Simple Shredded Pork Marinara over Spaghetti Squash - Gluten-Free

It's a very rare occasion in which everyone in the house boasts over my dinners.  No, really.  I know, I know...."Queen of the Crock Pot" yada yada!  LOL  I mean, everyone usually doesn't complain about dinner, but this time, they RAVED about it!

Here's how it went....I was out teaching an Essential Oils class and on my way home, my husband said "Nice job on dinner, honey!  The kids LOVED it!  I loved it too!  Good job!"
Well, that was nice to hear!
Fast forward to the next morning when Ella gets out of bed...
"Morning mom!  Did you really make that dinner last night?"
"Good morning Ella!  Yes, honey, I did."
"Wow, mom!  That was REALLY good!  Great job, mom!  Me and Gavin LOVED it!"

Here's the thing...I literally opened cans and dumped them in the slow cooker along with a chopped up onion....which my husband did for me.  I didn't add ANYTHING else to it.  LOL  I used all Dei Fratelli products, so apparently, they season better than me!  LOL!!!!!

I'll get to the recipe now so you too can "wow" your family with you mad cooking skills!

Servings: 12-14

Ingredients:

4 oz. pork sirloin tip roast

26.46 oz. carton Dei Fratelli Truly finely chopped tomatoes

28 oz. Dei Fratelli crushed tomatoes, basil and herbs

28 oz. can Dei Fratelli chopped Italian tomatoes, herbs and olive oil

6 oz. can tomato paste

Spaghetti Squash (1 squash served 3 adults) - cooking instructions here

optional: regular pasta or gluten-free pasta if you desire

Directions: (use a 5 quart or larger crock for this recipe)

In your crock, place the pork sirloin tip roast.

Next, pour in the carton of Truly finely chopped tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, chopped Italian tomatoes and tomato paste.

Add the onions, then stir it up a bit.

Cook on LOW for 7-8 hours or on HIGH for 3.5-4 hours.

Take the pork roast out, roughly shred it and stir it back through the sauce.

Serve it over Spaghetti Squash and ENJOY!

Vodka Sauce Gluten-Free

Who doesn't love a good vodka sauce?  I mean, it's sinful in a couple ways right?  It's creamy and delicious and has a hint of the vodka flavor most adults crave once in a while.  This sauce turned out great!  I was really happy with the consistency, and I really liked how versatile it became....more about that in a bit.

I only added a touch of vodka to my sauce because I was a bit nervous and cautious.  If I make this again, I might add a bit more.  Please feel free to add as much as you think you would like.  I added 1/4 cup and this makes A LOT of sauce, so the vodka flavor was extremely faint.  I would probably add 1/2 cup next time for this amount of sauce.  That being said, I loved the sauce the way it was because it was simply, delicious! Also, my kids were eating this with us, and I didn't want to serve them something with a foreign taste (if you know what I mean)  But, by all means, "beef up the vodka" if you really want that flavor to come through.

Not only did I use this sauce to serve over pasta as you see below, but a couple days later, I added 1 lb. of browned ground beef to about 4 cups of this sauce, and mixed it with 1 lb. of gluten-free pasta.  I added a couple cups of Parmesan and Italian Blended shredded cheese on top, baked it in a casserole dish for about 20 minutes on 375 and had a delicious baked spaghetti the whole family LOVED!

So, we had this for dinner 2 nights, baked spaghetti for 2 nights and enough sauce left over to put in the freezer for another meal later!  Pretty good, huh?!

P.S. I used skim milk (because that's all I had in my house and it turned out well.  It was obviously not as rich, but it was still very good.

This is a gluten-free recipe!

Servings: 10-12

Ingredients:
28 oz. can crushed tomatoes with basil (regular crushed tomatoes will work as well)
14.5 oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes (regular diced tomatoes will work as well)
12 oz. tomato paste
1/4 cup vodka (use up to 1/2 or 2/3 cup if you want more vodka flavor)
2 Tbsp. garlic powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
4 Tbsp. butter
3 cups heavy cream

Directions: (Use a 3-5 Quart Slow Cooker)

In your crock, dump the crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, tomato paste and vodka. 

Add the garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Give it a stir and cook on LOW for 5-8 hours, or on HIGH for 2.5-4 hours.

About the last 45 mins-1 hour, add the 4 Tbsp. of butter and recover.

When you're ready to serve, blend the sauce with an immersion blender until it is smooth.

(If you don't have an immersion blender, CAREFULLY blend your sauce in a food processor or blender.  Make sure to cover the lid with a towel in case there is splash.  You don't want to burn yourself!)

Remove 2 cups of your sauce into a bowl and SLOWLY (and I mean slowly) add the heavy cream to your sauce by whisking CONSTANTLY!  This will keep your milk from curdling.  It still might not blend completely smoothly (mine didn't) but it's no big deal.  

Now, you're going to SLOWLY pour this back into the remainder of your pasta sauce while again, whisking CONSTANTLY!

And you are done!  A little bit of work, but nothing too hard.  :)

Serve over your favorite pasta and ENJOY!

