Chicken and Rice in the Slow Cooker

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs (I used 4 chick breast halves)

2 (14 ounce) cans low-fat cream of mushroom soup (semi condensed like Amy's organic, to use fully condensed like Campbell's, use 1 can soup and one ca) (low-fat?  Yeah maybe I should start using that stuff)

1 cup long grain brown rice (didn't have any so just used white rice)

1 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1 (16 ounce) package frozen peas (only used half of the package)

Directions:

1.  Mix all ingredients except chicken and peas in the crock of your slow cooker.

2.  Add the chicken thighs and submerse in liquid.

3.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours. My cooker takes closer to 6, so just check the chicken to ensure it is done.

4.  30 minutes prior to serving, stir in the frozen peas. Sometimes 1/2 cup of water is also needed at this point, sometimes it is not. (mine needed the water... more like a full cup)

Recipe From: 

http://www.food.com/recipe/chicken-rice-for-the-slow-cooker-262510

Review:
This was SO EASY!!! And Jake was SO excited to come home and eat leftovers with me the next day.  It seemed really spicy (probably because of all of the black pepper) which is probably why Jake liked it so much.  However, I think I might try to do only 1/2 tsp of black pepper and increase the Italian seasoning 1/2 tsp.

Banana Bread

Ingredients:

• 3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
• 1/3 cup melted butter (I should definitely try reducing the butter)
• 1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)  (and reducing the sugar... especially if chocolate chips are added)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

Directions:

No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Recipe From:
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/banana_bread/

Review:
I liked this recipe because it uses a lot of bananas (instead of only one banana as in some of the other recipes I found).  It was delicious... especially when warm.  I would cut a piece and warm it up in the microwave and it was divine.  However, I cannot believe I didn't even think of putting chocolate chips in it!  Maybe next time!

Lip-Smackin' Bar-B-Q Chicken Bake

Ingredients:

2/3

cup Bisquick Heart Smart® mix (Heart Smart?  What is that?)

2

tablespoons water

1

egg

1 1/2

cups shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese (6 oz)

2

teaspoons vegetable oil

3

boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

3/4

cup barbecue sauce

Directions:

1.  Heat oven to 400°F. Spray 9-inch pie pan or 9-inch square baking dish with cooking spray.


2.  In small bowl, stir together Bisquick® mix, water and egg. Spread in bottom of pan; sprinkle with 1 1/4 cups of the cheese. In 10-inch skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Cook chicken in oil, stirring occasionally, until outsides turn white; drain. Stir in barbecue sauce; heat just until hot. Spoon over batter in pan to within 1/2 inch of edge.


3.  Bake 22 to 25 minutes or until edge is dark golden brown. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheese. Bake 1 to 3 minutes longer or until cheese melts; loosen from side of pan.

Recipe From:
http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/lip-smackin-bar-b-q-chicken-bake-lighter-recipe/e47b364a-b666-4aef-8460-c427ae74f93b?term=chicken+bbq+sause

Review:
This one tastes a lot like the hamburger and rice BBQ dish that we make a lot.  This was pretty easy, and pretty good.  Jake LOVES BBQ sauce.  I would have liked more if it had more of the crust so probably do 1.5 of the crust recipe or double it.  

Slow Cooker Cheesy Potato Soup

Ingredients:

1

bag (32 oz) frozen southern-style diced hash brown potatoes, thawed (mine were still frozen)

1/2

cup frozen chopped onion (from 12-oz bag), thawed (chopped up half an onion)

1

medium stalk celery, diced (1/2 cup)

1

carton (32-oz) Progresso® chicken broth

1

cup water

3

tablespoons Gold Medal® all-purpose flour

1

cup milk

1

bag (8 oz) shredded American-Cheddar cheese blend (2 cups)

1/4

cup real bacon pieces (from 2.8-oz package)

4

medium green onions, sliced (1/4 cup)

Directions:

1.  In 3- to 4-quart slow cooker, mix potatoes, onion, celery, broth and water.


2.  Cover; cook on Low heat setting 6 to 8 hours.


3.  In small bowl, mix flour into milk; stir into potato mixture. Increase heat setting to High. Cover; cook 20 to 30 minutes or until mixture thickens. Stir in cheese until melted. Garnish individual servings with bacon and green onions. Sprinkle with pepper if desired.

Recipe From:
http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/slow-cooker-cheesy-potato-soup/9a278ca4-42b0-4259-8941-5805d9aacb7f

Review:
I left this one in the slow cooker WAY too long.  We went to a family thing that lasted longer than anticipated and so I think the potatoes were in there for more than 9 HOURS!!  They kind of just turned into mashed potatoes and it was REALLY thick.  I still liked it and just added extra water to my bowl, but Jake preferred to call it casserole instead of soup (that way he was better able to eat it).  It seemed really heavy, but a good comfort food.

Awesome Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Ingredients:

• 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 5 1/2 pounds pot roast

Directions:
1.  In a slow cooker, mix cream of mushroom soup, dry onion soup mix and water. Place pot roast in slow cooker and coat with soup mixture.


2.  Cook on High setting for 3 to 4 hours, or on Low setting for 8 to 9 hours. (actually probably closer to 6 hours)

Recipe From:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/awesome-slow-cooker-pot-roast/detail.aspx

Review:
Jake said he would put it in the top three things that I have made (I don't know what the other two are...) It smelled really good and was delicious.  It did, however, produce too much gravy. Maybe next time use have of the suggested ingredients (maybe it's because it was a smaller roast).

