A Recipe for Barbecue Lamb Sliders with Cucumber Topping … And a Giveaway for a Breville 7-Quart Slow Cooker {GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED}

As promised, as a follow up to  my recent post about the lamb dinner I hosted in my kitchen last week, I’m sharing a recipe I created for Barbecue Lamb Sliders. I developed this family-friendly, super-easy recipe for LeanonLamb.com, and I’m happy to report that my daughter, Leah, is a huge fan. The sliders were also a hit with my lamb dinner foodie friends, and it’s a recipe I know I’ll make again and again.

Barbecue Lamb Sliders via MealMakeoverMoms.com/kitchen

Traditional coleslaw would be a great side dish … or you can try our Carrot Kohlrabi Slaw once kohlrabi is in season.

Barbecue Lamb Sliders with Cucumber Topping

Makes 10 Servings 

I love my slow cooker when I’m cooking for a crowd. The reason: the prep work is done ahead of time which means I can spend more time with friends. This super-simple recipe provides a great source of protein and immune-boosting vitamin A thanks to the whole grain slider buns, fresh and flavorful cucumber topping, and the lamb, of course.

  • 2¼ pounds boneless leg of lamb, trimmed of fat
  • 1 medium onion, cut in 1/4-inch pieces
  • 1 cup all-natural barbecue sauce
  • 1 large carrot, peeled and shredded on the large holes of a box grater (1 cup)
  • 1 cup pitted prunes
  • 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 large English cucumber (12 ounces), seeded and cut into 1/4-inch dice (about 2 cups)
  • 1/2 cup 0%-fat plain Greek yogurt
  • 1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 20 whole wheat slider buns, lightly toasted

1. Add the lamb, onion, barbecue sauce, carrot, prunes, vinegar, and salt to a 5- or 6-quart slow cooker, and stir to combine. Cover and cook on low until the lamb is tender, 7 hours.

2. For the topping, combine the cucumber, yogurt, dill, and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl, and set aside in the refrigerator.

3. When the meat is done, use two forks to pull the mixture into shredded pieces. You can do this right in the slow cooker crock. Divide the lamb evenly between the slider buns and serve with cucumber topping.

Nutrition Information per Serving (2 sliders):  490 calories, 17 g fat (5g saturated), 590mg sodium, 56g carbohydrate, 3g fiber, 31g protein, 30% vitamin A, 10% vitamin C, 10% calcium, 25% iron

Print Recipe

GIVEAWAY NEWS: Thanks to my friends at the Tri-Lamb Group, we’re giving away a Breville 7-quart slow cooker with EasySear Insert ($130.00 value) to ONE lucky winner. Our winner will also receive a jar of Penzeys Lamb Seasoning and an oh-so-handy meat thermometer.

brevilleslowcooker

TO ENTER: Leave a comment here or on Facebook and tell us about your favorite way to prepare or eat lamb. Recipes please!

We will enter you into the giveaway additional times if you …

> Tweet about the giveaway with a link back to this post.
> Share the giveaway news with your Facebook fans and friends with a link back to the post.
> Follow us on Pinterest.
> Follow The Meal Makeover Moms on Twitter (@MealMakeovrMoms)

Please be sure to leave us a new comment every time you do something extra, and GOOD LUCK. The giveaway ends on May 17th at noon, and as always we’ll use Random.org to pick our winner. Good luck!

Disclosure: Janice was compensated for recipe development and media work by the Tri-Lamb Group

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196 Comments | Filed Under Dinner, Giveaways, Lamb, Lunch, New, Sides, SlowCooker 

Tips for Saving Money at the Grocery Store … And a Recipe for Rainbow Veggie Coleslaw

A few weeks ago, I received an email from a producer at NECN, a TV station here in the Boston area. The station runs a segment called, Money Saving Mondays, and they asked me to help with a piece on saving money at the supermarket. What followed was an afternoon shoot at my house featuring the following cost-cutting tips: (1) Cook in the Slow Cooker, (2) Choose Inexpensive Cuts of Meat, (3) Pack Lunch vs. Going Out to Eat, (4) Go Meatless at Least Once a Week, and (5) Drink Tap Water vs. Buying Bottled. I also created a new recipe for homemade coleslaw to go with the slow cooker Pulled Pork Primavera Sandwiches showcased in the segment.

