Slow cooker Butternut Squash Soup

Thank you Amber for this recipe, I can't wait to try it!
Slow-Cooker Butternut Squash Soup
(BC Christmas 91)
INGREDIENTS:
2 TB butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 butternut squash (2 lb) peeled, cubed
2 cups water
½ tsp dried marjoram leaves
¼ tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne/red pepper
2 X-Large veggie bouillon cubes
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, cubed
DIRECTIONS:
In skillet, melt butter. Cook onion in butter.

In slow cooker, mix onion and remaining ingredients (except cream cheese)

Cover; cook on low 6-8 hours.

In blender, place 1/3 of the soup mix at a time. Cover; blend until smooth. Return to slow cooker.

Stir in cream cheese. Cover. Cook on low 30 min.

Thanksgiving Feast

Yum, yum! Here are the recipes I used in preparing Thanksgiving this year...I can't wait to make them all again!

(All of my recipes were found, and slightly altered, from: http://www.allrecipes.com/)

Sugar Coated Pecans:

INGREDIENTS

1 egg white
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 pound pecan halves
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Grease one baking sheet. In a mixing bowl, whip together the egg white and water until frothy. In a separate bowl, mix together sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Add pecans to egg whites, stir to coat the nuts evenly. Remove the nuts, and toss them in the sugar mixture until coated. Spread the nuts out on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake at 250 degrees F (120 degrees C) for 1 hour. Stir every 15 minutes.

Out of this World Turkey Brine:
INGREDIENTS
2 gallons water (I used 1 gallon water and 1 gallon apple juice)
1 1/2 cups canning salt
3 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar

DIRECTIONS
In a turkey bag or container large enough to hold your turkey, mix together the water, salt, garlic, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and brown sugar. Store in a refrigerator, and soak turkey for 2 days before smoking or roasting. **I prepared mine in a turkey bag, tied it up and put it in a cooler with ice.



Here is the turkey in the smoker...it looks dark because of the 30min. @ 500 first...but certainly recommended.

Rosemary turkey rub:

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons minced garlic
1 pkg. fresh rosemary, thyme, sage mix, chopped (these were the herbs I was going to use and I found a poultry mix pkg. at Winco with the three of them combined...perfect, and I used all of it!) 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning


DIRECTIONS:
Here are the oven directions, we used our smoker to cook the bird this year and at 250 degrees it took 5ish hours...much less than anticipated!
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, garlic, chopped fresh herbs (fresh is the only way to go in my opinion!) and Italian seasoning. Set aside.
Wash the turkey inside and out; pat dry. Remove any large fat deposits. Loosen the skin from the breast. This is done by slowly working your fingers between the breast and the skin. Work it loose to the end of the drumstick, being careful not to tear the skin.
Using your hand, spread a generous amount of the rosemary mixture under the breast skin and down the thigh and leg. Rub the remainder of the rosemary mixture over the outside of the breast. Use toothpicks to seal skin over any exposed breast meat.
Place the turkey on a rack in a roasting pan. Add about 1/4 inch of water (I used chicken stock)to the bottom of the pan. Roast in the preheated oven 3 to 4 hours, or until the internal temperature of the bird reaches 180 degrees F (80 degrees C). ***I also found that cooking the bird for the first 30 min. really crisped up the outside quickly sealing in the flavor and juices for the remainder of the cooking time.

Green Bean Casserole:

INGREDIENTS:

3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon white sugar
1/4 cup onion, diced
1 cup sour cream
3 (14.5 ounce) cans French style green beans, drained
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese 1 can french fried onions
1/2 cup crumbled buttery round crackers
1 tablespoon butter, melted

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet and saute the chopped onion until tender and translucent, set aside. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in flour until smooth, and cook for one minute. Stir in the salt, sugar, sauteed onion, 1/2 can french fried onions, 1/2 of the cheese and sour cream. Add green beans, and stir to coat.
Transfer the mixture to a 2 1/2 quart casserole dish. Spread remaining shredded cheese over the top. In a small bowl, toss together cracker crumbs, remaining french fried onions, and remaining butter, and sprinkle over the cheese.
Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the top is golden and cheese is bubbly.

