Slow Cooker Pot Roast

This week was my first experience with Bountiful Baskets. I now have a fridge full of fresh veggies and fruit and I have had to figure out meals to use them.  I got so excited when there was a 5 pound bag of red potatoes in my basket.  I LOVE RED POTATOES.  Then I got the itch to make a pot roast with them.  Even though the meat cost me a small fortune (and I got the cheapest kind... chuck roast), I went for it.  I found a slow cooker recipe on Allrecipes.com that has thousands of reviews and decided to try it.  I threw some red potatoes in with the meat, put the slow cooker on low and let it cook for almost 10 hours.  The meat didn't fall apart with tenderness and so I was worried it wouldn't be good.  It was though! It was delicious!  And the red potatoes were my favorite with the sauce.  It was a wonderful Sunday dinner.  This couldn't get any easier to make - definitely give it a try sometime soon!

Here's the recipe.

Pioneer Woman's Oatmeal Crispies

YUM!  I made these cookies over the weekend and they are so good.  They are really basic, which I like, and you can freeze the logs of cookie dough for up to 3 months.  I have a log in the freezer and don't think I'll make it a week before baking up the next batch.

For a basic, sort-of-healthy-maybe-kinda cookie recipe, this one is great!

Pina Colada Sorbet

I just purchased an ice cream maker bowl for my KitchenAid.  I came across this Pina Colada Sorbet recipe on Skinny Taste and knew it was meant to be my first ever attempt in the ice cream maker.  The preparation couldn't be easier (unless you use canned pineapple I guess).  You just make the mixture the day before, put it in the fridge (I just kept it right in the blender) for at least 8 hours and then put it in your ice cream maker per your specific machine's instructions.  My mixer attachment took 12 minutes to make this into a sorbet & then I let it freeze for about 3 hours before enjoying.

OH MY GAAAAHHHH, this is AMAZING!  First of all, it tastes like a tropical dream in your mouth. Second, it is so easy.  I am so happy I bought the KitchenAid attachment - it's going to bring us happiness for many years to come.

If you have an ice cream maker and if you like pina coladas....... THIS is a MUST!  I can't wait to eat some more tonight.

P.S. I made mine without rum.

Crock Pot Chicken Enchilada Soup

THIS soup is so so good!  It takes very little prep.  I prepped everything the night before and then in the morning before work I put the crock pot on "low".  When I got home 8 1/2 hours later my house smelled super yummy!  I served it with avocado, sour cream, cheese and tortilla chip crumbs from the bottom of the bag.  This is a healthy recipe (until you pile on all the crap like I did) and is really filling too.  I will DEFINITELY make this again!

Sooo yummy!

Chicken Panini with Spinach, Provolone and Chipotle Mayo

I made this recipe from skinnytaste.com last night.  It was so easy to make and gave me a good reason to pull out my panini maker.

Chicken Panini with Spinach, Provolone and Chipotle Mayo

Ingredients for two sandwiches (adapted from this recipe):

• 2 tbsp mayonnaise
• 2 tsp chipotle in adobo sauce (or to taste)
• 4 pieces whole grain artisan wheat bread
• 2 thin grilled chicken cutlets
• 2 slices provolone
• Baby spinach
• Cooking spray

Directions:

Combine mayonnaise and chipotle pepper sauce in a small bowl. You can use any hot sauce, sriracha or chipotle tabasco would also work; season to your taste.

Spread the spicy mayonnaise inside the bread. Lay the provolone cheese, grilled chicken and baby spinach in the bread; close and lightly spray the top with cooking spray. 

Place on a panini press and close until the cheese melts and the bread is toasted.Cut in half and eat immediately.

This was pretty delicious and fast to make.  Next time I'd use a little more chipotle sauce to make the mayo more spicy and flavorful.  Highly recommended! (You'll definitely want thin chicken for this - big fat chicken pieces just don't work).

