The week started off on a high note…. On Monday, I made Ritz cracker chicken with a side of rice and steamed broccoli. It was delicious.
And then, the HH decided to fire up the smoker. {Again!} What is this, like the fourth time in four weeks? OH MY WORD. Someone needs to stop him. At this rate, we’ll be living out of a covered wagon and he’ll be shooting critters and I’ll be wearing a prairie dress because smoking meat over a camp fire in the woods is the obvious next step… right?
Eggs and weenies for breakfast.
BBQ chili for dinner… 2 nights in a row!
How does one make leftover BBQ chili you ask?
- 2 cans chili beans
- 1 can Rotel
- a ridiculous amount of leftover BBQ meat
Simmer on low for 3 hours and serve it up with a little corn bread on the side.
But wait, there was STILL some extra BBQ sitting in the fridge after eating it for dinner 3 nights in a row and when I asked the HH what he wanted me to make with it, he replied, “those beans you made last week…. those were really good.”
And so this time {since so many people asked if it was possible} I tried the recipe in the Crock Pot. And the end result? They didn’t turn out as good as the oven baked version. In the oven baked version, you uncover the dish and cook for an additional 45 -60 minutes so the sauce can thicken.
And well, in a Crock Pot, you can’t do that and so the beans were a little on the soupy side. They were still good, but we decided we both prefer the baked version better. Saturday night beans, two nights in a row, right after having chili for the previous two dinners… I wouldn’t recommend it.
And if eating ALL THAT MEAT wasn’t enough…. Yesterday I threw a roast in the Crock Pot because I was going to be gone all day at an art class. I should have turned the dial to high instead of low because the meat didn’t turn out {fall apart} the way a pot roast is supposed to and dinner not only looked, but tasted like institutional food. Not to self: peas and carrots… never a good idea.
Oh well. Every week can’t be a winner. Some weeks have a cowpoke theme, and others {like this coming week!} will be a salad extravaganza. Because seriously, a girl can only handle so many beans and weenies.
Have a wonderful day Monday everyone. 🙂 🙂 🙂 Hide the BBQ’s!
~Mavis
Total Spent on Groceries This Week $0
- Total Spent on Groceries in April $284.56 {My husband bought a smoker and a BUNCH of meat!}
- Total Spent on Groceries in March $321.69
- Total Spent on Groceries in February $220.92
- Total Spent in January on Groceries $41.19
- Total Spent So Far on Groceries in 2019 $868.25 {Goal is to average $150 – $175 a month for the year}
You can go HERE to read more Shopping Trip Stories.
George says
Slow cooker hint: to thicken a sauce after a slow cook period leave the lid off for the last hour and turn the heat up on high. The extra liquid will evaporate off instead of condensate under the lid.
Lisa Rostocki says
Maybe instead of meat during the pepper growing season your husband can try making some smoked dried chilis(if you grow a variety that will smoke well). That is a lot of smoked meat only so much of that you can eat at a time. (I love BBQ but even I couldn’t eat that much of it)
I have a neighbor with a smoker and she always complains that her husband is cooking too much smoked meat for them to eat too lol!
Laura T. says
You’re funny! You can’t live out of a wagon unless you get one that will have room for the smoker! You can wear your pilgrim dress! It’s almost like a prairie dress! It’s nice that he’s enjoying his new toy! We don’t have a huge yard but my husband is now obsessed with a small riding mower that he saw. That will probably be his new toy!
Nancy D says
Hahaha! I just imagined you in your class after several days of bean dishes! (Hopefully it was an outdoor class!?)
Carolyn Cooper says
Ah, yes—the difference between between men and boys is the price of their toys!
Jeanie M says
Your husband is normal for a guy with a smoker. So Saturday I tried making a pulled pork BBQ pizza using toppings similar to the nachos. It was yummy! Do you ever bag & freeze the leftover pulled pork or brisket? It’s very handy as a freezer meal on busy days!
Beth says
You’re so funny! My husband showed me the “awesome smoker he has been looking at for a long time” when we were Lowes this weekend to get hanging baskets (not to look at smokers)…I said “So if you get this one, what will you do with the one you have”….his answer was “Donate it”…and he went on pointing out the features of this coveted smoker…”Look you can use it as an oven”…umm no thanks…I have 2 ovens inside. I know we are probably getting this smoker soon but using it as an oven..men do not think like women!!