Awesome Sausage, apple, and cranberry stuffing:

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups cubed whole wheat bread
4 cups cubed white bread
1 pound ground turkey sausage
1 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup chopped celery
2 1/2 teaspoons dried sage *
1 1/2 teaspoons dried rosemary *
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme *
1 Golden Delicious apple, cored and chopped
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup minced fresh parsley
1 cooked turkey liver, finely chopped
3/4 cup turkey stock ***
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 egg

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degree F (175 degree C). Spray baking dish with cooking spray. Spread the white and whole wheat bread cubes in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes in the preheated oven, or until evenly toasted. Transfer toasted bread cubes to a large bowl. **I toasted my bread slices then cubed them.
In a large skillet, cook the sausage and onions over medium heat, stirring and breaking up the lumps until evenly browned. Add the celery, sage, rosemary, and thyme; cook, stirring, for 2 minutes to blend flavors. *I used fresh herbs and again, think it makes a huge difference...double the amount of herbs if using fresh.
Pour sausage mixture over bread in bowl. Mix in chopped apples, dried cranberries, parsley, and liver (I omitted the liver). Drizzle with turkey stock and melted butter, and mix lightly. Spoon into turkey to loosely fill. ***I did not stuff the bird this year, so I used much more stock than called for...my guess is that I used 3 or 4 cups but really I just added until it felt perfectly moist. Spoon into baking dish, cover and bake for 35-45 min., stirring after 20 min.

Gourmet Sweet Potato Classic:

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
5 sweet potatoes
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream (I used whole milk)
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar (I used Splenda)
1/2 cup chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
Bake sweet potatoes 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until they begin to soften. Cool slightly, peel, and mash. **Instead of baking the potatoes, I peeled, cubed and boiled them.
In a large bowl, mix the mashed sweet potatoes, salt, 1/4 cup butter, eggs, vanilla extract, cinnamon, sugar, and heavy cream. Transfer to the prepared baking dish.
In a medium bowl, combine 1/4 cup butter, flour, brown sugar, and chopped pecans. Mix with a pastry blender or your fingers to the consistency of course meal. Sprinkle over the sweet potato mixture.
Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until topping is crisp and lightly browned.

Mashed Potatoes:

INGREDIENTS:

6-8 potatoes (I used a mix of red and Yukon Gold) 1 cup whole milk 1/2 cup butter salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Peel the potatoes, removing as many of the eyes as possible with the tip of your peeler.
Submerge the potatoes in a bowl of cold water to keep them from turning brown while you are chopping them.
Cut the potatoes into similar-sized chunks so they will cook evenly: the cubes should be about 1½ to two inches wide.
Use a pot large enough to hold the potatoes with enough water to cover. Add salt, if desired. Place the pot over a high heat and bring the water to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer.
Simmer, covered, until tender--about 15 to 20 minutes. A knife tip inserted into a potato should meet no resistance; if the potato clings to the knife, the potatoes need to cook longer. When potatoes are done, remove from heat and drain immediately.
Let the potatoes sit for a minute to dry and to allow any excess water to drain from the bottom of the colander. Meanwhile, heat the butter and cream in a small saucepan at a low temperature. It was suggested to use a food mill or potato ricer to prepare the potatoes but I found my Kitchen Aid Mixer to work great. Use care: mix the potatoes enough to avoid lumps, but not so much that they take on a sticky, gummy consistency.
Once the potatoes have been mashed, drizzle the butter and cream over potatoes and gently stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Steven's mom prepared the gravy (I was not ready for that yet:)), rolls, and relish tray and Tereasa and the boys made delicious pumpkin, banana cream, and chocolate cream pies for desert...yummy!!!

The Best Lasagna

This is a recipe I found in my Dec./Jan. 2009 Wonder Time magazine. I love lasagna and am always up to seeing if a recipe is better than what I currently make. We had family over for dinner and although the kids did not eat much this night Steven and I really enjoyed it! Inf act, this will be our lasagna recipe of choice until someone presents me with a better one! Definitely worth making. I prepared it the night before and followed the directions exactly however next time I prepare it, I will probably add a carrot or squash puree to the meat sauce (this is the perfect type of recipe for a puree as it is rarely ever detected!) and chopped spinach or chopped broccoli as suggested in the recipe. I did not get a picture this go around but will certainly be making it again so I will add it the next go around. Enjoy this one and if after trying it you think you have a better recipe, please let me know!

