Crock Pot Creamy Potato Soup

Last night I made Creamy Potato Soup... In the crock pot! Yay for crock pots!

Start out by quartering 6-7 potatoes. Dice an onion and add that to the mix. 

Add four cups of chicken broth, one can cream of chicken soup, salt, pepper, parsley, and corn. 

Let this cook on low for about four hours. Then take two cups of milk and whisk 3 tablespoons of flour into that. Pour that mixture into the crock pot along with a cup of shredded cheese. Mix this well and let it cook for another few hours. You could also add bacon or ham or anything else you'd like. (Unfortunately I don't have any more pictures. I got called into work last night and wasn't able to get the rest of them). 

Crock Pot Creamy Potato Soup

Ingredients:

6-7 potatoes, peeled and quartered

4 cups chicken broth

1 onion, diced

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can corn

1 cup shredded cheese

2 cups milk

3 tbs flour

salt

pepper

Optional: Bacon, ham beans, shrimp, carrots

Place first five ingredients in the crock pot. Cook on low for 4 hours. Whisk milk and flour together and add to crock pot. Mix in cheese and seasonings. Cook for another 2 hours or until potatoes are tender. 

Slow Cooker Mexican Tortilla Pie

I really didn't want to make lunch today. But I knew I needed to make something because Andrew and I both work tonight. So I decided on something really simple. 

 Possibly one of the easiest things I've ever made. I first took a can of refried beans and mixed it with some salsa and garlic.

Then I took a  can of black beans and added a bit more salsa and some cilantro.

Then I lined my crock pot with tinfoil and sprayed it with cooking spray.

Put a tortilla on the bottom. I had burrito size tortillas that needed to be used and had to tear them to make the fit, but a smaller size should be able to fit right down in. I also used whole wheat tortillas, mostly because that's what I had on hand. But I'm really glad I did use them. I think they held up better than flour tortillas would have.Spread the refried bean mixture, leaving about an inch around the edges. Sprinkle a little cheese. Add another tortilla followed by black bean mixture and a little cheese.

Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or on high for 2-3 hours. I didn't get it in and cooking until about 11:30 this morning and we pulled it out and ate at 1:00 this afternoon. It cooked really quick!

When it's finished cooking simply pull it out using the tinfoil! This means there is no washing of the crock pot, and it allows you to cut it just like you would a pie. 

Serve with sour cream and more cilantro.

Andrew enjoyed it so much he scarfed it down and then went back for seconds!

Mexican Tortilla Pie

Ingredients:

1 can Refried Beans

Salsa

2 cloves Garlic

1 can Black Beans

Chopped Cilantro

Shredded Cheese

Tortillas

Mix refried beans, 3/4 cup salsa, and garlic. In a separate bowl mix black beans, 1/2 cup salsa, and cilantro. Place a tortilla in the bottom of a crock pot lined with tinfoil. Spread with refried bean mixture, leaving about an inch around the edge. Sprinkle with cheese. Layer another tortilla and spread with the black bean mixture. Sprinkle with cheese. Continue layering until you're done. Cook on low for 4-5 hours or on high for 2-3 hours. Serve with sour cream and cilantro.

Tell me what you think!

Craft Sunday

Guess what today was?! That's right. Craft Sunday! I spent all evening crafting with my mom. Wahoo! We are getting a jump start on the holidays with a Christmas Tree!
Leave a comment and let me know what ya think!

We had so much fun! The pictures aren't really in order but it is pretty basic. We had a 2x4 cut at home depot. We had blocks cut to 2 inches, 3 inches, 4 inches, 6 inches, and 7 inches. Paint the 2 inch block brown, as that is the base of the tree, then paint the others green. We did a light and a darker shade of green, but you could do it all the same. Then we took lace and used modge podge to stick it to the bottom and middle blocks. Patterned paper or anything of the sort would also be fantastic! Then we simply glued them all together!

Fall is Officially Here!

It's official folks. Fall is here. My very favorite season ever. It's jacket weather, boot wearing, leaf changing, pumpkin carving (and eating) time and I am loving life right now. In honor of fall time being here I made 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Scones

And another one!

