Cooking my heart out

This roast I made with love. It quickly came together in my mind. I hope yall enjoy it as good as it smelled. I did not taste it but the family I cooked it for said it was delicious. If you do cook it please let me know what you think and if you feel you would change or add more or less of something please let me know. Thank you  

2lb Chuck roast 

2 yellow onions-good size ones-cut up

1 bag of carrots cut up

olive oil 

1-2 cups beef broth

Rosemary-4 sprigs 

Ground thyme-1/2 tablespoon or you can do fresh thyme-2 leaves

Worcestershire ground black pepper blend 

Better than bouillon beef base-I would say at least 2-3 tablespoons if not more

2 tablespoons of minced garlic 

I cooked mine in a 5.5 quart dutch oven. First you will want to rub the worcestershire groud black pepper blend generously all over the chuck roast. I smelled the meat and if I smelled meat more than the seasoning I added more seasoning. Heat up a tablespoon or two of olive oil in the dutch oven on the stove medium heat. Once the olive oil is warm throw in the onion. Once the onion starts to turn color take the onion out and put it on a plate. Do the same with the carrots. Depending on the size of the carrots might take a little longer than the onion to brown. Once the carrots have turned a little color put them on the plate with the onion. Then add just a little bit of the beef broth to swish around all the seasonings thats in the pot. Add in the chuck roast and sear it on each side until you get that nice brown crisp color. Once it has that nice brown color add in the carrots and onion and the rest of the beef broth until the meat is about half way covered. Then add in the thyme and rosemary on top. Stick it in the oven with the lid on top at 275 degrees for 2 1/2 hours. 

Hey yall!!! These biscuits are melt in your mouth amazing. Its really easy to do and very quick to make. 

2 1/2 cups self rising flour 

1 tablespoon sugar

5 tablespoons or so of butter flavor shortening. ( It doesn't have to be butter flavor it can be regualr shortening but the butter flavor does give the biscuits more flavor) 

About a cup of buttermilk 

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Mix the flour and sugar together. Once blended add in the shortening. When mixing the shortening in with the flour it should almost look like crumbles. You will want to mix it with a fork. Once all of the flour looks crumbly then you will want to slowly add in the buttermilk. When mixing the dough put some flour on your hands as the dough can get sticky. Please remember the more you play with the dough the flatter your biscuits will be. So be gentle when mixing the flour and buttermilk together. Once folded in well just make your biscuits jumbo. Go big or go home right LOL! You will want to cook them for about 10-12 minutes. If you have any questions please don't be afraid to ask 

These are so easy to make and will always be a big hit every time you cook them  I make them for Thanksgiving or for any occasion really. I love the flavor that these have. I always tend to cook for enough people to have at least two or three at a time. I am used to cooking for a lot of people so adjust the recipe by how many people you plan to cook for. 

2 12 oz containers of fresh mushrooms

16 oz of cream cheese

2lbs of Bacon (more to love) (Hickory smoked would be great gives more flavor) 

Preheat oven to 375. Go ahead and have the bacon cooking. While the bacon is cooking rinse your mushooms lightly. Take all the stems out and put them in a bowl with the cream cheese. Make sure the stems are diced up.  If the cream cheese is still a little tough put it in the microwave for like 45 seconds to help soften it. It will make the next process easier. Once bacon is cooked crumble it up and put it in the bowl with the stems and cream cheese. Mix all of that together. Once blended well put about a tablespoon or so in each mushroom. Once all mushrooms are filled put them in the oven for about 20-25 minutes. Once the mushrooms change color and the mix starts to brown a little at the top that is when you know they are done. 

So who doesn't like bacon? Well besides people who don't eat pork bacon is like the best thing ever. And you can't go wrong with bacon. I always think of new ways to cook things. I like to add a twist for when I cook. It honestly comes to my mind as I am cooking it. My husband loves meatloaf but only with bbq sauce and not with ketchup. My husband has two helpings of this meatloaf so you know it must be good. I hope this recipe bring joy in your home  Also this recipe goes great with some mashed potatoes or some garlic bread. 

