Chicken Millicent

Here is a delicious Crock dish that everyone will love. It's 5 ingredients and you can come home after finishing up that last minute shopping to a dinner that's warm, filling, and delicious.

Chicken Breasts or thighs
1 pkg dry spaghetti sauce mix
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 4oz can sliced mushrooms, drained

Put chicken in slow cooker. Combine spaghetti mix and wine, pour over chicken. Add mushrooms, then tomatoes. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 7 hours.

Buffalo Chicken in the Crock

I'm not a big fan of restaurants. We hardly eat out...except for the occasional pizza pie. But there's a great little "Irish pub" just down the street that has a fabulous buffalo chicken sandwich. I love a mild buffalo sauce, so that sandwich suits me perfectly.

When I make my own I like being able to modify the "heat" based on the addition of sauce vs. butter ratio and I like cooking this in the crock because instead of fried chicken like traditional "buffalo" I can use boneless skinless chicken.

Try it for yourself. It's great for a football party! Invite your friends over for the game and serve this alongside potato salad or coleslaw. YUM!!

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 (17.5 oz.) bottle buffalo wing sauce, divided
1/2 (1 oz) package dry ranch salad dressing mix
2 tablespoons butter
6 hoagie rolls, split lengthwise

Place the chicken breasts into a slow cooker, and pour in 3/4 of the wing sauce and the ranch dressing mix. Cover, and cook on Low for 6 to 7 hours.
Once the chicken has cooked, add the butter, and shred the meat finely with two forks. Pile the meat onto the hoagie rolls, and splash with the remaining buffalo wing sauce to serve.

Game Day Stew

This morning I was awake before the sun came up because it's soccer tournament day! It should be outlawed to rise so early on a Saturday when it's 43 degrees out. Tournament days are full of excitement!! The Hurricanes were ready to play; clothed in their bright uniform shirts and their red and white tie-dye socks. We are so blessed with a wonderful team of girls, the BEST coach, and an always-willing-to-help group of parents. Game 1 tied. Game 2 a HUGE win of 4 to 1. Game 3...sad loss. But that didn't kill our spirit...custom hurricane tattoos, a "tailgate party", plenty of snacks, drinks, and chill time made our day fantastic.

Check out this great shot I got of my sweet Izz!

We were all wiped out after a long morning at the field. On game days, it's so nice to come home to a simmering crock of stew with some nice crusty bread.

Here's a recipe for a hearty stew with great flavor and it's so simple. A hot stew in the fall is just the ticket whether it's soccer day, a football party, or just family night.

1.5 pounds of beef stew meat
4 potatoes peeled and cut into chunky pieces
1/2 cup of chopped onion
1/2 cup water
salt and pepper
1 can (28 oz) of bbq baked beans
1 cup of bbq sauce

Place beef, potatoes, onion, and water in the bottom of your slow cooker, season with salt and pepper, top with beans and bbq sauce. Cook on low for 8 hours or until beef is tender.

What goes better with soup or stew than a sandwich? I have an assortment of cookie cutters for all occasions. The kids are crazy about these little ghostly sammies :)

PBJ, Tuna, or cold cuts are perfect for cutting these cute shapes. And let's face it, shaped food is more fun to eat.

Chicken Ricardo

I had started making Chicken Rrrricardo (emphasis on the R...roll it for the full effect). BUT, when I got home and finally settled down to check on it, I realized the crock pot had become unplugged. Can you say....frustrating??

So, I dumped an entire dinner in the trash, because let's face it....chicken that sat in a crock all day is just uncool.

My emergency substitution is Chili and cornbread. Eh, it'll do.

I still wanted to share it with you, even if it's not tonight's dinner!!
Chicken Ricardo
1 package of boneless Chicken Thighs (You can use breast meat or a mixture, whatever your family likes.)
1 can Rotel tomatoes and chilis
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can of black beans (drained)
2 cups of shredded cheese
1 cup of sour cream

Place everything in crock pot except for the sour cream. Cook on low for 6 hours. Stir in sour cream. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. This is a great filling for tortillas if you shred the chicken, you can serve it with Spanish rice and a salad for a great meal.

Enjoy!!

Cheesy Crock Pot Ravioli

This couldn't be easier! You want the taste of lasagna without having the time to put it all together?? Try this quick slow cooker version of this Italian favorite!! This is a great recipe for a pot luck or a family dinner.

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepan, saute 1 clove of minced garlic and 1/2 finely chopped onion until the onion is tender. Add 1 can/jar of your favorite prepared pasta sauce and a 15 ounce can of tomato sauce. Season with Oregano, Basil and parsley.

Spray your slowcooker with nonstick spray, place 1 cup of sauce mixture in the bottom, add 1 package (25 oz) of frozen cheese ravioli. Top with 1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese and dollops of ricotta cheese. Top with more sauce and layer another package of ravioli, cheese and the rest of the sauce.

Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours.

4 Ingredients To Chocolate Heaven

Fudge Boy Chocolate Cake:

1 pkg. (3.9 oz.) JELL-O Chocolate Instant Pudding
3 cups cold milk
1 pkg. chocolate fudge cake mix
1 pkg. thawed whipped topping

Spray slow cooker with cooking spray.

In medium bowl, whisk together pudding mix and milk. Pour into slow cooker.

In same bowl, prepare cake batter per package directions. Pour batter over pudding, careful not to stir. Cover.

Cook on HIGH 2-1/2 hours or until toothpick inserted in cake comes out clean. Turn slow cooker off, but keep it covered for at least 20 min. or until pudding becomes thick. Serve topped with whipped topping.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Cantonese cooking is probably the most common of the chinese cuisine. It offers low key flavors, a contrast between textures and it's just simplistic!

Here's a common recipe that's been adapted just for slow cooking!

4 chicken breasts

8 oz. canned pineapple, reserve juice

½ c. orange juice

2 Tbl. Cornstarch

2 Tb. Brown Sugar

2 Tb. Vinegar

2 Tb. Soy Sauce

½ tsp. Ginger

2 tsp. Garlic or 2 cloves minced

chopped red, green peppers

½ small chopped onion

Chop peppers and onion.

In a medium bowl, mix orange juice, cornstarch, brown sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, ginger and garlic.

In crock pot, place chicken top with onion, peppers, pineapple and sauce. (if the sauce isn’t “juicy” enough, add some reserved pineapple juice) Cook on low 6-8 hours.

Serve over rice.