That looks delightful! Unfortunately these are the only pictures I got. I found the recipe on a cute little blog called I Love My Disorganized Life. I don't like nuts and such in breads so I used chocolate chips instead. But it was a super simple recipe to follow and turned out wonderfully!

The Day After Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th. Supposedly it's a day of bad luck and doom. I'm not one to be superstitious or anything, but I did make sure to not do anything too dangerous. Although, come to think of it, I did swallow way more water than usual while swimming... maybe it is a bad luck day.... 

We had a FANTASTIC day after Friday the 13th though. Mostly because neither of us had to work so we got to spend the whole day together.

Our day started out at 5:30 in the AM. I am not kidding. It was one of the earliest Saturdays I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing <- insert sarcastic tone here. But in all reality it was a great day. We got up early to get Andrew to his race. He ran the Cedar Half again this year!

He looks way too chipper for that early in the morning. I think he was a little bit nervous.... Just guessing by the looks of his crazy eyes....

He did so fantastic! He came in 14th overall... out of close to 700!!!!!! Holy Smokes! He beat his time from last year by 18 minutes! And he came in fourth in his age division.

Unfortunately for him he started feeling sick on Thursday evening, and this race just made that a million times worse. He couldn't even wake up to eat the sandwich I made him... the dogs were all over that one though. 

Speaking of dogs... the little sneaks. This is where I found Katie after I got out of the shower this morning. Curled up and all tucked in in MY spot! And she isn't even supposed to be on the bed. What a turd. A cute turd, but a turd nonetheless. 

 I decided that Andrew was going to need a good dinner tonight after his race and so, sticking with my theme lately, I give you...

Crock Pot Lasagna

Did you know you can make lasagna in the crock pot? Well you can. It tastes exactly the same. 

You don't even have to cook the noodles first, and they can be regular old lasagna noodles rather than the no cook kind. Crazy huh?

  

If you have a lasagna recipe you like then skip down to the bottom. If not, here is a very simple recipe and you probably already have the ingredients in your pantry.

Start off by browning the meat. I just use ground beef because Andrew doesn't like sausage, but a mixture of the two is always fantastic. 

After that throw in your onion and garlic. I also like bell peppers I just didn't have any on hand. 

Mix it all up and let everything cook for a few minutes. 

Now for the sauce. I like a very simple sauce, so this might be the easiest recipe for lasagna you've ever seen.

These are the three things I put in my sauce. A jar of stewed tomatoes (freshly canned by myself and my mother just last week), a can of tomato paste and tomato sauce. And that's it! So throw all that in like so.

Add in any seasonings you like. Salt and pepper are a must for me, along with thyme, oregano, and parsley. 

Mix it all up and let it simmer for a little bit. Remember you don't want all the liquid to be gone because that is what's going to cook your noodles. Most, if not all, the liquid will be gone when this is done and the noodles are soft. 

Now gather the rest of everything else and the fun part begins. You'll need your crock pot, sprayed with cooking spray, lasagna noodles, 2-3 cups of shredded cheese, and your choice of either cottage cheese or ricotta cheese. 

Now you layer just like you would in a pan for the oven. A little sauce on bottom. 

Followed by the noodles. They aren't going to fit perfectly. Something about straight noodles in a round bottom pan.... crazy I know. Anywho, just break them up and make it work as best as possible.

Next comes some cottage cheese/ricotta cheese. I would recommend getting the bigger tub of which ever you choose. I went with the smaller tub and didn't feel like I had enough.

Then sprinkle some cheese. I used cheddar and mozzarella.

 

Then keep going. More sauce, noodles, cheese, cheese, etc....

 I always leave a little extra cheese and sauce for the very top. 

Now throw that baby in the crock pot on low for 5 or 6 hours and your done!

Just look at that hot, bubbly mess of goodness. Yum!

We topped off our Saturday night by studying. This was probably my least favorite part of the day... but really, who likes to study on a Saturday? That's what I thought. It was still good though. It was the first Saturday we've had together in a while and I enjoyed it. 

Happy cooking!

