blog

Hi Friends!

Here’s a little treat to help get you through your Monday.

If you’re anything like me, before you discovered the blog world, the only nut butter you ever ate was peanut butter. Over the past year, I’ve broadened my horizons a bit and tried both almond butter and sunflower seed butter. )

Today I branched out even further- in three ways: 1) I made my own nut butter for the first time, 2) I made walnut butter, which I’ve never even tried and 3) I added mix-ins to my nut butter!

I buy really big bags of nuts at Costco to use in my homemade trail mix but since I’m out of school for a couple weeks, I haven’t been eating trail mix as often as I usually do. This giant bag of walnuts was looking a little lonely, so I thought today would be the perfect day to try my hand at making some nut butter at home.

Quite honestly, I don’t really like walnuts that much. Whenever I eat them, I have to have something else in the same bite (like a raisin or a chocolate chip from my trail mix), so I knew I probably wouldn’t like just plain old walnut butter. I decided to add a few mix-ins to please my palate 🙂 After much deliberation I settled on cinnamon. I love the flavor and knew it would go well with the nuttiness of the walnuts. At the last minute, I decided to add some raisins as well…because really, cinnamon raisin is one of the best combos out there.

I knew from the million previous nut butter posts i’ve read, that I needed to toast the walnuts first so I measured out about 3 cups of raw, unsalted walnuts, placed them on a baking sheet and put them in the oven.

After they cooled, I put them in the food processor with some cinnamon and some raisins. I was too lazy to look up a recipe so I just used my best judgement on the amounts.

On went the food processor for about 5 minutes and voila! I stopped every minute and took a picture so you could see the progression.

I chose not to add any additional sweetener because there were already raisins in it but you could add a little bit of honey if desired. You could also add a pinch of salt.

Store in a an airtight container in the fridge!

So easy and so good! I can’t wait to experiment with more nut butter mix-ins. Can we say Christmas presents?!

What’s your favorite kind of nut butter? Do you make your own? Any combos I should try?!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Happy Bloggy Birthday to The Lean Green Bean! It’s pretty hard to believe that it’s been an entire year since I sat down and wrote my very first post! You can check it out here if you’re a new reader 🙂 hilarious if you ask me!

Since this is how I’m spending the next week:

I didn’t have a lot of time to make a cake.

I did make these… (sneak peak…recipe later!)

So that’s just gonna have to do.

In celebration of this special day, I thought I’d highlight a few of my fav recipes from the past year in a little virtual meal that i WISH i had time to make for myself.

I’d start with some Spicy Salmon Cornmeal Cakes.

For dinner: Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Rainbow Peach Salsa

With a side of:

Farmer’s Market Potato Hash

& a slice or two of Dutch Oven Bread

And for dessert, a Ginger Oatmeal Cookie w/ Cranberries & Reeses

and a few Almond Graham Banana Bites 🙂

So there you have it…a meal for the bean. Now who’s coming over to make it for me?

Tell me, what’s your absolute favorite blog post? (Mine, yours, someone else’s…) Leave me a link!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Hi Friends-

We’re truckin’ right along with veggie month. I feel like the end is going be here before we know it!  When we went to the grocery store last week, I picked up two more packages of tofu to experiment with and last night I decided to use one of them.

A while back, and I do mean a while (apparently it was back in February but it doesn’t seem like it’s been that long), Courtney posted this recipe for Sweet & Spicy Tofu, which she adapted slightly from Caitlin’s Perfect Baked Tofu.

I was intrigued by the idea but wasn’t crazy about the spice mixtures. I don’t really like chili powder, and lately honey has been leaving a bad taste in my mouth (i definitely prefer brown rice syrup)…so I took stock of what I had on hand and whipped up my own little sauce.

 

I had a hard time settling on what I wanted to serve with this…and when that happens, I usually turn to one of my go-to staples.

