Best of the Month October 2014

A recap of my most popular posts from the previous month, October 2014.

I've passed 100,000 total page views on my blog.  Pretty cool (I think).  Now my next goal is 1 million.  I'll get there slowly but surely.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and will have a great/delicious holiday season.  I cooked a turkey this year for just my husband and me and we've been eating leftovers since.  The only bad thing is that a 10 pound turkey didn't leave enough leftovers.  I was excited about using leftovers in new and creative ways but my husband and I haven't gotten tired of eating them yet.  I think we are gonna try to buy another turkey after the holidays when hopefully they'll be on sale.  Then maybe I'll get a chance to get some pictures and posts bout turkey.

Now for this month's most viewed:

Loco Moco

White rice, smothered in brown gravy and a beef patty, topped with a fried egg.  The Hawaiian breakfast of champions. 438 views and 45 +1s.

Last year's most viewed recipe of October was:

Slow Cooker Roast Beef Sandwiches

Beef roast slow cooked in broth and beer until tender then placed on a baguette and topped with melted cheese.  The cooking liquid can be used as a dipping sauce.  It now has 1259 views.

Back to this year:

Spiced Eggplant & Mushrooms Sandwich

Spiced eggplant and mushrooms wrapped in a warm pita with hummus and veggies.  An easy meatless sandwich with Mediterranean flavor.  364 views and 34 +1s.

Chicken and Black Bean Salsa Nachos

Crunchy tortilla chips layered with leftover rotisserie chicken, black bean and corn salsa, and shredded cheese.  322 views and 47 +1s.

Green Lasagna

A meatless lasagna layered with green vegetables, cheese, chickpeas, and pesto.  315 views and 131 +1s.

Habanero Hot Sauce

A ridiculously spicy and simple hot sauce made from habanero peppers.  296 views and 26 +1s.

If you would like to see the rest of last year's Best of October click on the picture below:

Enjoy.

Linked to:  TYSH, Cook Craft Share. Full Plate, Eat Create Party, Freedom, foodie friends, Snickerdoodle, See ya in the Gumbo, Merry Mon


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Best of the Month October 2013

A review of my most popular blog posts from October.

I really enjoy looking back to see which posts were the most popular every month.  I don't like to check my stats daily because I feel like it's 'watching the pot that won't boil'.  Instead I like to review once a month and sometimes I'm surprised about what was popular or how popular something was.

I'm still trying to grow my social media presence and it seems to be working.  I am getting more views, more +1s, more likes and just a little more notice.  I enjoyed blogging before but it is so much more fun and exciting knowing that more people (other than just my family) are reading my blog.  I don't expect to get famous but I enjoy sharing my recipes and ideas and I hope to inspire others to cook more.

Slow Cooker Roast Beef Sandwiches

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Beef roast slow cooked in broth and beer until tender then placed on a baguette and topped with melted cheese.  The cooking liquid can be used as a dipping sauce.  These sandwiches were delicious but I can't take all the credit for this recipe I found it on another blog Five Heart Home.  This post received 512 views and 21 +1s.

Best Burger Buns

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This is another recipe I found on another blog Utter Epicure.  These burger buns are so soft and delicious I had to share them.  These are soft, fluffy burger buns that don't fall apart or leak and they are the best I've ever made or had.  There is no more need to ever buy store bought burger buns again.  This post received 309 views and 52 +1s.

Spicy Vegetable Fried Rice

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Finally a Joybee original recipe.  This is a spicy fried rice made from leftovers.  Main ingredients are cabbage, onion, bok choy, and carrot, plus eggs for protein.  Recipes like these are why I started blogging.  I love to use leftovers in new ways so I don't waste any food.  I love when others like these kinds of recipes too.  This post received 292 views and 20 +1s.

Baked Vegetable Spring Rolls

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 Yay, another leftover recipe.  For these I was using up leftover Asian slaw.  They are crispy spring rolls filled with cabbage, daikon, and carrot, then baked instead of fried.  This post received 232 views and 52 +1s.

French Onion Dip

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I love dip recipes.  This is a slightly beefy, very oniony, sour cream dip perfect for gameday snacking (or any day). Yum yum I need to make this again soon. This post received 190 views and 22 +1s.

