Sunday Pork Roast (Yes I made this on a Tuesday!)

Growing up I don't remember my parents cooking many things, I am an only child and honestly it was easier for the 3 of us to eat out, especially with 2 working parents. The few things that I remember my parents making either came from a box or a jar, with the exception of a Sunday Roast. This recipe is actually not my parents recipe (which is a good standby): Pork Roast, water, onion soup mix, potatoes and carrots. For today's roast I wanted to use more fresh ingredients from my basket.

1 boneless pork roast (I used a butt because it comes already tied!)

Salt and Pepper to taste

4 garlic cloves, pressed

4 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped

1 lemon, cut into thin slices

3/4 cup water

1 tablespoon chicken boullion (or one cube)

2-3 pounds potatoes

5-6 carrots

1 bunch asparagus

2 tablespoons flour

Disolve boulion in warm water. Place roast in crock pot, rub with salt, pepper, garlic, and rosemary. (If roast is not tied, tie with twine) Tuck lemon slices around roast. Pour chicken broth into the bottom of the crock pot. Cook on low 7 hours or high 2 hours. At this point place chopped potatoes and carrots into the crock pot. Cook on high 1 hour. Stir in chopped asparagus. Cook an aditional 30 minutes, or until veggies are tender. Take Roast and veggies out of crock pot. Let stand 10 minutes then slice pork before serving. Discard twine and lemon slices. Transfer juices to small sauce pan, mix flour with about 1 cup cold water. Add flour mixture to sauce pan and cook until thickened for gravy.

Chicken and Dumplings

This dinner was so yummy and it is great if your kids don't like to "see" veggies! I chopped up the celery, onion and mushrooms very tiny! You could add carrots or peppers or really any veggies you wanted to in and chop them up tiny and the kids might never know! I gave you the recipe below as I prepared it, the original had several differences, I added the mushrooms, potatoes, herbs and doubled the chicken soup and dumplings. Those chefs at Top Chef would criticize my "presentation" I am sure, but I'd bet they'd love the flavor anyway!

Chicken
2 (10.75 ounce) cans reduced fat cream of chicken soup
1 (14.5 ounce) can low-fat, low sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
8 oz. chopped mushrooms
2 cups cubed or chopped potatoes
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into bite size pieces
3 sprigs oregano leaves, finely chopped
1 sprig rosemary leaves, finely chopped
ground black pepper to taste

Dumplings
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1-2 sprigs oregano leaves, finely chopped

In a skillet heat oil over medium high heat, add in chicken, celery, onion, and mushrooms. Saute until chicken is cooked through. Meanwhile, in a large pot combine chicken soup, stock and milk. Add in oregano, rosemary, and pepper. Add in chicken mixture and potatoes. Cover and simmer over low heat 30-40 minutes, stirring occaisionally. In a small bowl mix together flour, baking powder and salt and oregano. Mix milk and oil separately and add to dry ingredients. Stir just until combined. Mixture will be wet and sticky! Drop tablespoonfulls of dumpling mixture on top of the chicken mixture. Cover and simmer 15-20 minutes or until dumplings are cooked through, without peeking.

Makes 6 servings as prepared
Recipe adapted from Chicken and Dumplings III on allrecipes.com

Hearty Chicken and Rosemary Stew

The flovor of fresh rosemary in this recipe really gets infused into the chicken and veggies! This dish cooks for a long time, but was really very easy to throw together. It worked out nicely because I put it in the oven and then took my daughter to ballet and when we came home it was ready to eat. I'll bet you could do it in a crock pot before work as well!

1 lb. small Yukon gold potatoes, cut into chunks
1 large onion, diced
3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced diagonally into 1/2 in slices.
8 oz. whole mushrooms, quartered
2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts (could use thighs), cut into 1 in. pieces
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
3 garlic cloves, pressed
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 lemon
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 375*. Combine potatoes, onions, carrots, mushrooms, chicken, rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper in a deep baking dish, mix well. Whisk together broth, tomato paste, and cornstarch in a bowl until cornstarch is disolved. Pour over veggies and chicken. Bake covered 1 1/2-2 hours stiring after 45 minutes. After baking, zest lemon to measure 1 tsp. zest. Stir in zest and parsley. Let stand covered 10 minutes.

yeild: 8 servings, calories per serving: 260
Recipe from NEW Pampered Chef Dinner in your Deep Covered Baker