Slow Cooker Chicken & Cheater Dumplings

This recipe comes from my dear friend and cousin, Allison.  It's actually Carl's cousin's wife, or as I usually say, Cam's bff's mom.  :)  It is the perfect pick me up when you are sick or on a cool fall day.  Luckily it was just the latter we were working with today!
 
 This is just slightly modified from her version

Slow Cooker Chicken & Cheater Dumplings

4 boneless/skinless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons of butter
1 (10.75 oz) can of cream of chicken soup
1 (10.75 oz) can of cream of celery soup
3 1/2 cups of chicken broth (If you use low-sodium, you will just want to add salt to taste)
1 onion, finely diced
1 cup celery, diced-
1 1/2 cup carrots, diced
Pepper to taste- about 2 tsp

*As for the dumplings… You can make your own dumplings, or use 1 (10 oz) package of refrigerated biscuit dough, torn into small pieces
 
1. Excluding the biscuits,  put all ingredients in a slow cooker on low for 8 hours or high for 4.
2. About 60-90 minutes before serving, remove chicken and pull into pieces and return to the soup mixture, place the torn biscuit dough in and cook until the dough is no longer raw in the center.

Honey Sauce Chicken

This reminds me a lot of the Sweet & Sour Chicken I make, but much less time consuming, and honey instead of sugar!  This recipe has hit Pinterest fame, so I figured I should give it a go.  It doesn't compare to Sweet & Sour Chicken, but then again this one takes about 1/5 of the time and is about 200% healthier :/  So...it's a good option when you are short on time and not trying to eat fried sugar chicken.

Honey Sauced Chicken

3/4 pound chicken (of your choice)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/8 cup chopped onion (or 1/16 cup onion flakes)

1/8 cup ketchup

1 Tbs. vegetable oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

Season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper, put into crock pot. In a small bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, garlic and pepper flakes. Pour over chicken. Cook on low for 3 hours or on high 1 1/2 hours. Chicken into bite size pieces, then return to pot and toss with sauce. Serve over rice or noodles.

To bake chicken as a 30 minute meal:

Dice chicken and season both sides with salt and pepper, place in 8x8 pan. Pour sauce over chicken and bake at 350 for 20 minutes, stirring after 10 minutes.

Serves 2

Cilantro Lime Chicken Wraps

I saw this recipe on Life as We Know It, and she found it, where else but, on Pinterest!




In a slow cooker, mix together:

• One 24-ounce jar medium or mild salsa
• Juice from one lime
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• One 1.25-oz. package taco seasoning
• 2 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped (optional)
• Add 4-6 thawed chicken breasts, cover with salsa mixture, and cook for 6 hours on low, or 4 hours on high.

You can eat the chicken plain served with tortilla strips and sour cream, but I chose to do it a little differently.  I served the chicken on tortillas (I like to fry mine for about 10 seconds a side each in a lightly sprayed fry pan on medium)  Add toppings like sour cream, shredded cheese and lettuce.
Top with sour cream/crushed tortilla chips to garnish.

Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Wraps

I actually have made some new, yummy things the last couple months, but with the lack of natural light at dinner time, pictures are just about non-existent right now.

Exhibit A:

But even with no natural light and a crappy photo, this was worth blogging and when spring rolls around I'll update the post with a picture more worthy of this recipe. It's easy. Stupidly easy. It's so tasty. It will easily become a weekly meal for us. Much thanks to Mama G over at Growing Up Geeky for pointing me in the recipe's direction! I took that one and jazzed it up a bit, like the other Buffalo Chicken Wraps I've made in the past. But these ones are a bit healthier as there is no breading and it's not fried.

Ingredietns:
2 Large Chicken Breasts
1/2 c chicken broth
3/4 c buffalo sauce (I use Frank's Buffalo Sauce- you could easily use your favorite Buffalo Wild Wings sauce too!)
3/4 c ranch dressing
4 green onions, diced
1/4c cilantro, chopped finely
2 cups lettuce of your choosing, chopped
Blue Cheese Crumbles

Place chicken in a slow cooker and cover with broth. Cook on low for 6-7 hours or high for 4-5 hours. Remove the chicken, and shred with a fork. Discard the excess liquid. Put the chicken back in the slow cooker. Combine the buffalo sauce and 1/4c of the ranch dressing, stir into the chicken. Combine the green onions and cilantro in a small bowl.

Lastly , assemble the wraps- chicken, cheese, onion/cilantro mix, lettuce, and top with ranch dressing. You can also fry up the tortillas a bit. Heat a frying pan on med-high, spray with a bit of non-stick cooking spray and fry the tortillas one at a time for approximately 30 seconds a side.

adapted from Betty Crocker

On the 7th & 8th Days of Christmas

...the Happy House gives to yoooooou...Cookie Party Details!

