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Slow Cooker Pork Ragù with Fresh Pasta

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slow cooker pork ragu

I made this recipe for Slow Cooker Pork Ragù earlier this winter and my husband raved about it so much that I knew I had to make it again.  I served it with fresh linguine and I highly recommend serving the pork ragù with fresh pasta if it’s available at your grocery store (or I suppose you could make it yourself as well, but I have not been that ambitious on the culinary frontier yet.)  I usually make pulled pork when I use the slow cooker to cook up a pork shoulder or butt.  This pasta dish definitely puts a new spin on the usual pork dishes.

Slow Cooker Pork Ragu with Fresh Pasta

The pork ragù can be prepped in less than ten minutes.  If you don’t have time in the morning to pull this together, you could also prep everything the night before and just put the slow cooker insert with all the ingredients right in the fridge.  In the morning, just pop the insert into the slow cooker and set your timer for the day.  I love coming home to the aroma of dinner already cooked!

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Slow Cooker Pork Ragù with Fresh Pasta
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
 
Ingredients
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 1 yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • kosher salt and black pepper
  • 2 pounds boneless pork shoulder or butt, trimmed
  • 1 pound linguine (use fresh pasta, if available)
  • grated Parmesan, for serving
Instructions
  1. Add the carrot, onion, garlic, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, thyme, oregano, ¾ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper to a slow cooker and mix together. Add the trimmed pork and give everything another few stirs.
  2. Cover and on low for 7 to 8 hours or on high for 5 to 6 hours.
  3. Cook the linguine according to the package directions (fresh pasta usually only takes a couple of minutes to cook.) Meanwhile, shred the pork and stir in the shredded pieces with the rest of the vegetables and cooking liquid. Drain the pasta and add it to the ragù. Stir to combine. Serve with grated Parmesan if desired.

Source: Slightly adapted from Real Simple, January 2013

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Menu Plan {Tuesday}

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Menu Plan Tuesday icon

I sometimes post about my full meal plan for the week on Mondays, but yesterday’s holiday has thrown me off schedule a bit.  Speaking of yesterday, I hope you had a great long weekend!  We didn’t manage to finish all the projects I mentioned in Friday’s post, but we did get a chance to organize our entire basement.  It was a bit of a major undertaking as we still had boxes in place from our initial move that we had not even touched.  I’m very happy to report that after much throwing out, recycling, and re-organizing, it’s starting to look a lot less like a scene from Hoarders and much more like a nicely organized basement.

We went to Ikea on what must have been one of their busiest days of the year (apparently a lot of people were working on home projects this past weekend!)  At Ikea, we bought a pair of these GORM shelving units for the basement.  They were fairly easy to put together and look really nice.  For now, we are using them to organize paints, painting supplies, and household chemicals that we want to keep out of T’s reach.  I would highly recommend these shelves if you are looking for more secondary storage in your home.

Moving on to my menu for the week…most of this week’s meals were inspired by other food bloggers.  The sole exception is tonight’s meal, which comes from the now defunct Martha Stewart Everyday Food.  I loved that little magazine and am feeling a little sad it won’t be popping up in my mailbox this month.  Any other MSEF fans out there lamenting this loss?

This week’s menu plan:

What’s on your menu plan for the week?

-m

Chicken Fajitas

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Chicken Fajitas

These Chicken Fajitas are one of my main go-to meals that I have been making since I started cooking for myself in college.  The recipe has come along over time and matured (just like me!)  I no longer need my George Forman to cook a piece of chicken like I did in college.  I have moved on to making chicken in my Le Creuset cast iron skillet and it comes out so juicy and tender.

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They key to not overcooking with the cast iron skillet is to cut the chicken breast (which can be so huge!) into thin pieces that are around the same thickness. I use my instant read thermometer to know when the chicken is done so there is no overcooking.  I then prepare some fresh sliced bell peppers and onion in a large frying pan with  a small amount of oil until they onions are cooked and then stir in some fresh cilantro, lime juice, and cayenne pepper.  I serve the sliced chicken and veggies in a warm whole wheat tortilla topped with salsa and light sour cream.   Since my boyfriend and I are trying to eat healthier, the fajitas have been making it into our menu line-up most weeks.

