Salsa Chicken

Here's another super easy crockpot meal, it's perfect for a busy day, and seriously delicious!

Place some chicken breasts in crockpot, and pour one jar of salsa on top. Cook on low for 8 hours. Shred chicken, then put in one bar of cream cheese (regular or reduced fat, but not fat-free) and mix until the cream cheese is melted. Serve on taco shells or tortillas.

Easy Crockpot Potato Soup

Wow, I think I almost forgot how to sign in to blogger, it's been awhile! :) I've been trying lots of new recipes lately, especially crockpot recipes, since I teach piano lessons a couple of evenings a week, and it's supper time as soon as my last student leaves. This is a super easy, and very tasty new favorite of ours.

1 30 ounce bag of frozen, shredded hash browns

3 14 ounce cans of chicken broth

1 can cream of chicken soup (I use the 98% fat free kind)

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1/4 tsp. ground pepper

1 pkg. cream cheese ( don't use fat free, it won't melt, I do use the 1/3 less fat cream cheese, though)

Combine everything in crockpot, except for the cream cheese. Cook for 6-8 hours on low heat. About 1 hour before serving, add cream cheese, and keep heated until thoroughly melted. Serve with your choice of sour cream, cheese, bacon bits, green onion, etc. I just sprinkle some real bacon bits on top.

Philly Beef-Stuffed Sandwich

1 cup green bell pepper, chopped

3/4 cup onion, chopped

1 Tblsp. olive oil

2 garlic cloves, pressed

1 tsp. dried oregano leaves, divided

2 pkgs. (10 oz. each) refrigerated pizza crust

8 oz. thinly sliced deli roast beef

8 oz. thinly sliced American cheese

1 egg white, lightly beaten

1 Tblsp. water

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat oil over medium heat until hot. Place garlic into oil, add bell pepper, onion, and 1/2 tsp. of the oregano leaves. Cook and stir until vegetables are tender. Remove pan from heat. Unroll 1 pizza crust onto lightly floured surface and roll out to 12 x 9 inch rectangle, cover with half of the beef, cheese, and vegetable mixture to within 1/2 inch of edges of dough. Starting at longest side of rectangle, roll up dough, jelly-roll fashion, press seam together to seal. Repeat with remaining crust and filling ingredients. Place rolls, seam sides down, on pizza stone or baking sheet. Join ends of rolls together to form 1 large ring; press ends together to seal. Combine egg white and water, brush onto dough. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 tsp. oregano. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

I would recommend making a half batch for a small family. I made a half batch, and we still had some leftovers. This doesn't take long to make at all, and we all enjoyed it.

Chewy Caramel Bars

3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup melted butter

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 cup white corn syrup

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1 and 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Mix the first 5 ingredients. Pat into a 9 x 13 pan and bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Mix vanilla, corn syrup, and sugar in a pan; bring to a boil and add peanut butter. Pour over crust. Sprinkle 1 and 1/2 cups chocolate chips on top and put in warm oven to melt, but do not bake. Spread chocolate chips around to make a frosting.

I decided to try a couple of new recipes for a bake sale tomorrow. Enjoy!

Double Chocolate Bars

1 pkg. (16 oz.) cream filled chocolate sandwich cookies, crushed

3/4 cup melted butter or margarine, melted

1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

2 cups mini semisweet chocolate chips, divided

Combine cookie crumbs and butter; pat onto the bottom of an ungreased 9 x 13 pan. Melt milk and 1 cup chocolate chips in the microwave, and stir until smooth. Pour over crust. Sprinkle with remaining chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until chips begin to melt but do not lose their shape.

Mashed, Baked Potatoes

9 or 10 medium potatoes, boiled, drained, and mashed (do not add much milk to mash)

To the potatoes, add:

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken OR cream of celery soup

not quite 2 cups sour cream

chopped onion

fresh grated garlic

3/4 stick melted margarine or butter

salt and pepper

1 pkg. grated cheddar cheese

Bake at 350 degrees uncovered for 30 minutes.

Mashed potatoes are my weakness, and these are definitely the best mashed potatoes I've ever had! Just make sure to not add too much milk when you are first mashing them (like I did) or they will end up a little runny. This makes a large batch, so I made a half a batch and that was plenty for us to have, plus enough for a couple meals of leftovers.

Beer Braised Beef Roast

1 whole Chuck Roast, 2 and a half to 5 pounds
Salt and Pepper
Olive Oil
Onions, peeled and sliced thick
5 cloves garlic, chopped (I didn't use that much garlic)
2 cans beer
1 tsp ground Thyme
1/2 tsp. Rosemary leaves

Heat oil in frying pan over high heat. Season meat generously with salt and pepper. Sear meat on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. Remove meat from pan. Put onions and garlic in crockpot, pour in beer, and add thyme, rosemary, and salt to taste (about 1 tsp.). Add meat to crockpot and cook on low all day. I had it in for about 8 hours. Shred meat with forks and spoon juice and onions over top. Serve with very crusty bread to sop up the juice if desired.

This is a Pioneer Woman recipe that I modified a bit for the crockpot.