gluten-free, preservative-free delight. Try some today.

As for the salad crunchy things, they're so good and so easy to make. Again, they're great for kids to make as well, as long as they can work a stove and won't burn themselves. This is how to make them: Put some sugar in a small sauce pan (it doesn't matter how much, but I use about 3/4 cup). Heat the sugar over medium high heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Eventually, the sugar will melt and caramelize. Once the sugar is liquified, pour it over a sheet of aluminum foil. Then sprinkle chopped nuts over it (Tonight I used pecans). Let the sugar harden. Then break up the sugar into little crunchy things (I break it up with my handy-dandy rubber mallet, which I will write about repeatedly in my blog). Sprinkle them over the salad, which you have already topped with Hendrickson's dressing.

This is a quick, hearty meal, which my ten year-old rates as "Good!" So thanks to and Sabra and Viviane, my son and I didn't starve to death tonight. Try Sabra's macaroni casserole and Viviane's super salad next Friday night.