Why buy prepared coleslaw when you can make it yourself with better-for-you ingredients …

I just discovered this colorful coleslaw mix from Mann’s. I adore the addition of tiny broccoli florets. How cute. Read on for my new coleslaw recipe … and click here to watch the NECN segment on saving $ at the supermarket.

Making family meals in the slow cooker or Ninja saves big because I’m able to cook A LOT of food all at once. For example, with our Pulled Pork Primavera Sandwiches, I make sandwiches one night, quesadillas filled with pulled pork, corn kernels, sauteed diced bell pepper, low-fat shredded cheese, and BBQ sauce the next, and I date and freeze anything that is left over.

Rainbow Veggie Coleslaw

Makes 6 Servings

This is an easy veggie side dish for sandwiches, grilled anything, or fish tacos.

  • 1/4 cup 2%-fat plain Greek yogurt
  • 3 tablespoons low-fat canola mayonnaise
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon honey mustard
  • One 12-ounce bag rainbow salad (I used Mann’s)
  • 1/4 cup dried cranberries
  • 2 tablespoons roasted & salted pumpkin seeds
  • Kosher salt
  • Black pepper

1. Place the yogurt, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and honey mustard in a large bowl and whisk until well combined. Add the veggie mix, cranberries, and pumpkin seeds and stir well until evenly coated with the yogurt mixture.

2. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Nutrition Information per Serving (about 3/4 cup): 70 calories, 2.5g fat (0g saturated, 0.2g omega-3), 140mg sodium, 10g carbohydrate, 2g fiber, 2g protein, 45% vitamin A, 50% vitamin C

Print Recipe

Lesley Gaydos, reporter extraordinaire from NECN and mom of three, happily taste tested my pulled pork, quesadillas, and salmon salad. And so did her crew :)

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Comment | Filed Under Pork, Sides, SlowCooker, Vegetables 

A Recipe for Hearty Skillet Lasagna, an Update on Janice’s Kitchen Makeover, AND … We’re Giving Away a Ninja Cooking System (Podcast #201) {Giveaway CLOSED}

This summer, Liz received a complimentary new appliance called the Ninja Cooking System, and she was asked by the manufacturer — Euro-Pro — to give it a try. What followed was a month-long cooking frenzy; Liz made Hearty Skillet Lasagna, Salmon with Arugula & Sun-Dried Tomato Couscous, Lemon Chicken with Rosemary, Classic Braised Beef Brisket, Tofu Shitake & Red Pepper Stir-Fry, and even Mini Strawberry Shortcakes … all in ONE cooking device. We dish all about it on this week’s Cooking with the Moms podcast … and offer an AMAZING giveaway for a Ninja!!

Cooking in the Ninja is fast and nutritious, and cleanup is super easy. Liz is gaga over the Ninja because it can do four things in one pot: One-Pot Meal Making, Slow Cooking, Steam Roasting, and Steam Baking. In this photo, Liz is about to add petite peas to a steam-roasted beef brisket … and she’s just topped mini cupcakes with a wee bit of whipped cream and some thinly sliced strawberries.

The folks over at Ninja asked Liz if she’d provide a testimonial for their new infomercial, and she said, “yes.” So if you see Liz on TV this fall, don’t be surprised. By the way, if you know Stephanie O’Dea from A Year of Slow Cooking, she was one of the hosts of the infomercial. Adorable!

Top the Hearty Skillet Lasagna with fresh, chopped basil for even more flavor.

Hearty Skillet Lasagna

Makes 6 Servings

This is a pretty flexible recipe. You can add just about any veggie your family loves … things like a peeled and shredded carrot, a diced onion, and a finely diced zucchini. Liz has made it a few times  and usually leaves the ricotta out (it’s not a fave with her kids), but she definitely gets creative with the veggies!

  • 1 pound lean ground beef (90% lean or higher)
  • 10 uncooked lasagna noodles broken into 2-inch pieces
  • One 24-ounce jar pasta sauce
  • 1½ cups water
  • One 6-ounce bag baby spinach
  • 1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
  • 1/2 cup light ricotta cheese
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Place the beef into the pot. Set to Stovetop High. Cook uncovered for 10 minutes or until the beef is browned, stirring often. If you’re using carrots, zucchini, etc, add them along with the beef.

