A FRIDGE FULL OF FOOD...

Creamy Chicken and Cauliflower Soup

I love soup.  All kinds of soups, stews, chowders. Soups with veggies only, soups with beans, and soup with everything but the kitchen sink.  Let's face it: it's usually easy to make, you can usually use your crockpot, there is endless variety, it's customizable, it heats up easily in small portions, it's portable (think lunch)....what's not to love?  So when I was craving potato soup the other day, and even though I'm no a low-carber I still blanched at the thought of all the starch, I decided that potato soup made with cauliflower (love cauliflower!) and the chicken breasts that just happened to be thawed out in the fridge would be the ticket--and it was! I'm not going to tell you one of those cauliflower lies--"TASTES EXACTLY LIKE POTATOES!"-- it doesn't, it tastes like cauliflower, but it does taste delicious.

 

Chicken or Pork Teriyaki (Slow Cooker, Stove Top, or Baked)

 

 Look at the second photo much more than the first. I was having camera trouble at the time but didn't want to put off posting this recipe. It was so good. Gene went back for seconds...and then thirds.   Maybe that's not the way to run a diet but, I swear, I only had one serving!  And then get any for lunch the next day because it was gone.   Just kidding. No worries. I'll make it again in a couple of weeks. 

 

Chicken Cacciatore (Cooked 3 Ways)

 

 Chicken Cacciatore is one of those dishes, that to me, always sounded a little exotic because I grew up, here in the Ozarks, calling it "Chicken Spaghetti".  At our house, Mom made "Spaghetti" two ways, either with a meat (ground beef) sauce or with full pieces of chicken in a tomato sauce served over spaghetti, fettuccine, or angel hair pasta, so to us Spaghetti Bolognese and Chicken Cacciatore were "Spaghetti" and "Chicken Spaghetti". 

One of the things I like about making Chicken Spaghetti is the versatility of cooking.  You can dump everything into the crockpot (without dredging the chicken), you can brown the chicken and sauté the vegetables and then put everything in the slow cooker and continue on, you can brown the chicken, sauté the veggies, and then let it simmer on the stove top for a little while to meld the flavors, or you can brown the chicken, sauté the veggies, and then slip the oven save skillet into the oven for 30 minutes to finish cooking the chicken and thickening the sauce.  My favorite is the last way.  I like the way the oven tenderizes and browns the chicken even more, while thickening the sauce, and it sort of gives me a mental don't-have-to-watch-it break to finish up the salad or putter around the kitchen for a few minutes while it finishes.

Chicken and Brown Rice Soup

 

 Chicken and Brown rice soup with veggies. Perfect for both summer and winter, always nourishing, always comforting, makes a body feel better when well and when sick.  Be it ever so humble...there's nothing like chicken soup.

  

Slow Cooker/Crockpot Pinto "Brown" Beans & Cornbread Muffins

One of my favorite meals from childhood was "Brown" beans and cornbread.  Funny, I never realized until I started blogging how we never called beans by their real names but by colors: Brown beans = Pintos, White beans = navy, Black beans = Cuban.  Still a favorite meal, I like them just as well meatless as with ham or sausage added and my favorite way to cook them is in the crockpot.  Interestingly, I did a small experiment a few years ago and found that, in the crockpot, soaking the beans overnight doesn't make more than a 15-30 minute cooking time difference.  So I don't bother anymore.  I work nights so usually when I make them, I come in from work in the morning, throw them together in the slow cooker (takes about 5 minutes!) and wake up to the lovely smell of beans and cumin.  Tasty, not to mention so very good for me!

Food Network: Pioneer Woman's 7 Can Soup

 

We have a small group that gets together on the Sunday nights I'm not working to watch....well...first it was Dexter we were all crazy about, then we all got hooked on The Walking Dead, and now we're all hooked on FEAR the Walking Dead, sort of TWD: Los Angeles if it were in the CSI franchise. What used to be "Dexter Dinners" became "Dead Dinners" and is now "Fear the Dead Dinners" 

Auntie Miranda and I switch off cooking or one of us makes the entrée and the other one makes a dessert. Sometimes we cook in theme but mostly we use these dinners as a way to experiment and try out new recipes we find interesting.  This was one of those.  I mentioned that I'd seen a Pioneer Woman recipe for "7 Can Soup" that I wanted to try.  She laughed and said she'd bought the same 7 cans wanting to try it to.  Hey, two names sharing one brain!

