WW - Pumpkin Bread

I got this recipe a long time ago from my Weight Watchers class and I finally used it yesterday. I had to bring a "healthy" appetizer and struggled to figure out something to bring until I found this recipe. (Sorry for not having a picture this time, but it looked like a normal loaf of pumpkin bread).

Actual Recipe

1 3/4 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c sugar
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 c pumpkin
1/2 c apple or orange juice

Mix together all ingredients. Put into a sprayed loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

My Version

I used orange juice. And, I doubled it so that I would have a loaf to take to the activity and another one for everyone at home.

Opinions

Husband - He could taste the wheat flour but said it tasted good.
Me - I have a cold and could barely taste the pumpkin, but other than that it tasted very good. Anxious to taste it without having a cold.
My boys - Liked it and ate a few pieces.

The old WW points value was one point per slice (16 slices per loaf). But, I don't know what the new Points Plus Value is.

Best-Ever Hash Browns

That's what they're called - Best-Ever Hash Browns. And they were good. This was just a quick variation to my regular country style hash browns. That's what I have always called them anyway - the kind that are cubed baked potato pieces rather than shredded.

Actual Recipe:
Family Dinner Cookbook (by Debbie G. Harman)

4-6 leftover baked potatoes
3-4 Tbsp butter
Salt & Pepper

Peel skins from potatoes. Chop or grate potatoes into a large bowl. Melt butter in skillet or on griddle. Saute potatoes in butter until they become golden and crispy. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. If desired, you can leave the skins on the potatoes for this recipe. Combine bacon bits with hash browns for country-fried hash browns.

My Version:

5 leftover baked potatoes
2 Tbsp canola oil
forgot the salt and pepper
sprinkled bacon bits on them just to try it out but didn't measure the amount

What I learned:

I needed to use a little bit more oil than I had used in the past and to keep it on a high heat the entire time. I always used to use a low heat thinking they needed the time to cook through but then they would be falling apart and it took longer. Couldn't figure it out. This time it worked out better. My stove goes from a 1 to 10 and I cooked these on a 7 the entire time. Worked great.

Opinion:

We all liked it. The bacon bits did add a little bit of flavor to the hash browns and the boys didn't seem to notice the change at all. I will probably do this again because I have bacon bits that someone gave us that never get used :-).

I rarely cook with butter, so this was an easy exchange from butter to a healthy oil.

Sorry, no pictures this time.

Taco Soup

I was given this recipe through a friend on facebook. I've always wanted to make taco soup but then I end up making chili instead. The only main difference is the flavoring. YUM!

Original Recipe:

1 lb chopped chicken, already cooked
1 can corn
1 can black beans
2 cans pinto beans
1 can diced tomatoes w/ green chilies
1 onion, chopped
1 envelope taco seasoning
1 envelope ranch dressing mix
add water to reach desired consistency (about 2 cans)

Picture of my first version where I accidentally put in an extra can of water (oops).

My version:

I've made this twice already and tweaked it both times. So, I will just tell you variations from both of them. Mostly went with what I had at the time.

I think I used red beans rather than pinto beans. Really, you can use any kinds of chili type beans - just use about 3 cans.

Didn't have a can of diced tomatoes w/ green chilies. One time I used Mexican style tomatoes and this made the soup way too spicy for the kids. I also love tomatoes, so I added a few extra chopped tomatoes :-).

In the same pot of soup that I used the Mexican style tomatoes, I also used a Ranch Dip mix rather than a dressing mix. I think it had a little bit more spice to it adding to the heat for my kids.

And, the first time I made this, I wasn't paying attention and I added 3 cans of water rather than 2. Made it a bit runnier than desired, so I thickened it up with some corn starch. It helped and was just thicker than the second time I made it.

After I thickened up the first version with some corn starch. Still good.

Opinion:

EASY!!! As long as these are regular ingredients for your house, which most of them are for us, then it's a throw it all together and simmer. Just keep in mind the heat when you're feeding little ones. Add some cheese and some tortilla chips and it's a great dinner for your family. We had PLENTY of left overs for my family for another meal.

If any taco soup or chili ends up too spicy for your taste - here's a tip: add a bit of cream cheese to melt in your bowl. It thickens it up a little and also calms some of the spicy flavor.

