1/4 cup balsamic vinegar1 tablespoon garlic, chopped

Cheesecake Factory Bakery Oreo Cheesecake

MP Product Used #139
1 (14oz). can diced tomato’’s
1 (14 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 large can of chili beans
1lb. ground pork
1lb. ground beef
1 medium diced onion
salt & pepper (optional)
1 -3 Tbsp. Megan’’s Pantry Chili Seasoning
½½ -1 can of Beef Broth to desired thickness.
1 small can of V-8 Juice (6oz)
10 Hershey Kisses

In a large sauce pan sautéé onions, ground pork and ground beef until the meat is browned; then add remaining ingredients (except kisses) and simmer for 20 minutes. Then add the Hershey Kisses and make sure they are melted before serving.

Tracy Champagne
Megan’s Pantry Team Leader!

Ingredients:

3 pounds ground beef
2 Tablespoons shortning (I usually omit this)
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup celery, diced
1 green pepper, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 cup catsup
3 beef bouillon cubes, crushed 1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
1 1/4 cups water
3 tablespoons vinegar
3 teaspoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard

Instructions:

Heat shortning in a skillet and brown meat, discard fat. Combine all ingredients in the crock pot and stir well. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, high for 3-4, or on auto 5 hours. Serve over warmed rolls or noodles.

Bob - http://www.blackjava.ca

6 cups shredded loose-packed frozen potatoes, thawed
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup shredded carrots
2 cups extra-lean ham
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, PLUS
2 tablespoons shredded Cheddar cheese
2 cups hot water
1 cup nonfat dry milk powder
1 can (l0 3/4-ounce size) cream of mushroom soup
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Spray a crock pot with butter-flavored cooking spray. In your crock pot, combine potatoes, celery, onion, carrots, ham, and Cheddar cheese. In a large bowl, combine water and dry milk powder. Add mushroom soup, parsley flakes, and black pepper. Mix well to combine. Stir milk mixture into potato mixture. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours. Mix well before serving. Serves 6.

And, with this yummy soup you’re going to need some really good homemade bread… So, head on over to ‘Muffin and Bread Recipes‘ to find just the perfect recipe!

Sherry - http://familycrockpotrecipes.com
‘Life is Just Better With a Crock Pot’

1-2 lbs. beef stew meat
8 carrots, sliced thin
6 potatoes, sliced thin
2 apples, chopped
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. thyme
2 tbsp. minced onion
2 cups apple cider

Place carrots, potatoes, and apples in Crock Pot. Add meat and sprinkle with salt, thyme, and onion. Pour cider over meat and cover. Cook on low heat 10-12 hours. Thicken gravy with a flour or cornstarch and water mixture.

Who doesn’t love soup!

Especially during the long, cold winter months. A big pot of soup will feed a large family well. For folks who like to cook and freeze food it’s certainly the way to go. I learned a long time ago that soups and stews made in my trusty crock pot are the best bet for my family.

My husband’s business keeps him in and out alot, so having a set dinner time is often not an option. He has a huge appetite, and so enjoys a filling yet good tasting dinner. There’s where crock pot soups and stews come in handy. He can come in and his dinner is waiting in the crock pot, no need to put his away for him, and nothing else to clean up. Life is just better with a slowcooker, at least in my opinion.

Crock Pot Beef Gumbo Soup

4 cups beef broth
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 cups cooked beef, chopped
1 can tomatoes, diced
1 package frozen cut okra
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onions

Combine all ingredients in crockpot and cook on LOW heat setting for 8 hours. Stir before serving.

Sherry - http://familycrockpotrecipes.com
‘Life is Just Better With a Crock Pot’

10 Tips for Staying Healthy
By Suki Hertz, MS RD

There are neither magic bullets nor forbidden foods in a diabetic diet ?? it’s about making educated choices, practicing portion control and moderation and choosing nutritious foods the whole family can enjoy. Every day, include a variety of fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, healthy fats, and high?fiber whole grains and beans.

Carbohydrates are the primary fuel for your body and brain. They also contribute most to your blood sugar and glucose levels. They’re found in breads, grains, beans, fruits, vegetables and dairy products, as well as in table sugar, cakes, cookies, ice cream, and other sweets. Adults should aim for 50 to 60 grams of carbohydrates per meal, and 10 to 30 grams per snack.

Sugar and sweets can be part of a diabetic diet, but should be combined with other foods to lessen their impact on blood sugar. If you choose to have dessert, plan ahead, substituting it for other carbohydrates in the meal (like pasta, rice, or bread). When preparing desserts, reduce the sugar, when possible, to about 1/3 to 1/2 of the original amount, or use sugar substitutes.

High?fiber foods help stabilize blood sugar and lower cholesterol. Aim for 25 to 35 grams of fiber per day. High?fiber foods include oats and barley, whole grains, beans, nuts, fruits, and vegetables.

For protein, select lean meats, seafood, low?fat dairy, 1 egg per day, or legumes (which includes beans, soy products, and peanut butter). Aim for 15 to 20% of your daily calories to be from protein (or 75 to 100 grams daily on a 2000 calorie per day diet). Any extra protein will be used as calories or stored as fat.

Fats are a necessary part of any diet. With diabetes, excess weight and risk of heart disease are concerns, so managing fat intake is especially important. Avoid saturated fats, like those found in full?fat dairy, red meat, and chicken skin ?? and also trans fats, found in commercially fried and processed foods. All fats, even the healthy ones, are high in calories, so use them sparingly.

Water and other low?calorie beverages are the best ways to quench your thirst without adding excess calories and carbohydrates.

