Ingredients

• 1 jicama, about 1 pound
• 3 small oranges or tangerines
• salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh basil

Method

1. Peel the jicama and cut it into small cubes, 1/4 inch or so, or into julienne strips.
2. Squeeze the juice from one of the oranges, pour it over the jicama, add salt and lime juice, and let it sit while you prepare the other oranges. The jicama may marinate for several hours if you wish.
3. Peel the remaining oranges and cut into small pieces, removing any pits and tought fibrous material. Add oranges and basil to jicama, toss, taste and correct seasoning and serve.

From p. 101 of Mark Bittman's "How to cook everything."

So I made this for the first time and skipped both the salt and lime juice. I let the jicama soak in the juice of two oranges for six hours. I doubt the jicama picked up any flavor.

But it was great. I served it as a partner to chicken Tinga. Great combo. I'm really not all that fond of jicama, although my mother likes it. This I will make again, though.

1 Beef Roast 3-5 lbs
1 packet Italian dressing mix
1 packet Ranch dressing mix
1 packet Brown gravy mix
1 cup water
1 chopped onion (optional)

Mix packets with water. Add roast to crockpot and then pour the water over the top. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Baste the roast several times with the drippings. You can serve with the au jus or thicken it in a sauce pan with some butter/flour/cornstarch to make gravy.

Commentary: this is the first time I've made this, so I'm using the actual packets they've shown. It's pretty ridiculous, though, to pay $2.50 for a paltry packet of spices. The others are no better; see the bill below. The Kroger brand equivalents cost about a third of the price of the brand names. If this works out well this time, I'll try the cheaper version next time. Of course, sometimes you do get what you pay for.

I didn't know what kind of roast to buy. The butcher said that if it's going in a crock pot, then it should be a chuck roast. I asked why. He said other roasts have too little fat, so they won't shred nicely at the end. Memorize that, Donald.

I used my Fry's card, which means my roast, which was priced at $21.39, only cost me $13.74. Can you believe that there is an essentially $8 penalty for not letting them track your data? It's ridiculous.

Source of recipe: Crock Pot Heaven.

Results: this turned out okay. No great shakes. I will eat it again when I'm hungry, and I wouldn't be ashamed to serve it to guests. But frankly the taste is just ok. The juice left over in the crockpot is tasty. I ran it through the blender to get rid of the onion chunks. Very good on both the meat and potatoes.

2013-11-21: Y'know, my first impression of this recipe is that it was entirely mediocre and white trash. But in reheating when you are desperate for something to eat, it is entirely tasty. I think that this means it is time to try the recipe again with generic equivalents of the packets.

Ingredients

1 lg head of cauliflower, chopped/shredded
1 1/2 cups of salted peanuts (red, skinned, Spanish)
7 oz dried cranberries
2/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup sugar

Method

Place cauliflower, peanuts & cranberries in bowl. Mix mayo & sugar together. Stir into salad. Mix thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour. Makes 10 cups.

Thanks to Katie for the recipe. I had the salad at a picnic on Sept 1, 2013. She thinks she got the recipe decades ago from a Sunset magazine.

Ingredients

• one quarter head of cabbage, shredded fine
• juice of two small lemons
• salsa brava

Method

Mix cabbage with lemon juice till all the cabbage is covered. Mix with enough salsa brava to cover all the cabbage. Makes two servings.

I liked this.

Today I'm trying a recipe found at SimplyRecipes.com.

The Rub:

• 4 Tbsp chili powder
• 1 Tbsp kosher salt
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 teaspoon ground oregano
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• Scant pinch of ground cloves

The roast:

• 3 1/2 pound boneless pork shoulder roast
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil

Method:

1. Whisk together the rub ingredients in a small bowl.
2. If the roast is tied up with butcher string, untie it. Pat the roast dry with paper towels. Rub the spice mix into the roast all over, reserving any leftover spice mix for later. Marinate in the rub at least one hour or overnight.
3. Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan on medium high heat. (If you are using a slow cooker with a removable container that can be used on the stovetop, use that, otherwise use a separate pan.) Place the roast in the pan and brown on all sides.
4. Place the roast in a slow cooker, and add any reserved spice rub. Cook on the low setting for 6 to 10 hours, until the pork is fall apart tender.
5. Remove the roast from the slow cooker and place on a cutting board. Cut into large chunks. Then use two forks to pull the meat apart into bite sized shreds. Return the shreds to the slow cooker and toss to coat with the juice from the roast.

I recently downloaded an e-book entitled “Atkins Low Carb Diet Recipes” by Adam K. Randle. This recipe was the first one I tried. The book cost all of $1.99, so if I get even one repeatable recipe from it, it will be good. Actually, I think I'll get a bundle from this one.

So this recipe, Jello-Cream Mold, is kind of white trash. The gelatin is sugar free, but you add cream cheese and cream. You let it cool overnight.

The flavor is okay, but it tastes somehow... hm, how do I phrase this... hollow, I suppose. Real sugar has a flavor that its fake counterparts just don't have.

The original recipe is here.

Ingredients

• 3-4 lbs pork
• 1/2 cup vinegar
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 cup water
• 2-3 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons whole peppercorns
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 large onion, chopped

Procedure

1. Put everything in crockpot. Cook on low for ten hours.
2. Remove meat. Shred. Remove the bay leaves from the sauce. Run the sauce through a strainer to remove the peppercorns. Recombine the sauce with the meat.

Results

This turned out okay. Next time I would put the peppercorns in cheese cloth so that they can be removed more easily. The original recipe adds some pepper and salt. I forgot them, but the recipe was quite salty enough as is. It's not my favorite recipe ever, but it is certainly edible.

I want to add more fruits and vegetables to my diet. This idea crossed my mind.

• ¼ head of green cabbage
• 1 large Granny Smith apple
• juice of 1 large lemon (3 tbsp)

Shred the apple in a food processor. Add the lemon juice so it soaks the apple parts so they won't turn brown. Shred the cabbage in the food processor. Remove everything to a bowl. Mix thoroughly.

Result? I really like this stuff.

If I were to make this for my niece and nephew, I might add a tablespoon of honey.

I adapted this from the "mango salad" recipe on pg. 59 of "The Four Ingredient Cookbooks…".

Ingredients

2 three-ounce pkgs Lemon Jello
2 cups boiling water
26 oz mango puree
8 oz cream cheese, softened

Procedure

Dissolve Jello in boiling water; set aside. Mix mango purée and cream cheese until mostly smooth, then add Jello. Refrigerate overnight until set.

Results

Tasty. This is a repeater, especially since there are no wheat products involved, so family members with Celiac disease could eat it. The recipe took a very long time to set, so definitely leave time overnight.

For next time

Next time I will try it with half the amount of mango purée to see if it makes a difference in the setting time and flavor.

Ingredients

Divided into four portions, that's about 235 calories per serving, but bear in mind that the package of chicken breasts assumes that each breast is 7 oz.

Procedure

1. Put onions and then chicken in crockpot. Mix these spices

   • 1 tbsp mixed Italian spices
   • 2 tsp garlic powder
   • 2 tsp onion powder
   • 1 tsp ground cumin
   • ½ tsp red pepper

   with ½ cup of water. Pour over chicken. Cook on high for 2 hours on the porch.

2. Add green chiles. Cook for another hour (maybe two) on low

This came out pretty tasty. Next time I think I'll add half a teaspoon or a teaspoon of salt.