Easy BBQ Chicken or Ribs Bean Pot

Easy BBQ Chicken or Ribs

* Ingredients:

* Ribs or Chicken

* BBQ sauce (or your secret recipe)

* Directions:

* Place uncooked ribs or chicken in your Magic Bean Pot.

* Pour sauce over meat.

* Bake covered at 350 degrees for 1 to 2 hours depending on how much meat.

* Take lid off last 15 minutes to brown.

Pork Chop w/ Mushroom Gravy

Why haven't there been more recipes? Well, recently, the kids have been crawling out of their cribs. Hence, less time for Mama to blog, browse recipes, and well, nap... ha ha!

Tonight is a funny little story. Yesterday was the first night for big kid beds, crib sides were taken down . It was 11pm before Cooper said they stayed in bed. Tonight he & I both took a crib & laid "guard" in front to keep them in. I left about 15 min ago after Gracie was asleep & Josey was convinced to lay down. As I was tucking him in, I hear a soft snore from Cooper... hee hee!

So, this is what I made last night. Saturday at a vendor event, I browsed the Food Network magazine since it was a bit slow w/ customers. The gravy was so yummy!  I love this magazine. I love pork chops too! :D

Pork or chicken scallopini (technical term) - is just a light flour breading on your meat & fried. Yummy just by itself....

Pork Chops w/ Mushroom Gravy
4 pork chops, bone in 1/2" thick, fat trimmed
Kosher salt & fresh ground pepper (nope, neither were in my pantry)
2 TB flour
1 1/2 TB extra virgin olive oil
12 oz cremini or white mushrooms, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 bunch scallions, whites sliced, greens cut into 2" pieces
1/2c low sodium chicken broth
2 TB low fat sour cream
1/4 c chopped fresh parsley

Season the pork chops w/ s&p. Sprinkle all over with 1 1/2TB flour. heat 1/2 TB oil in large non stick skillet over medium high heat. Working in 2 batches, add the chops & cook til golden & just cooked thru, about 3-4 min each side. Adding 1/2TB oil to the skillet between batches. Transfer the chops to a plate & keep warm.

Heat the remaining 1/2 TB oil in the same skillet; add the mushrooms, garlic, scallion whites & a pinch of salt & cook, without stirring, (whoops, forgot that step, I stirred) until the mushrooms begin to brown, about 3 min. Sprinkle in the remaining 1/2TB flour & cook, stirring occassionally, til the mushrooms are soft, about 3 more minutes. Stir in the chicken broth & sour cream, bring to a simmer and cook until the gravy thickens, about 1 more minute.

Divide the pork chops among plates. Drizzle any juices from the pork, stir into the gravy; stir in the scallion greens & parsley. Season w/ salt & pepper; spoon over the pork.

Per serving: Calories 362, fat 21g, Chol 97mg, Sodium 361 mg, Carb 9g, Fiber 1 g, Protein 31g.

Bean Pot Burger, Breakfast Burritos, & Honey Garlic Pork Ribs

I have mentioned some of the wonderful things you can do w/ your bean pot. I could not ever go back to browning hamburger on the stove after I have done it in the bean pot. Why - the burger tends to break easier to smaller pieces, no large chunks, plus there is no chasing the burger around a skillet w/ little pieces flying out.

This is what I started w/ - 3 one pound packages of burger, 3 "pods" of frozen onions, & a bunch of grated carrots. By cooking multiple packages, it takes a bit longer than the 6 minutes per pound. But so worth it!! Why the carrots? Adds bulk, adds veggies that aren't going to be quite so obvious for the picky eater... Why Not?

Here is the outcome....

You will see there is some liquid in there. That is because of the lid being on, trapping any moisture from the onions (I freeze them w/ a little bit water to keep the grated onions together). Just use a slotted spoon to scoop into a ziploc bag. If you were going to continue using the burger in the bean pot, you can easily use a turkey baster to pull any grease or liquid off the meat.

Voila - that is why you need a bean pot!

Next UP...

Breakfast burrito mix....

This is not a true recipe - I just toss stuff in. You can find a recipe on pinterest if you really want one.
My version is this -

Brown a pound of breakfast sausage. Place in large bowl.

Add some extra olive oil to that sausage grease & fry up some hash browns. I used about 2 lbs, but that is what I had left in the bag from the previous batch. Scoop into large bowl w/ sausage.

I had some sliced ham that I put into the Ninja & essentially minced. Add to skillet.

Eggs- I used up the whole carton of eggs because we go thru alot of eggs in this house. I blend them up in my ninja food processor - the old one, not the new version you find at Sam's Club. Cook them up in the same skillet, with the ham. Add to the large bowl.

When all is in the large bowl, add some salt & pepper. Then add at least 2 c of grated cheddar cheese. I used prolly 3 cups - whatever fell out of the bag! I am technical like that.

So you have this huge bowl of yummy goodness -

I use a scoop & put into my Beaba multipurpose freezer trays - which are 1/3 c pods that I use ALL the time. Just ask my husband. I got them for baby food. They were the perfect size to freeze up individual portions of bananas & avacados, applesauce, mashed potatoes w/ carrots & parsnips... Now I use them for soups, grated onions, chicken broth, strawberries - whatever I want to save.

How cool is that? I pull one out each morning for Josey as he is my egg boy.

And now the big finally - Sorry, no pics on this one

Honey Garlic Pork Ribs (I used pork steak & cut the recipe in half)
Which you can do this in the bean pot if you are using a smaller portion

4 lbs pork spare ribs
1 c honey
1 c packed brown sugar
1/3 c soy sauce
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t ground ginger
1 tsp ground mustard

1) cut ribs into serving size; place in a large ziploc. Combine the remaining ingredients, pour half the marinade over the ribs.

