Cheesy Goodness to Complete the Challenge

Today was a great, but very tiring day.  I took the girls to an Easter egg hunt, a visit with the Easter bunny and to a capacity busting Toys R Us.  It doesn’t sound like a lot, but it wore us all out.  So tonight, to wrap up this thirty day challenge we had Rotel dip and chips.  Easy “meal” and we ate it while watching Les Miserables.  It was a great ending to a great day.

I like to make my dip with ground turkey because I think it gives it a lighter flavor.

Brown a pound of ground meat of your choice, then put it in the crockpot with a bar of Velveeta cheese and a can of Rotel.  Some people add corn.  When the cheese is melted and you are ready to eat, just put it in a bowl and serve with tortilla chips! 

While it’s not a healthy recipe, sometimes I just want a comfort food smothered in cheese.  No apologies!

I hope you’ve enjoyed the first challenge.  Starting two days from now will be the 30 Days of Cupcakes Challenge!  If you are interested in making cupcakes for one day or thirty days next month, send me a picture and some words of your cupcakes to my email here.  This upcoming challenge will be great because cupcakes are a great way to show people some love, especially to someone who isn’t expecting it. 

I hope you are enjoying the blog, feel free to leave me a comment below!

Lucky Potatoes and Gravy

Thirty days of crock pot cooking indeed is too much!  I think making 10-12 recipes and freezing them and using them in a couple of months would be much more fun.  As we near the end of the challenge, it’s getting hard to keep momentum.  Last night we had leftovers from the sauce we put over spaghetti noodles.  Only when we made it this time we put it over rice.  It was pretty good!

Tonight my slow cooking has turned into slow motivation.  I have just started throwing whatever is in my pantry in the crockpot and turning it on.

I put in a pound of natural, ground sausage, six peeled and halved bakers potatoes, a can of cream of mushroom soup, seasonings, and about a cup of water so nothing would stick and burn.  It is good! 

 

The sausage cooked in the crockpot so it was nice not having to brown it first.  When it broke down into the cream of mushroom soup, it became a nice thick gravy over the potatoes.  There was none left.  Even my one year old kept walking around asking for more.  I will absolutely make this one again.  Luckily crockpot cooking does make it easy so that you can just throw things together.

 

Molly and Michelle are both reciped out, and I can't blame them.  It has been a long run, and with a couple of days left, I am already dreaming about cupcakes.  If you would like to join in on making cupcakes for the month of April, send me an email or leave a comment below. 

Happy Crockpotting! (It’s a word...now.)

No Beans?!

I got an anonymous comment from someone with a recipe for Sausage and White Beans.  But...when I went to the store I forgot to get beans!!! My penguins tend to jump off my iceberg brain a lot more now since I have had kids.  So with the ingredients I did have on hand, I made a couple of different recipes!

Last night I made a meal with chicken breasts (that I had on hand), cream of mushroom soup, about a cup of almond milk, and a bag of frozen cauliflower.  I cooked it on high for about three and a half hours or until the chicken was cooked through, then served it as a white sauce over spaghetti noodles.  It was good.

 

Molly went back to a trusted recipe, Sausage and Bean Stew.  It can be found at Loving My Nest.

 

She had this to say about it, “Yesterday we did sausage and bean supper again. John loves it.”

Tomorrow I will show you the second recipe that I got out of my supplies from the Sausage and White Beans (without the beans) meal.  

If you have any thoughts, please share a comment below, or send me an email.  What crock pot meals have you had lately?

Roast Beef and Spaghetti

Tonight I made roast beef in the crock pot.  It was delicious!  I used a 3 lb. beef roast and put it in the crock pot with a can of French onion soup concentrate, Lawry’s, garlic powder, onion powder and a little salt and pepper.  I cooked it on high and it was done in about three hours. 

 

My husband, Brian, was out working on his car kind of late, so I fed the girls dinner first.  I cut it up for them, and then added some green beans and bread with butter.  It was easy to make and they LOVED it.  My five year old, Shylee, went back for thirds.  This makes up for all of the times when she wouldn’t eat the other recipes I’ve made this month.