Gluten-Free Greek Pasta Salad with Chicken

Goodness!  I feel a bit rusty!  LOL  It's been a long time since I've posted one of my own recipes, but you all know that's because I've been working very hard on a beautiful cookbook to present to all of you!  I threw this together so quickly the other night that I did not even stop to take pictures along the way!  I apologize for that!

I don't know how Greek Pasta Salad popped into my head this week, but I'm so happy it did!  I picked up all the ingredients at the grocery store this week and waited for the perfect night to make it......when I was extremely busy!  That's because this recipe is really easy.  So, let's get to it!

P.S.  If you're not gluten-free, make this with regular pasta ;)

Servings: 10-15

Ingredients:

16 oz. Gluten-Free Pasta

3 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 Tbsp. Greek seasoning/rub) (I used Pampered Chef Greek Rub)

2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

1 cup water

1/3 cup chopped red onion

1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half

1/2-3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

1/2 cup sliced Kalamata olives

12 oz. (approximately) Greek Salad Dressing (I used Ken's Greek with Feta Cheese, Black Olives and Imported Olive Oil)

Directions: (Use a 3 Quart or smaller Slow Cooker for this recipe)

In your slow cooker, place your boneless skinless chicken breasts and sprinkle with the Greek seasoning/rub.  Pour the apple cider vinegar and water into your crock, around your chicken, trying not to "wash off" the seasoning!  Cook on LOW for 5 hours, or on HIGH for 2.5 hours.  When it is done, let it cool and cut it into bite-sized pieces.  

Cook your gluten-free pasta according to the package directions.  Mix in about half of the Greek Dressing and set it in the fridge to cool for a couple hours.  Once it's cooled, mix in the red onion, cherry tomatoes, feta, kalamata olives, the cooled chicken and the remaining Greek dressing.  Stir it up, serve and ENJOY!

White Lasagna

I've been wanting to make a White Lasagna for forever!  I have a hard time justifying Alfredo sauce as part of my diet, but I thought, you know what?!  I'm going to put lots of "good-for-you" stuff in there to make up for it!  So, that's what I did!

This turned out really well!  It was extremely tasty!  All four of us cleaned our plates.....Gavin was a mess, but a happy little dude after eating this!  Ours was over-cooked, but that's because we were gone longer than I had anticipated, so this was on warm for almost 4 hours.  Not the best scenario!  This won't happen to you though, because we eat over-cooked food so you won't have to! LOL

I hope you give this a try!  It's really neat to make Lasagna in the slow cooker.  I made my own alfredo sauce, but if you want to shave off some prep-time, just buy jarred sauce.  It will be fine! :)

White Lasagna

Ingredients: (I used my 6.5 Quart for this)

12 (or so) Whole Wheat Lasagna Noodles

8 oz. Mushrooms, chopped

1/2 cup red onion, chopped

10 oz. frozen leaf spinach, thawed and squeezed out (You can use fresh)

10 oz. Ricotta Cheese

1 lb. ground turkey

1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

Alfredo Sauce (See recipe below)

Alfredo Sauce: (Here is a link to the original recipe on AllRecipes.com)

1 cup butter

2 8oz. packages of cream cheese

4 tsp. garlic powder

4 cups milk

12 oz. grated parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp. black pepper

Directions:

Start out by making your alfredo sauce.  If you don't have time, have 2 jars of Alfredo Sauce ready to go.  To make your alfredo, start with meliting your butter over medium heat.  Once melted, add your cream cheese.

When it's melted, whisk in the garlic powder.

Add in the pepper, Paremesan and whisk.

Add the milk little by little and keep whisking.

Done :)  Great job!

In a pan, brown your ground turkey with a little salt and pepper.

In another pan, brown your onions and mushrooms until your onions are translucent.

Spray your crock with non-stick spray!!!!

In the bottom of your crock, pour about 1/2 cup of your alfredo sauce.

 Cover the bottom of your crock with lasagna noodles.  I used about 4, but break them to fit your crock.

Spread half of your ricotta on your noodles.  I found it easiest to place some dollops around and then spread it with the back of a spoon.

 Spread half of the onion and mushroom mixture over the top 

and half of the onion and mushroom mixture.

Spread half of your ground turkey over the top.

Pour about 1 cup of your alfredo sauce over that.

Repeat this process for one more layer.

Top with a final layer of lasagna noodles, about 1/2 cup of your alfredo sauce and the shredded parmesan cheese.

Cook on LOW for 6-7 hours or on HIGH for 3-3.5 hours.

Enjoy!

Spaghetti Sauce with Giant Meatballs - Red Gold Tomatoes Review/Giveaway!

I've had some ground sausage in my freezer for a while now.  It was right on top, staring at me when I went into my deep freeze the other day.  So, I took that as a sign, and I put it in the fridge to defrost.  Coincidentally, a couple days letter, I got a very special delivery from Red Gold Tomatoes!  I knew the two were meant to go together!

I wanted to "beef" up my sausage, so I grabbed a small package of ground beef I had in the freezer, defrosted it and got to making meatballs!  Not just ANY meatballs mind you, GIANT meatballs!  Now, this is partially because I thought they would be cool, but also because I did not have the time to stand at the counter, roll a bunch of meatballs and then stand at the stove and brown all those meatballs.  Nope!  This was quick and easy and you don't have to worry about those meatballs being under-cooked because they will simmer away in your spaghetti sauce all day!

