CrockPot Buffalo Chicken Dip

Day 60!

s-i-x-t-y. I'm amazed too.

It is also February 29! And that means that my url should technically be 366 days... but I screwed up and didn't realize it was leap year when I made it up. Does that mean that I get a day off at some point this year?

In honor of Leap Year Day, I think you should eat snack food all day long because the calories really shouldn't count on a day that only happens every four years. And it's Friday, which of course means that it's mommy margarita day...

I got this recipe from from a reader (who's site is no longer active). followed it exactly, and was so happy that I did, because it was perfect!

The Ingredients:

--1 1/2 cups shredded or diced cooked chicken

--2 cups blue cheese salad dressing

--1/4-1/2 cup tabasco sauce (taste while you are putting it in--some people like more spice than others!)

--1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

The Directions:

--dump everything into a small crockpot (or put an oven-safe dish into a large crockpot filled with ingredients)

--stir to combine

--cook on high 1-2 hours, or until cheese is completely melted and flavors are melded. Take care not to over-cook, or the salad dressing might separate.

--taste. if you want it spicier, add more tobasco. if you want it to taste more mild, add more dressing.

serve with your favorite chips, celery, french bread or crackers.

and a margarita.

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Creamy CrockPot Risotto

Day 59.


I've always been scared to make risotto because the different cookbooks I have say that you need to stir it constantly on the stove. But there's no stirring in crockpot cooking!
You, too, can make this creamy, cheesy risotto without any pot-sitting whatsoever.
I stirred the mixture exactly twice--once for the initial raw-ingredient stir and again at the very end when I added shredded Parmesan. The texture and taste was perfect.

I followed a recipe found on the Just Slow Cooking website (a fabulous resource) with a few alterations to fit the ingredients we had on hand, and I omitted the stove-top sautéing.


The Ingredients.


1 1/4 cup uncooked Arborio rice (this type of rice is important! It's found in a box, in the rice aisle)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white wine
3 3/4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 teaspoon dried onion flakes (or 1/4 cup finely chopped yellow onion)
5 cloves chopped garlic
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese (to add at the very end)


The Directions.

--toss the uncooked Arborio rice with the olive oil in your crockpot stoneware
--add the seasonings and garlic
--pour in the broth and white wine
--stir to mix flavors

--cover and cook on high for 2 hours, or until the rice is tender. It took 2.5 hours for me.

--stir in the shredded cheese and leave uncovered for about 15 minutes to let a bit of the moisture escape


The final product will be very creamy and have a porridge-like consistency.


The Verdict.


oh this was good. I probably used too much garlic; it was too much for the kids and added a crunch that risotto usually doesn't have.

But it tasted so good and was so ridiculously easy I really didn't care. We ate it with leftover chicken parmesan, which was a great pairing.

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Hearty Ox Tail Stew CrockPot Recipe

Day 58.

A perfect meal for a cold, winter's evening, and as chance had it---a perfect lunch for a beautiful spring day (the weather here has been a bit funky).

I got the idea for making ox tail stew from Elise's Simply Recipes site. I adore combing through her archives with a napkin in hand to catch the drool.

When we were at Costco last week, they had double-packs of ox tail. I used one package and froze the other.


This meal took two days to prepare. I didn't start the crockpot until noon, since we were out and about running errands. When the meat was still tough at dinner time, we ate leftovers and popped the entire stoneware insert into the refrigerator. The next morning, I scraped a layer of icky fat from the top of the dish, held my breath and cooked it all on low for another 10 hours.

so worth the wait.
so very worth the wait.


I just finished up the final leftovers for lunch yesterday and the flavors were even more pronounced. This is a great-tasting, hearty, flavorful stew.


The Ingredients:

--3 lbs oxtail
--2 chopped green onions
--1 cup frozen roasted corn
--5 baby potatoes, chopped in bite-sized chunks
--1 cup sliced celery
--1 cup baby carrots
--4 whole cloves of garlic
--1 large can of tomatoes and juice
--1/2 t Italian Seasoning
--1/2 t powdered ginger
--1/2 t cumin
--baby bottle of white wine (~1 cup)
--1 cup of beef broth
--a secret ingredient! 1 square of semi-sweet baking chocolate!

