Yummy Vegetable Beef Crockpot Stew

INGREDIENTS:
1cup of  frozen whole kernal corn (from 1lb frozen bag)
1cup of frozen cut green beans (from 1lb frozen bag)
1 bag of frozen cut carrots (1lb bag)
2 cans of beef broth
3 medium potatoes, cut into 1" chunks
3 stalks of celery, cut into 1" pieces
1 envelope of onion soup mix
1 to 1.5 lbs of beef stew meat

DIRECTIONS:

Layer carrots, potatoes, celery in 4 quart slow cooker.

Place stew meat into a large ziplock bag with envelope of soup mix. Shake vigorously
Add beef to slow cooker
Sprinkle remaining soup mix into slow cooker
Pour in beef broth
Layer frozen green beans and corn on top

Cover and cook on low setting for 8-10 hours until beef is tender

STIR SOUP BEFJORE SERVING!

Balsamic & Rosemary Chicken (From the "Make It Paleo" Cookbook)

INGREDIENTS:

-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
-2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
-Salt & Pepper (to taste)
-4 cloves of garlic, minced
4 tsp fresh rosemary minced (feel free to increase if you're a rosemary lover)
1/2 c balsamic vinegar

PROCESS:

• Preheat oven to 400*
• Rinse chicken breasts under cold water, pat dry with paper towel and place in baking dish (I needed an 8x8 and a 9x13) 
• Drizzle olive oil all over each chicken breasts and lightly rub to evenly distribute the oil*
• Sprinkle salt and pepper over chicken
• Press fresh garlic and rosemary into chicken breasts
• Cook at 400 for 25 minutes
• Remove chicken and immediately pour balsamic vinegar over fully cooked chicken breasts.
• Serve with sprig of fresh rosemary

I usually serve this with steamed veggies and baked sweet potatoes.

*Full Disclosure: I HATE touching raw chicken.But because its important to really rub in the olive oil and seasonings, I wear food prep gloves that I buy in bulk at Costco.

Creamy Spinach Pasta Sauce (Comfort food at its BEST!)

I found this recipe back in 2007 and we've been seriously loving it!

Especially in fall/Winter (but don't limit it to those times) we make this a few times a month.

We make this over "John's Ravioli's" best I've ever had! But you can make it over any pasta that holds  all this creamy goodness, maybe a Cavatappi? 

2-4 servings 

20 mins, 5 mins prep

1/4 Cup margarine or butter

1(10 ounce) package of Frozen Spinach, thawed and drained

1/2 tsp of salt ( I rarely use any actually, so if you prefer just sprinkle some)

1/2 teaspoon black pepper (I never measure, I love pepper so I just grind away)

1Cup Ricotta cheese ( I use part skim and again, I don't really measure, the more the creamier... Mmm)

1/4 cup milk

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg ( we love nutmeg, so again we don't measure, just sprinkle to taste) Make it yours!

(Variations- you can use a 1/4 C of Parmesan cheese if you like that kind of taste, I don't  use it.

1. Cook first 4 ingredients for 10 minutes over medium high heat.

2. (Variation: you can add some minces garlic and/or cayenne pepper to this mixture)

3. Reduce heat to low and stir in remaining ingredients.

4. Heat but do not boil.

5. Serve on cooked pasta go your choice.

ENJOY!!!

Mashed Potatoes

ingredients:
5lbs potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
1 bay leaf
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2c heavy cream
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 Tbsp chopped chives

Put potatoes into a large pot, add bay leaf , 2 Tbsp salt and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes

Drain them well and remove bay leaf.

Meanwhile, heat the cream and butter in a small saucepan. Do not let it boil.

Mash the potatoes with a hand masher. Add hot cream and season with salt and pepper. Mix with a spoon and add chives.

Easy truffles

Ingredients
2 1/2 pkg (20 squares) Baker's semi sweet baking chocolate
1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese, room temp
Decorations (sprinkles, chopped nuts, colored sugar, etc)

Melt 8 chocolate squares.
Beat cream cheese until creamy
Blend in melted chocolate
Shape into 36 balls
Place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet
Melt remaining chocolate
Use fork to dip truffles, return to baking sheet
Decorate, the refridgerate for one hour
Store in tupperware. 
 