The 3rd Annual Cookie Party Plan

Lunch Menu:
Deli Honey Ham, Roast Turkey & Hard Salami
Whole Wheat and Honey White Sliced Bread
Mustard & Mayo
Cut Romaine Lettuce
Cut Vegetables and Dip (brought by my sister)
Baked Macaroni & Cheese (brought by my mom)
Assorted Soda
Ice Water
Homemade Hot Chocolate

Cookie Assortment:
Sugar Cutout Cookies
Swedish Spritz Cookies
Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

Tips for Planning:

1. Make Cookie Dough the night prior- can be kept in the fridge
2. Do all cleaning the night before- I always wait to do the half bath the day of
3. Have boxes available for guests to take cookies home
4. Don't bother cleaning the floors ;) A good sweep is good prior, the floor is a sprinkle magnet!
5. Use plastic/paper tablecloths. Frosting will get everywhere.
6. This is the perfect occasion to buy some cute paper plates and napkins. The kitchen sink and dishwasher will be busy with baking dishes. Keep the lunch dishes simple!
   

A Cookie Party Recap :)

I set things up just a touch differently this year. Something I've realized is we don't all actually sit down at the same time to eat lunch. We mostly focus on the kids so they can get to decorating. So my key was not to worry about having 20+ seats. I simply opened up the dining table, and we set up some tables in the basement for some extra seating. The kids like to play down there while they are waiting for the cookies to cool anyway!

I set up all the food on the dining table as well, it worked just fine! I only have a picture with the sandwich goods, I was too busy once everything else was there.
Simple. Not fussy. Not even a tiny bit!

The plates, napkins and silverware were on the sideboard. And I had cake stands all over the place awaiting the cookies.

The beverages were in their normal spot. I did cans this year, and it worked great! This was before the ice, but I just poured it over the cans. Don't forget to set a Sharpie out by the cups. 10+ kids will never remember which one is theirs!


And then the overview of cookie central.


Lastly, here is our newest ornament for the tree. My sister gets me an ornament each year to remember the cookie party. This one is perfect!

(and because I always like to take away a lesson or two at the end of any party)

Things Learned for Next Year:

1. Make 5 batches of cookie dough (instead of 4) and start baking the cutouts the night prior- will allow for more time to bake other types of cookies and no wait time for cooling cookies
   
2. Designate someone to take photos during the actual festivities. I really wish I had done this this year. I was way too busy in the kitchen, and as you can see, I only have the prep photos :(

Overall, it was a HUGE success. I got phone calls and emails from my sisters the next day saying how much they love cookie day. Can't wait for next year!

Fall Apart Slow Cooker Cube Steak with Gravy

I have said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it again, but I am a meat and potatoes kind of girl. I had bought some cube steak at the market this weekend, and made this recipe. I was pretty disappointed in the outcome to say the least. So when I realized I had about twice the amount I actually needed for that recipe, I knew I would have to try something else this week with the remainder. I decided to go with a classic cube steak recipe, however when I was searching around the Internet, I was consistently missing one key ingredient from each one. So, I decided to make up my own thing.

Ingredients:

1lb or so cube steak cut into individual portions
1/2 packet of onion mushroom mix (or whatever mix you prefer)
1 packet of gravy mix (I used Au Jus)
4 cups water, divided
Flour for dredging
Canola oil

Directions:

Heat 2-3Tbsp oil in a skillet on medium-high. Dredge the steaks in flour and let sit for a few minutes. Brown the steaks for 1-2 minutes per side. Place in a slow cooker on low. Mix 2 cups of water with the onion mushroom mix and pour over the steaks. Cook for approximately 7 hours. Mix the remaining 2 cups of water with the gravy mix and pour into the slow cooker. Allow to cook for another 30 minutes. Serve over mashed potatoes.

*I made my mashed potatoes with buttermilk, butter, salt and pepper- ah ma goodness. Highly recommend that!

Creamy Fiesta Salsa Chicken

This was recommended as a delicious slow cooker dinner. I am very skeptical on chicken in the crock. For whatever reason it never turns out good. I'm not sure if it's what happens to the texture of the chicken or what, but they always seem kind of blah to me. Last night's though was a real winner! It doesn't look pretty, but don't let that fool you!


Ingredients:
3-4 chicken breasts (frozen is fine)
1 jar salsa
1 can black beans
1 block cream cheese
1 can or bag of corn
Put chicken in with salsa - make sure salsa covers the chicken. Cook all day on low, then, 45 minutes before serving put in the black beans (drained and rinsed), corn and cream cheese.

*my notes: When I got home from work, I just used a wooden spoon to shred the chicken and blend with the salsa. The chicken had been cooking for about 8 hours and fell apart quite nicely. I just made some boxed Spanish Rice with diced tomatoes and served the chicken mix over it. So yummy!

Slow Cooker Oriental Beef & Noodles

Carl needed an early dinner, and I had spotted this recipe on Cooking This and That last week. I knew it was the perfect time to try it since it would be ready right when I got home from work. It smelled divine all day long, and tasted just as good! It was really easy and really flavorful. We'll definitely make this again. Oh and it was especially nice since the temp didn't even reach 60 today. A nice warm you up meal!

