Scrumptious Sunday Recipe Link Party #45

Hello friends, Happy Sunday to you!  How has your weekend been?  Ours has been GREAT!  Hockey, swimming, visiting with family and cleaning the house (yes...I am excited about cleaning the house...I'm in a bit of a purging mode...eeks!). 

We've had a beautiful, snowy weekend, and I've been busy prepping in the kitchen for back to school and back to work on Monday.  Muffins baked, a few lunches pre-made.  Fruit washed, cut and ready.  And laundry almost done.  Phew!  It's no wonder I'm tired! LOL

Before we get to the party....did you know that my FIRST BLOGIVERSARY is coming at the end of the month?!  It is!  Yah!  And I would like to celebrate with some giveaways!  If you are interesting in sponsoring a giveaway, please contact me at addicted2recipes at gmail dot com.  Thanks so much in advance!

Now, onto the PARTY!  Scrumptious Sunday Recipe Link Party #45 is now LIVE!  And I can't wait to see what you bring to the party!  Here is the link to take you to the party!

Have a GREAT day!

Scrumptious Sunday #44 Features

Hello everyone, that you so much for joining me here today at Addicted to Recipes.  It's Feature Friday!  Today's I am showcasing features from this week's Scrumptious Sunday link party.  What a great selection of recipes that you shared - thank you! 
 
If you are featured this week, please grab a BUTTON!

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Here are this week's features!
 
Gluten Free Apple Upside Down Cake from The Mandatory Mooch

 

Apple Cinnamon Loaf with Cinnamon Sugar Topping from I Heart Eating

 

 

Cheesy Smoked Gruyere Chicken from Sunflower Supper Club

Aunt Katie's White Lasagne from Half Baked Harvest 

 

 
All of these recipes will be pinned to my Pinterest account, posted on Twitter, and shared on Facebook!

Just a reminder, this week's Scrumptious Sunday Link Party goes live Saturday - at 8 pm PST. Can't wait to see what you bring to the party!

Welcome to 2013

Welcome to 2013!  I'm a few days late getting my "plan" in writing for this year, but I wanted to take a quick moment to let you know what I've got in mind for Addicted to Recipes for 2013.

Sunday - Scrumptious Sunday Recipe Link Party (party will usually go live at 8 pm PST on Saturday evening)

Monday - New recipe post

Tuesday - Recipe Recap (starting end of January)

Wednesday - Guest post (as applicable)

Thursday - Currently Slow Cooker Thursday.  Will change once hockey season is over!

Friday - Feature Friday (featuring posts from that week's Scrumptious Sunday)

Saturday - Sponsor / Product Review Saturday (as applicable)

Yes, that's correct, I could have up to 7 posts per week.  Wish me luck!  And I look forward to spending 2013 with you!

Beef in Beer Pot Roast - Slow Cooker Thursday

Happy New Year Everyone!  I'm back from Christmas break and getting into the swing of things.  School starts again on Monday so I am enjoying a few extra days home with the kids.  However, the Christmas break for hockey is over, and we are at the rink for the next 3 out of 4 days.  So...

Guess what??! It's time for the next installment of Slow Cooker Thursday!  Did you miss it?  Yes!  SLOW COOKER THURSDAY is back...and better than ever!  How so, you ask?  Well, because I now have a brand new Crock-Pot!  So So SO excited about it!  My "old" Crock-Pot still worked just fine, though sometimes I wondered if she was getting tired.  I'd had her for a very long time, and she was always a faithful friend!  I'll be passing her along to a friend who was needing a replacement - so my old friend will still be doing "her thing" but for another family :-)  My new Crock-Pot is beautiful - nice and shiny, and 1 quart bigger than my old one.  I love that it has a timer on it for 4, 6, 8 or 10 hours (corresponding with high and low settings).  I'm used to three choices...off, high and low. A little bit of adjusting for me, but in a very good way.  There's also a warming feature, which I love. 

