Recipes

[RespectLife]

This one looks delish!  I am not crazy about using canned soup....may make my own from the cheater recipe!

Creamy Italian Chicken

Creamy chicken | Source: iStock

For a creamy poultry dish you can serve over pasta or rice, try this Italian chicken recipe from Taste of Home. Your crockpot won’t need to cook the poultry for as long as the other aforementioned recipes require on our list, and your chicken will be ready in only 4 hours. To make the chicken extra creamy, this recipe takes a shortcut with Italian salad dressing mix and condensed cream of chicken soup. The shortcuts will save you time and energy and will leave you with a final product that is finger-licking good.

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
• 1 envelope Italian salad dressing mix
• ¼ cup water
• 1 package cream cheese, softened
• 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
• 1 can mushroom stems and pieces, drained
• Hot cooked pasta or rice
• Fresh oregano leaves, optional

Directions: Place the chicken in a 3-quart slow cooker. Combine salad dressing mix and water; pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 3 hours.

In a small bowl, beat cream cheese and soup until blended. Stir in mushrooms. Pour over chicken. Cook 1 hour longer or until chicken is tender. Serve with pasta or rice. Garnish with oregano if desired.

[RespectLife]

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@novamc1 wrote:

@ChiliPepper

Yikes, the label on that  yellow bottle looks like it should  be lighter fluid, instead of booze.  Does it make your insides so hot that your outside feels cool?

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@novamc1

That's funny!

No, in my experience...HOT all over after one or two or three of these!  LOL

[mustang66lady]

@ChiliPepper

Yes, we are on CST.  I think it was about 5:30 a.m. my time when I saw your morning post.  I had been reading different threads thru the night.  I would clean a room, sit down and read, hoping to be sleepy enough to fall asleep, then get up and clean another room.  I had "The Intern" on t.v. on demand-saw it 3 times during the night!   Love the movie but know it by heart and kept thinking I would get bored and go to sleep.  Finally after DH left for work about 8, I was able to lay down for about 2 hours but have been up changing linens on beds and washing those along with towels as well as cleaning the master bath and bedroom.  I still need to clean floors.  When I had to watch my grandson in the mornings before school, I always got up about the same time you do as he would be here at 6 and the school bus would be here at 7.  I didn't want to walk down the driveway in my robe-we have a very long driveway and just not my style.  Now that my grandson has moved an hour drive away, I wait to get up when DH gets out of the bathroom so that I don't wake him up earlier and I'm not in his way while he prepares for work.  I'm a willow-I'm flexible!

I hope and pray you get to sleep "late" this weekend-if anyone deserves it, it is you.  I think you amaze us all with all you accomplish, not just daily but in life in general. 

[RespectLife]

Hey!  Who is up for some HOT SOUP?!!

After all...this is a SOUPER THREAD!

I think I have seen recipes like this b4...I have mastered it in a dutch oven on the stove top...but...here it is in a crock....

Minestrone Soup

Minestrone Soup | Source: iStock

We can’t talk about Italian crockpot recipes without highlighting minestrone soup. It’s best mastered in the slow cooker and this recipe featured on Food Network is not only delicious, it’s healthy, too. The soup is loaded with pasta, beans, and vegetables, and thanks to its high fiber and protein content, it’ll fill you up without filling you out. Serve the Minestrone Soup with a side salad or crusty bread and you’ll have a light lunch or dinner on your hands that doesn’t require any sweat or stress.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups reduced-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
• 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (15-ounce) can white (cannellini or navy) beans, drained
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• ½ teaspoon dried sage
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 2 cups cooked ditalini pasta
• 1 medium zucchini, chopped
• 2 cups coarsely chopped fresh or frozen spinach, defrosted
• 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

Directions: In a slow cooker, combine broth, tomatoes, beans, carrots, celery, onion, thyme, sage, bay leaves, and ½ teaspoon each salt and black pepper. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or on high for 3 to 4 hours.

Thirty minutes before the soup is done cooking, add ditalini, zucchini and spinach. Cover and cook 30 more minutes. Remove bay leaves and season to taste, with salt and black pepper. Ladle soup into bowls and sprinkle Parmesan cheese over top. Garnish with basil, if desired.

