Time to Bust Out the Crock Pot!

            Now, I am going to start a contest to see if anyone can come up with an easier recipe than the one I am about to share with you.  I recently participated in an email forward, in which different recipes were shared.  A couple of really great ones came my way and this one for Crockpot Chicken and Stuffing was one of them!

            I literally dumped these ingredients into my never been used crock pot on my way out of the door and came home that evening to a delicious-smelling home and tasty meal!  The only thing that I would have changed, would be to have made it home a bit earlier as it may have spent a bit too much time cooking.  The stuffing and green beans were a fabulous precursor to Thanksgiving festivities.  Try this one for yourselves when you are in the midst of a busy week!

Slainte!

Recipe:

4 boneless chicken breasts (can use frozen breasts, or thawed, just rinse w/water)

1 can cream of chicken soup (or any cream soup)

1 box stove top stuffing

1 can green beans

Preparation:

Place chicken breasts in bottom of a crockpot.  Pour ¼ cup of water over chicken.  Mix soup and stuffing.  Put on top of Chicken breasts. Put green beans on top of stuffing.  Cook on low.  Put into crock pot in morning, ready to eat at 5:00.  OR put on high at noon and done by 5:00.

Enjoy!

Give Thanks!

            2010 has been a year that has brought so many different changes, challenges, and celebrations.  Since last Thanksgiving, we have watched Chris’s father, Bill, recover and be rehabilitated from a stroke, Chris and I got engaged, bought a home, made numerous changes and improvements to that home, planned our wedding, celebrated the birth of baby Kale, cheered on our friend Nicki as she followed her dream of opening her own cheerleading gym, got married, became GodTeen parents to an amazing group of high school freshman, witnessed the strength in Brent, Abbie & Kale as they have together endured two open-heart surgeries and numerous ups and downs in the past four months, witnessed many of our dear friends marry the person of their dreams and welcome beautiful children into the world, set out on a cooking adventure, watched our nephew Carson play soccer and raise funds to one day “kick” diabetes, and just this past weekend we welcomed our newest nephew Jackson to the world.

            While the year has not been light on struggles, I was struck this year with just how much I have to be grateful for.  I am a firm believer that God only gives a person what they can handle, and feel endless gratitude that God has surrounded me with a multitude of amazing individuals that help to cushion the impact of difficult times.  It is these same people that are also responsible for filling my life with abundant joy. 

            This year, unfortunately, our family was scattered in many different places and because of Chris’s job, we decided to celebrate Thanksgiving at our home.  My parents, sister, brother-in-law, and two nephews were all planning to come before the kiddos were hit with a nasty case of the stomach flu.  This resulted in a party of four for our inaugural Thanksgiving celebration at our home.

            Now, because all of these plans were very last minute, I enlisted some help from the good people at HyVee to take care of the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and green bean casserole.  For dessert, I enlisted the pie masters at Village Inn to supply a pumpkin, pecan, and strawberry rhubarb pie for the celebration.  I personally contributed my mother’s famous broccoli rice casserole, cranberry sauce, and a veggie tray.  All of my contributions were very easy and tasty, if I must say so myself.

            The evening before Thanksgiving, I took some food to the hospital for Brent and Abbie (Runza Casserole of course) and made my friend Katie’s yummy pumpkin bread for a little dessert.  This is a gluten free recipe, and I followed Katie’s instructions to use GF flour and I was very pleased with the end product!

            I would recommend trying any of these as we move into the holiday season, as they are very low-stress recipes that result in very nice end products.  I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and were filled with gratitude for the countless blessings we have been given.

Slainte!

Broccoli Rice Casserole:

Recipe:

-1/2 c. butter

-1 pkg. broccoli (10 oz.)

-1 can cream of mushroom soup

-1/2 c. Cheez Whiz

-1/2 c. milk

-1 1/2 c. instant rice

Preparation:

Melt butter, then add broccoli.  Cook until done.  Add soup,

Cheez Whiz and milk.  Blend, remove from heat.  Cook rice

and add.  Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. 