The Directions:

--rub a bit of olive oil into the bottom of your crockpot stoneware

--plop your ox tails in

--cover with the spices

--add tomatoes, vegetables and wine--drop in baking chocolate square

I ended up cooking this on high for 5 hours on the first day and then let it cool overnight. The next morning there was a thick layer of congealed fat on top. I wish I had taken a picture. It was really gross. I was scared.

I then cooked it on low for another 10 hours.

If you are not going to do this in two steps, I'd recommend cooking it on low for as long as you can. Probably 14-20 hours...

The Verdict.

I really enjoyed this, and while the chocolate probably didn't add too awful much, it made me feel creative and adventurous to have it in there.

My children really liked this; we chopped all the meat off in their bowl. I preferred gnawing on the bones like a hungry animal.

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Chicken Parmesan CrockPot Recipe

Day 57.

Chicken Parmesan is my comfort food. I love Italian food, and this is one of my favorite dishes. It translates very nicely to a crockpot, and gives the chef the opportunity to get out of the kitchen, and the house.

The Ingredients:

 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

1/2 cup bread crumbs (I use gluten free bead crumbs)

1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon Italian Seasoning

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 beaten egg

sliced mozzarella cheese

1 (26-ounce bottle) favorite jarred marinara sauce

The Directions:

--spread the 1 tablespoon of olive oil into the bottom of your crockpot stoneware insert

--whip the egg with a fork in a separate bowl

--mix the bread crumbs with the seasonings and the parmesan cheese in another separate dish

--dip the chicken into the egg, then into the bread crumb mixture, coating both sides with crumbs, cheese and seasonings

--place the chicken breast pieces in the bottom of the crock

--layer 2-3 slices of mozzarella cheese on top

--cover with entire jar of marinara sauce

--close lid and cook on low for 6-7 hours or high for 3-4. If your chicken is still frozen, it will take longer.

Serve with your favorite pasta. We chose penne brown rice pasta from Trader Joe's.

The Verdict.

This tasted great, was really easy, and presented well. This is definitely a dish you can serve to company without hesitation.

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CrockPot Chocolate Fudge Pudding Cake Recipe

Day 56.

Sometimes you just need a big crock full of hot chocolate pudding cake. Or at least I do.

Last Thursday was the Democratic debate and Adam and I were desperately trying to watch it. We did set the Tivo (well, we have DISH, so it's their version) but since we're both on the Internet so much (read: we can not seem to ever unplug, ever) it's better for us to see the debates semi-live. We get irritated when we see the news headlines pop up that so-and-so said this and that before we've actually gotten to see it for ourselves.

Anyhow, since we were completely ignoring the children during the time of the evening where children seem to demand the most attention, they decided to take full advantage of the situation by throwing toys, fighting, knocking things off of book shelves and generally misbehaving.

We couldn't handle another second.

So we did what all parents-of-the-year do. We bribed them with chocolate cake.

I hopped on the laptop and found an awesome crockpot chocolate cake-y type concoction that featured ingredients that we had on hand.

After pausing the two talking heads, we headed to the kitchen to whip up some chocolaty goodness.

The Ingredients:

This is an adaptation of Chocolate Obsession from MJ's What a Crock! site--which is the best blog name, ever. (edited: links are removed, the site no longer exists. bummer).

1 3/4 cups brown sugar

1 cup flour ( I used Pamela's)

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder (Pamela's does have baking powder in it, but I decided to add 1 teaspoon anyhow. MJ uses 2teaspoons with regular all-purpose flour)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk

2 tablespoon melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 3/4 cup hot water

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

1/4 cup shredded coconut

The Directions:

Read this all the way. It's easy to get confused. I kind of did. You need to only use some of the brown sugar and cocoa powder at first.

In your crockpot stoneware insert, mix 1 cup of the brown sugar, the cup of flour, 1/4 cup of the cocoa powder, the baking powder and salt. Wisk in the milk, melted butter and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, mix the remaining 3/4 cup of brown sugar, 1/4 cup of cocoa powder and 1 1/2 cups of hot water. Add the chocolate chips and the coconut.

Pour over the stuff in the crockpot. The chocolate chips and the coconut will fall to the bottom and you won't be able to see them. This will be a bummer.

