Cooking with KP: April 2026

Kay's Poor Man's Crockpot Steak and Potatoes

I can't claim the idea as my own. This concept has been viral for months, but here is my take on it. You just turn on the crockpot and let this it do its thing. Good and hearty dinner with just a few minutes of prep.

2-3 pounds of tiny/baby red or yellow potatoes

2-3 pounds of stew meat

1 envelope of onion soup mix

2 x 2 Tablespoons of olive oil

3 Tablespoons of minced garlic

2 Tablespoons of seasoned salt

1 Tablespoon of pepper

2 Tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce

Parsley flakes

1 stick of butter

Wash and slice potatoes in half. Place in a bowe1. Drizzle 2 Tablespoons of olive oil on top, with some salt and pepper and the minced garlic. Toss well to coat all taters. Place in crockpot.

In the same bowl, add meat, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, salt, pepper, soup mix and Worchestershire sauce. Toss well. (You can brown the meat before doing this, but you truly don't need to do this.) Pour meat over potatoes. Cut the butter into about ten slices. Place on meat. Sprinkle parsley flakes on the top. Cover and cook on low for 5 hours or high for 8. Stir half way through cooking so the meat and potatoes mix well.

Banana Cobbler

I love bananas, especially banana bread, but I had never heard of Banana Cobbler until this popped on my Facebook Reels. It comes from the influencer Downsizing Jess. It is best with very ripe bananas. So don't toss them, make a cobbler. It is delicious with a little vanilla ice cream on top.

Boy, am I glad we found this!

4-5 ripe bananas, sliced

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 stick butter (don't use margarine)

1 cup flour

3/4 cup white sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

Pinch of salt

3/4 cup milk

Place stick of butter in a 10 inch cast iron skillet and place in oven at 350 degrees so that it can melt while the oven preheats.

Slice bananas and place in bowel. Add brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Give this a gentle toss so the bananas are covered. Set aside.

In another bowel, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and milk. Stir until well blended.

Once oven is heated and butter is melted in skillet, remove the skillet from the oven and pour the flour/milk batter on top of the butter. Do not stir. Now spoon banana mixture over the batter. Again, do not stir. If there is any juice in the bowel, pour it on top.

Return skillet to oven and bake for 40-45 minutes. Cobbler should be a bit firm and golden brown.

Let rest for 10 minutes. Scoop out some of this deliciousness and maybe top with ice cream or caramel sauce. Enjoy.

If you have any leftovers, store in refrigerator covered for 2-3 days.

Kay's LaScala Salad

There are several versions of this chopped salad, which became very popular on social media. Here is my verision based upon the various ones online. You simply toss all the ingredients with the dressing and enjoy. Leave out anything you don't like; add what you would enjoy.

1 head romaine lettuce finely chopped

1 head iceberg lettuce finely chopped

6 ounces salami julienned

8 ounces mozzarella cheese shredded

1 can (15 oz) chickpeas drained and rinsed (also known as garbanzo beans)

1 medium red onion julienned

½ cup marinated sundried tomatoes drained and chopped (or quartered cherry tomatoes)

¾ cup chopped artichokes marinated and drained

Dressing

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar or red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon dry mustard powder or dijon mustard

½ Tablespoon of Italian seasoning

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

¼ cup finely grated parmesan cheese

Mix the dressing in a jar or bowl. Pour ontop the vegetables. Toss and enjoy!

Cheaper Cuts of Beef Don't Have To Be Tough

Most people avoid the cheaper cuts of beef because they tend to be tough. With 8 children and three adults in our home, my mother had to find ways to tenderize the cheaper cuts of beef. One way to cook "down", as my mother used to say, a tough cut of beef steak is to season both sides of the steak with garlic powder, seasoned salt and pepper. Lightly brown the steak in a large skillet and on top add a diced green bell pepper, medium onion, a bay leaf, parsley flakes, a few dashes of Worchestershire sauce, and a can of diced tomatoes. Cover with lid. Let the steak simmer for 30-50 minutes. Remove lid and thicken juices by cooking 5-10 more minutes. You can also do the same with a cheap beef roast in a crock pot. Add all the ingredients in crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. The flavor is simple, amazing and great with mashed potatoes.