My first meal with my new Crock-Pot for Slow Cooker Thursday was Beef in Beer Pot Roast.  With turkey season upon us, shaking it up with a roast is always a good thing!  I found the recipe in my Best of Bridge Slow Cooker Cookbook, and figured, beef, beer...my husband will love it!  I also liked the mix of sweet potatoes and potatoes, a nice change.  Here is the recipe:

Beef in Beer Pot Roast

4 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 2 inch cubes
3-4 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 boneless roast (the recipe calls for beef chuck, blade or cross rib roast) - 3-4 lbs
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1 medium-sized onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons flour
1 bottle (12 oz/341 mL) beer (light-coloured)
1 cup beef broth
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup peas, frozen
1 tablespoon brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Chopped fresh parsley (optional, to taste)

In a 5 to 6 quart slow cooker, combine carrots, sweet potato and potatoes.  Season the beef well with the salt and pepper.  In a large skillet, heat half of the oil over medium heat.  Add the roast to the skillet, brown on all sides.  Once browned, transfer to the slow cooker.  Reduce heat in the skillet, add the remaining oil.  Add in the onions, garlic, thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4-1/2 teaspoon pepper and tomato paste.  Cook, stirring frequently for 5 minutes.  Add in the flour, whisk in the beer, broth and Worcestershire sauce.  Stir to scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the skillet. Bring to a boil.  Once boiling, remove from heat and pour over the roast (which is waiting in the slow cooker).  Cover and cook on low for about 7-8 hours or on high for 3 1/2-4 hours, or until the roast is cooked to your liking (good thing for trusty meat thermometers - we tend to cook our roasts for less time so they have plenty of time to rest and stay tender).  Transfer the beef to a cutting board, cover with foil and allow to rest.  Now this is where the original recipe and I differ.  The recipe suggests leaving the roast to sit for 10 minutes, whereas I left my roast to sit for the last 20 minutes while the rest of the recipe was prepared.  Once the roast has been removed from the cooker, add in the peas, brown sugar and balsamic vinegar into the slow cooker.  Add in salt and/or pepper as needed (taste, taste, taste!).  Cover and cook on high for approximately 20 minutes, or until the peas are hot.  Slice your roast across the grain or pull apart into chunks.  Serve topped with vegetables and gravy.  Garnish with parsley as desired.

VERDICT
As expected, my husband loved this dish.  Pretty sure he said it was his favourite slow cooker dinner yet.  The kids were so-so about it.  I enjoyed it, I liked the added "something" that came with the addition of the beer to the mix.  We will make this again :-)

Disclosure - I received product in exchange for my honest opinion.  The views expressed in this post are solely my own.

Top 10 Recipes from 2012

It's countdown time!  It's New Year's Eve!  A day all about counting down...and time to add my Top 10 of 2012 into the mix!  What a great year with so many fabulous recipes - both that I found and tried, and all those fantastic recipe at my weekly Scrumptious Sunday Recipe Link Party!  Thank you for helping me maintain my addiction.

Here are my Top 10 Recipes of 2012, as picked by you, my readers! (Click on the recipe name to take you to the full recipe!)

10) Nanaimo Bar Ice Cream Cake

 

9) Carrot Pineapple Raisin Bran Muffins

8) Italian Cream Soda

7) Fudgy Nutella Brownies with Cream Cheese Icing

6) Baked Not Fried French Fries

 

5)  Blueberry Buttermilk Breakfast Cake

4) Chicken Pot Pie Cupcakes

3) Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork Sandwiches

2) Spaghetti Squash Casserole

1) German Apple Cake

 

 

Wishing each and every one of you a very Happy New Year's!  Have a safe, fun-filled evening!

 

Scrumptious Sunday Recipe Link Party #44

I sure hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas!  Did you get out for Boxing Day shopping?  We decided it was a "stay at home in the pj's" kind of day - a little quiet after all the hustle.  We had a wonderful Christmas, the kids were spoiled by family and friends, and Santa too!  They had a blast, and that's the best part.  Seeing their joy :-)  Oh how I love Christmas!

Alrighty, I won't bore you any more...it's time for Scrumptious Sunday Recipe Link Party #44. 


This week, being the last link party for 2012, I invite you to share your favourite recipes posts from 2012!  Head on over to the party and link up!

Don't forget, all featured recipes will be shared on my blog, and on my Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest pages!

Christmas Leftover Linky

Christmas has come and gone...and oh what a Christmas it was! We had a wonderful time celebrating with my family, my brother and sister-in-law hosted, and in a few days we will celebrate with my in-laws as they are coming to visit!  I feel so spolied to be surrounded with loving family and friends! Santa was good to us....hope he was good to you too!

Now that all the cooking and baking is done, the next big question is...what to do with all the leftovers?!  And so...this link party was born.  I invite you to share your posts with recipes for Christmas leftovers!  Help all us fellow cooks out!  I look forward to reading all of your recipes :-)