Yellow Split Pea Soup

This is a combination of two different recipes.  I couldn't leave well-enough alone.  If desired, you could season this many different ways, using a variety of herbs.  Don't be afraid to experiment!  Also, you could puree the soup a little with an immersion blender, or mash it a bit with a potato masher, if you'd like a thicker soup.

Yellow Split Pea Soup

2 cups split yellow peas
1 small onion, minced
2 carrots, peeled and minced
1 stalk celery, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large potato, peeled and minced
8 cups vegetable stock
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker.  Cook on HIGH for 8-10 hours.

Stovetop method:
Soak peas in water overnight.  In the morning, drain the peas and set aside.
In a large stockpot, cook the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic in 2 tbsp butter until tender.  Add potato, peas, and stock to stockpot.  Bring to a boil.  Cover; continue to boil for 20 minutes.  Turn heat to low, and let simmer, covered, until peas are tender.

Slow Cooker Chicken and Stuffing

I love my slow cooker!  I have a very yummy slow cooker chicken and stuffing recipe that I used pretty often before we moved that my friend Cheryl gave me, but it's buried in a box somewhere in my sister's basement, unfortunately.  So....  I decided to try a new one!  I did change things up a little, and it was yummy!

Chicken and Stuffing
adapted from Crock-Pot Recipe Card Collection

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts
Salt & pepper
2 cans condensed chicken & mushroom soup
1 c chicken broth
12 oz. bag of herbed stuffing
1 c frozen peas

Season chicken with salt and pepper, and place into slow cooker.  Pour soup over top.  Prepare stuffing with broth.  (No mistake there - I know that the broth to stuffing ratio is off.  The moisture in the slow cooker will continue cooking and softening the stuffing.)  Cover slow cooker with lid, and cook on HIGH 3-4 hours.  Pour peas over top, and cover again.  Turn slow cooker on WARM until peas are heated through.

We enjoyed ours with Parslied Potatoes and applesauce.

Glazed Meatballs

I think that this is a pretty standard recipe.  On the East coast, anyway.

Glazed Meatballs

2 lbs. frozen beef or turkey meatballs
12 oz. chili sauce
12-18 oz. grape jelly (some people prefer it sweeter than others)

Pour meatballs into a slow cooker.  Top with chili sauce and jelly.  Cook on low until meatballs are heated through, 3-5 hours, stirring occasionally.

Easy Mixed Bean Soup

I'm all about easy meals, and it doesn't get much easier than this!

Easy Mixed Bean Soup

1 lb. dried mixed beans
1/3 c frozen diced onions
1/3 c diced carrot
1/4 c diced celery
2 chicken & tomato bouillon cubes*
1 heaping tablespoon Salt Mix
10 c water

Soak beans overnight.  Drain.  In a slow cooker, combine all ingredients.  Cook on low 8-10 hours.

It's that easy!

*You could easily make this a vegetarian soup by omitting the bouillon cubes, then replacing some of the water with vegetable stock.

We're headed back out of town again today.  Have a safe weekend!

Streusel Pound Cake

Adapted from Rival Crock Pot Recipe Card Collection

1 package (16 ounces) pound cake mix, plus ingredients to prepare mix
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 c brown sugar
1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/4 chopped pecans
1 rounded tsp. ground cinnamon
Raspberries
Powdered sugar

Spray the inside of a 2-4 quart slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray.

Prepare cake mix as directed on box, mixing in vanilla as well. Stir in brown sugar, flour, pecans and cinnamon. Pour into slow cooker. Cover; cook on HIGH 3-4 hours, or until done. (Mine took three hours.)

Serve with berries and powdered sugar.

Slow Cooker Veggie Soup

I had some veggies that had to be used up, so I basically just tossed them together. It was better than I thought it would be.

1/2 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 head green cabbage, chopped
2 gold potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
32 oz. vegetable broth
2 c water
6 oz. tomato paste
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp sugar (to offset the tomato taste)
Salt & pepper to taste

Toss everything into the slow cooker, and cook on low 6-8 hours, until all of the vegetables are tender.

Apple Oatmeal

Thanks to Once a Month Mom! She's created another hit! :)

1 c old-fashioned oats
1 red apple, cored and diced
2 c milk
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp vanilla

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 1-2 hours (mine was done in one hour.)

Slow Cooker Whole Chicken, Chicken & Rice Casserole

Visit here for a tutorial with pictures, and for broth making instructions.

Whole chickens are inexpensive and delicious, and you can make a good amount of broth from them, saving you even more money!

