Crockpot Salsa Chicken Stacks

This was our crock pot dinner a couple Sundays ago. The pictures are kind of scary again... the shorter days are killing any decent food pictures. There's just no decent light. But it was delicious! All my boys devoured it. It's more of a dip sort of thing, but we're big dip fans. Although you could easily use it to fill tortillas, too. It's super easy and you can easily customize it to suit your preferences. Add a bag of chips or tortillas and some toppings, and we were all appropriately stuffed. Perfect Sunday night fare for us.

I found it here and just added a couple of the things we liked in it. We don't like canned salsa at all so I always add a little taco seasoning to offset the acidic flavor that canned salsa gives. Be sure to look at the original recipe to see a more appetizing picture. Mine just don't do this justice. It was sooo good and could not be easier.

2 cups frozen corn

1-2 cans black beans, rinsed (We personally like more beans, so use as many beans as you like. And feel free to substitute pinto)

2 large frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 lb.)

1 1/2 cups salsa

1 can olives, sliced (optional)

1-2 tsp. taco seasoning (this is my addition... I definitely think it needed a little extra)

splash of lime juice

Additional toppings:

cilantro (not really optional, if you ask me)

tomato

avocado or guacamole

cheese

sour cream

lime wedges

lettuce

1. Lightly grease bottom and sides of your crock pot. Pour frozen corn into the bottom of the slow cooker and place frozen chicken breasts on top. Cover with beans and salsa, and olives and taco seasoning if you're using them. Cover an cook at low for 6 hours. Remove chicken and shred with forks. Return to slow cooker and stir until everything is combined, and add your splash of lime juice and any more taco seasoning if you desire.

2. Serve with tortilla chips or as a burrito filling, topped with additional garnishes.

Reindeer Cupcakes

Jaxon wanted to bring some cupcakes to school for Christmas and his birthday, and of course Gavin then wanted to bring some to preschool, too. There are some pretty cute ones in "Hello Cupcake," but they were more work than I was willing to put in for their school classes. So I went searching the internet and found these cute reindeer cupcakes that were easy enough the boys could help. I'd like to say they were super easy, but it was really hard to break the stupid pretzels into the right shape for antlers! Seriously, it was really hard and we went through half the bag of pretzels trying to get enough that were good enough. Other than that, though, they really were super easy to make and the boys had a blast.

Unfortunately, they're boys. So instead of wanting to make perfect, cute little reindeer, that LOOKED like reindeer, they insisted of giving them retarded antlers, that were going backwards and forwards, and sideways, and such. He kept telling me that had to point in the direction the reindeer were fighting. Plus, I had to beg Jaxon not to give them red eyes. He kept telling me that they were "his" reindeer and he should have creative control. I tried to tell him that if I was in his class, I wouldn't want those funny looking ones... I would want a perfectly cute little reindeer. But maybe the boys in his class really do want the funny looking ones? I did think it was cute that he threw a couple "doe" in without antlers. And he gave all the girls blue eyes.... good boy. And luckily he can't pipe mouths on, so I could give them all cute smiles. Except for the one that he made me give a moustache. And the surprised face. Such BOYS!

Quick note: I ran out of mini M&M's for the eyes, so we had to improvise. I piped white blobs for the eyes and then added a mini chocolate chip for the pupil. It worked alright, but the marshmallows and mini M&M's were much cuter. But it works in a pinch.

Materials needed:

Chocolate cupcakes, baked in brown wrappers (or not... seeing as how we used green striped ones)

Chocolate frosting

Nilla Wafers (for snout)

Red M&M's (for nose... you could use brown, too, if you don't want Rudolph)

Mini M&M's (for pupils)

Mini Marshmallows, cut in half (for eyes... make sure to put them sticky side up, so the pupils will stick)

Large pretzels, broken just so, for antlers

Dark frosting to pipe mouths (I used melted chocolate... those black icing tubes would also work great)

Beef and Broccoli

Not sure if this recipe is similar to Emily's, but oh well. This was Joe's favorite of the night and turned out pretty good so I thought I'd post it. Sorry the picture isn't too appetizing, but it was good!

