www.PeanutButterBoy.com Recipe Reviews (Pg. 1)

High Temperature Eye-of-Round Roast

Reviewed: Aug. 29, 2011

As a precursor: we like our meat medium-rare, and we have a family member who is especially picky about that. Also, we used a 2.5lb eye round roast that was even in diameter along the entire length. Our oven is electric and very well insulated, so it holds it's heat well. I combined the advice of some of the reviewers and did the following: 1. Used Gravy Master to cover the roast, then added plenty of garlic salt and ground pepper to make a nice spice crust. 2. Placed the roast in a roasting pan and put it in a 500 degree oven, lowered the temperature to 475 degrees and cooked it for 7 min/lb x 2.5 lb = 18 min. 3. Did NOT open the oven and lowered the temperature to 200 degrees (which our oven may not have even gotten down to). Left the roast in for 20 min/lb x 2.5 lb = 50 minutes. 4. Removed the roast and let it sit for 10 minutes before carving. Results: the roast was medium to medium-rare but closer to medium, with a nice medium-pink hue throughout the length of the roast. We all prefer it a little darker pink but regardless, the meat was incredibly tender. The tenderness was what you'd expect of medium-rare and it was even more moist than you'd expect for medium-rare by any other cooking method we've tried, so overall it was VERY enjoyable. This is definitely the only way I'll cook roast beef from now on! Future modifications: I would like to get it closer to medium-rare, so I will lower the time of 20 min/lb at 200 degrees to 12-15 min/lb.

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30 users found this review helpful

Black-Eyed Pea Gumbo

Reviewed: Jan. 3, 2011

Fantastic recipe. I needed to make several subsitutions: 1. Could not find canned black eyed peas so I used a 1lb bag of dried beans boiled in 6.5 cups of water until tender (about 45 minutes). It turns out to be about 3 cans worth, so I added 2 cups of frozen sweet corn in lieu of the fourth can (for great flavor and texture too). 2. Like other people mentioned, this recipe came out too thick, thicker than most chili's I've had. Instead of all the diced tomatoes, I used a 28oz can of crushed tomatoes. In addition, I wound up adding about 2 cups of extra liquid (beef broth is what I had) to thin the gumbo out just a little. 3. Forgot to buy celery so I omitted that, I used 3 cloves of garlic because you can never have enough, and I used barley instead of brown rice (great texture!). 4. Finally, I added about 1 Tbsp of hot pepper sauce (Sriracha is my favorite) which added a ton of flavor and just a touch of spice. I then add a few dashes to each bowl I eat since I can handle more spice. Otherwise, this recipe made a ton of food! Make sure you have some freezer space or plan to eat it for a few nights. An excellent nutritious and filling meal served with cornbread.

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19 users found this review helpful

Slow Cooker Roast Beef

Reviewed: Jan. 1, 2011

22 hours is unnecessarily long - 8 hours on low is plenty. I used a 4.5lb eye round roast (which is the leanest cut of beef) and added 1 (1lb) bag of baby carrots and 2 (16oz) cans of white potatoes at the beginning. After 8 hours I removed everything form the crockpot except the liquid, mixed about 1/3 cup cornstarch with a cold water in a side bowl and added it to the cooking liquid for an incredible gravy. I then returned all the ingredients to the crockpot and set it to warm until we were ready to eat. It turned out to be one of the best stews I've ever had.

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15 users found this review helpful

Uncooked Banana Pudding

Reviewed: Jun. 1, 2010

Fantastic dessert! It even beat out our 15-year-old quickest-disappearing July 4th dessert. I've made this recipe as listed above and a much healthier version. Here's what I recommend to get the most nutritious and best tasting dessert you've ever had: 1. The best substitution for sour cream is nonfat plain greek yogurt or regular yogurt, but nonfat sour cream works fine too. 2. Nonfat frozen whipped topping. 3. 2 small boxes of nonfat (and sugar-free if desired) instant vanilla pudding mix. 4. Skim milk instead of whole milk. 5. Ginger snaps instead of vanilla wafers (this is the best part by far!). 6. I mix in 1/3 cup peanut butter (low or no salted variety if using natural peanut butter) with the first ingredients. That being said - I recommend mixing all the ingredients mentioned in the beginning and adding the pudding mix last. It makes a lot of pudding but not quite enough to use the 4 bananas and the whole box of cookies, but this all depends on the size of your dish I suppose. I usually use 2-3 bananas and half of a box of ginger snaps (which is perfect to make a second batch). Let the dish sit in the fridge for at least 8 hours or overnight. The ginger snaps turn into like a crystallized ginger sugar, they're unbelievable! Enjoy!

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3 users found this review helpful

Awesome Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Reviewed: Feb. 6, 2010

Incredible, one of the most tender and succulent beef dishes I have ever had. I made a much healthier version by using an entire 5.8 lb eye round, which is the leanest cut of beef. After trimming the fat off I used 1 can (2 cups) beef broth and 1 cup red wine in place of the 1 1/4 cups water but kept the other ingredients the same. I then added 1 llarge sliced vidalia onion and about 25 baby carrots cut in half to the gravy before cooking. I had to serve this dish with tongs and ladled a spoon of gravy on top. The gravy was absolutely delicious and wasn't too thin, it was stew-like in thickness. It made a ton of gravy so we turned the leftovers into stew using a bit of the remaining beef. The entire gathering was drooling over this dish, I will be making it again and again!

