Crockpot Chicken Verde

Cooking is so much fun--I love it.  I love experimenting and trying new recipes, and feeding delicious things to my family.


But occasionally I look at the mess in my kitchen afterwards and groan.


Yesterday I just really didn't feel like making a huge dinner mess.


This is why I love my crockpot.  Throw everything in, stir it around a little.  And that's about it!


Crockpot  Chicken Verde Burritos


Ingredients:


3 chicken breasts
1/2 packet fajita seasoning
1/2 jar green tomatillo salsa


Cook on low for 2-3 hours or until meat is cooked thoroughly.  

Roll up in a tortilla with sour cream, grated cheddar cheese, and anything else you like.

I served this with rice and beans, and it's fiesta time!

Buffalo Wings

Last night was the last game of the world series.  My husband, Brian, was so excited to have a big party and have everyone over to watch it on our big screen.  He doesn't watch sports very often, so it was cute to see him get excited over this one.

Unfortunately I woke up throwing up that morning, and consequently the party was OFF.   On the upside, he got to eat the whole plate of buffalo wings by himself and didn't have to share with anyone.  :)  Brian loves his wings, and that was the only party food he'd even mentioned wanting.

My friend Dusty has a recipe blog, and is pretty famous for her wings, so I knew I needed to give them a try.  I can see why everyone wants her to bring them all the time--they were a smashing hit, and my husband said they were the best ones he's ever had.  Granted, he is so sweet to me and always compliments me on my food even when it is a complete disaster, but I do think he really liked these a lot. I will definitely be making them for him again.

Thanks for sharing Dusty!  You can link to her blog and find the rest of her great recipes here: dustysrecipes.blogspot.com.

8-10 Chicken wings, or about 2 lbs. (you can also get the drummets, they are already separated)
1 bottle of Franks red taco sauce (they were out of this one so I got the small bottle of Franks Red Hot--the hotter the better, right?)
1 Tbls Cayenne pepper (or more)
1 cube butter or margarine

Fry chicken in vegetable oil until cooked through. This took me about 20 minutes on medium high heat.


While chicken is cooking: melt butter, add taco sauce, and Cayenne pepper.  Once chicken is cooked dip in sauce, place on foil lined baking sheet, bake on 350 for 10-15 min. Repeat for spicier chicken.

Mizithra Cheese Pasta

When my sister was younger, she used to work at The Old Spaghetti Factory.  This worked out nicely for our family, since we love that restaurant.  Our family loves all Italian restaurants in general.

My favorite dish that I always get there is pasta with Mizithra cheese and browned butter.

It's been a while since I've eaten there, and I got a craving, so I decided to make my own version of it.  It turned out really good, but I wish that I had a different cheese grater that would grate finer.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. of your favorite pasta--I bought angel hair, then cooked half of the 1 lb. box
1/2 cube butter or margarine--brown this over medium heat for a few minutes, or until it darkens in color, careful not to burn
1-2 cups grated mizithra cheese--I found this at Smith's Marketplace in their deli section
1-2 cups grated parmesan cheese--I don't know if OSF uses this or not, but my husband loves it so I threw it on as well.  It came grated the size that I wish my mizithra cheese was

The Old Spaghetti Factory spells it "mizithra cheese."  Smith's spells it like this:

I served it alongside my standard spinach salad.  My husband is always so impressed when I make this salad.  He must think I've fussed over it longer than I really have, because honestly it takes me all of 3 minutes to throw this together.

I usually always have a bag of spinach in my fridge, and I ALWAYS have some Brianna's Poppyseed dressing (yes it has to be that brand).  I chop up some strawberries and toss on some sugared almonds from a bag, and that's it!  All pre-made so it's an easy cheater salad.  But we love it and have it all of the time.

Thanks for reminiscing with me about The Old Spaghetti factory.  The kids all liked it--especially my six year old.  I was so impressed that he had 3 helpings of pasta.  I was not as impressed later as I noticed that about half of it was on the floor.  *sigh*  Gotta love those cute little kids.  :)

Creamy Tortellini Soup

Happy Halloween!

I hope your holiday was great!  I love dressing up and watching my kids have so much fun.  Holidays are so fun with children.

We decided to host a street party this Halloween, so I could have one last chance to feed my kids something healthy before they gorged themselves with sugar for the next few days.

