Tasty Tuesday-Crock Pot Potato Soup

Crock Pot Potato Soup

6 large potatoes cubed into small pieces

1 small package cubed ham

1/2 small onion diced

1/2 stick butter

3 cups milk

1 cup water (2 chicken bouillon cubes-dissolve in water first)

1/2 bag shredded cheddar cheese

gently season with pepper and a touch of salt

Large bread bowls

To Top: Shredded Cheese, Bacon bits, Sour Cream

Directions

~Place potatoes, ham, onion, butter, milk, water, seasoning, and cheese all into the crock pot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Take large round pieces of bread and scoop out the middle. Pour the soup into the middle of your bread. Top with extra shredded cheese, bacon bits, and sour cream! So easy....and Delicious!!!! Only takes 15 minutes to prep in the morning!

Tasty Tuesday-Tortellini Speghetti

Tortellini Spaghetti

 
    1/2 pound ground beef
   1 (16 ounce) jar Spaghetti sauce
   1 (14.5 ounce) can Italian-style diced tomatoe
   1 (9 ounce) package refrigerated or fresh cheese tortellini
   1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
  1/2 small onion diced
  onion/salt/pepper season to taste
  2 bay leafs

Directions

I brown my meat the night before. Then I put the meat, sauce, tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, onion, bay leaves and seasoning all in the crock pot. I cook on low as long as needed. Any where from 4-7 hours.

Then, when I get home, I add in the tortellini noodles and turn the crock pot up to high for about 35-40 more minutes. Top with Parmesan cheese and it is great!

Tasty Tuesday-Greek Spaghetti

Greek Spaghetti

3 Large chicken breast(boiled, and shredded)

1/2 cup water

2 chicken bouillon cubes

1 small can black olives

1 small can mushrooms

1 can diced Italian style tomatoes

3 TBL chavenders seasoning

1 bag shredded Colby/Jack cheese

1 box thin spaghetti  noodles

2 TBL butter

1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese plus extra to top

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Mix, tomatoes, olives, mushrooms, water, bouillon, and chavenders seasoning all together in pan. Bring to a boil, and then turn to a low simmer. Add shredded chicken to mix. Cook about 3/4 of the box of noodles. Drain noodles and place in casserole dish. Mix butter, salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese all together into the noodles. Pour chicken mixture all over top. Top with cheese. Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes. Sprinkle extra Parmesan on top of each serving.

Tasty Tuesday Treat

OH MY.....This is a Yummy Fall Treat!

Cupcakes
-1 box Spice cake mix
-1 can 15 oz pumpkin
-2 eggs
-1/4 cup water

Icing
-1/2 bag white chocolate chip morsels
-8 oz cream cheese(room temperature)
-2 tsp. vanilla
-1/2 cup unsalted butter(room temperature)
-1 cup powder sugar

Directions
Mix all ingredients together and bake your cupcakes. I made mini cupcakes just for fun.

For icing: Melt white chocolate. (I melt in microwave). Let cool for about a minute and then mix in all other ingredients and blend till smooth. You will need an icing bag to put your icing on your cupcakes.

Top your cupcakes with your icing.

These are so GOOD....and the perfect fall treat!

Finished product.

I had some help baking.

...and icing.

oh, and tasting!

Tasty Tuesday---A day Late!

Sausage Pasta

-16 oz Heavy Whipping Cream
-1/2 cup milk
-2 diced garlic cloves
-1/2 diced white onion
-1/2 diced red bell pepper
-1 kielbasa turkey sausage (Dice into small bites)
-1/3 box of penne pasta noodles
-2 TBL butter
-olive oil
-2 tsp parsley
Parmesan Cheese for topping

Saute garlic, onion, and bell peppers in olive oil till soft. Add sausage and cook for about 4 or 5 more minutes. Add butter, cream, and milk, and bring to boil.  Then simmer for about 10 minutes. Cook noodles in a separate pot. Add 1 TBL cornstarch to thicken sauce. Add noodles and mix all together. Top with Parmesan cheese and parsley; serve.

Great served with a side salad!

Tasty Tuesday Treat!

Tasty Tuesday After School Treat!

I found these online and they are SO GOOD!

