Category - Lorri’s Diner

Our favorite recipes, all in one place for your convenience.

Crock Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day coming up, this is my recipe for Corned Beef and Cabbage in the crock pot.  Need I say that it is quick and easy?  And yum! I didn’t make anything special for St. Patrick’s Day for years until I found this recipe because I never knew just how easy corned beef is.

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Crock Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage

Crock Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage

Ingredients

  • 4-5 medium red potatoes, quartered
  • 2 c fresh baby carrots, halved lengthwise
  • 3 c chopped cabbage
  • 1 corned beef brisket (3 1/2 lbs), with spice packet
  • 3 c water

Instructions

  1. Place potatoes, carrots and cabbage in slow cooker.
  2. Cut brisket in half, place over vegetables.
  3. Add water and contents of spice packet.
  4. Cover and cook on low for 9-10 hours or until the meat and vegetables are tender.
https://themacandcheesechronicles.com/2014/03/15/crock-pot-corned-beef-and-cabbage/

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Hot Sweet Pickles

Here is another recipe that you will absolutely thank me for.  Normally I am not a fan of sweet pickles, but these are different.  They are just a little bit sweet and have a bit of kick. The recipe comes from my friend Tami and she served them on top of a cracker spread with cream cheese.  It was a sweet, creamy, crunchy, hot explosion of yum! I would endeavor to restrain myself at her house and only eat a few at time.  Now that I have the recipe, I can sneak down for a late night snack with only the cats to judge me.  Not that I would do that.  But I could and…well, let me just share the recipe.

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Hot Sweet Pickles

Hot Sweet Pickles

Ingredients

  • 1 gallon dill pickles
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 small bottle Tabasco sauce
  • 1 head of garlic, separated into cloves and cleaned

Instructions

  1. Drain the pickles and discard the liquid. Slice pickles into 1/2 inch slices and return to jar.
  2. Add remaining ingredients.
  3. Put the lid back on the jar and shake the whole thing like crazy.
  4. Refrigerate. Shake the jar 1-2 times a day for one week.
  5. Eat plain or serve with crackers spread with cream cheese.
https://themacandcheesechronicles.com/2014/01/15/hot-sweet-pickles/

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Cheesy Sausage Penne

lorri's dinerBrace yourselves.  This is one of my family’s all time favorite meals ever.  I make this for dinner and they rise up and call me blessed.   Seriously, this is one good meal.  Serve it with a salad and some crunchy garlic bread and it’ll be the closest thing to heaven that you can get. You think I’m exaggerating, don’t you?  Trust me on this.  You need to make this recipe. Disclaimer – this is not low on calories, by any means.  It’s totally worth it, anyway.

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Cheesy Sausage Penne

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Yield: 12 servings

Cheesy Sausage Penne

Ingredients

  • 1 pound bulk Italian sausage
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 jar (26 ounces) spaghetti sauce
  • 1 package (1 pound) uncooked penne pasta
  • 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
  • 4 green onions, sliced
  • 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions

  1. In a large skillet, cook the sausage over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Drain. Stir in spaghetti sauce; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions; drain. In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, sour cream and onions.
  3. In a greased shallow 3-qt. baking dish, layer half of the pasta and sausage mixture. Dollop with half the cream cheese mixture; sprinkle with half the cheddar cheese. Repeat layers.
  4. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until bubbly.
https://themacandcheesechronicles.com/2013/08/16/cheesy-sausage-penne/

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Pork Carnitas

My e-maginary friend Brenda shared this recipe with me and 200 of our closest homeschooling friends. Brenda makes me laugh, she’s married to a tough fire fighter and she’s a 49er fan. Doesn’t get much better than that! As a bonus, this recipe is quick, easy, tastes great and makes a ton.

 

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Pork Carnitas

Pork Carnitas

Ingredients

  • 1 pork roast (Cheap is good!)
  • 2 T oil
  • salt
  • pepper
  • 1 large onion, sliced
  • 2 cans (7 oz ea) or 1 jar (16 oz) verde sauce (Get Herdez brand if you can, don't sweat it if you can't.)
  • flour tortillas
  • shredded Monterey Jack cheese
  • sour cream

Instructions

  1. Heat the oil in a skillet.
  2. Season roast with salt and pepper and sear roast on all sides.
  3. Place in slow cooker, cover with onions and verde sauce. Cook on low 8-10 hours.
  4. Shred the roast and serve with warm tortillas, cheese and sour cream
https://themacandcheesechronicles.com/2013/07/15/pork-carnitas/

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Strawberry Pie Goodness

Yum!

