An Easy Sunday Lunch...Mexican Style!

All of the credit for today's lunch recipe goes to my very good friend P.! She facebooked me this recipe about a week ago, and I've been waiting for the perfect time to make it. Well, that day, is today!!! :) It was so easy to put together, and is in the oven making the house smell great right now!

**NOTE** When she sent me the recipe, there were no EXACT measurements, so I guessed and made up my own!

CHICKEN TACO RING

INGREDIENTS:
2 Tubes Crescent Rolls
1 C. Crushed Tortilla Chips
2 small cans Chicken
1 (8 oz.) Bag Mexican Cheese
1 Can Rotel Tomatoes with Chilis
1 pkg. Taco Seasoning Mix
1 C. Sour Cream
Salsa for Garnish
Sour Cream for Garnish

Preheat the oven to 350. Arrange the Crescent Rolls on a Pizza Pan with the fatter ends overlapping in the middle. In a large bowl, mix the Chicken, Tortilla Chips, Cheese, Rotel Tomatoes, Taco Seasoning and Sour Cream. Place mixture in center or ring, on the overlapping ends. Fold the Triangles up to the center and tuck under fatter ends...(there will still be filling showing). Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.

This smells fantastic and was so simple to make!

Hooray for Pumpkin!

I am a Kingdom Seeker's Leader at our church, and this year I have the pleasure of having the 5th Grade Girls. It's been wonderful so far, and I'm really enjoying all of the girls that I have in my group! Tomorrow night we are having a Soup Supper Fundraiser and I will be cooking soup all day for that. I also needed to make a dessert to bring, and with it being Fall and the fact that I LOVE all things Pumpkin I decided to find a recipe that uses Pumpkin!

I came across this recipe on Paula Deen's site and decided that it sounded so yummy, and thus, I was going to make it! They are in the oven baking now, and I can't wait to see how they turn out.

PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE BARS

INGREDIENTS:
1 (16 oz.) pkg. Pound Cake Mix
3 Large Eggs
2 Tbsp. Butter; melted
4 tsps. Pumpkin Pie Spice; divided
1 (8 oz.) Cream Cheese; softened
1 (14 oz.) Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 (15 oz.) Can Pumpkin (about 2 Cups)
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 C. Chopped Nuts

Heat oven to 350. Combine Cake Mix, 1 Egg, Butter and 2 tsps. Pumpkin Pie Spice in large bowl until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press into the bottom of a 15 x 10 jellyroll pan. Beat Cream Cheese in a large bowl until fluffy. Gradually beat in Condensed Milk; beat in remaining 2 Eggs, Pumpkin, remaining 2 tsps. Pumpkin Pie Spice and Salt; mix well. Pour over the crust; sprinkle with the Nuts. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until set. Cool. Chill. Cut into bars.

Here they are:

I'm hoping that these are as fantastic as they sound!

A New Kind of Chicken

The other night I was looking for a new recipe for chicken. As you know, if you've been following my blog, that we eat a lot of chicken in this house. I'm not exactly sure why, but I just know that we do. Although, since I've started using my Crock-Pot, I will say that we have branched out a bit. The chicken recipe that I found was no exception to the use of the Crock-Pot! I have really enjoyed using it lately, and have to wonder why I never did before...it has really become quite the staple in my kitchen.

This recipe was delicious, and it go the seal of approval from the bro! That's always a big plus. He was excited about it because it contained bacon...one of his favorites. I must say that it did turn out quite tasty, but the next time I will make a few tweaks to it as it was a bit salty.

Without further ado, here's the recipe:

BACON-RANCH CHICKEN

INGREDIENTS:
4 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
2 Tbsp. Real Bacon Bits (I used about 4 Tbsp.)
1 tsp. Garlic; minced
1 Pkg. Dry Ranch Dressing Mix (I would use about 1/2 of this to cut down on the saltiness)
1 (10.75 oz.) Can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 C. Sour Cream
egg noodles

Place Chicken in the bottom of the crock pot. Combine Bacon, Garlic, Ranch Dressing mix, Soup, and Sour cream; mix well. Pour over chicken in the crock pot. Cook on high 3-4 hours. Shred the chicken in the crock pot. Cook the Egg Noodles until el dente and then put in the crock pot and mix well just before serving.

I will make this again in the future. I'm now on the hunt for many more yummy crock pot meals! Loving the easy cooking!!!