Fresh Strawberry Crepes - WW

YUMMY for my first attempt at making crepes. I got this recipe from my Weight Watchers class on Saturday mornings. We get new recipes all the time and there have only been a few that I have tried. This one looked good and do-able with the normal ingredients that I keep in my home. I don't like getting recipes from all over the place to find out that I have to buy all these different ingredients that I either have never heard of before, don't know what to do with them, or would probably never use again. So, here's one that was easy and I had all the ingredients (almost).

My first crepe

RECIPE:

5 large egg whites
1/8 tsp table salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 cup fat-free milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
8 sprays cooking spray
1 lb strawberries, hulled and sliced very thin (about 3 cups)
1/4 cup powdered sugar

In a medium bowl, whisk together egg whites, salt, vanilla extract, melted butter, milk and flour until just combined.

Coat an 8-9 inch skillet with cooking spray; set over medium heat. When pan is hot, add 1/4 cup of batter and tilt skillet to cover entire bottom of pan with a thin layer of batter. Cook for 2 minutes; flip over. Top with about 1/3 cup strawberries; cook for 2 minutes more. Fold crepe over and slide onto serving plate; cover to keep warm. Repeat with remaining ingredients; sprinkle with sugar.

My first crepe with fruit in it

1 crepe = 3 Points Plus value (Weight Watchers)

Our Version:

We didn't have strawberries, so I opened up a can of peaches and sliced them thin. I didn't measure them when I put them on.

1 recipe = 8 crepes/servings

Our Opinion:

I liked it a lot. I've never made crepes before in my life. I have had them just 2-3 times before. I plan to do this again.

Husband - liked them but thought they were a little thick. I probably just needed to use a bigger pan or maybe it was because it was just egg whites and they were a little fluffier rather than heavy with yolk.

Kids - liked the fruit inside the most and the sugar on top. They weren't too sure about the crepes. I didn't get anything else made for dinner that night and I think that would have helped. Just a crepe with fruit didn't seem to cut it.

Vegetable Stir Fry (w/ chicken)

When we have wanted to eat stir fry in the past, we have poured the mixed stir fry vegetables out of the bag we bought at Costco, added some frozen chopped up chicken and then when it was half cooked, then we would add some Citrus Soy Sauce for flavor. I liked it because it wasn't covered in too much sauce and had some good flavor. I like to taste my vegetables. But, I've been curious for another flavor lately and thought I would give this one a try - especially since it was for fresh veggies rather than the frozen ones out of a bag. We've got a plethora of veggies from our garden right now. Yes, we could have used fresh veggies in the past, but we were usually going for the quick meal and would keep it on hand.

Doesn't that already look good?
And it's just barely started cooking.

Actual Recipe:
(Family Dinner Cookbook by Debbie G. Harman)

3-4 cups fresh vegetables of your choice: chopped onions, peeled and chopped carrots, broccoli florets, sliced zucchini, chopped bell peppers (any color), bean sprouts, mushrooms.

Stir Fry Sauce:
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp hoisin sauce
1 Tbsp honey
1 tsp cornstarch
1/2 cup water
1 tsp chicken bouillon

Heat 1 Tbsp oil in large skillet. Stir-fry vegetables of choice until slightly tender but still crisp. Combine all ingredients for sauce, pour over vegetables, and stir over medium heat until thickened and vegetables are well coated. Serve over Hot Cooked Rice.

DONE!!! Perfect!!!
Just the right amount of sauce for the amount of vegetables.

My Variation and Opinion:

I used 4 cups of vegetables and once it was mostly cooked and I had just added the sauce, I decided it needed a little bit more broccoli. I thought it worked well. I chopped up a very small onion, 2 carrots, some celery sticks that I had left over in a bag, forgot the zucchini but meant to put it in and it would have been great, some chopped green bell pepper that I had in a bag as well and some chopped mushrooms.

Just before starting to chop and cook everything up, I put on some brown rice to cook in another pot on the stove. Since brown rice (not the instant kind) takes about 45-50 minutes to cook, it actually worked out perfectly. It finished cooking about 5 minutes early and my dinner was done by then. Perfect timing and not a long time to make dinner. I had originally planned on chopping everything up earlier in the day so that dinner would be really quick but that didn't happen. Just keep that in mind if you want to do this recipe - you can easily prep for it early if you have more time while the kids are at school or taking naps.