No Bake Reece’s Peanut Butter Bars
1 1/2 C graham cracker crumbs
1 lb (3 1/2 C) powdered sugar
1 1/2 C creamy peanut butter
1 C (2 sticks) real butter, melted
1 12oz bag chocolate chips (milk, semi-sweet, or dark, you pick!)
2 tsp shortening
In a large mixing bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, powdered sugar and peanut butter and butter and beat until combined. Press into a parchment (or waxed paper or foil) lined 9×13 pan.
Place chocolate chips and shortening in a microwave safe bowl and heat in 30 second intervals, stirring after each one, until melted and smooth. Pour chocolate over peanut butter mixture and spread out evenly. Place pan in the fridge just until chocolate is set and then cut into bars. Tip: If the bars chill until the chocolate is too hard to easily cut, use a sharp knife and score the cuts first, then gently cut through. Can be stored in the fridge or at room temp. They will stay firmer if stored in the fridge.
*Tip:    Instead of adding shortening to the chocolate topping, add a scoop of peanut butter. That will prevent the top from getting solid and it will taste yummy!

Tasty Tuesday!

SO, I have not been doing these for most of these Summer, and I thought it was time to start back up!

Chicken Alfredo

1 box pasta(any kind)
1 jar Alfredo sauce 4 cheese
5 pieces bacon
2 garlic cloves
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese plus extra to go on top
3/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
4 Chicken breast(cooked, I grill mine in Chicken grill seasoning and garlic salt)cut up.

Directions:

Cook Pasta. Cook bacon in pan on stove. Once cooked, remove to drain. Dice garlic and cook in bacon grease. Drain noodles and place in casserole dish. Pour garlic and bacon grease over noodles. Add, salt, pepper, Parmesan cheese, Alfredo sauce and milk, mix together. Stir in diced chicken till mixed and creamy. Add more milk if it needs to be more creamy. Sprinkle top with Parmesan cheese and bake at 350 for 10 minutes to melt cheese.

Tip:  You could also mix in broccoli.

Enjoy! :)

BBQ Ribs

Fall apart Boneless BBQ ribs

We LOVE BBQ ribs in our house, and these are about the easiest way to make them!  You get 2 packages of defrosted boneless Country style pork ribs and place them in a crock pot. Season them with, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Pour 1 jar of your favorite honey BBQ sauce all over the ribs, and let them cook on low for about 3 1/2 hours. If the Ribs are frozen, they may take about 4 hours to finish. They are perfect and SO GOOD!!!  

Dessert:

I just recently found this one on a website and I could not believe how good it was, SO, I have to share.

What You Need

45 NILLA Wafers, finely crushed (about 1-1/2 cups)

1/2 cup  PLANTERS COCKTAIL Peanuts, finely chopped

1/4 cup butter, melted

3/4 cup  PLANTERS Crunchy Peanut Butter, divided

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1 can  (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed

1/4 cup  chocolate syrup

Make It

MIX wafer crumbs, nuts, butter and 1/4 cup peanut butter. Reserve 1/4 cup; press remaining onto bottom of 13x9-inch pan.

BEAT cream cheese and remaining peanut butter in large bowl with mixer until well blended. Gradually beat in condensed milk. Stir in COOL WHIP; pour over crust.

DRIZZLE with chocolate syrup; swirl gently with knife. Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture. Freeze 2 hours or until firm. Remove dessert from freezer 15 min. before serving; let stand at room temperature to soften slightly.

Kraft Website:

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/peanut-butter-chocolate-freeze-118690.aspx

Homemade Mac-n-Cheese

Homemade Mac-n-Cheese

This has to be a favorite in our house, and it is SO seriously easy and SO yummy!

-1 box elbow macaroni
-3 TBL butter
-1/2 block Velveeta cheese cut into chunks (or use the store brand)
-1and 1/2 bags shredded Colby/jack cheese
-1 8oz can evaporated milk
- salt and pepper

~Cook macaroni until almost done (al dente). In large casserole dish combine cooked noodles, Velveeta cheese, butter, 1/2 bag of the shredded cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Mix together and add evaporated milk. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes or until melted. Stir together. If it is too thick, add regular milk to make it creamier. Top with shredded cheese all over top and bake till melted.

ENJOY!

Bowtie Pasta

Tasty Tuesday

OK, I know I have been so stressed and crazy busy the last few weeks and have not posted my Tuesday recipes. Well, today I finally am posting one and it is SO YUMMY. This one I created one night when I was just playing around with some things and it turned out GREAT! It looks plain, but the sauce is AMAZING!

