Crock Pot: Day 7 ~ Butternut Squash Soup

This is a crock pot recipe and a new recipe. I once again looked at several food blogs and then just went with my instincts. This was an easy recipe and a wonderful crowd pleaser. I made it for my family and then again for our life group.

Ingredients:
-3 lbs. Butternut Squash
-8 Cloves Garlic
-1 qt Chicken Broth
-8 oz of Cream Cheese
-1 c Whipping Cream
-Salt
-Pepper
-Parmasen Cheese (for garnish)

I found this pre-cut Butternut Squash at Sam's Club. It made this REALLY easy.

I put the squash, garlic cloves, salt, pepper and a quart of chicken broth in the crock pot on low for 5 hours.

Squash straight out of the package...all cut up & skinned!

After the squash is tender, I spooned it out with a slotted spoon into my food processor. Processed the squash & garlic. Pour the squash back into the crock pot with the brick of cream cheese & turn crock pot on high. Occasionally stir the soup till the cream cheese is completely melted. Stir in whipping cream. Serve with parmesan cheese on top.

So yummy!

This was a wonderful dish. I tasted along the way and salted and peppered to taste.

Reading: Book 2 ~ Catching Fire

Catching Fire

by Suzanne Collins

This is the 2nd book in the Hunger Games series. This book picks up right where the first book left you hanging (at the end of the 74th hunger games). The main character, Katniss goes home to district 12. She moves to the big house that she was rewarded at the end of the games.

Her defiance to Hunger Games in the first book has created a movement that has caused disturbances in the other districts though she is not aware of this being there is no communication between districts. She begins to learn about these disturbances and then the president of The Capitol tells her she need to put this to an end on her victory tour. Instead of putting an end to these disturbances, she creates more problems.

This year is considered a Quarter Quell in which the Hunger Games always have some new twist (every 25 years). This year it is decided that the tributes will be chosen from the previous tributes. Being Katniss is the only girl that has won from her district, she will be going back to the arena, her worst nightmare.

This book takes you through the journey of Katniss on her victory tour through the Quarter Quell Hunger Games and once again leaves you with a cliff hanger which caused me to begin the 3rd book immediately. 

Organizing: Day 2 ~ My Hutch

I inherited a beautiful dark cherry wood hutch from my mom. It isn't really my style but it holds all my beautiful dishes (that I also inherited) on display. The problem with that is that is also displays the dust the gathers being that these beautiful dishes are only used on a few occasions throughout the year.

Recently, I packed up lots of my dishes and carted them to Denver to throw a wonderful wedding shower for my step brother's beautiful wife. My step-mom and I joined forces and got all our china out for this event. When I pulled everything out I became aware of how dirty the hutch was. Before putting all the dishes back into the hutch, I decided it was time to clean the hutch. I dusted and windexed and went through all the items in the hutch. I was able to get rid of a few things I can't imagine ever using. After everything was clean, I put all my dishes back.

When the glasses where there you couldn't see all this dust.

It feels great to have a nice clean space. I'm sure I'll have to do it again the next time I use the china, but for now it looks great.

Crystal clear to display my crystal.

All clean now!

Crock Pot: Day 6 ~ "Stir Fry"

"Stir Fry" in the crock pot isn't really stir fry but it was really good. I checked out a few other food blogs to see what people did to make "stir fry" in the crock pot and then used my own recipe. I used this blog's "Stir Fry" recipe as an inspiration. Therefore this is one I am considering a new recipe.

Ingredients:
-1 Red Bell Pepper
-1 Orange Bell Pepper
-1 Yellow Bell Pepper
-1 Onion
-6 Garlic Cloves
-1 8 oz Package of Sliced Mushrooms
-3 cups of Broccoli Florets
-3 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

Cast of characters

Dice the raw chicken and throw into the crock pot. Mince garlic and throw into the crock pot. Dice all the veggies and throw into the crock pot (hold back the broccoli). Turn on low for 6-8 hours.

Look how beautiful the peppers are!