[mustang66lady]

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@momtochloe wrote:

I know we talked about a sorely needed summer drink and look what I just found in my in box:

http://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/g3545/shots/?mag=del&list=nl_dnl_news&src=nl&date=081116

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@momtochloe

I haven't gotten to look at all of these but after last night and today, I'm ready to throw one or two back myself!  No more than two sweet ones though-I don't like the aftermath when they sneak up on me-not pretty! 

Those puppies of Opals look well fed already!  Poor Opal-right now, I kind of know what she feels like!  Now all the nursing=she's going to be tired for awhile!

[RespectLife]

Last one...

Slow Cooker Italian Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed peppers | Source: iStock

Here’s another Italian dish you can load into the crockpot in the morning and then enjoy at night. These Italian peppers featured on Epicurious are stuffed with rice, beef, and cheese, and they will marinate in the crockpot for 6 to 8 hours. The recipe feeds 6 and is aimed to please. Serve your peppers with a soup or side salad and you’ll have an easy, comforting meal that is satiating and satisfying but still relatively healthy.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound(s) ground beef
• 1 cup(s) uncooked white rice
• 8 ounce(s) mozzarella cheese, cut into ¼-inch cubes
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 teaspoon(s) salt
• ½ teaspoon(s) pepper
• 1 teaspoon(s) minced fresh parsley
• 2 clove(s) garlic, minced
• 6 large red bell peppers, tops cut off and hollowed out
• 32 ounce(s) (can) crushed tomatoes
• 1 ½ cup(s) beef broth
• ½ cup(s) grated Mozzarella Cheese

Directions: Mix together first 8 ingredients in bowl. Spoon mixture into peppers, filling about ¾ of the way. Place stuffed peppers into 5-quart slow cooker. Pour crushed tomatoes over peppers, then pour beef broth around the sides. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. Melt Mozzarella cheese on top before serving.

[ChiliPepper]

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 novamc wrote:

@ChiliPepper

Yikes, the label on that  yellow bottle looks like it should  be lighter fluid, instead of booze.  Does it make your insides so hot that your outside feels cool?

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@novamc1

@RespectLife

Yes it does!!! It tastes so bad that it's good!!!

Makes perfect sense right?????

[VaBelle35]

Oh thanks for reminding me it's Thankful Thursday.

I am thankful that WC#1 came to my office at 2:30 and asked me why I was still there.  LOL  I left after that so I could be home for my 4 pm meeting.

He said I'm usually gone by 2.  I didn't realize he checked on me.  LOL

I just saw on a weather blog that the whole East Coast is sweltering.

It is indeed toasty out there.  I am happy to be indoors and plan to stay here for the duration.

[VaBelle35]

That was quite possibly the shortest meeting I've had in 3 years.  LOL

It was just a kickoff meeting so we didn't have anything to discuss.

Sooooo, I'm thankful for a very short meeting today, too.

[momtochloe]

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@RespectLife wrote:

Yahoo home page had these today..maybe WAY more for Fall but here they are...

New...haven't tried them...

Crock Pot Spaghetti

Spaghetti | Source: iStock

We weren’t kidding about making your spaghetti in the crockpot, and this recipe from Weelicious shows you how to do it. This crockpot spaghetti will be ready in 2 hours and requires 10 minutes of prep time. All you need to do is cook the meat, and then load the slow cooker with spaghetti, sauce, cooked beef, and cheese. Cook on high for 2 hours and then it’s time to eat.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound lean ground beef, turkey, or chicken
• ½ onion, finely diced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 (26-ounce) jars pasta sauce
• 1 cup water
• 1 pound spaghetti noodles
• ½ cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions: In a skillet over medium heat, cook the oil, meat, onion, garlic powder and salt for about 5 to 7 minutes, until cooked through. Drain excess fat.

Pour one jar of pasta sauce and 1 cup of water in the bottom of the slow cooker. Break the spaghetti noodles in half and place them on top of the sauce. Add the cooked meat to the crock pot, sprinkle with cheese, and cover with the second jar of pasta sauce. Cover the crock pot and cook on high for 2- 2 ½ hours or low for 6 hours Remove the lid, stir to combine and mix everything together.

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Oh @RespectLife thank you so much for this!  I have been wanting spaghetti and meatballs and even though I don't have any ground beef I threw in a can of mushrooms for lunch tomorrow (or a forkful or two later tonight) . . . thank you again my friend!

eta:  oh my goodness this is the only way I will make spaghetti from now on! . . . wow, thank you so much Respect!