Five Days of Crockpotting

I used my crockpot everyday for five straight days. Some turned out better than others. One thing I learned. Never, ever under any circumstances listen to a recipe that tells you to cook the noodles in the crockpot. DON'T DO IT! They are awful. Cook them in a separate pot and if desired add them to the crock at the end of the cooking time to heat through.

Tuscan Chicken - ICK, not worth a mention (Well I mentioned it only to mention it wasn't worth mentioning to save you the trouble of making it.)
Taco Stuffed Peppers - The filling was delicious but the peppers left much to be desired.
Jambalaya - Ryan's favorite meal of the bunch. Nice and spicy. I added some Emeril's Essence Creole seasoning blend at the end
Italian Bow Tie Pasta - (or in our case Italian Rotini Pasta as I was fresh out of Bow Ties) My personal favorite recipe of the week
Cheesy Chicken - Easy, peasy and delicious

New Recipes!

Confetti Beef Skillet - This is one of my favorite go-to dishes.  Italian Diced Tomatoes are key to it's delicious-ness.  So easy and it has a bunch of fresh veggies in it so bonus!
Turkey Club Quesadilla - Ryan, Amanda and Cory all LOVED these.  I didn't mind them, just wasn't hungry I guess.  I had leftover turkey from Thanksgiving I had to use up so it was perfect. Plus I used my handy-dandy quesadilla maker for an easy weeknight meal.

Foodie Friday

Spaghetti Pie - One of our favorite recipes. Kind of a cross between spaghetti and lasagna.  I mixed it up this time using spaghetti squash "noodles" in place of pasta.  It turned out really great!! I made two individual size portions using spaghetti squash for me (one for dinner and one for a subsequent lunch.) I also made a large pie plate size for Ryan and Erin with whole wheat noodles.

New Recipes!

I went a little crazy in the trying new recipes this week! They all turned out pretty well. I think my favorite were the monster cookies though!

Caramel Rolls - Really easy and a tasty brunch for a lazy weekend morning!

Chicken Enchiladas - Fantastic. I used left over beer can chicken and it gave it great flavor!

Monster Cookies - DELICIOUS! Perfect and gooey and a wonderful treat(plus 2 grams of fiber per cookie!)

Chicken Pesto Pizza - Pretty good.  A nice alternative to marinara sauce but it turned out a little salty. I think I'd reduce the salt by at least half. Again used the leftover beer can chicken (we got three meals out of a four pound chicken!)

Easy Italian Stew - Very flavorful and filling. Perfect for a chilly fall night.  Super easy to make.
I forgot to take a picture.  It pretty much looked like the picture on the recipe.

Foodie Friday!

We tried a new recipe this week. It was a hit so I thought I'd share them with you. I'm always looking for new recipes so I want to share my successes with you and maybe you'll enjoy them as much as we did!

Tex Mex Calzones
Delicious! I made my own crust and that turned out fabulous. It is somewhat low calorie and tasted full fat. It was like a taco pouch!
Original recipe from Sparkrecipes.com but I used homemade dough (found here), ground beef, added corn and sprinkled the top with garlic pepper and parsley flakes just before baking.

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef
1/2 c onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 t ground cumin
1 1/2 t dark chili powder
1/2 c red bell pepper, finely chopped
3/4 c salsa verde
1/2 c corn
1 batch basic pizza dough
1 c Mexican blend cheese, shredded
1 egg, beaten
garlic pepper
parsley flakes

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Adjust oven rack to upper third of the oven.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add ground beef and cook 5 minutes, stirring to crumble. Add onion and garlic; continue to cook for an additional 4-5 minutes or until onions are translucent.

Add spices and cook for 1 minute to bring out the flavors in the spices. Add chopped pepper and corn; continue to cook 1 minute.

Remove mixture from heat and stir in salsa.

Unroll dough and divide into 4 equal portions. Working with one rectangle at a time place, 1/2 cup of beef mixture on half of the dough then top with 2 tablespoons of cheese.

Using a pastry brush or fingers, brush the egg mixture on the border of the dough. Fold dough over turkey mixture and press with a fork to seal. If you prefer a crisp crust, brush some additional egg wash over the top of the calzone. Sprinkle with parsley and garlic pepper.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.