This was absolutely delicious!  My husband couldn't stop telling me how good it was!  That's ALWAYS a good sign!  My daughter usually picks around all the meat in her spaghetti sauce, but ate some of the meatballs with enthusiasm!!!!  SCORE!!!!

Now, on to my Red Gold Tomatoes!!!!  I was sent a variety pack of 6 different Red Gold Tomato products.  For this recipe, I chose to use the Red Gold Tomato Sauce, Red Gold Crushed Tomatoes and Red Gold Stewed Tomatoes.  It was a trio made in heaven!  They turned into an absolutely delicious spaghetti sauce!  I've cooked with Red Gold tomatoes many times before, and I have never been disappointed.  They have always been fresh and flavorful tomato products!

On Red Gold's website, you can find recipes along with an easy meal planner.  You can also join Red Gold on Facebook by clicking here!  Now, Red Gold has agreed to give one of YOU a variety pack just like they sent me!!!!  Yay!!!  To enter, you must follow the directions below on Rafflecopter.  

Spaghetti Sauce with GIANT Meatballs

Ingredients: (Serves 6-8)

1 lb. mild sausage

3/4 lb. ground beef

1/4 cup Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs

1 pkg. onion soup mix

1 egg

1 15oz. can Red Gold Tomato Sauce

1 14.5oz. can Red Gold Stewed Tomatoes

1 15oz. can Red Gold Crushed Tomatoes

4 cups water

4 Tbsp. Garlic Powder (oh yeah, and it's SOOOO good!)

2 Tbsp. Minced Onion (I used Tastefully Simple Onion Onion)

1.5 Tbsp. Onion Powder

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. basil

Directions:

In a bowl, place the ground sausauge, ground beef, Bread crumbs, onion soup mix and egg.

Mix it all together.

Form your mixture into 2-3" meatballs to make GIANT meatballs!

Place them in a frying pan.

You're going to want to brown all sides.  They do not have to be cooked all the way through.

They will look like this when browned.

While they are cooking, it's time to work on your sauce.

Get your Red Gold Tomatoes ready and pour them into your crock!

Add all the garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, salt, oregano, basil and minced onion.

Your meatballs should be about done by now, so add those on top.

Pour about 4 cups of water on top of that.

Cook on LOW for 8-10 hours or on HIGH for 4-5 hours.

Serve over your favorite pasta!

Enjoy!

*This giveaway is open to US Residents Only.  Once contacted, the winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.  Best of luck to you!

*All opinions expressed here are entirely my own.  I was given some Red Gold Product in exchange for my review and honest opinion.  The recipe above was created by me and is soley mine.



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Pasta alla Carbonara

Thank you to Michelle, one of our facebook fans, for suggesting I make this!  WOW!  Was this ever TASTY!!!  I've never had Carbonara before, but I did see Rachel Ray make it on her show once and thought, boy would that be good!  AND IT WAS!!!!

Warning:  This is NOT low fat!  LOL  I repeat, this is NOT low fat!  Ok, that is my disclaimer!

So, you know how cooking bacon on the stove makes a HORRIBLE, TERRIBLE, NO-GOOD mess????  Well, cooking bacon in the Slow Cooker is NOT! ;)  YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!  That's the first good reason you should try this in the Slow Cooker!  This also makes your house smell AMAZING!  No burnt bacon smell here folks!  Even my 3 year old kept telling me how good this smelled!

This was really very simple to make.  I was a little unsure when I started this if it would work out, but it actually did!  YAY!!  I'm so happy!  I'm going to get right to the recipe below so you can hurry to the grocery store to get whatever you don't have!

Pasta all Carbonara

Ingredients:

1 pkg. thick-cut bacon, sliced into bite-sized pieces

1 chicken bouillon cube

1 tsp. (or less) crushed red pepper flakes

2 tsp. (or more) garlic powder (or use a few cloves of fresh garlic.  I can't eat it, so we don't use them)

2 egg yolks

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 lb. rotini pasta (or any other kind of pasta you like), cooked with 1 Tbsp. salt

1/4 cup of pasta water (the water you cooked the pasta in)

1/2 cup (or so) flat leaf parsley, chopped

Directions:

Place your cut-up bacon in the bottom of your slow cooker.

(Try and separate it as much as you can so the pieces are not all completely stuck together)

Cook on LOW for 7-9 hours.

The last 1/2 hr-45 minutes of cooking, turn your Slow Cooker up to HIGH and add your bouillon cube, garlic powder and crushed red pepper flakes.  Give it a stir.

Boil your water and salt and cook your pasta according to the package instructions.

When your pasta is done, reserve your 1/4 cup of water.

In a bowl, mix together the egg yolks, pepper and Parmesan cheese.

Next, whisk in the 1/4 cup pasta water to temper your egg yolks.

 Now, pour your pasta into the slow cooker, pour the egg/parmesan mixture over the top and toss in the parsley.  

Mix all together and Voila!!!!!

I hope you enjoy this!