Crock Pot Baked Beans

Confession, I always buy Bushs Home Style Baked Beans, ALWAYS.  When they are heating up I add a little bit of molasses, brown sugar and yellow mustard for a little extra kick and our family loves them.  However, they can be a little pricey...  We had a friend coming over to smoke a brisket and baked beans were an obvious pairing.  However, since he was spending so much time smoking the brisket, I thought it was only fair to make homemade baked beans.  These were PERFECTION!!!!!  I don't know if I should be impressed or disgusted with the fact that 4 1/2 of us scarfed down about 3/4 of the batch.  At least I know everyone loved them as much as me!

Ingredients:

• 1 bag navy beans, soaked and boiled until softened
• 1 cup water from boiled beans
• 1/2 package uncooked bacon, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups ketchup
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 large sweet onion, diced
• 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
• 2 tablespoons A-1
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire

Directions:

Soak beans overnight as directed on package in a large pot.

Bring beans to a boil for about 15 minutes or until tender.

Drain beans and place into a lightly greased crockpot with onions.

In a large mixing bowl whisk together all remaining ingredients and pour over beans.

Cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 6-8 hours.

MAC Sauce Burgers

Big Macs at home, NO PROBLEM!  I decided to call this a MAC burger because it obviously doesn't look anything like a regular Big Mac, and A Small Mac didn't sound appropriate because its huge!

Ingredients for Sauce:

• 1/2 cup mayo
• 2 tablespoons sweet relish
• 1 tablespoon french dressing
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• dash of salt

Ingredients for Burgers:

1 1/4 lb of ground beef, I use 80/20

1 teaspoon Worcestershire

1/2 teaspoon burger seasoning plus additional to taste, (if you don't have this substitute for seasoning salt with a little onion powder)

buns

4 slices yellow American cheese

1/4 of small sweet onion, finely diced

 1/2 cup lettuce, finely diced

 

Directions for Sauce: Whisk all ingredients together until smooth.
Directions for Burgers: Preheat grill. In a large bowl add beef, Worcestershire and burger seasoning and mix together with hands. Form into 4 individual patties and sprinkle with additional burger seasoning if desired. Cook patties on the preheated grill until they are cooked to your desire, about 4 minutes per side for medium-well adding cheese for last minute or until melted. Lather top and bottom of bun with MAC sauce, add patties and top with lettuce and onions!

Indoor Grilled Blackened Medallions

For me, life doesn't get much better than a nice day, friends, family and a nice big juicy STEAK! This can easily be grilled outside on the BBQ however, we had a little rain so I decided to stay in.  The blackened seasoning gives it just the right amount of kick and the steak is juicy and delicious.

 

Ingredients:

• 2 Medallion steaks
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons blackened seasoning
• dash of salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder

 

Directions:  Season steaks on both side with all above ingredients.  Let marinade in refrigerator on each side for 30 minutes each, then let sit at room temperature for 20 minutes before grilling. Melt butter over medium/high heat in a large skillet and grill on each side for about 4-5 minutes. 



Campfire Burgers

After many trips to Red Robin for this amazing sauce, I decided to make a Copy-Cat recipe.  I initially made the sauce just for the fries however, it was so delicious I had to dump it on my burger.  It reminded me of how I pour the orange sauce over everything at a Teppan Yaki restaurant.  These burgers are extremely juicy and the flavor is perfect.

 

Ingredients for Sauce:

• 1/2 cup mayo
• 1/4 cup BBQ sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• dash of cayenne pepper
• dash of garlic powder

Ingredients for Burgers (4 patties)

• 1 1/4 lb of ground beef, I use 80/20
• 1 tablespoon A-1
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire
• 1/2 teaspoon burger seasoning plus additional to taste, (if you don't have this substitute for seasoning salt with a little onion powder)
• buns
• 4 slices yellow American cheese
• your favorite burger toppings (onions, tomatoes, avocado, lettuce, pickles, etc..)

Directions for Sauce: Whisk all ingredients together until smooth.
Directions for Burgers:  Preheat grill.  In a large bowl add beef, A-1, Worcestershire and burger seasoning and mix together with hands.  Form into 4 individual patties and sprinkle with additional burger seasoning if desired.  Cook patties on the preheated grill until they are cooked to your desire, about 4 minutes per side for medium-well adding cheese for last minute or until melted.  Lather top and bottom of bun with campfire sauce, add patties and add your favorite topping ingredients!

Cheddar Stuffed Cheeseburgers

 Once again Pinterest has given me another fantastic idea.  I came across a recipe for Caresse stuffed burgers and I immediately knew I was going to try it with cheddar.  How can you go wrong with more cheese on a burger?  Well, you cant!!  This was amazing. 

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef (1/2 pound burgers each!!)
1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire
1/2 tablespoon A-1
Cheddar cheese, thickly sliced and desired amount
Cheddar cheese, thin sliced and desired amount
seasoning salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:  Mix ground beef, Worcestershire, A-1, seasoning salt and pepper together.  For 4 individual patties and flatten.  Add thick cheese slices to two  of the patties (shown below.)  Place remaining patties over the top and mold together.  Heat skillet over medium heat and lightly coat with non stick spray. Add patties and cook for about 4 minutes on each side adding remaining cheese slices for the last minute to melt.

BBQ Beef Biscuit Pockets

One of my favorite food blogs to follow is Chef-In-Training because I feel like our food styles are very similar.  I think her blog is actually the reason I started blogging in the first place.  Anyway, she posted this recipe, and I was dying to try it.  My husband is not a fan of pie crust, so I substituted with biscuits.  No silverware needed! 

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 package refrigerated biscuits
• 1 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 cup corn, frozen
• 1 1/2 cup favorite BBQ sauce

Directions:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Brown beef in skillet until cooked and drain excess fat.  Stir in corn and BBQ sauce until coated evenly.  Flatten all biscuits with hands or a roller until about 1/4 inch thick.  Top half of the biscuits with meat and Cheddar cheese.  Place the remaining flattened biscuits over the top and pinch the sides together making a pie.  Cut four lines in the top for ventilation.  Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until tops are golden brown.

BBQ Ribs

This was my first attempt at BBQ ribs.  I have always been to scared to make them because I thought I would ruin them.  This recipe is so easy and they were amazing.  I will be making these a lot throughout the summer!



Ingredients:

• 1 package pork baby back ribs
• 1-2 cups BBQ sauce of your choice

Directions:  Boil a pot of water.  Peel membrane from the back of ribs and discard.  Cut ribs into section sizes of your choice.  Add to boiled water and boil on medium for 40 minutes.  Place boiled ribs on plate and slather as much BBQ sause as  you like to both sides of ribs.  Place on grill for 10-15 minutes until you have a nice glaze and crisp to them.  Serve with you favorite side dish!