Champagne Punch

Ingredients:

1 cup triple sec
1 cup brandy
1/2 cup Chambord
2 cups unsweetened pineapple juice
1 qt chilled ginger ale
2 chilled 750ml bottles dry (cheap) champagne
1 bag of frozen strawberries (or ice. I use strawberries because they don't water down the liquor :) )

In bowl combine triple sec, brandy, Chambord, and the pineapple juice. Chill mixture, covered for at least 4 hours or overnight. When ready to serve, pour liquor/juice into large punch bowl. Add ginger ale, champagne and strawberries. Serve :)

Calling all Cooks!!!! We need some new recipes!!!
Looking for Tried and true family favorites!
Have a special recipe? Grandma's Goulash? Mom's Macaroni salad? Please share it with us at TheGreatRecipeSwap(BetweenFriends) My facebook friends  old and new are sharing some good ones!!! Leave your email address in the comments or PM me to be made admin!!!!

Pasta, Pesto & Peas

Pasta, Pesto & Peas:

Ingredients:
3/4 lb fusilli pasta
3/4 lb bow tie pasta
1/4c good olive oil
1 1/2 c pesto (packaged or recipe below)
1 (10 oz) pkg frozen chopped spinach, defrosted an squeezed dry
3Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/4c mayo
1/2c grated Parmesan
1 1/2c frozen peas, defrosted
1/3c pignoli (pine nuts)
3/4 tsp kosher salt
3/4 tsp pepper

DIRECTIONS:
cook fusilli and bow tie pasta separately according to pkg directions for al dente. Drain and shock with cold water and drain again. Toss with olive oil in a bowl and cool to room temperature.

In a food processor bowl, purée the pesto, spinach, lemon juice. Add mayo and purée. Add pesto mixture to cooled pasta an then add Parmesan, peas, pignoli, salt and pepper. Mix well, season to taste, and serve T room temperature.

PESTO: ( I've made this twice. Once I used jar pesto and once I made my own. I liked the jar better.)
1/4c walnuts
1/4c pignoli (pine nuts)
3tbsp chopped garlic (9cloves)
5c fresh basil leaves, packed
1tsp kosher salt
1tsp pepper
1 1/2c olive oil
1c grated Parmesan

Place walnuts, pignoli, and garlic in bowl of food processor and process for 15 seconds. Add basil leaves, salt, and pepper. With processor running, slowly pour olive oil into bowl and process until thoroughly puréed. Add Parmesan and purée for a minute. Use right away.

Vegetable Tian

This makes a fantastic summer side dish or vegetarian meal. Plus, it's so colorful. Most recently I made it as a side for Mother's Day brunch, and it was a hit! 

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 md yellow onion

1 tsp minced garlic

1 md zucchini

1 md yellow squash

1 md potato

1 md tomato

1 tsp dried thyme

dash(es) salt & pepper to taste

1 c shredded italian cheese (your choice)

Directions

1. Preheat over to 400º F. Finely dice the onion and mince the garlic. Sauté both in a skillet with olive oil until softened (about 5 minutes).

2. While the onion and garlic are sautéing, thinly slice the rest of the vegetables.

3. Spray the inside of an 8x8 square or round baking dish with non-stick spray. Spread the softened onion and garlic in the bottom of the dish. Place the thinly sliced vegetables in the baking dish vertically, in an alternating pattern. Sprinkle generously with salt, pepper, and thyme.

4. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, top with cheese and bake for another 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown.

roasted cauliflower soup

2 heads cauliflower
3 garlic cloves
2 shallots
2 tablespoons evoo
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
1 teaspoon finely chopped thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
2 cups heavy cream ( 1/2&1/2)

preheat oven to 425

cut cauliflower in florets(about 10 cups). in large baking sheet?pan toss cauliflower,garlic,and shallots with oil and roast in middle of oven for 30 mins or until golden.

in a 4qt. pot, simmer broth, water, roasted cauliflower mixture, and herbs for 30 mins or until tender,. Discard bay leaf and in blender, or immersion blender, puree soup until smooth. transfer to pot and stir in cream and salt and pepper to taste. Heat until warmed through.

Ghostly Meatloaf!

This is the turkey meatloaf recipe cut into fifths to shape  ghosts topped with Mozz and BBQ sauce! (baked in pyrex for 20 - then add cheese and sauce - cook till melted! Served with bake potato clouds and zucchini moon on a dark plate (not my cheesy generic white ones) and you have a Halloween Treat =  Big win with the children tonight! 

