1 Slow, Low Oven Ribs

These ribs are so easy to make and are perfect for Sunday evening supper with friends or family! Because you don't have to fuss over them, the 3 hours making the ribs gives you time to concentrate on a fancier or more time consuming side or dessert! 

Slow, Low Oven Ribs
Serves 4
2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes, with juice
1/4 cup minced sweet onion (like Vidalia or Walla Walla)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons tomato relish, such as Mrs. Renfro's (optional)
4 bay leaves
4 pounds country style pork ribs
salt and freshly ground black pepper
In a small saucepan combine the tomatoes, onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Simmer over low heat for about 15 minutes, until reduced by half. Stir in the maple syrup, soy sauce, and tomato relish (if desired).
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
Line a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with foil. Place the bay leaves in the bottom of the dish.
Season the ribs with salt and pepper, and arrange in the baking dish. Pour half of the sauce over the ribs. Turn them a few times to coat with the sauce. Cover tightly with foil. Refrigerate the remaining sauce.
Bake for 3 hours. Remove the foil and pour the remaining sauce over the ribs. Return to the oven and bake an additional hour, or until the sauce is a thick glaze and the meat is very tender.
Remove the ribs to a serving platter and let stand for 15 minutes. Ladle off the accumulated fat from the pan juices by tilting the pan carefully and spooning it off. Pour the pan sauce over the ribs, discarding the bay leaves, and serve as soon as you can.
Screen Doors and Sweet Tea

1 Valentine's Day Linky Party

Today, we are linking up with Valentine's Ideas! :-) Crafts, recipes, decorations, etc! :-) Whatever your heart desires!

Here are the hostesses! :-) 

Meg from Henning Love

Allison from Cupcake Diaries

Whitney from Harvest Home!

I can't wait to see all of your ideas! :-) 

I am sharing these Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting! :-) 

Red Velvet Cupcakes
Makes: 24 cupcakes  
Ingredients:
For the cake:
2½ cups cake flour
1½ cups sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tbsp. cocoa powder
1 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
1½ cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
2 tbsp. (1 oz.) liquid red food coloring
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. distilled white vinegar
For the frosting:*
8 oz. cream cheese
5 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2½ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Line cupcake pans with paper liners.  In a medium bowl, combine the cake flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt; whisk to blend.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the eggs, vegetable oil, buttermilk, food coloring, vanilla and vinegar.  Beat on medium speed until well blended.  Mix in the dry ingredients on low speed and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes.
Divide the batter evenly between the prepared liners.  Bake, rotating the pans halfway through baking, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18 minutes.  Let cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer.  Beat on medium-high speed until well combined and smooth, about 2-3 minutes.  Mix in the vanilla extract.  Gradually beat in the confectioners’ sugar until totally incorporated, increase the speed and then beat until smooth.  Frost cooled cupcakes as desired.
*If you are big on frosting as I am, you may want to increase the quantities by 50%.  That is what I typically do for a batch of 24 cupcakes.  I usually end up with some left over, but I would rather have too much frosting than not enough!
Annie's Eats

5 SUPER BOWL!!!

Super Bowl Sunday is today!! Here are some great ideas from Elizabeth Ann's Recipe Box to serve at your get together!

Of course, appetizers are the focal point of a successful Super Bowl party!! So in my opinion, the more the merrier! :-)
Avocado Dip

Black Bean Salsa

Chicken Jalapeno Poppers

Chicken Nuggets with Honey Mustard

Corn Dip

Fat Free Seven Layer Mexican Dip

Homemade Guacamole

Homemade Pico De Gallo

Individual Seven Layer Dips

Kelli Hutka's Salsa

Pigs in a Blanket

Queso Fresco with Roasted Garlic

Roasted Garlic and Three Cheese Dip

Sausage, Cheese and Crackers

Smoky Tomato Salsa

Texas Trash

When hosting a Super Bowl party, I like to keep everything very casual and easy. Which is why I love these "main courses"! They can be eaten in front of the TV or standing up! 
BBQ Chicken Pizza Braid

BLT Wraps with Herbed Mayonnaise

Frito Chili Pie

Grands Taco Melts

Killer Club Sandwiches

Pizza Roll Ups

Tex-Mex Beef Wraps

Vitek's Homemade Gut Pack

I love to serve "team themed" dessert like cupcakes, rice crispy treats, or cookie cake! 

Super Bowl Treats

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake 

No matter what you serve or who wins, the best part about Super Bowl Sunday is the friends and family you get to spend time with! :-)

2 Hoots and Salutes

{if you aren't familiar with Hoots and Salutes, trust me, it is a good thing}

I have incredibly talented friends.

And I am over the top proud of them.  .  . 

so, today I wanted to introduce you to a few!

Maybe you will add a tv show to your weekly line up, be inspired by a design, or buy a lovely sign for a blank wall! 