2. Arrange the noodles pieces over the beef. Pour the sauce and water over the noodles. Set to Stovetop Medium. Cover and cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until the noodles are tender. Turn off the pot.

3. Stir in the spinach and watch it wilt. Stir the cheeses into the pasta mixture. Cover and let stand until the cheeses melt.

 

 GIVEAWAY NEWS: We’re giving away a Ninja Cooking System to ONE lucky winner. Our winner will receive the new Ninja appliance PLUS a bunch of other goodies including a roasting rack, multipurpose roasting pan, silicone trivet, silicone mitt set, and a recipe book with 150 Ninja recipes. Total value is $360.00. WOW!!

TO ENTER: Leave a comment here or on Facebook and tell us why you’d like to win the Ninja … or share your favorite slow cooker recipe with us. (U.S. only please.) We will enter you into the giveaway additional times if you …

> Subscribe to our RSS feed.
> Tweet about the giveaway with a link back to this post.
> Share the giveaway news with your Facebook fans and friends with a link back to the post.
> Follow us on Pinterest.
> Follow The Meal Makeover Moms on Twitter (@MealMakeovrMoms)

Please be sure to leave us a new comment every time you do something extra, and GOOD LUCK. The giveaway ends on October 12 at noon, and as always we’ll use Random.org to pick our winner.

Meanwhile, Janice talked a lot about her kitchen renovation on this week’s show. She even shot a video to show you how the new kitchen is shaping up … (Cleansing breath, Janice.)

Read on for more highlights from Janice’s Extreme Kitchen Makeover.

In the beginning there was a hole in the ground … then the builders poured the concrete foundation … then they framed the walls … and then they installed the windows and doors. Janice and Don are on their way to a dream kitchen, so stay tuned for much more to come.

Janice has managed to cook some decent meals in the front porch on her trusty hot plate. Some of Leah’s favorites have been Last-Minute Black Bean Soup from The Moms’ Guide to Meal Makeovers and Quick Apple Sausage Quesadillas from No Whine with Dinner. But the best meals have been those enjoyed at friends’ houses. Janice and Don long to have a pretty table like Mary’s when she had them over for a dinner of grilled pork tenderloin, rice pilaf, and green beans.

That’s what we’ve been up to lately. What about you? And don’t forget to tell us why you want to win the Ninja!

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327 Comments | Filed Under Beef, Dinner, Giveaways, Kitchen Makeover, Pasta, Podcast, SlowCooker 

Magic Meatloaf and a Conversation with a Local Beef & Dairy Farmer

lucinda-with-cow-farm-june-09Lucinda Williams is a mother of four children, ages 14 to 23, and a Massachusetts beef and dairy farmer. Together with her husband Darryl, they run the Luther Belden Farm in Hatfield, MA. This is no ordinary farm. It’s been in her husband’s family since 1661, and her children are the 13th generation to work the land. Today, they milk 100 cows twice a day, keep a herd of 200, and grow hay, corn and alfalfa to feed their livestock.

 In a recent conversation with folks at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (one of our former blog sponsors), we were surprised to learn that 97% of beef cattle farms are family farms. We caught up with Lucinda (who is also Chair of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board) to hear more about that and to get her family’s favorite recipe from the ranch.

Q: We often hear about the decline of the family farm. What changes have you seen since you first started farming in terms of new challenges and the increased emphasis on the environment and sustainability?

A: The family farm is alive and well. We strive to provide safe, high-quality beef for consumers at an affordable price while sustaining and improving resources under our care. Beef production methods have evolved over the years to achieve this goal, resulting in new management protocols and technologies that help producers meet consumer demand.

lucindawilliamsfamily

Q: Do your children help out on the farm? If so, what do they like to do?

A: Absolutely!  During the school year, our kids are busy with sports, music, and drama, as well as church and community activities, so their available hours to help on the farm are somewhat limited.  Nevertheless, they still have daily chores such as feeding the calves and additional weekend work as needed.  This summer, we milked our cows three times a day — 4:00am, noon, and 8:00pm and all of us helped out.  This summer, our 21-year old son, Jackson, worked on the farm mowing, raking, baling hay, tending to the cows, fixing fences, and the myriad other jobs that go along with running a dairy farm.