When Brian got in from working on his car, he ate a bowl of just roast beef and drippings from the crock pot.  He also loved it.  I ate mine by putting a couple pieces of meat on a piece of bread and butter and eating it.  That was great as well.  I had some leftovers, so I will use those in a future recipe.

 

Molly used her crock pot to make Spaghetti.  It looks so good!

 

Here is what Molly had to say, “I did a spaghetti sauce with garlic flavor already in it and I added some of my own seasonings to it and it turned out fine. I liked it and we will he eating it tomorrow as well.”

 

A recipe was posted in the comments on Sausage and Bean Dinner on a Blustery Day for Sausage and White Beans.  If you would like to see that recipe, be sure to go back and read the comments.  I am using the left over roast beef for lunch or dinner tomorrow, but then I promise to give this a go.  It looks so yummy and filling!  Thank you so much for the comment and recipe suggestion!

If you have a recipe you would like to share, or have me try out, please make sure to leave a comment or send me an email.  If you would like to share your meal with us, send me a couple pictures and some words on what you did, and how it went.  You can always email me here.

With spring finally here, the sun is starting to peek out from behind the clouds.  Anyone who lives in Germany knows how big of a deal this is!  With that being said, I may not be posting every single night, but I will still be doing the challenge.  And after the challenge, I will be chasing my kids around at the park (or getting chased by them because they’re crazy little children), and sitting out on my balcony drinking coffee, staring at that big blue sky-thing I haven’t seen in months.  Let me know if you have any spring pictures you would like to share.

“Spring is the time of plans and projects.” - Anna Karenina

Spaghetti Sauce and Soup for the Ill

Tonight I ventured off the beaten recipe path and made spaghetti sauce my way.  It included canned spaghetti sauce, ground sirloin, and a dash of cinnamon.  When I got home I made pasta, topped it with spaghetti sauce and cheese.  So good.

 

My family LOVES pasta so this was an easy crowd pleaser. 

Michelle is getting over the sickness that is going around, so making soup was right up her ally. 

She said, “This is our last of the soup and stew meals.  The only other one we have left is another bag of the spaghetti sauce.  We will do the pasta tomorrow night.” 
 

 

“This soup is good.  I used whole milk instead if half and half and penne as the pasta.  I'm going to add some more pepper to my bowl and serve it with crackers.  It's pretty yummy and I think it will settle well with my recently-unsettled stomach.  It also thawed quickly, which is helpful for me :)”

I want to start getting more dairy and processed foods out of my diet, so if anyone knows any great slow cooker recipes that are healthy please let me know.  Stews and soups need not apply.  ;-)

If you are interested in sharing your slow cooker meals this month, or cupcakes next month, send me anemail!  Bon appetit! 

Get Me Some Crispy In These Recipes!

Getting over any kind of sickness is no fun, but it becomes especially difficult when you are writing about food and trying new recipes every night when you have a stomach flu.  Thankfully that is over, but our appitites really haven’t resumed yet.  While my hips are thankful I’m sure, the rest of me is wanting more out of these crockpot recipes.  So to conclude the rest of this challenge, I will be making meals in the crockpot that go with something that sound delicious.  I would really like to add a little more crispiness to my meals too. 

Tonight I made my second batch of BBQ Chicken.  It was good, but we didn’t eat very much.  It just wasn't doing it for me. 

 

Molly has been taking a little breather from stew to soup to stew recipes as well.  Molly made Meat Stew Saturday then spent Sunday and Monday catching up with her family (who I happen to think are awesome and a great way to spend a weekend!).

Michelle was drug to Brussels against her will and forced to eat steak, waffles, frites and seafood.  She will be back on the crockpot wagon soon.  And for the record, Michelle didn’t bring me back any awesome food!  Just kidding, Michelle.

My friend Alexandra made the Chicken Tortilla Soup and loved it!  Out of all of the recipes, that one has to be my favorite.  So good! 

Well, that’s all for tonight.  I hope everyone is feeling healthy and loved tonight.  If you have any suggestions for slow cooker recipes we should try, or if you would like to share how your slow cooker meal went, please send me an email. 

These recipes can be found at Loving My Nest. 

