ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND PEPPERS

 I was browsing through my deep freeze on Friday morning looking for something for dinner that night when I found a half a pack of Italian sausage. Hum I thought! What did I use the other half for?  I couldn’t remember. But I decided I better use this half soon. So I knew I had a bell pepper and onions that I could use and probably some diced tomatoes in the cabinet. It was decided, we are having Italian sausage and peppers for dinner tonight. Yea! That was easy and I didn’t have to go to the grocery store. So I quickly cut up everything and threw it in the crock pot and went back to doing more fun things like lying on the couch watching the Chew. Eight hours later my next decision was what to eat with it. Noodles and a dinner salad, or chips and a hoagie roll. Since I had spent the better part of the day on the couch I went for the noodles and salad just trying to be a little healthy. Beside I knew we were going to have enough leftovers that I could have my chips and hoagie rolls for lunch tomorrow.  I love it when I can recycle leftovers that easy. You can tell by my pictures I halved the recipe, but then again I only need to feed a family of three. So this would be great recipe to throw in the crock pot before going out for the day and have a quick and easy dinner waiting at night. Warm some hoagies rolls , throw on the sausage and peppers, top with some provolone or grated parmesan cheese on top and add some chips, or fix some noodles or even rice and call it a day.

 

INGREDIENTS:

2 lbs. of Italian sausage cut in to 1 inch pieces

2 bell peppers

2 medium onions

2 14 oz. cans of Italian style chopped tomatoes

2  6 oz. cans of  tomato paste

1 tbs. of Italian seasoning

 1 tsp. of minced garlic

DIRECTIONS:

Spray the crock pot first with PAM. Then cut up the Italian sausages and place in the bottom of the pot. Then cut up the peppers and onions into strips and throw on top of the sausage. Pour in the cans of tomatoes and tomato paste. Add the seasonings and stir until combined. Cover and cook on low heat for 8 hours.

 

CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP

This week my crock pots were the most used item in my kitchen. I used one of them about 24 hours straight. I only took time to wash it out and started it back up again. I slow cooked 3 pork roasts, shredded them, and then froze them for a retirement party next week. When I bought the roasts I thought the bigger the better, but that wasn't such a good idea after all. They would only fit in 2 of my crock pots. So of course I was cooking pork roasts all day and night. Thank goodness I didn't have to watch them cook! Later I will thaw them out and add fresh homemade BBQ sauce for pork sliders at the party. Then two days later we had a luncheon for Boss’s Day. We decided to keep it simple so we had soup, salad, and dessert. Since I would be cooking the soup at work I wanted something quick and easy without a lot of cutting involved. I found this recipe for chicken tortilla soup and kind of revamped it for our tastes.  It was really easy to carry to work and quickly prepare using canned vegetables. I went ahead and cooked the chicken, and cut up my onions and peppers the night before so my soup would not have to cook as long. This would also work well with left over rotisserie chicken or even leftover turkey after Thanksgiving. You could also substitute Rotel tomatoes if you like more of a kick to your soup. The soup was very tasty with just the right amount of kick to it. I think the enchilada sauce makes the difference in the taste of this soup compared to other versions I have tried. Next time I make this soup I’m thinking about using adding some zucchini and avocados to it as well. This one will stay in my rotation files for a long time.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. of boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs

1 10 oz. can of red enchilada sauce

1 can of black beans

1  15 oz. can of diced tomatoes

1  can of corn

2 cloves of minced garlic

1 medium onion chopped

1 green bell pepper chopped

1 tsp. of cumin

1 tsp. of chili powder

1 tsp. of salt

¼ tsp. of black pepper

DIRECTIONS:  Spray the crock pot with PAM. Combine all the ingredients in the crock pot and cook on high for 3- 4 hours or on low for 6- 8 hours. When the soup is done remove the chicken and shred it with a fork and then return it to the soup. Stir well and serve with tortilla chips and shredded cheese on top. 