I really enjoyed this recipe and plan to use it again. I did have to buy some hoisin sauce as I didn't know what is was and didn't have any on my shelf. But, now I can do a really quick stir fry from scratch - and it will be FRESH. I love FRESH!

My husband's addition to this meal was the chicken. I had planned on doing it as a "Vegetable" stir fry as that is how the recipe is written. But, just before it was done, husband stirred it for me and asked "Can I add some chicken to this?" So, I kindly said yes. He's a man and he likes meat. Me, I could care less most of the time if there is meat at the meal, but it's usually a nice addition.

My opinion: Delicious! Will do this recipe again.
Husband: Very good. Had two servings.
4 yr old: At first he had the rice on one side of his plate and the stir fry on the other. He ate up his rice and didn't care for the stir fry. Too strong of flavor. But, when we convinced him to stir in some rice, he actually really enjoyed it.
2 yr old: He's picky and we had to force him to eat some. He would eat it when we served it to him with a lot of rice, but he wouldn't serve it to himself.
1 yr old: Liked it and didn't throw it on the floor.

Cabbage Rolls

I was given this recipe from a friend who found it on a friend of a friend's site. We both thought it looked really healthy and delicious....So, I gave it a try.

Actual Recipe:
1 head of cabbage
1 egg
1-8oz can tomato sauce
1/2 cup uncooked brown rice
1-envelope onion soup mix
1 lb lean ground turkey
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
2 cups regular V8 juice (see note in directions)

Directions:
-Core your cabbage and save it for the guinea pigs
-Very carefully, peel off large cabbage leaves (8-12) and wash them. You need to lightly steam the cabbage leaves to wilt them enough to handle. You can put the leaves in a covered casserole dish and microwave on high for 2 minutes.
-In a mixing bowl, combine the turkey meat, raw rice, egg, onion soup mix, cheese and the can of tomato sauce. Mix well - the mixture will be like very gloppy meatloaf.
-Using a spoon, scoop about 1/3 cup mixture into each cabbage leaf and roll or fold. Put the stuffed cabbage leaves into the bottom of your crock-pot, seam side down.
-If you cabbage has a bunch of nice leaves, use them all. I (the person we got the recipe from) was stuck with only 8 good ones and got frustrated and fed the rest of the cabbage to the guinea pigs.
-It's okay to stack the rolls on top of each other in the crock-pot.
-Top with 2 cups of V8 juice. I used 2 cups of juice because I made 8 rolls. If you are using more rolls, use another cup of juice. The original recipe called for an entire 46 oz bottle of V8 which is an awful lot. I didn't want to use that much and did not fully submerge my cabbage rolls. They steamed and cooked fine in less juice. Cover crock-pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Ours cooked for exactly 6 hours and the meat was cooked the the rice was tender. That's what you're looking for.

Ready to cook.

Done.

My Version & Opinion:
-I was able to get 10 usable cabbage leaves, so I ended up using 3 cups of V8 juice. I'm thinking I should have at least used 4 cups to submerge them because the bottom ones turned out better cooked than the top ones.
-I didn't realize until I was making the recipe that I didn't have shredded cheese. So, I used just under a 1/3 cup of grated Parmesan cheese. I wonder how differently it would have been if I had been able to use the right kind.
-I think my family is done using ground turkey. I used to be into it and didn't mind substituting it for ground beef every once in a while. But, we've had some bad ground turkey in the past and I've had a few too many recipes that didn't taste good with it that I think I'm done using it. I think we did some of those recipes while I was pregnant and it really created a bad flavor. It just doesn't taste good to me anymore. So, my suggestion is that if you do want to try this recipe and are on the fence about ground turkey - go ahead and try the ground beef with it. It would more than likely taste better to you.
-The rice was not cooked as well and the recipe said it would be. I cooked my batch for 8 hours and the rice still wasn't done. I was afraid it was going to be mushy but I was not home and had to let it cook that long. Maybe more V8 juice would have helped this.

We ate it with mashed potatoes and green beans.
I mixed every bite together to get through it all.

