Slow Cooked BBQ Ribs...MmmmHmmm

Alright, you all are going to get sick of me and my crock-pot haha...but I LOVE IT!! It's so easy and makes your home smell so good all day while it's cooking. So here I go with another one! One of our "meat deals" I was telling you about earlier was boneless ribs so I found a slow cooker recipe and went to work. We added a little of our own spices for extra flavor and left it in overnight on low and by the morning they were so tender we could barely pull one out with a fork because they just wanted to fall apart!! I found the recipe on SparkRecipes.com and it is delicious!

You start out with 4 tablespoons of brown sugar. I did "heaping" tablespoons because I like the sweet flavor! You add one cup of ketchup, one cup of BBQ sauce (we used Sweet Baby Ray's Sweet 'n Spicy), two tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce (again I used about 4 because we love our Worcestershire sauce), one teaspoon of salt, and one teaspoon of pepper. Mix all this together in a bowl and throw the ribs in the crock-pot then cover them the sauce.
SIDE NOTE: Our addition to the sauce was one teaspoon of garlic powder, one teaspoon of celery seed, and one teaspoon of marjoram. YUMMY!!
The recipe says to leave these in for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high. I threw this together before bed, and left it on low until lunch the next day. We pulled it apart (and trimmed off the fat because ribs will have quite a bit of fat) and put it on a sandwich! It was so delicious and the left-overs taste just as good as when it came straight out of the crock-pot!

Right out of the crock-pot ready to be trimmed and pulled apart for a fantastic sandwich!

So, here is the direct link to the recipe and the ingredients one more time :)

4 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1 cup Ketchup 

1 cup BBQ sauce
2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
12 oz of ribs (3 oz Per person)

(WE ADDED a teaspoon of garlic powder, celery seed and marjoram) 

Since this was so short and to the point, I'm going to share what I did on my Saturday afternoon! You can find it on my Pinterest page and it was so easy to make! If you are a baseball fan like me (GO CARDS) and have an extra baseball lying around your house you can follow the link to make a cute baseball bracelet or anklet (I made both). My note to self as I made them this afternoon was that after you take the stitches out of the water and stretch them out, you can put them under something heavy and pull them as straight as you can and it will lay flat instead of having the "curling" shape of the baseball!! Hope ya'll have a good weekend!! 

~Happy Eating~

Recipe round up - a few new dishes for you to try

Warmer weather tends to lighten up our dinners like sandwiches and salads with lots of fresh veggies. Here are a few things we've liked at our house in the past few weeks:

These are the toppings for a tasty fried fish sandwich. Gwyneth Paltrow (aka GP) has a great recipe for a fried sole sandwich with spicy mayo in her cookbook My Father's Daughter. I bought thick, flaky cod fillets instead of sole and subbed hot dog buns for the baguette. With bread and butter pickles, spicy arugula, a squeeze of lemon and the kicky mayo--delish! Here's a link to the recipe.

Right up there with GP in my "be my bff, please" list is Tyler Florence. His cookbook Family Meal is not only gorgeous to look at, it's full of recipes you'll want to share with your family, friends and neighbors--the point of the book. Though sometimes his recipes can skew a bit more fussy than I prefer, this recipe for angel hair pasta with arugula and lemon is simple, comes together in minutes and tastes like something off a fine dining menu---and yet approachable. I don't know how else to explain it. Red pepper flakes and sliced garlic simmer in olive oil infusing it with a warm spice--but not too hot. The bright, peppery arugula (we need a new adjective for arugula--but peppery is such a good one), lemon and salty Parmesan cheese are perfect together. I served with a simple baked salmon. Shutterbean has a good step by step on her blog here. 

photo from Once Upon a Chef blog 

I can't say enough good things about this Asian slaw with ginger peanut dressing from Once Upon a Chef blog that was floating around on Pinterest. Though the dressing looks a little complicated (several ingredients) it comes together quickly and is SO delicious. It's perfect on this salad but would also be great over hot noodles or as a dipping sauce for spring rolls. Crunchy carrots, cabbage, red peppers and edamame---light but filling for a summer supper. I served with baked fish. 

I'm sure your summer is already full of picnics, birthday parties, family reunions and cook outs. My mother in law made these cutie panda cakes for our recent family get together. These are among the MANY cute ideas on Bakarella's blog. They were a big hit with the kiddos and adults alike. Chocolate chips make up the eyes, nose and ears of these little mini panda cakes. Have fun placing the chocolate sprinkle, well, any way you can, for a mouth. The more random the placement the cuter the expression. Tip--recruit help! Three of us in shifts put together a tray of 80 or so mini cupcakes-ha! Several steps but SO worth the results. 

Have you tried anything worth sharing lately?