Play-doh 2

One of my favorite things in life is crafting. I love to sit down with some pieces of material and create something out of nothing. Since Lilli was able to pick up a crayon (probably much younger than the suggested use), we've been exploring all the world of crafts has to offer a baby or toddler.  Just before her first birthday she started with crayons. She has been expressing an interest in cooking for some time now.

She has done play-doh before, not quite grasping the idea behind it but exploring the composition.  I knew she would understand that this substance can be used in new ways.  She is starting to use her imagination quite a bit and so I decided to try something new, edible play-doh. I didn't go with the exact directions, going on the light side of sugar and honey.  I mixed it to a play-doh-ish consistency and it still worked out great.  I love that this site allows you to put in your own serving size and adjusts the ingredients accordingly.  I have to admit, it tastes great and it was super fun.  Plus, we have a nice sized sandwich bag in the fridge for another day.

"Song of the Entry"

Only Pieces by Here We Go Magic

Crock pot recipes

This week I attempted to make my favorite winter soup in my slow cooker and it turned out better than ever before.

Potato Leek Soup (a'la crock pot)

4 large potatoes

2-3 cups of leeks sliced and washed well (use the white or light green parts only)

water to cover most of the potatoes

1 stick of unsalted butter

1-2 tablespoons of flour (for thickness)

1 cup of heavy cream

1 cup of buttermilk

sea salt (you can use regular salt, season to taste)

pepper

- Slice the potatoes (or cube them if you'd prefer), slice about 1/2 cm and wash the leeks. Wash the leeks very well, dirt hides between the layers. I like to put them in a bowl of water as I cut them and then swish them around so the dirt falls to the bottom of the bowl.

- Layer potato, leek, pads of butter, salt and pepper. I usually make about three layers.

- Pour enough water to cover most of the potatoes, layer the rest of your butter across the top

- Cook on low for 6 hours

- This is optional, depending on how soupy you want your soup. Pour about 2 cups of your soup into a blender or food processor. Mix in the flour, heavy cream and butter milk and blend. The more flour you add, the thicker the consistency.

- Or you can just add the buttermilk and heavy cream.

- Stir back into crock pot and serve.

This can be served hot or cold. We like to load up our carbs and use some sort of bread. Every time I make this recipe I make some small change. It's hard to mess this one up, unless you don't wash your leeks well enough. Be prepared to feel warm and fuzzy then fat and lazy. :) Enjoy!

"Song of the Entry"

Neopolitan Dreams by Lisa Mitchell

Crock pot recipes

Of all the recipes I have tried, this one is the most dear to my heart. It's a variation of my grandmother's famous meatballs. Well... famous in my family. It's the main reason I wanted to have a slow cooker.

She made hers with ground beef and at the end mixed everything in a huge stock pot with spaghetti. It was the last dinner I had with her before we moved. It's the meal that my cousin, Jessi, and I talk about when we reminisce about or favorite sleepover nights when we stayed up late, played Gin and ate coffee ice cream. It is quite literally made with love and I think that's what makes it my absolute favorite of all time dinner.

Mom-mom's meatballs a'la Carrie

1 lb of ground chicken
1 egg
1/2 cup of milk
3 tbps of minced onion
1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper
3/4 of salt
pepper
garlic powder
oregano
bread crumbs
tomato sauce

-In a bowl mix ground meat, egg, milk, 1/2 cup of bread crumbs, seasoning
-Allow to sit for an hour so the bread crumbs absorb the liquid
-In the slow cooker, place the meatballs in the tomato sauce so that the tops are covered
-Cook on low for 6 hours

Serve with your favorite pasta and best smile. :)



To my daughter's namesake:
Thank you for feeding us all of your love. I was always full.
Love,
me.

"Indie Song of the Entry"
Sons & Daughters by The Nest

Crock pot recipes

I know that most of these recipes have some sort of cream based ingredient that probably makes you want to go to the gym just thinking about them. We don't eat this everyday, maybe once a week and it always ends up in leftovers.

This one is a concoction that sent me back to when my mom would let us put cream cheese on our pasta once in a while. I used to try and sneak extra cream cheese when she wasn't looking. Totally worth it.

Cream Cheese Chicken

3-4 chicken breasts, cut into cubes and cooked
1 bar of cream cheese
1 can of cream of ____ (I used celery)
1 can of cream of ____ (I used potato)
Noodles (the recipe called for egg noodles but I couldn't convince Dave to try them)

-Mix chicken and soups in the slow cooker.
-Cook on low for 4-6 hrs
-About 30 minutes before serving, add the cream cheese and stir
-Cook noodles and top with chicken mix

This one doesn't take much time and effort. If you want something healthier, tomorrow's recipe may be better suited for your needs.