Halloween Eye of Newt (Deviled Eggs)

I originally found this recipe on allrecipes.com. I've tweaked it a little bit to suit our taste. If you like deviled eggs prepared with relish & mustard, feel free to search allrecipes for it. :)
Here's our version:

12 hard boiled eggs
mayonnaise (Use as much or as little as you like)
2-3 drops of blue food coloring
1-6oz can of sliced black olives, drained
red food coloring
a couple of toothpicks (to draw the veins in the eyes)

After you peel the boiled eggs, slice them in half lengthwise.
Place the yolks in a separate bowl and save the whites on the side.
Mash up the yolks and add the mayonnaise until the mixture is the consistency that you like.
Add the blue food coloring & mix it all in until you get a green color (it's about 2-3 drops)
Dip the toothpick into the red food coloring & paint the tops of the egg whites so they look like veins in an eyeball.
Spoon the yolk mixture back into the egg whites.
Place a sliced olive on top to make it look like an eyeball.
If you feel like getting more creative, you can use a toothpick to dab a dot of mayo in the center of the olive to have a color contrast.

Pasta w/ artichokes,peas, and onions

1lb pasta
1 package frozen artichoke hearts (trader Joe's are the best)
1 bag petite frozen peas
2 onions sliced
4-5 garlic cloves chopped
olive oil


coat the bottom of a skillet with olive oil, when hot put onions and garlic in. Saute for a bit until onions are translucent. Add artichokes and peas. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes. Cook pasta and when finished take about 2 cups of pasta water and add it to the veggie mixture. Simmer until heated through. Drain pasta and add veggie mixture to pasta. Toss! Serve with grated romano cheese. I also add a touch of crushed red pepper. Enjoy!!

Turkey/Chicken/Veggie Meatloaf

I know there hasn't been a recipe posted here since May 2011 but I am going to post these recipes because they were a big hit with my family.

1 lb ground chicken
1lb ground turkey
1 small zucchini diced
1 yellow squash diced
1 large onion sliced
1 half package of onion soup mix
about 1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 eggs
salt and pepper to taste
garlic powder (few shakes)

Mix everything together and form in a pan.
Put in 350 degree oven for 1 hour.
Serve with chicken gravy (jar)

Oreo(or Strawberry) Cool Whip Pie

8oz Temp Tee Whipped Cream Cheese

1/2 Cup Sugar

8oz Sour Cream

8oz Cool Whip

1pkg Chopped Oreo's or Sliced Strawberries

Hot Fudge or Strawberry Syrup

1 Prepared Pie crust

-Mix with a wooden spoon not a mixer the cream cheese and sugar

-Add the sour cream and mix again

-Fold the cool whip into the mixture

-Add the Oreo cookies or sliced strawberries in the mixture ( leave some to sprinkle on top)

-Place the mixture into the prepared pie crust and even it out

-Sprinkle left over Oreo or strawberry slices

- Drizzle hot fudge or strawberry syrup on top

-Chill in refrigerator for 3 hours and enjoy!

Crock Pot Sesame Seed Country Ribs

I got this recipe from Taste of Home magazine. I made it on Mothers Day and everyone loved it.
A little tip I picked up, when cooking your country ribs in the crock pot put them in first without the sauce. Cook for about an hour and then drain all the liquid that the pork releases. Your end result is that your sauce won't be watered down from the pork juices. I really wanted to take these and put them on the barbecue to crisp them up but I cooked them too long in the slow cooker so they were falling apart. After I took them out of the crock pot I took the sauce and put it in a pan and reduced it to about half, and then poured it over the ribs.

5 lbs country ribs
3/4 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup honey
2 tbs rice wine vinegar
1 tsp ground ginger
3 tbs chopped garlic
1 tbs sesame seeds
1/4-1/2 tsp of crushed red pepper
1 large onion sliced
Mix all liquid and spice ingredients together in a bowl.
After cooking ribs "naked" for an hour, put sliced onion in the bottom of the cooker. Place half the ribs on top of onion and pour half the sauce on the ribs. Continue with the other half and the rest of the sauce. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours. I guess crock pot temperatures differ because the one I have cooks much faster than my last one. If you're not familiar with your crock pot keep checking to make sure the ribs are tender but not falling off the bone. Once they are done, either crisp them up on the barbecue or under the broiler. Use the sauce to baste. Sprinkle ribs with a few sesame seeds when all done. Enjoy!!

Chicken Chick Pea Stew

Here's one I kind of put together by accident. I wanted to make one chicken dish but didn't have all the ingredients (curry was one of them-I'm a little afraid of curry...I think it will seep out of my pores)so I just took a few of the ingredients I had combined with some other things I had in the pantry. The results were absolutely delicious. If I had to put an ethnicity on it I might call it Morroccan...or at the very least Middle Eastern. So enjoy!! For this I used skinless thighs. Usually I use boneless as well, but I cooked it for quite some time and didn't want the chicken to shred.