I sauteed some veggies (onion, baby bok choy, red pepper, mushroom & zucchini) with some garlic, added some orzo and gave it all a squirt of Italian dressing. This is one of my favorite pasta salads. I left the veggies a little bit crunchy to contrast with the tofu and this ended up being the perfect side. I mixed everything together once it was on my plate and it was delicious!

You’ll just have to excuse the terrible pictures. I was pretty tired after work last night and I just wanted to eat. One thing that’s important to note: for some reason, I was expecting the tofu to get crispy. I don’t know how that idea got into my head, but it was wrong. It was not at all crispy. At first I was disappointed….but I gave it a chance and the flavor was so great that it totally made up for it! It’s just the right mix of sweet and spicy. It leaves a little heat in your mouth but it’s not to hot to eat. Since the tofu was not crunchy, I really liked that the veggies were so everything wasn’t the same texture.

I went back for seconds, which RARELY happens and even the hubby liked it. We were both clean platers 🙂

What’s your favorite way to eat tofu?

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Last night at the grocery store, the hubby bought some cheap beer.

Have you heard of it? It’s like PBR, but with a different name. He’s been seeing it pop up at bars lately and wanted to try it out. The best part about cheap beer (to me) is that I can play around with it in my recipes without wasting a lot of money if it turns out badly 🙂

I’ve been making hummus like crazy these past couple of weeks and last night I made another batch of our current favorite- roasted garlic. Today I decided to try my hand at some crackers to eat it with. I love crispy, crunchy crackers so I settled on a batch of flatbread crackers.

I found this recipe and decided to give it a try! For the flour I used 1 c white whole wheat flour and 1 c AP flour. I probably ended up using closer to 1 c beer. I started with 3/4 c and then added just enough to make the dough stick together so I could knead it.

While the dough was resting, I minced the garlic and added it to the olive oil to infuse! After about 20 minutes, I divided the dough in half, rolled it out as thin as I could and then brushed on some of the oil. I didn’t use even half of the 3 Tbsp….I just like a thin coating to help everything else stick. Then I added black pepper, red pepper, paprika, sesame seeds and a sprinkle of garlic powder. I didn’t measure, just did what looked good to me. I did add extra red pepper because I wanted them to have a bit of a kick!

I baked them at 400 degrees but mine too about 15 minutes. Then I repeated everything with the other half of the dough. Next time I’d divide it into 4 batches so I could roll it even thinner and I’d bake it on a pizza stone.

I used a pizza cutter to cut into cracker sized pieces!

I may or may not have eaten at least 1/2 of these for lunch 🙂

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

A while ago, Brandi posted this recipe for Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup. I immediately thought about my all-time favorite Chicken Enchiladas and I knew that next time I made them, I wanted to make the cream of mushroom and cream of chicken soup at home. Well, I never got around to making them until last week, and seeing as we’re in the middle of veggie month, I had to make a few modifications….but it all worked out!

Instead of chicken enchiladas, I made a black bean and mushroom enchiladas. I started by making the cream of mushroom soup. I made a few changes to Brandi’s recipe…here’s the recipe I used:

 

[print_this]

Cream of Mushroom Soup

6 oz. portobello mushrooms, diced
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp flour
1 can (12 oz) fat free evaporated milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Directions:

1. Add mushrooms to a pan with 1 Tbsp of oil and cook until browned. Remove from the pan.
2. Add 2 Tbsp olive oil and flour and whisk together.
3. Slowly pour in the milk, whisking constantly, until mixture is smooth. Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper.
4. Bring to a simmer, then turn down the heat and let cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened.

[/print_this]

 

The original recipe had 12 oz of mushrooms. Clearly I had no idea how many mushrooms that was…and I felt like 6 oz was enough once I started chopping.

Next, since I was on such a homemade kick, I decided to tackle homemade enchilada sauce. I’d been thinking about trying to make this at home for a while now because the canned versions have so much salt. I looked at this recipe and this recipe and ended up with a mixture of the two.