 

 

Stomach Flu is Not On the Menu

Last week I spoke about how I wasn't overly impressed with the Chicken and Sweet Potatoes.  It just so happens that may not have been a totally biased review.  The night I had that stew was the night before we came down with the stomach flu.  That is also why I haven't posted anything in a few days.

I was in bed all weekend hiding under my blankets and pillows.  When I finally came out of my hiding, I realized my house (especially my kitchen) were wrecked.  Then I remembered my cleaning lady just recovered from the flu.  So I need to clean up before I can jump back into the challenge. 

We seemed to have politely taken our turns with this sickness, which is the only thing polite about the stomach flu.  First the baby got it (I blame her), then my five-year-old, then myself.  My husband is dying in the bedroom as we speak.  He should be better by tomorrow, which is when we will pick up where we left off. 

BBQ Chicken is thawed and waiting in my fridge! 

Chicken and Sweet Potato Stew

Michelle and her husband Jamison are still hard at work cleaning up the leftovers.  If we had more Chicken Tortilla Soup leftovers from the other night, we would be having that for dinner!  It was delicious, but since it was gone tonight we ate Chicken and Sweet Potato Stew. 

 

It’s not my favorite.  I don’t know if it’s because it tastes too much like carrots, or if I just wasn’t in the mood for stew.  Either way, tonight’s dinner wasn’t as great as it has been on other nights. 

 

Thirty days of crockpot cooking is a lot.  This is where the challenge is beginning.  In the future I won’t make and plan on eating from my crock pot every night.  It has taken the special appeal out of it, and I’m starting to daydream of steak.  I do like being able to have a complete meal on hand, ready to go in the freezer though, so that is something I will do in the future.   Hopefully we will get some good recipes for the second half of this challenge to spice things up!

 

Molly also had some leftovers.  She doubled the Chicken Tortilla Soup so they had plenty of leftovers.  Um, if you need help with eating those Chicken Tortilla Soup leftovers Molly, just say the word! ;-)

 

Here is Molly’s recap for the day, “So with the taco soup I realize once it was done cooking that I had neglected to put the chicken in when I first made the bag. John was a little sad but used some chicken from another meal for his. It was really good. My other problem was that I either used or misplaced the chicken broth for this, so I only had about 1/3 of a carton of broth in my fridge. That what I used and  it turned out with the consistency of chili. I added cheese on top and realized I now have a taco chili recipe. I'll add some beef and black beans next time to make it even more authentic! It is delicious! I was getting tired of soups anyways lol.”

 

See!  I’m not the only one getting tired of a couple of the recipes! Haha. 

 

I’ve changed my plans for the second half of this month’s slow cooker recipes.  There are so many yummy slow cooker/crockpot recipes out there on the internet, Pinterest, cookbooks, etc.  So for the second half, if you would like to participate; you can either come up with your own recipes, follow recipes that will be shared here, or re-do the recipes that we have already done.  If you’re interested in participating, shootme an email!

 

Recipes for the Chicken Tortilla Soup and Chicken and Sweet Potato Stew can be found at Loving My Nest.

 

Sausage and Bean Dinner on a Blustery Day

The weather was snowy again today.  While we didn’t get much more snow, it’s not the Spring I have been hoping for. 

 

So what to do on a cold, blustery day?  Eat leftovers!  We had leftover Chicken Tortilla soup and finally got out to get tortilla chips instead of eating it with noodles like we did last night!  Much better.  The soup was really good and I highly recommend it, especially if you like food with some kick!  Sorry, I didn't take a picture of the leftover soup.  I was hungry and it smelled good.  Afterword I thought about taking a picture.  Next time!

 

Michelle battled the snowy weather with Bean and Sausage Dinner.  She had this to say about it, “This was a good one, but then again, so is anything with sour cream.  I skipped the tortilla chips.  The flavor was nice too--spicy, but not too much.  It's a keeper for us!”

 

And of course, I have to tell you that she also said, “Lots of beans.  Hopefully we don't offend anyone tomorrow.  :)” 

This is why I love Michelle.  I just may have to love her from afar for a few days!  ;-)

 

If you’re interested in making a slowcooker recipe and sharing your experience, please send me an email!  We will also be making cupcakes for the 30 days of April.  Bring a friend or come alone! 

