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.

Cowboy Casserole

1/2 pound ground beef
1 small can whole kernal corn, drained
2/3 cup cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1/3 cup milk
2 Tblsp. sour cream
3/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. pepper
3 cups frozen tator tots

In a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink. Stir in the corn, soup, 1/4 cup cheese, milk, sour cream, onion powder and pepper.
Place 1 and 1/2 cups Tator Tots in a baking dish (I used an 8 x 8 dish) coated with cooking spray. Layer with beef mixture and remaining Tator Tots; sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Bake uncovered, at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until bubbly.

I just discovered this glorified version of Tator Tot Casserole in one of my Taste of Home magazines, we love it!

Dripping Roast Beef and Provolone Sandwiches

These take 13 minutes from start to finish, so easy and so good!

1 can condensed french onion soup
1 Tblsp. Worcestershire sauce
3/4 pound thinly sliced deli roast beef
Kaiser rolls
deli provolone cheese

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Heat soup and Worcestershire in a saucepan over medium-high heat, and bring to a boil. Add beef and heat through, stirring occasionally. Divide beef among rolls. Top beef mixture with cheese slices and place sandwiches onto baking sheet. Bake 3-4 minutes or until sandwiches are toasted and cheese is melted. Serve sandwiches with remaining soup mixture for dipping.

Quick and Easy Chocolate Chip Bars

Cake Mix (white, french vanilla, yellow, or one of your choice)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup shortening
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions: Add brown sugar, water, shortening, vanilla, and eggs (found on back of your cake mix box) to the cake mix and mix. Stir in chocolate chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Western Potato Rounds

2 large unpeeled baking potatoes

Vegetable oil

1 cup shredded Co-Jack cheese

6 bacon slices, crisply cooked, drained, and crumbled (I cheated, and used real bacon bits)

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1/4 cup barbecue sauce

Preheat oven to 450. Cut potatoes into 1/4 inch thick slices. Spray both sides of potato slices with oil; place on a baking stone (or I'm sure you could use any shallow pan, like a cookie sheet). Bake 20 minutes; remove from oven. In a bowl, combine cheese, bacon, and onion. Using a pastry brush, brush each potato slice with barbecue sauce; sprinkle with cheese mixture. Return potato slices to oven. Bake 5 minutes longer.

These were a fun and easy side dish to go with our grilled pork chops tonight, I will definitely be making them again!

Pasta Salad

12 oz. cooked tri-color pasta

1 small can black olives (optional)

1 cup chopped broccoli

small amount onion, chopped fine

16 oz. Italian dressing

8 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

cherry tomatoes

red, yellow, green peppers - chopped (whatever amount you prefer)

Mix all together, and enjoy! This is my new favorite pasta salad, so good!

Trail Mix Bars

2 and 1/2 cups pretzel sticks (broken in half)

4 cups either Corn Chex or Rice Chex

1 and 1/2 cups M & M's

Mix all dry ingredients together in large bowl.

On stove, melt:

1 stick butter or margarine

1/3 cup peanut butter

5 cups mini marshmallows

After mixture comes to a boil, pour into dry ingredients and put into greased 9 x 13 pan.

Summer Smoothies

Who doesn't love a smoothie? Though this isn't a recipe, per se, I wanted to share a favorite snack idea for these hot summer months.

June brought lots of strawberries to our freezer from our berry picking day. I froze a lot on a baking sheet and then bagged them, and we've enjoyed them as a sweetener/cooler for oatmeal, but mostly they go into smoothies. I also picked up blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries when they were on a good sale. Our freezer is holding at least one over ripe banana, too.

On Simon's third birthday, we brought out the blender. I threw in some plain yogurt, berries, a banana, fresh pineapple I had in the fridge, and a dab of strawberry jam. I would have used honey if it would have come out of the container. I might have added a bit of milk to make it less thick. You don't need to add ice cubes since the berries are frozen. It's so easy to throw in whatever you have. A few things that make it easier to whip up smoothies for breakfast are:

1. Keep your blender in an easy place to reach, not the top shelf of the hall closet.
2. Our new dishwasher makes the mess much easier to clean up.
3. When the blender is empty, pour in a little water and blend that for a second to wash out the blade before it gets sticky.

For kids who are not great at drinking out of a "real" cup yet, smoothies are great practice! Here is Simon on his birthday morning:


With the leftovers in the blender (always make more than you need so you have leftovers!), pour into a popsicle mold (or yogurt cups or ice cube trays) and put them in the freezer. A few days later, we pulled out our smoothie-sicles and enjoyed yet another tasty treat. And it's one that I can feel good about giving them for a morning snack!

Glazed Peanut Butter Bars

3/4 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 tsp. water

2 eggs

1 and 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 and 1/2 cups flour

1 and 1/2 cups quick cooking oats

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

Glaze:

1 and 1/4 cups milk chocolate chips

1/2 cup butterscotch chips

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

In a large bowl, cream the butter, peanut butter, sugars, and water. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, oats, baking soda, and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture.

Spread into a greased 15 in x 10 in x 1 in baking pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 18-22 minutes or until lightly browned.

For glaze, in a microwave safe bowl, melt chips and peanut butter; pour over warm bars and spread evenly. Cool completely on a wire rack.

If you like chocolate and peanut butter you will love these!! I did end up adding just a bit more flour because I thought the dough wasn't quite stiff enough. I also stored them in the fridge, but they don't need to be.

Pina Colada Slush

3 small cans (6 oz. each) unsweetened pineapple juice

2 cups water

1 can (10 ounces) frozen nonalcoholic pina colada mix

1 Tblsp. lime juice

1/4 cup powdered lemonade drink mix

lemon lime soda

In a large bowl, combine the pineapple juice, water, pina colada mix, lime juice, and lemonade mix; stir until lemonade mix is dissolved. Transfer to a 2 qt. freezer container . Freeze for at least 6 hours. May be frozen for up to 2 months.

To use frozen slush: Remove from the freezer 45 minutes before serving. For each serving combine 1/2 cup slush mixture with 1/2 cup lemon lime soda.

I made this tonight for the upcoming 4th of July weekend, I had a little sample, though, and it is good stuff!

Tortilla Rollups

1 8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 TBLS mayo
1 TBLS chopped onion
1 TBLS chopped dill pickle
1 pkg dried beef, chopped
dash of worcestershire sauce
~~Mix and spread in thin layer on tortilla shells. Roll. Cut in 1/2 inch to 1 inch slices. Will cover 3 or 4 large shells. May also spinkle on shredded cheese before rolling.


With the 4th of July right around the corner I thought I would share the recipes we used for my sister's baby shower. The Tortilla Rollups and the Dessert Ball were the most requested and most popular food items at the shower--next to the candy buttons!

Dessert Ball

1 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter--no substitutes1 TBLS vanilla
~~blend together until well mixed

3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 TBLS brown sugar
~~gradually add the sugars until well mixed

Stir in 2/3 cup mini chocolate chips
Chill for 2 hours
Form into ball & chill for one hour more

Mix together 3/4 cup chopped pecans 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Roll ball into mixture. Chill until ready to serve.

BLT Dip

1/4 jar mayo
8 oz sour cream
6 strips bacon cooked and crumbled
1 small tomatoe-diced
1 tsp. garlic salt
~~Mix ingredients together and serve with crackers

Cherry Limeade Punch

1 can frozed limeade concentrate
1 bottle sprite or 7-Up
1 jar marashino cherries
1 lime
~Put in limeade and then add sprite. Pour in the juice from the cherries. Then add the cherries and sliced up lime for looks and taste.