Low and Slow Oven Baked Pork Ribs

Warning, this recipe takes like 4 hours. So if you're looking for a quick dinner tonight- this isn't it. Also, when I was searching for recipes a lot of them were for the slow cooker- and since the ribs I got were bone in, I didn't want to do that. I hate bones in the slow cooker, they get all broken and shard- its just not for me. Even though this takes about 4 hours- most of that time they're in the oven and you don't touch them. So here we go.

INGREDIENTS:

• bone in country style pork ribs (I did 2 packages so it was about 10 ribs)
• salt, pepper and seasonings of choice ( I used cajun seasoning)
• BBQ sauce of choice (I used sweet baby rays vidalia onion)

Preheat oven to 225. Spray a baking dish (I used 9x13) with cooking spray. Season your ribs with salt, pepper and whatever your seasoning of choice is. Place the ribs meat side DOWN in the baking dish, season the other side of the ribs too. 

Cover with tinfoil. Bake at 225 for 3 1/3 hours. Remove from oven, carefully flip the ribs over so they are meat side UP.

Brush on a generous amount of BBQ sauce, cover again and return to oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven again, take foil off, BBQ sauce them again and stick them under the broiler for about 5 minutes. 

There you have it! I've never really cooked ribs before, but this was a combination of like 3 different recipes that I read. And they came out phenomenal. This is going to be the way I do them from now on. Maybe next time I'll try to do some baby back ribs though too. Cheers!

Cheesy Spaghetti Squash, Zucchini and Tomato Bake

So this can be a main course, or a veggie side dish. I threw this together last Friday and it was pretty awesome. I cooked the spaghetti squash in the slow cooker. Which was like the easiest way I have ever done it. And actually throwing this dish together after that was cooked took like 15 minutes. 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 medium spaghetti squash
• 1 medium zucchini, sliced into medium thickness discs
• 2 medium tomatoes, sliced medium thick
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese
• italian seasoning
• salt and pepper

To cook the squash in the slow cooker- wash it thoroughly, poke 5-10 holes in with a knife. Place in slow cooker with 2 cups water. Cook on low for 6 hours.

Once the squash is done, carefully remove from slow cooker- allow to cool for a few until its easier to handle. Slice in half and scoop out all of the seeds from the middle. Scoop the rest of the squash flesh out of the skin and into a strainer to drain the access water off.

While you're preparing the squash, you should throw your zucchini slices into a pot with 1/4 cup of water, cover and steam for 3-4 minutes. Drain.

In a medium baking dish place 1/3 of the spaghetti squash on the bottom, then 1/3 zucchini, 1/3 tomato slices- some salt and pepper and italian seasoning then 1/3 of cheese. Repeat these steps so you have 3 layers of cheesy seasoned veggies. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Broil for 1-2 min for a brown crispy top.

Like I said above, this could work for a main veggie dish- or a side dish. Either way, it was really good. I've been digging doing cheesy bakes lately. And when its all veggies, you don't have to feel to guilty about it, right? Cheers!

Salami, Provolone and Banana Pepper Stromboli

I love making stromboli's and pizza's at home. So easy and you can pretty much do any combination of ingredients you want to, or have on hand. I saw this a bunch of times floating around on Pinterest and finally decided to go for it.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 ball of pizza dough (I get the pre made kind- so easy)
• 25 slices of salami
• 15 slices of provolone cheese
• 1/4- 1/2 cup of banana peppers
• italian seasoning
• garlic powder

Preheat oven to 425. Roll out pizza dough, arrange cheese on bottom- then salami- then banana peppers. 

Carefully roll, tucking in sides as you go. Sprinkle with garlic powder and italian seasoning. Place on pizza pan or cookie sheet.

 Bake 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve with marinara sauce.

We had our stromboli with some sautéed veggies. The combination of this all together was just great. Your really can't go wrong with italian meats, cheese and bread. So awesome. Side note- if you're using a pizza pan with holes to bake- put a cookie sheet the next rack down, because the salami, pepper juice peaked out and spilt into the bottom of my oven. oops. Cheers!

Slow Cooker Cabbage Rolls

This was actually pretty easy to prep. The best thing about slow cooker recipes is a little prep time, then dinner is all ready later on and you don't have to worry about it. This was my first time doing stuffed cabbage and Mike loved it. Even Ollie the pickiest one, ate this two nights in a row. The sweet tomato sauce really gives it a great kick too.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 head of cabbage
• ½ cup uncooked rice
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup milk
• ¼ cup minced onion
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1 tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. pepper
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 15 ounce can tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Place head of cabbage in a pot and fill it 1/4 with water and cover. Turn stove on medium/ high and steam cabbage for about 5 minutes until the leaves are easy to peel apart. Drain water and allow to cool until you're able to handle the cabbage, peel the leaves off and set aside.