More veggies

The Sauce:
-2 c Water
-1 c Soy Sauce
-1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
-4 tbs White Vinegar
-2 tbs sriracha sauce
-2 tbs Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic (Link to purchase this spice)
-4-5 drops of sesame oil
-2 tbs Flour

Pour the sauce over the chicken and veggies.

Whisk the sauce

Add the broccoli 30 minutes before ready to serve.

Add the broccoli at the end

Serve the wonderful "stir fry" over rice.

Served over sticky rice

This dish had a wonderful flavor. Usually when I make stir fry, I marinate the chicken for 24 hours. Doing this dish in the crock pot, there was no need for that. The meat was flavorful and tender. The family loved it!

Reading: Book 1 ~ Hunger Games

Okay, I'm going to start this first post about the books I'm reading this year by saying that I am not a book reviewer. I am just sharing some of my thoughts on these books. I won't give away the book for those who want to read it. In order to reach my goal of 30 books this year, I will be reading several series. I found they get me hooked and I read more often.

Hunger Games

by Suzanne Collins

This is the first book of a trilogy. The second book is Catching Fire and the third book is Mockingjay. I did read all three in the series. This is considered a series for young adults and therefor were easy reads for me.

The premis of this book is that the world that we know today no longer exists. Through natural disaster, war, and pollution, there is very little left. In what used to be North America is now The Capitol and 12 colonies. Early on there were 13 colonies that rose up against The Capitol and the 13th colony was destroyed. In order to keep the colonies in line, The Capitol instituted The Hunger Games.

Each year there is a reaping where one girl and one boy between the age of 12-18 is selected from every district as a tribute. They are then taken to The Capitol to be prepared to enter an arena where they will fight till the death until only one child remains. The child that remains is given a nice house in which to live in their district and money. Their district is rewarded with food throughout the year. This is to remind the districts that The Capitol is in control of their lives. Each district has something they produce or make to provide to The Capitol. This story is based on a girl from district 12, which is the coal mining district.

This book takes the reader through the journey of the main character, Katniss from before the reaping, her as a tribute for the hunger games and through the completion of the 74th hunger games. I found this book to be entertaining and ends with a huge cliff hanger which caused me to want to read the next book right away. I read the entire series over a few days.

Crock Pot: Day 5 ~ Chili

This is another easy crock pot dinner. I made an all meat chili to be served over homemade mac 'n' cheese (or rather pasta & cheese being I am using ziti today) for a wonderful chili mac dinner.

The ingredients:

-2 lbs ground beef (or another ground meat)
-Rotel (I use 1 can per pound of beef, so 2 today)
-Tastefully Simple Wahoo! Chili (link to purchase this spice...only available till 3.11.12)
-Tastefully Simple Onion Onion (link to purchase this spice)
-Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic (link to purchase this spice)
-seasonings

The spices

Put beef in the crock pot and turn it on high and brown meat in the bottom of the crock pot, stirring occasionally to get all the meat cooked equally. I am using frozen beef so it will take about 2 hours.

Beef in the crock pot with the spices

After the beef it browned turn crock pot to low and add Rotel, garlic, onion and seasonings. For today's chili, the seasonings I am using are: chili powder, Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic, Tastefully Simple Onion Onion and Tastefully Simple's Wahoo Chili seasoning. This is my first time using Wahoo Chili seasoning and it was a wonderful blend of savory seasonings.

This all meat chili is a wonderful topping on pasta and cheese.

I also roasted some broccoli in the oven as a topper to the meal. Roasted broccoli is a family favorite in our house.

To make roasted broccoli:

You need:
-Olive Oil

-Kosher Salt

-Broccoli Florets

Roasted Broccoli

Break up the broccoli in small bits (the smaller the better) onto a cookie sheet. Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle salt over the broccoli and toss (I use my hands). Pop into the oven at 325˚ for 40-50 minutes or until the broccoli browns and crisps. Serve on top of the pasta and chili.

Broken up broccoli on the cookie sheet

Dinner...cheesy pasta, meat chili and roasted broccoli

Crock Pot: Day 4 ~ Broccoli Cheese Soup

I have not found another recipe done this way, this is just how I do it. It turned out so good and was such a family favorite that they have not stopped asking for me to make it again. I thought this would be the perfect time to make it again.

