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.

Foodie Friday

Herb Rubbed Chicken and Orzo - I liked the idea of this dish better than the outcome.  It was too "spicy" for me. It wasn't hot, just too many different herby flavors.  I don't think I'll make this again. Plus I think I overcooked the orzo and it was kind of mushy. It looked pretty good though!

Chicken Stroganoff -  I shredded the chicken once it had cooked, added about a 1/4 cup of skim milk at the beginning to thin out the sauce and used whole wheat pasta.  The sauce was a little think but I think I would add more milk next time to thin it out.  Turned out pretty good. Ryan loved it!  Super Easy Crockpot recipe. Will definitely make again. (I forgot to take a picture but it wasn't anything special to look at)

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.

Halloween Cookies

We are getting into the Halloween spirit around our house. We brought out the Halloween decorations and began putting them up this weekend. I'm also getting things together for Erin's Halloween costume (she is going to be a chicken!)

Erin and Mommy made Halloween Sugar Cookies (click here for the recipe) and they turned out pretty well. Erin really enjoyed decorating the cookies with sprinkles. (She even snuck some bites of dough and sprinkles while mommy wasn't looking. Stinker!)

making cookies @ Yahoo! Video