How I Met Your Mother Farewell Dinner: MacLaren's Pot Roast

The time has come for us to say farewell to Ted, Barney, Robin, Lillypad and Mashmallow. We've gone through weddings, births, deaths, break-ups, and plenty of other legen...wait for it... dary moments with this crew but tonight we watch and find out exactly how Ted met the mother of his two (bored out of their minds by now) children.

In celebration... and mourning... of the end of one of my favorite shows, here is a recipe in its honor. 

MacLaren's Pot Roast

Ingredients

1 3-5lb Pot Roast

4 Red Bliss Potatoes

1/2 Onion

6 cloves of garlic

Baby Carrots (about 2 handfuls)

Beef Stock

Bottle of Beer

Gravy Master

Salt & Pepper 

Slow Cooker

Seared Pork Ramen Soup

One of my all time most popular videos on YouTube is my Ramen Noodle Salad. This recipe came about while I was in college and my friends and I were on budgets tighter than a Hipsters pants. Which is ironic, because I went to Emerson college and everyone there wears pretty tight pants. Anyway! After seeing the success of the good old Ramen Noodle Salad, I decided to take another gourmet whack at the college staple. Here's what I came up with! 

Burgers That Won't Ruin Your Buns! Plus A Giveaway!

Photo by MyRecipies.com

The Fourth of July is rapidly approaching and with it usually comes lavish cookouts with burgers, hot dogs, ice cold beer, you know... all the good stuff! Well here are a few ways to enjoy the holiday and not worry about ruining your bikini-bod efforts! Plus a giveaway at the bottom of the post!

Tip #1 - Swap Your Bread

It's no secret that carbs are evil... that's why they taste so good! Make one simple swap and save at least 150 calories! Try something like the sandwich thins or flatbreads that you can find in the deli section!

Tip #2 - Swap Your Meat

Well this is probably a no-brainer but swapping out that all-beef patty for ground turkey or ground chicken can hold off almost 100 calories and 8 grams of fat! In my opinion there’s way more you can do with turkey burgers … caprese burger, Hawaiian burger, Greek burger, or Southwest burgers, just to name a few!

Tip #3 - Forget Meat All Together

I know, I know. That thought to some people is sacrilege but hear me out. I recently tried these new Mediterranean chickpea burgers from Morningstar Farms. Am I a vegetarian? No, my husband would probably divorce me if I were, but these were pretty amazing. I was shocked how much flavor was packed into one little patty! These have a whopping 70% less fat than a regular beef burger and only 110 calories per patty. Put that with your flatbread and you’ve got yourself some satisfaction! Want to take it to the next level? See tip #4!

Tip #4 - Upgrade Your Condiments

I was shocked when I actually started reading what’s in condiments. Half of the stuff I can’t even pronounce! Even knowing the facts, I do still find it hard to stand clear of the Heinz but I’ve recently become addicted to the cool, smooth flavors of tzatziki sauce! If you’re not familiar with it, it’s a traditional Greek sauce that is made of yogurt, cucumber and garlic. Here’s how I make my own, it’s super quick and easy.

1 cup of non-fat plain yogurt

½ cup of chopped seedless cucumber

1 clove of garlic

salt and pepper

fresh dill, to taste

light squeeze of lemon juice

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, keep chilled until you’re ready to serve!

Need the perfect summer cookout gear? Well you're in luck! Enter in the contest below and you could win this awesome set of BBQ essentials from The Pampered Chef! I may be biased, but I LOVE the colors :-) **Please allow a few seconds for the giveaway widget to load!

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My Twist on Mom's Beef Stew

This is without a doubt one of my favorite foods! Partly because it's delicious... but mostly because of how simple it is to make. Well, at least the way I make it!

Ingredients:
1 lb cubed stew meat (beef)
browning sauce (gravy master)
Worcestershire sauce
1 onion, quartered
3 small golden potatoes, cut into large cubes
1 cup baby carrots
2 cans of beef broth
2 cups pancake mix
2/3 c milk
salt and pepper
dried dill (optional)

Get Your Corned Beef On At Magee's!

 

It’s that time of year when we all start seeing GREEN! St. Patrick’s Day is this weekend and before you go down your pints of green beer, fill up on the holiday classic, Corned Beef and Cabbage!

This is actually one of my favorite dishes all year round. There’s something about getting a nice cut of corned beef, piling on zesty horseradish and having that boiled cabbage that makes even this Portuguese girl go Irish!

I discovered that Magee’s in the Farmer’s Market at The Grove just might have the best I’ve ever tasted. Magee’s prides themselves in their prime meats and I have to say, their corned beef is one of the leanest and tastiest out there and it has been since 1917! They also have this KILLER horseradish that will make you crave it months after eating... trust me, I think about it all the time.