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Ingredients
  • 1 red pepper
  • 1 green pepper
  • 1 yellow pepper
  • 1 onion
  • Juice from 2 limes
  • 2-3 tablespoons Cilantro
  • 8 oz. of Chicken Breast, butterflied into two
  • ½ tsp. Cayenne Pepper
  • 2 tsp. Olive Oil
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • Light Sour Cream
  • Salsa
  • Whole Wheat Flour Tortillas
Instructions
  1. In a medium bowl, marinade the chicken with 2 tablespoons of lime, 1 tsp. olive oil, ¼ tsp. cayenne paper, salt and pepper. Allow chicken to marinade for 20-25 minutes while chopping vegetables.
  2. Cut the peppers and onion in thin slices.
  3. Heat a skillet on medium and cook the thin chicken breast until cooked, registering a 160 degrees on a meat thermometer.
  4. Heat the remaining olive oil in a large frying pan. Sauté vegetables until the onions are cooked. Once cooked, take off heat and stir remaining lime juice and cayenne pepper and all of the cilantro into veggies.
  5. Slice the cooked chicken.
  6. Warm tortillas in the microwave between two pieces of paper towel.
  7. In the middle of tortilla place a few slices of chicken, some peppers and onions and then top with salsa and light sour cream to your liking.

What is your favorite recipe that you have been cooking for a long time and that you have improved over time?

sisterk (2)

Chicken Chili with Corn Muffin Croutons

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Chicken Chili with Corn Muffin Croutons from 2 Sisters 2 Cities

I would love to post about cookies for another month straight, but we are trying to move our focus to some easy and delicious dinner options.  As promised yesterday, here is one of my favorite recipes for chili!  This chicken chili with corn muffin croutons is so tasty and I’ve been making it every winter since it was first printed in Martha Stewart Living in September 2010.  I’ve made some adjustments to the original recipe which I found a tad too spicy (and I like spicy!)  I cut up the fresh corn muffins I made, tossed them with a little extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper, and baked them for 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Topped with the corn muffin croutons and sour cream, this chili makes the perfect weeknight winter meal.

Chicken Chili prep

I love how this recipe starts off with fresh tomatoes, peppers, onions, and garlic.  Broiling them for a few minutes give them a nice char which really amps up the smoky flavor of the chili.  I also think this recipe calls for just the right amount of beans- I dislike it when chili has so many beans that you are full after two bites!  In case you do have any leftovers, I highly recommend serving this up for lunch the next day in the form of nachos (as recommended in the original article.)  Top some tortilla chips with the chicken chili, pickled jalapeños, and grated cheddar cheese and heat up.  Add some more sour cream and salsa to finish off your nachos.

Chicken Chili with Corn Muffin Croutons

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Chicken Chili with Corn Muffin Croutons
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Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
 
Ingredients
  • 10 plum tomatoes, tops cut off halved lengthwise
  • 2 poblano peppers, halved and seed
  • 1 white onion, peeled and halved
  • 4 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into ½-inch pieces
  • 3 tablespoons chili powder (use less if you prefer less spicy)
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, finely chopped
  • 1¾ cups low-sodium chicken stock
  • 1 can (15 ounces) kidney beans, drained
Instructions
  1. Preheat broiler. Arrange tomatoes, jalapeno, onion, and garlic, cut side down, on a baking sheet. Broil until they start to char (about 5 minutes.)
  2. Allow to cool slightly and pulse tomatoes and jalapeno in food processor until chunky. Chop onion and mince garlic.
  3. Heat a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil. Add chicken and cook until no longer pink. Reduce heat to medium and add onion and garlic to skillet. Cook until onions and garlic are soft and golden (about 5-9 minutes.) Add chili powder and salt. Continue to cook for another minute. Stir in chipotles, and raise heat to high. Add tomato-jalapeno mixture. Scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan and cook until mixed. Add chicken stock and allow chili simmer for 20 minutes.
  4. Add beans; simmer for at least another 10 minutes. Serve with corn muffin croutons and sour cream.

Source: Adapted from Martha Stewart Living, September 2010

What ingredients are in your favorite chili recipe?

