Chicken & Potatoes Au Gratin

This is one of very few recipes I have tried from pure experimentation. I usually get my inspiration from my Crock Pot recipe book, foodgawker (most amazing food website ever, in my opinion), or allrecipes.com!

Also, just as an aside... I desperately want to get a recipe/photo onto foodgawker but they are so picky about the photos they choose, plus my lack of photography skills or equipment... I keep getting rejected! Any tips/hints/ideas? Or does someone want to be my food photographer? hehe. Also, if you go all the way back in their archives and click on the very first (or last) page...you will see such a huge difference in pictures - it's crazy how photography standards have changed!

My roomie made some delicious au gratin potatoes last weekend and that got me thinking...I should try to Gratin (is that even a verb?) a meal....and better yet, why not in my Crock Pot!

"CHICKEN & POTATOES" AU GRATIN

Ingredients:
4-5 medium Yukon potatoes, chopped into small 0.5-1" cubes
2-3 chicken breasts, chopped into 1" cubes
1 medium white onion, finely chopped
2 cups Colby & Monterey Jack Cheese (or whatever your favorite is!)
1 (12-16oz) can Cream of Chicken soup
1 cup Half & Half (or skim milk for a lower fat version)
1 tablespoon ground red pepper, optional
Pepper, to taste

Directions:
I tried to make this recipe with even parts potato and chicken, but you can alter that ratio to your liking!
1. Chop the potatoes into small 0.5"-1" cubes (they will cook faster if they're smaller).
2. Chop the chicken breasts into 1" cubes.

3. Finely chop the white onion.

4. Mix the potatoes, chicken, and onion in the Crock Pot.

5. In a large bowl, mix together cheese, soup, half & half, and ground red pepper.

6. Pour the liquid over top of the ingredients already in the slow cooker.
7. Make sure the liquid and cheese are evenly distributed throughout chicken and potatoes.

8. Cover and cook on HIGH for 4 hours.
At this point, my meal was very soup-y and liquidy. I scooped some of the excess juice out and then replaced the Crock Pot lid, but I left the lid cracked about 1". Cracking the lid will allow some of the extra moisture to evaporate! I learned that if any of your recipes are soupier that you'd like it to be, just take off the lid and let it cook for an hour or two; most of the liquid will evaporate.
9. Cook on LOW an additional 2-3 hours (after slightly opening the lid).

You'll be surprised to see a nice, crispy Au Gratin'd meal :)

Salsa Chicken - Only Four Ingredients!

I've been such a slacker and have been seriously neglecting my blog - sorry! I'm in the middle of finishing up college and studying for an insurance license, so that has been consuming pretty much ALL of my time. But on the bright side, I will soon be up in Vermont with J (hellllo June!), employed, and living the dream!

I spent all of this cold, gray Saturday at my desk studying (boo) but on the bright side, I had a delicious dinner cooking all day in the Crock Pot :) Cooking meat in the slow cooker is so amazing because it has hours to soak up all of the juices and it comes out so incredibly tender and juicy.

(SHREDDED) SALSA CHICKEN

Ingredients:
2 lb Chicken Breasts
1 bottle (16-24oz) Medium Salsa
1 can Diced Green Chiles
2 cloves garlic, minced

Directions:
Mix together salsa, green chiles, and garlic in the slow cooker.
Place chicken breasts in the Crock Pot. Make sure they are evenly distributed and completely covered by the salsa.
Cook on LOW 7-8 hours.

When it's done, you'll probably want to take out some of the liquid, but make sure you save some of it because you may want to put some back in after you shred it.



And then shred it (if you want)...



As you can see in the picture on the right, all of the liquid suddenly seems to vanish. Thankfully, you read my sentence above (about saving some liquid, which is probably full of chiles and other flavorful things). You can put in some more salsa juice so it is juicy to your liking :)

I bought some whole wheat tortillas to wrap the chicken in (can't get away from my obsession with Mexican food), or you can eat it with rice, veggies, or just plain!

You can garnish it with whatever "taco" toppings you like... shredded lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, jalapenos, avocados, onions, cheese (just giving you some ideas).

I hope you enjoy it! It's deliciously "melt-in-your-mouth" juicy, cheap & easy to make!

Couscous Turkey Tetrazzini (or something like it)

I'm cheating.

This isn't a Crock Pot recipe either (sorry!) but J and I made this the other night and we. are. obsessed. It all started with me pulling up my favorite All Recipes App on the iPad and browsing the slow cooker recipes (I had good intentions!) I saw one for Chicken Tetrazzini and showed it to J, who made me watch this hilarious video  (seriously, be prepared to laugh): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RZxbKvD1YQ

Anyways, that brought me to researching other recipes for Turkey Tetrazzini (because we had ground turkey to use instead of chicken) and after reading a few, I was inspired to put together our very own :)

COUSCOUS TURKEY TETRAZZINI

Ingredients:
2 cups Couscous Grande
2 cups frozen peas
1.5 lb ground turkey
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup olive oil
2 cups chicken broth, low sodium
2 cups skim milk
1/2 cup flour
1 cup Shaved Parmesan Cheese
Salt
Pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F and grease a 9x13" baking dish
2. Brown the ground turkey. Mix in chopped onion and garlic and let it simmer. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Fill a small pan halfway with water and boil the Couscous until it is partly cooked (all the water should be absorbed).
4. In a medium pan, mix olive oil, flour, chicken broth, and milk. Bring to a simmer. Mix in 1/2 cup of Parmesan Cheese.
5. Once soup mix is simmering, pour in peas and turn heat off.
6. In the baking dish, pour in the turkey meat. Mix in couscous and soup mix.
7. Stir all ingredients together well! Layer the remaining 1/2 cup of Parmesan Cheese evenly across the top.
8. Bake in oven for 40 minutes.

