Day 1 Roast, Carrots & Potatoes - Day 2 Shredded Beef Tacos

I love leftovers.  Almost every time I cook, I make enough for two meals so we can have leftovers the next day.  Thankfully, my family is fine with seeing the same meal two days in a row.  Sometimes, as in this recipe, I use the leftovers to make a totally different meal.

Day 1 - Roast, Carrots & Potatoes  

3 pound beef roast

½ c water

1 packet dry onion soup mix

3 baking potatoes

1 pound fresh carrots

½ t freshly ground black pepper

Trim roast and place in slow cooker.  Pour water over roast.  Then sprinkle onion soup over roast.  Peel and cut up carrots into about 2 inch pieces and scatter around roast.  Peel potatoes, cut into quarters and put on top of roast.  Sprinkle with black pepper.  Cook on high for about 6-8 hours or until nice and tender.  Serve roast, potatoes and carrots the first night.  Shred the leftover roast with a fork.  Pour ½ c of the broth over it and refrigerate for the next night.  I also cut up one or two of the potato quarters and mix in with the shredded roast.

  

All ingredients in the slow cooker ready to go.

 Mmmmm . . . dinner is ready!

 

Day 2 - Shredded Beef Tacos

Leftover roast, shredded

2 t oil

½ t onion powder

½ t garlic powder

½ t season salt

1 t cumin

2 t chili powder

¼ t cayenne pepper

On day two, heat oil in a large skillet.  Add shredded roast mixture from the previous day with remaining seasonings.  Stir frequently to incorporate spices and ensure shredded beef is heated evenly.  Serve in warm flour tortillas with your favorite taco toppings.

If by chance, your shredded beef lasts another day, try cooking the prepared taco on a griddle until the tortilla has a nice golden color.  This can make the second day of tacos a little more appealing.

Serves 4 people for 2 meals

Roasted Asparagus

I roast a lot of vegetables.  Roasting is an efficient way to prepare vegetables because you can put them in the oven and work on other parts of the meal.  I think my all time favorite is roasted asparagus.

Roasted Asparagus

2 bunches of fresh asparagus

2 T olive oil

1 t seasoned salt

1 t freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 425^o.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.  Bend the asparagus until the woody end breaks off.  Discard the ends and rinse.  Pat dry and place asparagus on the prepared baking sheet.  Drizzle olive oil over asparagus and sprinkle with seasoned salt and black pepper.  Using your hands, roll the asparagus around on the sheet to coat with oil, salt and pepper.  Spread out the asparagus evenly on the baking sheet.  Bake in oven for about 15 minutes*, stirring at least once.  4-6 servings

  

*The cook time may need to be adjusted depending on the thickness of the asparagus.

Easy Cheesy Manicotti {Egg-free}

My husband was craving ravioli, not an egg allergy friendly food.  I scoured my local grocery store for an egg-free variety and there was none to be found.  I wanted to come up with something that would satisfy his craving but that would be less time consuming than homemade egg-free ravioli.  So, I came up with this cheese manicotti recipe.  He loved it!  Cheesy pasta dishes are also great for the pickiest of kids!

If you like this easy cheesy manicotti, try this recipe for baked spaghetti.   

Easy Cheesy Manicotti

8 oz package of dried manicotti

16 oz can tomato sauce

½ t dried oregano

½ t dried marjoram

1 t garlic powder

16 oz part-skim ricotta

½ c grated parmesan cheese

2 c part-skim mozzarella cheese, finely shredded

½ t freshly ground pepper

1 T dried parsley

Preheat oven to 350^o.  Cook pasta according to package directions.  While pasta is boiling, mix tomato sauce, oregano, marjoram and garlic in a small sauce pan.  Simmer sauce uncovered for about 10 minutes.  To prepare the filling, mix ricotta, parmesan, mozzarella, pepper and parsley.  Once the pasta is cooked, rinse in cool water to stop the pasta from cooking further.  Fill the cooked manicotti with cheese mixture and place in a glass baking dish.  Pour sauce over the top and bake for about 25 minutes.  Let sit 5 minutes prior to serving. 
Serves  4-6

Coffee Cake {Egg-free}

Happy Valentine's Day!  Today, I made this yummy coffee cake for my precious valentines.  A little cinnamon and sugar sure does get the day off to a sweet start.  This is an old family recipe that I have converted to be egg free.  I must say. . .the egg is not missed!

Coffee Cake

½ c sugar

8 T (salted) butter or margarine, separated

1 c milk

2 c flour

1 T baking powder

4 T sugar

1 t cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350^o.  Cream together ½ c sugar and 3 T margarine.  Stir in milk.  Add baking powder and flour, stirring until incorporated.  Pour into a greased 8” square baking pan.  Cube remaining margarine into small cubes and sprinkle over top of cake.  Gently push margarine cubes down into batter, leaving them partially exposed.  Combine cinnamon and 4 T sugar and sprinkle over batter.  Bake in preheated oven for about 30 minutes.

Serves 9

Note:
I took a picture of the prepared batter right before it went into the oven.  You can see the cubed margarine under the cinnamon and sugar mixture.  I cannot remember exactly how many cubes I cut the remaining 5 T margarine, but I know it was more than 50 little cubes.

Brownies {Egg-free, Dairy-free}

Do you need an egg-free chocolate treat for Valentine's Day?  Try these brownies!  My Valentine thought they were pretty awesome.

Brownies

½ c sugar

½ c brown sugar

½ c vegetable shortening

1 c flour

½ c unsweetened cocoa powder

½ t baking powder

½ t salt

½ c milk or non-dairy substitute

1 t vanilla

½ c semi-sweet chocolate chips (non-dairy can be used) 
½ c pecans, chopped (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.   Lightly grease the bottom only of an 8x8 or 9x9 baking pan and set aside.  Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, blend shortening and both sugars until combined.  In a separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.  Add flour mixture blending until mixture resembles a course meal.  Slowly add milk and vanilla, blending constantly until smooth.  The batter will be thick.  Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.  Spread batter into lightly greased baking pan.  Bake brownies for 25 to 30 minutes or until the top is no longer shiny.  Set pan on a wire rack until the brownies are completely cooled and cut into squares.

Serves 9

Dairy-free notes:  I haven't tried it but I think this recipe could easily be made dairy-free.  If anyone tries it, please let me know how it works out and what substitutes you used for the milk and chocolate chips. 

Buttermilk Biscuits

Who doesn't love warm biscuits fresh out of the oven?!  Biscuits are a great egg-free recipe as most recipes never included them to begin with.  They are even better topped with margarine and/or honey or jelly.  Enjoy!!

 

Buttermilk Biscuits

2 c flour 
1 T baking powder

1 T sugar

½ t salt

2 T unsalted butter

2 T shortening

1 c buttermilk, chilled

Preheat oven to 425^o.  Combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.  Cut in the butter and shortening until the mixture resembles a course meal.  Add buttermilk and gently stir until a soft sticky dough forms.  Place dough on a floured surface and knead about 6 times.  Pat dough into round disk until about 1 inch thick.  Cut biscuits using a round biscuit cutter or drinking glass.  Place cut biscuits in a glass baking dish greased with butter, arranging the biscuits so that they are touching.  This causes them to rise up rather than out.  Lightly brush biscuit tops with milk.  Bake for about 20 minutes or tops are slightly golden.

Makes 9 2 ½ inch biscuits.