The recipe and shopping list for Chicken Tortilla Soup and Bean and Sausage Dinner can be found at Loving My Nest! 

Enjoy!  What’s for dinner tonight?

Cooking in a German Snow Storm

Last week here in Germany we thought Spring had sprang, apparently Spring was just screwing with our emotions because our 50 degree weather just turned into four inches of snow.  Michelle’s yoga class was cancelled, school was let out early and I was released early from work.  So today, even though I still have BBQ Chicken in the fridge, I decided to make Chicken Tortilla Soup. 

 

 

Just one problem; when the weather rolled in the grocery stores closed and I didn’t have any tortillas at home for the tortilla part of the soup.  I didn’t even have any tortilla chips so I settled for the non-traditional noodles.  I bowtie noodles for lunch and had some left over so I tossed them in, and it wasn’t too bad! 

 

 

Having the girls home meant I had some help in the kitchen.

This wasn’t some of that mentioned help! ;-)

Michelle was home today too; since it was her much loved yoga class that was cancelled.  Her little fridge was over-stocked with left overs so that’s what she and Jamison ate for dinner.  Gotta love little German fridges.

 

 

 

Kerrie went all out with Savory Vegetable Beef Soup.

 

 

 

She had this to say, “To start I just wanted to say I do not know how to stick to directions... AT ALL! Or is it I just want everything to be my way? hmm. Well I have been pretty good and only substituting types of meat. (for this meal)”.

I think I am going to start doing more substituting when it comes to these recipes too.  I’m not a big fan of pork chops, roasts, or steaks in my recipes.  So when they call for pork, I will either add pre-cooked ham or chicken breasts (since I don’t like dealing with bones).

Kerrie also said, “Well here is to another day of amazing crock-pot food!  Last night for dinner we had Vegetable Beef Soup. Delicious, Hearty, and Flavorful. Speaking of flavor, recipe calls for Thyme. I personally am not a fan and would either use less next time or totally veto it. Mike on the other hand said it is the best soup he has ever had and would not change a thing! So there ya have it we will be having a lot of this in the future!”

 

 

That’s what this challenge is all about, trying new recipes, finding ones you love and having dinner ready at the end of the day.  Win, win, win.

 

Here is the recipe that Kerrie used to make Savory Vegetable Beef Soup.

 

Savory Vegetable Beef Soup

(ORIGINAL RECIPE)
Chop (1) Onion and Chop (2) Cloves of Garlic. Brown in pan with Ground Beef (2 lbs). Divide between bags.

(What Kerrie Used)
1 lbs of Stew Meat per bag.

(2) Whole Carrots chopped per bag
(2) Celery Stalks chopped per bag
(3) Red Potatoes chopped per bag
(1) Can V8 Split between bags
(1) 28oz. can Diced Tomatoes SPLIT between bags
(1) cup Green Beans (Fresh or Frozen) in each bag
(1/2) TBSP Worcestershire per bag
(1/2) cup Beef Broth per bag
(1) tsp Parsley per bag
(1) tsp Basil per bag
(1/2) tsp Thyme per bag
(1/2) tsp Salt per bag
(1/2) tsp Pepper per bag
(1) tsp sugar per bag

Cooking: Place in crockpot with 1 1/2 Cups of Water and 1 3/4 cups Beef Broth. Cook Low 8 hours.

Enjoy!

 

If you would like to share a slow-cooker/crockpot recipe with us this month please email me!  We will be doing 30 days of cupcakes next month! 

The recipe for the Chicken Tortilla Soup can be found at Loving My Nest!

Chicken For All My Friends

Tonight I had more leftovers.  Seriously, these recipes go a long way when only two adults are eating them.  We had BBQ Chicken, which doesn’t taste very BBQy to me.  It’s still delicious however.

Molly and her husband John also did some re-dos.  John had some leftover Chicken and Potato Stew for lunch today.  Here’s what Molly said, “We went to my parents for our usual Sunday dinner, so I didn't make a meal today.  With only us two eating, some of these meals are taking a couple days to get through.  Gonna make Chicken Taco Soup for the Monday night meal.”

 Michelle also made Chicken Taco Soup for her Monday night meal. 

