Jessica Briere's crock pot fajitas

I read that Jessica was serving these for dinner tonight. Sounds super easy and yummy. Thanks Jess

jar of your fave salsa one packet of fajita mix 2-4 chicken breasts sliced into strips. low 6-8 hours. last hour add peppers/onion. serve w/cheese/guac/lettuce/sour

cream in soft shells. YUM

Fun Recipe Blog

I found a recipe blog that has some really good recipes and some very fun Halloween/holiday type stuff too. OUR BEST BITES

Stuffed Mushrooms

EDITED: be sure to get smaller mushrooms- I tried it the other day with bigger ones but it was too much mushroom taste for me. I also cooked them for only 8 minutes and I would suggest the entire 10 because they were still a little hard.

24 large fresh mushrooms, 1 1/2 to 2 inches
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

1. Rinse and drain mushrooms. Remove stems; reserve caps. Chop enough stems to make 1 cup.

2. In a medium saucepan cook, the chopped stems, green onions, and garlic in butter until tender. Stir in bread crumbs and cheese. Spoon crumb mixture into mushroom caps. Arrange stuffed mushrooms on a baking pan. Bake in a 425 degree oven 8 to 10 minutes.

(I like mushrooms but I don't love them. We made these last night and they were absolutely delicious!!)

Classic Meatloaf

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1-1/4 cups onion, finely diced
• 1-1/4 cups portobello or desired mushrooms, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup celery, finely diced
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 tsp. finely chopped garlic
• 1/2 cup grated carrot
• 1 cup fresh bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup half-and-half or milk
• 2 eggs
• 1-1/2 lb. ground chuck
• 1/2 lb. ground pork
• 4 slices bacon, finely chopped
• 1-3/4 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 2 tsp. cider vinegar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In large skillet heat butter until melted and foaming. Add onions, mushrooms, and celery. Season to taste with kosher salt and black pepper. Cook 3 minutes, being careful not to brown.

2. Sprinkle thyme over onion mixture. Rub garlic and pinch of salt into paste; add garlic. Cook and stir until onions are tender and translucent. Stir in grated carrot; remove from heat. Cool completely. Meanwhile, soak bread crumbs in half-and-half; lightly beat in eggs.

3. In large mixing bowl combine ground meats, bacon, cooled vegetables, and bread crumb mixture. Sprinkle the 1-3/4 teaspoons salt and the pepper. Using hands, mix until well blended.

4. Turn mixture into rectangular baking dish. Using hands, shape into a 9x5-inch loaf. Make shallow indentation around sides. Serves 8.

For Ketchup Topping: Combine ketchup, brown sugar, and vinegar. Spoon over top of meat loaf. Bake on middle rack for 1 hour or until meat thermometer reaches 155 degrees F. Let rest 10 minutes before slicing.

We had this tonight and it was delicious! We don’t really like mushrooms so I omitted that and added about 1/2 cup extra bread crumbs. We also did 2 lbs ground beef instead of 1 1/2 lbs beef and 1/2 lb pork.

Kettle Corn

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup unpopped popcorn kernels

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium heat. Once hot, stir in the sugar and popcorn. Cover, and shake the pot constantly to keep the sugar from burning. Once the popping has slowed to once every 2 to 3 seconds, remove the pot from the heat and continue to shake for a few minutes until the popping has stopped. Pour into a large bowl, and allow to cool, stirring occasionally to break up large clumps.

 

Christina found and made this tonight, it was really good, just like fresh Kettle corn from the fair!

Chicken Tuscany

2 Red Potatoes, thinly sliced
Olive Oil
2T Parmesan Cheese
1 clove Garlic
Rosemary
Salt & Pepper
2 Chicken Breasts
3 handfuls Peas

Mix potato slices with oil, cheese, garlic, rosemary, salt, & pepper. Lay out in a baking dish. Cook at 425° for 15 min.
Brown chicken with seasonings for 5-6 minutes in a skillet. (Chicken does not need to be fully cooked)
Put chicken and peas on top of potatoes. Bake for 20-25 min, make sure chicken is completely cooked.

This is really good, I got the idea from a cookbook Brian got me for my birthday.
-Laura

The Best Fudge Ever

Place the following in a large bowl (no mixing necessary at this point):

7 ounce bottle of marshmallow cream
1 large Hershey bar with almonds (or a regular Hershey bar if you don’t want nuts)
12 ounce bag of milk chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Combine the following in a heavy sauce pan:
1 cube butter or margarine
4 - 4 ½ cups sugar
1 pinch salt
1 can evaporated milk

Heat to boiling, stirring often. Boil for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour over ingredients in bowl and stir until they are all melted and everything is mixed together. Pour into 9x13 pan, then stash somewhere secret so nobody can find it and eat it all before you ever get a piece. It usually does okay without refrigeration, but if the weather's really hot you might want to store it in the fridge.