Juicy Apple Pork Chops

Ingredients:

4 chops
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 large granny smith apples pealed and sliced (I found that it's easier to peal them before slicing them)
1 large onion sliced (or chopped... because I don't love big chunks of onion)
1/2 packet of french onion mushroom soup mix (just used plain onion soup mix)
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup apple juice
Nutmeg and cinnamon to taste (haha... too bad I was fasting when I made it. I just had to put a few shakes of each)

Rice (optional)

Directions:

Place apples and onion on bottom of crock. Chops on top. Mix remaining ingredients and pour over top. Cook on low 6-8 hours. (After nearly 6 hours, it was done but really runny). I scooped out 2 cups of the juice and boiled it on the stove, and mixed in some minute rice according to the package directions. Turned out well. You could also add 2 cups of minute rice the last hour of cooking.)

Recipe From:
http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/373/Juicy_Apple_Pork_Chops56485.shtml

Review:
I probably shouldn't have told Jake what the ingredients were because his first word was, "interesting." I told them that there was pork, apples, and onions. We decided that it was really good, very moist (which I loved), and would probably give it an 8. To me it had subtle flavors and Jake probably said it perfectly with "it's not 'kick your socks off' kind of good, but it is very tasty." Definite remake!

Empanadas

Ingredients:

***Crust***

24 frozen pre-made empanada shells, thawed
***Filling***
1 pound ground beef
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, olive preferred
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeds and stem removed, finely chopped
2 jalapeno chiles, seeds and stems removed, minced (we didn't use these)
1 medium potato, peeled, boiled, finely chopped 2 hard cooked eggs, finely chopped (we only cut them into pieces and included a piece in each empanada)
10 green olives, finely chopped
2 tablespoons raisins 1 tablespoon ground paprika
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or substitute dried
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste (and of course, Jake added some DeVerle's seasoning)
***Glaze***
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon milk

Directions: (I modified these slightly because the original recipe has you make your own shells)

Saute the beef in a skillet until well done, stirring frequently with a fork to keep the meat broken-up. In a separate skillet, saute the onion, bell pepper, and jalapenos until the onions are a golden brown. Combine all the remaining ingredients for the filling and mix well. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spoon the filling onto one half of each leaving room to fold in half and seal. Moisten the edges then press with the tip of a fork and cut a 1" slice in the top. Place on an ungreased baking pan (we greased it then they were kind of fried). Combine the ingredients for the glaze. Bake for 15minutes or continue baking until the crust turns light brown. Brush the tops with glaze and bake for an additional 5 minutes.

Recipe From:
http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/262/Argentine_Empanadas22263.shtml

Review:
Oh this brings back memories!!! They were really good, a little different than i remember, but still good. Jake gives them an 8 with a definite re-making party in the future. They took a little under 2 hours to make and eat :)

Learning to Cook...

http://xkcd.com/854/

Crockpot Lasagna

Makes 8-10 Servings

Prep Time:

It took me about and hour and 15 minutes to put together!

Cook Time:

4-5 Hours

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef
• 2 onions, chopped (I only used 1 because it was starting to look like a lot)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 48-ounce jar chunky pasta sauce (This is about 2 of the normal sized bottles)
• 14-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 3/4 cup water
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 15-ounce container part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 16 ounce package mafalda noodles (mini lasagna noodles) (I couldn't find these at the store so I just used oven ready lasagna noodles)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

In a large skillet, brown ground beef with chopped onions and garlic. Season with season salt and pepper to taste. Drain thoroughly. Add spaghetti sauce, diced tomatoes, and water. Simmer 10 - 15 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine ricotta cheese, parsley, and egg, and beat well. Add half of the mozzarella cheese. In 5-6 quart crockpot, pour 1 cup of the beef sauce. Then top with a layer of noodles. Top with 1 cup mozzarella cheese, more ground beef sauce, then a layer of the cheese mixture. Repeat layers to fill crockpot 3/4 full. (I had a couple of cups of meat sauce left over to I just put it in the fridge and poured it over the left-overs. The left-overs were a little dry.) Cover crockpot and cook on low for 6-7 hours (actually only 4-5 hours)- DO NOT STIR. Top with Parmesan cheese and serve.

From:

http://busycooks.about.com/od/groundbeefrecipes/r/cplasagna.htm

Review:

This was actually really good lasagna! However, it took FOREVER (as almost all homemade lasagna). I don't know if it was really worth it, but there were tons of left-overs so we enjoyed it all week long.

Creamy Chicken and Potatoes for the Slow Cooker

Makes 4 Servings

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (used 2 chicken breasts [not sure if they were halves] slightly thawed and cut up into smaller pieces. It could have ued a little more chicken)
2 tsp of Nature's Seasoning (used Deverle's Seasoning... sprinkled generously on both sides of the chicken)
10 small potatoes with skin on (does this mean the really small potatoes? I used 6 small/medium Russet potatoes cut up)
1 can of cream of chicken
1 cup of sour cream

Black pepper (can't find my pepper... but it definitely could have used some)

Directions:
Place chicken breast halves, sprinkle wth chicken seasoning in slow cooker. Arrange potatoes around chicken.
Combine soup, sour cream and good amount of balck pepper. Spoon over chicken.
Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. I ended up siring it a couple of times because it seemed that the potatoes weren't cooking as fast as the chicken. Then I was worried that the potatoes weren't going to be cooked enough so I turned it on high the last hour. I think it cooked for about 4.5 hours. Turned out to be great timing.

From:
http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=233843

Review:
LOVE it. It was so incredibly easy and tasted great! Definitely one to make in the future.