Cooking with a crockpot

Summer is here so either grill, or cook on the stove. The oven is off 'til October.

But wait, there is another tasty and cool option. No need to heat up the house to make a roast. I use a crockpot, and in the last week there has been a really tasty pulled pork, and a pot roast.

For the pork I simply roasted in the crock, pulled it apart --shred with a fork-- and added my favorite BBQ sauce.

Delicious.

For the beef, just seasoned it with garlic, added potatoes and carrut, let it go for 5 hours, made a salad then enjoyed a great meal.

You probably have a crock tucked away in the attic or basement and usually used it for hearty winter fare.

But it's great in the summer for keeping the kitchen cool.

My favorite ingredient

Would have to be balsamic vinegar. I use it to add a depth of flavor to sauces and stir fries. just a bit, not more than a tablespoon or so.

I suggest a good 8 year one like as sold at Trader Joes

What's for dinner

Leftovers are tough to deal with. Boring. One of the keys for me is to repurpose them; a meatloaf becomes meat sauce, chicken leftover becomes a wrap.

Quickie recipe

This is fast, easy, inexpensive and delicious. What could be better?

Get a packege of crescent rolls unbaked. You can use Pillsbury.

Unroll them and spread with strawberry cream cheese.
Roll them back up and bake according to package directions. About 10-12 minutes or so.
enjoy warm

It makes 8 so it serves ummm...1

:)

Surely other cheese fillings are possible and would be tasty

New place--5 Guys

There's a new chain popping up areound here--5 guys burgers.

They have a real limited menu. Burgers, hot dogs, fries, and grilled cheese.
All I had was the burgers and fries, and they kicked ass. Truly like home made.

Happiness is a warm meatloaf

I always make meatloafs and they are different every time.

Today my recipe:

1 1/4 pounds ground beef (hey that's what the package was)
8 oz mushroom
1 large onion
1 cup bread crumbs
3 strips bacon
splash of milk
1 egg
red pepper flakes
salt

In the food processor, the onions and mushrooms were processed to tiny pieces. Bacon strips were cut in half, the half was reserved, and the other was cut into small pieces. Everything was combined, formed in a loaf. The bacon reserved bacon strips placed across the loaf and baked for 60 minutes at 350.

It tasted great, soft, yet not mushy.

I < ) Wendy's

Went to Wendy's today to try the new fries. It's always been my favoprite fast food place since I went there for the first time a few years ago. I even bought stock in it which has done well, thank you.

My favorite lunch is chili, fries, and a Frosty. All of this is around $3.
The chili is nearly as good as mine, and the Frosty is top notch.

But the new fries are absolutely the best you can find in any fast food place.
Burger King fries suck, McDonald's are usually soggy, but these are crisp and seasoned just right. They are a bit pricy at $1.29, but so good they are worth it.

Even as the cool off the have a great potato taste.