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Penne with Spicy Sausage and Kale

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I don't really have a regular menu item that I consistently make for dinner each week throughout the year.  However, one recipe that does seem to pop up on our menu a lot is Penne with Spicy Sausage and Kale.  I also like to use dandelion greens, broccoli rabe, or swiss chard instead of kale.
This is definitely a hearty meal, but I feel a little better being able to sneak in so many greens into one dish.  If you wanted to make this a lighter recipe, you could sub in chicken sausage and wheat pasta, but you might lose out on some of the flavor.  I find myself making this recipe throughout the year, but it's especially delicious as these cooler fall evenings start to kick in.
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Penne with Spicy Sausage and Kale
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Recipe type: Dinner
Cuisine: Italian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • 1 large bunch of kale, stalks trimmed and quartered crosswise (can also use swiss chard, broccoli rabe, or dandelion greens)
  • 16 oz. penne pasta
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 lb hot Italian pork sausage, casings removed
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • pinch of dried crushed red pepper flakes
  • ¼ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
  • ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
  1. Boil large pot of salted water. Add kale and cook for about 5 minutes. Strain kale, reserving all the cooking liquid. Set aside.
  2. Cook pasta in same pot of boiling water until al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.
  3. Meanwhile, in large heavy skillet, heat the oil over a medium flame. Add sausage and cook, breaking up with spoon until the sausage is brown and juices form, about 8 min. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and saute for 30 seconds. Add kale and toss to coat.
  4. Add pasta and enough reserved cooking liquid, ¼ cup at a time to moisten. Stir Parmigiano-Reggiano, salt, and pepper in to taste. (Depending on the size of your pots, it may be easier to combine all the ingredients together in the large pot you cooked the pasta in.)

Source: Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

Do you have a particular recipe that you always find yourself making for dinner?

Sister K’s Weekly Menu

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Yesterday, I was sitting down to write a post about my weekly menu and the process I go through every week.  I looked at 2 Sisters 2 Cities and noticed M had the same exact post!  Wow, are we sisters or what!

My weeks tend to be really busy with work, my commute, and going to the gym.  I am also quite the stickler of getting 7-8 hours of sleep a night, meaning I have even less time to make dinner, clean up and relax before I need to hit the sack and start again the next day.   Since the beginning of this year I have been trying to cook healthier and more often.  To be able to do this I need to plan ahead.

All week I keep track of recipes I think I would like to make for the following week and keep them in a note on my iPhone. On Saturday morning I plan out the menu for the whole week and make my grocery list.  I use Ziplist to make my list and am able to pull it up on my phone while I am at the grocery store.   I am in love with this app and website because it makes grocery shopping so much easier and I hardly ever forget an item.   The website can also pull a list of ingredients from a recipe online and add them to your list.   image

Here is an example of how Ziplist pulls the ingredients from a recipe.  I used a recipe for Salted Caramel Chocolate Cupcakes from Annie’s Eats, as an example of how Ziplist works.   This isn’t necessarily something I make for dinner, but I had this recipe up on my browser and they look soooo good.   I am totally making these for my birthday… in July.  After clicking on my Ziplist Recipe Clipper button of my favorite bar, the website pulls up this dialog box and you can then add them to you shopping list.  Ziplist gives you specific directions on how to add the Recipe Clipper to your favorites bar.

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As I had told you before, for Valentine’s Day this year, the boyfriend got me a bunch of items from Martha Stewart’s office line at Staples that I wanted.  One of the items that I picked out was a weekly calendar dry erase board that clings onto the refrigerator for menu planning.  I have been using this since to write out the menu for the week.  It is a helpful reminder for both of us to see what dinner is going to be that night and gives us something to look forward to.   Sometime I even send out an e-mail reminder of the weekly meals to his work email. May sound silly but who got flowers today for no particular reason??  Oh yeah… ME!

My menu for the week:
Sunday
LUNCH- French Onion Soup (I will post this later this week)
DINNER-Rotisserie Chicken, Steamed Green Beans, and Roasted Potatoes
Monday
DINNER- Ziti with Turkey Sausage (Posting this later this week)
Tuesday
DINNER- Stir-Fried Honey-Ginger Chicken with Peppers
Wednesday
DINNER- Chicken and Broccoli Noodle Casserole
Thursday
DINNER- Linguine with Clam Sauce
Friday
DINNER- Panera Bread (this is our Friday Tradition after the gym- I get the Pick 2 Greek Salad and Broccoli Cheddar Soup which is 10 PointsPlus Weight watchers Points)

 

Menu Plan for the Week

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It’s a quiet Sunday morning and Baby T has decided to take his morning nap on the early side today (maybe since he woke up so darn early this morning!)  I’ve been using the time to clean up some household paperwork and plan our meals and grocery list for the week.  While I was starting to file away all the recipes I had clipped out of magazines or had printed, I came up with all our meals for the week.

Last week, I found a free printable menu planner and grocery list at mommy trackd.  I’m all about these adorable printable lists lately!  My week is looking very organized with this printable, although I’m sure baby boy will tear this list to shreds as we are grocery shopping.

