PEANUT BUTTER FONDUE

I have always wondered what to use my lil’ dipper crock pots for. They have always seem too little for anything. But then again I have always had a lot of people around to feed so dips and fondues were always done in a big crock pot. Not anymore it’s usually just the three of us so I had come across a few recipes for fondues in the crock pot. This one sounded really interesting.  I had everything on hand except the half and half so I substituted it with some white chocolate mocha coffee creamer. I figured it was only a ¼ of a cup and that it might add a little more flavor to it. I was not disappointed. It was awesome. I cut up some apples and bananas and we had a little feast. It was warm, sweet, and very creamy with just the right consistency for dipping fruits, butter cookies, or even more marshmallows. I think this would be a big hit as a quick and somewhat healthy afternoon snack or even an after dinner dessert. Just be sure to double the recipe and use a bigger crock pot if you’re having company because it goes real quick.

 

INGREDIENTS:                                                                                            

¾ cup of peanut butter
¼ cup of brown sugar
¼ cup of half and half
1 tsp. of vanilla crock pot
4 large or a handful of mini marshmallows

DIRECTIONS:     

Spray the crock pot lil’ dipper with PAM. Put in all the ingredients in the pot and stir. Do not cover with the plastic top. It will all melt together in about a hour. Give it a stir occasionally. After the marshmallows melt, serve with a variety of fruit if there is any left in the pot.

CROCK POT APPLE COBBLER

The other day I had a craving for a rich gooey dessert. So since my last dessert in the crock pot wasn’t my best (peach cobbler) I decided to try apple cobbler with a cake mix. It was easier and so much better using the cake mix than the pie crust. I think I might have perfected the recipe! We ate on it for almost a week. My daughter preferred it warm, my mother loved hers warmed with vanilla ice cream on top and I of course preferred mine right out of the crock pot with only a spoon. Yes it was one of those I could eat right out of the pot kind of desserts. I timed it to be ready about an hour after dinner. That was a mistake! We barely made it thru dinner. The aroma of apples and cinnamon kept wafting thru the kitchen and dining room. Good thing was I had left overs dinner for the next night because everyone saved room for dessert. So here is my recipe for some awesome apple cobbler. It was also very tasty cold right out of the refrigerator too. I don’t have a calorie count for this dish but I do know if you invite company over to eat it, one serving is not as many calories as eating the whole crock pot. It would easily be done and finished so there wouldn’t be any late night temptations. I guess sharing is how I am going to count my calories this year. So I can have my cake, cobbler, or pie and eat a slice too?

 

INGREDIENT:

1 box of yellow cake mix
2 cans of apple pie filling
½ cup of melted butter
1 tsp. of cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:
Spray the crock pot with PAM. Then pour the apple pie filling in the bottom. Next sprinkle the cinnamon over the pie filling. Then in a medium bowl mix together the cake mix and melted butter until it is crumbly. Spoon it over the pie filling. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours. Then uncover and place a double paper towel on top and cover again for another 30 minutes to help absorb the extra liquid. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whip cream.

CROCK POT CHICKEN LO MEIN

I was home on Friday and decided that would be my day to try out this new recipe for crock pot chicken lo mein. I had bought all the ingredients on Tuesday and waited for my next day off. Well I was in for a surprise.  Now remember I said I bought the ingredients but I didn’t really read the instructions. You know I kind of favor the dump and go kind of recipes. Not this one from www.lifemadesweeter.com . Obviously this women has a little more time to devote to cooking, blogging, and picture taking then I do. Her pictures were so good looking I wanted to eat the food right from the screen. So Friday after my 2 cups of coffee I pull out everything for my dinner and pulled up the recipe. OMG! It took forever to get there. First off I hadn’t even marinated my chicken. I thought about for a minute. Did I really need to do this? What the heck it’s my day off and it’s only for 30 minutes. I could have some more coffee! So into the plastic bag goes the chicken and all the seasonings. Thirty minutes later the chicken goes into the crock pot to cook on high for 2 -1/2 hours. Then I remove the chicken and place all the vegetables in with the sauce for 30 more minutes. Okay then she talks about browning the chicken as an option. Not happening here! I need to go straight to adding the noodles and getting done with this. I’ll let you in on my secret. I wanted precooked noodles so I could save time by not boiling noodles and messing up another pot. Those Miki noodles in her recipe I couldn’t find so I just substituted Top Ramen noodles which are kind of precooked. I left out the seasoning packet which in thinking about it now I could have used it for the cup of chicken broth. Anyway about 3 ½ hours later and a couple times into the pot my chicken lo mein was done. It was awesome! I was very pleased and surprised even though the recipe called for a lot more attention than my usual recipes. I did cut out a few things like not browning my chicken and thickening my sauce so it saved me some time. I wouldn’t however suggest cutting out the marinating of the chicken. I think this step helped to enhance the flavor of the chicken and also give it a little color too. The Top Ramon noodles worked out great. They were soft and ready to eat in about 15 minutes. Cooking them in the sauce really made them take on the flavors of the sauce. I can see myself making this again and adding maybe some snow peas or broccoli, maybe even using beef strips instead of chicken. This makes a lot of noodles, enough to take a pot luck dinner or feed a hungry crowd at home. I am including the picture from www.lifemadesweeter.com and my picture just so you can see how really good it looks.