Thanks to all my followers and those who stop by occasionally.  Enjoy.

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Cheese Steak Stromboli

Shredded beef, peppers and onion rolled in a pizza dough with cheese and baked until crisp.

When I had leftover shredded beef from Slow Cooker Roast Beef Sandwiches I immediately thought steak pizza.  My idea was to add peppers and onions and provolone as well as mozzarella cheese to make it like a Philly cheese steak.  Pizzas can be a little more difficult to transfer into a hot oven (at least for me) so I decided to roll these pizzas like a burrito and make Stromboli.  This was a great idea.  A 6oz, thin crust, pizza dough makes a personal sized Stromboli that is quite filling.  I didn't serve these with marinara sauce, but if you want to go ahead.  I used a pizza dough recipe from The Bread Baker's Apprentice but you can use any recipe you like or even Italian bread dough (eventually I will post a pizza dough recipe).

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups shredded (cooked) beef
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
provolone
mozzerella
6-6 oz pizza doughs, at room temperature

Sautee onion, pepper, and garlic together until peppers and onions are soft.  Add the shredded beef and Worcestershire sauce and mix thoroughly.  Allow mixture to cool completely (you don't want to put hot toppings on the pizza dough, it makes it difficult to roll up).

Preheat oven to 500F with a baking stone on the lowest rack

 Press or roll out the pizza dough, one at a time, until it is about 10 inches in diameter.  Top the dough with about 1/2 cup of meat mixture and then some cheese, (use as much as you are comfortable rolling). Then roll the dough like a burrito.  Fold 2 opposite sides in and then roll the entire dough, as tightly as you can, into a log shape.  Pinch the seam together so that it is well sealed.  Slit a couple of air holes in the top.

Slide the Stromboli onto the baking stone and lower the oven to 450F.  Bake for about 15 minutes until browned and crispy.  Keep an eye on the stromboli they may cook faster or slower depending on your oven, and the cheese will probably bubble out a bit, I don't know how to prevent this but there is usually still plenty of cheese inside.  Let cool for about 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Makes 4-6 stromboli (I only made two and refrigerated the rest of the ingredients for the next night).  Serve with marinara if you like, or any dipping sauce you like, but they are great alone.  Enjoy.

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Slow Cooker Roast Beef Sandwiches

Beef roast slow cooked in broth and beer until tender then placed on a baguette and topped with melted cheese.  The cooking liquid can be used as a dipping sauce.

When I saw this recipe from Samantha at Five Heart Home I knew I had to try it.  I love french dip sandwiches and to be able to make something similar at home is fabulous.  My husband loved these sandwiches.  I liked that it was a different way to use a beef roast, in the slow cooker, without being pot roast.  Now, I have nothing against pot roast, but I always enjoy trying something new, and I think pot roast is better on cool and/or rainy days (don't have a lot of those here in Honolulu--I'm not complaining).  This roast beef is slow cooked in beef broth and dark beer.  The beer is optional, but it helps add rich color and flavor to the sauce.

Slow Cooker #RoastBeefSandwiches: #slowcooked in beer and beef broth  [Tweet this]

Slow Cooker Roast Beef Sandwiches

Ingredients:

3-pound beef roast
12 ounces dark beer
2 cups water
1 Tbsp beef base/bullion (I used Better than Bullion the normal ratio is 1 tsp base per cup of water so if you use another type of bullion measure accordingly)
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
3 Tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste
French bread baguette
provolone cheese slices

Season the beef roast on all sides with salt and pepper.  Heat a heavy (cast iron) skillet over medium-high heat.  Sear the roast, for a minute or more on all sides until deep golden.

Place the roast in the slow cooker.  Pour the water into the skillet while still hot, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan, to deglaze it and add to the slow cooker.  Pour in the beer, add the bullion, Worcestershire, and spices.  Cook on low for at least 8 hours the longer the better (this was even better the second day after cooking for about 5+ hours more).

Serve shredded beef on a baguette roll, top with cheese and broil until melted.  Serve sauce on the side for dipping.  Tastes great with a beer and makes great gameday fare or dinner for Monday night football.

SlowCooker RoastBeefSandwiches make great #gamedayfare  [Tweet this]

Enjoy.

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