Well, it's not a recipe I am going to be using again. Not even one I want to play with because it put such a poor taste in my mouth. Blah! You win some, you lose some. You got to experiment to find out what works for your family and with this one, I found out what doesn't work. Good luck to the rest of you if you want to try it out.

Vegetarian Chili - WW

Weight Watchers - Points Plus value - 1 cup is 3 points.

I got this recipe at a Weight Watchers meeting a long time ago when they were still doing the old plan. I just made it this week and was happy to see they updated the points value on the recipe to the Points Plus plan when I went to my meeting this morning. It is delicious!

Actual Recipe:

1 can black beans, drained
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 can Great Northern white beans, drained
1 - 16 oz can diced tomatoes
1 - 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 cup water
1 diced onion
1 diced green pepper
2 cloves minced garlic
1 1/2 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 Tbsp sugar, optional
chopped carrots and zucchini, optional

Stir Together, simmer 30 minutes

Doesn't that look good?.....Yes, Yes it does!

My Version - Doubled:

2 cans black beans
2 cans kidney beans
2 cans white beans
1 can diced tomatoes & 3 large tomatoes chopped & 1 can stewed tomatoes
in the past I've used 2 quart bottles of home bottled tomatoes, but I didn't have any this time)
2 cans tomato sauce
2 cups water
1 diced onion (don't want it too strong for the kids)
1 diced green pepper (I like them but my husband doesn't care for them, so I compromise)
4 cloves minced garlic
2 Tbsp chili powder (don't want it too strong for my kids)
2 tsp cumin
2 Tbsp sugar (husband said it was a little sweet, so I might leave this out next time)
3 large carrots, chopped
1 large zucchini, chopped

Since this was a doubled recipe, I simmered it for 45 minutes rather than the 30 minutes like the single recipe.

Opinion:

We like to add corn to our chili, but I didn't do it this time. I think if you do add 1-2 cans of corn, then you should add a point to your WW amount because corn does count towards your tracking efforts. We like this stuff, that's why I made a double batch. I like to keep home made chili in the freezer for when we either want chili for dinner or when we have baked potatoes. Left overs are just as good with this recipe. My 15 year old picky eater niece was over for dinner that night and she ate it all up. That was a nice compliment to my healthy eating styles. My husband likes it too (of course, like any man, he wouldn't mind if there was meat in it, but he's okay with this recipe because there is so many other things in it that he doesn't complain).

Easy to prep, easy to cook and SO DELICIOUS!!!
Very few points for so much flavor! 1 cup = 3 points plus value.

Lasagna - Macey's Ad

In the Macey's grocery store food ads I cut out the Crock Pot Lasagna recipe and tried it out. This is one that I tried to play with a little bit and wish I didn't. It was still good but would have been better if I had followed all the ingredients as directed. Doesn't really matter on what brand you use, but the amounts would have made a difference.

Actual Recipe:

1 lb lean ground beef
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 - 29 oz Western Family Tomato Sauce
1 - 6 oz Western Family Tomato Paste
1 - 16 oz Western Family Cottage Cheese
1 - 5 oz BelGioioso Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 - 8 oz Western Family Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1 - 16 oz American Beauty Lasagna Noodles (uncooked)

Directions:

-Brown ground beef, chopped onion and smashed garlic in frying pan
-Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1 Tbsp dried oregano
-Cook until meat sauce is warm
-Spoon a layer of meat sauce onto the bottom of the crock pot
-Add a double layer of uncooked lasagna noodles (break to fit) and top with a layer of the cheeses
-Repeat with sauce, noodles and cheeses until all are used up
-Add 1/2 cup water around the outside edge of the lasagna
-Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours
-Serves 6

Ready to cook.

Done.

My Changes:

-I used a package of frozen beef I had in the freezer which I had already cooked up with minced onions, so I didn't worry about the garlic
-I didn't have a 29 oz can of tomato sauce so I used 4-6oz cans which equals 24 oz - I now wish I had a 29 oz can or at least one more 6 oz can to use...It needed a little more sauce.
-I was planning on just creating 3 combo layers but ended up with a few extra noodles, so I tried to spread the sauce out at the end to create one more layer - I should have just been more generous with them in the beginning or just left them out. They weren't quite done on the top because there weren't enough toppings on them.
-I used 1/4 cup of water around the edges instead of 1/2 cup. I shouldn't have adjusted this. The noodles needed the extra moisture, especially since I didn't have enough sauce. I was just worried about adding too much water because of a previous recipe that I had done that had a pool of water at the end.
-I thought it would be good with chopped up mushrooms - and I was right about that change. It was delicious and I wish I had chopped up and added a lot more than I did.

