Slow Cooker Potato Soup

9 potatoes, cubed
1/2 c diced carrots
1 can of cream of chicken soup
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 lb bacon, cooked & crumbled
1/2 c diced celery
3 can chicken broth (14 oz ea)
1 tbsp parsley
1 clove garlic, minced
5 tbsp flour
1 pkg cream cheese (8oz)

Combine all ingredients in crock pot EXCEPT flour and cheese. Cook on low for 8-10 hours, or until potatoes are done. 1 hour before serving add cheese, 1/2 hour before serving add flour.

This is the recipe exactly as it appeared on the Pioneer Woman website but I think that the next I make it I would make a couple of adjustments. The soup was thick, thick, thick and so next time just do 3 tbs of flour rather than 5. And I think that the soup could've handled 1 cup of diced carrots AND diced celery, their taste got lost on the potatoes....poor carrots, poor celery...dontcha feel a little bad for them?? So next time, we will represent those little veggies a bit better. :D Otherwise, it was a fantastic soup and it made it into my cookbook, which means a lot. Many have strived to be in "The Cookbook" but many have failed.

Kinda like a bad version of American Idol.

I digress......anyway, enjoy the recipe. Ta ta!

Double Tomato Bruschetta

Made this while my mom was in town and we all LOVED it. Was my try at a good bruschetta and have to say, I won't really be looking further. It was DELICIOUS! Only difference I made was instead of using shredded mozzarella I used fresh mozzarella slices and placed it between the bread and tomato bits and skipped step 5.

Yummo!


Makes 12 servings

• 6 roma (plum) tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, stems removed
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 French baguette
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Preheat the oven on broiler setting.
2. In a large bowl, combine the roma tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, basil, salt, and pepper. Allow the mixture to sit for 10 minutes.
3. Cut the baguette into 3/4-inch slices. On a baking sheet, arrange the baguette slices in a single layer. Broil for 1 to 2 minutes, until slightly brown.
4. Divide the tomato mixture evenly over the baguette slices. Top the slices with mozzarella cheese.
5. Broil for 5 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.

Pulled Chicken Sandwiches

2 1/2 pounds of boneless, skinless, chicken thighs

1/2 chopped onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup BBQ sauce

1/2 cup ketchup

1 Tbsp cider vinegar

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes

1 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar

Put everything in a crock pot, cover, and cook on low for about 7-8 hours. Ours was finished in 7 hours. It will seem soupy, but don't worry-take out the chicken and shred with two forks, then add juices and mix until it seems well coated and moistened. I had some sauce left over which was fine.

Serve with toasted buns to pile the meat into at the table.

Serves 4-6.

Spicy Bean & Cheese Burritos

This weeks yummy recipe! The only bummer is the wasted beer since both Paul and I dislike beer....so when you make this bad boy invite over a beer lover to drink the remaining beer. :D

Spicy Bean & Cheese Burritos
Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

One 15.5-ounce can black beans, rinsed

1/3 cup pickled jalapeño chiles, drained and chopped

1/2 cup Mexican beer, such as Corona

One 15.25-ounce can corn kernels, rinsed

One 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, rinsed

Juice of 1/2 lime

4 large flour tortillas

1-1/2 cups shredded monterey jack cheese

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until golden, about 1 minute. Stir in the black beans and jalapeños and cook, lightly mashing the mixture against the side of the pan, for 2 minutes.
2. Stir the beer into the black bean mixture and bring to a boil. Cook, continuing to mash, until thickened, about 10 minutes. Stir in the corn and tomatoes and cook, stirring, until heated through, about 5 minutes. Stir in the lime juice; set aside.
3. Lay the tortillas on a work surface. Sprinkle the cheese in the center and spoon about 1/4 cup bean mixture on top. Fold the tortilla burrito-style.
4. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place the burritos folded side down in the skillet and cook until browned, about 1 minute on each side.

Shrimp is the fruit of the sea......

As best said by Bubba......."You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that's about it."
So, what better way to memorialize good ol' Bubba....well, give him his own shrimp dish. Voila! Bubba Gump Chipotle Shrimp.
I had the treat of not having to make this week's NEW DISH OF THE WEEK (I feel like this should be said by those Monster Truck Announcers......"Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!") *ahem* Anyway.....my mom and sister were in town to play with Kiera and my treat was sleeping in and having some one else do the cookin'. YEE HAW! Now THAT is a vacation - can I get a "what-what" from all the mommys out there!?
So, we had this dish over rice, but I sure it would be great over any pasta or even raviolis. But it was deeee-lish! This is one to put on next weeks menu list! Enjoy!

