Pork & Sauerkraut

One of my family's New Year's Day traditions is having pork, hotdogs, and sauerkraut.  My grandparents were always the ones who cooked and brought it to my mom and dad's house for dinner until a few years ago. 

Now let me tell you.  I hate sauerkraut.  I really do.  But, oddly enough, I like the flavoring that it gives to the pork.

I'm a complicated person.

So anyway, Scott does like sauerkraut, and he had about half a jar left it the fridge.  Last Monday, I had a Celebrating Home party to do.  I knew that I needed to get home, eat, and head out for a 45 minute trip to the party location.  Scott was working nights, so the only way this could really happen was to let something cook all day.

Along with that sauerkraut, we had some porkchops in the freezer.  I was struck with the brilliant idea to make pork, hotdogs, and sauerkraut.

Cue my Bean Pot.  (Just so you know, if you click on that link, it will take you to this cute Christmasy Bean Pot that's on sale right now for $23...orignally $46....that's HALF OFF!!!)

This was so easy, it's almost embarrassing to post.

Bean Pot Pork & Sauerkraut
Ingredients:

• 2-4 boneless pork chops (I used 3.)
• sauerkraut
• hotdogs
• salt & pepper (to taste)

1. Place porkchops in the bean pot and empty the sauerkraut on top.  (P.S. My porkchops were frozen.)  Put hot dogs on top.

2. Bake in oven on 170* for 8 hours.

 

3. Serve with mashed potatoes and bread. 

 

No, I didn't eat any of the hot dogs.  While I like pork cooked in sauerkraut, I don't like my hot dogs cooked in it.  I told you.  I'm complex.  ;) 

This was so good, but there were a couple of things that would have made it better: eating it with my family on New Year's Day and the bread that my Pappy always would bring to go with it.  It's store bought, but oh so much better than this stupid stuff on my plate.  :)

Dinner Time Tuesday: 1, 2, 3, 4 Mac 'n' Cheese

It's time for another Dinner Time Tuesday!  If you'd like to link up, just share a picture of something you had for dinner this week, and tell us what it is.  You can even share the recipe if you want!  Help us get some inspiration for something new to try in the kitchen.  :)

Now, I'm going to be honest.  The dinner I'm sharing today is weird. 

Celebrating Home Dinner Plate: Simply Summer $39

This would be meatballs and macaroni and cheese.  This is not a typical meal.  I actually made the mac 'n' cheese one day and the meatballs another.  I decided that rather than make more pasta and having spaghetti and meatballs, that I'd enjoy this macaroni and cheese again.

I'm sharing the recipe with you today.  It's so easy, you won't believe it's true.

1, 2, 3, 4 Macaroni & Cheese

Ingredients

1 stick of melted butter
2 cups of uncooked pasta

3 cups shredded cheese*
4 cups milk

*You can use any kind of cheese that you like on your macaroni and cheese.  I had mozzarella and Kraft Mexican cheese on hand, so I used those.  I didn't love this with the mozzarella (BUT I liked it better reheated than I did the first time).  Cheddar is always a great choice!  :)

Throw all ingredients into a Bean Pot and bake at 350 degrees for one hour. 

Yes, that's all.

You can thank me later.

Don't have a Bean Pot?  I can help you with that.  I used this one for my macaroni and cheese.  It's the one I typically carry in my display when I do home parties.  (My other Bean Pot had left overs in it.)

Celebrating Home Veranda Home Bean Pot: $44

What's on your dinner table this week?

Microwave Brownie

One of the best things about my Bean Pot is that you can make things in the microwave that you probably wouldn't think of.  Cake, brownies, corn on the cob, even a whole chicken! 

I finally have a microwave big enough for my Bean Pot.  The one we had before was so small that it wouldn't even fit when I turned the lid upside down! 