Pumpkin Bread:

Recipe:

1 ¾ cups Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Baking Flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/3 cup shortening

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs, well beaten

1 15 oz. can pumpkin

Preparation:

Sift together flour, baking powder, soda, salt, pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon.  Beat shortening until creamy in mixing bowl.  Add sugar gradually and continue beating until light and fluffy.  Add eggs and beat well.  Add flour mixture alternately with pumpkin, a small amount at a time, beating after each addition until smooth.  Turn into well greased bread pa (8 ½ x 4 ½ x 3 inches) and bake in a moderate oven (350° F) about one hour or until bread is done.  Makes one loaf. 

Cranberry Sauce:

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/cranberry-sauce-10000001031609/index.html

Enjoy!

I was SO excited to use our fine china for the first time!

Tator Tot Casserole!

I apologize for this post-meal pic!  It is just that good that you dive right in!

            This next recipe I am about to share with you is so simple and tasty, that I should probably keep it to myself to make people think that I am a much better cook than I really am.  While I did wrestle with this for some time, I realized that my sister already shared this one on her blog so the secret is out!  So, I will share with you my thoughts on why you should try this one for yourself.

            First, as Brooke already reported, kids love this!  Our mom made this one for us when we were kiddos, and I think it was one of the first recipes that I asked my mom for after I had started cooking for myself in college.  Wait, that’s a lie because I barely made myself a home-cooked meal until I was in grad school…just ask my college roommates.  In fact, my former roommate Kelli recently made some joke/comment about the amount of frozen chicken nuggets I ate…sick!

            Second, adults love it!  Last Wednesday, Chris and I invited our friend Thomas over to hang out and be the special guest at our GodTeens meeting.  Because we always try to quickly devour a meal before the kids in our group come over, I invited Thomas to join us for dinner as well.  Now, I considered making something that would really impress our special guest, but I had been craving this casserole so much that I had to subject him to it, and I think he thoroughly enjoyed it!  As he was leaving, he commented that it was so good and seemed super easy.  Isn’t this the type of recipe that all women want in their repertoire?

Slainte!

Check out Brooke’s blog for the recipe and preparation, as well as her take on the tots!

http://brookethefamilycook.blogspot.com/2010/11/tater-tot-casserole.html

Enjoy!

Lasagna Style Baked Ziti

            Last week I was super pumped to have a special guest at our house…our nephew Griffin!  My sister and brother-in-law took my other nephew Carson to the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes Banquet, and poor Griffin got left all alone with Aunt Heather.  I was excited the whole day for him to come and play with us, and sped home from my meeting to meet them.

            Now, Griffin wasn’t so sure about being left all alone with me at first, but then would not allow me to put him down!  I must pause here to say that I am unsure how my sister prepares her meals, but each time I would set him down on the tile to defrost hamburger, start the water to boil, drain the pasta, etc. he would promptly put out his bottom lip and give me the most pathetic eyes I have ever seen.  I am not exaggerating when I say that I almost called Chris to tell him to pick up some fast food I felt so bad setting him down.

            What I did end up doing was waiting until Chris got home to really play with him before I finished dinner, and it was so fun to hear them playing and laughing in the living room while I finished up the meal.  I most enjoyed hearing Chris speak “baby talk” to Griff and hear him laughing as if to say, “Uncle Chris you don’t have to talk to me like I’m an idiot! Haha.”

            The meal turned out great, and when Brooke and Greg got back Griffin tried some and actually really liked it!  He had already had dinner when he arrived and I was way too afraid to give him something and watch him choke or learn first hand that he has some bizarre deadly food allergy or something. 

            So, if you have children or a hungry husband, give this fun pasta dish a try.  I feel like I always say this, but it was very easy and tasty!

Slainte!

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/lasagna-style-baked-ziti-10000001123648/index.html

Enjoy!

Griffin with Uncle Chris!

Pizza Margherita!