 

[print_this]

Homemade Enchilada Sauce

1 1/2 c water
8 oz no-salt added tomato sauce
3 Tbsp chili powder
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp flour
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt

Directions:
1. Mix the flour oil and chili powder together in a sauce pan.
2. Add the water, tomato sauce and the remaining spices and whisk until smooth.
3. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until thickened

[/print_this]

 

The sauce was good, but next time I’d probably only use 2 Tbsp chili powder since the flavor can be a little overwhelming and I’d add a bit more cayenne.

Once both of those were prepared, I was ready to make the enchiladas.

 

[print_this]

Black Bean & Mushroom Enchiladas

2 cups black beans, cooked
1 c red pepper, diced
1 c brown rice
1 1/2 c chopped Portobello mushrooms
1 1/2 c Cream of Mushroom Soup
3/4 c low-fat Mexican cheese, divided
5 whole wheat tortillas
1/2 c enchilada sauce

Directions:
1. Mix  all of the ingredients except 1/4 c cheese in a large bowl.
2. Pour a thin layer of enchilada sauce over the bottom of a 9×13 pan.
3. Portion the mixture into the tortillas and roll up. Place seam side down in the pan.
4. Top with the remaining enchilada sauce and cheese and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

[/print_this]

 

Just ignore my sad looking tortillas…I had some trouble with the tortillas sticking together. Also ignore the fact that there are only 4 enchiladas in a smaller pan. I had some trouble with the tortillas sticking together.

So there ya have it, friends. About as homemade as enchiladas can get. Maybe I’ll even make my own tortillas next time!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

 

Hi Friends!

Allie and I have been working diligently this weekend to get Foodie Penpals up and running and we’re so excited to share the details with you.

Here’s how it’s gonna work:

-On the 1st of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact each other and get mailing addresses and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.

-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! I realize it probably won’t take 2 weeks for you to get your goodies, but this will ensure we can have everyone publish their post on the same day.

-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!

-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)

-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. *US Residents only please at this time- hopefully we can expand soon!*

So that’s the deal, friends. If you’re interested, email me at [email protected] by August 15th. In the email please include:

-your full name
-your email address
-your blog name (if applicable)

The first penpal matches will be sent September 1st. Please only sign up if you truly intend to participate. We don’t want anyone to not receive a box!

Side note: If anyone likes designing buttons and wants to make one for foodie penpals, let me know!

Please help spread the word if you know of any other bloggers/readers that might be interested! The more the merrier 🙂

Hi Friends!

I’ve had this idea floating around in my head for a while now and I’m super excited to share it with you!

Everyone likes getting mail right? I know I do! And we all know how I feel about food….put those together….food in the mail!!!

Allie of Healthy Balance, Healthy Life and I are looking to put together a group of people that are interested in being Foodie Penpals. We’re still hammering out the details but the basic gist is that once a month you would be assigned a penpal and you’d gather up some of your favorite local/healthy/foodie things and exchange them with your penpal for the month. It’d be an awesome way to try some new products, especially things local to your penpal that you might not otherwise be able to get!

After tweeting the idea on Friday, we’ve already got 10 ladies who have expressed interest!!

If you think this is something that might interest you, send me an email, leave a comment, tweet me or something to let me know. I’ll add you to the list and keep you updated as we figure out the details- like the $ limit. From there, you can decide whether or not you want to participate! Feel free to spread the word on your blog or tweet about this. The more the merrier 🙂

Happy Saturday!
–Lindsay–

This weekend we were out of town remembering and celebrating the life of my grandma.

We enjoyed our time with family members- eating, drinking and reminiscing.

We looked at pretty flowers and saw beautiful sunsets, all the while celebrating a beautiful life.

We gathered together as a family and laughed over the antics of a crazy dog.

We played Grandma’s favorite game and revisited our childhood.

