Cooking Like a Pioneer Woman

Yes, I've been slaving over an open wood fire to cook our meals.  Or not...

Meet my best friend, Ree, the Pioneer Woman.  No, I've never met her, but she IS my best friend.  This is her picture from her Facebook page.  She would probably consider me a stalker instead of her friend.  

Ree has a blog, The Pioneer Woman, where she shares her life as a rancher's wife, a homeschooling mom, and what she is cooking for her family and ranch hands.  

Her recipes make my skirt fly up.  She uses that phrase, "make your skirt fly up" a lot in her blog.  I've got some of her recipes to show you but first I must caution you.  If you are seeing a cardiologist, are married to a cardiologist, have a friend or a relative that is a cardiologist, you do NOT want to tell them you are eating like this.  These recipes contain lots of cheese, butter, cream and sometimes (I need to whisper this) lard.

These are Three Cheese-Stuffed Shells with Meaty Tomato Sauce.  The recipe makes a huge amount.  This picture just shows the small casserole dish.  There was another LARGE casserole dish in the kitchen.  I served this dish with The Bread.   

 

  
Her cinnamon rolls are some of the easiest rolls I've made and they are awesome.  The ones pictured below are not frosted yet.  Just wait until you taste the frosting!  Before you make these, read her post Notes on Cinnamon Rolls.  If I had read that post before making these, I might not have had such a mess.  It definitely helps to let this dough rest and cool in the refrigerator before working with it.

Crash Hot Potatoes and grilled steak with Onion-Blue Cheese Sauce was on our menu last weekend.  I didn't have time to get the onions in this sauce caramelized but it was still yumm-o. 

Last night we had Sloppy Joes.  Hubs doesn't like sloppy joes, but he really likes these.  They make his eyebrows fly up.  That's how I judge our meals.  If Hubs raises his eyebrows, I know it's good.  When I've made a PW recipe, they usually fly up so high it actually looks like he has hair on the top of his head.

Other recipes I've tried but didn't snap a photo are pot roast and Grilled Chicken with Lemon Basil Pasta.  This pasta dish is one of the easiest to prepare and best tasting pasta I have EVER cooked.  It is on our menu a lot!

Fixing PW's recipes might not take slaving over an open fire all day, but they sure taste like you did!

PS - If any of my family reads this, I would love to find Ree's cookbook under the Christmas tree...