The ingredients:
-1/4 lb of Butter (1 stick)
-1 Onion (I used yellow)
-1/2 c Flour
-1 tbsp Salt
-1 tbsp Pepper
-A pinch Nutmeg
-Broccoli (I use 1/2 or so of the bag I buy from Sam's Club which is a 3 lb bag so about 1-2 lbs of broccoli)
-1 qt Heavy Whipping Cream (can use 1/2 & 1/2)
-2 c Milk
-3 c grated cheese (today I'm using Irish Dubliner, Cheddar & Parmesan. I don't use equal parts. I used mostly Dubliner today)

Cast of yumminess

*Remember, I'm a cook so I don't really measure. These are all approximates. I'm trying to see about how much I use along the way so that you can follow my "recipe".

Saute onions in butter until they are translucent.

Don't be scared to use this much butter...it will make the roux.

Then add about 1/3 cup of flour to the butter and onions to make a roux. Cook for 1 mins or so and then add to the crock pot.

Add heavy whipping cream and milk and stir.

Chop broccoli finely (I don't blend my soup but I don't like it really chunky so I chop my broccoli) and add to the crock pot.

Chopped up broccoli.

 Add salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Cook on high for 4-6 hours.

20-30 minutes before serving, add cheese.

Serve.

YUMMY Soup

Tonight we ate it with steak and served it with crusty bread and Roasted Garlic Infused Oil (link to purchase this...only available till 3.11.12) and Tuscany Bread Dipping Mix (link to purchase this...only available till 3.11.12) Seasoning from Tastefully Simple but we've eaten it as a meal by itself. It's a nice hardy soup and a crowd pleaser in our house. What's especially great is there is enough soup leftover that I won't need to cook tomorrow.

I think everyone was saying "Mmmm" the entire dinner. Steak cooked to perfection by hubby.

Crock Pot: Day 3 ~ Meatloaf

So I did a little research online and found several recipes for meatloaf in the crock pot. The only thing I took from them was the amount of time AND I needed to spray my crock pot with cooking spray. Other than that I just used my meatloaf recipe.

If you don't have a meatloaf recipe, here's mine. If you do, make your meatloaf. Put it in your crock pot that has been sprayed with cooking spray for 6-8 hours on low. It seems that the reviews I read said that it is best to not put the meat loaf right against the sides of the stone (I made my loaf in the bottom & then put my hands around the side and smashed it towards the middle).

*This recipe is some of my mom's and some of one she and I found years ago and some of just being a cook and trying things out. It has morphed over the years and I don't always make it the same.

Here's what you need:
1.5 lbs (or so will feed our family of 6) of ground beef (I use 90/10 you don't want too lean or too fatty)
1 onion (color doesn't matter, I used yellow)
7 (or so) cloves of garlic (don't be afraid to use this much garlic)
2 eggs
1 can of tomato paste
2-3 tbsp of bacon bits (I use Tastefully Simple's Bacon Bacon (link to purchase this spice)- you can use real bacon but I have a pork allergy so we use fake stuff. If you use the real stuff you need to cook it in advance)
Salt (maybe a tbsp or so)
Pepper (also maybe a tbsp or so)
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Bread Crumbs
Cheese (either graded or shredded-I used provolone leftover from yesterday's Italian Roast sandwiches)
1 can of french cut green beans (I think french cut & canned work best for this recipe)

I'm getting better about getting all the ingredients out at the beginning.

Put the ground beef in a large mixing bowl.

Finely chop garlic and onion. I used my mini chopper to do this (mostly because you get a great small chop with it and my slap chopper broke last year and I never got around to replacing it).

Finely chopped garlic.

I only put in 1/4 of the onion at a time in my mini chopper.

Mix the eggs, tomato paste, bacon bits, salt & pepper in a small bowl.

Tomato mixture.

Put tomato mixture, garlic and onion in with the ground beef. Here's for the gross part (at least for me)...get in there and mix it all up with your HANDS. There's no better way to do it.