 

INGREDIENTS:
CHICKEN MARINADE:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tsp. of soy sauce
¼ tsp. of sesame oil
½ tsp. of corn starch
Dash of ground pepper
1 plastic bag

SAUCE:
1 cup of chicken broth
2 tbs. of soy sauce
2 tsp. of sugar
1 tsp. of sesame oil
2 cloves of minced garlic
1 tsp. of minced fresh ginger

VEGETABLES:
2 cups of baby bok choy leaves washed and sliced
½ cup of matchstick carrots
2 green onions sliced
2 packets of Top Ramon noodles without the seasoning packet

DIRECTIONS:
In a plastic bag combine the marinade and the chicken and let it sit for at least 30 minutes. Then spray the crock pot with PAM. Place chicken and marinade in bottom of the crock pot and cook on high for 2- ½ hours until done. Remove the chicken and cut it into bite size pieces. Next place the bok choy leaves on the bottom with the carrots and green onions. Throw the cut chicken back in the pot on top of the vegetables.  Mix together the chicken broth and seasonings and pour over the chicken and vegetables and cook on high for 30 minutes. Then add the noodles uncooked in to the pot. I rearranged everything and put them on the bottom in the sauce. Cook on high another 10- 15 minutes until the noodles are soft. Stir everything together and enjoy.

 

 

ADOBO CHICKEN

So in keeping with my New Year’s resolutions I came up with this light and healthy recipe for chicken adobo. My friends and co –workers at work make this dish a lot at home and would never think of putting in a crock pot. So of course I had a AHHA moment. I quickly ran to my laptop and started googling chicken adobo in the crock pot and to my surprise there were a few recipes. So with weeding thru internet recipes and homemade recipes I have come up with this version which I think turned out pretty good. The chicken was of course very tender and could easily be shredded with a fork. The rice vinegar, soy sauce and garlic infused into the chicken and onions with plenty of the savory sauce left over to pour on some rice. I used some brown wild rice I had on hand. White rice would be really good too because it would just soak of the flavor of the sauce a little more. So if you are short on time and wanting a home cooked meal this chicken adobo is quick and easy and will surely please the entire family. In researching this recipe I found out that the word Adobo is really a cooking process use in the Philippines. The process involves simmering anything from seafood, vegetables, or meat in vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, and oil. I’m thinking of trying seafood adobo next with a lot of vegetables and then throwing in some fresh shelled shrimp about 30 minutes before eating. Doesn’t that sound good! All those vegetables have to be healthy right! Low fat and low in cholesterol with a savory sauce. Yum!      

INGREDIENTS:

2 lbs. of bones skinless chicken strips or breasts
2 medium onions thinly sliced
2-3 cloves of minced garlic
1 5 inch piece of fresh ginger cut into 1 inch pieces
1 bay leaf
¾ cup of lite soy sauce
¼ cup of rice vinegar
1 tbs. of sugar
½ tsp. of ground pepper

DIRECTIONS:
Spray the crock pot with PAM. Then place the onions, garlic, ginger, and bay leaf in the bottom of the pot. Arrange the chicken on top. Then in a medium bowl mix together the soy sauce, vinegar, pepper, and sugar and pour it over the chicken. Cover and cook on high for 4 -5 hours or low for 6-7 hours.