What a Crock!

It’s WAY past time for my new posting of “What a Crock”!  I have been so busy lately.  Thank God for this new crock potting adventure or there would never be enough hours in the day and we may all go hungry.  Here are the new recipes I have found that are definitely worthy of posting.  Some I discovered, created, or  modified to perfection.

Brown Country Fried Steak

6-7  cube steaks
1 teaspoon black pepper
½ chopped onion
¾ cup all purpose flour
2 tablespoons butter
1 minced clove garlic
1 ⅓ cups water
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules

1 can of mushrooms (optional)

Mix the salt and pepper into the flour and dredge the steak with this mixture.

Brown the coated steaks in the skillet in the butter or on the grill, then add them to the crockpot.

Combine the onion, garlic, water, soup, beef bouillon granules, and pour this mixture over the meat and add mushrooms.

Cover the crockpot and cook for 4 hours on low or until the meat is tender.

Dulce de Leche

1 can of sweetened condensed milk

Place the can in the crockpot (place a can on top of a saucer to avoid getting a ring at the bottom), fill it with water until it covers the can, turn the crockpot on low and cook for 6-8 hours (depending on your crockpot).   You will be amazed!

Swiss Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste

8 slices of Swiss cheese

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 soup can water

1 pkg. Stove Top stuffing

1/4 C. margarine

1 1/2 C. water

Cut chicken breasts in half and season both sides well.  Place in crock pot and cover each chicken breast half with a slice of swiss cheese.  Mix cream of chicken soup and 1/2 soup can of water; pour over cheese and chicken.   Prepare the stuffing as directed on the box using the 1/4 C. margarine and 1 1/2 C. water.  Spread stuffing over the top of the chicken.  Cook on Low for 6 hours.  EXCELLENT!

Sweet Meatballs

1 bag of premade meatballs

1 small jar of grape jelly

1 jar of Heinz chili sauce

Combine all ingredients in crock pot and cook on low for 4 hours, adjust according to your crock pot.  Be careful not to overcook, I have noticed that anything precooked or with sugar in it tends to burn.  These are REALLY good if you figure out the cooking time.

Crock Pot Sloppy Joes

1 lb hamburger meat (frozen or thawed)

¼ chopped onion

1 package sloppy Joe seasoning

1 6oz. can tomato paste

1 ¼ c water

1 packing hamburger buns

Combine hamburger (I throw a frozen lb in there) meat and onion in crock pot, cook on high for two hours and chop/combine.  Drain hamburger meat if necessary, add seasoning, tomato paste and water.  Cook for another two hours.  Enjoy, the kids love this easy meal.

BBQ Crock Pot Chicken

4-6 pieces boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used frozen)
1 bottle BBQ sauce (sweet baby ray's)
1/4 c vinegar
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 c brown sugar
1/2 - 1 tsp. garlic powder

Mix BBQ sauce with all ingredients listed under it. Place chicken in crockpot. Pour sauce over it and cook on LOW for 4-6 hours.  Great BBQ Chicken and easy peasy!

What a Crock!

As promised I am posting only the very best crock pot meals I have discovered, modified, or created since my crock pot challenge began at the beginning of the year.  I am 17 days in and loving this challenge.  My family loves the food and I can’t complain about not slaving away at the stove!  The meals are glorious and dinner dishes are a dream!  I don’t have the crock pot liners but if I did I would almost feel guilty ;o).  So here it goes, these are the top shelf recipes so far.  I will be blogging about every two weeks.  The title will always be What a Crock.

Chicken & Dumplings

boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used 2 very large ones)

2 tablespoons butter

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 can chicken broth

1 onion diced

1 tablespoon dried parsley

5 grands flaky refrigerator biscuits cut into bite size pieces

Place chicken in crock pot

Add the butter, cream of chicken soup,chicken broth,onions,& parsley

Cook on high for 4-6 hours

Add biscuit pieces and cook for an additional 30 minutes

Melisa’s Chicken Marsala

2 lbs of Chicken Breast
1 package of dry Italian dressings

1/4 cup chopped onion

4oz of sour cream

1 small can of mushrooms

1 can of Campbell’s Golden mushroom

3 tablespoons of butter

Mix all ingredients except chicken in crock pot

Add chicken and cover well

Cook on high for 3 hours and then warm for another 1 hour


Orange Chicken

boneless chicken breasts, chopped into small chunks

1/3 cup flour

olive oil

1/2 T salt

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

3 T ketchup

6 oz. frozen orange juice concentrate (thaw or throw it in the microwave for 45 seconds)

4 T brown sugar

In a bowl, mix the orange juice, brown sugar, vinegar, salt, and ketchup.

