Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken & Veggies

I made this last week and it was delicious and EASY!! I found the recipe on Damn Delicious right HERE

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts instead)
• 16 ounces baby red potatoes, halved
• 16 ounces baby carrots
• 16 ounces green beans, trimmed
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

FOR THE SAUCE

• 1/2 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large bowl, combine soy sauce, honey, ketchup, garlic, basil, oregano, red pepper flakes and pepper.
2. Place chicken thighs, potatoes, carrots and soy sauce mixture into a 6-qt slow cooker. Cover and cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours, basting every hour. Add green beans during the last 30 minutes of cooking time.
3. OPTIONAL: Preheat oven to broil. Place chicken 

**I had it in the crock pot for 7 hours and the chicken was dry..maybe because it was really thin chicken breasts.  Next time I will do 5-6 hours max!

Baked Pumpkin Donut Holes

I made these as an after school snack and kids LOVED them.  But they didn't turn out as cute as these, but they tasted great! You can find the recipe HERE


For the donuts:

• 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ¾ cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ⅓ cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ cup milk

• For the cinnamon sugar coating:
• 1 stick of unsalted butter, melted
• ⅔ cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease a 24-cup mini muffin pan with nonstick spray.
2. Sift flour into medium mixing bowl, add in baking powder, salt, nutmeg and pumpkin pie spice.
3. In a separate large bowl, scoop in the pumpkin puree and mix in brown sugar.
4. Mix in the vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and add an egg. Pour in milk, and mix until smooth.
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Be careful not to overmix the batter.
6. Scoop the batter into a 24-cup mini muffin pan, about ¾ full each cup, and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
7. Remove the donuts from the oven and allow to cool just enough to handle.
8. Place melted butter in one bowl and the sugar and cinnamon in another.
9. Dip the donuts into the melted butter, and coat, coat, coat in cinnamon sugar.
10. Serve warm, and enjoy

** I used pureed squash and you couldn't even tell!  Mini-muffins are tedious...so next I'm just making them into big muffins without the cinnamon sugar.

Good Old Fashioned Pancakes

When I am all out of my pancake mix...and powdered milk to make it, I have made this recipe and the kids LOVED it! (We have to double the recipe for my family) The pancakes are very light and fluffy!  You can find the recipe HERE.



Mix:

1- 1/2 cups flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon sugar

Then add these and mix:

1- 1/4 cups milk
1 egg
3 Tablespoons butter, melted

The batter is a little too thick for me, so I add some water in it until the desired consistency.

Root Beer Pulled Pork Sandwiches

I got this recipe from my sister-in-law, Cheryl. It is easy and yummy!

2 lb pork shoulder or butt
12 ounce can root beer
18 ounce bottle barbecue sauce
8 hamburger buns

1.  Place the pork in the slow cooker and pour the root beer over the meat. Cover and cook for 6 hours or until the pork shreds easily.

2.  After the pork has cooked, drain and discard the root beer. Shred the pork and pour barbecue sauce over the pork and stir to combine. Serve immediately or keep warm until served. Serve on hamburger buns.

Real Homemade Soft Pretzels

At the many baseball games we have gone to this spring...my kids spend most of their money on snacks including pretzels.  So one day I decided we should just make them at home for a after-school snack.  They were in LOVE with these pretzels!  I made some with salt and some with cinnamon sugar.  I found the recipe HERE.  They are time consuming but not hard to make.  My boys loved helping me shape them, boil them and of course eat them!



INGREDIENTS:

1 TBS yeast
1 TBS sugar
2 cups warm water
1 cup flour
4 cups flour, mixed with
1 TBS salt, more flour if needed
1 egg
1 TBS water
coarse salt

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large bowl, stir yeast, sugar and warm water.  Let rest until yeast is dissolved and is a little foamy.

2.  Stir in 1 cup flour.  Then add rest of flour mixed with the 1 TBS of salt.

3.  Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth.  Place in a oiled bowl, rolling around until all oiled.  Cover and let rise until doubled in size.

4.  Remove and knead again just a little bit, gently.  Cut into 16 pieces, roll each piece into 14" ropes, shape into pretzels and place on a greased cookie sheet.

5.  Cover and let rise 15 minutes.

6.  Drop each one or 2 at a time into a small pot of boiling water, boiling each 1 minute, and replace back onto greased cookie sheet.

7.  Brush each with eggwash (1 egg beaten with 1 TBS water), sprinkle with coarse salt.  Bake in preheated 450 degree oven for 12-15 minutes.