And we looked at hundreds of pictures and remembered all the beautiful things grandma was a part of and gave thanks for the wonderful years we shared with her.

 

We didn’t always live close by, but she was always there for me. She watched countless soccer and basketball games, hosted a million birthday parties and holiday dinners, and she was there for every single milestone in my life- my Confirmation, all of my graduations, my wedding….She was a beautiful person, inside and out and she will be missed.

I love you Grandma.

And now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to make some of Grandma’s jello and a big bowl of Turkey Dumpling Soup.

~Lindsay~

 

 

Recently I got a reader request for a post about eating healthy on a budget, specifically including tips for grocery shopping. Lots of bloggers have written posts about this topic but I thought it might be fun to do one of my own!

So here we go:

1.  Plan, plan, plan.

-Never go to the grocery store without a list….and stick to that list! (My hubby made me a checklist that lists foods by aisle. I can circle what I need and makes it really easy to make sure you don’t miss anything on your list when you’re in the store!)
-Plan menus that use ingredients more than once so things don’t go to waste.

-Use grocery store ads to plan your meals around what’s on sale
-Use coupons, but only if they’re for things you would normally buy. There’s no sense in getting $1 off Swiss cheese if you don’t even like Swiss cheese. In the end you won’t be saving money because you’ll probably end up throwing those things away
-Same thing goes for 10 for $10 sales, don’t buy something just because it’s included in the sale if you’re not going to eat it!
-Realize that most coupons are for processed foods, which you should try to limit in your diet.
-Be realistic. Most people will always have some amount of processed food in their diet. Focus on choosing wisely for the ones you do include.
-Never grocery shop hungry. It leads to more impulse purchases!

2. Keep a well-stocked pantry
-See the post I wrote about my pantry staples for some ideas to get you started. It will be an expensive one-time investment and then it’s pretty easy to keep stocked by just replacing things one at a time as you run out

-Know what you have on hand. Don’t buy tomato sauce every time you go to the store if you already have 6 jars in your pantry.
-Keep a running list of things you run out of throughout the week so you don’t forget anything.

3. Shop in season

-Shop your local farmer’s markets in the summer and plan your menus around the things you find there.
-Grow your own vegetable garden. Seed packets are cheap and with a little planning, you can have fresh herbs and produce several months a year for a very low cost.
-Buy what’s in season. (Here’s a great list by state) Don’t try to buy strawberries in January if they’re not in season where you live. Instead, go strawberry picking in June and stock your freezer so that you can enjoy berries on the cheap all year round.
– Check out the frozen section for fruits and vegetables. The produce is usually flash frozen at its peak and therefore can be just as beneficial nutrition-wise as fresh produce.

4. Only buy organic when it matters.
-Memorize the Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fifteen (Check out my friend Jenn’s post for a great visual guide!) . In other words, don’t waste your money on organic sweet potatoes. As for meat and milk, do your own research and decide if it’s something you feel strongly enough about to spend the money on.

5. Unit cost/Buying in bulk
-I cannot stress this enough. I look at the unit cost of every single thing I buy, especially things like spices, peanut butter and chips.  The price may seem higher at the time, but it will save you money in the long run.
-On the other hand, don’t buy something in bulk just to save money if you can’t eat it or freeze it before it’s going to spoil.
-Buy and cook a whole chicken. It’s way cheaper than just buying the breasts or legs, and then you can use the bones to make stock. All it requires is a little extra time cutting.

6. Make your own
-There are TONS of things you can make at home that require very little effort and yield products that are similar to and often better than store bought (Read cheaper and healthier). Some examples: hummus, tomato sauce, crackers, bread, pizza crust, trail mix, granola, bagels, broth, lean pockets….