Mint Fudge Variation:

Substitute a Hershey’s Special Dark bar instead of a milk chocolate with almonds and use a bag of Andes mint chips instead of the milk chocolate chips.

Corn and Chicken Chowder

1 Red Onion, diced

1 Green Pepper, diced

3 cups Corn

Salt

Pepper

1 T Thyme

2 cups Milk

1 can Chicken Broth

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

2 Chicken Breasts

Use a large saucepot

Saute onion, green pepper, corn, salt, and pepper for about 5 minutes. Add thyme.

Puree half the mix in a blender and return to pot.

Add milk, broth, soup, and chicken and let simmer for a while. (until it is hot enough)

Top with bacon bits and a small amount of cheese.

I had a corn and chicken chowder at the Cannon Center a week ago and really liked it. This one is a lot better though. It has a nice consistency and I came up with it myself. So try it because it is good! (I didn't get a picture of it so this one is not mine)

-Laura

Crockpot Potato Soup Recipe

EDIT: I just tried this- let it sit in the crockpot on high for 4-5hours and I'm not sure if it was because of the cheese I used but it was a little weird in the consistency. It was good but not really a soup that I'd clean bowl- more like potatoes and ham in cheese (still pretty good).

This if for Emily- I haven't tried it yet but I think I might today. I don't normally have Velveeta but I suppose you could use other cheese or I think I may pull the Velveeta packages out of the deluxe mac & cheese we have and use it. I got this recipe from a friend who says it's really good.

3 cups of water
1lb Velveeta cheese
cubed potatoes (I'm just going to cut up regular potatoes)
diced ham (optional)
(1) can of corn (optional)

She said just add whatever you like in it, but at least you have the base.

(If you are going to use other cheese or want to figure out what a 1 lb is I know it's a bit different when you are using more of a liquid based ingredient as compared to a dry ingredient but 1lb converts to 16ounces which is about 2 cups.)

Crockpot Potato Soup Recipe?

Does anyone have a good recipe for potato soup in a crockpot? I have been looking around online and there are so many. Thanks!

Layered Mexican Casserole

1/2 lb. ground beef

1 can (11 oz.) whole kernel corn, drained

1-1/2 cups TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Thick 'N Chunky Salsa

1 cup BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Cottage Cheese

1 container (8 oz.) BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream

5 cups tortilla chips, divided

1-1/2 cups KRAFT Shredded Cheddar Cheese, divided

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Brown meat in large skillet; drain. Add corn and salsa; mix well. Cook until heated through, stirring occasionally. Set aside. Mix cottage cheese and sour cream.

LAYER 2 cups of the chips, 1/2 of the meat mixture, 3/4 cup of the Cheddar cheese and 1/2 of the cottage cheese mixture in 2-quart casserole dish. Repeat layers of chips, meat mixture and cottage cheese mixture.

BAKE 35 minutes. Insert remaining chips around edge of casserole; top with remaining 3/4 cup cheddar cheese. Bake an additional 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

This was super yummy! We didn't have cottage cheese so we just left it out. It was a great dish to just use things that we had on hand and not have to go out and buy something special. I always make the recipe different because just cooking for two I put the meat that we will eat then cut back on whatever the recipe says so mine is always different. I don't measure stuff out but it turned out to be really good! If you have the last layer be chips then cheese it makes it like nachos on top!

Peanut Butter Brownies

Box brownie mix
1/3 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg

Prepare brownie mix as directed and put in pan. Mix sugar, peanut butter and egg in a small bowl. Drop spoonfuls of the peanut butter mix into brownie batter. Swirl with a knife to make marbled look. Bake as directed on brownie box.

This is so easy and really good! I always want to make peanut butter brownies and this way you don't have to make them from scratch!

Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

Ingredients
For the base:

    * Butter, for greasing
    * 2 tablespoons sugar
    * 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    * 9 graham crackers, crushed
    * 1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:

    * 16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
    * 2 eggs
    * 1/2 cup sugar
    * 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
    * Powdered sugar, for dusting

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
For the base:

Grease the bottom of a 9 by 9-inch baking pan with butter.  Mix together graham cracker crumbs, sugar and cinnamon. Add the melted butter. Pour into the baking pan and gently pat down with the base of a glass. Bake in the oven for 12 minutes until golden. When done set aside to cool.
For the filling:

Add cream cheese, eggs and sugar and mix until well combined. It should have a smooth consistency. Pour onto the cooled base and then cover with blueberries. They will sink slightly but should still be half exposed -- as the cake bakes they will sink a little more and break down.

Bake in the oven for 35 minutes or until the center only slightly jiggles. Remove from the oven and cool completely before refrigerating for at least 3 hours. Dust with powdered sugar.

