Crockpot Chicken Curry

Posted on May 1st, 2012 by Andrew

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

4 tablespoons curry powder

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1.5-2 pounds chicken thighs, or breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces

2 cups chopped peeled sweet potatoes

2 cups baby carrots

2 cup coarsely chopped mango

1 cup chopped onion

1 zucchini chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 chicken bouillon, one per bag

1/2 cup peanuts or cashews (for garnish)

Directions:

1. Dump everything into two, one gallon freezer bags, shake, seal, label and put in the freezer.

2. To cook, set on the counter for about 30 minutes, then dump contents of bag into slow cooker. Cook on high for 4 hours, or low for 8 hours.

3. Serve over Jasmine rice.

Adapted from: http://mamaandbabylove.com/2011/04/05/freezer-cooking-with-slow-cooker-recipes/

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Chicken Enchilladas

Posted on January 14th, 2012 by donnaj923

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast meat – cut into chunks
  • 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
  • 1 1/4 cups sour cream
  • 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies, drained
  • 1 (1.25 ounce) package mild taco seasoning mix
  • 1 bunch green onions, chopped, divided
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 teaspoon lime juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 5 (12 inch) flour tortillas
  • 3 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded, divided
  • 1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
  • 1 (6 ounce) can sliced black olives

Directions

  1. Place the chicken in a large pot and add water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the chicken pieces are no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Shred chicken by placing two forks back to back and pulling meat apart. Set the shredded chicken aside. Meanwhile, combine the cream of chicken soup, sour cream, and chili powder in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, then turn off the heat and cover to keep warm.
  2. Heat the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the shredded chicken, chopped green chilies, taco seasoning, half of the bunch of chopped green onion, and water. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the lime juice, onion powder, and garlic powder; simmer for an additional 10 minutes.
  3. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Stir 1 cup of the soup mixture into the skillet with the chicken mixture. Spread the remaining soup mixture on the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish.
  4. Fill each tortilla with chicken mixture. Sprinkle Cheddar cheese over the chicken filling before folding the tortillas, reserving half of the shredded cheese for topping the enchiladas. Fold tortillas over the filling and place seam-side down in the prepared pan.
  5. Pour enchilada sauce evenly over the enchiladas. Cover with the remaining 1 1/2 cups of Cheddar cheese. Sprinkle the reserved chopped green onions and the sliced olives on top of the cheese. Bake in the preheated oven until filling is heated through and the cheese is melted and bubbling, about 25 minutes.
To make ahead:
I put the chicken in a crockpot with the taco seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, chopped onion + a little water in the morning. Then after 6-8 hours shred chicken and add the other filling ingredients to the crock pot and stir it up. Then assemble per the directions.

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Cranberry Chicken

Posted on January 14th, 2012 by donnaj923

Author/Source:

Pam @ Onceamonthmom.com

Ingredients:

  • 1 can whole berry cranberry sauce
  • 1 packet dried onion soup mix
  • 1 cup Catalina or French salad dressing
  • 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
  • 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast

Directions:

Place ingredients in a slow cooker. Cook on high 3-4 hours or low 5-6 hours or until chicken is tender. Serve over rice, if desired.

Freezing Directions:

Instead of cooking, place ingredients in a large freezer bag; seal, label and freeze. To serve: Thaw. Dump bag contents in a slow cooker. Cook on high 3-4 hours or low 5-6 hours or until chicken is tender. Serve over rice, if desired.

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French Toast – with artisan bread

Posted on January 14th, 2012 by donnaj923

Restaurant Style French Toast

Author/Source:

Kelly @ Onceamonthmom.com

Ingredients:

  • 0.33 cups All purpose, unenriched, unbleached flour, preferably organic
  • 0.25 cups Sugar or Sucanat
  • 0.25 teaspoons Salt
  • 0.25 teaspoons Cinnamon
  • 0.25 teaspoons Nutmeg
  • 1 cups Milk
  • 4 medium eggs
  • 0.5 teaspoons Vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 8 slices Artisan Bread

Directions:

Combine flour, sugar, salt cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl. Add milk, egg and vanilla and whisk together until all flour clumps are gone. Cut up Artisan Bread into large 1″ thick slices and place in gallon freezer bag. Lay flat in refrigerator and let soak overnight. The next day, turn on griddle or large pan to medium high heat and cook slices for two minutes on one side and one minute on the other. Serve with syrup or powdered sugar.

 

Artisan Bread

Author/Source:

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups warm water
  • 1.5 tablespoons yeast
  • 1.5 tablespoons kosher salt
  • 6.5 cups all purpose, unbleached, unenriched flour

Directions:

In the large bowl, combine water, yeast, and salt. Stir together. No need to wait until yeast is bubbly. Add in flour all at once and stir together. All portions of the dough should be moistened so that no flour is left uncombined. Cover mixture with lid or plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for two hours, or until doubled in size. Place bowl of dough, still covered, in fridge overnight and up to 14 days.

How to make a loaf: Sprinkle pizza peel – or parchment paper, if you don’t own a peel – very generously with corn meal. You want to make sure your loaf doesn’t stick when you slide it off onto the pizza stone or cookie sheet. Remove bowl from refrigerator. Sprinkle a “cloak” of flour over the dough – you’re not trying to mix it in or make your dough less sticky. Cut off a grapefruit -sized piece of dough, and pull all four sides, one at a time, to the bottom to form a ball. Flour hands if dough is sticking to them. Don’t worry about making the bottom of the loaf look smooth.