7. Eat less meat and more beans and other legumes
-Meat is expensive. For the most part, grains, beans and legumes are not. Buy bags of dried beans, peas, lentils, rice, quinoa, barley and cook them yourself. Most require no more than a hour of soaking before cooking, if any at all.
-Cook a whole bag of black beans at once. Portion them into Ziploc bags and store them in the freezer. When you’re ready to use them, just pull some out and defrost them n the microwave or add them directly to whatever dish you’re making.

 

8. Know your portion sizes

-If you’re eating 6 ounces of meat at every meal, of course you’re going to spend more money than you should at the grocery store. Learn to eat correct portion sizes and your food will last longer. (Click here to see portion sizes in pictures with everyday objects).
-Fill your plate the right way.

9. Just drink water
-Don’t waste your money on soda, juice and sports drinks. They’re fine to have occasionally, but if you don’t buy them every time you shop, you will save money. If you have a hard time drinking plain water, add citrus fruits or frozen (unsweetened) berries to a pitcher of water for a twist of flavor.

10. Limit processed foods

-Packaged foods are notoriously overpriced. They’re also filled with stuff you don’t need in your body. Stick with fresh, natural foods that you can combine yourself into tasty meals, rather than buying pre-packaged meals filled with who knows what.

11. Read the labels. I buy Kashi 7 grain crackers instead of Wheat Thins. Are they more expensive? Yes. Are they better for me? Yes. They have less sodium and sugar and more fiber and protein. Is that worth the extra money to me? Yes.

12. Stock up when things are on sale. Check the expiration dates and the amount of space in your freezer and then buy several when things go on sale. This can save you a lot of money, especially on things like meat, as long as you have a place to store it!

13. Consider store brand products.
I’ll be the first to admit that there are definitely some things that I refuse to buy store brand. However, for the most part, store brand products have the exact same ingredients as name brand and can usually be found at a MUCH lower price! Just remember to check the nutrition facts and compare between brands as usual.

So there you have it. Eating healthy on a budget can be a challenge, but with a little effort it can be done.

Some other posts that may be of interest:

Cutting Down our Grocery Bill from The Avid Appetite
Grocery Budget from Yes I Want Cake
Saving on Groceries from Faith, Fitness, Fun
Getting it Under Control from AliGirl Cooks
Eat Well, Spend Less from GoodLife Eats

Any other tips that I might have missed?!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Recently, I cooked up a whole bag of black beans to restock my freezer supply. Usually I try to undercook them just a bit because when I add them to different dishes, they tend to cook a bit more.

However, I accidentally overcooked this batch a little bit. They’ll still be fine, and I still put most of them in the freezer…but I decided that since they were a bit mushy, they might be good in a dip.

Honestly, I’m not a big fan of black beans by themselves. So I didn’t want to make just a plain old black bean dip because I knew I wouldn’t like the flavor. I had an avocado that was nice and ripe and I found myself wondering what a mix of those two flavors would taste like.

I put some beans in the food processor, added an avocado, a little bit of Greek yogurt and the juice of one lemon and gave it a whirl. I made mine pretty smooth, but you could achieve a similar, yet chunkier, result by simply mashing the beans and avocado by hand and then mixing in the yogurt and juice.

Since I do prefer a chunky guacamole, I added some red onion and tomato to the mix for some texture.

I also added some cayenne pepper for a little extra kick!

It turned out great! The avocado flavor definitely covers up the black bean flavor and adding the beans and yogurt help boost the amount of protein! Protein and healthy fats? Yes please!

Printable recipe below- quantities are estimated since I didn’t measure anything!

 

 

Eating this with some Food Should Taste Good jalapeno chips was pretty much the best thing ever! By the way, have you entered my Food Should Taste Good giveaway for your chance to win five bags of chips?!

What’s your favorite way to eat guacamole? Mine is probably on a chicken and guac panini! YUM!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

For my last birthday, my sister got me this cookbook.

Since my birthday happened to fall right in the middle of my busiest quarter at school, I haven’t had much time to look through it until recently. After spending some time browsing the recipes, one really stood out to me.