6 skinless chicken thighs
1 can stewed tomatoes 15 oz
1 can tomato sauce 8 oz
1 can chick peas 15 oz
1 large onion sliced
1/3 cup of raisins (I used regular raisins because that is what I had in the house)
3-4 cloves garlic chopped
1 tsp ground coriander
1tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cinnamon
olive oil (to saute onions and garlic)

Saute onion in olive oil, when almost cooked through add garlic and continue to saute without browning garlic. Remove onion mixture from pan and brown chicken thighs on both sides. Once chicken is browned, put back in pan and add onion mixture. Add all other ingredients. Rinse chick peas before adding to pot. Cook on med. low for about an hour. If sauce gets too thick add about a 1/4 cup of water. Serve over basmati (I use basmati) rice or cous cous.

Strawberry Filled Butter Almond Cookies with Lemon Glaze

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cups butter (room temperature)
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1tsp almond extract
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup strawberry jam (not preserves)
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 2-3 tsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 375*

Beat butter, granulated and brown sugars on medium speed until well blended. Add egg and almond extract, beating until blended. SLOWLY add flour and salt, mixing until combines. Form dough into 1 inch balls, placing on cookie sheet about 2 inches apart (IMPORTANT: Do NOT overwork dough when rolling, as this will dry out your cookies)

Using your finger, press into the center of each cookie, making a well. Fill each well with 1/4-1/2 tsp of strawberry jam. Bake 9-11 minutes or until the bottom is golden brown.

While cookies are baking, stir together powdered sugar and 2tsp lemon juice; if necessary (for me it always is), add additional lemon juice to get drizzling consistency. Remove cookies from oven and drizzle with lemon glaze. (I usually remove cookies from pan and place them on a cooling rack with towels under them prior to the drizzle step to avoid pouring sugar on my pans... it could be a pain to clean up). Makes 2 dozen cookies

Crock-Pot Chicken

Crock Pot Chicken

Ingredients:

• 4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 lemon

• 1 large roasting chicken (it's best to make sure the sucker will fit into your crock pot before you begin)

Directions:

1. Remove any giblets from chicken and clean chicken. (I drink wine while doing this to avoid a gag reflux, this is not required, just a strong suggestion). Pat chicken dry and set aside
2. In a small bowl, combine dry spices
3. Mix chopped onion and minced garlic and put in bottom of crock pot (I ALWAYS use slow cooker liners, but for this dish, it's especially useful if you plan to make gravy)
4. Cut lemon in half and stuff into chicken cavity (Again, for me, this means more wine)
5. Rub spice mixture onto the chicken (more wine, ugh raw chicken is gross)
   
6. Place chicken on top of onion, and cover (it will look like the picture posted above)
   
7. Cook for 6-7 hours on low

Note: I usually prepare the night before, refrigerate over night and start the crock pot the next morning as I go to work. This is how I am able to drink the wine ;)


For Gravy:

• After removing chicken from crockpot onto a platter, Pour all the liquid into a saucepan on the stove (there will be a lot of liquid) put it on a low setting
• If you used a liner, simply pull out the bag, and slice a small hole in the bottom to drain liquid into sauce pan
  
• Mix cold water with cornstarch and add to chicken liquid (more wine drinking for me)
• Stir frequently and let it heat up. It should thicken up quickly, serve with rice
  

**caveat: we're not big gravy people here, so I usually skip this step, but I know we're in the minority on this***

Serve with you favorite sides and take credit for slaving away all day...oh, and don't forget the wine ;)

Sausage & Rice Stuffed Portabellas

We came across this recipe while food shopping in Publix last week. They were doing a demo on it & we got to taste it. Obviously it's delicious because here I am sharing it ;)

4 whole portabella mushrooms
2 tbsp fresh Italian parsley coarsely chopped
2-3 links of mild Italian (chicken or pork) sausage
1 (8.8oz) pouch of pre-cooked brown rice (Uncle Ben's makes a microwaveable pouch) or you can make your own
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup Gorgonzola cheese
1/4 cup whipped cream cheese
1 1/2 cups of tomato basil sauce

Preheat oven to 400
Remove stems & gills from mushrooms being careful not to break them
chop the parsley
remove the casing from the sausage

1. Preheat a large saute' pan on medium for 2-3 minutes. Put the sausage in the pan to cook. Cook for 3-4 minutes stirring to crumble the sausage or until no pink remains.
2. Remove pan from heat.
3. Stir in the rice, parsley, both cheeses & cream cheese.
4. Fill the mushrooms with the sausage mixture.
5. Place them on a baking sheet & bake for 10-12 minutes or until they're hot & the cheese is melted.
6. Serve the pasta sauce with mushrooms.

Add a salad & the meal is complete!