Bowtie Pasta

1/2 cup butter
3 slices bacon
1/4 cup diced white onion
1/4 cup diced red pepper
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 pint heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese plus extra to top
1/2 box  bowtie noodles
s&p
chicken(any kind...I have added grilled or tore up a rotisserie chicken to use)

Directions

~Saute bacon in 1 Tbl butter to slightly brown. Then add red pepper, onion, and garlic and saute about 4 or 5 more minutes or till tender. Start cooking your bowtie noodles in another pot.
Add the rest of the butter, heavy cream, and Parmesan cheese. Bring to a slight boil over medium heat, then simmer for about 10-15 minutes, stirring off and on. Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste. Once noodles are cooked, drain pasta and add pasta to sauce. Stir in Chicken pieces and sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top. |

~Serve with salad and bread!

If you use the whole box of bowtie noodles then double the sauce recipe.

Chicken Chili

This is a recipe I found, and it is  the best chicken chili  I have ever had, and I had to share it with you! I only added half an onion, 1/2 can green chilies and I did not use the 1 (18.75 ounce) can tomatillos,  I substituted the salsa Verde(1/2 jar), which is a green salsa found in the Mexican section of grocery stores.  I think it is better that way! It is great when topped with cheese and fritos.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
• 1 (18.75 ounce) can tomatillos, drained and chopped
• 1 (16 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (7 ounce) can diced green chile's
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seed
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 ears fresh corn
• 1 pound diced, cooked chicken meat
• 1 (15 ounce) can white beans
• 1 pinch salt and black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Heat oil, and cook onion and garlic until soft.
2. Stir in broth, tomatillos, tomatoes, chilies, and spices. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Add corn, chicken, and beans; simmer 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Recipe From:

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/white-bean-chicken-chili/Detail.aspx

Crock Pot Turkey

Ok; we had the best dinner tonight! It was so good. Who says you only have to have a good turkey breast at Thanksgiving? I made the best turkey, and it was so moist and tender, and easy.

Turkey Breast

1 small boneless turkey breast (frozen, I run it under hot water just to get the wrapping off)

½ small white onion

½ tsp minced garlic

1 extra large chicken bouillon cube or 2 small chicken bouillon cubes

½ cup water

Salt and pepper for seasoning

 Pour water into crock pot. Add bouillon and garlic. Cut your onion into four pieces and place them in the bottom of your crock pot. Place your turkey breast on top of the onion pieces. Season the turkey with salt and pepper. Cook on high for 4-5 hours or on low for 7-8 hours.

Use the gravy packet that comes with the turkey. Heat it up over medium heat with about ½ cup of liquid from your crock pot after your turkey is done.

Green beans

2 cans whole green beans

1 can diced whole potatoes or sliced (drain liquid out of can)

2 pieces of bacon

¼ cup diced onion

2 beef bouillon cubes

Salt and pepper

Brown bacon and onion together in pan. Once bacon is brown and onion is soft, add potatoes. Sauté for about 2 minutes in pan. Season with salt and pepper. Add 2 cans green beans and bouillon cubes. Bring to boil. Simmer for about 25 minutes.

And we had cheesecake for dessert, but that was from a box. I would love a good homemade cheesecake if anyone has one to share!  

Enjoy!

Beef Stroganoff

Ok, here is my take on beef strofanoff. I saw this in a magazine one time, and I loved it so much, but it had  way too many other things added to it. So, I changed it up and made it my own. It is really creamy, and is really yummy! I hope you enjoy it; if you try it!

Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff

2 packages beef stew meat

2 cans low sodium cream of mushroom soup

2 low sodium beef bouillon cubes

½ white onion (diced)

1 small can mushrooms (only use half if you are not a big fan of mushrooms like me)

¼ cup water

2 TBL parsley

Flour to coat beef

~ Coat stew meat in flour and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Brown meat in Olive oil with onions. Once brown, place in crock pot. Add mushrooms, water and bouillon cubes to your pan and bring to boil. Add both cans of cream of mushroom soup, parsley and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Pour mix over meat in your crock pot. Cook on low for 4-5 hours. Serve over egg noodles.

Enjoy!

Cheese Danish



Tasty Tuesday Treat

I put these together last night, so my kids could have a treat this morning. I have been making these for about 6 years now, and they are so YUMMY! They are perfect as Danish right out of the oven, or let them cool and they taste even different, but still great!

Cheese Danish

2 packages crescent rolls

1 8oz light cream cheese (room temperature)

½ cup powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Butter

Cinnamon

Flour

Directions

Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla with blender till creamy. Open crescent rolls, and separate into square sections (2 triangle rolls stay together to form a rectangle). Pat with flour on each side. Place a spoon full of cheese mixture on square and spread out evenly, roll square up. Continue until all crescent rolls are rolled. Place on plate and cover with saran wrap and place in the refrigerator over night. The next morning, take each roll and cut once in the middle and then cut each half one more time. Basically each roll makes four. Then place flat on a cookie sheet. Dap butter on each one and sprinkle cinnamon on top. Bake at 350 for about 20- 25 minutes. These are SO GOOD…..They will just be a little golden on top, but not much.