Crockpot Granola.

Does that sounds genius or what? I don’t know about you but I always seem to burn granola when I make it in the oven. I get annoyed that it takes so long and I slowly keep turning up the temperature on the oven…and then BAM! it burns. and then I’m sad.

So I decided to give it a dry. The cookbook suggests cooking it on high for an hour and a half and then turning it down. It also suggests melting the liquid stuff like honey and peanut butter in the crockpot and then adding the other stuff. I opted to just melt the peanut butter and honey in the microwave, then mix in the oats and other stuff and dump it all in the crockpot. I cooked mine on low because my crockpot tends to run hot.

A couple things to remember:

1) You do have to stir this granola….about once every half hour. That makes this a great recipe for a Sunday afternoon when you’re hanging around the house anyways…perhaps doing some food prep for the week?

2) Watch your granola carefully. I only cooked mine for about 3 hours even though the recipe said almost 6 hours. It definitely depends on your crockpot.

3) After reading some other recipes online, I left the lid cracked on my crockpot even though my recipe didn’t say to. Leaving the lid on can lead to some soggy granola!

So let’s get started shall we?

The best thing about granola is you can put in pretty much whatever you want….and you don’t need exact measurements. Use your favorite recipe or check out one of mine. This time I used oats, raw, unsalted sunflower seeds and almonds, wheat germ and flax seed. In a small bowl I warmed up some honey, peanut butter and vanilla.

Spray your crockpot, stir to combine and pour into the crockpot:

Cook on low, with the lid tilted for 3-4 hours, stirring every half hour until golden brown. Remove from the crockpot and spread on a sheet tray to cool. Stir in your favorite mix-ins! I added raisins, craisins and a few chocolate chips.

If forget about your granola and don’t stir it, some will burn. Just scoop that out and move forward 🙂

Store in an airtight container for up to a month.

And might I suggest making a batch of granola cookies with your new homemade treat?!

Do you have a favorite granola recipe? Share it with me!! I love putting vanilla in mine!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

Last week I made a trip to a new-to-me farmer’s market that was opening for it’s first week of the season. I wasn’t sure what to expect since it’s a smaller market, so I tried not to get too excited…but to my delight, I came home with two bags stuffed full of goodies.

First up, my absolute favorite peaches. It was their first pick of the season and I immediately grabbed a bag.

Next up, potatoes. The hubby and I absolutely love roasted potatoes and when I was these tiny little butter potatoes I knew I just had to have them.

At the next stall there were some beautiful green onions. Since I was fresh out at home, I snagged a bundle:

Finally, I picked out some sweet corn and tomatoes…then I hit the road. My mind was racing the whole way home about what I could make with all of these delicious goodies.

Here’s what I did:

I washed the potatoes, then halved or quartered them depending on their size. I put them on a pan with a couple strips of turkey bacon. (You could definitely pick up some great bacon at the Farmer’s Market, but I happened to have some at home already from last week!). Turkey bacon doesn’t produce a lot of grease, but it does make some, and I knew the potatoes would be delicious if they took a little tumble in some of that grease after the bacon was done cooking 🙂

Next I chopped the green onions and set them aside:

Next up, corn. I love grilling corn in the summer to give it a deeper flavor so I prepped three of the ears for the grill by pulling the husks back carefully and removing as much silk as possible. Then I grilled them for about 10 minutes, turning often.

 

 Once the corn had cooled enough, I sliced it off the cob and into a big bowl. I chopped up the bacon and added it to the bowl, along with some black beans that I defrosted from the freezer and the green onions. When the potatoes finished roasting, I added them as well.

If you want, you can add a little of your favorite Parmesan-type cheese. Stir to combine and serve while still warm.

 

 

We ate ours for dinner with some BBQ Babyback Ribs, and then enjoyed the leftovers for breakfast!