1 whole chicken
salt
pepper

Empty chicken cavity. Rinse chicken. Place into slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 8 hours. Remove and slice or shred. Enjoy!

After dinner, I went ahead and made tomorrow's dinner:

Chicken & Rice Casserole

Shredded chicken
Frozen chopped broccoli
1 bag Ready Rice, Long Grain & Wild, cooked
1 can cream of chicken soup
Shredded cheddar

Mix rice, chicken, broccoli and soup in a sprayed baking dish. Bake, covered with foil, for 15 minutes. Remove foil, and sprinkle casserole with cheese. Bake uncovered until cheese is melted, about 5 minutes.

*It will only be my daughter and I again tomorrow night, so I just used about 1 c chicken, 1 c broccoli, 1/2 bag rice (leftover from tonight), and half of the can of soup. I put it into a loaf pan, then into the fridge. Remove from fridge 20 minutes before baking.

Brown Sugar Chicken

Yum! That's all I can say! We had this over rice, with broccoli on the side. Can't wait for the leftovers tomorrow!

Recipe adapted from Make It Fast, Cook It Slow

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 c firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp black pepper
3 cloves minced garlic
2 tbsp soy sauce
2/3 c white vinegar
1/4 c lemon-lime soda

Place chicken in slow cooker. Cover with brown sugar, pepper, garlic, soy sauce, vinegar and soda. Cover; cook on low 6 hours, or until chicken is cooked through.

Easy Slow Cooker Roast

Easiest thing ever.

3-4 lb. beef roast
1 envelope onion soup mix
1/2 c water

Place roast into the slow cooker. Stir soup into 1/2 c water, then pour over roast. Cover; cook on low 8 hours, or until cooked through.

I shredded all of the meat, and divided it into three bags for the freezer. All of the "drippings" were poured into a bowl, then put into the fridge. The next morning I spooned off the fat, then divided the liquid into two containers for the freezer. This will all make for super easy meals later! If you want the roast that night, you can add potatoes, onions and carrots to the slow cooker before putting in the roast and soup/water.

Honey chicken legs & Homemade applesauce

My friend Molly was on Facebook this morning asking about applesauce. Immediately I wanted to make some. SO easy and delicious! Tonight's chicken is inspired by $5 dinners.

2 lbs chicken legs (I got them on sale for $0.91/lb!)
1/2 c honey
3 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp minced ginger
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp minced garlic

Place chicken in a gallon bag. Whisk together honey, olive oil, ginger, cinnamon and garlic. Pour over chicken. Seal bag, and shake. Let sit in fridge for 30+ minutes (ours sat for two hours.) Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place chicken in a baking dish, and pour whatever marinade remains in the bag over the chicken. Bake for one hour.

5 red apples
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 c water
cinnamon (optional)

Peel apples, remove core, and dice. Place into a slow cooker. Pour lemon juice and water over apples, and stir to coat. Add cinnamon as desired. Stir. Cover; cook on low 4-6 hours, until apples are very soft. Mash with a potato masher. Chill in refrigerator.

*I added too much water, so I used a slotted spoon to remove the apples, then mashed them in a separate dish. I've scaled down the amount of water here to what appears to be the correct amount. :)

Slow Cooker Poppyseed Chicken

This was very cheap, very easy, filling and good.

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts ($1.29 on sale)
1 bottle Creamy Poppyseed salad dressing ($0.98 on sale)
1 lb. fresh broccoli florets ($0.98 on sale)
1 lb. pasta ($0.99)

Place chicken in slow cooker, then pour dressing over top. Cover; cook on low 4-6 hours (my chicken was frozen, and was still done in just under four hours, so watch the chicken more than the time.) Set a pot of salted water on to boil for the pasta. Add broccoli to slow cooker, and return cover. Serve chicken, broccoli and "sauce" over cooked pasta.

Total: $4.24
We had enough to make at least two meals out of this, so it comes in at $2.12 (or LESS)PER MEAL. :)

Grilled Chicken & Home Cookin'

Simple Grilled Chicken

1 lb. chicken breasts, pounded thin
1/4 c butter, melted
Creole seasoning

Stir Creole seasoning into melted butter. Brush over chicken generously and often while grilling. It's that simple!

Country dinner

2 lbs. leftover ham chunks
4 baking potatoes
2 cans green beans, undrained
1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix
1 c whole kernel corn
1 egg
1/3 c milk

Place ham into a slow cooker, then whole potatoes, then green beans. Set on low, and cook 6-8 hours.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Stir together corn muffin mix, corn, egg and milk. Pour into a greased 8x8 dish or pie plate. Bake for 25 minutes. Serve with soft butter.