This is what she had to say about it, “We couldn't handle any more stew-like dishes, so despite having mounds of leftovers I made the chicken taco soup with some roasted corn tortilla chips.  Yes, those are my Chi Chis.  I brushed them with olive oil and salt and browned them in the oven.  Once Jamison gets home we will add sour cream and cheddar cheese to the top.  It is a little spicy, but that's how I like it! YUM!”

Chicken Taco Soup just so happens to be defrosting in my fridge as we speak!

If you are interested in sharing a slow-cooker recipe with us this month, or would like to join in on the cupcake challenge next month, send me an email!

Cooking instructions and shopping lists for these recipes can be found at Loving My Nest.

What’s for dinner tonight?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bean Stew and Teriyaki Chicken

Last night for dinner we had ate some of our BBQ Chicken leftovers. 

These recipes are going so far, that I may not have to make a whole other 11 recipes for the second half of the challenge.  Things were a little crazy last night; you can read about that here. 

So today for dinner we are having Bean Stew.  Molly and Michelle, (and Michelle’s husband Jamison) have all reported that this recipe is nice and hearty but lacks flavor.  To hopefully kick the recipe up, I added ham and some Lawry’s seasoning. 

 

 

I picked up two little containers of pre-cooked, cubed ham at the grocery store in the salad making section, cut off the skin, cut the pieces a little smaller and threw it in with the stew.  Hopefully that helps with the flavor!

 

 

Michelle had a roller derby bout, so she stuck with leftovers and some after bout Doner!  

Molly had leftovers too.  If you get nothing from this post besides this one point, understand that unless you have a big family, you will have leftovers!  Not always a bad thing though!

Molly ate Chicken Taco Soup and made potatoes. 

 

She had this to say, “Yesterday we had the remaining taco soup. Today I made the chicken and sweet potato stew. It's ok...has a different flavor that's not really my taste. John liked it. My golden potatoes turned black though so I took them out. I used baby ones because they didn't have the regular Yukon gold ones. I wouldn't recommend them.”

 My really good friend Kerrie, who lives in Canada had a harder time finding everything for the recipes and found that the costs were a lot higher than we found in Michigan and in Germany.  Last night Kerrie made Teriyaki Chicken which looks delicious!

 

 

Here is the recipe for Teriyaki Chicken!

Teriyaki Chicken

 1 large carrot per bag (peeled and cut)

1 large red onion Chunks. split

1 fresh pineapple. split

1/4 cup 100% apple juice per bag

2 garlic cloves chopped per bag

2 chicken breast per bag

1/2 cup teriyaki sauce per bag

 

*Add 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce to mixture.(optional)

Cook: High 4 hours, Low 8 hours.

Serve over rice or alone.

Kerrie also had this to say, “So I started the food last night. We ended up going out to dinner with some friends... Well dinner led to a few drinks and that led to us trying the Chicken. I am not usually one for fruit mixed in with my food but this recipe was quite delicious! This meal I only made it so mike and I would get one serving. (Just in case it sucked, I didn't want to waste food).”

She also said, “BTW... People up here want me to keep them posted on all of this because I might be making food for people who work at the plant. This might have gotten me some extra cash. Thanks haha.”

NICE!

If you would like to participate and share your pictures/info with cooking crockpot recipes, shoot me an email!  Please let me know if you have any crockpot/ slow cooker recipes that you think we should try out!  Next month's challenge will be 30 days of cupcaks to eat, share and enjoy!

The recipe for Bean Stew can be found here.

What's for dinner tonight?!

BBQ Chicken and Chicken Tortilla Soup

As quickly as it came, our bad luck with recipes seems to be over.  Yesterday Michelle had company over for dinner and served BBQ Chicken.  She told me it was good, but when her husband found me at work today and told me it was good, I had to believe her.  Then when the company she had over found me and told me it was really good, I really had to believe her.  Luckily I had the BBQ Chicken in the crockpot for dinner tonight.

 

I have never had BBQ chicken with sweet potatoes mixed in, but it was really good.  It gave it a sweet taste that is slightly unexpected.  Michelle had this to say, “The consensus was that it was a success.  We all think it tastes and has the consistency more of Moroccan cuisine than, say, Southern BBQ.  But, that's not a bad thing :)”  In fact her dinner guest also told me that it would be delicious with couscous because of the Moroccan feel.   Sounds good to me!