Country gravy

Here is simple country gravy recipe...which is a must on Saturday morning at our house!  I found the recipe HERE on Betty Crocker website. 

Ingredients:
1 TBS vegetable oil
2 TBS flour
1 cup milk
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Sausage

Directions:

• 1

  After removing cooked meat from skillet or pan, add oil to drippings in skillet. Stir in flour, scraping up brown particles. Cook over medium-high heat 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly, until mixture is light golden brown.
• 2

  Stir in milk. Heat over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is boiling and thickened. If gravy is too thick, stir in more milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency. Stir in salt and pepper.  Add sausage.

Chicken Parmigiana

This is simply delicious recipe by Pionner Woman. I've made this a few times already and love it! HERE is the recipe.



INGREDIENTS:

• 4 whole (up To 6) Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts, Trimmed And Pounded Flat
• 1/2 cup All-purpose Flour
•  Salt And Pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup Olive Oil
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 1 whole Medium Onion, Chopped
• 4 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 3/4 cups Wine (white Or Red Is Fine)
• 3 cans (14.5 Oz.) Crushed Tomatoes
• 2 Tablespoons Sugar
• 1/4 cube Chopped Fresh Parsley
• 1 cup Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
• 1 pound Thin Linguine

DIRECTIONS:

Mix flour, salt, and pepper together on a large plate.
Dredge flattened chicken breasts in flour mixture. Set aside.

At this time, you can start a pot of water for your pasta. Cook linguine until al dente.

Heat olive oil and butter together in a large skillet over medium heat. When butter is melted and oil/butter mixture is hot, fry chicken breasts until nice and golden brown on each side, about 2 to 3 minutes per side.
Remove chicken breasts from the skillet and keep warm.

Without cleaning skillet, add onions and garlic and gently stir for 2 minutes. Pour in wine and scrape the bottom of the pan, getting all the flavorful bits off the bottom. Allow wine to cook down until reduced by half, about 2 minutes.
Pour in crushed tomatoes and stir to combine. Add sugar and more salt and pepper to taste. Allow to cook for 30 minutes. Toward the end of cooking time, add chopped parsley and give sauce a final stir.

Carefully lay chicken breasts on top of the sauce and completely cover them in grated Parmesan. Place lid on skillet and reduce heat to low. Allow to simmer until cheese is melted and chicken is thoroughly heated. Add more cheese to taste.

Place cooked noodles on a plate and cover with sauce. Place chicken breast on top and sprinkle with more parsley. Serve immediately.

Marshmallow Caramel Corn

Ingredients:

1 16 oz bag mini marshmallows
1 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup popcorn kernels

Pop all the popcorn kernels. Meanwhile melt over medium heat brown sugar and butter. Once it is melted, stir in marshmallows. Pour over popcorn. Stir and salt lightly.

Shepards Pie

I made this Shephards Pie tonight.  Recipe can be found HERE with lots of pictures.  Hopefully the kids will eat it.  It looks yummy!

Ingredients

·         Instant mashed potatoes for top of casserole (I cheat and make it quick using instant potatoes - it called for real mashed potatoes.  Nope...takes too long, but go ahead if you have time!

·         4 Tablespoons butter

·         1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)

·         1-2 cups vegetables—diced carrots, corn, peas

·         1 1/2 lbs ground round beef

·         1/2 cup beef broth

·         1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

·         Salt, pepper, other seasonings of choice

Melt 4 TBS of butter in large sauté pan.  Add chopped onions and cook until, about 6 to 10 minutes.

If you are including peas or corn, add them toward the end of the cooking of the onions, or after the meat starts to cook, as they take very little cooking time.

Add the ground beef, then worcestershire sauce and broth: Add ground beef to the pan with the onions and vegetables. Cook until no longer pink. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the worcestershire sauce and beef broth. Bring the broth to a simmer and reduce heat to low. Cook uncovered for 10 minutes, adding more beef broth if necessary to keep the meat from drying out.

Layer the meat mixture and mashed potatoes in a casserole dish: Preheat oven to 400°F. Spread the beef, onions, and vegetables (if using) in an even layer in a large baking dish (8x13 casserole).

Spread the mashed potatoes over the top of the ground beef. Rough up the surface of the mashed potatoes with a fork so there are peaks that will get well browned. You can even use a fork to make creative designs in the mashed potatoes.7

Bake in oven: Place in a 400°F oven and cook until browned and bubbling, about 30 minutes. If necessary, broil for the last few minutes to help the surface of the mashed potatoes brown.