Serves 6 to 8

INGREDIENTS:
1 pound ground beef or ground turkey (or cooked chicken, Italian sausage, seafood, andouille, etc.) I used 1 lb. hamburger and 3/4 lbs. italian sausage
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
26 to 28 ounces (about 3 cups) pasta sauce
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons red wine (optional) -I used it
1 cup chicken stock
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons white wine (optional)- I used it
12 ounces (3 cups) freshly grated mozzarella
6 to 8 no-boil lasagna noodles
2 cups cooked, well-drained broccoli, spinach, peas, or other vegetables (optional)
1 cup (about 4 ounces) freshly grated Parmesan

DIRECTIONS:
Heat oven to 400. Grease a 9-by-13-inch pan.
Thoroughly cook the ground beef, garlic, and herbs in a large skillet, stirring frequently and breaking up the meat.
Stir in pasta sauce and bring to a simmer for about 2 minutes. Season to taste and add the red wine, if using. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring chicken stock to a boil. Add cream cheese, turn heat to low, and whisk until smooth, about 6 minutes. Season to taste and add the white wine, if using.
Spoon half the meat sauce into the pan as evenly as possible. Sprinkle 1 cup grated mozzarella over the meat mixture. Top with 3 or 4 lasagna noodles. If using vegetables, toss them evenly over the noodles.
Pour the cream-cheese sauce over the noodles and cover with another cup of grated mozzarella. Arrange 3 or 4 lasagna noodles over the cheese, then spoon remaining meat mixture over noodles as evenly as possible. Top with the rest of the mozzarella and the grated Parmesan.
Bake until brown and bubbling, 35 to 45 minutes. (You'll need the longer cooking time if you have made and chilled the lasagna in advance.) Let cool for 10 to 15 minutes or it will be too gloppy to cut well. That would drive you crazy this late in the game.

Monterrey Ham Italian Pasta

INGREDIENTS:

4 cups pasta shells

Cheese Sauce:

2T margarine or butter

2T flour

1 1/2C milk

1C shredded Monterrey jack cheese

salt/pepper to taste

dash of Worcestershire

Cheese ham mixture:

1C cottage cheese

4oz. softened cream cheese

1 1/2 chopped ham

1 can chopped black olive

1 egg

1/3C fresh basil, loosely chopped

2T Parmesan

salt/pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

Boil noodles and set aside.

For cheese sauce, melt margarine/ butter over medium heat, slowly add flour and stir til smooth. Whisk milk in slowly until well blended and stir constantly until boiling. Add Monterrey cheese and stir until mixed. Set aside.

For ham and cheese mixture: Mix and toss ingredients for mixture.

Toss noodles, sauce and mixture together and place in casserole dish. Bake on 350 for 25 minutes. (serves 8)

Spanish Wheels

This is a quick and easy pasta recipe my family enjoys. We use wagon wheel pasta but any style can be used.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. Hamburger or turkey burger

½ med. Onion

1 clove garlic, minced

1 can (28 oz.) Diced Tomatoes (we like to use the ones with spiced added), undrained

2 cups uncooked wagon wheel pasta

½ tsp. Salt

1 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. chili powder

DIRECTIONS:

In a skillet, cook beef, garlic and onion over med. heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in tomatoes, pasta, salt, sugar and chili powder. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until pasta is tender. Serve with Parmesan cheese on top. (Yield: 4-6 servings)

Tater Tot Casserole

This is a comfort food favorite at our house. Although the tater tots ruin the health factor of this meal I try to at least use lean turkey burger, reduced fat and sodium cream of mushroom soup and lots of vegetable puree.
INGREDIENTS:
1 Lb. lean ground turkey burger
Tater rounds (we really like Winco's generic brand)
1-1/2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
1 can cream of mushroom soup (I like Campbell's healthy request reduced fat/sodium)
1/4- 1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup carrot puree
3/4 cup squash puree
1 cup grated Colby-jack cheese
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 415F
2. Brown meat in large skillet over medium high heat I often season with garlic, salt and pepper.
3. Add milk, soup, purees and frozen vegetables. Simmer till heated.
4. Create a layer of tater rounds on the bottom of a 9X13 baking dish. Evenly spread the meat mixture on top of the tater rounds. Sprinkle with cheese and add a final layer of tater rounds on top. Bake at 415F for 25-30 min.