Pour the flour in a small bowl.

Cover the chicken breast chunks in flour and shake off the excess.

Pour a small amount of olive oil in a skillet and brown the flour-covered chicken.  The chicken doesn't need to be fully cooked since it's going in the crock pot.

After the chicken is done cooking, pour the pieces into the crock pot.

Then cover the chicken with your sauce mixture and give the pot a stir.

Cook on warm for 3-4 hours.

Serve over rice and even add veggies if you want a healthier meal.

Beef Stroganoff

2 pounds cubed stew meat

2 cans Condensed Golden Mushroom Soup

1 largish onion diced

2-3-4 tablespoons of Worcestershire

1/2 cup water

8 oz of cream cheese

couple of dashes of Garlic Salt (1 tsp?)

couple dashes of Hot Paprika

In the slow cooker stir in all the ingredients, except the meat AND the Cream Cheese, together. Once combined add the meat and mix together.

Cook on Low for 8 hours. Cut up the cream cheese into cubes just before serving and turn crockpot on high. Stir the cream cheese in until all combined. You might have to put the lid back on and leave for 10 minutes.

Serve over egg noodles. Or mashed potatoes

Ranch Pork Chops

6 pork chops, 1/2 inch thick

1 packet dry Ranch Dressing Seasoning

10 oz can Cream of Chicken Soup

4 lbs peeled, cubed potatoes

5 Tablespoons real butter

1 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

1- 1 1/2 Cups warm milk

1 Tablespoon salt, or to taste

1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper, or to taste

Place pork chops, Ranch seasoning and soup into a medium sized crock pot over high heat for 4 hours or low heat for 6 hours.

Place potatoes into a large pot of cold water (I steam them in the top of my rice cooker). Place onto stove top over high heat and bring to a boil. Once water is boiling, cook for 10-12 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender. Drain and transfer to the work bowl of a stand or electric mixer. Mix on low until potatoes are mashed then add butter, Parmesan, garlic, milk, salt and pepper. Season to taste if needed. For thinner mashed potatoes add more milk, slowly until your desired consistency.

Scoop mashed potatoes onto serving plates and top with pork chops and soup gravy from crock pot. I put a little parsley on top to serve.

Italian Beef Sandwiches

1 large roast (fat trimmed if needed)

1 package Good Seasons Italian dressing

1/4 cup vinegar

1 Tbs. sugar

1-2 cans chicken broth (I used 1)

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 package brown gravy mix (mixed with 1 cup water)

1 green pepper, sliced

1 small jar pepperoccinis with juice (I used half)

Poke the meat with a fork or knife and put it in the crockpot.  Mix all the ingredients and pour over the meat.  Let it marinade overnight or cook it right away on low for 8-10 hours.  Or, be like me and don’t fix it until lunch time then crank it up on high and cook it for 5-6 hours.

Shred the meat and serve on hoagie buns (I used Cuban bread) Yummy with the peppers and sauce for dipping.

Crock Pot Italian Chicken

2-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (thawed or frozen would work.  I used frozen chicken and it was amazing and hassle free!)

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 pkg. dry Italian dressing seasoning

rice or pasta

Place chicken in crock pot.

Mix softened cream cheese, cream of chicken and Italian Seasoning together and dump evenly over chicken.

Cook on high for 4-6 hours or until chicken is fully cooked and tender.

Serve over rice or pasta!  I used the chicken herb butter rice.

Commitment “NO” Clutter

One of my biggest pet peeves is clutter.  Unfortunately, when you have three children clutter just magically materializes.  Another dilemma to this growing disarray is that as mothers, we seem to be the only ones who care about this annoying untidiness.  I came across a 2012 de-clutter calendar in December.  I am delighted that someone has come up with a way to keep my life simple.  I have incorporated this calendar into my New Years pledge.   I officially printed out January and had to catch up on 8 days worth of de-cluttering.   In just less than two hours I set up a donation station in the garage, cleaned out and organized my bathroom cabinet, organized my spices, organized my can-food pantry, cleaned out a top shelf in my kitchen and re-organized it, organized my cleaning station and blogged about it all while cooking dinner, taking care of kids and doing laundry.  I feel fantastic!  This is my first full day at home after arriving back from vacation and I feel great about the New Year. I will be blogging soon with the very best recipes of my 365 days of crock pot cooking.