My friend, Anna, held a Pinterest Themed Celebrating Home party for me, and she decided to make a chocolate peanut butter chip brownie in her Bean Pot in the microwave.  (We have the same Bean Pot.)  It was SO yummy!  I decided to make it for my Celebrating Home team meeting a couple of weeks ago.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Brownie

Ingredients

• 1 box brownie mix (plus ingredients listed on the back of the box- mine were 2 eggs & oil)
• peanut butter chips

1. Mix brownie mix, ingredients from the box, and 2/3 of the bag of peanut butter chips directly in your Bean Pot.

 

2. Place the lid on the Bean Pot and put it in the microwave and bake for 8-12 minutes.  (I'm giving you kind of a large time window here.  Anna cooked hers for 12 minutes and stated that the edges were a little hard/overdone.  I tried 10 minutes.  The entire thing was a little crunchy on the outside, but while it was warm, it was super easy to scoop and eat, and it tasted delicious.  When it cooled, it was rock hard.  I actually needed to pour some milk in it and reheat it a bit.  Next time I make this, I'm going to try 8 minutes.)

Celebrating Home Bean Pot in Simply Summer $39.

 

3.  Remove the Bean Pot from the microwave, and sprinkle with the remaining peanut butter chips.

Do you like my Bean Pot???  This is a spring/summer exclusive pattern called "Simply Summer."  Celebrating Home has a lot of other patterns to choose from!  You can snag your own by using the link below to be taken directly to the Celebrating Home website so that you can participate in my Blog Party!  You have a chance to win FREE MERCHANDISE!!  Visit the Blog Party link for all of the details.

http://www.celebratinghome.com/parties/blogparty519744/PWPHome.aspx

The party runs until July 8th!

Dinner Time Tuesday: Salsa Chicken

Hey y'all!  It's Dinner Time Tuesday.  I'm super excited to share this delicious recipe with you today!  I used my Bean Pot for this.  Have you joined my Blog Party yet?  You can get yourself a Bean Pot (and maybe even win one)!

Remember the rules:
1. Follow me via GFC or Bloglovin'
2. Grab the button to use in your post.
3. Snap a picture and tell us what you had for dinner and/or share a recipe.
4. Link up below from now until Sunday night at 11:59 PM EST.

This recipe is so easy and so yummy.  You're going to love it!

Salsa Chicken
Ingredients

• 1-2 lbs. chicken breast tenders*
• 1 can rinsed black beans
• 2 c. chunky salsa
• 1 bag frozen corn (10-12 oz.)

*Or 6-9 chicken thighs or drumsticks (use 1 to 1 1/2 c. salsa)

1. Put your chicken in the Bean Pot.  (Chicken CAN be frozen)
2. Top with black beans, salsa, and corn.
3.  Cook at 300* for 6-7 hours.**

**Cooking times can vary greatly.  One variable is if your chicken is thawed or frozen.  I thawed my chicken a bit in the microwave, but parts were still frozen.  The original suggestions for cooking were 250* for 6-9 hours or 350* for 4-5.  Mine was just a little overcooked, but it was still super yummy.  Mine ended up cooking for 7 hours at 300*.

 

The chicken is super tender and juicy.  It pulled apart really easily, which isn't necessary, but it was a bonus!

Anything good cooking in your kitchen this week?  Remember, you have until Sunday night to link up!

It's a Party!!

Hello, Blog Friends! 

Do you like free merchandise??  Do you like WINNING contests??  Then please read on....

Many of you know that I am a designer with a company called Celebrating Home.  Celebrating Home is an amazing company with products for home décor, decorative Stoneware items for cooking, and accessories like jewelry and handbags for YOU with Penelope Ann!  I've shared many of recipes for my Bean Pot.  See my Celebrating Home tab for my recipes.

Source

Not only do I think you would all love a Bean Pot in one pattern or another, I also need your help.  My business has been down lately, and I have a personal goal to reach $1000 in sales during the week of July 7-13.  By reaching this goal, I will achieve special recognition at a national Celebrating Home rally that I will be attending in July!  So starting today, I am having a Blog Party Mystery Hostess Event!

What does that mean to you?

It means that you can win the hostess benefits of having a Celebrating Home party.

How??

All you need to do is visit http://www.celebratinghome.com/parties/BlogParty519744 from now until July 8, 2013 and place an order.  I will be notified with only your name and the items you've ordered.  If you place an order, you will be entered into the mystery hostess drawing.  The party will close on July 8th, and I will contact the winner no later than July 10th. 