Ingredients:
3/4 lb. lean beef, sliced into thin strips
broccoli florets, sliced small
sliced carrots
1 c. cooking oil
2 1/2 T oyster sauce
2 T. soy sauce
1 T. sugar
a few drops of sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c. beef broth
2 T. corn starch

Marinade:
1 egg
1/3 t. salt
1 T. cooking wine (I used beef broth)
1 T. cornstarch
1 1/2 T. oil
2 T. water

Directions:
Slice beef and mix with the marinade. Add 1 1/2 T. oil to beef and mix thoroughly. Set aside for 30 minutes.

While beef is marinading, chop up your veggies.

Heat your wok and stir fry the beef until nearly cooked. Remove beef and set aside. Clean out your wok add enough water to cover your veggies. Cover and let simmer until almost cooked. Drain wok.

Heat wok and add a few T oil. Add the garlic, veggies and beef back in. Make a well in the middle and add the sauce ingredients.

Cook until thickened and eat hot over rice. Yum!

Fried Rice

This was such a good recipe!! I found a few different ones again and just combined it the way I wanted with the ingredients I had on hand. I originally wanted to do Ham Fried Rice, but I didn't want to buy ham. I love shrimp, so I did that instead. I bought the little cooked shrimpies, but they weren't deveined. Let me just tell you how gross it was to devein them!! I had shrimp poo under my fingernails and it was just icky! So, my advice is to use ham or buy shrimp that is already deveined! At least it was really yummy though. :)

The other funny thing is, I never know how much rice to cook. Never. I ALWAYS make way too much. You'd think I'd learn. This was for dinner group, so I figured one cup of uncooked rice per couple. Ya...that was a bit too much. I didn't think the rice would tripple in size!! Oh well, lesson learned. We'll now be eating rice for the next week. You think I can freeze cooked rice?

Ingredients:
2 cups uncooked basmati rice prepared according to directions
1-2 c. peas and carrots frozen veggies
little shrimpies (or whatever other meat you want to use)
eggs- I used one egg for every cup of cooked rice I had
Soy Sauce
Fried Rice seasoning packet - yes, I totally cheated! I found it in in the Asian/Mexican food aisle at Smiths and it was pretty cheap.

Directions:
Prepare rice according to directions and set aside.

For Shrimp: Heat wok and add 1 T. butter. Saute your shrimp until done. Add the veggies until no longer frozen. Set aside.

Add some oil to your wok and then add the eggs. Cook/scramble until done. Add your meat (shrimp) and veggies and mix around (yes, that is the technical term- mix around...)

Then add your rice and stir until combined. Once that is mixed togther, add your seasoning packet and some say sauce. Mix around and voila! You're done!

This was soo goood! And pretty easy. The ony bad thing is that I'll be eating rice for the next week. Enjoy!

Moo Goo Gai Pan (Mushroom Chicken)

Mmmmmm. Yum! I made this a year or so ago with Buggy when we had a chinese night, but we combined so many recipes I didn't which ones I used. I didn't really keep track of what I used from what recipe or how much I used, for that matter. But I decided to try it again for dinner group last night and I even printed the recipes I used and wrote down my changes! It was very good too!!

So here ya go:

3 big chicken breast halves
1 pkg. sliced mushrooms
1 small can sliced bamboo shoots - rinsed
1 small can water chestnuts, sliced - rinsed
3 t. ground ginger
1 t. minced garlic

Sauce:
1 c. chicken broth
1-2 T. oyster sauce
1 T. cornstarch (or more, if needed)

Marinade:
2 T. soy sauce
1 T. rice wine (I used rice vinegar because I couldn't find the wine)
1 few drops of sesame oil
1 T. cornstarch

Oil for stir frying

Directions:
Cut chicken breasts into strips and mix with the marinade for 15-20 minutes.