Yummo four stars for this one and a little bonus star for not having to cook. Tee hee. P.S. You will need to throw out the diet for this meal!

Serves 4

2 cups white rice
2 oz butter
3 large cloves of garlic, chopped
40 raw shrimp, deveines and deshelled (no tails)
1 pint heave cream
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese ( I use A LOT more for creaminess)
2 Tablespoons chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, pureed in blender
1 bunch green onion, chopped

Prep. rice and set aside.
In large saute pan over MED heat, melt butter. Add garlic and shrimp, saute for about 1 min. Add cream, salt,
parmesan cheese and 2 tablespoons chipotle peppers, more can be added for extra spice. Bring to soft boil. Remove from heat when cream begins to stick to spoon. Spread cooked rice in plate and cover with chipotle shrimp mixture. Sprinkle with green onions. Diced roma tomatoes can be used as well to garnish.

Baked Mac N Cheese

This week's recipe (technically, last week....was a bit slow to post) is Alton Brown's Baked Mac N Cheese.....sadly, it was not as flavorful as we thought that it would be. I have made Alton Brown recipes in the past and usually they are pretty good. But this one just lacked in the flavor department. We gave it 3 stars just because it wouldn't be bad to eat again as a fail safe but.....this means that i am still on the hunt for a good Mac N Cheese recipe. I think that i will try the Neely's recipe next - it has bacon in it, can't go wrong with a bit of pork product in a recipe, eh?


Well, here's the recipe for those who would like to try it. :D

Baked Mac N Cheese
1/2 pound elbow macaroni
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon powdered mustard
3 cups milk
1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 large egg
12 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh black pepper

Topping:
3 tablespoon butter
1 cup panko bread crumbs

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.

While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf, and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.

Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.

Melt the butter in a saute pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.

Recipe of the Week

When I first got married my ability to boil water was sub-par let alone cook! So, I have been slowly over the years gathering recipes from friends and family and have a pretty good collection of yummies. But its always nice to try something new right? So, my challenge to myself this year has been to try at least one new recipe a week and so far so good. But then I thought to myself...Hey! You are finding some pretty good meals here - share 'em. So....here I am, blogging about my new recipe of the week. I'm excited and think that this will be a fun little adventure. Thanks for riding along. :D Enjoy!


So, this one was pretty yummy and the sauce had an unexpected flavor. :D We gave it 3-1/2 stars because of the reheat factor and amount of pots and dishes I had to dirty to make this sucker!! This time I made it with broccoli salad but I think next time I place the cutlets over lettuce and rice. Here it is and I hope that you enjoy it as much as we did. :D

Milanese-Style Cutlets with roasted-pepper & tomato sauce
4 servings

For the sauce -
1/2 c diced onion
7 tbsp evoo
1 can whole tomatoes (15 oz)
1/2 c roasted red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 c chopped fresh parsley
1 tbsp red wine vinegar

For the cutlets -
1 c panko bread crumbs
2 eggs
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1/2 c flour
12 oz veal, beef, pork or chicken cutlets (i used chicken)

Saute onion in 1 tbsp oil in a saucepan over med-high heat until onion is translucent, about 5 mins. Stir in tomatoes and roasted red pepper; cook until heated through.
Transfer mixture to a blender; puree until smooth. Return sauce to saucepan, stir in 2 tbsp parsley, vinegar, salt and pepper. Keep sauce warm until ready to serve.
Combine panko with the remaining 2 tbsp parsley in a shallow dish. Whisk together eggs and dijon in another shallow dish. Place flour in a third shallow dish Season panko mixture, egg mixture, and flour with salt and pepper.
Coat meat in flour, tapping to remove excess. Dip meat into the egg mixture, and then into the panko mixture.
Heat 4 tbsp of remaining oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Working in two batches, saute cutlets in hot oil until they're crisp and golden on both sides, about 5 minutes total. Transfer cutlets to a paper-towel-lined plate to absorb excess oil, then to a cooling rack so bottoms of cutlets don't get soggy. Add reminings 2 tbsp oil to skillet and repeat with remaining culets.
Serve cutlets with roasted-pepper and tomato sauce.
ENJOY!