Our hostesses ALWAYS earn 20% free merchandise.  So the more orders I receive, the more FREE merchandise YOU can win!  There are also hostess-exclusive items you will be eligible to add to your purchase.  The mystery hostess will also receive our July hostess promotion from Penelope Ann: My Main Squeeze handbag.  (IF we reach $300 in sales!)

I want to thank you in advance for your help, and I wish you luck in winning the drawing!!!

Happy shopping!

Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork

Today I move over one more Bean Pot recipe from old blog:

 

 

This recipe is from The Pioneer Woman's new cookbook.

 

 

 

I also didn't take any pictures because Scott helped me make it, and I knew he'd make fun of me for taking pictures. :-p If you'd like, you can read her original recipe here. It's actually supposed to be spicy, but I had forgotten to buy the chipotle chiles at the store.

 

Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork

• 2 onions, peeled and quartered
• 1 whole pork butt (pork shoulder roast)
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 12 oz Dr. Pepper
• 4 tablespoons packed brown sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 300*
2. Put the onion quarters in the bottom of the pot. (I used my trusty bean pot because it needed a pot with a lid, and that's the only one I have!)
3. Put the pork on top of the onions and add salt and pepper to taste. (By the way, Scott and I were kind of unsure about how big a whole pork roast should be. I don't know if the size really matters in terms of how much liquid we put in or not....)
4. Pour in the Dr. Pepper.
5. Add the brown sugar to the liquid and stir it a bit to combine.
6. Cover the pot and cook for 6 hours turning a few times while it's cooking.
7. When it's done, it should be fork tender. You can keep in in the pot or take it out and shred it with a fork (or forks).

I thought this was good. It was a little bland, which I'm sure the chiles would have helped with. I've never actually had pulled pork before, so I really don't have anything to compare it to! I toasted some hamburger buns and ate mine as a sandwich.

Bean Pot Chicken Pot Pie

I love my Bean Pot. If you've been around here for awhile, you know a couple of things. 1) I used to blog on WordPress.  Yes, I am still moving posts over from there.  This is one.  2) I am a designer with the company Celebrating Home.  3) A bean pot is not just for beans.  In fact, I've never even made beans in my bean pot.  4)  You can check out recipes for the Bean Pot in my Celebrating Home tab. 

This is what my bean pot looks like:

This Bean Pot is from our Simply Summer Collection.  It is a 3.5 qt. bean pot.  Cost $39.

Bean Pot Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients
-2 lbs cooked chicken (I bought a rotisserie chicken and tore it apart.)
-2 cans cream of potato soup (only 1 can of water)
-1 small bag frozen veggies (mine had peas, corn, carrots, and green beans)
-1 can crescent rolls

1. Preheat the oven to 375*. If you saved yourself time and hassle, like me, and bought a rotisserie chicken, cut it/pull it apart/mutilate it, and throw the chicken into the bean pot.

2. Put the rest of the ingredients in the bean pot (make sure you only add one can of water for the potato soup), and mix well.

3. Bake for 20 minutes with the lid on.

4. Place the unfolded crescent rolls on top of the mixture. (I think this recipe was actually asking you to use Pillsbury Crescent Rolls because it refers to all 6 of them fitting. I bought a generic brand and there were 8. I still used all of them. But also let me caution you. If you haven't already experienced enough terror from opening the crescent roll can....

 

...you now need to place the dough in the bean pot without burning yourself. I didn't get burned, but I just wanted to give you my safety warning!)

5. Bake without the lid until the crescent rolls are golden brown. If you overlap them too much, you may need additional time. Some of my more layered spots didn't quite cook.

This is the after AFTER picture. In other words, I had already taken out my serving when I realized that I hadn't taken a picture of the final product.

That's it! I'm loving the bean pot because it's so easy just to throw ingredients in and let it go! If you don't have a bean pot....you should. Follow my link under the bean pot picture if you'd like to change that!  haha :)

Pot Roast

I thought I'd move another post from my WordPress blog today. This one is another recipe for the Bean Pot. Check out my Celebrating Home page for a list of Bean Pot recipes and more information about this amazing company I work for! :)

Bean Pot Pot Roast
Ingredients
~Small pot roast
~carrots
-small onion
~celery
~two small to medium size potatoes

1. Preheat oven to 325*.
2. Place the pot roast in the Bean Pot, and about 1 c. water.
3. Cut up veggies and potatoes and toss them on and around the roast. (I didn't peel my potatoes. I just rinsed them off, chopped them up and put them in. The end.

