Our Valentine's Day Meal

We didn't go out to a fancy Italian restuarant or any restuarant for that matter. We decided to stay in this Valentine's, so I made us dinner. It turned out amazing thanks to wonderful recipes I found online (and that my friend suggested). Here are the recipes for our amazing dinner! They are super simple and sometimes simple is the best! The hubby loved loved loved the dinner so that is always a plus!

Beer Bread

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour (sifted)
• 3 teaspoons baking powder (omit if using Self-Rising Flour)
• 1 teaspoon salt (omit if using Self-Rising Flour)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 (12 ounce) can beer
• 1/2 cup melted butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Mix dry ingredients and beer.
3. Pour into a greased loaf pan.
4. Pour melted butter over mixture.
5. Bake 1 hour, remove from pan and cool for at least 15 minutes.

Crock Pot Roast

Ingredients:

• 1 beef roast, any kind
• 1 (1 1/4 ounce) package brown gravy mix, dry
• 1 (1 1/4 ounce) package dried Italian salad dressing mix
• 1 (1 1/4 ounce) package ranch dressing mix, dry
• 1/2 cup water

Directions:

1. Place beef roast in crock pot.
2. Mix the dried mixes together in a bowl and sprinkle over the roast.
3. Pour the water around the roast.
4. Cook on low for 7-9 hours.

For dessert I made these M & M bars and although they're good, they're not as good as the reviews said they were. I was a bit disappointed with them but the hubby said they were yummo! I prob won't make these again (look for the carmel bar recipe so much better)

M & M Dream Bars

Ingredients:

• 2 cups oatmeal
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup coconut
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup melted butter
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (NOT evaporated milk)
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup M&Ms
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Combine oatmeal, brown sugar, flour, coconut, baking soda, and salt; add melted butter and stir until moist (the mixture will be crumbly). Reserve 1 1/2 cups and press remaining crumbs into a greased 13X9-inch baking pan (I line the pan with non-stick foil.).

2. Bake 12 minutes at 375°F.

3. Combine milk and peanut butter; carefully spread over baked crust. Sprinkle on M&M's and chocolate chips. Sprinkle reserved crumbs over chocolate pieces and lightly press crumbs down.

4. Bake 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool completely before cutting.

Green Chile Burritos a La Crockpot

Ok, so I have been totally slacking on keeping this blog updated! I can't even remember some of the recipes I've tried since the last time I posted. Bad I know! Ok so this is one I got from my friend Jennifer. Its also on Recipezaar if you'd like to rate :).

Ingredients

2 lbs beef roast
1 cup beef bouillon (1 cup water, 1 bouillon cube)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (8 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
1 (7 ounce) can diced green chilies
1 (7 ounce) can green chili salsa
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
salt & pepper, to taste
1/4 cup cornstarch
8 large flour tortillas

Directions

1. Place roast in slow cooker with bouillon. Cook on low at least 10 hours, until meat shreds easily with fork.

2. Reserve broth. Shred meat into 3 quart saucepan.

3. Add broth, onion, tomatoes, chiles, and salsa.

4. Add oregano, garlic, salt and pepper. Thicken with cornstarch mixed with a bit of broth.

5. Bring to boil and heat through, until onion is translucent.

6. Put mixture in center of warmed tortilla and fold.

I fold this recipe almost exactly, but I left the onions out because I forgot to cut them...it was still good without them though LOL. Yes, I do eat onions as long as they're cut in the food but I totally forgot about it.

Oven Tri Tip With Rosemary-Garlic Vegetables

Ok so I didn't make this but I definitely did eat it! We had dinner at a friends house and this is what she served!

Oven Tri Tip With Rosemary-Garlic Vegetables

Ingredients

2 lbs tri-tip roast
1-2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
12 red potatoes, halved
2 red bell peppers or yellow bell peppers or green bell peppers, each cut into 8 wedges
2 sweet onions, cut into 1 inch wedges

Directions

1 Combine rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper to form a paste.

2 Spread half of herb paste evenly over roast.

3 Add olive oil to remaining paste; place vegetables in large bowl; pour herb-oil over vegetables, stirring to coat.

4 Place roast, fat side up, on rack in open roasting pan; Arrange vegetables around roast (DON'T add water or cover).

5 Roast at 425°F for 35 to 40 minutes for rare to medium; Remove roast and peppers to warm platter, allow to stand 10 minutes.

6 Meanwhile increase oven temperature to 475°F and continue cooking potatoes and onions 10 minutes or until tender and lightly browned: add potatoes and onions to meat platter, carve roast against grain and serve with vegetables.

Another of our favorites

Crock Pot Burritos

They seriously super yummy! I absolutely loved them when we made them last week!

2 1/2-3 lb. roast
1 small oninion, chopped
1 small green pepper, chopped
1 can of green chilies
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 can of diced tomatoes

add all six ingredients to crockpot and cook for 8 hrs. Then pull out and shred with two forks in bowl, add veggies, and enough broth from crockpot to moisten meat. Serve with burrito size flour tortillas and toppings of your choice (cheese, sour cream, lettuce, tomatoe, etc.)

PULLED-BEEF SANDWICHES

PULLED-BEEF SANDWICHES

• 1 LARGE ONION, CHOPPED (1 CUP)
• 1 CUP BARBCUE SAUCE
• 1/2 CUP FRENCH DRESSING
• 1/2 CUP CONDENSED BEEF BROTH
• 1 BONELESS BEEF CHUCK ROAST (3 1/2 TO 4 LBS.)
• 12 BURGER BUNS, SPLIT

1. SPRAY 3 TO 4 QUART SLOW COOKER WITH COOKING SPRAY. MIX ONION, BARBECUE SAUCE, DRESSING, AND BROTH IN SLOW COOKER. ADD BEEF; STIR TO COAT
2. COVER; COOK ON LOW HEAT SETTING 8 TO 10 HOURS.
3. REMOVE BEEF FROM SLOW COOKER; SKIM FAT FROM SAUCE. SHRED BEEF WITH 2 FORKS; STIR BEEF BACK INTO SAUCE. USING SLOTTED SPOON, PLACE 1/2 CUP BEEF MIXTURE ONTO BOTTOM OF EACH BUN. COVER WITH TOPS OF BUN

These turned out really well but it does make way more than enough for two people. I ended up freezing some of it so it didn't go to waste and so we didn't get tired of eating it!