just kari

A co-worker recently shared this amazingly EASY recipe with me and I decided to test it out this weekend.  The word "easy" doesn't even begin to do this recipe justice.  It's effortless, painless, uncomplicated...you get the idea!  (btw, I just inserted the word easy into Word for laughs and those are the words I came up with...I thought they were more dramatic) What You Need: Roast - I used a chuck roast that I got from my dad (he owns cattle so I'm kinda spoiled with my meat!) That kinda sounded dirty...get your minds out of the gutter and back to the kitchen! 1 Can of Root Beer (I used diet) 1 Bottle of BBQ What You Do: 1.  Place roast in crock pot and pour can of root beer on top.  Note - it will not cover the roast. 2.  Cook on low for about 8-10 hours until roast falls apart. 3.  Drain and shred. 4.  Pour BBQ on top and stir to fully coat meat with sauce. I made mine into sandwiches but you could do so much ...

With the weather starting to cool off, it's time to start adding soup to my weekly menu.  I have to be honest, my heart skipped a beat when I found this recipe!!   What You Need: 2 T. Olive Oil 1 1/2 lbs. Italian Sausage 3 C. Chopped Onions 4 Garlic Cloves, minced 2 tsp. Dried Oregano 1/2 tsp. Crushed Red Pepper Flakes 2 T. Tomato Paste 1 28-oz. Can Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes 2 Bay Leaves 6 C. Chicken Stock 8 oz. Lasagna Noodles, broken into bite sized pieces 1/2 C. Finely Chopped Fresh Basil Leaves Salt and Pepper 8 oz. Ricotta Cheese 1/2 C. Grated Parmesan Cheese 2 C. Mozzarella Cheese What You Do: 1.  Heat olive oil in large pot over medium heat.  Add sausage, breaking into bite sized pieces, and brown for about 5 minutes.  Add onions and cook until softened, about 6 minutes.  Add garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes.  Cook for 1 minute.  Add tomato paste and stir well.  Cook for 3-4 minute...

I had some bananas that I needed to use up so I decided to make some muffins this weekend.  (Random Fact About Me: Banana peels gross me out!). Also, I may have thrown in a chocolate chip or two that the original recipe didn't call for!! What You Need: Muffins 1 1/2 C. All-Purpose Flour 1 tsp. Baking Soda 1 tsp. Baking Powder 1/2 tsp. Salt 3 Bananas, mashed 3/4 C. White Sugar 1 Egg, lightly beaten 1/3 C. Butter, melted Topping 1/3 C. Packed Brown Sugar 2 T. All-Purpose Flour 1/8 tsp. Ground Cinnamon 1 T. Butter What You Do: 1. Preheat oven to 375° F.  Lightly grease 12 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers. 2. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups of flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg, and melted butter.  Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened.  Spoon batter into muffin cups. 3. For the topping - I...

Today, for my "recipe", I'm cheating.  That is ok, right?  Right!  I came across this Betty Crocker Cinnamon Toast Crunch muffin mix during my last grocery shopping trip at Uptown Grocery  - my new favorite grocery store!  If you're local, you should definitely check it out!  I had good intentions of getting up yesterday morning and making them...HOWEVER, I slept in, realized I forgot to soak my beans overnight for my ham and beans, had to do a "quick soak" which required the use of my favorite favorite favorite Pampered Chef Classic Batter Bowl because it can measure up to 8 cups, washed the batter bowl after using it, put it in my dish drain (ever so carefully balancing it on a towel over a dish drain already full of dishes...don't we all do this??), walk out of the kitchen, and hear glass shatter...EVERYWHERE!!!  Then 2 seconds later, I hear another shatter - which was a vase that I had just washed!  Do you sense my frustration?!...

By the time I get off work, get home, workout, and clean up the house - I love a good, easy recipe for dinner!  And this is one of those recipes!!  It took about 10 minutes to prepare and it was in the oven.  And 45 minutes later, it was on the table!  I guess it also helps that it was YUM-O (thank you Rachel Ray for that word and EVOO) What You Need: 2 T Olive Oil 2 Cloves Garlic, minced 4-6 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast 2 C Marinara Sauce (I used the whole jar!) 1/4 C Chopped Basil (original recipe called for fresh - I used dried) 8 oz. Shredded Mozzarella Cheese 4 oz. Grated or Shredded Parmesan Cheese 1 5oz. Package Garlic Croutons What You Do: 1. In a 9x13 baking dish, spread olive oil and garlic evenly over the bottom.  Lay chicken breast on top. 2. Pour marinara sauce over the chicken breasts and then sprinkle with basil. 3, Sprinkle half of the mozzarella cheese over the marinara sauce.  Layer crout...

I got this recipe from a friend of mine I used to work with and all she called it was Meat and Rice.  I thought it needed a fancier name when I put it on my blog but I like the simplicity of the name she gave it :) I made it the first time last week and it made A LOT!!  I was able to make 2 meals out of it.  The first night, I made it just like the recipe says.  The second night, I added some alfredo sauce and some more garlic.  Enjoy! Meat and Rice 1 lb. ground meat - you can also use ground turkey 1 smoked sausage - diced (I used a hot link to give it some more spice) 1 medium bell pepper - diced 1/2 medium onion - diced 1 can diced tomatoes 1 1/2 C. Minute rice 2 C. water 1 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. pepper 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning Brown meat and cook sausage - set aside and keep warm. In the same skillet as meat was cooked, boil water, canned tomatoes, seasonings, onions and bell pepper.  Simmer until tender. ...

We had our summer neighborhood BBQ this past Sunday so I decided to try out a recipe I got from a friend.  These were so easy!  The hardest thing about this recipe was finding caramel...who would've thought??  David and I went to 4 stores before finding individually packaged caramels!  BUT it was definitely worth it :) For Crust 1lb. salted butter - room temp 1 C. sugar 1 1/4 C. powdered sugar 2 T. vanilla 4 C. all-purpose flour For Filling 1 bag 14 oz. caramel candies - unwrapped 1/3 C. milk or cream 1/2 tsp. vanilla 1 T. course sea salt  Crust 1. Preheat oven to 325°.  Combine butter and sugars in large bowl.   2. Mix on medium speed until creamy.  Add vanilla and combine.  3. Sift the flour into butter mixture and beat on low speed until smooth, soft dough forms. 4. Spray 9x13 baking pan with cooking spray.  Press 1/3 of the dough into pan evenly to form bottom crust. 5. Bake until firm and...