Q: What’s your family’s favorite recipe?

Magic Meatloaf (from the kitchen of Lucinda Williams)

It cooks like magic in the slow cooker and disappears like magic, too! I use a 6-quart slow cooker.

  • 3 pounds lean ground beef
  • 1 ½ cups quick-cooking oats
  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  • 1 cup barbeque sauce
  • 1 tablespoon dried minced onion
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 cup shredded lowfat Cabot cheddar cheese

1. In a large bowl, mix together the ground beef, oats, eggs, barbeque sauce, minced onion, and Worcestershire sauce.  Mix until all the ingredients are combined.

2. Fold a sheet of aluminum foil in half and place in the bottom of your slow cooker (allow the foil to extend up the sides of the slow cooker). Spray the foil and the exposed bottom of the slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.

3. Form half of the meat mixture into an oval or rectangle and place on top of the foil (leave half an inch to an inch of space between the meatloaf the sides of the slow cooker).  Sprinkle the cheese over the meat. Add the rest of the meatloaf mixture on top of the cheese. Seal the “seam” by pinching the mixture with your fingers.  Cook on low 4 to 5 hours.

4. Remove the meat from the cooker by carefully pulling up the sides of the aluminum foil. Transfer the meatloaf to a plate or platter. Slice and serve.

We agree with Lucinda that this recipe disappears like magic! Liz made it the other day (she cut the recipe in half and it worked great), and it was a big hit with the kids. The half recipe yielded about 8 servings.  Post your favorite meatloaf recipe here!

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5 Comments | Filed Under Beef, Dinner, SlowCooker 

Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken & Crock-Pot Winner

After reading the 200-plus blog comments for our Crock-Pot giveaway, it’s clear busy families rely on the slow cooker to get fast meals on the table night after night.  We can’t thank you enough for sharing your favorite Crock-Pot dinners (and desserts)!  Some of the recipes that caught our Meal Makeover Mom eyes were Cathy’s Slow Cooker London Broil, Tamara’s Feta and Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breasts, and Kelli’s Slow Cooker Molten Chocolate Lava Cake.

This weekend, Liz made a recipe for Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken, inspired by Kathleen from Dinner Together.  She served it over chow mein noodles with baby corn on the side (one 15-ounce can drained and then heated in the microwave). Wow. Talk about flavor!

Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken (Inspired by Kathleen at Dinner Together)
Makes 4 Servings

This is one of my family’s all-time favorite meals. You can also assemble and freeze the ingredients ahead of time and then defrost and dump everything into the Crock-Pot when you’re ready to cook.

  • 1/3 cup lite soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons sherry wine
  • 1 ½ tablespoons cider vinegar
  • 1 ½ tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 ½ tablespoons minced fresh or jarred ginger (or 1 teaspoon ginger powder)
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 1 1/3 pounds)
  • 1 large carrot, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch

1. In a bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, sherry wine, vinegar, brown sugar, ginger, and garlic. 

2. Place the chicken, carrots, and sauce in the bowl of your slow cooker and stir together until the chicken and carrots are coated (Liz used her 6 quart Crock-Pot).

3.  Cook on low for 4 hours (Kathleen calls for cooking 6 to 8 hours).  When done, whisk the cornstarch with 1 tablespoon cold water until the cornstarch dissolves. Gently stir the cornstarch mixture into the chicken mixture. This will thicken the sauce slightly. Serve over noodles or rice.

Now for the winner of our 6.5 programmable Crock-Pot (the drum roll please…..). The winner is Stacy Kerr, a Facebook Fan from Murrieta, CA. In Stacy’s post, she told us she could use a new slow cooker. Apparently, the one she uses each week has a broken foot and is currently being held up with a wine cork!  Congratulations Stacy.

Keep your slow cooker ideas coming. We love hearing from you.