Crock Pot Lasagna

Ingredients

Ground Beef

Onion

Garlic

24oz can Stewed Tomatos

15oz can Tomato Sauce

6oz can Tomato Paste

Lasagna Noodles

Cottage Cheese or Ricotta Cheese

2-3 cups Shredded Cheese

Seasonings to taste

Brown Beef. Add diced onion and garlic and let cook until soft. Add stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, and tomato paste, along with seasonings. Mix together and let simmer for 3 to 5 minutes. In a sprayed slow cooker layer beef mixture, noodles, cottage/ricotta cheese, and shredded cheese. Continue until all the beef mixture is gone. Sprinkle cheese on top and cook on low for 5-7 hours. 

Crock Pot Chicken Enchiladas

Crock pot Chicken Enchiladas.... 

Now doesn't that sound heavenly? These are definitely a staple in my house. They take almost no time to throw together, taste delightful, and it keeps the hubby happy (he hates turning the oven on in the summer time months). My very favorite thing about this is that there is no rolling of tortillas necessary. That's right, not one single roll of the tortilla to make these delightful little things. There is only one downside to this.... It is impossible to make it look presentable when serving....

Everything sort of melds together and you end up with this.... but it tastes SOOOOO much better than it looks. 

Oh crap... one other downside. I do actually dirty one pan in the making of these enchiladas.... but if you have your own recipe use that one and then it's not a problem!

Another great thing about these enchiladas is that you can use what ever recipe you normally use, and it works great! If you don't have a recipe you use, we use this one at my house.

I start off by getting my cream cheese out to soften. If it's not soft enough to mix you'll end up with clumps in the final product.

Next I melt a tablespoon or two of butter in a small pan. 

Add three tablespoons of flower and whisk to get all the clumps out. Once that is smooth, add two cups of chicken broth. Let this simmer until it's nice and thick. 

This is where I kinda cheat. After I add the chicken broth I grab a can of enchilada sauce and dump it right in. Feel free to use homemade if you have it!

Once your done with that remove it from the heat and set it aside. 

Now take a minute and cut up all your veggies you want in it. Again, this is personal preference. I used half of an onion, two cloves of garlic, a little bit of cilantro, and half of an anaheim pepper. 

Also grate your cheese at this point. I used chedder and mozzarella because that's what I had on hand. Pepper jack is a favorite of mine also. Shred two to three cups. You will only use half of this in the filling. The other half will be used for the top.

Then throw everything together, including shredded chicken or choice of meat, and about a cup of sour cream. 

Mix it all together and you get....

This delightful looking concoction. 

Now comes the fun part of layering. So, get all your stuff together. Don't forget the tortillas!

Start off by adding just enough sauce to cover the bottom of the pan. Got that? Great! Now add a layer of tortilla. This requires a little tearing and ripping of tortilla to get it to fit, just make it work. Then add some of the filling and press it down to cover the edges. 

 Then add another layer of tortilla, sauce, filling, tortilla, sauce filling until you've used up all the filling. Pour any remaining sauce on top and add all the cheese.

Now pop that baby in and let her go for a few hours.

NOTE: This WILL burn! There are a few things you can do to avoid this.

1. Spray your pot. Then, when you think you've sprayed it enough, spray it some more.

2. DO NOT cook this on anything other than low.

3. Most crock pot recipes can go all day and be fine. This is not one of them. If it's going to be on for longer than five hours, make sure someone is home to keep an eye on it. This is much too good to end up burned. 

I hope you enjoy this as much as we do!

Crock Pot Enchiladas

Ingredients:

2 Tbs Butter

3 Tbs Flour

2 Cups Chicken Broth

1 Can Enchilada Sauce

1/2 Onion - Diced

1/2 Anaheim Pepper - Diced

2 Cloves Garlic - Diced

Handful Cilantro - shredded

2-3 Cups shredded Cheese - Divided

1 8oz pkg Cream Cheese - Softened

1 Cup Sour Cream

2 Cups Shredded Chicken

3-4 Tortillas

Melt butter in small sauce pan. Whisk in flour until smooth. Add chicken broth and simmer until thickened. Add enchilada sauce and remove from heat. Set aside.

Cut up onion, pepper, garlic, cilantro, and shred cheese. Add to the cream cheese along with sour cream and chicken. Mix together. 

Starting with the sauce, layer tortillas and cream cheese mixture until mixture is gone. Top with remaining sauce and cheese and cook on low for 4-5 hours.