Southwest Slowcooker Chicken

Wow! So I can't believe I haven't posted for a year! A lot has changed in that time! I've had a beautiful baby girl. She's the reason I am totally loving slow cooker recipes right now! She always seems the most awake during the late afternoon when I normally make supper! The slow cooket allows me to get my prep done earlier in the day so supper is ready when my husband gets home from work! I was pleasantly surprised by this recipe I've seen all over Pinterest. I've combined a few recipes to make one I like! Even better, it makes a ton so I leftovers for my husband's lunch and supper the next night! Give it a try tonight!

4-6 chicken breast
2 cans black beans, drained & rinsed
2 cans corn, drained
2 cups salsa
1 packet taco seasoning
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese.
Tortillas and shredded cheese for serving

Place chicken in slow cooker. Top with black beans, corn, salsa, and taco seasoning. Cook on low for 5 hours or high for 3. Pull chicken out of slow cooker and shred. Put back in slow cooker. Cube cream cheese and stir into chicken mixture. Cook one additional hour. Serve with tortillas, cheese, and whatever else you like!

You can also use this as a freezer meal by throwing raw chicken in a freezer bag with corn, beans, salsa, and taco seasoning. I put this in my slow cooker frozen and it turned out wonderful!

Quick & Easy Chicken & Dumplings

I just tried this tonight and it was so good and so easy I had to share it right away! I had originally found this recipe here through Pinterest. It was supposed to made in a crock-pot but when I finally decided to think about making dinner at 4:03pm this afternoon, I didn't exactly have time for the slow cooker! I made this on the stove while modifying the recipe and it took about 25 minutes from start to finish! Serves 4.

• 2 cans cream of chicken soup
• 1 (14 oz.) can chicken broth
• 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
• 2 Tablespoons Parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 Tablespoon minced onion
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4 large biscuits from a can (1/2 can, and I used the buttermilk variety)

Bring all ingredients except the biscuits to a boil. Cut each unbaked biscuit into 9-12 pieces. Drop each piece into the soup and simmer, covered for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally. Serve hot.

Mine sat an extra 15 minutes while it waited for Dylan to get home from work. It got thicker as it sat longer.

Peanut Butter Brownie Bites

This is a sneak peek at what I am serving at a party tomorrow night! I have been wanting to make these for awhile but really have not had a chance. I was so excited about the results that I had to share them immediately. I know you have seen these all over Pinterest so I decided to give them a try. If you can make box brownies, you can make these!

• 1 box of brownie mix and all ingredients called for on the box
• creamy peanut butter
• peanut butter chips
• chocolate chips (I used mini chips because I had an open bag in the cupboard)

Start by mixing the brownies according to package directions. Grease a mini muffin pan and pour brownie batter in each space filling about 3/4 full. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the brownies cool for about a half hour and remove from tins. Smooth some peanut butter on each brownie. I mixed the chips together in a bowl. Dip each brownie into the bowl. Store in a airtight container until ready to serve.

Freezer Meal Meatloaf

So... I have not posted for a very long time. Long story short, my computer was stolen, had to buy a new one and then I started three accelerated summer classes. But I'm back! I have been cooking and baking a lot of new recipes that I am excited to share with you.

I've been thinking ahead to this fall.  I have an awfully busy fall. Two on-line classes and I will be working at a corn maze for the youth group at our church. I am excited to do all of this but know I will not have much time for cooking. This usually leads to us McDonald's, Subway, cereal, or going out for ice cream for supper. Definitely not healthy or budget friendly options. I'm sure you have all been browsing Pinerest and have see the new rage with Freezer Cooking. I have attempted this a couple different ways. The first time, my mom and I did it together. We each bought ingredients for ten recipes then we got together on one day and cooked it all. I have never seen such a mess in all my life. But in the end I had 39 meals in my freezer and I believe my mom had 20. I bought loaf pans at the Dollar Tree (3 for a buck!) so that it was the perfect size for my little two person family. My mom used more 9x9s and 9x13s so she came out with less meals. This has saved us countless trips for fast food and poor eating choices. This second round, I am attempting a little differently. As I have time throughout my week I do some cooking for a couple hours and throw it in the freezer - creating a stockpile for this fall. For those of you who don't even have a couple hours here and there, you could just start doubling the recipes that you are already cooking and throw one in the freezer for later.

I like meatloafs for the simple fact that I can pull them out the morning I need them and they will be thawed. I have noticed that casseroles can take a few days to thaw so meatloafs cater to the spontaneous family. I found this recipe while cruising around Pinterest and absolutely love it. I put a few changes on it, she bakes all the meatloaf before, while I just freeze them raw. I also do not use as much stuffing mix. My mom told me it was hit at her house too. I just made this recipe and doubled it a couple days ago and was able to stockpile 8 meatloaf meals in an hour, including clean-up!!!

• 3 pounds ground beef
• 3 pounds ground turkey
• 6 oz stuffing mix
• 3/4 cup oatmeal (you could use bread crumbs but I like the whole grains)
• 6 eggs
• 1 cup BBQ sauce
• 5 Tablespoons onion powder
• 4 Tablespoons garlic salt
• 6 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Pack meatloafs into loaf pans, cover, and freeze.

To use: Thaw meatloaf and bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour. Your cooking time will vary based on the size of your loaf pans.

