BBQ ribs

8 Easy Crockpot Recipes: BBQ ribs
from www.mommysfabulousfinds.com

Crock-Pot BBQ Spareribs

 

Ingredients

• 2lbs of pork ribs
• 1½ cups ketchup
• 1½ Tbsp seasoned salt
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup white vinegar

Instructions

1. Place pork ribs in gallon sized ziplock. Mix remaining ingredients together in a separate bowl and pour over ribs. Seal bag and place in freezer. Thaw over night in fridge. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-7 hours.

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Made this for dinner. It was super easy. I added a squirt of mustard to my sauce. I trimmed the fat before cooking but I still ended up with a lot of grease which diluted the BBQ sauce. One of my favorite meals my mom makes is BBQ ribs. She does it in the oven by cooking the ribs, then adding the sauce and heating through. I think next time I'd rather go that route b/c I can pour the grease out before adding the sauce.

Jared liked them but Aaron did not.

Berry Barbecued Pork Roast

Berry Barbecued Pork Roast 6 pts for 3 oz and 1/4 c. sauce

Ingredients
1 boneless rolled pork loin roast (3 pounds)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup barbecue sauce

Directions

Sprinkle roast with salt and pepper. Place with fat side up on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine the cranberries, sugar, orange juice and barbecue sauce. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook and stir for 10-12 minutes or until cranberries pop and sauce is thickened.

Brush some of the sauce over roast. Bake 15-20 minutes longer or until a meat thermometer reads 160°, brushing often with sauce. Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with remaining sauce. Yield: 12 servings.

Nutritional Analysis: 3 ounces cooked pork with 1/4 cup sauce equals 262 calories, 8 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 67 mg cholesterol, 190 mg sodium, 23 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 24 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 3 lean meat, 1 starch, 1/2 fruit.

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Made May 9th. Because Matthew does not care for pork, I substituted beef eye of round roast for the porkloin. I also cooked it in the crockpot. If you follow the link to the recipe, the picture is nothing like what mine turned out to look like, but it was still pretty delicious!!

For cooking in the crockpot: I trimmed the fat, set the roast in the crockpot, and sprinkled the salt and pepper as directed. Then in a separate container I mixed the OJ, BBQ and sugar; poured it over the meat into the crockpot and topped the roast with the cranberries. I cooked it on low for 8 hours. The roast was really tender and by the time I remembered I needed to take a picture and moved it to the loaf pan, it was falling apart.

I would like to try to make it again following the actual directions to see what difference it makes.

I served this with mashed potatoes, salad, rolls, and california blend vegetables with cheese sauce. Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Slow Cooker Pork and Apple Curry

Slow Cooker Pork and Apple Curry 5 pts for 2/3 c. mix plus points for rice

Ingredients

2 pounds boneless pork loin roast, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 medium apple, peeled and chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons cold water
Hot cooked rice, optional
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup flaked coconut, toasted

Directions

In a 3-qt. slow cooker, combine the first 10 ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or until meat is tender.

Increase heat to high. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and water until smooth; stir into slow cooker. Cover and cook for 30 minutes or until thickened, stirring once.

Serve over rice if desired. Sprinkle with raisins and coconut. Yield: 8 servings.

Nutrition Facts: 2/3 cup curry mixture with 1-1/2 teaspoons each raisins and coconut, calculated without rice) equals 235 calories, 9 g fat (4 g saturated fat), 68 mg cholesterol, 341 mg sodium, 13 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 25 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 3 lean meat, 1 fruit.

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Made May 5th. I enjoyed this recipe though there was a bit of bite to it. We couldn't pinpoint what exactly was causing the spice. I used a mix of pork loin and venison stew meat, so it could have been the way the venison was cured.

Cheddar Potato Chowder

Cheddar Potato Chowder 5 pts for 1 cup

Ingredients
2 cups water
2 cups diced unpeeled red potatoes
1 cup diced carrot
1/2 cup diced celery
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups 2% milk
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese
1 cup cubed fully cooked lean ham

Directions

In a Dutch oven, combine the first seven ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until tender.