What's for breakfast?

One of the most important and favorite meals at our house is breakfast and I am always trying to make something new each day of the week for my boys. These are the weekly staple breakfasts to get my boys going each day.

Mason's favorite...Pancakes! We really like the Krusteez brand however we have been trying to buy generic in an effort to save money and really, we can't tell much of a difference. Here are the different add-ins I have tried and liked: blueberries, 1 mashed banana and chopped pecans, (1/4-1/2 cups) pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice, apple sauce and cinnamon. Most pancake mornings also have eggs served on the side for some protein.

One of Garrett's favorites...oatmeal! I buy the old fashioned oats in the bulk section at Winco and prepare it on the stove top. I feel as though all the sugar in the prepackaged flavored oats is too much and unnecessary, here are the add-ins I use for delicious oatmeal (prepared with 1 cup old fashioned oats and 1 1/2 water): 1 mashed banana, frozen blueberries, apple sauce and cinnamon, 1 tsp. Splenda brown sugar and 1/2 tsp. vanilla, sub. apple juice for water and add some cinnamon, pumpkin oatmeal from my Deceptively Delicious cook book.

Our other weekly breakfasts consist of cold cereal (Raisin Bran, Honey Bunches of Oats, Cheerios, and Life are favorites around here), hot cereal-aside from oatmeal we also like Zoom (a wheat cereal) and cream of wheat, french toast, scrambled eggs and toast (usually with cheese sprinkled on top and occasionally diced ham as well), and egg sandwiches (English muffins with egg and cheese)

Cheesy potato, vegetable and ham chowder

This was one of those throw it all in the crock pot and see what you get recipes and it turned out to be quite tasty!

INGREDIENTS:

1 can chicken broth

5 potatoes peeled and diced

2 medium carrots peeled and chopped

1 1/2 cups chopped broccoli

1 Tbs. parsley

shake of nutmeg

shake-shake of pepper

shake of celery salt

shake-shake of onion powder or chopped onion if preferred

8 oz. Velveeta cheese cut up

2 Tbs. butter

1-2 cups diced ham

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cook all ingredients EXCEPT cheese, ham and butter for 3-4 hours on HIGH, longer if using LOW.

2. With a potato smasher or fork, smash 1/2 of the potatoes.

3. Stir in cheese, butter and ham. Cook an additional 30-60 min. or until cheese is melted and ham warmed.

We really enjoyed the thickness of this chowder but add milk or broth to create your desired thickness.

Fettuccini Alfredo with Chicken and Broccoli

INGREDIENTS:
Fettuccine noodles
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into pieces
1 can chicken broth (14.5 oz)
6 oz. cream cheese (I use reduced fat)
6 Tbs. flour
4 Tbs. grated Parmesan Cheese
1 clove garlic
1/4 tsp. pepper

DIRECTIONS:
1. Cook pasta as directed on pasta.
2. Steam broccoli in double boiler.
3. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook chicken and garlic until done.
4. Remove chicken. Mix broth and flour in skillet. Add cream cheese, Parmesan cheese and pepper. Stir constantly until mixture thickens.
5. Chop broccoli. Add broccoli and chicken to cheese mixture. Pour over pasta, toss to coat.
6. Serve with crusty bread and a salad.

Taco Salad

INGREDIENTS:

torn Romain lettuce

ground turkey

taco seasoning

corn

black beans

black olives

avocado

salsa

tortilla chips

salad dressing of choice

DIRECTIONS:
Brown turkey burger and season with taco seasoning.