Once it is well mixed, I add about a cup or so of bread crumbs. You want to "dry" it out a bit but you don't want to mixture to be so dry it crumbles. If you add too much bread crumbs, throw in a tbsp of milk. (I promise it is okay to put milk in your meatloaf). I usually add a little bread crumbs at a time till I get it right. This is one of those moments where I am a cook and don't really know how to do that whole measuring thing!

Split the meat in half and put half down in the bottom of the greased crock pot. Make the meat into a "bowl" shape.

Meat "bowl" in the bottom of the crock pot.

Put a layer of cheese in the "bowl" (if using sliced 3-4 pieces).

3 pieces of provolone in the meat "bowl"

Put in the can of green beans (make sure you drain them first).

1 can of french cut green beans on top of the cheese.

Put on more cheese (I used 3 slices on the bottom and 4 on the top).

Another layer of cheese.

Put the rest of the meat on top, making sure you seal the layers together to the cheese does not stick out. Sprinkle the top of the meat with salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder (it is kind of like a meat rub on top).

Top coated with spices.

Turn the crock pot on low for 6-8 hours.

It is meatloaf but it is like a casserole with the beans & cheese.

*Optional variations:
Dice up bell pepper for the meat mixture
Put bacon on top
Put ketchup on top
Put Soy Sauce in the mixture
Put Worcestershire sauce in the mixture
Make it mexican style with Rotel, taco season, corn in the center and mexican cheese.

Crock Pot: Day 2 ~ Italian Roast

Okay...this one couldn't be easier and I'm not sure where I first got it. I think I did a search on All Recipes during my annual pantry clean out a few years ago. Being that February's a short month, I instituted cooking from my pantry and freezer that month. We usually end up with some really weird dishes but this one was a great one.

You Need:
A Roast (which ever cut you like best, it doesn't really matter)
A Jar of Pepperoncini (whole or sliced, this also doesn't matter)
Rolls

This is all you need!

*Optional:
Cheese-today I'm using provolone (we melt it on the sandwich in the oven set to broil-only takes a minute)
Garlic (if the roast is thawed, I make little slits throughout the roast and put slices of garlic in the slits)
Onion (sauteed for the sandwich)
Mushrooms (sauteed for the sandwich)

That's it! No really, I'm serious.

If the roast is frozen, place in the crock pot with the whole jar of pepperoncinis (juice & all) for 2 hours on high then low for 5-6 hours (for about a 3-4 lb. roast). If the roast is thawed, I cook on low for 6-8 hours. It's really important that you give the roast plenty of time in the crock pot, more time is better than less. If you don't give it enough time, it will not be as tender.

My roast was frozen.

Hoagie rolls & sliced provolone cheese

After it has cooked, I pull all the peppers out and a lot of the juice and put that in a bowl. Not all my kids like them or can handle the spice, but don't worry the roast is not spicy.

Pepperoncinis and Roast Juice with the roast ready to shred.

Shred the roast in the crock pot or on a cutting board (whichever is easiest for you).

Load the rolls up ready to add the cheese.

Add a slice of provolone and pop in the oven to broil for just a minute.

Fresh out of the broiler...cheese is bubbling and starting to brown.

*Once again, this was a hit and we have leftovers for lunches!

We love this on hoagie rolls. Sometimes I toast them in the oven with the meat and cheese to melt the cheese. Sometimes I saute onions and mushrooms to throw on top. Sometimes we just have the meat on a roll with a veggie.

Crock Pot: Day 1 ~ Creamy Chicken over Pasta

Okay, I decided to start the year with the crock pot cooking challenge for a couple of reasons. First, I'm on fire and excited to start my challenges so why wait? Second, I think cooking for 30 days straight in my crock pot may be a bit difficult, so I thought I would do it while I was on fire about my challenges.

My first recipe inspiration comes from an amazing blog A Year of Slow Cooking. This woman cooked in her crock pot every day for an entire year! I am not that dedicated. She does say on her blog that is was expensive to do that type of cooking for an entire year, but that the average person would not do it this way. She gives great money saving tips. She actually does 365 different recipes and it includes everything from dinner to dessert and appetizers or side dishes. I think she even does something with old crayon...not for eating (at least I hope not). If you love your crock pot or want to learn to love your crock pot, her blog is definitely one to check out.

