Crock Pot Chicken, Gravy and Stuffing

Oh, comfort food. You've gotta love it! There are just times you want to put something yummy and familiar in your mouth. Yes, that sounds all sorts of naughty, but when you eat comfort food, don't you kind of feel that way? Naughty! You know this isn't the healthiest thing to do, but when you want it you want it.

I was looking for an easy crockpot recipe for Sunday. We are having brunch and I knew I wouldn't want to cook later in the day. I knew a crockpot meal was the key to us having dinner that night and having lunches for the week. Since we are going back on Weight Watchers I thought we could just splurge and have this meal one last time.

This is a super easy recipe. Honestly, just mix up the soups and the milk and throw it over the chicken and cheese. On top for that throw in the stuffin mix and chicken broth. Now, I pretended to make this more figure friendly by using low-fat soups and low-fat cheese. In my mind that worked and it tasted great, but it was kind of like ordering a burrito supreme with extra cheese and a diet coke.

Ingredients

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• salt
• pepper
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 4-6 slices swiss cheese
• 1 (10 1/2 ounce) can cream of chicken soup
• 1 (10 1/2 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 cups Pepperidge Farm Herb Stuffing
• 1/2 cup butter, Melted

Instructions

1. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper and place chicken breasts in crock pot. Pour Chicken broth over breasts.
2. Put one slice of Swiss cheese on each breast. Combine both cans of soup and milk.
3. Cover chicken breasts with soup mixture. Sprinkle stuffing mix over all.
4. Drizzle melted butter on top.
5. Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3.

Crock Pot Pumpkin Pie Pudding

One of my main tasks this week was to clean out my pantry. (It's really just my big cupboard, but pantry sounds fancier.) My goal is to clean this out and use some of those canned goods that are just taking up space. I had all the fixins to make several pumpkin pies, but was just not motivated to make pie. Not that it's hard, but it's just messy and takes time. While I was cruising Recipzaar I came across this recipe for Pumpkin Pie Pudding and thought I would give it a go. This was one easy recipe and it turned out super yummy! It really is just pumpkin pie without the crust, but a bit creamier. It was so easy I will definitely make it again. To make it a bit more figure friendly I used non-fat evaporated milk. A lot of members on Recipezaar also made it with Spenda, but that's going too far for me. I made a double batch and cooked it for seven hours. YUMMO!

Ingredients

• 1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin
• 1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup Bisquick
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine (melted)
• 2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• whipped topping (optional)

Instructions

• In a large bowl mix together the first eight ingredients.
• Transfer to crock pot coated with Pam.
• Cover and cook on low 6-7 hours.
• Serve in bowls with whip cream, if desired.

I'm Back & I Bring My Favorite Cooking Site - Recipezaar.com

It's been a long time since my last post. What oh what have I been doing? Well, all sorts of things that I may reveal, but the main thing tonight is that I want to talk about my favorite "go-to" site for recipes. I have tried them all - Epicurious.com, Cooking.com, but there is one that I always go back to and that is Repicezaar.com.

I have become a loyal fan of this site. When I want a specific recipe this is the place I go. I will tell you why. I want to make enchiladas - I get 334 recipes. I not only get those recipes, I get ratings for each recipe I get valuable comments from Recipezaar members on not only if they liked or didn't like the recipe but on how they modified it to make it ever better. I get a little cooking lesson by just cruising the site! Now doing get me wrong, there is a horn o' plenty of uber-fatty comfort food here, but you know what? I like that sometimes! I like it that when I am in the mood to make macaroni salad, (which honesty is never figure friendly), I get over 250 recipes to choose from. Plus, once again, I get all those great comment from the members.

But wait, there's more!!! For free you can save your favorites to your own cook book! Yes, save them and go back later to retrieve them! As a paid member, which is super cheap, you can keep multiple cookbooks to save your recipes. I have several right now including slow-cooker, desserts, diabetic (for when Aurora acknowledges me), dessert and many more!

Check Recipezaar out. I honestly love this site. In fact I am making a slow-cooker dessert at this moment and if it turns out well you will see it here next week!

Guacamole

Being from California we grew up with avocados. Guacamole is a staple of any party and goes just right with my Cinco de Mayo theme. This is a fairly straight-forward recipe. What I really like about it is that the lime juice really keeps the guacamole from turning brown. I totally forgot to put the cilantro in last time, so if you don't like cilantro just leave it out.