Chicken Enchiladas

I am pretty excited about this recipe. This recipe was found on Tasty Kitchen. I made it quite awhile ago and I have been waiting to share it with you as I was doing a bit of an experiment. This makes a huge batch of enchilada filling. So much, that I was able to get 3 meals out of it with leftovers. Altogether, this made 16 enchiladas, and you could get more by not filling them so full.  I made this last fall and made it for two meals, one for a night with my friends and another for a night just with my husband. Overwhelmed by the amount of enchilada filling leftover, I froze the filling for a quick meal later. I was not sure how it would hold up in the freezer and I am telling you now that I am really impressed. This is an all around time saver recipe as it utilizes the slow cooker to cook the meat.

• 2 1/2 pounds chicken breast (I used four large breasts)
• 1 (16 oz.) bottle Italian Dressing (I used Kraft Free and it worked fine.)
• 1 Tablespoon Cumin
• 1 Tablespoon Chili Powder
• 3 teaspoons minced garlic

Place all these ingredients in a slow cooker on high for 3-5 hours, shred and place back in slow cooker until ready to use.

• 1 box Hamburger Helper Cheesy Enchilada Rice

Cook the rice according to package directions. Do not add the meat called for on the box or the sauce mixture. Just make the rice with the seasoning.

• 1 can black beans

Heat in a large microwave bowl in the microwave.

Combine the chicken mixture, rice, and black beans in the large bowl and mix well until combined.

• Tortillas (If you are making all at once, you will need at least 16. If you are planning to divide in half and freeze remaining filling, you only need 8. Just have on hand the number of enchiladas you plan to make)
• Enchilada Sauce (I used one 10 oz. can per pan of 5-6 I made)
• 3-4 cups shredded cheese

Fill each tortilla with 1/3 cup filling, roll and place seam side down in a pan appropriate in size for the number you are making. Pour enchilada sauce on top and sprinkle with cheese. If you have warm filling, bake at 350 for 20 minutes until bubbling around the edge of pan.

If you have leftover enchilada filling, place in a freezer safe Ziploc bag, label and date. Place in the freezer for a speedy dinner another night

To use: Thaw enchilada filling and heat in a microwave safe bowl. Fill each tortilla with filling, roll and place seam side down in pan. Pour enchilada sauce over enchiladas and sprinkle with cheese. If the filling is even a little bit cold, allow to bake for 30 minutes at 350 instead of 20.

White Almond Sheet Cake

A few weeks ago I wrote about a chocolate sheet cake by the Pioneer Woman, which you must make now if you haven't tried it yet. Anyways, my husband is not a huge chocolate fan and saw this recipe for a white sheet cake in the cookbook my mom gave me before I got married. He's been begging me to make it ever since so today I whipped it up and I am sharing it with you.

• 1 cup butter (two sticks)
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon almond extract

In a saucepan, melt butter and add water and bring to a boil. Meawhile, place flour, sugar, milk, eggs, salt, baking soda, and almond extract in a large mixing bowl. Mix until combined. Add butter mixture and mix until batter is smooth. The batter will be very runny - this is normal. Pour batter into a greased jelly roll pan (10x15 inch pan). Bake 20-25 minutes at 350. Wash the saucepan and mixing bowl as you will need it for the icing.

When the cake is almost done baking, mix up the icing.

• 1/2 cup butter (one stick)
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 4 cups powdered sugar

In a saucepan melt the butter and add the milk. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Add to the mixing bowl with powdered sugar and almond extract. Beat until smooth. Spread over warm cake after removed from the oven. Try to drizzle the icing over the entire cake so that it keeps a smooth finish as it cools. Attempt to spread as little as possible as it is not as smooth looking as a finished product. The icing is runny when warm but firms as it cools.

Sweet Potato Pancakes

I want to start by saying that I do not like sweet potatoes but I do love these pancakes! I normally would have never tried this recipe except for the fact that I had some sweet potatoes on hand. I started getting locally grown/organic produce through a program at work called Doorganics and what they deliver each week is what I eat for the week. It's a bit on the pricey end for what I would normally pay for produce but it is very high quality and I get a huge variety each week that I know I would not normally buy if I went to the grocery store by myself. Because of the price, I make sure to use every last bit of the produce I recieve. So last week, I got these two lovely sweet potatoes. Great. Normally I have a hard time even swallowing sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are a great source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and fiber. I also got my issue of Taste of Home magazine last week and saw a recipe for sweet potatoe pancakes. I made a few changes to make them the way I like pancakes and I am really pleased with the results!

• 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 egg
• 2 cups milk
• 2 cups flour
• 2 Tablespoons oil
• 1/2 of a sweet potato
• Hot syrup or caramel sauce

Start by cooking your sweet potato. I microwaved mine on a plate for a couple of minutes and then mashed it with a fork (like you would bananas for banana bread). I then threw all the other ingredients and mashed sweet potatoes (minus syrup/caramel sauce) in a bowl and whisked together until smooth. Heat an electric skillet on medium heat or 300 degrees depending on what kind you have. Grease the skillet with cooking spray or cooking oil. I prefer cooking oil as it gives pancakes a crispier edge. Pour batter from bowl on skillet to make three inch circles. I would keep these on the smaller side and keep a few inches between pankcakes as these expanded quite a bit. Cook until the top start to bubble and then flip. Cook until each side is a nice pretty golden brown color. Serve with hot maple syrup or hot caramel sauce.

I preferred the maple syrup while Dylan liked it better with the caramel sauce - both ways were great!