Yesterday's Supper

In case you haven't been following along lately, I've been using my Crock-Pot a WHOLE lot in the past few weeks. Last night was no exception, in fact I plan to use it for tomorrow nights supper as well! I will post that recipe after I've made it! Last nights supper was a whopping success...the bro was SO happy to have Beef Stroganoff for supper...it brought him back to his college days when one of his roomates would make it on his night to cook. Of course, his sister's was MUCH better! ;)

SLOW-COOKER BEEF STROGANOFF

INGREDIENTS:

1-2 Lbs. Beef Stew Meat
1 C. Onion, chopped
1Can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 Can Cream of Onion Soup
1-2 small cans sliced mushrooms, drained (I used 1 large can, and 1 small can)
1/4 tsp. Pepper
1 pkg. (8 oz.) Cream Cheese (ok to use light)
1 Container (8 oz.) Sour Cream (light ok to use)
1 Pkg. No Yokes Egg Noodles; cooked el dente

In crock-pot, put Beef on bottom, then mix together Onion, Soups, Mushrooms and Pepper and pour over top of Beef. Cook on low heat setting 8 to 10 hours or until beef is very tender. Stir Cream Cheese into beef mixture until melted. Stir Sour Cream into beef mixture. Serve over Egg Noodles.

It is super yummy and not too terribly creamy and drippy. Just the right amount of proportions I think. Give it a try!

Happy Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN everyone! I hope that you are having a great day! I know that I'm looking forward to heading over to my Brother and Sister-in-law's house in a few hours to pass out candy while their kiddo's go trick-or-treating! This will be my nephew O's first Halloween, and I can't wait to see him in his costume...alright, I can't wait to see the girls in theirs either! What can I say, I'm a proud Auntie! :)

But, before the little bro and I head over there the matter of supper for tonight needs to be addressed. We are having Pork Chops in the crockpot for supper! Yes, it's another Crockpot Girls recipe! It is so easy to make, and so yummy. I am pairing it with Redskin-Ranch mashed potatoes. YUM

EASY CROCK-POT PORK CHOPS

INGREDIENTS:
4 Bone-in Pork Chops
1 pkg. Lipton Onion Soup Mix
1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 pkg. Dry Pork Gravy Mix
1 1/2 C. Chicken Broth

Place the Chops in the bottom of the Crock-pot. Mix the next 4 ingredients together and pour over top of the chops. Cover and cook on Low for 6-8 hours.

See, I told you that it was simple! Give them a try!

What A Great Supper!

I've been using my Crock-Pot alot lately...in case you couldn't figure that out! ;) I'm really enjoying that...it allows me to not have to worry about what's for supper on busy days or days that I'm at work because I've done all of the prep work before I walk out the door. Today, was no exception. Although I didn't have to work today, I did have a Dentist Appointment and errands to run, and I'm hosting a Premier Designs Jewelry Party tonight, so I needed something easy.

A friend of mine asked me to send this recipe to his girlfriend the other night, as I was doing so I thought, "Hmm, I really should make this too!" This one is NOT a CrockPot Girls recipe either! Maybe I should share it with them?!?

BRATWURST, SAUERKRAUT & APPLES

INGREDIENTS:
 8 bratwurst links
1 16-oz. package sauerkraut, rinsed and drained
2 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, cut into 1/2-inch dice (I've also used Honeycrisp Apples)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
 4 tablespoons packed light brown sugar (I use a little more)
1/2 cup mustard
8 hot dog buns (Don't need the buns if you don't want them)

Preparation
1. Place bratwurst links in slow cooker and top with sauerkraut, apples and onion. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Cover and cook on lowv3 to 4 hours.
2. Spread 1 Tbsp. mustard on each hot dog bun. Spoon some sauerkraut mixture on buns, top each with a sausage and serve.

It is so yummy and has such a wonderful mesh of flavors! Even better, it's not that expensive to make...probably about $8.00 for the whole Crock-Pot full! Give it a try, and I would LOVE to hear what you think!

Another Crock-Pot Meal

Last night I needed to have something quick and easy for supper. I researched Crock-Pot recipes on the Crockpot Girls website (where else?) and found one that sounded great. So, yesterday morning before I left for work I threw it all in and walked out the door.

CHEESY CHICKEN

INGREDIENTS:
3-4 Boneless, skinless Chicken Breasts
1 1/2 (10.75 oz.) Cans Cheddar Cheese Soup
1 1/2 (10.75 oz) Cans Cream of Celery Soup

Place all ingredients in the Crock-Pot and cook on LOW for 6 hours.

The chicken will literally just fall apart when it's done! I served ours over White Rice and it was delicious!