While chicken is marinading, chop up all your vegetables. I bought mine already sliced, so that made things a lot easier.

Prepare sauce ingredients and set aside.

Heat wok and add oil. Stir fry the chicken until it changes color. The recipe then says to set aside, but I didn't. I just cooked the rest all together. Add the mushrooms, bamboo shoots and water chestnuts. Stir the sauce one more time and then add to the chicken mixture in the Wok. Cook and stir until the sauce has thickened.

Serve hot over Fried Rice. Mmmmm.

Italian Roast/French Dip Sandwiches

So between my 1:00 church, Dacia's 2:00 church, Mom's 1:00 church, and I even think Sara's 1:00 church, I've decided to start a new category... crock pot Sundays! OK... so it's not really a new category... but I will be trying new crock pot recipes every Sunday. Because how else do you survive late church? Besides, you can never have too many crockpot recipes.

So, for my first installment, we tried a new french dip recipe yesterday. I like the classic version, just fine, but I didn't have any Lipton Onion Mix on hand yesterday, so I went perusing a favorite site and came across a recipe that I had all the ingredients on hand for. The flavor was fantastic and my boys even ate all their dinner. This was easy, and super tasty. And I will try and get a picture up eventually, but getting a good picture of this dish in my lovely 5:00 darkness was a no go...

I've halved the recipe, because that's the size roast I usually prepare for my family. The original recipe calls for a full package of the Italian seasoning mix, and I didn't halve that. I thought it was fine, full strength, but you can halve it if you like...it's just trickier. Also, I will say that I find crock pot cooking times completely arbitrary. I don't know if I have a very fast slow cooker, but my foods are always way overdone when I allow them to cook to the recommended cooking times. The cooking time on this one was very long, and I think that's to get an extra moist and tender roast. But your meat will probably be done long before that time. Mine was done in about 7 hours, on low.

1 2.5 lb. chuck roast
1 can beef broth
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. onion salt/powder
1/2 tsp. dried parsley
1/2 tsp. garlic powder/salt (only use the garlic salt if you use onion powder and vice versa)
1 bay leaf
1 (.7 oz.) package Italian style salad dressing mix (Like Good Seasons stuff)

Combine water, broth, and all seasonings, including salad dressing mix. Whisk to combine.

Place roast in slow cooker, and pour seasoning mixture over the meat. Cover, and cook on low for 6-10 hours, or high 3-5 hours. (Ha ha! How's that for a range!? Again... know your crockpot and figure the time out based on the cooking history of your crock pot...)

About 45 minutes before you plan to eat the roast, remove the bay leaf and shred the meat in the pot so it can cook the final 45 minutes in all the yummy juices. Or, just shred it right before you're ready to eat it. (Obviously, you don't have to shred it early... it really only works if your husband stays home from church with a sick baby and can do it for you while you're at church...)

Serve on french rolls, with some Swiss or provolone cheese slices and enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

I made up a batch of this frosting to use on Jaxon's birthday cake a couple days ago and it was delicious! I'm not much of a frosting gal, but I found myself eating this stuff by the spoonful. It's not as stiff as a buttercream, but it's sturdy enough to hold its shape for piping.

I sandwiched it in between layers of chocolate cake mix (I figured I was putting in the time for home made frosting and decorating a birthday cake... I needed to make something easy). I baked my cake in 2 loaf pans and then split them in half, cross wise, so we got an extremely tall, rectangular chocolate peanut butter cake. If you can get past the hideous pictures, you have to give this stuff a try. It's so good! (Obviously, it is better on a Spiderman plate...)

1/2 cup butter, softened

10 oz. cream cheese, softened

5 cups powdered sugar

1 cup peanut butter

2 tsp. vanilla

1. Cream butter and sugar together until smooth and creamy.

2. Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time.

3. Stir in peanut butter. Lick beaters.