The Happy Blended Family

Dr. Phil’s 7 Rules of Step-Parent Etiquette

1. The biological parent should handle direct discipline.

2. The Step-parent should be an active participant in supporting decisions of the biological parent.

3. The Step-parent should seek to define his/her role as an ally or supporter.  This in no way should be construed as an attempt to replace the biological parent not living in the home.

4. Step-parent should not have unrealistic expectations regarding the level of closeness or intimacy with the step children.

5. The Step mother/father should actively support the child’s close relationship with the biological mother or father that is no longer in the home.

6. Don’t play favorites; negotiate time, money, and activities between biological and non-biological children equally.

7.  If you, as a biological parent, are having issues with how a step-parent is handling parenting; address the issue early on.  Stop complaining and ask for what you specifically want or need for them to do or not do.

Goo-fing Around

I love doing activities with the kids.  Doing things at the house that we have the ingredients for or that easily fit into our budget.  I get so excited watching them work with their hands and use their imagination.  I have recently found a website that provides me with an endless amount of projects to do with them.   One of the projects they really enjoyed and super cheap was making Goo.  The kids easily made this with my supervision and were busy for hours playing with it.  They spent the next few days toting it around and showing it off.  The other project that I did with Payton was making a Lego Christmas snow globe.  We only used materials we had and he loved his new creation.  We also made tootsie roll jars as Christmas gifts for his teachers and elf donuts.  If you would like instructions on any of the projects let me know on facebook and I would be happy to send them to you.  You will have lots of fun doing them, maybe more than your kids. :o)

Little Snow Flakes are Glad Today

Little snowflakes are glad today
For the wind is blowing them up to play
There falling here , and there falling there
Oh little snowflakes your everywhere

We arrived around 8:00 pm after a 2 hour detour around the mountain.  The road was closed due to snow and ice.  The kids were really disappointed due to the detour but forgot all about their disappointment when they arrived at the cabin to find snow covered mountains.  They had a snow ball fight, made snow angels, and made a snow man.  They also sat in the hot tub while lovely snow flakes fell from the sky.  It was the first time either one of them had experienced "real" snow that they could remember.  They thought this was the most wonderful thing in the world!  They begged us to move here.  Bill and I, on the other hand, have lived in cold snowy areas and know that it is no winter wonderland when you live in them.  It is great for vacationing!

Competent Christian

I cannot tell you how often I have seen scripture taken out of context.  The bible really is a tool of interpretation and depending on how Christians or non-Christians want to use it, it can be twisted, taken out of context and used to their advantage.  I consider myself a Christian.  I go to church and I take what I believe as truth combined with common sense as “The Word”.   I understand that when scripture is being quoted it is not much different than law; it is being quoted based on that person’s interpretation.  I have the right to my interpretation of scripture based on my relationship with God AND my common sense.   I call myself a Competent Christian because I do not “sit” and wait for God’s miracles.  I have already received them, my unwavering strength, intelligence, and perseverance.  I welcome his miracles and glorify him in the meantime by using my God given abilities to be self-reliant.  God is expecting us to use these blessings that he has already given us.  I don’t believe that the many scriptures referring to trusting in God and not in man or yourself means that we are negated from using our amazing gifts that we have already been blessed with or justify us from getting off our fannies and working hard like our Savior did.  If you’re waiting for a miracle to improve your life get off your fanny and glorify your savior by using the blessings you have already been given, stop using religion to justify you’re lack of motivation or laziness.  Maybe that is what is taking so long; he is still waiting for you to realize that you are not using the abilities that he has already blessed you with.  It will likely glorify your savior and help your family more than you know.

Gonuts for Donuts!