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8 users found this review helpful

Butternut and Acorn Squash Soup

Reviewed: Sep. 15, 2009

I thought this was delicious!! I made a few changes. A little less sugar, fat free cream cheese, 1 tsp of butter and fat free low sodium chicken broth made this much healthier. It was very rich. I might try less cream cheese next time. But, there will definitely be a next time!

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0 users found this review helpful

Sweet, Sticky and Spicy Chicken

Reviewed: Feb. 28, 2009

We loved this dish but it wasn't sticky, which could be due to not measuring the honey. Chicken tenders made the meat even more tender and succulent and we cooked it in toasted sesame oil instead of vegetable oil which really added to the flavor. We didn't have hot sauce so I added 1t chili powder and 2T water (probably unnecessary). The sauce reduced nicely and concentrated the flavor. Served over bulgur wheat this was the perfect meal! A side of roasted, but still crispy, green beans rounded it out. I highly recommend this dish. Make sure to use fresh ginger, not dried.

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0 users found this review helpful

Peanut Butter and Banana Dog Biscuits

Reviewed: Aug. 20, 2008

If I had a dog I assume he/she would like them. They are a pretty healthy snack so I actually made them for myself! Clearly they're a bit dry but not too shabby when dunked in coffee or tea. I found it fun, in a gross way, to roll the dough into a narrow rod shape and stack them into little "piles".

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21 users found this review helpful

Quick Chicken Peanut Mole with Cilantro Rice

Reviewed: Jun. 3, 2008

I didn't make the rice, but the chicken mole came out great! I used chicken tenders, 2 cloves garlic, diced tomatoes with jalapeños and 2t chili powder. After tasting it, I modified it by adding 1T honey and an extra 1T cocoa to give it a darker color and more chocolaty taste. This made it perfectly seasoned and flavorful! It made a ton of food, but I will be making it again!

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10 users found this review helpful

Buffalo Style Chicken Pizza

Reviewed: Jan. 13, 2008

I made several modifications, starting with a whole wheat pizza dough from Trader Joe's. For the sauce, I used half a can of refried beans w/ jalapenos and mixed in a few spoonfuls of spicy BBQ sauce. I used 1 can (10oz) of white meat chicken which worked well because it is shredded and spreads over the whole pizza. I topped the chicken with some red onion rings, diced red pepper and sauteed mushrooms. For the cheese, I used half fat-free shredded cheddar and half low-fat mozzarella cheese. The pizza was a little thicker and took about 15 minutes. A little spray of olive oil on top near the end crisped the cheese up gorgeously! Simply delicious!

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2 users found this review helpful

Portobello Mushroom Lentil Soup

Reviewed: Nov. 11, 2007

Very good! Next time I'd use less lentils and more mushrooms. A nice, easy, satisfying soup.

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6 users found this review helpful

Whole Wheat Banana Nut Bread

Reviewed: Oct. 20, 2005

I had 3 overripe bananas and was in need of a good healthy banana bread recipe. I was going to use whole wheat flour anyway so I decided to try this recipe. I made a few substitutions. I used 1/3 cup overflowing with unsweetened applesauce instead of oil, 1/4 cup Splenda and 1 Tbsp honey instead of all honey. I added an extra 1/2 tsp of vanilla and used eggbeaters instead of eggs, adding an extra 1/2 egg or so. I added an extra half banana and subsituted 25% of the flour with soy flour to add extra protein and fiber. I also added 1/2 tsp extra baking soda just to make sure. I then made them in a muffin tin making 12 muffins exactly. I may have undercooked them a little bit at just about 30 minutes, but I also had to put them in the fridge for 2.5 hours because I didnt have enough time to cook them before class. For the health factor involved, these are amazing! They turned out very well, I enjoy them a lot but I probably didn't mash the bananas enough first. I eat either one of these or one of the "addictive pumpkin muffins" every morning for breakfast now with a piece of fruit. Just take one out of the freezer and bring it to work, very simple and incredibly healthy!

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3 users found this review helpful

Addictive Pumpkin Muffins

Reviewed: Oct. 19, 2005

I first changed the serving size down to 1 dozen muffins but then I made some healthy modifications to this recipe. I used all whole-wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour. Instead of 1-1/3 cups sugar, I used 1/4 cup Splenda and between 1/8 and 1/4 cup of honey. I didn't have nutmeg (Shoprite ran out) or ground cloves so I doubled the cinnamon to 1 tsp. I used eggbeaters to replace the eggs but put an extra 1/2 egg in. I also overflowed the 1/3 cup of applesauce and added about 1/4 of fat free plain yogurt. These muffins made my dorm smell INCREDIBLE. I also topped them with extra cinnamon. They were extremely moist (I think I took them out a minute or two early) and have a nice pumpkin-wheat-nut-raisin flavor and even my non-health-conscious roommates liked them as well as my coworkers! I am going to make another batch or 2 tonight to freeze. Highly Recommended!!

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3 users found this review helpful