Opinion:

Don't play with this recipe too much if you can avoid it. Doesn't matter what brand of items you use, I just copied the recipe as it was written. Keep in mind that it will serve at least 6 people. It created a lot of left overs for my family of 5 (3 of which are under 5). But, it was delicious and the next time I do this, it will be done correctly.

Just Chicken

We like to buy chicken when we can get it on sale, cook it up, chop it up and keep it in the freezer in 2 cup or 2 breast amounts. Then, whatever I'm making that includes chicken, I don't have to worry about cooking the chicken first or pulling out the canned stuff. Works great in casseroles, soups, tacos, etc.... We also like to do this with hamburger in the one pound amounts in Ziploc Freezer bags. Anyway, I usually end up putting 3-4 chicken breasts in a lid covered pan and slaving over the stove or constantly checking it or setting the timer to remind me I have chicken cooking on the stove. Then I have to start it all again to finish cooking the rest of the chicken that I have. This is a slow cooker recipe - put the chicken in, cook for 3-4 hours on high and then turn it off. Cut up the chicken and all done. My husband did this for me on a day that I had to work, but at least it "tastes like chicken."

Recipe:

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tsp chicken bouillon
Salt and pepper
1 tsp paprika
1/2 cup water

Layer chicken breasts in slow-cooker, sprinkling bouillon, salt, pepper, and paprika over each layer. Pour water around edges. Cover and cook on high 3-4 hours or low 6-7 hours. Remove chicken. Allow to cool 10 minutes. Slice chicken into 1/2-inch slices.

Ready to cook.

Done.

Then, do whatever you want with the chicken. Put it in some gravy and serve over rice for dinner, package it up for the freezer like I do, put it in your favorite recipe....whatever. Easy!

Chicken Tortilla Mix - Pictures

Finally found the pictures for this yummy recipe I posted earlier.

Ready to cook.

All cooked and ready to shred chicken.

All shredded and ready to eat in burritos. Yummy.
Don't forget, the left overs taste great in chicken tortillas for another dinner.

Chicken Tortilla Mix

I took pictures of this one but they seem to have been taken off the camera. I will ask my husband when he's home if they are on his computer and then I will post them.

Actual Recipe:

1 lb boneless chicken thighs
1 can green chiles
1 can pinto beans
1 pkg taco seasoning (1/4 cup if you buy it in the big containers)

Cook in slow cooker on low for 6-8 hours. Meat will shred with a fork. Wrap in tortillas to eat. Top with sour cream, cheese, salsa.

My Changes:
I only used 1/2 can green chiles and 3/4 pkg taco seasoning so that it wouldn't have too much spice for my little boys. We just ate it burrito style (I'm not a sour cream fan so we didn't use that).

Our Opinion:
We love this tasty chicken! Even though chicken thighs seem to have more fat to cut off them before using it (I can't cook with that stuff still on the chicken), IT SHREDS SO EASILY!!!! 5-10 times easier than chicken breasts. You could use breasts if that is all you have, but I will occasionally be buying the thighs for nice shredding recipes as this one.

Left Overs:
There were just enough left overs for the next night to be turned into Chicken Enchiladas. They were so good with this flavored chicken rather than just plain chicken. SO GOOD!!! I didn't take a picture of these but it was definitely a great idea I had and hope to do it again.

Beefaroni Bake

Sorry, no pictures this time. I wasn't in the mood that day to deal with the camera that was full of pictures. Just imagine and I think you'll get the picture.

Actual Recipe:
(Family Dinner Cookbook by Debbie G. Harman)

1 pound ground beef
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
2 cans tomato sauce
2 Tbsp butter
1 16-oz package elbow macaroni

Brown meat with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Drain fat. Cook macaroni according to package directions. Combine all ingredients, reserving 1 cup cheese, in a 9x13 casserole dish. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Bake at 350* for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

My Changes:
I used a 16-oz package of bow tie pasta.
I used a pound of hamburger already cooked and frozen in one pound amounts from my freezer that I browned with salt, pepper and minced onions (no garlic powder).