Let loaf rest for 40 minutes (or more, if kitchen is drafty or cool). Most of the actual rising will take place in the oven. 20 minutes before baking, place pizza stone in oven on the second to bottom rack, and place broiler pan on the rack below that; preheat to 450. After 40 minutes have passed, sprinkle top of loaf with flour (to keep knife from sticking). Using a serrated knife, make two 1/4 inch cuts crosswise on the top of the loaf. Now, with a quick motion, flick the loaf onto the pizza stone, then pour a cup of hot water into the broiler pan. Shut oven as quickly as possible to retain steam. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until crust is browned and hardened. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack; don’t slice in until cooled because it will release essential moisture moisture.

 

You can keep it in your fridge for up to two weeks! Just pull off a small amount for fresh bread each night. You can also freeze the dough for use later as well.

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French Dip Sandwiches

Posted on January 14th, 2012 by donnaj923

French Dip Sandwiches

1 2.5-3 lb. beef roast (you can use a frozen roast if you want)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper
2 1-ounce packages dry onion soup mix
2 c. water
2 cans beef broth
6-8 large buns (or more…6 would be VERY generous servings!)
Swiss, provolone, or mozzarella cheese, shredded or sliced.

Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat and rub roast with salt and pepper.

When very hot, carefully place roast in pan and sear on all sides. You’re not cooking the meat, you’re just browning it quickly on all sides to add flavor and seal in the juices.

Place in crockpot and sprinkle with onion soup mixes. Pour water and beef broth over roast.

Cook 8-10 hours on low or cook 4-5 hours on high and another 3-4 hours on low. It’s hard to screw this part up; basically, the longer it cooks, the more tender it will be. But you know it’s done when you pop a fork in it and the meat just falls apart. When meat is ready, shred with a fork.

Place meat in crusty rolls. Top with cheese and broil open-faced in the oven or toaster oven for a few minutes, until bread is golden and cheese is melty.

Ladle juices into small cups for dipping and enjoy!

TO FREEZE:

Prepare roast through the searing step; after meat has cooled, place in a plastic freezer-safe container (think Gladware), cover with onion soup mix and boullion, and freeze. When ready to cook, pop it straight into the crockpot (frozen), add 2 cups of water, and set to high until warm or, even better, simmering. Turn to low; cook for a total of 8-10 hours.

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Apple Pie Pork Chops

Posted on January 14th, 2012 by donnaj923

Ingredients:

  • 8    cups    apples, peeled & sliced
  • .75    cups    sugar
  • 2    Tablespoons    all-purpose flour
  • 1    teaspoons    ground cinnamon
  • .5    teaspoons    ground cloves
  • .5    teaspoons    ground allspice
  • 1.5    pounds    pork chops

Directions:

Place pork chops in the bottom of a slow cooker. In a separate gallon zippered bag place all of the ingredients except the pork chops. Mix. Once mixed, dump on top of pork chops in the slow cooker. Cook on LOW 6-8 hour or HIGH 3-4 hours.

Freezing Directions:

Add all ingredients except the pork chops to a ziploc bag. Squish this around so that the apples get coated and the spices get mixed around. Add pork chops to the mix (1.5 lbs per bag) or freeze them in a separate gallon bag. Then put this in the freezer.  To serve: Thaw both bags (apples and pork chops). Place all ingredients in a slow cooker and cook on LOW 6-8 hour or HIGH 3-4 hours.

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Banana Bread

Posted on January 13th, 2012 by donnaj923

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 3 ripe bananas, mashed
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8×4 inch loaf pan.
  2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in the egg and mashed bananas. Mix in flour, baking soda and salt just until combined. Pour into prepared loaf pan.
  3. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. If top begins to brown too quickly, decrease heat slightly. Center should be soft and chewy, while the outside, crisp and crunchy.

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Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

Posted on January 13th, 2012 by donnaj923

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 1 (3.5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
 Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
  2. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Add pudding mix, eggs and vanilla. Combine flour and baking soda; add to creamed mixture and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips.
  3. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned.

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Lady and Sons Chicken Pot Pie

Posted on January 13th, 2012 by donnaj923

Ingredients

  • 4 sheets frozen puff pastry
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 4 chicken breast halves, or 2 cups leftover cooked chicken
  • Seasoned salt and pepper
  • 2 tablespoons cooking oil
  • 1/3 cup butter
  • 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 quart heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup chicken base
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1/2 small yellow onion, minced
  • 1 cup frozen green peas, cooked
  • 1 cup chopped cooked carrots
  • Pinch fresh grated nutmeg, optional
  • Special equipment: 4 (2-cup) individual baking dishes

Directions

Crust:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut each sheet of frozen puff pastry into 1-inch strips, 8 inches long. On a large cookie sheet, weave strips into a lattice large enough to cover each pot pie. Brush beaten egg onto each lattice square. Bake for 5 minutes, or until dough has risen and turned light golden brown. Set aside until ready to assemble pies. Leave oven on at 350 degrees F.

Filling:

Season chicken with seasoned salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and saute until cooked through. Remove from heat and cut into chunks. Alternatively, you may use precooked chicken.

In a large saucepan, melt butter and then slowly add flour, stirring until consistency of peanut butter, but not brown like a roux. Slowly add cream and keep stirring. Add chicken base, garlic, and onion and stir until thickened. Add peas, carrots, nutmeg, if using, and cut up chicken. Remove from heat. Fill 4 individual oven-proof bowls with chicken mixture and then top each with a pre-cooked lattice square. Bake for 5 minutes or until bubbly. Any remaining pie filling may be frozen.

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Ham Salad

Posted on January 13th, 2012 by donnaj923

Ingredients

  • 2 cups mayonnaise
  • 1 cup sweet pickle relish
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 2 pounds smoked boneless ham, diced
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 small green bell pepper, diced
  • 2 stalks celery, diced

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, relish, pepper and salt until blended. Add the ham, onion, green pepper and celery and toss until coated. Store the salad, covered, in the refrigerator.

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