Kate Gosselin's Love Is in the Mix (4 page)

Put the roast, water, and salt in a slow cooker. Cover and simmer on low for 7 to 8 hours until the meat is very tender. Remove the meat from the slow cooker and shred, using two forks.

Skim the fat from the liquid in the slow cooker and discard. Then add the steak sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, and chile sauce to the liquid in the pot. Mix well. Return the meat to the sauce mixture and stir to coat. Cover and cook on low for an additional 1 hour.

In a sauté pan on the stove top, sauté the celery and onions in olive oil until tender, about 20 minutes. Add them to the slow cooker, stir, and cover for an additional 30 minutes. Serve on toasted buns.

P
oppy Seed Chicken is well loved in our house. This version—which I’ve adapted from a church friend’s recipe—was made for us one night for dinner as we were drowning in bottles, diapers, and babies! It’s quick, easy, and delicious.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the cooked chicken on the bottom of a 9 by 13-inch baking dish and sprinkle the peas evenly on top of it.

In a small bowl, combine the sour cream and the soup until it’s well mixed, and then pour it over the chicken and peas. Sprinkle with the Ritz cracker crumbs and then the poppy seeds. Pour the butter on top.

Bake uncovered for 30 to 40 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly.

W
hen there’s something to celebrate, this is our family meal of choice. Teriyaki marinated filet is known as my kids’ “favorite chicken” (despite the fact that they are actually eating filet mignon and not chicken) and is a real treat for us!

Pierce the meat in a few places using a knife and cutting against the grain. Place the meat and all of the remaining ingredients in a gallon-sized resealable plastic bag. Close the bag, sealing out any air. Gently shake the bag to coat the meat.

Place the bag flat on a dinner plate and put it in the fridge to marinate, for a minimum of 8 hours and up to 2 days. Flip the bag over every time you open the fridge for any reason (at least once every few hours).

Grill the meat, using the marinade to baste it each time it is turned during the first 5 to 10 minutes. Enjoy!

T
hese recipes are what my family
is eating for dinner during any given week as well as on special occasions. Not only do I enjoy cooking these meals for my kids, but they are enjoyed by visiting friends and family, too. The best part? They are wholesome meals but simple, straightforward, and scrumptious. These are meals any mom can make and still be able to enjoy the festivities.

M
y family is very saucy! In the past, I used to buy jarred sauce and doctor it up—until I started using this sauce, a recipe inspired by Nana Janet (who also cooked the “old-fashioned way”). Serve this over pasta or use it in your lasagna, eggplant Parmesan, or wherever spaghetti sauce is needed—it’s very versatile.

Place all of the ingredients in a large pot and mix well.

Bring the sauce to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, uncovered. Stir often, for 3 to 4 hours, until all of the ingredients combine into a rich, hearty sauce.

A
nything with noodles and cheese goes over well in our house. I love this meal because it’s one of those one dish nutritiously complete meals. I am health conscious, so I only make this recipe occasionally because of the higher fat content. Nevertheless, it’s a keeper!

In a large skillet on medium heat, melt half of the butter and stir in the half-and-half and the milk. Cook until thickened and then add 1 cup of the Parmesan cheese.

Add the hot noodles to the sauce and toss gently. Add the remaining Parmesan cheese and the remaining butter and stir until combined. Add the cooked chicken, the steamed broccoli, the salt, and pepper. Stir until well coated and then serve.

I
f it’s hot outside why not add some heat to the hamburgers, too? We do! Then we cool off in the pool before we watch the fireworks together. It’s a family summer tradition.

Turn on the outdoor grill to medium heat or set your oven to broil.

Using your hands, mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl until well combined. Form the mixture into 8 equal-sized hamburger patties.

Grill on the outdoor grill for 5 to 8 minutes on each side, or broil on a nongreased cookie sheet in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes, turning halfway through. I like to serve this with
Sizzlin’ Summer Pasta Salad
and
Gosselin Guac
and chips.

T
his ham has rescued my Christmas! After doing Thanksgiving turkeys and sides, by Christmas I am ready to take a little break. I get up very early on Christmas morning and put my ham into the slow cooker (it only takes about 10 minutes to prepare). Once it starts cooking, I finish preparing my sticky buns for breakfast. If I’m lucky, I can sneak back into bed before the eight eager gift snoopers attack.

Mix the brown sugar, water, and honey together in a small bowl. Pour three-quarters of the mixture into the slow cooker, spreading to cover the bottom evenly.

Place the ham sliced-side down into the slow cooker. Cover the top sides of the ham with the remaining mixture. Cover the pot and set to low. Cook for 6 to 8 hours and then serve.

If you have leftover ham, use it to make the
Happy Face Hash Brown Casserole
. Your family will be happy you did.

T
his is my grandma’s recipe with a few of my own personal touches. I remember requesting this as my birthday dinner every year growing up. Of course, I would always eat the “stuffed” part and give Grandma my pepper. She happily accepted all of my brother and sister’s peppers, too, and ate them so nothing went to waste. That was my grandma. Today, I find that I am the pepper eater—although my kids do eat part of theirs, at least.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Precook the peppers in boiling water on the stove top until “limp,” as my grandma would say.

In a large bowl, using your hands, mix the garlic, onion, rosemary, ground beef, and rice. Stuff the peppers three-quarters full with the meat mixture and place in an 8 by 10-inch pan. Pour the pureed tomatoes over the green peppers and season with salt and pepper. Bake, covered, at 350 degrees until lightly browned, approximately 50 minutes. Serve with a garden salad.

T
his scrumptious dinner started out as “I don’t know what I’m making,” which often leads to many new and delicious inventions in my kitchen. I had just cooked a turkey carcass, had made fresh bread dough, and I had a variety of fresh and frozen vegetables on hand as always. My Turkey Pot Pie earned scores of 9 and 10 from my gaggle of Gosselins! Not a bad result considering I was “playing with my food” just an hour prior to serving it.