Note: This is a repost from June 2007.  This recipe for strawberry pie is just too good not to share again!

My Mom is a Baker, with a capital B. There were always baked goods in our house. I think her love language must of have been Baking Sweets. Luckily, my Dad’s love language appears to be Eating Baked Love Offerings.

Of all the things that my Mom baked, one of my all time favorites is her strawberry pie. One of the major advantages of living in California is that it is a veritable cornucopia of strawberry goodness. Philip and I had the good fortune to live in the same region once during strawberry season, taking advantage of the bounty with many a pie.

Suzanne at Blessed Among Men and Kristen of Small Treasures hosted a Strawberry Festival on June 27, 2007  on their cooking blog The Virtual Kitchen.  In honor of the occasion, I shared my mom’s strawberry pie recipe. Besides, any opportunity to combine SAT vocabulary words and overused blogisms into a phrase like “veritable cornucopia of strawberry goodness” is too good to pass up.

My Favorite Strawberry Pie

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Strawberry Glace Pie

Strawberry Glace Pie

Ingredients

  • 1 pastry shell (frozen from the store or make your own)
  • 8 cups medium strawberries
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons cornstarch

Instructions

  1. Bake pastry shell according to directions/recipe.
  2. Meanwhile, remove stems from strawberries. Cut any large strawberries in half lengthwise; set aside.
  3. For glaze, in a blender container or food processor bowl, combine 1 cup of the strawberries and 2/3 cup water. (*note from me-if you don't have enough fresh strawberries, you can use frozen strawberries for the glaze. Just make sure you defrost them first.) Cover and blend or process till smooth. Add enough additional water to the mixture to equal 1 1/2 cups.
  4. In a medium saucepan combine sugar and cornstarch; stir in blended berry mixture.
  5. Cook and stir over over medium heat till mixture is thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 2 minutes more.
  6. Cool for 10 minutes without stirring.
  7. Spread about 1/4 cup of the glaze over bottom and sides of baked pastry shell.
  8. Arrange half of the remaining strawberries, stem end down, in the pastry shell.
  9. Carefully spoon half of the remaining glaze over fruit, thoroughly covering each piece of fruit.
  10. Arrange remaining fruit over first layer.
  11. Spoon remaining glaze over fruit, covering each piece.
  12. Chill for 1 to 2 hours.
  13. Eat up the whole thing or the filling may begin to water out. It still tastes delicious, though.
https://themacandcheesechronicles.com/2013/07/05/strawberry-goodness/

 

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Crockpot Lemon Chicken

I got this recipe for crockpot lemon chicken off of Pinterest, but the link to the original is now dead, so I’ll give you the recipe myself.  It meets all my criteria – it is easy and yummy, with a bonus that I usually have all the ingredients on hand.  The original said to shred the meat when it was done and serve over rice or noodles, which I did the first time.  After that I just served it whole.  I don’t have time for unnecessary shredding!

 

 

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Crockpot Lemon Chicken

Crockpot Lemon Chicken

Ingredients

  • 1 stick of butter
  • 3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 packet Italian dressing mix
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice

Instructions

  1. Put all ingredients in crock pot, in order given.
  2. Cook on low 4-6 hours.
  3. Serve over rice or noodles, with juices from the pot.
https://themacandcheesechronicles.com/2012/10/18/crockpot-lemon-chicken/

 

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Taco Biscuit Pie

The day after we evacuated from the fire, I realized I had left all my recipes behind.  I knew that I could find some of them online, others were family recipes I could get from my mom.  Others would  suffer the same fate as our house.  Fortunately, we had a happy ending.