Cover and cook on low for 2-4 hours or until a toothpick comes out clean.

The Verdict.

This never really set. It very well may be because we didn't do it right. Neither Adam or I remember who helped to measure out the milk and the water. So there could be an extra 1/2 cup of something in there. Updated: nope, this is a *pudding* cake, so it's *supposed* to be like this! go figure.

It really didn't matter. The taste was wonderful. Since it never really firmed up, I kept cooking and cooking it and the kids ended up being bored to sleep by the debate. We were forced then to eat most of it ourselves, but I did save a bit for the kids to eat for breakfast.

Next time I think I want to use coffee instead of the water, watch who is measuring (doy.), and skip the chocolate chips. They completely disappeared.

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CrockPot Chicken and Rice Soup

Day 55.

It's been wet and rainy here, again. I was not eager to leave the house much, and was happy to have all the ingredients on hand for a hearty chicken and rice soup. If my minestrone soup was to clean out the pantry this pretty much cleaned out the crisper drawer--a good thing since some of these veggies were a bit past their prime.

Chicken and rice is the gluten-free family's chicken noodle soup. Everything is right with the world when you have a steamy bowl of homecooked goodness.

The Ingredients.

--2 boxes of chicken broth

--1 cup of uncooked brown rice

--1 cup of water

--1 cup cooked, shredded chicken

--1 1/2-2 cups of vegetables (I used celery, carrots, brocolli, cauliflower, a red bell pepper, and green onion)

--1 t herbs de provence (sounds fancy)

--salt and pepper to taste after cooking

The Directions:

using a food processer, blender or hand chopper, chop up all the vegetables into whatever sized pieces your family likes.

I don't have a food processer, so I used the Vita Mix.

A container full of vegetables

turned into this

dump all ingredients into your crockpot stoneware insert

cook on low for as long as you can--the longer the better.

The Verdict:

This makes a lot. I'm going to eat it for lunch each day this upcoming week, and I packaged a few tupperwares to give to family. The flavor was perfect---but I did add a bit of salt and pepper to the grown-up portions. The kids have eaten it for dinner the past two nights and probably will again tonight.

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Original Taco Soup CrockPot Recipe

Day 54.

I'm calling this the "original" taco soup recipe because it is the very first taco soup crockpot recipe I tried.

That makes it the original.

This was the recipe that made me fall in love with my crockpot. I first came across it a hundred million years ago on a message board. Carmen posted it. I have seen different variations, but in my not-so-humble-opinion, this one is the very best.

The Ingredients:
serves 8 to 10 as a full meal, but can get stretched to feed 16 or so if served over rice or chips

there are a lot of cans. recycle. make Al Gore happy.

--2(15-ounce) cans of kindey beans, drained and rinsed

--2 (15-ounce) cans of pinto beans, drained and rinsed

--2 (15-ounce) cans of corn (WITH juice!!)

--1 large can (26-ounces) of diced tomatoes (I have no idea why the can wasn't in this picture. I know I put it in. This is a mystery.)

--1 (10-ounce) can tomatoes and chiles (Rotel)

--1 packet taco seasoning (if you are gluten free, stick to McCormick)

--1 packet ranch dressing mix (make sure there isn't hidden gluten, I went with Hidden Valley)

--1 pound browned ground turkey or hamburger (optional.)

--shredded cheese and sour cream for embelishment (optional, unless you're in my house. then it's mandatory.)

The Directions:

Use the largest slow cooker you have in the house --- this is a BIG recipe, you need a 6-quart or above.

--brown meat if you are going to use it

--drain fat and add to crockpot stoneware insert (the meat. not the fat.)

--sprinkle seasoning packets on top of meat

--drain and rinse the beans and add

--add the ENTIRE contents of the corn and tomato cans
--stir.

cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-5. I think the longer you cook soup, the better, so if you have the time, opt for cooking on low. 

Stir well, and serve with a handful of shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream.

We brought this to a PTA potluck dinner this week and it was well-received.

I used painter's tape to secure the lid. I'm resourceful that way.

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Overnight Egg, Cheese and Sausage CrockPot Casserole

Day 53.

The last time I cooked something overnight it was beyond gross. This was not.

