Pulled Chicken Sandwiches

These were yummy.

1 medium onion, thinly sliced (I did thin rings cut in half---but my family didn't like the "big" chunks of onion---so next time I will have to dice them to hide them in the sauce)

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1/2 C. ketchup

1/2 C. BBQ sauce

2 T. cider vinegar

2 T. molasses

1 T. yellow mustard

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp cumin (I did scant, because I don't like Cumin)

1/2 tsp garlic pwd.

1/2 tsp. Tobasco (I don't like tobasco, so I did 1/4 tsp cayenne---it was not spicy at all)

1 pinch of salt

Brown the onions (they take longer than the chicken to cook...so they need a little extra cooking time at the beginning). Line the bottom of crock pot with onions.

Trim the chicken breasts and place on bed of onions.

Mix sauce ingredients together in separate bowl. Pour sauce over chicken.

Cook for 5 hours on low, or until chicken is done. When the chicken is falling apart tender, remove chicken from sauce, use two forks to shred the chicken.

Serve on top of split buns or hamburger buns, etc.. I toasted mine first.

It was not spicy at all. I doubled the recipe for my family of eaters and had leftovers, but I don't think 1 recipe would have been enough.

The total weight watchers points plus for the chicken and sauce was 67 point plus. It made (12) half cup servings. Which comes to about 6 points for 1/2 C. Plus the bun. (mine were 5 points for a large hamburger bun, so I only ate the bottom bun and had it open-face with a fork).

ketchup substitution

Taken from

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1661,134183-249198,00.html

This was really runny (but I was using in a recipe...not on hamburgers...so it was OK). It tasted really good. I bet you could mix some cornstarch with water and add to thicken it up.

Ketchup Substitute: For 1 cup ketchup substitute 1 cup tomato sauce, 1/2 cup sugar, and 2 tablespoons vinegar (and a pinch of ground cloves if you have them).

Apricot chops

These were really yummy and everyone in my family liked them.

4 (1 inch thick) pork chops (I did boneless)

1 C. apricot jam or preserves

1 C. catalina dressing (or see below)

1 pkt. italian dressing mix (the original recipe called for dry onion soup mix...but I substituted italian dressing pkt)

1 garlic clove, crushed (or use bottled)

I did not have catalina dressing...so I looked up a recipe on the internet...this is what I did in place of catalina dressing

3/4 C. brown sugar

1 tsp salt

1 dash paprika

1/4 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp dry mustard

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 C. white vinegar

1/3 C. ketchup

(the original recipe for the catalina dressing also called for 1 C. vegetable oil and 1/4 tsp celery seed...but I didn't add either)

Place pork chops in a small pan (1 layer of pork chops) (I used a rectangle pan smaller than a 8 X 10). Mix all other ingredients together in a separate bowl. Pour sauce over chops. Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes.

I served with pears, watermelon, corn on the cob and green beans.

Weight Watchers points plus was 43 points for all of the sauce (as listed with the substitutions above...italian seasoning pkt and the homemade catalina without oil). So for example...I did 3 boneless chops and cut them in half. The chops were 4 points each (before cutting in half), so 2 points after cutting in half. And 1/6 of the sauce was a little over 7 points. But it really didn't need much extra sauce (I didn't use 1/6 of the sauce on my plate). So I only counted 4 or 5 points per 1/2 pork chop.

Cheesy Cauliflower Soup

by Sheryl Punter in the Taste of Home magazine
August and September 2010
Prep:25 min  Cook: 5 1/2 hours
Yield: 9 servings(2-1/4QT)

1 large head cauliflower, broken into florets
2 celery ribs
2 large carrots
1 large green pepper
1 small sweet red pepper
1 medium red onion
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2 cups(8 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups half and half cream

Place cauliflower in a 4 -qt slow cooker. Chop the celery, carrots, peppers, and onion; add to slow cooker. Stir in the broth, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or until the vegetables are tender.
In a blender, process soup in batches until smooth. Return all to slow cooker; stir in cheese and cream. Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted.