            In 2007, I had the amazing opportunity to backpack Europe with 3 of my best friends.  Our journey began in Florence, Italy and I have since cherished all things Italian.  In fact, just the other day I was flipping through an art book thinking how I need to get myself back to the Ufizzi, stat.  Because (unfortunately) a European getaway does not seem likely in my immediate future, I decide there would be nothing like a little Homemade Pizza Margherita to bring a bit of Italy to our home.

            I found this recipe in the “Cooking Light” cookbook, and Chris and I were not disappointed.  I would even go so far as to say it could possibly be a contender for BEST DISH TO DATE if we were keeping an official list.  Chris and I both loved it, and I was shocked at how easy it was.  Trust me when I say that 3 months ago I wouldn’t have even dreamed of making a homemade pizza, my how far I have come!  If you are a lover of all things Italian, give this one a try!

Slainte/Ciao!

Recipe:

-1 (10 oz.) can refrigerated pizza crust dough

-Cooking spray

-1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided

-1 garlic clove halved

-5 plum tomatoes, thinly sliced

-1 cup shredded fresh mozzarella cheese

-1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

-1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh basil

-1/8 teaspoon salt

-1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Preparation:

-Heat oven to 400 degrees

-Coat baking sheet with cooking spray; unroll dough onto baking sheet

-Bake dough for 8 minutes; remove from heat and brush with olive oil.  Rub crust with cut sides of garlic (I didn’t do this)

-Arrange tomato slices on crust, leaving the border bare; sprinkle evenly with cheese; bake for 12 minutes until cheese melts and crust is golden

-Combine ¼ teaspoon oil and vinegar; stir with a whisk

-Sprinkle pizza evenly with sliced basil, salt, and pepper.  Drizzle vinegar mixture evenly over pizza.  Cut into pieces and serve!

Enjoy!

Tuna Melts My Heart

            Hello readers!  I apologize for being MIA for the past week, sometimes life throws us circumstances and stressors that make it nearly impossible to find the time to update one’s blog.  However, I did find time to continue to prepare meals for Chris and I, so prepare for some yummy new ideas!

            I know that I have mentioned previously in my post about tuna melt pie that I enjoy a good tuna melt.  With that said, when I saw this recipe for tuna melts in “The Illustrated Kitchen Bible,” I had to make it.  It looked so tasty and similar to the ones I love from Lazlo’s.  The preparation was not difficult at all, and I actually threw these together for a Sunday lunch!

            Chris, who is also a super fan of the tuna melt, LOVED these!  I think he would love for these to become a Sunday special, followed by pancakes and eggs in the morning, and prior to pizza for dinner!  We shall see about that as we don’t want to have too much of a good thing.  Try these for yourself soon!

Slainte!

Recipe:

-4 English muffins

-1 tbsp olive oil

-1 red bell pepper; seeded and finely chopped

-4 scallions (I omitted these as I forgot to buy them!)

-2 shallots finely chopped

-2 x 6oz. cans albacore tuna, drained

-2 tbsp ketchup

-2 tbsp mayonnaise

-grated zest of 1 lemon

-4 large, thin slices of sharp cheddar cheese

Preparation:

-Turn the oven to broil; split the muffins, and toast

-Heat the oil in a small frying pan over medium heat.  Add the red pepper, scallions, and shallots.  Cook, stirring often, about 3 minutes.  Add the tuna, breaking up the chunks.  Cook for about 1 minute until the tuna is heated through.  Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the ketchup, mayonnaise, and lemon zest.

-Spread remaining mayo over the cut slices of the muffins.  Spread 4 muffin halves with the tuna mixture and arrange the cheese on top.

-Broil until the cheese melts.  Top with the remaining muffin half, and serve!

Enjoy!

When Things Get CHILLI...

            Even though the temperature has been dropping outside, this week I warmed things up in our home by preparing my mom’s long-standing chilli recipe!  Now, I think that it could be argued that we each love the chilli we grew up with best, but I can say that I have never tried a variation that I like as well as this one, biased or not. 