The Ingredients:

I had all of these things in the refrigerator already. I think the trick for doing something like this is to use up what you already have. If you have leftover roasted veggies, toss them in. You like mushrooms and have a whole bunch? Throw them in there, too.

--5 large eggs

--3/4 cup cut up cooked sausage (I had chicken and apple)

--1 1/2 cups shredded cheese

--4 baby potatoes

--1 cup milk

--chop up your potatoes in little cubes. I did not peel them.

--mix egg and milk together inside your crockpot insert

--add other ingredients, mix again

if you are using sausage, you will not need to add salt and pepper. If you are going vegetarian, you will probably want to add a bit of each.

cover and cook on low for 8 hours or so.

I turned this on at

and at

I freaked out for no good reason and switched it to warm.

and went back to bed.

It looked like this:

The Verdict:

This tasted good, and was cooked perfectly, but the eggs lost their color and wigged me out. The kids had no interest whatsoever and had cornflakes (the gluten free kind from the bulk bins at Whole Foods, don't know the name) and after I ate a small bowl started thinking about cholesterol and fed it to the garbage disposal.

I need to go lecture myself on starving children now.

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CrockPot Veal Marsala Recipe

Day 52.

It's Slow Cooker Thursday! Go see all of the other links over on Sandra's blog--if you have a recipe to share, add your name to the list!

This sounds so incredibly fancy, and I am happy to report that it is. You will instantly be transformed to a fancy-pants for making and serving this. I am 116% more fancy this morning than I was yesterday.

but it was really easy. I promise.

The Ingredients:

--1 lb of very thin veal cutlets (if the baby cow thing bothers you, chicken will work too)

--1/2 cup flour (I used pamela's, but plain old rice flour would work for GFers.)

--1/2 t kosher salt

--1/2 t ground black pepper

--1/2 t dried oregano

--1 T balsamic vinegar (not pictured)

--2 T melted butter (not pictured)

--1/2 cup marsala wine

--2 chopped green onions

--2 cups sliced mushrooms

--1 T of olive oil

The Directions:

--drizzle olive oil in the bottom of your stoneware insert

--in a shallow dish, mix the flour with the herbs

--lightly dust each piece of veal

--place each piece into your stoneware

--top the veal pieces with the chopped green onion and dump in the mushrooms

--add balsamic vinegar and the marsala wine (oh hey! I got carded when I bought this. Totally made my day.)

--drizzle the melted butter over the top

cook on LOW for 4-7 hours. The veal is so very thin, I was worried to cook it on high. This dish cooked for about 5.5 hours and was perfectly done.

The Verdict:

I can't remember how a restaurant's marsala sauce tastes. Adam and both of my parents said it was really good and that it tasted authentic, but I kept feeling like it was missing something. The kids each ate a few bites, which was all that was required of them.

I liked this. I wanted to love it. I think in restaurants they probably use a whole bunch more butter than I am comfortable in using.

If you have made a marsala dish before and have suggestions as to what I should/could do to make it even better, I am all ears. I have about 4 cups of this wine taking up valuable real estate in my refrigerator.

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CrockPot Sweet Potato Soup Recipe

Day 51.

The first time I made this, I only used a cup of broth and it had the consistency of applesauce. I liked it, but it was a bit weird with only one cup, so now I use 2.

I had NO idea what I was going to cook on Sunday. I didn't have anything planned, and Adam had taken the kids out for a while and I had the house to myself. I went for a long run and showered alone--a luxury I do not get often.

There was no way I was going to go to the store.

I dug through the fridge and freezer and ecstatically discovered a neglected bag of frozen chicken broth. The fridge revealed 3 sweet potatoes that needed attention and we still had a bit of cream leftover from the crème brulee and the fish chowder. The pantry held a few cans of mangoes.

So I put them all together.

The Ingredients:

--3 sweet potatoes

--2 cups broth (chicken or vegetable)

--1 can sliced mangoes

--pinch of allspice (or a pinch each of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves)

--1/2 cup heavy cream (to be added after cooking)

The Directions:

--peel and cube sweet potato

--put into crockpot, add broth and entire can of mangoes

--stir in spices

cover and cook on high for 4 hours, low for 8 or until potatoes are tender

It will look weird. Really weird.

Use a hand blender to pulverize the potatoes and mangoes

When fully blended, stir in the heavy cream. Add more if you feel it needs more liquid.