So here’s the deal... and really, it’s a DEAL! For the month of March, Magee’s will be serving up their Corned Beef special that includes a hearty helping of their corned beef, boiled potatoes, cabbage and of course, the horseradish for just $10.95! That’s cheap enough to have plenty of beer money leftover!
Remember, it’s only for this month... so go check it out NOW!

Read more: http://www.1043myfm.com/pages/thedish.html?article=11056411#ixzz2NMsOMqgx

[Restaurant Recipe]: Casa Vega's Tamales

Dinner Do-Over : Meat Sauce into Chili

With all these yummy recipes I've been dishing out for you guys, the leftovers in my fridge have been piling up! I always seem to make way more than me and The Mr. can eat. I am not one to waste food so I've come up with a few ways to take one dish and roll it over into a bunch of yummy "Dinner Do-Overs".

Dinner One: Pasta with Meat Sauce

What You Need:
1 lb ground turkey
1 carrot, peeled
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, grated
olive oil
1/2 jar favorite tomato sauce (Or use my recipe Garlic Tomato Sauce recipe here)

What You Do:
Drizzle olive oil in pan add in chopped onion and grate in the garlic. Let that saute a bit then grate in 1 whole carrot.

Add in the ground turkey and allow it to brown (feel free to use Worcestershire Sauce or Gravy Master to "beef" it up).

Once the turkey has cooked out, drain your pan. There may be a lot of liquid and we want to get rid of that.

Add in your tomato sauce and let simmer on a very low heat to let the flavors meld. You want the sauce to be very thick. Think... Sloppy Joe.

Cook your favorite pasta to al dente and serve. My favorite for this was Barilla linguini, it actually has ridges in the pasta to hold sauce. Brilliant! 

Dinner Two: Turkey Chili

What You Need:
Left over meat sauce
1 can of red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 onion, chopped
red and yellow peppers, chopped
crushed red pepper (the wet one in a jar)
cayenne pepper
chili powder
2 tbsp brown sugar 

What You Do:
Drizzle a little oil in a large pot or dutch oven. 

Add in onions, peppers and beans to the heated oil and saute. At this time add in a few shakes of cayenne and chili powder and the crushed red pepper. Add as much of those 3 ingredients as you want depending on how hot you like it!

Stir in the meat sauce from the other night along with two tablespoons of brown sugar. This will give it a great "sweet and spicy" flavor. Cover, remove from heat and let rest for 5-10 minutes. 

If you'd like, top with cheese and pop it into the broiler. Or top with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt (sour cream substitute) and chopped green onion. 


*Bonus: Still have some leftover chili? Layer a baking dish with cream cheese, chili and shredded cheese, bake for 20 minutes and you have a crazy good dip for the big game on Sunday!



 

Kasey's Pulled Pork

Here is the recipe that I shared with L.A. Foodie and it's perfect for any cookout. It's a favorite amongst my crew out here! Give it a try and let me know what you think.

What You Need:
5-7lb. pork butt

For dry rub:
3 tablespoons paprika or chili powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 tablespoon  dry mustard
3 tablespoons garlic salt

For the sauce:
2 cups of apple cider vinegar
1 cup of light brown sugar
1/2 cup of ketchup
1-2 tablespoons of crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
 1/2 teaspoon of fresh cracked black pepper

What You Do:

Place meat in a crockpot and cook on low until meat is falling apart (usually 8 hours) OR you can cook low and slow in a dutch oven, 300 degrees for about 6 hours, if you do it this way be sure to baste the meat periodically during cooking.

When the meat is done, get rid of all the juices it accumulated during cooking and pull meat apart. Works best if you shred it with two forks.

Mix all the sauce ingredients and bring to a simmer on low heat until all incorporated (about 10 minutes) and then pour onto pulled pork, pour enough until the meat sucks it up, you may not use all the mixture.

KK Tip: Running short on time and ingredients? Mix a ladle-full of the juices from the meat and your favorite BBQ Sauce with 2 tablespoons of vinegar and some crushed pepper (use tabasco or siracha if you need to) and let that simmer, then pour over the meat!


Want to see what to do with the left overs??? Click here! 

Check back soon to see what's cookin' in Kasey's Kitchen! xo

Dinner Do-Over: Cowboy Pie

So believe it or not this idea was inspired by my husband... the meat and potatoes ONLY guy.
 I had made a batch of my pulled pork along with some cornbread bread pudding and while I was eating them together he said, "You could make it like Shepherd's Pie". LIGHTBULB! Brilliant! So here it is, a Kasey's Kitchen "Dinner Do-Over",  Cowboy Pie!

Ingredients:
2-3 cups of left over Pulled Pork
1 can of baked beans (any flavor)
1 pkg of corn muffin mix
1 c shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350

In a baking dish, put down a layer of pulled pork.

Pour the can of beans over to pork to create the next layer.

Pour the corn muffin batter over the bean layer.

Bake for 12-15 minutes until muffin mix is golden brown. 

Enjoy!

Don't forget to leave a comment and let me know what you think!