            I must say that if you are a fan of a spicier version this recipe would not be your cup of tea, err, bowl of soup.  The brown sugar gives it a sweeter taste, which in my opinion, makes it yummier than other versions.  One bite brings me back to toasty nights spent inside watching the snow fall on our farm, and I was excited to try it for the first time in our home.

            Now, just in case I haven’t bragged up this recipe enough, I must tell you that it is quite possibly the easiest thing I have made to date.  In fact, Chris called me when he got into his car to leave work and was shocked to come in the house to find me ladling it into his bowl! 

Slainte!

Recipe:

-1 pound of hamburger

-3 cans of diced tomatoes/chilli style (I found “chilli ready” ones at HyVee; my mom finds hers at WalMart)

-1 can Pinto Beans

-1 can Pork N Beans

-1 can black beans

Preparation:

-Brown hamburger

-Over medium high heat, combine the 6 cans of tomatoes/beans and brown sugar

-Add the hamburger

-Warm until ready to serve

Enjoy!

Meet "Brooke the Family Cook!"

            When people meet my sister, Brooke, their reactions vary anywhere from how she looks “just like me” to disbelief that we are blood relatives.  I like to think we lean more towards being very similar, as being like her is such a compliment.  She is beautiful, kind,  funny, thoughtful and most of all a wonderful wife and mother.

            Unfortunately, our genetic similarities included until recently a ridiculous fear of cooking.  Since starting my blog in August, Brooke has been giving some thought to her own desire to prepare home made meals for her family and rid her older son, Carson, of his pickiness, while simultaneously engaging in pickiness prevention efforts for her younger son, Griffin.  Luckily for all of you Mom’s out there, she has decided to chronicle her efforts on her new blog “Brooke the Family Cook.”   There she shares stories of her beautiful family, and their reaction to her meals.

            I have a dream that one day my nephews will say things like “my Mom and Aunt Heather make the best____” or “Christmas isn’t the same without Heather’s _____.”  Hey, a girl can dream!

Please check out her blog ASAP as I assure you that you will not be disappointed!

http://www.brookethefamilycook.blogspot.com/

Slainte!

Taffy Apple Pizza!

            This past Sunday evening Chris and I played host to some very special guests, my brother, Brent, his wife, Abbie, and their son, Kale.  We don’t often get to play host to them as they live in my hometown, which is about 2 hours away so we were thrilled when they made a dinner pit-stop on their way to Omaha.

            I will digress here to discuss why the three of them were headed to Omaha.  If you go back in the blog, or if you have been following it for awhile, you will remember I posted once about a meal I took the three of them in the hospital following Kale’s first open heart surgery.  I will not even attempt here to go into the details of Kale’s diagnosis and treatment to date as Abbie writes so poignantly about it on Kale’s caring bridge site.  So, if you would like the specifics, I would encourage you to visit his site as she does a wonderful job of keeping all of the many people who are praying for Kale up to date on how he is doing.

            Because Brent, Abbie, and our entire family were anxious as to what Kale’s Monday appointment would bring, not to mention the looming possibility of another surgery and weeks spent in the hospital, I hoped to create a nice mix of comfort food followed by a tasty dessert.  So, I prepared the Runza casserole featured on the blog previously, followed by my friend Amber’s recipe for Taffy Apple Pizza.  I had tried this recipe before when it was lovingly prepared by Amber and knew that Brent and Abbie would love it.  I knew my hypothesis was proven true when people Abbie had told about it asked me for the recipe at the hospital on Tuesday…mission accomplished!

            The recipe is super easy and hard to mess up.  I do think that next time I will bake the cookie on a cookie sheet as my pizza pan has holes in the bottom, which resulted in little burnt brown dots in the bottom of the cookie!  Try this one for your family and friends, as they are sure to love it!

Slainte!