Cover and cook on high another 15-20 minutes, or until heated through fully.

The Verdict:

very, very yummy!!!

I wish I had a sprig of mint leaves or something ala-Food-Network so it would have been better plated--it was really quite good. I also wish that it was orange like the stuff in the can, and not pale yellow.

I had another bowl for lunch and the potatoes sucked up more of the moisture so they turned into more of a whipped potato consistency. It was still very good, but could no longer be considered a soup.

It freaks me out how sweet sweet potatoes can be! It seriously tasted like I dumped in a whole cup of sugar.

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Pomegranate Beef CrockPot Recipe

This recipe is part of Oprah.com's Holiday Food Blogger round-up. Welcome Oprah.com readers! Thank you for stopping by. xoxo steph

Day 50.

Fifty! 50! ack!

This recipe is straight from the Gluten Free Goddess' site. I followed it word-for-word down to the organic, free-range, grass fed, massaged, and sung-to-sleep beef. Good thing, too, since I turned on the news yesterday to discover a huge honking beef recall. Ick.

I have been a fan of Karina's for quite a while---her website taught me to not be afraid of gluten free cooking. I owe our love to Pamela's to Karina, and my new-found kitchen adventureness.

This is an amazing dish. Serve it to people you really, really love and for whom you want to show-off. (I used whom. I know. I'm one of those. But only sometimes.)

The Ingredients:
serves 8

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 yellow onion, sliced
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon herbes de Provence
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 pounds beef roast (I used a chuck roast)
4 garlic cloves (whole is fine, or you can chop them)
1 (14-ounce) can fire-roasted crushed tomatoes
1 cup unsweetened pomegranate juice
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 cup golden raisins

The Directions:

Use at least a 6-quart slow cooker. Swirl the olive oil into the bottom of the stoneware. Add the onion. Rub the spices on all sides of meat and add to the stoneware with the garlic, the whole can of tomatoes, pomegranate juice, vinegar, and syrup. Sprinkle the raisins on top.

Cover and cook on low fir 8 hours, or on high for about 5. The meat is done when it has reached desired tenderness. Serve with mashed potatoes, and drizzle with the sauce.

The Verdict:

Four generations of my family ate this dinner and everyone adored it. I have never had a home-made sauce taste so marvelous. I truly wish I could have sat in the corner with a straw to suck up all the deliciousness.

It makes a lot of sauce. I packaged the rest of the sauce up for my brother and his wife to re-use in their crockpot with a hunk o' meat.

Thank you so much, Karina!

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Chicken Lettuce Wraps CrockPot Recipe

Day 49.

The first time I had lettuce wraps was in Tempe, Arizona at a PF Changs. I had heard about them from friends who raved that they were the "best thing ever"--I was not disappointed. I had to ask for more napkins though, these puppies are pretty messy.



So very worth it.



I am a fan of PF Changs, because of their elaborate gluten-free menu. Even their lettuce wraps are made gluten-free, with a specially prepared GF sauce. The fact that this restaurant chain goes out of their way to label their food and are aware of dietary restrictions warms my heart. The only drawback of PF Chang's awesomeness is how crowded it can become.




Stay home instead and gobble up these lettuce wraps in the comfort of your own home---with a roll of paper towels by your side.




The Ingredients:



--4 chicken breast halves or 10-12 chicken breast tenders
--5 chopped cloves of garlic
--1/2 chopped onion
--1/4 cup soy sauce (if gluten free, go for La Choy or Tamari wheat free)
--1/4 cup white wine
--1/2 t ginger
--dash of allspice (or a dash each of cloves, cinnamon and black pepper)
--2 T balsamic vinegar

The Directions:

--chop up chicken into teeny tiny chunks. After I compiled my concoction, I googled how to "really" make this and discovered that most recipes call for ground chicken, turkey, or pork. That probably would have been easier. And I wouldn't have had to sterilize myself quite as much afterwards.

the things I do for you all.


--chop up the onions and garlic, dump into crockpot on top of the meat
--in a mixing bowl, mix the liquid and spices





(on a side note, check out my super-cool spice cabinet Adam made yesterday out of the ironing-board cabinet) it's not alphabetized. yet.

