If you drink alcohol, limit drinks to 1 per day for women and 2 per day for men, and always consume it with food.

Weight loss and daily exercise lower blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol ?? which in turn may lower amount of medication you need.

Managing your diabetes is crucial. Work closely with your health care team, and if they have a Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE), sign up for classes. Schedule a session with a Registered Dietitian to work out an eating plan and to stay current on the latest research. And involve your family ?? research shows that family support is one of the strongest predictors of successful management of diabetes.

by: Sarah Sandori

Copying restaurant recipes can be easy or hard. It depends on whether a dish is simple, as many side dishes tend to be, or complex, as many main dishes or entrees are-especially the ones that are considered to be a restaurant’s “billboard” or signature menu item.

The key to becoming a skilled restaurant menu copycatter is to sample a wide variety of dishes from many restaurants. Also, you should try to train your taste buds and nose to be able to detect and differentiate between different spices, herbs and other flavorings. Make a list (mental or on paper) of all of the ingredients you think are in the next food item you have in a restaurant, and ask your waitperson to tell you if you pegged them correctly.

If the waiter, cook or manager of your favorite recipe is willing to give you a copy of the actual recipe used to create a particular dish, you are most of the way home to being able to copy it in your own kitchen.

Having the list of ingredients and some instructions for putting them together and preparing them is most of the battle, of course. But even then, you might have to compensate for not having some special cooking utensils or devices that the restaurant uses to make the dish. Or, you might have to scale down the recipe considerably if the recipe you’re given is for making large batches at a time.

There are books available now that have worked out these problems for you. Their authors have spent many hours tracking down or figuring out scores of those secret restaurant recipes, testing them over and over, and then modifying them as needed for the average cook’s kitchen.

Where there’s a will there’s a way. If it is your fondest desire to be able to copy your favorite restaurant’s top recipe at home, know that you can do it … so get to work!

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Sarah Sandori is the food and entertaining columnist for the Solid Gold Info Writers Consortium. Have you ever wanted to be able to exactly duplicate a favorite dish from a favorite restaurant? Check out Sarah’s article where she reveals her source for the most mouth-watering secret restaurant recipes in America: http://www.solid-gold.info/most-wanted-recipes.html

How organized is your kitchen?

Does your kitchen cause you anxiety attacks?

Can you walk in and start cooking right away?

Do you know where all your ingredients, pots and pans, and baking dishes are located? Or do you have to pull out ten pans before you find the pan you are looking for?

Don’t worry, you are not alone. These articles will help you get a grip on having an organized kitchen that you enjoy.

Kitchen Organization
Solutions, Strategies and Rules to Organize the Kitchen
By: Karen Fritscher-Porter

Good kitchen organization means making the kitchen into the functional room it’s supposed to be. You cook in the kitchen. So your first goal when organizing the kitchen is to streamline cooking processes. You want efficiency and ease when cooking so it’s a smooth, enjoyable experience for you.

The second major thing you do in the kitchen is store food. So your second kitchen organization goal is to be able to see at a glance what’s in your kitchen food cabinets or pantry and what needs to be replenished. Plus you want to store food so it stays sealed properly and fresh.

Third, you clean up after cooking and eating in the kitchen. And this is a tiring task as it is so make it as quick and easy as possible to do.

Finally, you might eat in the kitchen. But you won’t find too many kitchen organization rules that apply to this task since this is mostly just about enjoying the end product from cooking.

So how do you meet the first three kitchen organization goals?

First, permanently remove anything from the kitchen that doesn’t belong there. This might include book bags, purses, coats, books or any other item you or family members regularly set on kitchen counters or on the table. Do not ever bring these items back into the kitchen. Make permanent homes for these type items in your foyer or entryway halls and closets using cubbies, baskets, containers or over-the-door plastic pocket organizers.

Now start streamlining your cooking area. Put items you most use when cooking near the work counter and stove and oven. This will be items that you use every day. If you don’t use the blender every day, why is it in your prime counter work spot? Because it looks pretty isn’t a good organizational reason. If you do use that measuring cup most days, why do you have to walk across the room to a far cabinet to retrieve it? Put it in the cabinet above your cooking preparation area.

Take a good look at what’s in your prime cooking and work area now. Decide what needs to move into that area and what needs to move out of the area, while still remaining somewhere in the kitchen. You also may find a few kitchen items that are one too many, such as 10 frying pans and eight spatulas. Get rid of the excess items by donating them.

For your second goal of storing food so you can view it a glance and replenish items as needed you can do things like turn all the food items in your kitchen food closet so that labels are facing you. Also cluster these dry goods into similar groups of items such as vegetables in one section and can soup in another. Empty multiple boxes of the same pastas and rice into translucent plastic storage containers.

Also, you might want to place a magnetic basket on your fridge with a pad and pencil in it. Use it to jot down items you use the last of in the kitchen. When it’s time to make a trip to the supermarket, you’ll know just what you need. Your third goal in the kitchen is clean-up. Keep your kitchen clean-up items such as dishwasher detergent, scrubber pads, gloves and more under the sink in a single pull out utility caddy. Use two if necessary. And don’t “steal” items such as the cleanser back and forth between rooms. Get a separate cleaning caddy for the bathroom cleaning supplies.

Remember, kitchen organization is all about putting “function” back into this work space and streamlining the organization to suit your functional tasks. Making using your kitchen convenient, efficient, and even relaxing.

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Karen Fritscher-Porter writes about home organization at http://www.EasyHomeOrganizing.com where you can read more articles about kitchen organization and shop for products to organize the kitchen.