HELLO OUT THERE!

OK, I'm hoping that the quiet blogosphere is just because it's summer and everyone is busy. If not, that's OK too. This blog will continue to be here until I die (morbid, I know). I know for me, I haven't posted because I honestly haven't been cooking anything that isn't already on here. Some of the staples in our home are Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese, Pancake Roll-ups (almost every morning now), and Enchilada Casserole. We seriously have these multiple times a week.
If possible, leave a comment to let me know there's still people checking in. Even if you don't leave recipes behind, I want to know about how many people are actually looking on here. If there are any suggestions or complaints, leave a comment too! Anything to help make this blog easy and fun is constructive criticism in my book.
Thanks to all that continue to post recipes on here. Let's stretch out the Crock Pot week until the 17th, OK?

♥

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Easy Chicken

OK, this is super easy.

1 whole chicken (or as many boobies or thighs to suit your family needs)
1 jar green salsa (the tomatillo kind)

Plop it in a crock pot on low for 6-8 hours (watch it, too long and it falls right off the bone, and digging out bones is no fun) and shred meat for tacos, enchiladas, anything! I shred mine in 1 cup portions and put it in Ziploc bags in the freezer so I always have yummy chicken for casseroles and such.
ENJOY!

(pic to come soon)

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Chicken Stroganoff

I got this recipe from one of my favorite cooking blogs: http://www.365daysofcrockpot.com. You all should check it out! Karen is the author of most of the recipes but this one was a guest post by Lynn. And it is excellent!

Chicken Stroganoff

1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts (3 to 4 breasts)
1 10.5 oz can cream of chicken soup
2 cups sour cream
1/4 cup instant minced onion
2 TBsp chicken bouillon (or 3 cubes)
1/2 tsp onion powder
3 cups cooked egg noodles

Spray crock pot with cooking spray. Combine all ingredients in crock pot and mix well. Cover and cook on low 4-6 hours or high 2-3.

When I made this the first time I was a bit confused about putting already cooked noodles in the crock pot and cooking them for 6 more hours. So I've always just cooked them right before I'm ready to serve it and add them in at the very end. Also, I usually omit the onion powder. The minced onion is plenty of onion flavor for me :)

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Crock Pot Lasagna

This is the only way I make lasagna. I can't cook those big long noodles. And this one's relatively cheap! Yay!

12 uncooked lasagna noodles
2 lbs. browned ground beef, drained
1 tea. Italian seasoning
1 jar (28 oz.) spaghetti sauce
1/4 c. water (I tend to use a bit more- it's more art than science)
1 carton (16 oz.) cottage cheese (cheaper than ricotta!)
2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Layer half of noodles at the bottom of the crock pot, you may have to break them to conform to the size. Stir Italian seasoning into the meat and spread half of it over noodles, then half of the sauce. Add the water and 1/2 of cottage cheese, 1/2 of the shredded Mozz. cheese. Repeat the layers. Sprinkle a bit of water on top, cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours. Don't cook any more than 5 hrs. because of the cottage cheese.
Makes 6-8 servings.

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Enchilada's

I missed mexican week (forever ago), but I made these last night and took some pics, so I figure I'll just post it anyway. I got this recipe from my mother in law and I love it because it isn't very spicy. (It's the american version of mexican food haha)

1 10 oz can of chicken, drained (or 2 if you really like them chickeny)

1 cream of chicken

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup milk

1 can corn (drained)

chili powder

dried onion

shredded cheese

8 tortillas (flour)

Mix all ingredients (minus the tortillas) together in a pan on medium heat until heated through. The chili powder, dried onion and cheese is all personal preference, I usually put a handful of shredded cheese, and a couple dashes of both chili powder and onion.

Pour about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the mixture onto each tortilla (just eyeball it), and put some of it in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish so they don't stick. Roll up tortillas and place in dish and cover with tinfoil. Cook on 350 for 30 minutes.