Our Opinion:
We liked it. My kids ate it as they always eat "noodles with sauce" for dinner. It was fun to use a different kind of pasta that my kids weren't used to, variety is always nice. I only had 2 cans of tomato sauce for random cooking and I think it could have used a little bit more sauce. It could have been because I used bigger noodles than macaroni noodles, but I like sauce. In the future, I think I will just use some spaghetti sauce - just for a little bit more flavor and a little bit more sauce. It was still good this way though.

I think this way is good for when you don't have much time to make dinner and you're planning ahead. It was quick and easy. I prepped everything just after lunch time when my smaller kids were napping. Then I put it in the fridge with foil over the top. When I cooked it, I just left the foil on so that it would cook throughout a little bit more rather than just melting the cheese.

You could easily add a vegetable to this as well instead of having it on the side. Or it would be nice to serve with a salad.

Quick Chicken Parmesan

Ready to go in the oven. The chicken patties are under the ham.

All Done!

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups Prego Traditional Pasta Sauce
4 fully cooked breaded chicken cutlets
4 thin slices cooked ham
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (4 oz)
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

RECIPE:
1. Spread 1 cup of the pasta sauce in a 12x8x2-inch shallow baking dish.
2. Place the chicken cutlets over the sauce. Spoon 1/4 cup of the remaining pasta sauce down the center of each cutlet. Top each with 1 slice ham and 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.
3. Bake at 425*F for 10 minutes or until the cheese melts and the sauce is hot and bubbly.

MY NOTES:
I went to the store with 3 kids and couldn't find the breaded cutlets, but I did find chicken patties. I think it would have been better had I the patience to search for the cutlets with all my kids with me or to use regular chicken breasts. But, the patties were okay. They just tasted a bit too much like a chicken nugget for my hopes with this dish. It did taste good. It's always fun to try something new. May not be one I do over and over again, but it is one that I may experiment with again. My family liked it but nothing to rave about.

Tortillas - 2 Points Plus

For all you weight watchers out there....Here is a tortilla that I found at Costco (not sure if you can buy them everywhere yet because this is the first package I bought of this kind). They are 2 points plus value for Weight Watchers. Generally, all the wheat tortillas that I've found before this that are about this size are 3+ points. So, it was a nice find.

Apple Pork Roast

This one we have now done twice and it has become our family's favorite experiment so far. This is one you will definitely want to try with your own family. If you like apple pie, you will love putting the flavor of apple pie over a pork roast and mashed potatoes.

Getting everything ready - all but the 2nd roast and the rest of the topping.

Ready to go!

INGREDIENTS:
1 pork roast (2-3 lbs)
3 apples
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon

RECIPE:
Cut apples into pieces and place in slow cooker. Mix sugar, flour and cinnamon and cover pork with mixture. Place in slow cooker and sprinkle rest of mixture on top. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

MY VERSION:
Couldn't find one single pork roast for that weight, but I did find two small ones. So, I ended up cooking it just for the 6 hours to make sure they weren't over cooked. Then we used the apples and sauce over mashed potatoes. You will definitely want a bite that consists of all three things: pork, apples and mashed potatoes. SO GOOD!!!

Looks kind of gross, but that's the sugar coating that turned a funny color.

Doesn't that pork look delicious?

My husband has claimed that it is his favorite experiment so far. ALL of my kids ate it up. And, I'm definitely going to be using this recipe over and over again.

Crock Pot - Shepherd Pie

Not all my recipes are going to turn out looking good or working well for the kids.
But, you have to experiment to find amazing recipes that work well for your family.

ACTUAL RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
(Slow-Cooker Cookbook, pg 41)
2 lb ground beef
16-oz bag frozen mixed vegetables
2 c. cheddar cheese, grated
4 potatoes, shredded
salt and pepper
1 cube butter, sliced

MY RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 lb ground beef
20-oz of frozen mixed vegetables
2 c. cheddar cheese, grated
6 small potatoes, shredded
salt and pepper
1/2 cube butter, sliced

RECIPE:
Brown and drain ground beef. Pour 1/2 cup water in bottom of slow-cooker. Layer vegetables, ground beef, cheese, and shredded potatoes. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and butter slices. Cover and cook on high 2-3 hours or low 5-6 hours. You can substitute vegetables of choice.