--pour sauce on top of meat


cover and cook for 4-6 hours on high, 6-8 on low. I did stir this a few times to break up the chicken--it wanted to stick together at first.


--serve over lettuce leaves. I chose Romaine, because Trader Joe's sells them already separated and it makes me happy.


--If you are not gluten free, top with a bottled plum sauce. If you are, try mixing a bit of GF soy suace with some grape jelly.



The Verdict:

These tasted great. I would have liked a bit more crunch, though, and will add some water chestnuts and green onion next time.



We had company over and everyone enjoyed them. The kids were too busy running around like crazy people to stop and give them a try.

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CrockPot Peanut Butter Brownies Recipe

Day 48.

Even the name sounds decadent, huh? I got the idea from Cynthia's post about her childhood cafeteria's peanut butter brownies.

I haven't ever had peanut butter brownies before, and my elementary school cafeteria most certainly served nothing remotely similar.

I followed her recipe with only a few adjustments to suit our dietary whims and needs and baked them in the crockpot instead of an oven.

These were moist and delicious and lasted only a few hours in our house.

The Ingredients:

--5 T butter

--1/2 cup granulated sugar

--2 eggs

--1 t vanilla

--1/2 cup flour (I used Pamela's)

--1 cup natural peanut butter

--1/4 t baking powder (omit if using Pamela's)

--1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

--1/2 cup white chocolate chips

The Directions:

--spray the inside of your crock stoneware with cooking spray.

--mix all ingredients in a bowl, dump into stoneware

--prop open the lid of the crockpot with something to let out the steam. I used a chopstick.

--cook on high for 90 minutes to 3 hours.

the brownies are done when the edges start to turn darker, but the center is still light in color. Test with a knife in the center.

I overcooked this batch. I cooked it for 2.75 hours, and although I checked at 2 hours and saw that the edges were turning color, I decided to let it go for a bit longer. That was a mistake.

The edges were too hard and a bit burnt on the bottom. The middle was absolutely perfect and so incredibly tasty that it made up for my blunder.