To make hamburger mixture- combine beef, rice, egg, onion, garlic, salt and pepper together.

In a bowl combine tomato sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, worcestershire sauce (if you want more sauce you can double this). 

Place a spoonful of beef mixture in the center of a leaf of cabbage, tuck edges in and roll. Place seam side down in the slow cooker. Repeat until all of the beef mixture is used. 

Pour sauce over the top of all the rolls in the slow cooker, cook on low for 8 hours.

We served these bad boys with some loaded potato salad, and veggies. So good, and the leftovers reheated pretty well too. The rice cooked perfectly with the beef, and the sauce was sweet and tangy. I'll be sure to use this recipe the next time I make this. Cheers!

Adapted from: slow cooker cabbage rolls

Pesto Ranch Pasta Bake with Asparagus

This was last weeks freakin yummy and simple Meatless Monday dinner. Only a few  ingredients and you're on the way to veggie dinner heaven.

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 oz  (half box) pasta of your choice - I used cavatappi pasta
• 1/3 cup ranch dressing (I used buttermilk ranch)
• 1/4 cup pesto
• 14oz can of diced tomatoes
• 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella
• 1/2 cup shredded parm cheese
• 1 bunch of fresh asparagus
• olive oil 
• minced garlic
• salt and pepper

Boil some water, and cook pasta a little under done. Drain and set aside.

Trim the ends off of the asparagus spears and cut into thirds. Place in sauté pan with some olive oil and a little minced garlic- cover and cook for 3-5 minutes over medium heat, until they are tender. Add in the drained pasta, diced tomatoes, ranch, pesto and the mozzarella cheese- stir well to combine. Add in salt and pepper to taste if needed. Transfer to a baking dish, sprinkle with parm cheese- bake at 350 for 15 minutes. 

Yum yum yum. I'm getting seriously hungry thinking about this. It was so good in fact I'm making this again next Monday- maybe with different veggies though to mix it up. If you're looking for a quick weeknight dinner, try this one out. It will not disappoint. The leftovers were actually awesome the next day too! Cheers!

Cheesy creamy pesto ranch pasta

Pasta bake with strawberry feta salad

Adapted from: ranch pesto rigatoni bake

Slow Cooker Chicken Caesar Sandwiches

Made these super easy chicken sandwiches last night. Oh man, packed with flavor- and add a good roll on top of it, you can't go wrong. 

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (makes about 4 sandwiches)
• bread or rolls of your choice
• 1/4 cup grated parm cheese
• 3/4 caesar dressing
• 1 teaspoon parsley flakes
• salt and pepper to taste
• garlic powder to taste
• romaine lettuce

Place chicken in a slow cooker with 1/2 cup of water. Cook on low for 3-4 hours.

Remove chicken and shred it with a fork.

Toss chicken with the dressing, cheese and seasonings. Adjust the seasoning to taste. Serve on a bun with romaine lettuce.

This is perfect to make on a summer day when you don't want to turn on the oven. Or if you want something easy that doesn't take to much work. One of the best sandwiches I've had in a while! Cheers!

Adapted from: slow cooker caesar chicken sandwiches

Pork and Peach Rolls with Stuffing

My grandmother used to make pork chops with peaches and stuffing bake years ago, and I always thought it was such a great combination. I had given that recipe to my friend Stephanie, probably 10 years ago and recently she just reminded me of it. So I did this updated version of it, and it was pretty damn good. I think next time I might dip the pork rolls in a little bread crumbs, but besides that it was great. 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 box of stove top pork stuffing
• 6 thin sliced pork chops
• 1/2 cup fresh mozzarella
• 1 can peach slices
• 1/4 cup peach preserves

Make the stuffing according to the directions, but replace 1/4 cup of water with 1/4 cup of peach preserves.

Pound the pork chops out into a big enough surface area to stuff and roll them up.

On each piece of pork place about 3 tablespoons of stuffing, then 1-2 slices of peach, then little mozzarella. Roll, tuck the filling inside and toothpick to hold in place. 

Arrange the remanding stuffing at the bottom of a greased baking dish. Then arrange pork rolls on top- with the remainder of the peach slices. Place a little bit of peach preserves on the top of each pork roll. Cover with tinfoil and bake at 325 for about 40 minutes. Until the pork is cooked through.

We ate our pork and stuffing with broccoli on the side. I just love anything that is sweet and savory together. And that little bit of melted mozzarella in the middle was amazing. I think my grandmother would have liked this version. Cheers!