2) Seal bag & turn to coat. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight, turning occassionally. Cover & refrigerate remaining marinade. Drain & discard marinade from ribs.

3) Place ribs on a rack in a greased shallow baking dish. Cover & bake at 350 degrees for 1 hr. Drain. Pour remaining marinade over ribs. Bake, uncovered, for 30-45 min or until meat is tender, brushing occasionally w/ pan juices. Since I used pork steak, I cut the cooking time to just 1 hr.

1 serving 799 calories, 43 g fat, 170 mg chol, 603 mg sodium, 62 g carb, 42 g protein

Did you notice the pics? I would like to know if you can make comments as I adjusted the settings. Please leave a comment as a test! Thanks!!

Apricot Pork Loin for Bean Pot

 BEAN POT DINNER from Linda Kimmel
2-3 lb. pork loin
bag of baby carrots.
potatoes
Apricot jelly
Place the pork loin in the BEAN POT. Place the baby carrots around it. Spoon out the Apricot Jelly over the top of this. I washed and cut the potatoes in half and brushed the cut side with EVOO and put them cut side down. Add abour 1/2 cup of water
around the edge and salt and pepper to taste. Put the lid on and bake at 350* for
1 1/2 hrs. Test meat with a thermometer fo doneness. This was awesome.

Veggie & Beef Stir Fry - Zucchini Recipe

My kids love love love rice. At any given night I can use leftover meat to make stir fry or fried rice. Of course, after all Asian recipes, you are hungry 5 min later. Lately Josey has been cranky about sitting down for a meal.

Last night we had a major melt down. Cooper & I ate, Gracie had a couple bites & Josey screamed his disapproval. I made the ultimate decision I needed a snowmonster from Andy's Custard instead of listening to him. We packed up and headed out to get some ice cream & visit the in laws. Wouldn't you know when we got back, Josey crawled up into his chair & ate his AND Gracie's plates of food. Didn't even touch his milk till he was done.

If you know Josey - he is a milk-aholic, serious addiction.... He is sweet kid when he wants Gracie's milk. He stands by it, looks around to see who is watching. If a parent is around, he will offer it to Gracie. If you give him the ok nod, he sucks like a maniac... So funny!!

So, with these zucchini - I am on a mission to use them. This recipe is also from the Fix It & Enjoy It Healthy Cookbook. That justifies the snowmonster for dessert - you should try it!

And the more you read my posts, you will find I change things in the recipe, or use substitutes...

Veggie & Beef Stir Fry


1/4 lb beef tenderloin (I used Pork) 
2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped coarsely (used some from my frozen pods -ask me if I love Beaba)
1 sm zucchini, coarsely chopped
3 c coarsely chopped broccoli
half a small squash, you guessed it, chopped coarsely
1 tsp low sodium teriyaki sauce (I used hoisin sauce)


Cut beef into 1/4" wide strips.


In a good sized skillet, I love my Pampered Chef huge skillet, yes I am an infomercial for lots o' products, stir fry beef in olive oil just till no longer pink, about 2 min. 


Add onion & other veggies. Stir fry til tender crisp, about 5-7 min. 


Just before serving, add teriyaki sauce to beef & veggies. Serve w/ rice.


RICE: did you forget to make some rice ahead of time - no worries!! Use Minute Rice & cook it in your bean pot. Follow directions on box. I am the healthy type of person so I used brown Minute Rice. Love it!

Per serving w/ brown rice: calories 206; protein 11g; carb 30g; Total fat 5g; Sodium 80 mg; Fiber 4g.

There wasn't much left for leftovers, but it is a great way to use up leftovers. Tonight I need to do something w/ chicken thighs. We are going to adjust our eating time to later & maybe avoid Josey's meltdowns.

Have a great night!

b

Pork Chops w Scalloped Potatoes - Bean Pot

This recipe is from a Taste of Home cookbook 2nd edition. It is a recipe I have converted to bean pot because I usually make a smaller portion. Tonight I am using pork steaks instead of chops - same yummy pork.

While I am talking about meat - I get most of my meat from a hometown meat market called Western's Smokehouse in Greentop MO - my hometown. My dad grew up with the owner, Sam, who is passing on the tradition to his son & so forth. They have the most amazing smoked chicken & bacon, fresh cut beef, pork, make their own sausage (so much better than Jimmy Dean could dream of), and so much more. So if you are ever up in Kirksville, head a bit further north to Greentop & check them out. Their meat costs just about the same as HyVee, but much better. At one time when he was doing his own butchering, I could say I know the farmers that provided him the meat.

Ok, on to dinner. I had to make something for dinner, without any ideas, plus at 4pm I needed figure out something... It does take some prior planning since it takes almost 2 hrs to make. I put Cooper to peeling & slicing potatoes while I made the broth & browned the steaks. I did cut the steaks into smaller pieces to cook faster.

Pork Chops w/ Scalloped Potatoes

From Taste of Home 2nd edition (a skinny one from 1998?)

I love this recipe!!

3 TB butter

3 Tb flour

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 can chicken broth

6 loin pork chops

2 Tb cooking oil

6 c thinly sliced peeled potatoes

1 med onion, sliced

In a saucepan, melt butter, stir in flour, salt & pepper. Add broth; cook & stir constantly until mixture boils. Cook for 1 minute; removed from the heat and set aside. In a skillet, brown pork chops in oil. Season to taste and add'l salt & pepper if you want. In a greased bean pot (or 9x13 pan if you haven't purchased your bean pot yet!) layer potatoes & onions. Pour broth mixture over. Place pork chops on top. Cover & bake 350 degrees for 1 hr. Uncover & bake 30 min longer till potatoes are tender. 

6 servings