Recipe:

-1 package (18 ounces) refrigerated sugar cookie dough

-1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

-1/2 cup packed brown sugar

-1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

-1/2 teaspoon vanilla

-2 medium granny smith apples

-1/4 cup caramel ice cream topping

-1/2 cup peanuts, chopped

Preparation:

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Shape cookie dough into a ball and roll out onto a round pizza pan: about ¼ inch thick.  Bake 16-18 minutes, until light golden brown.  Let cool for 10 minutes.

-Combine cream cheese, brown sugar, peanut butter, and vanilla; mix well.  Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over sugar cookie.

-Core and slice apples.  Arrange evenly over cream cheese mixture.

-Drizzle caramel ice cream topping over apples.  Sprinkle chopped peanuts over apples.  Cut into wedges.

Enjoy!

For updates on Kale go to:

http://caringbride.org/visit/kalesoneson

Please keep Kale, Brent & Abbie in your prayers.  Kale is incredibly strong and such a fighter.  I am so amazed at what is tiny body can handle and so proud of how strong Brent and Abbie are for him, and their tremendous faith in this most difficult of times.

I'm Stuffed!

            Stuffed and satisfied we were, after enjoying this tasty cranberry stuffed pork chop served with roasted carrots.  To date, I have not yet prepared a stuffed anything, so I was a bit nervous that this dish would be a bit outside of my scope of practice.  That’s therapist language for “Wow, I have no idea how to help you with that!”  While I previously had no knowledge of how prepare a stuffed meat dish, I decided to go for it in the sake of research.

            Well, the results are in, and my hypothesis that I could probably work this out, was confirmed.  Chris loved the pork chops, and the roasted carrots were a fantastic side dish.  I was super irritated with myself because I was trying to do too many things at once and let one side of the chops get a little “blackened,” if you will.  This is really just a nice way of saying I scorched one side of the pork chops because I wasn’t paying attention!

            Why is it that we can never just be present in the moment and focus on the task at hand alone?  Well, good thing this isn’t a blog devoted to solving the problems of busy Americans, because I certainly have not found that answer in my own day to day living!  Perhaps if I had an assistant or personal secretary…

Slainte!

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/cranberry-stuffed-pork-chops-with-roasted-carrots-00000000021002/index.html

Enjoy!

A Real Simple Pasta Dish!

            How simple, you ask?  Real Simple!  Because I think we have fully established that I LOVE pasta, I do not need to explain why I am sharing yet another pasta dish with you.  However, I have not yet shared that I am also a huge fan of artichokes.  Being a member of the artichoke fan club, of course, led me to select this recipe and assume it would be nothing short of amazing.

            Truth be told, I must admit that the end product on this one tasted a little too simple.  Not horrible, by any means, but just a little blah.  Chris and I discussed what might be missing, and decided that some chicken would be a welcome addition.  I also thought some cherry tomatoes might be nice, but Chris wasn’t sure about that.  A little salt and pepper did go a long way in making this dish more flavorful, but I wouldn’t make it again without trying one of the above-mentioned ingredients.

            If someone tries this and switches it up a bit, please let me know!

Slainte!

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/cheesy-baked-pasta-spinach-artichoke-00000000031335/index.html

Enjoy!

Shrimp and Corn Chowder!

            Last night, while waiting for trick or treaters, I quickly whipped up this delicious soup for Chris and I.  The preparation was very simple, and our home smelled so delicious when it was finished!  To me, there is nothing better on a chilly night than enjoying a warm soup with your husband cuddled up in front of the fireplace.  The experience was made even better by the interruption of the adorable kids seeking candy.

            The primary piece of advice I would give with regards to recreating this recipe, would be to only squeeze half of a lemon into the soup.  My version was very lemony, and almost took too much away from the overall tastiness of it for Chris.  Perhaps even adding it earlier would help, as it would have more time to blend with the other flavors.  Try it out and get back to me! 

Slainte!

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/shrimp-and-corn-chowder-with-fennel-recipe-00000000028079/index.html

Enjoy!