Saturday nights dinner menu

Cahoon's Crockpot Roast
("Favorite's" cookbook)

3-5 lb. beef roast
garlic salt, to taste

Garlic salt the roast and place in crockpot (no need to brown first)

1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 pkg dry onion soup mix
1 can beef gravy (I forgot to buy this, so I just added 1 1/2 c. water and some dry gravy mix I had)
1/2 c. brown sugar
3 T. vinegar
2 T. soy sauce
1 T. Worcestershire sauce

Mix all together and pour over roast. Cook for about 12 hrs. on low, or 6-7 hours on high. Remove roast. Strain gravy and thicken with a mixture of cornstarch and cold water until preferred consistency.
(We did not use the gravy since our potatoes did not require gravy. But it does make a lot of gravy that would be great over mashed potatoes!)

Blue Cheese Potatoes
(Quick Cooking, March/April 2002)

2 lbs. red potatoes, cut into chunks
1/4 c. whipping cream, whipped (but not sweetened)
1/4 c. crumbled bleu cheese
1 c. mayonnaise
1/2 lb. sliced bacon, cooked and crumbled

Place the potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; cover and cook until tender, about 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, fold whipped cream and bleu cheese into mayonnaise. Drain potatoes; gently stir in bleu cheese mixture. Sprinkle with bacon. Serve warm. 6-8 servings.
(OK, so they aren't low fat, but man, they were so good!)

Steamed Baby Carrots

OK, so their really isn't a recipe for these. I just steamed about 1.5 lbs. baby carrots for about 25 minutes, then tossed with butter and brown sugar. YUM!

Tart Lemon Ring Mold
(Taste of Home, April/May 2002)

1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1 c. cold water
2 pkgs. (3 oz. each) lemon gelatin
2 c. boiling water
1 can (12 oz.) frozen limeade concentrate, thawed
2 c. whipping cream
3 Tblspn. powdered sugar
fresh strawberries

In a small saucepan, sprinkle unflavored gelatin over cold water; let stand for 1 minute. Bring to a boil; cook and stir until gelatin is dissolved. In a large mixing bowl, dissolve lemon gelatin in boiling water. Stir in unflavored gelatin mixture and limeade concentrate. Refrigerate until slightly thickened.
In a small mixing bowl, beat cream until soft peaks form. Add sugar, 1 Tblspn at a time, beating until stiff peaks form. Beat the gelatin until frothy. Stir in the whipped cream. Pour into an 8-cup ring mold (I used a bundt pan) coated with nonstick cooking spray; refrigerate until set.
Unmold onto a serving platter (easy to do if you float the pan in warm water for just a few seconds to loosen the mold). Fill the center and surrounding edges with sliced strawberries.
10-14 servings.
(This made for a great, fresh presentation. Very pretty with the soft yellow and red. It is quite tart, so it was not everyone's favorite, but I love anything citrus and thoroughly enjoyed it. It would be great in the summertime, especially at a BBQ or other outdoor party)

Mint-Chocolate Ice Cream Cake
(Simple & Delicious, July/August 2007)

1 pkg. Suzy Q's (or DingDongs, Ring Dings, etc.)
3 c. mint chocolate ice cream, softened
12 Oreo cookies, crushed, divided in half
2 c. whipping cream (or Cool Whip)
1/2 tsp. mind extract, optional

Line a large loaf pan (8 X 4 X 2") with plastic wrap. Place 4 Suzy Q's (I used 6 Ding Dongs) in pan, completely covering the bottom. Spread ice cream over the Suzy Q's; sprinkle with 1/2 of the cookie crumbs. Press remaning Suzy Q's (or another 6 Ding Dong's) on top. Cover and freeze for at least 3 hours.
Just before serving, remove from the freezer adn invert onto a serving plate. Remove pan and plastic wrap. Combine whipped topping and extract, if desired (I left it out); frost top and sides of cake. Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs.
Slice and serve.
8 servings.
(Super easy to make--in fact, it's a great recipe to let kids make. I thought it might be so simple that is would just taste like a few ingredients served together, but it was actually better than I thought. Marc even compared it to a Baskin Robbins cake!)