I made 40 enchiladas yesterday…two kinds…ground beef in red sauce (meh) and shredded chicken with cream cheese in green sauce (delish)…for seven people…yeah, I’m freezing lots of them for later…
Diane says
Would you care to share the chicken recipe?
Beth says
I based it on this recipe-www.iheartnaptime.net/green-chile-enchiladas- I didn’t include the chopped green chilies. I doubled the ingredients and used mexcan cheese instead of pepper jack cheese. Everyone loved it!
Diane says
Thanks! I might try that this week! Are green chilies spicy? I’ll reduce or delete the chili powder because my son only eats pretty mild food.
Diane says
I sometimes take the lid off my crockpot at the end if I need to let Juices evaporate. You need to let some of the liquid evaporate, just as you did by taking the cover off in the oven. Make sure any meat is done cooking first.
Cher says
My husband is smoker obsessed too…I love it! I rarely cook meat in the house anymore. I find smoked chicken breasts to be the most versatile for leftovers. When bone in chicken breasts go on sale for under a dollar a pound, we buy enough to fill the smoker. Brine overnight in a ratio of 1/2 gallon of water with 1/4 C each brown sugar and salt. Then smoke. Great to eat plain, on salad or sandwiches, or in any recipe where you’d use leftover chicken. What I can’t use the week of, we vacuum seal and freeze for future easy meals.
Margery says
Time for him to start his own side hustle. Selling smoked meat for those who don’t want to do it themselves. Look into the local rules, we have a guy who smokes and the frezze the meat and takes orders for parties.
Marcia says
All those beans, I wouldn’t recommend it… I literally LOLd
Linda says
I’ve been giggling over your post and the “mushroom cloud” I imagine over your house from all the BBQ and beans. I read it to my husband and he laughed, too. SOOOO glad we don’t have a smoker. But it really is great that he has been cooking so much recently.
I volunteer for the nearby Theatre Association and worked “Annie” twice this weekend, so the whole time I was reading your post, my head was still singing “It’s a Hard Knock Life” Appropriate, huh?
Mel says
I always freezer cook over the summer, so I need to remember to have my husband grill/smoke so I can freeze grilled chicken and things like that.
For now, I am in the home stretch of semester ending, office moving, spring vegetable garden planting, chicken coop building, baby chick relocating (from the brooder to the coop), and probably a few things I’m forgetting. So, for now, meals are whatever frozen thing I grab while sprinting through the grocery store. When things finally settle—and I cannot wait for them to do that—I look forward to cooking for real again. I really miss homemade bread and have several recipes lined up.
Lolly says
Mavis, he can smoke chicken + ribs, too! For a variety! 😉 My dh brined and smoked our thanksgiving turkey two yrs ago….and it was AMAZING! I think he followed the pioneer woman brining recipe? Maybe? (We brined it in a cooler, cause it was big enough for the turkey.) I’m sure there is more he can smoke, too! Yum!
That pork meat can be pulled and frozen….and used later for tacos and soups (brunswick and camp stews come to mind….drool) and enchiladas and carnitas and also bbq sandwiches. Dh doesn’t smoke a boston butt a week, lol, but when he does smoke one, after day two or three I portion the meat into baggies to use later. Or I season some of it up and roll into burritos or enchiladas and freeze. Pretty sure I use your enchilada sauce, quadrupled….adding some cocoa powder to it (unless your recipe calls for cocoa powder….then I just follow it, lol….it’s been awhile since I made some sauce…I need to again). Oh, and down in the deep south they make huuuuge baked potatoes and top it with butter, s&p, and then a pile of smoked meat….I prefer chicken but they also do boston butt. You then add sour cream and/or bbq sauce! I can’t eat all of it….but with smoked meat….it’s drool-worthy!
Helen in Meridian says
You should have the HH smoke hunks of cheddar cheese. My nephew would do this for christmas gifts, then Seal them on the machine.`
Lolly says
Oooh, that sounds soooo yum!
Mary Anna deForrest-Pearce says
Smoked turkey, either a breast or whole bird, is wonderful! And the leftover smoked meat can go in the freezer for a week when it rains every day.