A couple years ago, I was deteremined to make atleast one new meal a month. I have pretty much stuck to that goal and then some- atleast trying a new recipe each week. And now with Pinterest.. it makes it even easier. I still search for my own recipes, but have found a few on pinterest too. One thing I learned.. If you find a recipe you like, read the review before you make it. Then come to your own conclusion if you want to make or change things that may not have worked for other people.
A few people have asked me about using my crock-pot. They've had a hard time remembering to put food in that day..and then its too late. My solution: Think about it what you are going to eat for dinner every morning. I know I am just a stay at home mom, but if I can have dinner cooking that is one less thing I have to try and worry about doing an hour before Elliot comes home. So I think about it in the morning, get things ready and then let my crock-pot doing the cooking. Yes, we do eat other foods not from the crockpot. But a lot of the time, some part of our meal is made in the crockpot.
We've been eating quite a few new recipes the past couple months and I wanted to share them. Some have made it to my montly meal list, while others are good every now and then. I posted where I got the recipe as well, so you can go to the site and get the original recipe. Enjoy! And let me know what you try :)
Dr. Pepper Pulled-Pork
(Serves 6-8)
Pork Roast, about 4 pounds (I used 2 1/2 lbs)
Dr. Pepper- 1 or 2 cans
1 bottle Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce (or 16 oz of any other BBQ sauce you desire)
1 chopped onion (optional)
Preparation:
-Place pork and dr. pepper in slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 5 to 6 hours or 3 to 4 hours on HIGH heat setting (or until meat is cooked)
-Drain liquid from slow cooker; shred the meat and discard any fat. Put the pork back in the slow cooker.
-Add barbecue sauce and onions if desired. Cover and cook on LOW for 2 to 4 hours longer. Stir occasionally.
Serve with warm buns
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Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
1 can corn, drained
1 can diced tomatoes
½ cup Taco seasoning
1 1/2 C water
1 can tomato soup or tomato sauce (atleast 8 oz)
1 can ( 10 3/4 oz) cream of chicken soup
2 C milk
3-4 boneless chicken breasts (I only used 2 chicken breasts)
-In crock pot, mix the enchilada packet together with the water and tomato sauce. Add cream of chicken soup and milk and whisk together until smooth.
-Add chicken. Pour drained corn and diced tomatoes on.
-Cook on low 6-8 hours. Before serving, take out chicken and shred or dice, then put back and stir it all together.
-Serve with sour cream, cheese and tortilla chips
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Creamy Chicken Tacos
(Serves 6)
5 FROZEN chicken breasts (don't you love it when you can start with frozen! Me too...)
1 1/2 C salsa
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 1/2 T taco seasoning
1 T maple syrup
1 T butter
1/2 C sour cream
-Spray the inside of your crock pot with cooking spray and place the FROZEN chicken breasts inside.
-In a small mixing bowl stir together all other ingredients but the butter and sour cream.
-Pour the sauce over the top of the chicken. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours, or on low for 7-8 hours.
- Take the chicken out of the crock and onto a plate. Shred it all up with a fork and throw it back in.
-Add the little pat of butter and the sour cream, stir it all around until incorporated.
- Cook for 1 more hour.
-Serve over Tortilla chips or Tortillas. Top with tomatoes, onions, cheddar cheese, lettuce.
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Crispy Cheddar Chicken
(Serves 7)
Chicken:
4 large chicken breasts
2 sleeves Ritz crackers
1/4 t salt
1/8 t pepper
1/2 C milk
3 C cheddar cheese, grated
1 t dried parsley
Sauce:
1 10 ounce can cream of chicken soup
2 T sour cream
2 T butter
-Cut each chicken breast into 3 large chunks.
- Crush ritz crackers. Pour the milk, cheese and cracker crumbs into 3 separate small pans.
Toss the 1/4 t salt and 1/8 t pepper into the cracker crumbs and stir the mixture around to combine.
-Dip each piece of chicken into the milk, then cheese. Press cheese into the chicken with your fingers. (Some may fall of when you add the crackers)
-Press the cheesy chicken into the cracker crumbs and press it in. By the time you are coating the last piece of chicken, the dish you are using for the crumbs will be full of cheese.
-Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and lay the chicken inside the pan.
- Sprinkle the dried parsley over the chicken.
-Cover the pan with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove the foil, bake for an additional -
10 minutes, or until the edges of the chicken are golden brown and crispy.
-In a medium sized sauce pan combine the cream of chicken soup, sour cream and butter with a whisk. ----Stir it over medium high heat until the sauce is nice and hot. Serve over the chicken.
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Easy Beef Stew
Recipe: via
1 pound stew meat, cubed
2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
2 medium carrots, cut into chunks
3 medium potatoes, cut into chunks
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 can condensed tomato soup
2 cloves garlic, minced
a few sprinkles of Worcestershire
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Mix all ingredients together in a 9x13 baking dish. Cover tightly with foil. Bake for four hours or until meat and vegetables are tender and caramelized.
Serve over noodles or rice. Or if you are like us.. eat it just the way it is :)
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Blueberry Banana Bread
(Serves 12)
1 3/4 C. flour
2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. freshly ground nutmeg
1/3 C. margarine or butter, room temperature
2/3 C. sugar
2 eggs, room temp and beaten
3/4 C. mashed bananas (2 large ripe bananas)
3/4 C. fresh blueberries (or thawed if frozen)
-Preheat oven to 350 F and grease one large or two small loaf pans. Set aside.
-Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg (I put all mine into a ziplock bag and shake it around).
-Cream together margarin and sugar until fluffy. Add beaten eggs and mix well. Add a third of the dry ingredient mix, then a third of the bananas. Continue to alternate these two until all is just combined in the batter. Do not overmix. Using a spatual or spoon, fold in the blueberries.
-Pour batter into prepared pan(s) and bake for an hour or until golden brown and springy to the touch. To store for more than two days, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and store in fridge. Delicious warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