We all  loved this soup and what Auntie and I loved the most was the ease.  The directions are to make it on the stove. I threw all the ingredients into the crockpot and went to bed for the day (worked the night before).  I would have called it "chili" rather than "soup" but I'm not trying to split hairs, it's just a good chili with a little extra oomph.  We definitely will be making it again (so nice to have it all in the pantry for times when I don't have the patience or the time to spend thawing/browning ground beef.)  We're actually even considering it for our annual Halloween Party.

Crock-pot/Slow Cooker Kielbasa Casserole

 

 What's better than a hot bowl of comfort on a cooooooooold winter day?  A hot bowl of comfort that's as good for you as it tastes!  Can it get any better than those two things?  It can when it's a quick layer into the crockpot, flip the switch, and getting to go one of the other million things on my to-do list until it's time to grab a bowl, a spoon, and our appetites.

Colorado-style Green Pork Chili with Sweet Potatoes

 

Our Respiratory Dept Council is sponsoring a dept Chili Cook-off tomorrow. I wasn't going to sign up but when Mary jokingly put my name on the list, I thought "Why not? I've been wanting to try my hand at green pork chili like we've had when we've traveled out west."  After searching through recipes and experimenting a little, I came up with this healthy twist on the genre.  The recipe's "secret" ingredients include Herdez Salsa Verde, Chocolate, Cinnamon, and Sweet Potatoes.  Intrigued? I hope so.

Where my standard chili recipe focuses on hearty beans and a rich beef base, this recipe is lighter, with less fat, lighter beans, and gets it's richness from the warm spices and chocolate.  If it sounds too strange to be believed, just take a leap of faith with me.  Chocolate and cinnamon really make this chili warm with layers of flavors but with none standing out on its own.

My crockpot and chili have already been delivered tonight for the competition tomorrow. Wish me luck! And good luck to the dept council on your fundraiser-- not to mention: THANK YOU for all your hard work! 

Slow Cooker Brown Sugar and Balsamic Pork Loin

        

 Pinterest Recipe? Why yes, yes it is.  And an excellent one at that. Easy to put together in the slow cooker and melt in your mouth yumminess!

After clicking several links, I finally tracked it down to Danielle at Let's Dish who adapted it from Wendee who posted it to Allrecipes.com (links below to their versions).  I adapted it slightly from Danielle, mostly to accommodate that I used boneless country ribs instead of a tenderloin or loin. The ribs have more fat in them  so I didn't add the water to either step in their recipes and did remove most of the melted fat (with a turkey baster--great fat removing tool) before adding the sauce.

We will definitely be making this again. 

Recipe by Danielle at Let's Dish, which she adapted from a recipe called Herb Roasted Pork by Wendee on Allrecipes.com

I've adpated it slightly from both so I'll post my version.

Mini Trial Run: Four Meals in the Freezer Recipes in Two Hours

 

  Like everyone else on the planet I have a job, and like a lot of other people on the planet, I work nights.  It makes for odd schedules in so many ways, and meals, according to me and everyone I know who works 12 hour overnights, can be a nightmare...or at least challenging.  I've spent hours on Pinterest searching for and planning a big cooking day where I stock lots of healthy meals in the freezer so that I don't dread cooking as much on my work and sleep days or make Gene do it.  I know, it's a pretty pedestrian fantasy but trying to avoid the non-nutrition of fast food and the expense of restaurant food by cooking clean home-made meals consistently (the key is consistently) can be a challenge. It ain't for wusses, that's for sure!

I did a mini trial run this afternoon on the whole pack the freezer in one afternoon concept and I have to say it was much easier than I thought it would be and very emotionally rewarding. it's great to know that I already have dinner for my work day tomorrow prepped and in the firdge and a half dozen easy options in the freezer for my sleep day on Tuesday.  This will be particularly good for when I work stretches of 12 hours on/12 hours off.  12 hours sounds like a lot of time until you try to do all those normal little things like sleep, bathe, spend time with the family, answer emails, watch a little of the boob tube, let alone trying to cook from scratch--and we don't even have kids!  My admiration is off the charts for the moms and dads who work 12 hour overnights and manage to keep the family and their sanity together and dressed in clean clothes and with full bellies.

I chose four coordinating recipes this afternoon (recipes/links/photos follow) mainly to make it easy on myself and because both ground beef and round steak were on sale at my market this week.