This particular recipe came from a Pillsbury Family Fun Cookbook published in 1983 and until very recently, I could not find it online.  So I’m sharing it now so that I can always find…and you can try it, too! This is one of my children’s absolute favorites.  Enjoy…

 

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Taco Biscuit Pie

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Yield: 6 servings

Taco Biscuit Pie

Ingredients

  • 10 oz can biscuits (Grand or Hungry Jack size)
  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 15 oz can kidney beans
  • 1 envelope taco seasoning
  • 4 oz (1 cup) shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 cup crushed corn chips
  • 1/2 cup shredded lettuce
  • 1/4 cup chopped tomato

Instructions

  1. Heat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Separate dough into 10 biscuits.
  3. Arrange 7 biscuits around sides and 3 on bottom of ungreased 9 inch pie pan; press biscuits to form crust. Biscuits will form petal-like shape around rim of pan.
  4. In large skillet, brown ground beef; drain.
  5. Stir in kidney beans and taco seasoning mix.
  6. Simmer 5 minutes over low heat.
  7. Spoon hot meat mixture into prepared crust.
  8. Bake at 400 degrees F for 12-16 minutes or until crust is golden brown.
  9. Immediately top with cheese and corn chips.
  10. Sprinkle with lettuce and tomato.
  11. Allow to cool 5 minutes before cutting into wedges.
https://themacandcheesechronicles.com/2012/09/13/taco-biscuit-pie/

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Gingerbread Cake

My mother made this gingerbread cake many, many years ago.  I was in college or late high school,  I don’t remember exactly. We thought she’d misplaced the recipe, but then it turned up and she shared it with me.  I’m not sure why, but I never made it.  The recipe just sat in my box, waiting for just the right time.

The day before Pipsqueak was born, Pumpkin Girl and my mother made this gingerbread cale.  After an afternoon of just sitting around, chatting with my mid-wife and some of her assistants, waiting for anything to actually happen, we went down to the kitchen to enjoy some dessert.

I did mention Pipsqueak was born at home, didn’t I?  No?  Heh-heh.  He was – thus allowing me to sit in my room, chatting with my midwife and eating homemade gingerbread for dessert.

In honor of this, The Day Before Pipsqueak Turns One, I present to you the recipe for what is certain to become a late-October tradition.

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Gingerbread Cake

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup shortening
  • 1 cup light molasses
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon each salt, ground cloves and freshly grated nutmeg
  • 2 teaspoons each cinnamon, and ground ginger
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Grease 9"x11" baking pan.
  3. Combine all ingredients except boiling water and baking soda in large bowl in order given, mixing well after each addition.
  4. Combine boiling water and baking soda in a small bowl and stir until dissolved. Blend into molasses mixture.
  5. Pour batter into prepared pan.
  6. Bake until tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool slightly.
  7. Cut into squares. Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
https://themacandcheesechronicles.com/2011/10/25/gingerbread-cake/

 

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Candy Cane Cookies

I have enjoyed these holiday cookies for as long as I can remember, which makes the recipe at least 35 years old. They are a favorite of my children, too. If I could only make one Christmas cookie, this would be it.

    Candy Cane Cookies

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp peppermint extract
2 1/2 cup flour
red food coloring

Beat butter, shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, vanilla and peppermint extract. Add flour.   Divide dough in half, color one half red. Wrap each half in wax paper and chill at least one hour. Form into balls. Roll a white ball and a red ball together to form one stick with the red and white entwined.* Place on a greased baking sheet, turning one end of the sticks to form a cane. Bake at 375 degrees for 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve with eggnog.

Just kidding about the eggnog. Sort of.

*This is my personal candy cane forming technique, developed over years of practice. You might find it easier at first to roll the balls into logs, then twist them together. It takes the perfect touch to roll two balls together to form a twisted log without smashing them together into a mess.

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Applesauce

lorris-dinerAs promised, our family’s favorite homemade applesauce. Boo won’t touch the store bought stuff, but he loves this!

Homemade Applesauce

6 cups apples, peeled, cored and chopped
3/4 cup water (or enough water to about half-way to top of apples)
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup white sugar

In a 2 quart sauce pan over medium heat, combine apples, water, cinnamon and cloves. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in sugar and simmer 5 more minutes.

Serves 4

Cinnamon the Cat says that this makes a sweet applesauce, so you may want to adjust the sugar to taste. Just don’t forget the cinnamon and cloves!

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