This soup was really good and easy to make. My family enjoyed. A few things I did different were, substituting red onion for yellow onion, using almost half the amount of cheese, and using whole milk instead of half and half. I probably would have used the right ingredients if I had them all. Enjoy:)

Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce

Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce
By BlendTec

2 lbs tomatoes, quartered
1 md onion, roughly chopped
8 cloves garlic
3 T olive oil
2 T fresh oregano
1 tsp kosher salt

Preheat oven to 375 and toss all ingredients in 9x13 glass baking dish. Roast for 1 hour. Remove pan from oven, cool slightly and transfer all ingredients to jar and secure lid. Select "Sauces". Serve or store and refrigerate.

This was the original recipe, but I didn't have all of the ingredients or the time. This is what i did instead and my family loved it.

3-14.5 oz cans Kroger brand stewed tomatoes (with onions, celery, peppers)
1md onion diced
2 T+1tsp garlic salt
3 T olive oil
2 T+1tsp Italian seasoning
2 yellow squash, quartered
1tsp black pepper
1 lb re-hydrated freeze dried chicken

Blend tomatoes 2 T garlic salt, olive oil, 2 T Italian seasoning. In a large pot, simmer sauce for 20 minutes or so.  Saute onion and yellow squash in 1 T oil with 1 tsp garlic salt, 1 tsp Italian seasoning, and black pepper. Add onion mixture and chicken. Cook for 10 more minutes and serve over pasta.

Awesome Baked Potatoes

These baked potatoes were awesome because they were quick, easy, perfectly cooked and didn't heat up the house.

Just wash your potatoes.  Put in a crock pot.  Cook on high for 3 hours.  (You don't need to add water and you don't wrap in foil).  Test with a fork for doneness.

I thought it would be possible...so I Googled it and this is the website I got the instructions from...  http://momonamission.me/?p=4171

I don't think I will ever do potatoes any other way!

Chelsea's Home-made Granola Bars

Chelsea S. sent these to activity days day camp for the girls and leaders and they were AWESOME!!!  We all insisted on having the recipe...here it is...

Awesome Oat Bars

4 cups *quick cooking oats
2 cups crispy rice cereal
⅓ cup wheat germ

Mix in large bowl.

⅓ cup peanut butter (any kind)
½ cup honey
½ cup brown sugar
6 T. unsalted or salted butter

Combine in small saucepan.  Heat on medium until bubbling-- turn to low and stir for one minute.  Take off heat and add 1 tsp. vanilla (optional) and 1 tsp. salt (optional).

Add saucepan ingredients to bowl.  Stir well.   Press mixture into 9x13 pan really, really good.  Let sit for a bit (place in fridge for 30 min. or freezer for 15 min. if you’re impatient) and then cut into 20 (or more) awesome oat bars.  Store in an airtight container and eat often!

Recipe adapted from Lauren’s Latest by Chelsea S.
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Nutella version: decrease butter to 5 T. and add a spoonful of Nutella to pan mixture

Chocolate Chip version: Add ½ to ¾ cup mini chocolate chips to melt chocolate throughout bars or cool in bowl for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally-- then mix in chocolate chips so they’re not melted. 

Add-ins (raisins, nuts, coconut, seeds, etc.) version: I would suggest adding a bit more honey or brown sugar or using 1/3 cup less oats (or same amount as add-ins). I have no experience as of yet with this version but my friend made some with raisins with above recipe and said the bars wouldn’t hold together as well. 

• The sweetness and saltiness of the oat bars will depend on type of peanut butter and butter used and if you add salt.

• If you don’t have wheat germ just add more crispy rice or oats or substitute with an add-in.

*Make your own quick cooking oats with regular rolled oats by placing a cup at a time in a blender and pulsing 3 or 4 times.  I take blender off base after each pulse and shake it up and down once.  Measure again for recipe.

