Creamy Crock Italian Chicken

There are several versions of this on the web.  I took one I liked and then we tweaked it.  It was really easy, but you have to play ahead.  Just a note:  this meal was totally cheap for me!  I got bottles of Kraft Dressing at Walmart last week for $.08 with a coupon and some help from coupon bloggers.  Everything else in the meal was on sale as well!  Good, cheap, easy...can't ask for more!

Creamy Crock Italian Chicken with Pasta

4 - 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 C Italian salad dressing ( I actually didn't measure this...just threw some in until it seemed good)

Put these in the crock pot on low for 6 hours or so.  No need to add extra water, chicken will make it's own juice.

30 minutes before you are ready to eat, mix 1 can cream of chicken and 1 block cream cheese.  Mix into crockpot with chicken.  Put some pasta on to cook.  We used Penne, but Fettuccine or other would be great I'm sure.  After the cream cheese mixture is well incorporated take the chicken out and cut up into chunks.  (You can probably skip this step, but I think ours would have been a little dry if I had.  The smaller pieces allowed the sauce to do it's magic).  Return the chicken to the sauce.  Drain pasta and mix directly in with the chicken mixture.

Season the dish with garlic salt (a few teaspoons, depending on your taste) and parmesan cheese (1/4 C or more if you like).

Make sure to add some good veggies as this meal lacks any.  If fact, you probably could add some directly into the pasta and meat if you wanted to be really efficient.  

Carmel Popcorn...YUM!

This is my favorite recipe for Carmel Popcorn I've been able to find.  My husband doesn't like it because it stays soft.  I love it because it stay soft!  The sauce is yummy and gooey and doesn't get hard or crunchy like some types do.  Try it out!

Carmel Popcorn

1 C brown sugar

1 C butter

3/4 C corn syrup

Heat ingredients together until it is boiling and bubbly.  Pour over two bags of microwave popcorn and mix.  

If you are using air popped, I just pop as large a bowl as I can.   Tonight I popped about one and a half scoops.  I also added almonds tonight which was good or pecans is really tasty also.

Quick Cheese Biscuits

These remind me of the biscuits they serve at red lobster.  These are so yummy and QUICK!  They take less than 10 minutes to put together and 15 to bake.  Good luck!  Let me know if you like them...

Quick Cheese Biscuits

1 C flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 C shredded cheddar cheese (recipe calls for sharp, I usually use mild because that's what I have on hand)

2 TBLS butter

2/3 C milk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.  Stir in cheddar.  Cut butter using a pastry blender or 2 knives until course crumbs form.  Using a fork, stir milk into flour mixture until a soft dough forms.  Do not overmix or overwork dough.  Drop dough in heaping tablespoons, 1 inch apart onto an ungreased baking sheet.  Bake until biscuits are firm to the touch, about 15 minutes.

Couple of tips from me:

I use an ice cream scoop to measure out the dough balls.  I then use a spoon to get the dough out of the scoop.  It works better than just using two regular spoons.  

I also usually make at least a double batch.  This says it makes 8 biscuits.  I usually get almost a dozen out the recipe, but love them, so make more so there is plenty to go around.

Variations listed on recipe:

Freeze these for mini egg sandwiches.  Defrost the biscuits; reheat in a warm oven for 10 minutes.  Fill with scrambled eggs, bacon and cheddar.

Compliment a spaghetti dinner:  use parmesan cheese instead of cheddar and add 1/2 tsp dried basil in flour mixture.

Low Country Beef and Rice

Tried this the other day on the daycare kids. They didn't believe they would like it...but they did! It's really yummy. It is a little different, but has enough familiar elements...you'll love it!

Low Country Beef and Rice (from Saving Dinner by LeAnne Ely)

3/4 pound extra-lean ground beef

1 stalk celery, chopped fine

1 large onion, chopped

1 small green bell pepper, chopped

1 tsp Cajon or Creole seasoning

1 cup oats

3 cups brown rice, cooked (even if you don't normally like brown rice, use it in this...better for you and you won't be able to tell a difference if you use white rice)

3 medium tomatoes, chopped (1 1/2 cups)

2 11 1/2 ounce cans V-8 juice

In a skillet, over medium-high heat, cook beef, celery, onion, bell pepper, and Cajon seasoning in a skillet about 4 minutes, stirring frequently, until beef is brown and vegetables are tender. With paper towels, blot any excess grease. Stir in oats well. Then add remaining ingredients. Reduce heat to medium low. Keep uncovered and simmer about 5 minutes.

Note: I didn't have a skillet big enough that would hold all of this. I just followed the instructions, except transferred everything to a bowl and added the rice very last.

German Pancakes

UPDATE: Today I made this with WHOLE WHEAT and ALMOND MILK substituted in for regular flour and milk. It was delicious. The kids still gobbled it right up!

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If you have never tried these...you HAVE to. And you need to give it more than one chance. When we got married my husband had never had them. I made them for him and he was a little skeptical at first. They quickly became a family favorite however. These are YUMMY, FAST and full of protein (eggs). Although they are officially a breakfast item, we routinely have them after church and occasionally for dinner. So here you go:

German Pancakes

1/4 C Butter

1 C Milk

1 C Flour

1 tsp Vanilla

1/2 tsp. Salt

1 TBLS Honey

6 eggs

Place butter in 9 x 13 pan, melting in an oven at 400 degrees. DO NOT BURN. (This usually takes as long to melt as it does to put together everything else, but I still keep an eye on it just in case.) Mix remaining ingredients in a blender. Pour all at once into hot butter and bake 20 minutes or until browned on the edges.

A couple of TIPS:

This will rise up in the oven and look like it's going to spill all over the sides. It won't, but make sure you don't have another rack right above it or you will get it all over that. It flattens back down (mostly) after you pull it out of the oven.

We normally eat this with a little bit more butter and then powdered sugar sprinkled on top. you can also eat it with syrup or fruit preserves. We did make it one time with apple pie filling in the bottom and it was really yummy. It might even be good with omelet type toppings or fillings, but we've never tried it that way.

This just barely feeds our family of four, even though our kids are little because they love it so much. PLEASE LET ME KNOW HOW YOU LIKE THIS!