4. Place the lid on the Bean Pot and bake for 2-3 hours depending on the size of the roast. (My roast was pretty small. I checked it at two hours. Then, it was ready and Scott was still sleeping [He was on night shift], so I just turned the heat on my oven down as low as it would go and let it in until it was time for dinner.

This was seriously SO delicious! I used to dread when my mom made roast. I hated it. But I've grown to love many things that I didn't like when I was a child, and this is now one of them. We actually got a buy one, get one free deal on meat at the grocery store when we were shopping for ingredients. So, I will definitely be making this again!

Garlic & Lemon Pepper Chicken

So I had this chicken sitting in the freezer.  The thing I love about buying whole chickens is that they're usually SOOOOO cheap.  I believe this one was $0.99/lb, and since it was around 4 pounds, it was about $4. 

However, I make these decisions because it's so inexpensive, and then I don't know what to make.  I knew that I wanted to make it in my Bean Pot.  I got online and searched for a recipe.  I wanted to make something that included ingredients that I had on hand.  I find that so many recipes always have SOME ingredient that I don't have, and I was running into that problem.  I did see some promising ideas, and so.....

I got brave.

I took the inspiration, and made it up on my own.

You don't have to have a Bean Pot.  You could make this in a slow cooker or however you normally cook a whole chicken. 

Garlic & Lemon Pepper Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 whole frying chicken (about 4 lbs)
• 1 14.5 oz. can chicken broth
• 1 1/2 c. water
• 5 cloves garlic
• Lemon Pepper seasoning
• Salt, to taste

1. Pour chicken broth and water into the Bean Pot.
2. Peel and toss in 5 cloves of garlic
3. Remove innards of chicken and rinse thoroughly.  Then sprinkle liberally with lemon pepper seasoning.
4. Place chicken into Bean Pot, and sprinkle in a little salt.  (Do not add too much salt because of the chicken broth.)

5. Bake at 200* for 5 hours.

You CAN cook this at a higher temperature for less time, or lower for longer.  I ended up making this on Wednesday when I was home for a snow day.  I had gotten everything ready the night before. (Go figure.  I'd actually be prepared a day early and wouldn't need to be.)  I just popped it in the oven at noon, and let it cook until 5:00.  When I went to cut into it, I didn't even need the knife.  The meat just fell off of the bone.  Quite literally.  We did have to be careful not to bite into a small bone because it just fell to pieces.  It was so tender and juicy, and honestly, it was the best chicken I'VE ever made.  I do like chicken, but whenever I make my own chicken, it just doesn't taste as flavorful, and it's usually a bit dry.

You should totally make this.  It's so easy and delicious!

Stuffed Pepper Soup

I LOVE Stuffed Pepper Soup.  I think I actually like this way better than regular stuffed peppers for a couple of reasons.  1) It's quicker.  2) I always break up the full pepper when I eat stuffed peppers anway.

I've shared this recipe on WordPress, but today, I share it in an updated way.  I made this soup in my Bean Pot today.  If you don't know, a Bean Pot is an item from Celebrating Home.  It is made of stoneware, and you can make way more than beans in it, as the name might suggest.  :)  Don't have a Bean Pot?  No problem.  You can make this soup in a Crock Pot or on the stove.  That's the beauty of it!

Stuffed Pepper Soup
Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 2 medium green bell peppers
• 1 serving minute rice*
• 1 4oz. can mushrooms
• 2 cans condensed tomato soup

*One serving of the minute rice I use is made with 1 c. boiling water, and 1 c. rice.
**We had half of a small onion left from our dinner yesterday, so I chopped it up and tossed it in, too.

1. Preheat oven to 350*. 
2. Brown ground beef and drain.
3. Cook rice according to package directions.
4. Chop up green peppers.
5. Put all ingredients into the Bean Pot.  Add 1 can of water.  (You can adjust this depending on the consistency you would like your soup to have.  For thinner, more "soupy" soup, add 2 cans.)

     6. Bake at 350* for one hour or until peppers are tender.

     7. Serve over mashed potatoes.  (I always do! :) )