What you have on hand

How many times do you sit down to decide what is dinner...and...you sit there? Nothing coming to mind. You pencil in a few ideas, get excited and then go to the pantry and fridge and realize you don't have ANY of the ingredients needed.

This happens to (almost) everyone at one point or another. It happens in my house at least once every couple of weeks. So if a major (2 hour, multiple cart) grocery store trip is not in the plans within the days to come, what is a person to do? Well let what you have on hand be the driver of what is for supper.

I intentionally approached a couple of meals in the past week this way and using what I had already at home, along with a couple of Tastefully Simple products which impart great flavor (sometimes allowing you to sub out multiple ingredients) it all worked.

Pork, Veggies and Rice
Ah, the infamous one-pan wonder of a meal! I found some ground pork in the freezer (but can be any ground meat) and browned that using Tastefully Simple's Seasoned Salt. While the meat was browning, I cooked up the rice. When both were done, I combined them into the same pan and poured in Sweet Mesquite Slow Cooker Sauce. While the all of this was simmering on low to allow flavors to come together, I prepared broccoli (again, any veggie would work). Upon the broccoli being ready, I added this to the dish, allowed for 15 minutes more to come together and it was ready to serve.

This dish takes very little time, as you can see involved 5 items I had in the house and took very few steps. When it was done, the ultimate compliment is of course those eating it wanting another serving and it was unanimous there, too.

Chicken Enchilada Soup
Soup is the classic go-to if you have a handful of ingredients that might not seem to go together at first, but can be pulled together to make work. And this is what happened the other night.

I found the following in the fridge: leftover green onions, leftover cilantro, leftover enchilada sauce

I found the following in the pantry: stewed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, canned chicken

I had the following Tastefully Simple products on hand: Wahoo Chili Seasoning Blend, Corn and Black Bean Salsa

I took the following steps to turn this into a meal: combined it all in a crock pot, let it roll on low for 2 to 3 hours.

If desired, this can be served with tortilla chips, topped with shredded cheese and/or sour cream.

Seriously, this was a soup I started building in my head after scanning my resources. And this dish especially is what I love about cooking.

Slammin' Sammies

Individual EVERYTHING is all of the rage for food right now. Everywhere you look - mini desserts for one; multi-dish sampler platters to start a meal; main course classics taken from a single big serving to numerous smaller servings. And so it goes with our next success in the kitchen of my household with Chipotle Bacon Chili Slammers. Just the name makes one hungry, even if you have just finished a meal.

These small sandwiches feature big taste and 3 Tastefully Simple products - Perfect Parmesan Biscuits, Wahoo Chili Seasoning and the all new Chipotle Bacon Dip Starter. And the even better part, they were almost just as easy to prepare as listing off those few ingredients.

I started with 1 pound of lean ground beef, added 2 Tbsp. Wahoo Chili Seasoning while it started to brown. During the time of the meat cooking, I mixed up the Perfect Parmesan Biscuits (the biscuit mix, water, shredded cheddar cheese), placed them on a baking sheet and popped them into the oven.

The biscuits finished about the time the meat was also getting done cooking. After the biscuits had cooled just enough so they could be sliced in half, I placed a good sized serving of meat on the bottom half, topped with Chipotle Bacon Dip Starter right from the jar to taste and then the top half of the biscuit.

The outcome? Well, the boys had their sandwiches gone almost in the amount of time it took me to make mine and sit down to enjoy with them. So seconds were had!

One of the many things I love about a meal like this is the variations are only limited by your imagination. Jayce chose to have cheese on his; Kayden wanted the full flavor of the dip starter so opted out. You certainly could do these as patties instead of loose meat. Speaking of the meat, obviously ground beef was what we did, but any meat (or non-meat, I am sure just as good with a portabella mushroom) works here.

The main function of meal-time for us is to make it fun, keep it interesting and demonstrating that it might be the same "type" of meal, but there can be variation. Quick, easy, delicious.

Chipotle Bacon Chili Slammers
1 lb. ground beef
2 Tbsp. Wahoo Chili Seasoning
Perfect Parmesan Biscuit Mix
2/3 cup cold water
2/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Chipotle Bacon Dip Starter, to taste

Brown ground beef with Wahoo Chili Seasoning; prepare Perfect Parmesan Biscuits as directed; once biscuits are cool enough to slice, place ground beef on bottom half, top with Chipotle Bacon Dip Starter and top half of biscuit.

Slow cooker for a fast life

It truly has been 2 weeks since I last shared a kitchen success - although I promise, it has NOT been that long since the last kitchen victory. It has simply been that long since I have been able to get back with everyone - which is the point of this entry.

We all are busy. Everyone handles busy differently. Some embrace it, others get overwhelmed. No matter how you feel when you are in your world of maximum busy - you still have to eat. And the slow cooker (or crock pot, choose your lingo) can play a big role in allowing you and your family to still get a home-cooked and hearty meal in the midst of it all.

I know I have sung the praises of how the slow cooker is effective for my family before, and it came into play again last night. Jayce and Kayden each had sports activities soon after work, leaving time to prepare supper down to minimal, if we wanted to eat before 9 p.m. Enter, the slow cooker, a rump roast, carrots and one of the new Tastefully Simple slow cooker sauces for fall - Irish Stout Slow Cooker Sauce.



I placed a 3 to 4 lb. beef rump roast in the slow cooker.

With a few easy steps and 9 hours of simply filling the house with a wonderful smell, dinner was available when we were. Check out the steps below, followed by the recipe. 



I poured about half the bottle of Irish Stout Slow Cooker Sauce over the top.

I made sure the roast had a good cover of the sauce.

 



The end result was a tender and easily sliceable cut of meat to enjoy as the center of the meal. We paired it with a lettuce salad for an easy, comfort-food meal on a fall evening.

Irish Stout Pot Roast
3 to 4 lb. beef rump roast
Irish Stout Slow Cooker Sauce
Carrots, potatoes, other vegetables (all are optional)

Place roast in slow cooker, pour Irish Stout Slow Cooker Sauce over top ensuring roast is covered (I used about half of the bottle), add vegetables of your choosing. Cook on low for 7 to 9 hours, depending upon size of roast. Slice and enjoy with more Irish Stout Slow Cooker Sauce, if desired.