Ingredients

• 6 ripe avocados
• 3 limes, juiced
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, smashed then minced
• 2 serrano chiles, cut into rounds
• 1 big handful fresh cilantro with stems, about 1/2 cup, finely chopped
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Halve and pit the avocados. With a tablespoon, scoop out the flesh into a mixing bowl. Mash the avocados using either a fork or potato masher, leaving them still a bit chunky. Add the remaining ingredients, and fold everything together. Drizzle with a little olive oil, adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and give it 1 final mix with a fork.

Lay a piece of plastic wrap tight on the surface of the guacamole so it doesn't brown and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

Easy Spanish Rice

I have not always been a huge fan of Spanish Rice, but this recipe is delicious. It goes perfectly with the enchiladas below.

I use canned diced green chilies rather than bell pepper. They just seem to add a better flavor the the entire dish.

This takes a bit longer than you would think. Browning the rice beforehand always takes me about 20 minutes. It's well worth the wait, though.

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked rice
• 1 medium onion, chopped (I like onions so I used a large one)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (I used olive oil)
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 small green bell pepper, chopped (or 1 small can diced green chilies)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 3/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Instructions

1. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat.
2. Add rice and onion and cook (about 5-10 minutes) stirring occasionally, until rice is golden brown and onion is tender.
3. Stir in remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until rice is tender.

Serves 6 - 8

Garlic Beef Enchiladas

¡Hola amigos! Today is Cinco de Mayo! Growing up in Southern California this was a big day for us. I remember doing the Mexican Hat Dance every May and always having to dance with Graciela Rodriquez because she was really tall and would beat me up if I didn't. (In all honestly, I really wanted to dance with Abel Garcia, but that wasn't an option in 5th grade.)

Along with the dancing we always had the most amazing Mexican food. One of my favorites is enchiladas. This recipe is my tried and true favorite. Now, take note! This is no quick and easy meal. Enchiladas take a long time to make, but for me, this recipe is worth it.

The recipe originally calls for flour tortillas, which are easier and more figure friendly. However, I use corn tortillas, which I lightly fry to make them softer. It takes more time, but the result is outstanding. In any case, enchiladas will never be figure friendly and if you spend that much time making something why not just go for it! Cut your serving size back and you will be just fine.

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef or ground turkey
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground sage
• 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can stewed tomatoes

Sauce

• 4-6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/3 cup margarine
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can beef broth
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 teaspoon sage
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 dash garlic powder
• 10 large flour tortillas (or twelve lightly fried corn tortillas)
• 2 (8 ounce) cups shredded cheddar cheese or Mexican blend cheese

Instructions

1. In saucepan, cook beef or turkey and onion until browned; drain. Add flour and seasonings.
2. Mix well.
3. Stir in tomatoes and bring to boil.
4. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 15 minutes.
5. In another saucepan, saute garlic in butter.
6. Stir in flour until blended.
7. Gradually stir in broth and bring to boil.
8. Cook and stir for 2 minutes until bubbly.
9. Stir in tomato sauce and seasonings and heat through.
10. Pour 1 1/2 cup sauce in 13x9 inch pan.
11. Spread about 1/4 cup beef mixture down center of tortilla and top with 1-2 Tbsp cheese.
12. Roll up tightly and place seam side-down over sauce in pan.
13. Repeat with remaining tortillas and top all with remaining sauce.
14. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.
15. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake uncovered for 10-15 minutes until cheese melts.

8 - 10 servings

Easy Angel Food Cake with Berries

Joey and I are in a conundrum, we are trying to slim down for our cruise in August, but we both have horrible sweet tooths. (teeth? - whatever!) Honestly, a meal isn't a meal without dessert, but I can only have so many Skinny Cow icre cream sandwiches no matter how tasty they are.

This recipe is great on so many levels. It's simple, low in calories and just plain delicious! Angel Food cake has virtually no fat, so this is perfect for anyone.

Now is the time for fresh berries. We make this with blueberries, raspberries, blackberries - sometimes all at once. The key is the frozen strawberries. They already have the juices going. We have tried them with real sugar and artificially sweetened to even lower the calories. The real sugar makes a better sauce, but the other was just as good. We usually use two packages of strawberries and then a pint each of whatever other berries are in season. Mix it up and have fun!!! You can also use fresh strawberries, slice them and put sugar on them for about a half hour or so. Also, non-fat topping is delicious so count those calories and go with that!!!

Ingredients

• 2 cups frozen strawberries with sugar, defrosted
• 1/2 pint black berries, raspberries, or blueberries
• 1 store bought angel food cake
• Non-fat or light whipped topping

Instructions

Mix frozen strawberries that have been defrosted with fresh berries. Cut cake into thick slices. Top sliced cake with juicy berry mixture and whipped topping.