2 stems of rosmary 

2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese 

2lbs of lean ground beef 

1-2 cups of seasoned bread crumbs

2 tablespoons of minced garlic 

1 cup chopped red onion 

Half a bottle of your choice of BBQ sauce

At least 2 cups of cooked crumbled bacon but more to love  

1 tablespoon of garlic powder

2-3 tablespoons of Worcestershire groud black pepper blend ( start with two and if you don't quite smell it then at the third one) 

1 tablespoon oregano 

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

2 eggs beaten 

Have the bacon cooking while you get the other things together. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. With the rosmary take the leaves off of the stem and cut them up before throwing it in with the meatloaf. The stem part can be thrown away. Everything minus the BBQ sauce and cheese needs to be mixed together well. Fold everything in evenly. You wouldn't want onion more on one side that the other  I always smell the mixture to see if it needs more of something. If you don't quite smell enough seasoning add a little more   I am not sure on the exact size pan I used but Its a good decent size square pan. Lay out half of the mixture in the pan. Spread evenly. Once spreaded I would add a layer of some of the extra crumbled bacon. Then spread out the 2 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese. Last but not least lay the other half of the meat mixture on top. Stick it in the oven for 45 minutes. Take it out turn the oven up to 390 degrees pour half the bottle of bbq sauce on top then stick it back in the oven for another 15-20 minutes. I know you might be thinking why did she add rosmary? Well sometimes to me meatloaf can be kind of salty. The rosmary really off sets the saltyness and gives the meatloaf a nice flavor with a twist. 

Hey yall! Sorry I haven't posted in awhile been through some things but I am getting back into the swing of things. Today I want to give you my tomato gravy recipe. I do not have pictures at the moment but will upload the pictures as soon as I can. I love gravy and I love tomatoes. So I decided why not add them together. I pair it with my homemade jumbo buttermilk biscuits. I cook my gravy in a cast iron skillet. I feel that is the best way to make the gravy but I'm sure cooking it in a regualr skillet will do just fine. Also I use bacon grease because I feel it gives the gravy a extra flavor. You an use just regular shortening if you'd like. 

3-4 tablespoons of bacon grease. 

3-4 tablespoons of flour 

4 cups of whole or 2% milk 

Salt and pepper to your liking. But I would say about a teaspoon or so of each. 

1-2 cups of diced tomatoes

I get the bacon grease and have it warmed up and ready in the cast iron skillet and then I add in the flour. I wisk it around until it starts to become thick. Then I slowly pour in the milk. As I am pouring in the milk I am wisking it around in the skillet. Once all the milk is poured in I add my salt and pepper and continue to wisk. If you feel that the gravy might be to thin after a minute or two you can add a little bit more flour. Once all of that is wisked well I add in the tomatoes and wisk around for another minute or two. And there you have it folks Tomato gravy! 

I have cooked these ribs several times and they have always been a huge hit everytime I make them. It is pretty easy to do and not a lot of work. Can't go wrong with that right? Okay so lets get started.

Seasonings I used: ( I didn't measure exactly how much I used so I guess start with a tablespoon of each. smell it and or taste it and you will know what you might need more or less of ) Mix all these seasonings together. Their is a possibility that you will have left over seasoning. That is totally fine. You can just save it for another time.  

Brown sugar

Chili Powder

Cumin

Salt&Pepper

Garlic Powder

Red Pepper Flakes

Thyme

Oregano

Onion Powder

You can use your own choice of bbq sauce for when you put it on. I make my own. Will post that recipe another time. 

Rub the seasoning all over the ribs. Both sides. Wrap the ribs in foil and let it marinate over night in the fridge. I cooked the ribs at 250 degrees for 4 hours. Then I rubbed bbq sauce over it and covered the ribs back up and cooked them for 45 minutes at 425 degrees. Then I uncover and put a second coat of bbq sauce on it and leave it uncovered for about 15-20 minutes at 450 degrees. I usually get the ribs that have extra meat on them. The reason why I leave them uncovered at the end at a higher temperature is to give it that extra taste like it came right off the grill. 

And there you have it folks! Delicious ribs  Enjoy