Meanwhile, place flour in a large saucepan; gradually whisk in milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat. Add cheese; stir until melted. Stir the ham and the cheese sauce into undrained vegetables; stir until combined. Yield: 7 servings.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving (1 cup) equals 212 calories, 9 g fat (5 g saturated fat), 29 mg cholesterol, 847 mg sodium, 18 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 16 g protein.
Diabetic Exchanges: 1 starch, 1 lean meat, 1 fat, 1/2 fat-free milk.

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Made April 17th. This recipe was pretty simple to make. I wondered if I really had to make the sauce in a separate pan though because I've made other sauce recipes right into the soup. I went ahead and did it the way it described though to stay true to the recipe this time. Next time I will probably not dirty the extra pan. I was impressed with how quickly it thickened though. It was the quickest and easiest I've ever experienced. I don't know if it was the 2% milk or the way I blended the flour in that made a difference. Or maybe it was my new pan. Who knows?!

I had a package of Four Cheese Mexican style in my fridge, so I used that instead of taking the time to shred the 2 cups of cheddar.

This recipe was a huge hit with Aaron (and me). It was really good!!

Oven Cassoulet

Oven Cassoulet LT05, 150, 10 pts

Ingredients

1/2 pound reduced-fat kielbasa or Polish sausage, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup chopped onion
2 medium carrots, thinly sliced
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, drained
3/4 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 cans (15-1/2 ounces each) great northern beans, rinsed and drained
1-1/2 cups soft bread crumbs
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Directions

In a nonstick saucepan coated with cooking spray, cook and stir the sausage, onion, carrots, celery and garlic for 4-5 minutes or until onion is tender. Stir in the tomatoes, broth, bay leaf, thyme, pepper and cloves. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for about 15 minutes or until carrots are tender and liquid is slightly thickened. Discard bay leaf. Stir in beans.

Transfer to a 2-qt. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Combine the bread crumbs, butter and parsley. Sprinkle over sausage mixture. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until edges are bubbly and top is golden brown. Yield: 6 servings.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving (1-1/4 cups) equals 270 calories, 6 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 23 mg cholesterol, 809 mg sodium, 40 g carbohydrate, 10 g fiber, 14 g protein.
Diabetic Exchanges: 2 lean meat, 2 vegetable, 1-1/2 starch.

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Made on March 23rd. This recipe was ok - not memorable. I think there were too many bread crumbs so there was like a 2 inch layer of them before you reached the rest of the ingredients. Perhaps if I'd used a 9x13 they wouldn't have been so deep. Matthew's comment was that he'd prefer it to have more sausage.

Grilled Mango Glazed Ham

Grilled Mango Glazed Ham, Lt04, 5 points for steak & 2 pts for glaze or 8 points total

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups red wine vinegar or cider vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon finely chopped jalapeno pepper
1 teaspoon minced fresh gingerroot
1 medium ripe mango or 2 medium ripe peaches, peeled and cut into wedges
1 bone-in fully cooked lean ham steak (about 2 pounds)
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Directions

In a small saucepan, combine the vinegar, sugar, jalapeno and ginger. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes or until glaze is thick and caramelized. Strain and cool. Place mango in a food processor or blender; cover and process until smooth. Stir into glaze; set aside.

Coat grill rack with cooking spray before starting the grill. Sprinkle both sides of ham steak with pepper. Grill, covered, over medium heat for 10 minutes on each side or until heated through. Brush both sides of ham with mango glaze; grill 5 minutes longer. Serve ham with remaining glaze. Yield: 8 servings.


Nutritional Analysis: One serving (4 ounces cooked ham with 2 tablespoons glaze) equals 251 calories, 10 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 60 mg cholesterol, 1,454 mg sodium, 20 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 21 g protein.
Diabetic Exchanges: 3 lean meat, 1 starch, 1/2 fruit.

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Made March 6th. Points were a little tricky to calculate for this. If I entered the recipe as written (with my ham substituted), the points equaled 8. I opted not to do it that way though because we had 1 cups of glaze left that didn't come anywhere near the steak. So, I calculated points for the glaze (2 pts based on the 8 servings in the recipe) and then points for the ham steak (4). The recipe includes 2 TB of glaze, so I figured I had 1/4 serving = .5 points. So, this entree cost me 4.5 points. I rounded up for the purpose of this post to be on the safer side. With all that noted, I've tagged this recipe at 8 points for the entire recipe as given. Clear as mud?