Italian Style Chicken Roll-Ups

Here's another one of the Kraft recipes I tried. This one is not easy to make with chicken tenders because they are very skinny and its hard to roll stuff inside them. They tasted fine though. They just don't look very good because all the cream cheese spills out and you are left with a piece of chicken floating in red goop. I really liked the taste, delicious, it just doesn't look too appetizing.
-Laura

Cheesy Fiesta Pasta Bake

2 cups Pasta, medium
1/2 cup Milk
3 handfuls Cheddar Cheese, grated (it needs to be very cheesy)
1 T Butter
1/4 t Cumin
1/4 t Garlic Powder
1/2 Tomato, chopped
1/2 Green Pepper, chopped
6 Saltine Crackers, crushed

Cook pasta noodles, drain.
Add milk, butter, and cheese. Mix until butter and cheese are melted and well mixed.
Mix in seasonings and small pieces of chopped vegetables.
Put in a 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Sprinkle with more cheese and top with crushed saltine crackers.
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

This is a very good homemade Macaroni & Cheese meal. I like how it has real cheese that I eat and the vegetables make it crispy. I used red peppers. This seems like kids will like it as well as adults, but I haven't tried it on any kids so you'll have to tell me. I got this idea from the Sam's Club & Craft 2 Weeks of Meals but changed it a bit. They say this makes 5 servings but Brian and I ate the whole thing by ourselves because it was so good. If you make it like Kraft then it should cost about $5.
-Laura

Disney World Boardwalk Brownies

I found this blog that claims she got a recipe for brownies that are the ones they make on the boardwalk at Walt Disney World. I figured since many of you love Disney world I would share it with you and maybe it will bring back fond memories. So here it is.

South of The Border Chicken & Pasta Skillet

This is another Sam's Club & Kraft Idea. I really like this one especially with the cream cheese. It is very easy and takes not very long. Brian loved it even with his sore throat.
-Laura

Cheesy Southwest Chicken Sandwiches

I got this idea from Sam's Club & Kraft's 2 Weeks of Meals plan. They created 2 weeks of meals with stuff you can buy at Sam's Club and they give you a shopping list of everything you need for the 2 weeks. We made these chicken sandwiches and they are really good. You could make them on the BBQ with some seasoning.
-Laura

S'mores Brownies

8 Graham Crackers
3 cups Marshmallows
1 cup Chocolate Chips
1 brownie mix

Lay graham crackers in bottom of a 9x13 pan to cover the entire bottom.
Make brownie mix according to package. Pour mix on top of grahams.
Cook at 350 for 25-30 minutes.
Top with marshmallows and chocolate chips. Cook for another 3 minutes.
Add nuts.

Homemade Brownies
1 cup Butter
2 cups Sugar
1 t Vanilla
2 Eggs
1/2 cup Cocoa
2 cups Flour

Mix butter and sugar together with a mixer.
Stir in vanilla and eggs with a wooden spoon.
Add cocoa and flour.
(Enough for 9x13)

I got this idea from Real Mom Kitchen. These are very delicious because I love s'mores. I lined the pan with foil to easily remove the brownies afterward. I used large 'mallows and it makes easy small servings. Mini would melt better and be more like a coating. I used this brownie mix recipe and it was very good, thicker than the box but good. The basic idea is make brownies with grahams, marshmallows, and chocolate; be creative and try something new! -Laura

Lo Mein

8 ounces noodles (spaghetti)
1/4 cup Vegetable Oil (less than that, just coat bottom of pan)
1 t Crushed Red Peppers
1 Carrot (2 full size)
1 Bell Pepper (yellow)
2 T Garlic (2 cloves)
1 Cucumber
1/2 Cauliflower Bunch
Meat (3 chicken tenders)
1 T Cornstarch
1 cup Chicken Broth (from bullion)
1/4 cup Hoisin Sauce
2 T Honey
1 T Soy Sauce
1/4 t Curry Powder (chili powder)
salt & pepper

Cook pasta in boiling water.
In a small bowl mix chicken broth and cornstarch. Set aside.
Heat oil in pan or wok. Add crushed red peppers and cook for 30 seconds.
Add all the vegetables you would like. You can also add some kind of meat at this point, small slices are best. Stir fry for a while, probably 15 minutes or until the meat is cooked and the vegetables are soft.
Add cornstarch mix, hoisin sauce, honey, soy sauce, and chili powder. Stir until thick and mixed well. Salt and pepper to taste.
Mix the cooked noodles in with the vegetables so it will get the juicy flavor.

I got this recipe from Real Mom Kitchen. The real recipe is in black and what I did is in red. For most of the sauces I just threw some in and didn’t measure it. You can tell that’s how I cook, I just throw together what I like and it tastes good. The only thing to make sure of is to have the right portions of noodles to vegetables to sauce. Don’t have too much of either one. What we made feeds 4. This is so delicious! The sauce is worth buying because that’s what makes it so good. I also like how you can make it how you like, spicy or not or whatever vegetables you enjoy.

-Laura