Recipe: crockpot pork chops

You guys! I made the best dinner ever yesterday. So, Keith has been REALLY busy this semester with his promotion at work and a harder semester at school and now, his show got picked up for another run; we barely see each other!So, I haven't felt like cooking much for just one and I have been making easy food. So, this weekend I wanted to try something new (and still easy)

Okay, I didn't take any photos of the making, just the finished product. So, here's what you need!

• 4-6 pork chops (I got boneless)
• 1 can of cream of chicken soup
• 1 can of chicken broth (we got organic, low sodium)
• 1 packet of brown gravy
• 1 packet of onion soup 
• Crockpot

Put the pork chops in the bottom of the crockpot.  In a bowl, mix the other ingredients together until its all blended. Pour the mixture over the pork chops. Cook in the crockpot for about 8 to 10 hours on low, or until the pork is tender and ready to fall apart. I cooked ours for 8 hours on low. Then I also served with homemade mashed potatoes and zucchini.  Of course use the gravy from the crockpot on top of the mashed potatoes. DELICIOUS.

Keith said this is one of the best meals I have ever made and it was so so so easy.

Anyway! Enjoy.

Recipe: Crockpot Creamy Italian Chicken

Keith and I are doing a lot better on our resolution to eat at home. We have been cooking more and eating up leftovers, which is always the hard part for me. We want to lose weight and save up some money to travel soon, so we thought eating at home could help with both of those things.

I'm going to jump right into it. Here is today's recipe for Crockpot Creamy Italian Chicken.

You need:

• A crockpot
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 1 italian seasoning package
• 1 block of cream cheese (we used light)
• 2 cans of cream of chicken soup

 Place chicken in crockpot, put seasoning on top of it. Then mix in cream cheese and soup. Cook on high for 4 hours or until chicken is cooked all the way. Serve on rice or noodles. 


This recipe was one I got from my mom. Over the fall we visited my parents and my mom served this for dinner, but used rice instead of noodles. It was delicious, but I prefer egg noodles myself.

Enjoy! :)

Recipe: Crockpot Mac and Cheese

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I know there hasn't been a blog post in awhile, I had some personal things come up and wanted to deal with them away from the computer. Keith and I changed our plans and ended up heading to my parents to celebrate Thanksgiving. After a normal 5 hour drive turned into a 8 hour drive, we finally got to Detroit.

We had a small dinner, only my mom and dad and Keith and I. My sister, brother-in-law and niece were visiting his mother, and we all needed a small dinner since only a week ago we gathered to say goodbye to my Grandpa. So, my mom and dad cooked a feast for us! Look at the spread.

However, I wanted to share with you my contribution. I made the best mac and cheese in the crockpot. And lucky you, I am willing to share my recipe!

What you need:
-One box of noodles, I used cavatappi this time but shells also are good
-2 cans of Cheddar Cheese Soup
-4 tablespoons of butter
-1/2 cup of sour cream
-1 bag of Colby jack cheese shredded
-1.5 cans of milk
-salt and pepper

Okay, now how do you cook it?
1.) Add noodles to a pot of boiling water. ONLY COOK FOR 6 MINUTES. You don't want to over cook, trust me
2.) Spray the crockpot with cooking spray. Put in the cheddar cheese soup. Measure out a can and half of milk and put that in. Place butter in and sour cream and mix well.
3.) Add noodles and stir well. Add salt and pepper to season
4.) Cook for about an hour on low. Then add bag of cheese and turn crockpot to high setting for 45 minutes.

Do not overcook the macaroni, I cooked it for about an hour and 45 minutes. If you overcook it, the noodles turn all mushy. I have done this recipe twice now and both times it turned out great! It was a big hit at thanksgiving and was always requested for an upcoming family weekend.

Enjoy!

Fall Recipe: Crockpot Apple Cider

It is officially fall! However, Illinois did not get the memo and it has been around 80 degrees all week. No sweatshirt weather here, which is my favorite kind of weather. Keith is back to full time work and full time school, so our visiting hours are very limited. He asked if we could go to the apple orchard after work on Saturday, but everything closes at 6 and he didn't get home until 5:30. So, I decided to bring it to him. I went to the farmer's market in town and picked up two cider mill donuts. Then I made a pot of apple cider in my crockpot. It was super easy and really, really delicious.

Recipe: Crockpot Apple Cider

Ingredients: 

• Apple juice (since it was only two of us, we got a small one)
• Cinnamon sticks
• Caramel Syrup
• Crockpot
• Mulling spices (optional, but delicious)

So, how do I make this delicious beverage?
Pour the apple juice into the crockpot. I have done this for a large crowd and used around 2.5 large bottles of apple juice, but this time it was only us so we went with a small bottle. Then add cinnamon sticks. Again, this depends on your crowd, for our small bottle we only put one in, for a larger bottle I would add 2. So, for around 2.5 of the larger bottles I added about 5 or 6 sticks in there. I also put in a tablespoon of mulling spices for good measure. Put the crockpot on high for about 1 hours, then low for 1 hour. (or you could do low for 3 hours, it's just to get the cinnamon and mulling spice flavor spread out through the drink).

When its time to serve, I had to use a ladle and a sieve, to get out the larger pieces. Some recipes will tell you to put the caramel syrup into the crockpot and let it cook. I did that last time and it became almost like a pulp and didn't add anything for me. This time, I poured the warm apple cider in a mug, then put in the caramel syrup into my mug. It worked like a charm.

Optional, again: Keith and I had some caramel apple flavored vodka we had laying around and since we were staying in for the night decided to add some of that to our drinks. The result was delicious. But again, you need to drink responsibly and be over 21 to indulge :) 

Well, I am ready for the fall and hope you are now too with this recipe. Cheers.