ANGEL HAIR CHICKEN

I love my crock pots! I can’t say it enough. This week I bought a new wave digital cooker thinking that cooking dinner would be quicker and easier. NOT! I had to watch my food cook constantly. The cooking times did not match up with the cookbook. My brisket came out a little crispy around the edges and very chewy on the insides. The next morning I cut the meat up and made a vegetable beef soup in my crock pot. The meat ended up being very tender after simmering all day. I knew I should have just bought another crock pot. So after one bad dinner, I felt that I needed to redeem myself the next night with an awesome dinner. Last week I found this wonderful quick and easy chicken dinner that looked really good. I had tried a recipe similar to this that used a whole block of cream cheese and 8 oz. of sour cream and thought that was too cheesy and tart tasting. This one called for only 4 oz. of cream cheese and golden mushroom soup.  I think the soup made the big difference for us. The taste was kind of a buttery, cheesy, creamy taste that went over the angel hair pasta perfectly.  You could even get creative and add mushrooms to this to make it even better. I had plenty of gravy left over dunk my garlic toast in. YUM!! It was so good we only had enough leftovers for 2 lunches the next day. That was okay because my mother wanted vegetable beef soup  I made from the previous night's fiasco. I also think this would be really good with pork chops and potatoes cut up in the bottom of the pot. I think I’ll have to try that next week.  
 

INGREDIENTS:

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I used chicken tenders)

1 can of golden mushroom soup

½ cup of chicken broth

1/4 stick of butter

4 oz. of cream cheese

Angel hair pasta cooked according to the directions

DIRECTIONS:

Spray the crock pot with PAM. Place the chicken in the bottom of the pot. Then melt the butter in a bowl and add the cream cheese, salad dressing, soup, and chicken broth. Mix thoroughly and pour over the chicken breasts. Cover and cook on low for 4 – 5 hours.
Serve over angel hair pasta, rice, or even mashed potatoes.

 

CROCK POT KING RANCH CHICKEN

We love rotisserie chicken from the store. It makes for a quick and easy dinner. The only problem is we don't like dark meat which is half the chicken. So instead of wasting the dark meat it I use for soups and casseroles where my family knows its chicken but can't tell which part of the chicken. So this week I had some leftover chicken and decided I really wanted king ranch chicken for dinner. I usually cook this in the oven, but I thought maybe I'll just try it in the crock pot. Normally this casserole would only take about 30- 45 minutes in a 350 degree oven but since it was going in a crock pot I would have to allow more time. So I did a little quick math in my head and decided I had just enough time before dinner to try this. With the chicken being cooked it would only take about 2 ½ - 3 hours to cook. My casserole came out awesome! It tasted just the same as it would have in the oven. The difference was I didn't have to stay home to cook it or heat up my kitchen. Now I changed up the usual recipe for king ranch chicken and used Tostito chips.  I found that the corn or the flour tortillas got too soggy after cooking and the chips held a better texture especially for leftovers. I think you could use either tortillas or chips with this recipe. Here is a quick oven to crock pot conversion chart so you can try some of your favorite recipes in the crock pot. Now this is for only using cooked meats. It would take a lot longer if the meat needed to cook. When converting from the oven to the crock pot I always have a tendency to start with a low setting and start checking my dinner at the earliest time to prevent burning the edges. Remember if everything is already cooked it will take less time to heat and blend together.

OVEN   350 – 375                              DEGREES	CROCK POT
15 -30 MINUTES	1 ½- 2 ½ HOURS ON HIGH 3- 6 HOURS ON LOW
35- 45 MINUTES	2 -3 HOURS ON HIGH 6-8 HOURS ON LOW
50 MINUTES TO 3 HOURS	4- 6 HOURS ON HIGH 8 -18 HOURS ON LOW

   

INGREDIENTS:

3-4 cups of cooked chicken

1 onion chopped

1 green bell pepper chopped

2 cans of cream of chicken soup (can substitute one with mushroom or celery)

1 can of Rotel tomatoes drained

1 tsp of chili powder

1 tsp. of minced garlic

2- 3 cups of grated cheddar cheese

1 bag of Tostito chips

DIRECTIONS:

Spray your crock pot with PAM. First take a large bowl and mix all your soups and Rotel tomatoes together. Add your chopped bell pepper and onions, then your cubed chicken and mix together well. Place a layer of chips in the bottom of the crock pot. Then add a layer of the chicken soup mixture. Top this with a layer of cheese. Repeat the layers 2 more times ending with the cheese on top. Cover and cook on low for 2 1/2 -3 hours.