Note from Chelsea:  I made the Nutella version for the day camp and used unsalted butter, fresh ground peanut butter (bought in Winco bulk area) and didn't add salt or vanilla.  Making them with normal pb is also yummy but a little sweeter.  I adapted the recipe from Lauren's Latest (http://www.laurenslatest.com/no-bake-chocolate-chip-granola-bars-easy-healthy/) a few months ago and have been testing them out on anyone and everyone (seriously)!  

Jana's Taco Soup

Recipe from Jana A.

She brought this to our family a few months ago and we all loved it.

This is one of those super easy recipes that I almost always have all the ingredients on hand for. Here it is.

1 lb hamburger

1 (15 oz) can EACH of corn, black beans, kidney beans, tomato sauce

1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes

1 small can diced chiles

1/3 to 1/2 pkg taco seasoning packet (I use 1/2)

1 (15 oz) can water

Brown hamburger. Add other ingredients and simmer till heated through. Top with tortilla chips, cheese, sour cream, and/or salsa if desired.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie

Last year we bought a BlendTec blender and we love it! This smoothie is really good and easy to make:) I usually double it and add more honey.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie
by BlendTec

1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 Tbsp peanut butter
1 Tbsp honey
1/2 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 banana
1 cup ice cubes
Add ingredients to jar in order listed and secure lid. Select "Sauces" and serve.

Crock Pot Taco meat

So yesterday a tried a cool new trick...

I put a chunk of frozen hamburger meat (never cooked) in the crock pot with some water and taco seasoning and it thawed the meat and then cooked it.

It was not faster than cooking it on the stove, but it saved on the dinner-time rush.

2 lbs taco meat (frozen---but I think you could do fresh/thawed also)

1 1/2 C. water

2 packets taco seasoning

Place all ingredients in crock pot about lunch/nap time. Cook on high until dinner. Every few hours break up meat and stir. When ready to eat...drain fat and water.

Here is the blog post I googled and found the info on http://www.aroundmyfamilytable.com/2010/10/slow-cooker-taco-meat/

Onion Soup

p. 29 in my new crockpot cookbook.

3 cups thinly sliced onions (I did 1 1/2 white onions) (Next time I will do yellow...I think the white ones made it too sweet. Or I will do white, but omit the sugar)

half a stick butter

3 T. sugar

2 T. flour

1 qt beef broth (I did 4 cups water and 4 beef boillion cubes)

Cook onions in butter in frying pan. Cover and saute 15 minutes stirring frequently. Add sugar and flour mixing well.

While onions are cooking, put broth in crockpot on high. Add onion mixture to broth.

Cover and cook on LOW 6-8 hours.

Serve topped with toasted bread and grated parmesan cheese (we broke untoasted french bread and grated swiss cheese into ours).

I doubled the recipe for my family of 5 eaters and had a lot left over, I probably shouldn't have doubled.

I gave it 4/5 stars.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

P. 47 from my new crockpot cookbook.

I gave this 4.5 out of 5 stars.

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts.

1/2 lb deli-sliced cooked ham (I just did lunchmeat in a package and I chopped it)

1/2 lb. baby swiss cheese (I just did grated swiss cheese)

1 (10 3/4 oz) can cream of chicken soup

1 box dry stuffing mix, prepared according to box directions (I didn't read this...so I put it on dry...Dry was good, but I think this way would be better)

Layer all ingredients in the order listed in your crockpot. cover and cook on low 6-8 hours of until chicken in tender but not dry.

Macaroni and cheese

J gave this 4 out of 5 stars and I gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars. Kids didn't like it as well as the adults.

1 T butter (up to 3 T) (I did 1)

1 1/2 cups uncooked macaroni (I did elbow)

1 qt (or 4 C.) milk (I did skim)

8-12 oz grated sharp cheddar cheese or cubed velveeta (not the low fat kind) (I did 16 oz-1 lb- velveeta because I wanted to get rid of it.)

1/2-1 tsp salt (I did 1/2)

1/4 tsp pepper

Stir everything together in crockpot. Cover and cook on low for 3 hours.

Mine took about 5 hours. Do not turn up to high. I tried and it started burning.