Pioneer Woman's Biscuits

I made these with Chicken Fried Steak and gravy.  They were super easy and made a large batch.  They're pretty yummy, although I don't like using margarine.  We have a lot leftover that we're just snacking on like cookies. Yum!

HERE'S her recipe.

Pioneer Woman's Chicken Fried Steak

I made Pioneer Woman's Chicken Fried Steak for our Sunday meal this week.  It was very easy to make and didn't take much time.  My husband really liked it... I wasn't a huge fan of the cube steak texture.  I made gravy for the first time and her tutorial made it EXTREMELY easy.  I can't believe it's that easy!  If you like cube steak, I think you'll like this recipe.  If not, don't make it.  Also - this recipes makes a TON.  I'm so glad that I cut it in half so we didn't have a ton of cube steak lying around for leftovers.  Bleh.

HERE'S HER RECIPE.  I served it with her BISCUITS.

Crockpot Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole

This couldn't get easier.  I just threw everything in the crockpot before I went to bed and by morning it was perfectly ready.  I think the reason it turned out so delicious was because I used a spicy cheese (hot pepper blend).  DEFINITELY USE A SPICY-ISH CHEESE!  It wouldn't be as flavorful otherwise.  We ate it plain, with ketchup and some people used Cholula on it.  Easy peasy.

HERE IS THE RECIPE.  This is perfect to throw in on a Friday night at midnight- to have a hot breakfast with no  fuss on a weekend morning.

Pioneer Woman's Nantucket Cranberry Pie

I was at the grocery store and I saw a bag of cranberries on sale for $.50.  I had no reason to buy them but they looked so pretty and they were on sale... so I grabbed them.  Then I had to find something to make with them so I googled "pioneer woman cranberry" and sure enough, this "pie" came up.  It's not very pie-like, though.  It is however, AMAZING.  Everyone I fed it to was dying over it... it's one of the desserts I've made that's gotten the most compliments.  It is super easy to make and takes about 10 minutes prep.  I will definitely make this again because I love getting compliments on my food!  I served it with homemade whipped cream.  There are two slices left and I am dreaming of the moment I get to devour another slice.  Pioneer Woman does it again (surprise, surprise)!

HERE IS HER RECIPE.

Chicken Breasts a l'Orange

I made this French chicken dish from the Good Housekeeping cookbook.  It was relatively easy and fast to make - although chicken always takes longer to cook for me than recipes say they should.  Next time I would make sure the chicken breasts were thinner - mine were pretty fat and I'm sure that's why they took so long to cook through.  I found that two oranges didn't produce quite enough juice so I used orange juice I had in the fridge.  Maybe I just didn't squeeze hard enough though.  This was really flavorful & I liked it a lot.  I served it with a flavored rice and next time I'd probably serve it with a rice that was more neutral.

HERE IS THE ONLINE RECIPE.

It's fun to branch out and try these new types of recipes!

Slow Cooker Chicken Tagine

My goal this year is to branch out ethnically in my kitchen.  I probably overdo Mexican, Italian and American.  I started the year out with this Moroccan dish from a new cookbook my mom gave me by Good Housekeeping.  They happened to have the recipe online as well.  HERE IT IS!

This is seriously easy to make. The only thing that took time and gave me trouble was cutting the butternut squash (super annoying!).  I just threw it all in the crock pot and cooked for 8 hours on low and served it with a boxed couscous mix.  My husband LOVED this and said it tasted very much like the meal we had in a restaurant in Morocco.  I was very happy with that compliment.

If you're looking to branch out - definitely try this!

Pioneer Woman's Enchiladas

It was time to break the holiday funk and start making homemade meals again.  I made Pioneer Woman's Enchiladas on Sunday.  I wouldn't call them hard... but I wouldn't call them easy either.  They take some time because you have to fry the corn tortillas one by one.  Without that step, I would say they are easy to make.  They turned out really delicious, especially doused in sour cream.  I would definitely recommend these and make them again!  I love Mexican food.