 

Molly had better luck as well!  She made Chicken Tortilla Soup.  I haven’t made this recipe yet, but Michelle has and she really liked it too!  Molly said she didn’t make the tortillas and it was still good.  Looks good lady!

In other, completely unrelated news, I bought a cuckoo clock today!  It is beautiful and I can’t wait to put the weights back on so that I can see the cute little bears dance on the hour!  Love, love, love this clock!

 

Okay, back to food... 

I have Bean Stew in the fridge thawing out for tomorrow’s dinner.  We will have to wait until we get home to eat dinner thought because we have a hot date planned to go watch Michelle and her fellow teammates kick Amsterdam’s butt in roller derby!  Good luck Michelle!!!

If you would like to share your experiences with making these recipes, check out Loving My Nest for the recipes then email me here!  I will have all new recipes on the 16^th to finish the month out with.  Next month will be 30 days of cupcakes!  Can’t wait!  What’s for dinner tonight?

In A Rut

Blah.... when are these recipes going to pick up again?  I’m not sure if we’re getting sick of slow cooking recipes or if we have been picking bad ones, but they just haven’t been as exciting as we are hoping for.

Tonight I made spaghetti sauce to go with spaghetti noodles. 

Well...the noodles were delicious, but the sauce left much to be desired. 

 

I even tried using my emersion blender to get a texture more like our normal spaghetti sauce. 

 

While I appreciate getting more veggies into my diet, let’s leave the carrot flavor to the salads.

Michelle made Pork and Veggies.  She and her husband Jamison had a similar reaction to what my family and I had...blah.

 

Michelle had this to say, “This cooked faster than I expected.  I suspect it was because I defrosted it first :). But, it only took 3 hours on low in the Creuset.  My husband didn't like it because it was too similar to the beef stew, only with less flavor.  I agree even though we served this one over rice.  It was hearty and filling, but not very flavorful.”

Tonight she is having the BBQ Chicken and serving it to some guests she is having over.  I am having that for dinner tomorrow, so we will talk about that tomorrow.  Fingers crossed we can get out of this bland rut!

Molly is in it with us though.  Tonight she had Bean Stew and didn’t find it very appetizing.  We loved the recipes with a kick, but have a hard time liking the bland recipes.

She had this to say about it, “Not a big fan of the bean stew. I used a dry soup bean medley. My husband wasn't able to eat the rest of it. He suggested adding bacon, ham, or beef cubes to give it a better flavor. I think bacon would have been the key to making this a more enjoyable recipe. Least favorite thus far.”

Sorry, Molly.  I hope tomorrow night’s is better!

If you would like to jump in this challenge, we will be making crockpot/slow cooker recipes for the first 30 days of March.  Email me here, if you would like to share your experiences.  Next month we will be sharing the love through 30 days of cupcakes!

Leftovers and Left Out

Tonight we had Pork and Veggies.  I made brown rice in the rice cooker so all of dinner was done when I came home.  That was the good news.  The bad news is I don’t think I’ll be making the Pork and Veggies again.  My husband said he thought it was good, but the girls and I mostly ate just rice.  I may have cooked it a little too long (low for eight hours) but I found it to be dry and flavorless. 

 

So my bowls might not be fancy tonight, but soft plastic bowls come in really handy when little hands are learning to pass dishes!

Molly and her family had leftover Beef Stew.  I told you these recipes go a long way!

And for Michelle, she is fighting with her inner domestic goddess.  For the record, she is no Suzie Homemaker.  She happens to be a lot more bad ass than that. 

With the disappointment of tonight’s meal, I comforted my inner foodie by making a loaf of homemade bread.  It won’t be done for a few hours, but in the morning the girls and I will start our day with warm homemade bread with melted butter and jam on top.  Just thinking about it makes me happy.  I hope your dinner goes well tonight! 

If you would like to join this challenge or next month’s challenge of 30 days of cupcakes, shoot me an email! 

 

These recipes can be found on Loving My Nest.