Layer ingredients on top of the lettuce and top with dressing of your choice- I like ranch, Steven prefers Thousand Island and other possibly even sour cream/salsa.

Meatballs for spaghetti

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. Turkey burger
2 medium carrots finely chopped
¼ onion finely chopped
1 elephant clove of garlic
1 to 1 ½ cup fresh bread crumbs
Shake of Italian bread crumbs
Shake of seasoning salt
Shake of Italian or Pizza seasonings
Fresh Basil finely chopped
About ¼ cup milk
Shake of Parmesan cheese
Handful of Mozz. Cheese

DIRECTIONS:
In food processor, process bread into fine crumbs, pulse in Italian seasonings and set aside. Finely chop or process fresh basil, set aside. Finely process carrots, set aside. Finely process onion and garlic, set aside.

Place turkey burger and ALL ingredients into food processor. Process until combined or combine with hands in bowl (yuck!). With medium scoop, make balls and put in large pan. Cover with spaghetti sauce and simmer 30-40 min. or until done. Serve over warm whole wheat spaghetti noodles.

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

This was a perfectly tender roast that I am sure to make again!

INGREDIENTS:

1 roast ( I used what I had in the freezer)

1 pkg. Lipton Onion Soup Mix

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1/3 cup red cooking wine

1/4 cup water

Carrots

Potatoes (I used a sweet potato)

Apple

DIRECTIONS:

1. Season roast with salt and pepper, coat with flour. Sear all sides in a hot skillet.

2. Place roast and all dripping in crock pot.

3. Mix Onion soup mix, cream of mushroom soup, red cooking wine, and water. Pour over roast.

4. Cover and cook 8 hours on LOW.

5. Chop vegetables and add during the the last 2-3 hours of cook time.

Chicken Stir Fry

This is one of our favorite stir fry recipes. Because I am often short on time, I use a bag of frozen stir fry veggies but know it would be even better with fresh! This turns out to be the perfect portion for our family of four.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, diced

1-2 Tbs. oil

1 bag frozen stir fry vegetables

1 Tbs. melted butter

1 cup apple juice or cider

2 Tbs. Dijon mustard

1 Tbs. corn starch

1 Tbs. brown sugar

salt, pepper and paprika to taste

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, season and cook chicken pieces until done.

2. Put chicken in a bowl, cover with foil and set aside. While the chicken is cooking combine butter, apple juice, mustard, corn starch and brown sugar.

3. Stir fry the veggies in the oil until crisp-tender.

4. Add chicken and sauce. Simmer until thickened.

Serve over steamed rice.

Slow cooker Italian Beef Sandwiches

I got this recipe off one of my favorite recipe sites, http://www.allrecipes.com/. I served it with homemade sweet potato fries and a salad. Yummy!

INGREDIENTS 3 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon onion salt
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 bay leaf
1 (.7 ounce) package dry Italian-style salad dressing mix
1 (5 pound) rump roast
sliced or shredded mozz. cheese

DIRECTIONS
Combine water with salt, ground black pepper, oregano, basil, onion salt, parsley, garlic powder, bay leaf, and salad dressing mix in a saucepan. Stir well, and bring to a boil.
Place roast in slow cooker, and pour salad dressing mixture over the meat.
Cover, and cook on Low for 10 to 12 hours, or on High for 4 to 5 hours. When done, remove bay leaf, and shred meat with a fork. Serve on a bun of your choice with cheese on top.

Turkey Chili

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb. Turkey burger
2 cans diced tomatoes(coarsely puree one of the cans)
2 cans chili beans (pinto beans with spices)
1 can black beans
1 can corn
Tomato sauce
2 Tbs. Chili powder
Pinch of allspice
1 Tbs. Cumin
Pinch of pepper
1 clove garlic
Onion powder

2 pieces thick cut bacon

DIRECTIONS:

1. Season and brown turkey burger with the garlic, a shake of salt, pepper, onion, and chili powder.

2. Cook bacon, cut up into small pieces.
3. Coarsely puree one can of the diced tomatoes.
4. Add remaining ingredients and simmer.
5. Serve over steamed rice with grated cheese and sour cream.

This would be a great recipe for the crock pot!