Now onto the recipe.... I had bought peaches to use instead of mangos, but when I decided to make the Creamed Spinach as a side dish I needed to make a run to the store for the cream cheese. In the process, I found a "quick sale' bag of 3 mangos for 99 cents. Score! So, I ended up with mangos after all. There was one medium and two smaller ones, so I used the big one and the smallest one. The third one I threw in for a fruit salad with the peaches I'd originally purchased - yum!

I did not add the jalepenos, and I think soaking the flavor out of them is part of the point of simmering for 30 minutes because simmering the vinegar, sugar and ginger didn't seem to do much except make the liquid content go down. Maybe I didn't simmer them correctly because I never really saw a carmelizing - and it was on the heat for almost 45 minutes.

This is another grill recipe that never went to the grill. The ham steak I had had microwave directions, and since it was still frozen, that was the route I took. The steak came from angel food and was only 1 pound. I had some ham filets from a spiral ham I bought, so I added those to the dish too. So, to cook this I put the steak in the microwave for 5 minutes, took it out and put it in a baking dish, added the pepper (because I forgot I was supposed to do that before cooking it) and the glaze, then stuck it in the oven until the rest of dinner was ready.

Grilled certainly would have changed the flavor a little bit, but I enjoyed this anyway. The jalepenos probably would have added a fun spice to the flavor, but I don't think the boys would have appreciated it too much.

I served the steak with corn on the cob, creamed spinach and chips/crackers, and fruit salad (1 mango, 2 peaches, 1 apple, 1/4 fresh pineapple). It ended up being a very high point meal. Oops. But it was a delicious one!

Greek Pork Wraps

Greek Pork Wraps LT02, 151, 9.5 points

Ingredients

1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons Crisco® Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Canola Oil
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
1-3/4 teaspoons minced garlic, divided
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 pork tenderloin (1 pound)
1 cup chopped peeled cucumber
1 cup reduced-fat plain yogurt
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dill weed
8 flour tortilla (6 inches)
1/2 cup chopped green onions

Directions

In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the lemon juice, oil, mustard, 1-1/4 teaspoons garlic and oregano; add the pork. Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for 2 hours.

In a small bowl, combine the cucumber, yogurt, salt, dill and remaining garlic; cover and refrigerate until serving.

Drain and discard marinade. Coat grill rack with cooking spray before starting the grill for indirect medium-hot heat. Grill tenderloin, uncovered, over direct-heated area for 2-3 minutes on each side. Move to indirect-heated area; cover and cook 10-15 minutes longer or until a meat thermometer reads 160°. Let stand for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, wrap tortillas in foil; place on grill for 1-2 minutes on each side or until warmed. Slice tenderloin into strips; place on tortillas. Top each with 3 tablespoons yogurt sauce and 1 tablespoon green onions. Yield: 4 servings.


Nutritional Analysis: One serving (2 wraps) equals 402 calories, 14 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 77 mg cholesterol, 718 mg sodium, 34 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 34 g protein.
Diabetic Exchanges: 3 lean meat, 2 starch, 1/2 milk.

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Made March 2nd. The nutritional info yields 9 WW points and my recipe came out to 9.5 - not bad.

I bought a 2 lb pork loin roast for this and cut it in half. Unfortunately I missed an even cut and chose the smaller of the two for the recipe (13 oz). By the time it was done and had shrunk, the meat fed us all but it wasn't very filling. It made more of a two-person serving than 4. I should have gone ahead and cooked the whole thing.

I didn't use the grill, but instead used the stove and oven. For the 5 minutes of 'direct heat' I browned the pork over medium heat in a skillet and flipped it half-way through. Then put it in a covered dish in the oven for the 'indirect heat'. Because our oven is off and doesn't go above 300, it took about 30-40 minutes to get it cooked all the way through. My guess is that at 350 or even 400 it would have been done in 15 minutes.