I Wish I was a Donut

I wish I was a donut
And get eaten every day
To stick on someone's fingers
In a most delightful way

I wish I was a donut
Sugar coated just for fun
Full and round for easy grip
And a hole to put your tongue

I wish I was a donut
Long and filled with custard cream
Delicious on the taste buds
A succulent silken dream

Recipe

All you need to make your own homemade donuts is canned refrigerated biscuits, a rolling pin (or use hands to flatten) and a small circle cookie cutter. (I used a medicine cup from cold medicine)...plus oil to fry your donuts and whatever glaze or toppings you want. I mixed up a traditional glaze with powdered sugar and milk. It is also helpful to have a cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet to catch all the gooey drips of glaze while your donut is cooling. Use your rolling pin (or hands) and roll out the biscuit dough trying to keep it in as round as possible. Then use the small circle cookie cutter (or anything round) to cut out the middle of the donut. Save the centers and you can make your own donut holes too:) The next step is to fry the donuts. Be sure to fry on low temp to ensure you dont over cook on the outside and the inside gets cooked. Watch carefully and when you see the bottom half of the donut start to brown, flip them over to brown the other side. Take them out of the oil and drain on a paper towel for a few seconds. Now it's time to glaze. Simply toss the warm donut into your glaze and give it a few flips to make sure the whole thing is coated and add your sprinkles while the glaze is still wet.

Kids loved this and had so much fun. Say goodbye to Dunkin Donuts! You will have a great time doing this with your kids. It's fun, cheap and they a treat to the taste buds.

The Divided Heart - For the Love of a Child

With the New Year brings new hope.  In 2012 I committed to rekindling important friendships that had died or ended due to complicated life situations.  The New Year has proven that new beginnings are truly born.   Proof that people really can move past difficulties and still confide and communicate with one another when there has been pain between them.  These beginnings will not only create peace for me but most importantly one of my most treasured possessions, my son.  The last month has been so rewarding having open communication without tension and interference.   Feels like old times again.  It has continued to improve by leaps and bounds into the New Year.     

Tallest Tree House in the World – Crossville TN

A tree house, a free house,
A secret you and me house,
A high up in the leafy branches
Cozy as can be house

A street house, a neat house
Be sure to wipe your feet house
I not my kind of house at all- Let's go live in a tree house.

-      Silverstein

Today, January 4, 2012 we took the kids to this amazing tree house a few hours from our cabin.  A minister, Horace Burgess, believed that God had spoken to him to build the tree house in 1993.  He was assured that he would never run out of materials or pay for them.  Now in 2012, the tree house is 10 stories tall and officially the tallest tree house in the world.

The kids had the most incredible time in this amazing creation!  There is not much more to say!  Just see the pictures.

The Lego Engineer

This holiday season Bill and I were in search of the perfect gift for each of the kids.  Since this year would be similar to last year, funds were limited and we needed to find something one of a kind.  It meant that we would have to create a gift that would tap into each child’s most treasured hobby. 

This was a no brainer for Payton. LEGOS LEGOS LEGOS!!!  Payton is an artist, creator and engineer at heart.  He loves his Legos and has over 2ooo of them.  He builds ships, houses, cars, sets, and just about anything you can think of.  His favorite pieces are the little people.   

However, a man is not complete without his workbench.  Bill, Shay and I got to work constructing the perfect Lego engineering table.  It was a super fun project to see come together.  Payton was elated when he saw his new work space and all his Legos in perfect order.  We didn’t see him or Shay for at least 8 hours after he got his table.  They spent hours creating a Lego city from scratch.

Our New Year’s Family Tree

Every year Christmas is celebrated with the erection of the infamous Christmas tree, adorned with beautiful decorations as a celebration and recognition of Christ’s birth.   An angel or star is often placed at the top of the tree representing the host of angels or the Star of Bethlehem to celebrate our savior.

Our family is on our annual vacation in Tennessee for the New Year.  The town is still seeping with holiday spirit and the cabin is snowy and feeling like Christmas.  In the spirit of the New Year we came up with a way to celebrate the New Year, Christmas and our family that everyone was crazy about.   Erect a new year’s tree that represented our family.

Payton, the eldest and only son, was in charge of locating and chopping down our family tree.   Shay, the youngest daughter, was in charge of our tree topper and tree stand.  The family decided what the process, decorations and New Year’s Tree meant to us.

Red Bow Tree Topper – represents the tie that binds our family

The blender tree stand – represents our blended family

Finding and cutting the tree – represents finding a new path and leaving old habits behind

Gold Balls – represent the growth our family will experience in the New Year

Candy Canes – represent a J for Jesus:  our resolution as a family to have more Jesus in our lives for the New Year