I cooked up 3 pots of soup:  my taco soup, my potato soup, and because I was getting tired of my same old recipes and wanted to try something new--Creamy Tortellini Soup.

I made homemade root beer, and everyone on the street brought a side dish or dessert to share.  We had a great time!

And I found a new soup recipe that I love!  This one was a hit.

Creamy Tortellini Soup (from La Bonne Cuisine)


1 Tbsp. butter or olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
8-10 mushrooms, diced
5 cups water
6 Tbsp. flour
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 cup frozen corn
1 (14 oz.) can chicken broth
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1/2 tsp. garlic powder (I used fresh garlic because I had some already on hand)
1/2 tsp. basil (instead of the basil and oregano, I dumped in some italian seasoning)
1/4 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper, optional (I just put in a few dashes, and I thought it tasted great)
1/4-1/2 tsp. salt
2-3 cups frozen tortellini
1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk
4 cups spinach (pile it up and slice through it to get thin pieces)


In a large soup pot, heat butter or olive oil. Add onion, carrots, and mushrooms. Saute for about 5 min. 


In a separate bowl, combine 1 cup cold water with 6 Tbsp. flour. Whisk until smooth. 


Add 4 cups of water to vegetables in soup pot. Stir in the flour and water mixture. Stir to blend well. Add potatoes, corn, chicken broth and all spices and bouillon. 


Bring to a boil. Turn to medium and boil for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are soft. Stir occasionally. 


Add evaporated milk, frozen tortellini, and spinach and cook for 5 more minutes. 

Hope you all had a great Halloween!

Teriyaki Pasta Spinach Salad

I saw this recipe on La Bonne Cuisine, a recipe blog that I think is really cool because it has a lot of french recipes.  It reminded me of one I had at a church function a few years ago, and really liked.  (Coincidentally, I think she got her recipe at a church gathering as well.  Church is a great place to get new recipes, eh?)

My picture above was before I poured the sauce on.  I put the original recipe here, as well as notated any changes that I made to it.  One other thing I did: I used pre-cooked frozen chicken breast strips (love them, I use them for everything), diced them, and fried them in a pan to thaw it and release natural oils, then dumped a little teriyaki sauce on them for added flavor.

Teriyaki Pasta Spinach Salad

1 bag (10 oz.) spinach
2-3 green onions, sliced
1/4 c. fresh parsley (didn't have any of this so I threw in dried and it was just fine)
1/3 c. craisins (or more!)
1/3 c. honey roasted peanuts (I had a bag of chopped nuts, so I dumped that in this time)
1 can mandarin oranges, drained (can cut in half just to make more pieces)
1-2 c. cooked, cut-up chicken (or  she used 1 large can chicken breast)
1/2-1 box (12-16 oz.) bow tie pasta, cooked (I used half a box and it was plenty.  She used the mini-size pasta and they looked so cute)

Dressing:
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/3 c. Teriyaki sauce
1/3 c. rice vinegar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Prepare the dressing ahead of time and refrigerate overnight. (Mine got about one hour of refrigeration and it tasted just fine).  

Mix all salad ingredients together and add dressing just before serving.

So yummy!  

Total girl food.

Nutter Butter Ghost Cookies

I love this one because it is so easy and quick to make.  (This one came from the Martha Stewart Living Magazine in 2001.)  These little ghosts are so cute and easy, and it's something the kids can help with too!  I had a holiday bake-day with my friend, and our four year olds put the eyes on all of these little ghosts.

Enjoy!

You will need:

1 package Nutter Butter peanut butter cookies
white chocolate bark or white chocolate chips
mini chocolate chips

Dip cookies in melted white chocolate.  Lay on waxed paper, add chocolate chips for eyes.

Is it really that simple?  Yes it is!

Parmesan Potatoes

3-4  potatoes - thinly sliced (about 1/4 in.)

1/4 c. melted butter

1/4 c. oil

1/2-1 tsp each. salt/pepper to taste

1 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese.

Preheat oven to 400.

Arrange thinly sliced potatoes in 9 x 9 pan.  If you have a large family or are serving many people, this can easily be doubled and served in a 9 x 13 casserole dish.

In bowl, mix butter, oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder and parmesan cheese. Pour evenly over potatoes. Bake for 45 minutes, or until potatoes are tender, and parmesan is browned on potatoes.