Either way, I know you will be amazed! :-)

 {nashville/hollywood} 

Caroline Cutbirth and I met at summer camp when we were little and reconnected at Baylor when she went Kappa! She has one of the most incredible voices I have ever heard and spent numerous years singing in the band, Stealing Angels. Now she is making her television debut on this season's Amazing Race! :-) 

{real estate} 

Erin Meadows and I went to high school together, were college roommates and sorority sisters. She is smart, witty, and incredibly business savvy! Erin works for one of the most successful real estate firms in the city of Houston and is making a name for herself in the industry. She has a unique commission program that makes tons of sense for today's Houston market! If you need any help buying or selling a home in the Houston area, I highly recommend her! :-) 

{design} 

Elizabeth Munger Stiver and I went to elementary school together and she has had an eye for color and fashion since back then! Elizabeth and her sister, Amy, started Munger Interiors which is a Houston based design firm that focuses on design and fine art advisory services. Elizabeth creates rooms that are elegant yet livable. Named "Stars on the Rise" in the design community, Munger Interiors is quickly becoming a household name in Houston! 

{baking}

Elizabeth Eggleston and I have known each other since high school and remained  close friends ever since. Eggleston's Edibles  was started as a way for Elizabeth to sell her adorable cake balls which are perfect for wedding and baby showers, birthday parties and game day. But it has turned into so much more! Cakes, cupcakes, and cookies now grace the menu! :-) A Houston based bakery, Eggleston's Edibles is famous in the Memorial area! 

{small business}

Becky Leach and I lived down the hall from each other freshman year at Baylor and were both Kappas. She recently started Little Branches and it has taken off like wildfire! :-)  Becky makes precious custom vintage signs. I especially love her university and holiday collections! 

Are you impressed? I know I am! :-) 

3 Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos

What an amazing long weekend! 

In case you missed my feature post on The Vanilla Tulip, I shared a great appetizer just in time for the Super Bowl :-) 

With school starting back up tomorrow, a quick, easy and healthy dinner is the perfect item to add to your weekly meal plan. A one minute prep time is pretty awesome too! 

Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos

Servings: 4

1 can Green chiles, diced

1 jar salsa, (about 12 oz) 

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 whole onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs 

Place chicken in the bowl of a slow cooker. Top with salsa, diced green chiles, cumin, onion and garlic. Cover and set on low. Cook for 8 hours. Remove chicken from pot, shred and return to juices. Spoon chicken into taco shells, with whatever toppings your family likes. Or use the meat to make burritos, tostadas or as a filling for enchiladas. 

Disney Family

14 Overnight Chicken Stock in the Crock Pot

Yesterday I shared a recipe for a whole chicken in the crock pot! :-) After I finished eating/freezing the meat from the chicken, I kept all of the skin, bones, and broth in the crock pot and cooked it overnight. The next morning, I had an amazing amount of homemade chicken stock! 

I froze the stock in 2 cup bags and anytime I need chicken stock I have plenty in the freezer! 

Overnight Chicken Stock in the Crock Pot

Leftover chicken bones or carcass roughly equivalent to one small or medium sized chicken
1 onion, peeled and loosely chopped
1 rib of celery, roughly chopped
1 carrot, roughly chopped (no need to peel)
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh parsley
1 sprig fresh thyme
Salt, to taste
(I didn't have any of the ingredients except for the Whole Chicken in a Crock Pot ingredients and the stock turned out wonderful. So don't worry if you don't have carrots and celery) 

After removing all edible meat from the chicken put/leave the bones, skin, cooking juices, etc. in the crock pot. If you are using the chicken carcass from the “The Best Whole Chicken in the Crock Pot” recipe just leave every single thing that’s leftover (except the meat) in the crock pot including the original onion and spices you used when making the chicken.
Add the onion, celery, carrot and spices on top of the bones and fill the crock pot almost to the top with tap water (leaving about ½” at the top).(I put 10 cups of water for around 6-8 cups of left over chicken bones, pieces and juice) Cook on low for 8 – 10 hours. After the stock is done cooking turn off the heat and, using a soup ladle, pass the stock through a fine sieve to remove all herbs/bones/etc. Either refrigerate or freeze the stock for future use.

100 Days of Real Food 

9 The Best Whole Chicken in a Crock Pot and a "Healthy" Linky Party

Happy "Healthy" linky party day!! :-) 

Link up with recipes, workouts, success stories, and ideas for staying on track with your New Years resolutions:-) When you link up on Elizabeth Ann's Recipe Box, your link is immediately seen on the other hostess' blogs too! :-) It is a wonderful way to discover new blogs and to share great recipes and other healthy ideas! :-) 

Here are the hostesses! :-) 

Meg from Henning Love

Allison from Cupcake Diaries

Whitney from Harvest Home!

I can't wait to see all of your ideas! :-) 

Today, I'm sharing how to make a whole chicken in the slow cooker. This is so easy to prep and a short while later, the chicken is literally falling apart, is full of flavor and is AMAZING! 

One thing that I do is serve chicken for dinner the night that I make it and then freeze the rest for later use! 

Come back tomorrow to see how I make chicken stock with the leftovers! 

The Best Whole Chicken in a Crock Pot

2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon thyme
½ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon cayenne (red) pepper
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 onion
1 large chicken
Combine the dried spices in a small bowl.
Loosely chop the onion and place it in the bottom of the slow cooker.
Remove any giblets from the chicken and then rub the spice mixture all over. You can even put some of the spices inside the cavity and under the skin covering the breasts.
Put prepared chicken on top of the onions in the slow cooker, cover it, and turn it on to high. There is no need to add any liquid.
Cook for 4 – 5 hours (for a 3 or 4 pound chicken) or until the chicken is falling off the bone. 
100 Days of Real Food