OUR OPINION:
I usually buy ground beef in bulk, cook it all up with some minced onions, salt and pepper, then store in freezer bags in one pound amounts. But, I thought that 2 pounds of meat was way too much for one meal, so I cut it down a bit but not too much to change the recipe. In it's place, I added a bit more vegetables and potato on top.

I am thinking that the potatoes needed to be blanched before this because of how they ended up looked gray-black. They tasted okay to us adults, but the kids didn't want to have anything to do with them. I figured they wouldn't hurt us because I put them in the slow cooker immediately after shredding them and cooked them on high. I didn't want to use an entire cube of butter either - I'm a bit health conscious and I just couldn't do it. There also ended up being a pool of water down at the bottom of the pot. So, I don't think a 1/2 cup of water needed to be added because the frozen vegetables provided their own water. The bottom of this dish tasted just fine but the potatoes looked gross, so I scraped off the potatoes in order to save the left overs. And when we ate them a few days later, we just crumpled Ritz crackers on the top and the kids ate it just fine. To satisfy them that night, I didn't feel like I could force them to eat something that didn't look good, so I made them some peanut butter sandwiches.

Not every recipe will be great, but in the future I think I will continue to make my own shepherd pie in a casserole dish in the oven.

Apricot Chicken

This is what it looks like before cooking
- the chicken is under the sauce and flavorings.

Looks a little interesting but it was very appetizing.

INGREDIENTS:

4-5 chicken breasts
1/2 cut apricot jam
1/2 of an 8 oz bottle of Russian Dressing (that's what the red sauce is in the pictures)
1/2 envelope of onion soup mix
1 tsp curry

RECIPE:

Top the chicken with all the ingredients and cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6 hours.

I cooked it on high but I learned that this chicken can easily dry out if you cook it too long, so be careful. It was delicious and made a very yummy sauce that we poured onto our rice. I liked this one because it was so easy, but I did have to find the Russian dressing at the store because that wasn't something I had on hand at home. It adds some good flavor.

Results of Sloppy BBQ Chicken

Success! My husband exclaimed he was "full" at the end of the meal. That's a hard thing to do. My 4 yr old and 2 yr old really ate up the chicken, the bread was a bit thick for them. My Ephraim (2) seems to be willing to eat corn off the cob but not otherwise. They all devoured the jello of course. Barely had enough left overs for my husband to make a sandwich for his lunch tomorrow. Again, I will say, YUMMY!!!!

Sloppy BBQ Chicken

Ephraim helping make the first layer of jello
- cherry on the bottom and orange on the top.

Frozen chicken with BBQ sauce - ready to cook.

All Cooked and ready to shred with forks.

Shredded and ready to serve on bread. You can eat it as an
open (1 piece of bread) or closed sandwich (2 pieces of bread).

YUMMY! Just as easy and quick as the last recipe but a totally different flavor. Since my family isn't too big yet, I didn't make a large amount. So, the recipe is what I used and you can adjust bigger for a larger family. I probably wouldn't make less than this in the crock-pot.

I realized we were practically out of bread, but I didn't want to run to the store after naps and right before dinner in order to buy some bread or buns. So, I quickly mixed up some bread and it's about to go in the oven just in time to come out right before it's time to eat :-).

We are also going to eat these Sloppy BBQ Chicken sandwiches with some 2 layered Jello - always fun to make with the kids in little cups so they chill faster - and some cooked corn on the cob (on sale this week for us at the store down the street). What a fantastic dinner we're going to have tonight....Hope you all can try this out soon. It's gonna be GREAT!!!! I'll have to post later on how the family likes it. We've had this once before but a long time ago and you know how kids can easily change their minds about things.

INGREDIENTS:

2 chicken breasts
3/4 cup BBQ Sauce
(I used Bulls Eye because it's the only BBQ sauce I've come to like so far - you could use any kind you like the best)

RECIPE:

I put the chicken breasts in frozen and spread all the BBQ sauce over the chicken. I cooked it on high for over 3 hours (I would cook it for about 4 if I had more chicken in there). Then I forked the cooked chicken and mixed it around in the sauce to make a Sloppy Joe type chicken mess.