Oriental Beef and Noodles
adapted from Cook Once, Eat Twice Slow Cooker Recipes
Makes 4-6 servings

1 (16 ounce) package frozen stir fry vegetables
2 - 2 1/2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1" cubes
1 (12 ounce) bottle stir-fry sauce, any flavor (I used Kikkoman Stir Fry Sauce)
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 (3 ounce) packages ramen noodles, broken
1/4 cup green onions, chopped

Coat a 4 quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Place frozen vegetables in the bottom and top with stew meat. In a medium bowl, stir together stir-fry sauce, water, and red pepper. Pour over stew meat and vegetables in cooker.

Cover and cook on low for 9-10 hours or on high for 4 1/2-5 hours (I recommend low, it will help to break the meat down more).

At the end of cooking time, discard spice packets from ramen noodles. Stir noodles and green onions into meat mixture. Cover and let stand 10 minutes more. Stir before serving. This can be kept on warm for 1-2 hours.

*After I added the noodles, I added another cup of water to cut down on the sauce. I think it needed it, but it just depends how thick and strong you want it to be.

Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken

I needed a slow cooker meal that would appeal to the masses, especially our one friend with a delicate palette. I knew chicken would be a good choice, so I went to allrecipes.com and used slow cooker and chicken in my recipe search. This one seemed to be simple enough to appease the picky, but flavorful enough to avoid a boring dish. It did just that! Is this like a flavor explosion in your mouth? No. Was it super easy and a great meal for a group of girls? Yes. I served it with a Betty Salad, yum!

INGREDIENTS

• 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (I used 5 large chicken breasts)
  
• 2 (11 ounce) cans condensed cream of Cheddar cheese soup (I also added one can of cream of chicken soup)
  
• 1/2 cup milk (I upped this to 3/4c)
  
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

DIRECTIONS

1. Spray slow cooker with cooking spray. Place chicken breasts inside. In a medium bowl mix together soup and milk, and pour mixture over chicken. Season with salt and pepper to taste and garlic powder.
2. Cook on High for about 6 hours. Note: Do not lift lid while cooking!

Molly's Chicken

I had some extra tomato sauce from the chicken cacciatore we had last week, so I went to the trusty allrecipes.com and searched for things including chicken and tomato sauce under the healthy tab. What a great resource! Well, when I saw something titled "Molly's Chicken" I knew I couldn't pass it up! This is made in the crock pot and seeing as I swapped in boneless chicken breast for the chicken legs, I should have brought the time down significantly, but I wasn't thinking. I had it on low for 7 hours, and it easily could have been done around 5 hours (I'm estimating). You can see in my photo my sauce was a little dry, as was the chicken- but still not bad. So if you make this with boneless skinless chicken, bring the time down. (I also partially blame my slow cooker...I think it cooks things too fast, even on low, but enough pointing fingers.) Otherwise, the flavor was great and I served it over a bed of veggie fried rice. But how can a meal go wrong with veggie fried rice? I'll answer for you, it can't. It just can't.

INGREDIENTS

* 3 1/2 pounds chicken drumsticks, skin removed (I used 1 lb chicken breast)
* 1/2 cup soy sauce
* 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce


DIRECTIONS

1. Place drumsticks in a slow cooker. In a medium bowl, stir together soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, and tomato sauce. Pour sauce over chicken.
2. Cover, and cook on Low heat 8 hours.

Zesty Roasted Chicken

I bought two full chickens at Sam's for less than $8, how can you beat that? I wanted to use my crock pot so it could cook while we were at my nephew's brunch birthday party. I just searched through a few websites and found this one. It didn't require me to go to the store and it had great reviews- woo hoo! It ended up being quite the Sunday dinner, you'll see the rest of the menu above.

The chicken literally fell off the bone as I was trying to get it out of the crock pot. My only issue is I think my crock pot cooks things too fast. It was definitely done after 4 hours, but since I was at the party, I couldn't test it beforehand. It might have been done sooner. It still tasted really good and the juices the chicken made were awesome!

Ingredients

* 4 teaspoons salt
* 2 teaspoons paprika
* 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
* 1 teaspoon onion powder
* 1 teaspoon thyme
* 1 teaspoon white pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
* 1 large roasting chicken (with pop-up timer if possible)
* 1 cup onion, chopped (optional)

Directions

1. In a small bowl, combine the spices.
2.Remove any giblets from chicken and clean chicken.
3.Rub spice mixture onto the chicken.
4.Place in resealable plastic bag and refrigerate overnight. (I usually skip this step because I'm always in a hurry).
5.When ready to cook, put chopped onion in bottom of crock pot.
6.Add chicken. No liquid is needed, the chicken will make it's own juices.
7.Cook on low 4-8 hours.