I hope you enjoy it! J and I are obsessed... we have made it twice this week already! Hehe.

The next post will be back to Crock Pot recipes...promise :)

Blueberry Crumb Bars

So in the last post, when we had Turkey Stuffed Peppers, I also made Blueberry Crumb Bars for dessert. Even though these were made in the oven and not in the Crock Pot (gasp!), they were so good I had to share :)

I'm partial to desserts that are 150% chocolate (and then some), and J is too..but I get the feeling he likes fruity desserts over chocolate ones sometimes. And I know he loves blueberries so when I found this recipe online I knew I had to try it out! My recipe was adapted from Cookin Canuck - great food blog! Although I didn't spike the blueberries with Rum like suggested, they were still great!

Last night, in Northern Vermont, we got hit with one of the biggest storms in history. It been snowing for over 24 hours (and still coming)! We got about 16-20" last night, and they are predicting another 8" or so today... and you know the weather is rough out there because it takes extremely severe weather for J to say it's probably too risky to drive to the mountain to go snowboarding! So it looks like we're snowed in... good thing we have our Blueberry Crumb Bars :)

BLUEBERRY CRUMB BARS

Ingredients:
4 cups fresh blueberries (I used frozen blueberries but defrosted them and it came out fine)
3 tbsp dark rum or lemon juice (I used lemon juice)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 tsp cornstarch
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup (8 oz) cold butter
1 egg





















Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.
2. In a medium bowl, combine blueberries and lemon juice (or rum). Stir in 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 4 tsp cornstarch. Set aside.

3. In a separate medium bowl, mix 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Mix in flour, baking powder, salt, ground ginger, and ground nutmeg.

4. Cut in chunks of the 1 cup of cold butter using a pastry cutter or a fork and mix well until the consistency is crumbly. Whisk one egg in a small bowl and stir into this mixture.




5. Press half of the flour mixture into the bottom of the greased pan.

6. Spread the blueberry mixture over the crust.

7. Sprinkle the rest of the flour mixture over the blueberries.

8. Bake in a preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, or until the top is light brown. Let the bars cool and then place in a fridge to chill (this makes it easier to cut).

And here are the directions without pictures, to make it easier to follow:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.

2. In a medium bowl, combine blueberries and lemon juice (or rum). Stir in 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 4 tsp cornstarch. Set aside.

3. In a separate medium bowl, mix 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Mix in flour, baking powder, salt, ground ginger, and ground nutmeg.

4. Cut in chunks of the 1 cup of cold butter using a pastry cutter or a fork and mix well until the consistency is crumbly. Whisk one egg in a small bowl and stir into this mixture.

5. Press half of the flour mixture into the bottom of the greased pan.

6. Spread the blueberry mixture over the crust.

7. Sprinkle the rest of the flour mixture over the blueberries.

8. Bake in a preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, or until the top is light brown. Let the bars cool and then place in a fridge to chill (this makes it easier to cut).

And as a side note... are you having trouble picturing what a real Vermont winter storm looks like?

the snow piled up on the porch, against the glass door that can't be opened...and the view into the neighborhood from the living room.

  

And then the "parking lots"...

Yes, I will be spending the next several winters living here...and I can't wait :)

Turkey Stuffed Peppers

There's something so soothing and relaxing about turning up the music really loud and cooking in the kitchen. The chopping, mixing, and repetition of motion is like meditation for me. J works all day Saturdays so I brought him lunch at Costco and then spent the rest of the afternoon in the kitchen :) I love our life.

Recently, I've been fascinated with Women's Health Magazine (online at www.womenshealthmag.com) because they have great articles, extremely useful information, and a huge database of healthy recipes broken up into different dietary needs (such as low sodium, high protein, low fat, etc). That's where I found Saturday night's Crock Pot dinner - Stuffed Green Peppers!

According to Womens Health, the dietary benefits of this dish include: high fiber, high protein, low sodium, low calorie, gluten free, dairy free, amongst others!

CROCK POT STUFFED GREEN PEPPERS
Adapted from: http://recipes.womenshealthmag.com/Recipe/slow-cooker-stuffed-peppers.aspx



Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground turkey
1 cup uncooked grande couscous (delicious high protein, no fat alternative to rice)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
1 small jalapeno chile pepper, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
5 large green bell peppers
2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 (28 oz) can tomato puree, choose one that has less than 50mg sodium per 1/2 cup
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons fresh parsley

Directions:
Combine ground turkey, couscous, cilantro, onion, jalapeno pepper, garlic, salt, and black pepper into a large bowl.

Cut the tops off the bell peppers and scoop out the seeds.



Stuff each pepper with 1/5 of the turkey meat mixture. Replace the pepper tops and place them into the slow cooker.

Combine the broth, tomato puree, and oregano in a medium bowl.

Pour the liquid over the peppers in the slow cooker. Make sure the peppers are covered by the liquid.

Cook on HIGH for 4 hours. Garnish with parsley before serving.




TA-DA!

While we ate dinner, we planned our land excursions for our 7 day cruise in May - we're cruising on Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas to Haiti, Jamaica, and Mexico! In celebration of booking our excursions (and because I was getting really excited about it) I made us Poor Girl's "Mai-Tai" (aka Mai Tais with fewer ingredients) - still YUMMY!


POOR GIRL'S MAI TAI

Ingredients:
Bacardi Light Rum
Pineapple Juice
Orange Juice

Directions:
Mix equal parts pineapple juice and orange juice.
Add in Bacardi Rum until it is at the desired strength.
Garnish with maraschino cherries and pineapple (optional).


And of course I also made dessert for us... I'll save that for the next post, this one is getting a little long ;)