So I said my first inspiration came from the blog above. Let me just start this cooking challenge off by saying a few things. First, I am not a food blogger. I am a cook. This is what I mean by that. If you are stopping by looking for the perfect step by step and measurements of each ingredient, I may just frustrate you. I cook. I throw in this and that to taste. Second, I have done a lot of cooking for my family and I know their palates. I don't know your family, how they eat, what they like or how you cook...but if you want some jumping off places, I have those. I will try to link to the food blogs I follow for those who need the step by step. For the cooks out there, I think I put in just enough to follow along and you can make what I make to your tastes.

This is a new recipe for me and I certainly don't follow the blog but used it more for inspiration.

Creamy Chicken over Pasta (from the blog Cream Cheese Chicken Recipe)

The basics:

Everything BUT the pasta goes in the slow cooker. The pasta I will cook just before I serve up dinner. What's 10 minutes of pasta cooking when you know you'll have fresh pasta?

Ingredients:
-Chicken (I would usually use fresh or frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts. Today I only have canned so that's what I'm using-I'm using 3 cans.)
-Cream of something soup (Canned is fine but I'm making cream of mushroom in the slow cooker. It adds the flavor that will be lacking by using canned chicken).
-Salt
-Pepper
-Garlic (I use fresh cloves pressed through my garlic press but powder is fine)
-Onion (I also use fresh minced but powder is fine as well)
-Ranch Seasoning (I use Cherry Checkerboard (link to purchase this) Cool Ranch. She makes every fresh and is the best ranch seasoning out there in my opinion).
-Cream Cheese (2 packages)

To make the Cream of Mushroom soup from scratch:
-Mushrooms (All I had were stems leftover from making stuffed mushrooms)
-Cream (I use heavy whipping cream. I used almost a whole quart, all that I had then I fill the carton about half way with water, swish around and dump that in. Gets the extra cream and adds a little water to the mix.)
-Milk (We only whole milk about a cup or so)
-Butter (unsalted, 1/2 a stick)
-8 oz of sour cream
-Salt (I coat the top of the crock pot in a thin layer)
-Pepper (I coat the top of the crock pot in a thin layer with this as well)

For the Cream of Mushroom soup:
I throw everything in the slow cooker on high for about a half an hour or so. Then I turn it to low. I know a lot of people do their cream of mushroom soup a totally different way but this has always worked for me (when I'm going to add other things to it...not for freezing as soup for another day) and I love the flavor.

*This may look a little oily or separate in the pot. That's okay, it will all even out by the time you finish the recipe with the cream cheese.

Gotta start with a crock pot. I think this one is 6 quarts.

Mushrooms...yep just the stems. Only because I used the tops for stuffed mushrooms.

Butter & mushrooms in the pot.

Chop them up!

8 oz of sour cream

I make sure I fill my crock pot around 1/2 way. 

Coat the top of the soup with pepper & salt.

I only use coarse Kosher salt. If you use regular table salt...use less.

After the mushroom soup has cooked for about an hour (total), I add everything else (except the cream cheese) and cook it for 4-5 hour (if using raw chicken). I only need to cook it for a couple hours because I'm using canned chicken.

Then the last 30 minutes or so, I threw in the cream cheese.

Make the pasta (tonight we used penne, but whatever you have on hand) and serve the chicken over the pasta. Voilà. Dinner is served. I served it with crusty bread and Roasted Garlic Infused Oil (link to purchase this...only available till 3.11.12) and Tuscany Bread Dipping Mix (link to purchase this...only available till 3.11.12) Seasoning from Tastefully Simple.

Dinner...it was a hit & we have leftovers. Girls took it for lunch & I think I still have enough for another meal.

**A couple of side notes, my family always critique new recipes and suggest things that would be good in it. We thought artichokes would be great and a little parmesan cheese on top.

I'm sure everything can be substituted for low fat choices but we don't eat that way around here. I'm of the belief that whole and as close to natural is best. I know not everyone can eat that way but it sure is yummy!