When they are fresh from the oven, sprinkle cheese and let melt.

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Crockpot Fetticini Alfredo

I love my crockpot, so I have quite a few recipes. This one serves quite a bit and we eat leftovers for a week I swear! (but there is only 2 of us).

4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves, cubed (I use my chicken from the cannery and shred it)
2 jars of Alfredo sauce
4 slices of swiss cheese
3 TBS grated parmesan cheese
1 TSP garlic powder and salt and pepper to taste
1 package fettuccine noodles (you'll need the whole package for as much sauce as this makes)

Mix chicken cubes and alfredo sauce in crockpot and cook on low for 2 hours (my cannery chicken is already cooked, so I usually just cook it for 1 hour). Then place swiss cheese and Parmesan cheese on top and cook for another 30 minutes. Add garlic powder and salt and pepper and stir everything together. Cook noodles according to package. Then you can either pour the sauce over the noodles, or just mix the noodles with the sauce and serve from the crockpot.

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Crockpot BBQ Chicken

I would have pictures, but seeing how I haven't cooked this in a while...(It's so hard to cook in the summer! It's always go go go, so we eat out a lot :s) I thought I'd better hurry and post my crockpot recipes before the week is over ;). I found this recipe on allrecipes.com

Frozen chicken breasts (3 or 4 if big, 6 or so if small)
One bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce (I like kraft brown sugar, or honey flavor)
1/2 cup of Italian salad dressing (I like the zesty kind)
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 TBS worchestire sauce

Lay chicken breasts on bottom of crockpot. Mix all the other ingredients in a bowl till brown sugar is disovled, then pour mixture over chicken (make sure some of the sauce gets under the chicken so it doesn't burn). Then you can cook it on high for 3 or 4 hours, or on low for 6 or 8 hours (slow is always better). I like to serve with baked potatoes, and then you can pour the sauce mixture over the tatoe...mmm...

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Slow Cooker Southwest Chicken Stacks

This is what I will be making for the 4th! I'll post pictures soon. But seriously, how easy could this be?!

2 c. frozen corn
1 can black beans- rinsed and drained
2 lrg. frozen chicken breasts
1 1/2 c. salsa

Lightly grease slow cooker, pour corn on the bottom. Layer frozen chicken on top, then cover with beans & salsa. Cover and cook on low for 6 hrs. Remove chicken and shred with forks. Return to cooker and stir until combined with beans and corn.

Serve on a bed of tortilla chips & top with garnishes of lettuce, tomato, avocado, sour cream, cheese, cilantro, lime wedge, etc.

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Crock Pot Week!

Thank you for the awesome suggestion, Taly! For the next week-ish (7/3-7/11) turn in all your yummy crock pot recipes. It is just too hot to heat up the oven for anything to eat, so crock pot is the next best thing! Can't wait to see what you all put up! I will be putting up the Cafe Rio pork salad up, in a couple days. But I think Sammy has a super awesome recipe for it too, so put it up!! Repeats are fine if there are some minor differences. Oooh, yum, can't wait.

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Raspberry Limeade

Been a bit quiet around here lately- would a Sonic-Style summer beverage perk you up a bit? 

12 oz. pkg. frozen raspberries
2 c. sugar
1/2 c. water
4 tea. grated zest and 1/2 c. juice from 4 limes
chilled club soda (I used 7up- the club soda was a bit too bland)
ice

Heat raspberries, sugar, and water in saucepan over medium heat about 5 minutes. Mash berries with a potato masher or whisk, then stir in lime zest & juice. Simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
Pour raspberry mix through fine sieve. You'll end up with a little more than 2 1/2 c. syrup. Discard solids. Refrigerate syrup until cool- 30 minutes (it will keep up to 1 week)
To serve, combine 3/4 c. soda and 3 tbl. syrup into a tall glass with ice.
For larger servings, 1 liter of soda will take about 1 1/2 c. syrup.

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