Thank you, Cynthia, for such a delicious treat!

~~~~~~~~~

Edited 2-21-08 to add:

I just discovered a gluten-free tea time snack roundup! Yay!

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CrockPot Tortilla Soup Recipe

Day 47.

I love tortilla soup!

I love the spices, the chicken, the vegetables, the crunchy tortilla strips on top and the sour cream.

oh, it's tasty.

I made a big crock full of this early last week and ate it for lunch everyday. It was a bit spicy for the kids, which was totally fine by me.

The Ingredients:

--3 cups of chicken broth (homemade or packaged)

--1 1/2 cups cooked chicken (I had leftover chicken in the freezer)

--1/2 onion

--1 cup frozen roasted corn

--2 green onions

--28 oz can of tomatoes and juice

--1 cup chopped up vegetables that you have on hand (celery and carrots in my case, plus I had the end of the roasted vegetables I froze)

--4 cloves of garlic ( I am STILL out of fresh garlic)

--1/4 t crushed red pepper flakes

--1/2 t cayenne pepper

--1 t cumin

--salt to taste (especially if using a no-salt broth like I was)

optional garnish:

--tortilla chips

--parmesan cheese

--sour cream

The Directions:

--dice all veggies into fine chunks

--dump everything into the crockpot

--it's okay if you have frozen stuff. My broth, vegetables and chicken were all frozen.

--totally okay to assemble the night before.


--cook on low for 8-10 hours, or high for 6 or so.



before serving, add whatever garnish you choose. We were out of tortilla chips, so I used a bit of parmesan and fat free sour cream.



The Verdict:



I ate this for lunch 4 days in a row. The liquid absorbed a bit, so it was more chowdery than soupy after the first day, but still amazingly good, and much healthier than taco bell for my Mexican Food Fix.

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CrockPot Fish Chowder Recipe

Day 46.

Friday fresh fish, all you hungry bloggers come and eat it up...

although the fish I used wasn't fresh, it was frozen.

The kids went through a phase where they ate a can of Progresso Clam Chowder every day for lunch. It was a very easy time for me.

This tastes remarkably similar without chemicals, a tin-can taste, or boatloads of sodium.

And it was easy.

The Ingredients:

--1 lb of white fish (I used frozen Orange Roughy from Trader Joe's)

--3 cups of chicken broth (I'm now officially out of my homemade stuff. I'm kind of bummed.)

--9 baby potatoes (or 10. but not 11.)

--1 cup frozen roasted corn

--1/2 white onion

--handful baby carrots

--heart of celery

--3-4 cloves of garlic

--1/2 t black pepper

--salt (to taste, especially if using homemade broth)

--2 cups frozen shrimp (to add later)

--1 cup heavy whipping cream (to add later)

The Directions:

--chop up all the vegetables. I used my handy-dandy Pampered Chef chopper because I like it and it reminds me of when I used to be invited to those kinds of parties. How come people don't have those any more?

--cube the fish, it's okay if it's still frozen.

--dump everything except the cream and the shrimp into your stoneware insert

cook on low for 8-10 hours, or until the potatoes are tender. If your veggies are too big for your taste, use an immersion blender to smooth it out.

30 minutes before serving, stir in your cup of cream and the frozen shrimp. Turn your crockpot to high for the last 30 minutes.

Serve with a bit of fresh parmesan cheese.

The Verdict:

Instant hit. We all loved it.

I'm scared to jinx it, but this figuring out what-tastes-good-together-thing is getting easier.

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Tofu In Peanut Sauce CrockPot Recipe

Day 45.

Tofu In Peanut Sauce CrockPot Recipe

The good thing about tofu is that it doesn't have any flavor. That means that whatever sauces you like work well with it. I was in the mood for a gingery, spicy, peanut sauce and it tasted wonderful with a bunch of spinach and some baked tofu.

The Ingredients:
serves not too many -- probably a family of 2 to 4 if over rice and vegetables. If you've got hungry people you should double it.

package of extra-firm tofu (16 ounces) 

1/2 cup natural peanut butter

2 tablespoons soy sauce (La Choy is gluten free, as is Tamari wheat-free)

3 tablespoons Margarita Mix (be quiet. we were out of limes. it worked! but you should probably use 2 limes)

1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

2-3 cloves of chopped garlic (we're still out, so I had to use the jarred stuff)

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

--whole bag of baby spinach (10 or 12 ounces)

The Directions:

Use a 2-4 quart crockpot for best results. Although I despise pre-cooking things before cooking in the crockpot, tofu is best when lightly browned. I’ve found the best way is to cube it, then toss with a tablespoon or so of cornstarch. Pan-fry on the stove in butter.

Add to crockpot with peanut butter, soy sauce, margarita mix, garlic and pepper flakes. Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours. 15 minutes before serving, cram an entire bag of baby spinach inside and cover. The spinach will wilt. Serve over basmati rice.

The Verdict:

We all really liked this!

whew.

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Rocky Road Candy in the CrockPot

Day 44.

psst. Tomorrow's Valentine's Day. I know, I can't believe it either. You still have time. Lots of time. In fact, you can make 4-5 whole entire batches of CrockPot Rocky Road Candy between now and tomorrow because it is so incredibly easy and it only takes 1 hr to do each batch.

Melting chocolate in the crockpot is fool-proof.

Unless you are truly a fool. Then you might be out of luck.

But for us ordinary folk who might be chocolate-melting impaired, nothing can beat melting chocolate in the crockpot.

The Ingredients:

--bag of chocolate chips

--bag of mini marshmallows

--bag of chopped walnuts

--Release foil

The Directions:

--pour whole bag of chocolate chips into stoneware

--turn on high, set timer for 30 minutes to check

--stir chocolate after 30 min, re-set timer 15-30 minutes as needed.

prepare two cookie sheets with Release foil.

when chocolate is all melty, stir in a bunch of marshmallows. I didn't measure how many I dumped in, but I like a lot of marshmallows. I used at least half the bag. Mix with a big spoon and add chopped walnuts (or whatever nuts you prefer).

Remove stoneware from heating element.

Use two spoons and drop mounds of chocolate-marshmallow-nut gooeyness onto the Release foil.

Place cookie sheets into the refrigerator to cool and harden.

Once cool, you can place the candy into those cute little cellophane bags and tie with a pretty ribbon.

Or you can fill your robe pockets and go eat them all in the closet.

Happy almost-Valentine's Day!

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