Crock pot recipes

This next one is a favorite of mine. I love the flavor of leeks. They are just very subtle and not so overpowering that the rest of the ingredients get lost in the mix. When I came across this recipe I had to try it.

Chicken with Leeks

2-3 large potatoes sliced about 1/4 inch thick
1/2-1 cups of chicken broth or water (just enough to cover the potatoes)
3-4 chicken breasts, cut into cubes and cooked
1 package of leek soup mix (I found it in the soup/dip section of the supermarket)
1 sliced leek (I chop mine pretty small so that Lilli can eat them without choking)*
1 cup of water
paprika
minced onion (to cook with chicken for flavor)

-Line the bottom of the crock pot with the potatoes
-Top with leek and add chicken
-Mix leek soup with 1/2 cup of water and pour over the top
-Sprinkle some paprika over the chicken**
-Cook on low for 6-7 hours

*You can use sliced green onions
**Add the paprika after the soup so that it doesn't settle on the bottom

This was delicious with some sour cream on the side. Again, I use potatoes in almost all of my crock pot recipes, but this one actually calls for them. And now I'm hungry...

"Indie Song of the Entry"

Like Knives by The Fashion

Crock pot recipes

Most of my recipes are quick and easy with not a lot of ingredients. I'm no chef, just a mom on a budget with hardly any time to think let alone cook. I season my chicken when I cook it with whatever I'm in the mood for so I left out my seasoning.

Recipe number two is Broccoli Chicken, something my mom made in a casserole form on a regular basis when I was a kid. It was the first real dinner I ever attempted on my own and it was a hit. It's pretty easy and you can swap out fresh veggies for frozen ones to save time, but steaming broccoli takes 10 minutes.

Potatoes are a huge hit in our house so when I make something in the crock pot, I almost always line the bottom with sliced potatoes. Feel free to skip that step.

Broccoli Chicken

2-3 large potatoes sliced about 1/4 inch thick
1/2-1 cups of chicken broth or water (just enough to cover the potatoes)
3-4 chicken breasts, cut into cubes and cooked
2-3 cups of broccoli (steamed or frozen)
2 cans of cream of broccoli soup
4 slices of bread cubed
1-2 cups of cheddar cheese

-Line the bottom of the crock pot with the potatoes and water/broth
-Add the chicken, broccoli and soups
-Layer half of the cheese on top
-Top with cubed bread and sprinkle second half of cheese on top
-Cook on low for 4-6 hours

I noticed that when I used chicken broth the flavor seems to be different. Depends on your tastes.

"Indie Song of the Entry"

Hey Clown by Firewater

Crock pot recipes

Quite a few people have asked me to send them some of my slow cooker recipes. I decided to post them here to share them with anyone that may come across my little blog. So this week I will post a few of my favorites.

Dave and Lilli don't eat red meat and I'm not a huge fan either, although sometimes I just need to eat a burger. Feel free to try some of these out with red meat, let me know how it turns out.

This first one is a casserole recipe that Dave's step-mom gave me years ago. I very rarely made it because of how terribly unhealthy it is for your heart and arteries. Dave loves it, he requests it when ever he gets a chance. When he needed some comfort food, I decided to try it out in the slow cooker instead.

Sour cream, poppy seed chicken (aka: heart attack salad)

2-3 large potatoes sliced about 1/4 inch thick*
1/2-1 cups of chicken broth or water (just enough to cover the potatoes)
3-4 chicken breasts, cut into cubes and cooked**
1 can of cream of ____ soup ***
8 oz of sour cream
4 oz of butter
1 1/2 cups of broken up Ritz crackers
1 tbsp of poppy seeds

-Line the bottom of the crock pot with the potatoes,
-In a bowl, mix chicken, sour cream and cream of celery then add to crock pot
-Top with Ritz crackers, then thinly sliced pads of butter
-Sprinkle poppy seeds
-Cook on low for 4-6 hours

*Depending on how things look, I add more or less water/broth. It needs to cover the potatoes just enough to cook them.
**I usually just cook the chicken in some olive oil until it's mostly cooked
***You can use cream of potato, chicken, celery, or broccoli.



Don't blame me for any increase in bad cholesterol, you've been warned.

"Indie Song of the Entry"

1 2 3 Apple Tree by Herman Dune