It's All About the Food

The family has been here all week. Jackie and Greg arrived on Thursday afternoon. On Wednesday, Mindy texted me. She said, "mom, you realize there will be 16 people for dinner tomorrow night---do you have enough food?" I replied, "Mindy, I've got it covered!" How could she even doubt me?

Mindy and Butch are exactly alike when it comes to food---except on opposite ends of the spectrum. She worries about not having enough. He worries about having too much.

Case in point, Butch questions the amount of food I cook when the whole family is here. Yet, I never throw anything out. In fact, we did run out of leftovers on Saturday afternoon. The teens were looking for a snack. I told them that the food was all gone. The only thing left were Cheez Its in the pantry. Instead, they got in to Butch's mixed nuts. 

Really, the amount of food we go through in a week is unbelievable---plus all the cooking and cleaning up that goes with it. Don't get me wrong, the girls are helpful and I really couldn't do it without them. But it got me to thinking about my mom. There were 9 of us counting my parents. She had to cook a large quantity of food every day. For me, it's just several times a year. I'm exhausted after just a week. I can't imagine how she must have felt. We kids weren't really much help. We had plenty of work to do around the house, but cooking was not part of that. It gives me a good appreciation for what she did every day. I mostly recall her either doing dishes, or laundry.

Still, having every one here is a lot of fun. I'll take the work and exhaustion any day!! But, don't even get me started on the amount of toilet paper...

And now, I'm going to share the recipe I made on Thursday night and a dessert I made earlier in the week. Both were so easy and fabulous! That's how I roll!

Pot Roast Sliders (I doubled this recipe for 16 and had a little leftover)

1-3 to 4 lb. beef pot roast 

1 cup water

1 cup salsa

1 envelope onion soup mix

1 envelope Italian salad dressing mix

1 envelope Au Jus mix

Whisk together water, salsa and seasoning packets. Place roast in slow cooker. Pour seasoning mixture over roast. Cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-5 hours.

To Serve:

1 pkg. King's Hawaiian Rolls (I used Sister Shubert yeast rolls)

Swiss cheese (I used Swiss and Muenster)

Creamy Sauce (recipe follows)

Cut rolls in half. Place a slice of cheese on the bottom half and broil for 1-2 minutes until cheese melts. Place spoonful of shredded beef and add sauce.

Creamy Sauce

1/4 cup sour cream

2 tbsp. salsa

2 tsp. creamy horseradish sauce

Mix together

Boston Cream Pie Poke Cake

 1 box yellow cake mix

2 pkgs. 3.4 oz. French vanilla instant pudding 

4 cups milk

1 container chocolate frosting

Make cake according to package directions. When cake is finished, poke large holes all over the top while cake is still hot. I use the handle of a wooden spoon. Add milk to pudding and whisk until thick. Pour aver the top of warm cake. Put cake in the refrigerator and cool completely (about 2 hours). 

Remove lid and foil from frosting tub and microwave slowly until it's thick, but pourable. Pour over the cake and spread to the edges. Put back in the refrigerator to fully cool and set up.