If you want to check out some other YUMMY treats: check out this Yummy new blog I found here.

Sausage/Tortellini

This has become one of those meals that we love so much; I might have to double it just so we can leftovers. J Enjoy! I had a busy night, so this meal was perfect because it does not take long to put together at all, but I did forget to take a picture for you, sorry!

Sausage/Tortellini

Kielbasa Turkey sausage (sliced)

1 package frozen cheese tortellini

½  diced green bell pepper

½  diced red bell pepper

½  diced white onion

1 ½ tsp. red wine vinegar

1 TBL. Grill mates Montreal Steak seasoning

Butter, salt and pepper for sautéing

¼ cup parmesan cheese plus extra for topping

Sauté red and green peppers with your onions in butter, salt and pepper until soft. (Start boiling your tortellini at this point). Add sausage to the pan with your peppers and heat till warm, about 5 minutes. Add your vinegar and seasoning and stir together.  Simmer on low until your tortellini is finished and then add tortellini to your sausage mix and stir together. Stir in parmesan cheese. Serve and top of with extra parmesan cheese.



Tater Tot Casserole

I know I am a day late for my Tasty Tuesday recipe, but life has been busy and I am getting over being sick. So, this is one of those meals I really wanted to try because it seemed so easy and I thought my family would love it, but the first few times I made it, it was not a hit. After some tweaking and a few more trial runs, I have finally perfected this meal and now my family loves it!

Tater Tot Casserole

1 pound hamburger meat

1 large bag colby/Jack shredded chez

4 oz light sour cream

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 bag tater tots

1/3 small white onion

Cut up your onion into small pieces. Brown the onion with your hamburger meat and season the meat with pepper. Once browned, stir in sour cream, cream of mushroom soup, and 1 cup of your shredded chez. Mix together till creamy. Pour mixture into a large casserole dish to form a thin layer of meat on bottom of casserole dish. Pour the rest of your shredded chez all over meat. Layer frozen tater tots all over the top of the meat. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes or until tator tots are brown and done.

This really is the best, and my family loves it now that I made it more creamy...

Oreo Covered Strawberries

Tasty Tuesday Treat

          I had planned to make these for my family as a Valentines treat, but my hubby kicked me out of the kitchen so that he could plan dinner for my birthday. J So, instead my family got these after dinner tonight.  These are one of our favorite treats; we LOVE them! I started making them a few years ago, and I can’t go anywhere without someone asking me to bring them.

Oreo Covered Strawberries

One package strawberries

Small white chocolate morsels

Mini Oreo cookies

·         Grind about 20 mini Oreos in a chopper or blender. (Anything you have that will grind them up to be very tiny crumbs. You can do this by hand if needed.) Wash and dry your strawberries.  Melt your white chocolate over a double burner on your stove top, or in your microwave. Dip your strawberries in your white chocolate, and then roll into your Oreo crumbs. Lay onto a plate to dry. I keep these in the refrigerator to stay fresh until I am serving them.

These are AMAZING!!!!

Lasagna

Tasty Tuesday

Ok, we love lasagna in our house, who doesn’t?  Now, I do not make typical lasagna. Years ago I started making a short cut and fast home-made lasagna for two reasons. The first because I am not a huge fan of ricotta cheese, and the second is because typical lasagnas took WAY too long to make. And, I might add, my small children where picky eaters at the time. J

Here is my Home-Made Lasagna, Hope you like it!

Lasagna

Your favorite spaghetti sauce or here is mine

Ragu onion and garlic sauce

2 tsp basil

2 tsp oregano

2 tsp Italian seasoning

2 tsp onion powder

2 bay leave

¼ cup diced onion

½ clove minced garlic

1 bag Colby/Jack cheese

1 bag mozzarella cheese

Parm cheese

1 pound hamburger meat

Lasagna noodles

Directions:

            Boil water and cook lasagna noodles. Brown hamburger meat with onion and garlic. Season with pepper. Add Spaghetti sauce and next 5 ingredients. Bring to boil and simmer on low for 10 minutes, then remove bay leave.

            Layer in casserole dish-(spray bottom of dish and place a thin layer of sauce on bottom of pan and then start to layer). Noodles, parm cheese, sauce, Colby/Jack cheese, mozzarella cheese. Do this for at least two layers, maybe three.

            Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or till cheese is melted and bubbling on top.

I use a 13X9 casserole dish and usually only do two layers….If you want to do a third layer, the meat will stretch, but you might need to pick up one more bag of mozzarella cheese, and make enough noodles for all your layers.  We always have salad and bread with this….

Chicken Enchilada!

Today is my daughter’s 11^th birthday, I can’t even believe it. So, this is what we are having for dinner tomorrow night, but I am posting it today for Tasty Tuesday! This is by far my favorite chicken enchilada recipe ever. My friend gave it to me a while ago and I am not even sure I still make it the original way (since I tend to change things as I go). This is how I make now.  I often freeze the leftovers for my husband’s lunch. This is one I need to make WAY more often!

Chicken Enchiladas

4 chicken breast (boiled and cut into small pieces)

8 oz cream cheese

1 can cream of chicken soup(low fat)

1 can enchilada sauce mild

1 ½ bags shredded Colby/Jack cheese

10 large tortilla wraps

chicken broth(I use the broth from the boiled chicken)

Directions

Mix cream cheese and 1 cup shredded cheese together. Add enough chicken broth till a creamy mixture is made. Add diced cooked chicken in and mix together. Add more broth if needed.

Spread mixture into tortilla wraps and roll each one up and layer into a casserole dish.

In a separate bowl, mix enchilada sauce with cream of chicken and pour over top of all the enchiladas. Cover the top with shredded cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 min.

ENJOY!

Who am I?

Losing Bethany Hope has taught me so many life lessons I don’t even know where to start, but here’s one; life is short!

I think before I lost Bethany, I often would get wrapped up in things that really didn’t matter and forget to focus on what did, AKA, my family. I love my husband and my children, they are my world, but are my actions showing that?

One side of me you might not know is that I love to cook, or at least I did. Somewhere in this battle of losing my little girl and waiting on Christ to bring me back to solid ground, I think I fell into a dark hole and I lost part of me. I truly have come so far and yet when I look around me I see how much all of this has changed me.

I used to love cooking for my family and truly being a mom to them, not because it was my job, but because I was blessed to be able to take care of them and I loved doing it. I have noticed that over the last, oh I don’t know year, I have fallen into a rut, a bad routine. I cook, clean, and take care of my family as if it were my job.  I have lost the joy in taking care of my family because I am blessed to have them.

I realized that my family needs me to find “me” again, although I am not completely sure who that is anymore. To start, I am going to start cooking again like I really enjoy it, instead of just quickly throwing meals together so we can eat. I truly want to please my family, I want to make them happy…..SO……to help me and give me some encouragement, I thought I would start something new on my blog

            “Tasty Tuesday’s” Every Tuesday I will post what’s for dinner at our house…..I will also give you the recipe. I love finding great recipes and sometimes changing them up a bit. Feel free to post any ideas you have on things I can add or ways you have tried it at your house, I love getting new ideas in the kitchen! 

I am excited to get back in the kitchen and share my creations with you. Life is too Short; as many of you know……What am I waiting on?????

Here is what we had last Night:

My take on Chicken Divan:

4 small thin chicken breast

3 TBL butter

Garlic, salt and pepper (season to taste)

Broccoli

Cream of chicken soup (fat free)

8 oz reduced fat cream cheese (Room temperature)

Parmesan Cheese

Italian seasoning packet

Place frozen chicken breast in crock pot with butter, ½ Italian seasoning pack, and season with garlic, salt and pepper. Cook on high for 1 ½ hours. (Remember the breasts are thin so it will cook faster. For thicker breast cook longer).  

Mix cream of chicken soup, cream cheese, and the rest of Italian seasoning pack in a small bowl till creamed together) Take chicken out of crock pot and place on cutting board. Stir mixture into crock-pot. Trim any fat on side edges of chicken and cut each breast in half. Place the chicken back in the sauce in crock pot. Cook one more hour on LOW.

When the chicken is about 10 minutes from being done in the crock pot, wash and cut broccoli crowns. Gently boil for about 4 minutes. DO not completely cook all the way through.

Place broccoli in casserole dish, then take chicken out of crock pot and place on top of broccoli, then pour the sauce from crock pot all over the chicken and broccoli. Sprinkle parmesan cheese all over the top till covered. Bake at 350 for about 20 min. Broil the last 2 or 3 min to gently brown the cheese. Serve over egg noodles.  Enjoy!

We even finished off Dinner with yummy homemade strawberry milkshakes! Clean-up; well my sweet husband took care of that while I was making the milkshakes.