I loved the dressing! It was reminiscent of Wendy's Chicken Ranch pita that they sold in the 90s. Oh how I crave those every now and then only to be left unsatisfied. Now I can make my own!!

The other exciting thing was that I used green onions fresh from our garden! woohoo!!

Unlike most of the meals I've made in this endeavor, everyone liked this recipe!! Aaron even ate 3/4 of his wrap! Matthew (who doesn't like pork) found it ok. His response was, "It's not mutton". Having had real Greek gyros, this wasn't quite up to par but it was a decent substitute. The wrap felt like it was missing something, and he said it needed lettuce and tomatoes. This recipe is a keeper and one that I'll experiment with in the future.

Ham and Noodle Casserole

Ham and Noodle Casserole LT04, 151, 4 pts for 8 servings

Ingredients

6 ounces uncooked yolk-free fine noodles
1-1/2 cups (12 ounces) 1% small-curd cottage cheese
1 package (10 ounces) frozen mixed vegetables, thawed and drained
1 cup cubed fully cooked lean ham
3/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1/4 cup fat-free milk
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon dill weed or 1 tablespoon snipped fresh dill
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

Cook noodles according to package directions; drain. In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Add noodles and toss to coat. Transfer to a 2-qt. baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Cover and bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Uncover; bake 5-10 minutes longer or until heated through. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Yield: 4 servings.

Nutritional Analysis: One serving (1-1/2 cups) equals 266 calories, 5 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 21 mg cholesterol, 702 mg sodium, 32 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 21 g protein.
Diabetic Exchanges: 2 lean meat, 1-1/2 starch, 1 vegetable.

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Made Feb 24th. The recipe was pretty easy to put together, and it got a thumbs up from everyone but Aaron.

I accidently added the whole 8 oz bag of noodles when it only required 6, and the same happened with the mixed vegetables. I ended up using the entire 16 oz bag instead of just 10 oz. As for effecting the recipe, it didn't really - only in the point value. But, it evens out because it creates more servings which in turn lowers the point value.

I have no idea how the published nutritional info only equals 4 points for 4 servings because there are a lot of high calorie items in the recipe: ham, sour cream, cottage cheese, even the noodles are pretty high point. Oh well. This recipe is a keeper.

Ranch Ham n Cheese Pasta

Ranch Ham 'N' Cheese Pasta LT04, 185, 7 pts

Made on Feb 3rd. I really liked this recipe! I could have eaten the whole entire bowl of it. The boys seemed to like it too, but the penne seemed too cumbersome for them. I thought the flavor was comparable to a boxed ranch flavor pasta, but so much better. I would definitely make this again!

Ham and Cheese Strudel

Ham and Cheese Strudel LT02, 102, 8 pts

After being intimidated by the phyllo dough for 7 years, I finally made these on Feb 14th. It turns out that it really isn't so hard to work with phyllo after all! These were pretty easy to put together and quite tasty. Our oven doesn't heat very well, so they didn't turn out as brown as the picture, but oh well. We ate these along with the Lemon Blueberry Pancakes (LT04, 98, 7 pts)

The first strudel I rolled ripped at the seams and was quite messy, so I used two sheets for the next few rolls after that. The last two I decided to try the one sheet again and had success. I think the problem was that I coated the parchment paper I was rolling them on with nonstick spray. The spray sopped the dough and made it stick to the paper.

In the cookbook, it says these make 6 servings but the website says 12. I think they cut the strudels in half to create the 12. Cutting them in half helps buffer the high points of a full strudel. Using the nutritional information given in the cookbook, the strudels should have been 5 points, but I used eggs instead of egg substitute and regular swiss cheese instead of low fat.

Braised Pork Chops

• Braised Pork Chops LT03, 156, 6 pts

Made on Feb 16th. Let me just say, WOW!! I thought these were SO amazingly delicious. Jared really liked them, but Aaron and Matthew could have cared less. Matthew is not a pork fan, so it's no surprise that he was less than impressed. I served these over brown rice which was the perfect pairing for the sauce.

6 points is quite reasonable for this dish because just the pork chop is 4 points. The apple juice in the recipe adds the extra 2 points. Worth every bite though!