Mango Peach Salsa

I went to Super Walmart last night for a few things and checked to see if they sell any salsas like the Mango Peach Salsa that I buy at Costco - AND THEY DO. They sell Mango Peach Salsa in an 18 ounce container which would be a good amount to cover about 2-4 chicken breasts. The one you can buy from Costco comes in a 48 ounce container and I used about 1/3 to cover my 2 chicken breasts for my last recipe. You add as much salsa and much as you want the flavor. It does go a long way when you cook the chicken in it though. So, since I found it at that store, I'm assuming you can find it in a regular grocery store as well. It was in the refrigerated section near the chopped fruits and salads.

Mango Salsa Chicken

This one is the easiest recipe I know for the crock pot. Put chicken in, pour salsa on top, cook. I used regular chicken (not frozen) and cooked it about 3-4 hours on high. We like to shred it and use it in burritos or tacos. We've eaten it on top of rice as well. Either way is delicious. In the pictures, I only used 2 chicken breasts but you can use as much as you would need for your family. We probably could have just used one for our burritos that day. The first picture is of the finished product of all the chicken shredded and mixed with the salsa. The second picture is one breast shredded and the other not yet shredded, just so you know what it would look like when it was done.

INGREDIENTS:

2 chicken breasts (or as much as your family would eat)
Mango Peach Salsa (bought at Costco)

RECIPE:

Put chicken in crock pot. Cover with salsa, enough to completely cover your chicken. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for probably 5-6 hours. Then take 2 forks and shred it....use it however you like for dinner.

Beef Stew - Seasoning Mix

I bought a seasoning mix from Winco the other day and a package of stew meat to make it a quick meal. It wasn't as quick as I thought it would be, but it was definitely delicious! The prep work was easy and quick, but the time it took to cook was what took a good amount of time.

We ate this with home made bread and we probably ate half the stew. My husband and I thought it was delicious and I will definitely be doing this again on a day that I'm prepared and not planning on going anywhere since the stove has to be on for 2 1/2 hours on low. The meat was so tender and not too chewy like I've had in other stews. My 4 yr old ate every bite of a full bowl. My 2 yr old didn't seem to be feeling well and didn't want to eat any of it. He's still getting those back teeth, so we weren't sure how he would do with the meat anyway. My baby LOVED it as you can see in the picture. The prep work was very simple and I would definitely recommend this dinner to those who like a beefy kind of stew. YUM!

INGREDIENTS NEEDED -

2 lbs of stew meat
3 cups water
Beef Stew Mix
4-5 potatoes
4 carrots
2 celery stalks
4 small onions or 1/4 yellow onion
10 oz frozen peas

RECIPE -

1. Lightly flour 2 lb of stew meat. Brown in 3 Tbsp oil. (I cut up the stew meat a bit more than it already was because of my kids).

2. Add 3 cups water and BEEF STEW MIX. (I got the Winco store brand - Hy-Top).

3. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer until tender, approximately 1 1/2 hours.

4. Add 4 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered (I added 5 small ones - cut into bite sizes). Cut into 1 inch pieces, 4 carrots, 2 celery stalks and 4 small onions (I cut them smaller than that and used 1/4 of a yellow onion because I didn't have the small onions that they called for).

5. Cover and simmer until vegetables are tender, approximately 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Add 1 package, 10 oz, frozen peas the last 5 minutes of cooking time. Add 2 tsp of salt if desired (I didn't add the salt because I forgot and didn't even notice it needed it).

My New Blog!

I'm going to try and figure out this blogging thing by creating a site of my dinner experiments. It seems like I've had quite a few friends and family wanting new dinner ideas lately, not just new recipes, but ones that have been tried and liked by someone they know. So, I've been experimenting lately with new meals - especially in the slow cooker - and wanted to share the recipes. I will also give my opinion of how easy it was to cook, how my family liked it (me, my husband and 3 young boys - 4, 2 and almost 1), and if I am being good on my Weight Watcher's food tracking, then I will also give the estimated Points Plus value that I calculated for that meal. I hope that you will at least try one of these meals every once in a while and let me know what you also think about it. I'm gonna have fun with this and if ever you have a new recipe that your family has discovered and liked, then send it on over to me for a try.