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12 Comments | Filed Under Dinner, Giveaways, Poultry, SlowCooker 

Crock-Pot Giveaway

Raise your hand if you got a slow cooker as a wedding gift. Was it avocado green (ooh, we’re dating ourselves) or one of the newer, stainless steel designs? Slow cookers have been around since the early 1970s, and if you’re like us, it’s the go-to kitchen appliance when you’re craving “easy” for dinner.

crock-pot-programmable-slow-cooker

When summer ends and schedules get super busy again — you know the drill … carpools, after-school activities, homework — it’s the perfect time to dust off your slow cooker.  But what if you don’t own one or you’re looking for an upgrade to your avocado green model? Today is your lucky day, because the folks at Crock-Pot have donated a 6.5-quart Programmable Slow Cooker with Touch Screen Technology for this month’s Meal Makeover Moms’ giveaway! We love the contemporary design and how the unit switches to WARM when the recipe is done.

To Enter our Crock-Pot Giveaway, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post sharing your family’s favorite slow cooker recipe and/or why you want to win the giveaway.

We Will Enter You into the Giveaway Multiple Times if you do any or all of the following (just be sure to leave us a new comment every time you do one of these things):

> Tweet about our giveaway on Twitter or tell your Facebook friends about it with a link back to this blog post.

> Listen to our weekly radio podcast, Cooking with the Moms, and then head over to iTunes to subscribe and post a review (you can click through to iTunes from our podcast page).

> Add one of our buttons/widgets to your blog or website. They are located in the upper left sidebar of our blog. We have three to choose from: Our blog post widget, our Recipe badge, and our Meal Makeover Moms’ Kitchen badge.

> Subscribe to Meal Makeover Moms’ Kitchen or sign up for our Meal Makeover Moms’ e-newsletter.

Our giveaway ends on Monday, October 5th at noon. As always, we’ll use Random.org to choose the winner. Good luck!

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225 Comments | Filed Under Giveaways, SlowCooker 

Recipe Rescue: Spinach Goo

When Barbie D., a mom of five from Scotch Plains, NJ, sent us her recipe for Spinach Goo and asked us to give it a healthy makeover, we couldn’t say no.  With a name like “goo,” we knew the recipe was sure to be rich and well, gooey.  Barbie told us that Spinach Goo (AKA Cheesy Spinach Casserole), is a favorite at family gatherings, but given the ingredients, she always felt a twinge of guilt when serving it.  “I originally got the recipe from my 90-year old mother, and for years, I’ve been serving it at parties as a side dish.  It’s been in the family for a long time,” Barbie said.

This family classic is made in the slow cooker so it’s oh-so easy.  The recipe calls for spinach, eggs, cottage cheese, half a stick of butter, 1 teaspoon of salt, and nearly half a pound of American cheese. When we crunched the numbers, we found that each small serving (it serves 12 as a side dish) has 180 calories — not bad — but 7 grams of saturated fat and nearly 800 milligrams of sodium … not so good.

Experts suggest eating no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day and no more than 20 grams of saturated fat. When you consider that half a cup of regular cottage cheese has over400 milligrams of sodium and that the butter and American cheese contributed about 6 grams of saturated fat to the dish, you can see why this recipe needed a rescue!

cheesy-spin-casserole-ingredients

For the fix, we switched from regular cottage cheese to a no-salted added, lowfat version. We also swapped reduced-fat Cheddar cheese for the American cheese and nixed the butter and salt all together. Admittedly, our makeover was a bit on the extreme side, so we added grated Parmesan cheese for a kick of flavor. The result is a healthy vegetable side dish with less than half the fat and sodium.

barbie-spinach-casserole-drain-spinach-400

Cheesy Spinach Casserole
Makes 12 Side Dish Servings (or 6 Main Dish Servings)

  • 3 large eggs, beaten
  • One 16-ounce container 1% lowfat, no salt added cottage cheese (2 cups)
  • One 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed very dry
  • 1 ½ cups shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese (6 ounces)
  • ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • ¼ cup all-purpose flour
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper

1. In a large bowl, stir together the eggs, cottage cheese, spinach, Cheddar cheese, Parmesan cheese, flour, and pepper until well combined.

2. Spray the bowl of your slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.  Add the spinach mixture, and use a spatula to smooth the top.

3. Cover and cook on low until set, 3 hours.

Nutrition Information per Serving: 120 calories, 5g fat (2.5g saturated), 340mg sodium, 6g carbohydrate, 1g fiber, 13g protein, 120% vitamin A, 25% calcium

barbie-spinach-casserole-ingr-in-bowl

Overall, Barbie was happy with the new recipe. While clearly the dish was less salty and not nearly as rich, she said she was “pleasantly surprised” as was her husband. “I think I could pass this off at the next party!” Barbie suggested adding a pinch of nutmeg next time for added flavor. We agree and also think this dish would be great as a vegetarian main dish.