Our menu for the week starting Monday, February 27th:

Monday: Cod Al Forno with Roasted Tomatoes
Tuesday: Broccoli-Cheddar Soup with Toasted Bread
Wednesday: Go out for my birthday!  Leap day only comes along once every 4 years, so I need to celebrate 4 times as much :)
Thursday: Slow Cooker White Chili
Friday: Cashew Chicken Stir-Fry
Saturday: Spaghetti and Meatballs
Sunday: Chicken Tikka Masala

What’s on your menu plan for the week?  Can you believe we are heading into March this week?  Time to get in all those winter comfort foods before spring arrives!

-m

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Super Easy Weeknight Dinner- Jambalaya

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Jambalaya is a ridiculously easy weeknight meal that I make once awhile during the winter.  It probably doesn’t even warrant a post, but I just wanted to throw the idea out there in case you have never made it before.  This recipe uses a box of Zatarains Jambalaya mix, but I like to change a few things up from their recommendation to make it a bit more healthy.  Once you are done cutting up the vegetable and meat, you throw it into the rice mix and let it cook.  Some days you just need something that easy!

Jambalaya:

Ingredients:
-1 box Zatarains Reduced-Sodium Jambalaya mix
-2 and 1/2 cups water
-2 tablespoons olive oil
-13 oz turkey polska kielbasa links, sliced into 1/4 inch pieces
-1 green pepper, diced

Directions:
Mix the water and olive oil in a Dutch Oven.  Bring to a boil.  Add the Jambalaya mix, kielbasa, and green pepper.  Mix well.

Return to boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes.  Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

What are you go-to easy weeknight meals when you don’t feel like spending too much time in the kitchen?

-m

Quick Weeknight Dinner- Easy Red Pasta Sauce!

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Hello Readers,

I haven’t officially made any New Year’s Resolutions yet, but I know I want to make some changes in my life.   I want to be healthier, more organized, and to do more with my free time,  like blogging and cooking!   I know I have made the same New Year’s Resolution each year,  and some years I am really good with them,  and some years I am not so good.

Instead of saying I want to “lose weight,”  I am just going to try to be healthier.   The reason for this is that I have struggled with my weight most of my life,  and this isn’t something that is going to go away.   I have gained and lost the same 20 pounds twice in the last three years.   I am back to trying to lose it again,  and truthfully I would like to lose another 20-30 on top of that,  but I love food way too much to know that will never be sustainable.  I went back to my Weight Watchers meetings this week.  I stopped going during December because you can’t make twelve types of cookies and go sit at Weight Watchers and wonder why you are gaining weight.   I am owning it- this cookie weight was hard earned!   Haha- well anyways,  I will be cooking healthier recipes for the next few months!

This week I have cooked meals every night for my boyfriend and me.  I made grilled chicken with roasted garlic potatoes; Black Bean Burritos;  pork tenderloin with rice; Sausage, Pepper, Onion, and Potato Bake; and pasta with red sauce and light garlic bread  (I know you are thinking that this bowl does not look like a weight watchers serving of pasta, but it is!  I measured it on a scale before I cooked it.   I used Wegman’s Super Pasta which is whole wheat pasta with protein. I highly recommend!)

Quick Red Sauce

Ingredients:
1 tbsp of olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 tablespoons dried parsley

In a sauce pan, heat olive oil over medium heat.   Add onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.   Next add garlic and red pepper flakes, stir for about 1 minute until you can smell the garlic.  Then stir in tomatoes and parsley flakes.   Lower heat to medium low and allow sauce to come to a boil.  Simmer for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Serve with pasta.

Source– adapted from Fabulicious: Teresa’s Italian Family Cookbook by Teresa Giudice (from NJ Housewives)

*K’s tip-  After cooking pasta, drain, and place pasta back in hot pot.   Add some sauce and stir in with pasta.  Stir in more sauce to your liking, allowing sauce and pasta to heat up together. Then serve as normal.

Light Garlic Bread

Finely mince a half of a clove of garlic and place in a small bowl.  Add in 2 tablespoons of light butter (I used Land O’ Lakes Light Butter with Canola Oil) and a pinch of parsley, and stir together.  Spread the butter mixture on to both sides of 3 slices of Italian bread (or any leftover bread that you have.)  Place bread on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet and place in oven on broil.  Watch the bread until it is toasted,  then flip to toast other side.  Make sure to watch carefully because it’s really easy to burn!  My boyfriend knows all about my “broiling” skills :).

Enjoy!

-K

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