Fall Vegetables for a Healthy You

As the fall approaches, we will all start to stay indoors more hours. This will lessen our vitamins, such as vitamin A, D, and K, which are enhanced by sunlight. Below are a few vegetables you might want to increase in your diet as the fall and later winter days approach. Besides, they are very tasty. In fact, in the next few weeks, I will be posting recipes that incorporate many of these delicious veggies.

Sweet potatoes and yams are very rich in carotenoids, vitamins A, B6, C, potassium, iron and fiber and are delicious when baked and eaten plain (without butter) or used in soups, casseroles or stir-fries.

Bell peppers are great sources of potassium, manganese, fiber and vitamins A, B, C and K. These sweet peppers are flavorful additions to salads and healthy stir-fries. You can choose from a rainbow of colors, including: green peppers,yellow peppers, orange peppers,and red peppers.

Summer and winter squash are rich in carotenoids, vitamins A and C, potassium, magnesium and fiber and can be served alone or added to many dishes.

Just a few tips for you...

Spray your Tupperware with nonstick cooking spray before pouring in tomato- based sauces. No more stains!

Use lifesavers candy to hold candles in place on your next birthday cake! Kids love them.

Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of a sugarcone to prevent ice cream drips!

Zap garlic cloves in the microwave for 15 seconds and the skins slip right off!

If your celery begins to wilt in the fridge, fill a large cup half full of water and place celery in the cup. Put back in the fridge for two hours--it will be crisp. (Learned this from my mother).

Cooking Myth Busted

A Potato Can Save a Salty Soup or Stew. True or False? False. "This is an attractive idea, but it doesn't work because potatoes are not particularly absorbent," says Wolke, who conducted his own soup-and-potato experiment for his Cooking Myth Busters book. "There is no reason they would attract salt." If you remove the raw potato from the soup, the potato will taste salty, but so would a sponge — it has simply soaked up some of the salty liquid. Still, there is hope for salty stews: Adding a bit of vinegar or sugar can "cancel out" the saltiness by giving your taste buds competing flavors.

Super Moist Turkey

If you are looking for a way to get a moist turkey, you might try one of these family hints:

1--bake the turkey upside down--breast down for the first half of the cooking time. It will help the darker meat cook more thoroughly and the fatty juices of the darker meat will drip down to the breast and add moistness. Use a deep roasting pan for this.

2--bake the turkey with the breast up, but rub it with butter, garlic powder and pepper only. Do not salt the skin. Instead, mix salt in a cup of warm water and pour that cup of salted warm-not hot-water inside the cavity of the turkey. The salt water will steam up into the turkey, making it very moist.

3. bake the turkey with the breast up and slice two lemons and one orange in halves. Place the halves inside the seasoned turkey and the juices will steam into the meat, adding moisture and flavor.

Hint of the Week

Here is something I learned from my wonderful Mother, the greatest cook I have ever known. When you have just a small serving of cooked vegetables leftover from dinner, don't throw them away. Keep a large plastic container in the freezer and put the vegetables in the container. Mix them--carrots, corn, green beans, broccoli, etc. When the container is full make a pot of soup or stew. Also, if a recipe calls for 1/2 a chopped onion, chop the whole onion and add the half to the freezer container. My mother made the best vegetable soups from this idea.

Hint for the Week

With Fourth of July quickly approaching, you might be thinking of making Deviled Eggs. If you want perfectly boiled eggs, place eggs in a large pot and completely cover with cold water. Do not layer eggs on top of one another. Bring water to a rapid boil for 2 minutes, reduce to simmer and let eggs simmer 8 minutes, return to boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and empty hot water and fill pot with cold water. Let sit for 5 minutes. To peel easily, slightly crush shell in your fist and roll on counter with a firm grip. Of course, you don't want to push through the egg, but by making the shell crack in many small pieces, it is easier to peel. My father saw this on a cooking show years ago and taught me this. It truly works.