For dessert, I suggest you throw some of those peaches on the grill. Top with ice cream or yogurt and enjoy 🙂

What’s the best thing you’ve created with your farmer’s market finds?

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–

 

Last night I made one kick-ass dinner. *Not to toot my own horn or anything…* But seriously, it was really good! Let’s recap, shall we?

We picked up some ribs at the grocery store earlier this week. This is important 1) Because I’ve never bought ribs before. 2) Because I’ve never made ribs before and 3) Because I don’t even eat them that often. HOWEVER, I did grow up in Kansas City- hellooo BBQ – so I’ve eaten some pretty good BBQ in my time. In addition, my mother-in-law makes great ribs, which the hubby is used to eating, so….

I felt like I had some major shoes to fill and I’m not gonna lie, I was a little nervous about it.

A while back, Tina posted this recipe for Crockpot BBQ Ribs and I immediately bookmarked it because I generally feel that even if it’s something I’m not familiar with, if it’s done in the crockpot, I can handle it.

After talking to the hubby about it, he expressed his concern that sometimes meat cooked in our crockpot gets a little dried out. AND it just so happened that my crockpot was already in use yesterday because I was making some crockpot granola (recipe coming soon!). So, I decided it would just be better for everyone if I started the ribs in the oven.

After a quick text to the MIL for a time and temperature check, I got to work. Besides subbing the oven for the crockpot, I pretty much followed Tina’s recipe.

I made some of her BBQ spice rub, but I cut the recipe in half and made a few slight adjustments. Here’s the recipe I used. It made about 1/2 a cup of rub and I only ended up using about half of it and saving the rest.

 

[print_this]

BBQ Spice Rub
2 Tbsp Cumin
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp Paprika
2 Tbsp Chili Powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground Black Pepper
1 tsp Garlic Powder

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and stir until well mixed.

[/print_this]

 

Next, I followed her directions to doctor up some regular BBQ sauce. Normally I would have been lazy and just used all KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce…but I was running a little low and her way seemed like a good way to bulk it up a little bit!

 

[print_this]

Doctored Up BBQ Sauce
1 cup bbq sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup mustard
1/4 c white vinegar

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and mix well.

[/print_this]

 

With my rub and my sauce ready to go, I took the ribs out of the fridge and got busy. I patted the ribs dry with paper towels and then liberally rubbed the spice mixture all over both sides. Even with my liberal application, I still only used about 1/4 c of the spice rub and I think that was plenty. So, if you don’t want any leftovers, you could halve the recipe above. *Also note that I only had one rack of ribs, about 2.4 pounds. If you had two racks, 1/2 c of spice rub would probably be just the right about.

Next, I covered a jelly roll pan in foil. I laid out two more pieces of foil and transferred the ribs to the foil. I poured half the sauce on the ribs and used a brush to spread it all over one side. Then I carefully flipped them over and poured the rest of the sauce on the other side. Finally, I wrapped the loose foil around the ribs to make a rib packet of sorts. I put the foil packet on the foil covered tray (for easy cleanup in case any sauce leaked out of the packet) and put the whole thing in the oven at 300 degrees for 3 hours.

 

After three hours, I took the ribs out and unwrapped the foil packet. Then it was time to finish them on the grill. I timed it so that the hubby could light the grill about 1/2 an hour before the ribs were ready to come out of the oven. Then I just unwrapped them, pulled them into sections for ease of flipping and put them on the grill.

I grilled them for a few minutes, flipped them and then flipped them twice more (only about 10 minutes total on the grill since they’re already cooked) and then I transferred them to a nice big platter.

 

Just before serving, I brushed on another layer of KC Masterpiece sauce. These were delicious! The meat was fall-off-the-bone tender and had great flavor. The hubby said, “My only complaint is that you only bought one rack.” That’s a win in my book, friends 🙂

Oh and if you’re wondering about that nice little potato hash you see on the side there, that was another winner! Stay tuned for the recipe 😉

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–