Check out our Flickr page for more photos of the Cheesy Spinach Casserole.  Let us know if you try this recipe and be sure to post your comments right here to our blog.

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8 Comments | Filed Under Dinner, RecipeRescue, SlowCooker, Vegetarian 

Healthy Comfort Food and a Recipe for Slow Cooked Barbecue Beef (Podcast #44)

Comfort food can be notoriously high in fat, calories, and sodium and rather ho-hum when it comes to good nutrition.  The result:  All those stick-to-your-ribs bites end up sticking to your waistline. That’s why on this week’s Cooking with the Moms podcast, we add a healthy, kid-friendly twist to comfort food. Our first recipe is for Chicken & Broccoli Casserole with Crunchy Almond Topping. We actually featured this recipe on a February 7 blog post as part of our ongoing Recipe Rescue series.  The second recipe we dish about in the show is a new one for Slow Cooked Barbecue Beef.  Talk about easy, delicious, nutritious, and economical — it costs just $1.50 per serving.  The lean beef and the prunes contribute iron and each serving has a respectable 4 grams of fiber.

Slow Cooked Barbecue Beef

Makes 10 Servings

This recipe can be found in our second cookbook, No Whine with Dinner.

  • 2 pounds lean stew meat, trimmed of fat
  • 1 medium onion, cut into 1/2-inch dice (about 1½)
  • 1 cup pitted prunes
  • 1 cup barbecue sauce
  • 10 whole wheat hamburger buns, lightly toasted

1. Add the meat, onion, prunes, and barbecue sauce to a 5- or 6-quart slow cooker and stir to combine.  Cover and cook on low until the meat is tender, 6 to 8 hours.

2. When the meat is done, use two forks to pull the meat and prunes into shredded pieces (there’s no need to take the meat out; you can do this right in the slow cooker). Divide the mixture evenly between the hamburger buns and serve.

Nutrition Information per Serving (1 bun and 1/2-cup filling):  330 calories, 8g fat (2.5g saturated), 510mg sodium, 43g carbohydrate, 4g fiber, 22g protein,  20% iron

Print Recipe

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1 Comment | Filed Under Beef, Dinner, Podcast, Poultry, SlowCooker 

Prune Recipes for the New Year!

You know you’re getting old when prune recipes start looking really good!  Even though Liz was up in New Hampshire skiing with friends and Janice was back in Boston celebrating with a crowd of 20, we each prepared recipes featuring prunes (AKA dried plums) over the New Year break.  We hadn’t spoken in over a week so clearly there was some sort of warped mental telepathy going on!

Liz was at Loon Mountain visiting her friend Wendy. For New Year’s Eve dinner, they prepared Chicken Marbella from The Silver Palate Cookbook.  Instead of a whole chicken cut into pieces, they used boneless, skinless chicken breast halves.  The recipe was intended more for the seven couples at the party than the kids (though a few did try it) given its somewhat sophisticated ingredient combination: capers, pitted prunes, Spanish green olives, dried oregano, and white wine.  The prunes added a delicious sweetness to the dish, not to mention a nice burst of fiber and health-promoting antioxidants.

For New Year’s day, Liz created a simple, hearty slow cooker recipe using two pounds lean stew beef, one medium onion (diced), one cup of the leftover pitted prunes (that’s about 24), and one cup of all-natural BBQ sauce.  It cooked for about seven hours on low. When it was done, Liz pulled the meat and prunes apart using two forks and then served the savory mixture on whole grain burger buns.  This was without a doubt one of the most family-friendly recipes ever!

Now for Janice’s prune story.  On New Year’s Eve, she took about 25 pitted prunes, wrapped each one with a small slice of Prosciutto, secured it with a tooth pick and then baked them at 400 degrees for 10 minutes on a foil-lined baking sheet.  The combo of sweet and salty made this easy-does-it appetizer a real crowd pleaser.

Besides tasting great, we’re pleased to report that our recipes helped to ring in 2009 with an extra dash of good nutrition!

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3 Comments | Filed Under Beef, Dinner, SlowCooker 

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