Slower Cooker Beefy French Onion Soup

Chaz really liked this one- might be too hot/hearty for summer though

Serving Size : 8

7 small onions, cut in half and thinly sliced (7 cups)
2 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs butter or margarine, melted
2 dried bay leaves
1 1/2 lbs beef stew meat
1 cup apple juice
3 cans (10 1/2 ounces each) condensed beef consommé
1/4 cup dry sherry
8 slices (1/2 inch thick) French bread, toasted
1/4 tsp dried thyme leaves
2 cups shredded Swiss cheese (8 ounces)

Prep Day: Chop onions, place in freezer bag. Keep separate from meat.
Prepare dry ingredients. Freeze meat and onions.

Serving Day: Thaw onions and meat. Toss onions, butter and sugar in 5- to
6-quart slow cooker. Top with bay leaves and beef. Cover and cook on Low heat setting
9 to 10 hours or until onions are deep brown. Stir in beef consommé, sherry, apple
juice and thyme. Increase heat setting to High. Cover and cook 10 minutes or until hot.
Remove bay leaves.

To Serve, spoon into ovenproof soup bowls and top each serving with slice
of toast and cheese. If desired, broil with tops 6 inches from heat 3 to 5
minutes or until cheese is bubbly and begins to brown.

Amazing Pork Tenderloin

This was a new one we tried last month- very good and couldn't be easier!

Serving Size : 6

1 (2 pound) pork tenderloin
1 (1 ounce) envelope dry onion soup mix
1 cup water
3/4 cup red wine
3 Tbs minced garlic
3 Tbs soy sauce
freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Cooking Day: Mix all wet and dry marinade ingriedents, exept for pork.
Pour into a storage container. Package pork to be frozen. Then freeze pork &
marinade.

3. Serving Day: Thaw pork & marniade. Place pork tenderloin in a slow cooker
and pour the contents of the marinade bag over the top. Cook on low setting for 4
hours. Serve with cooking liquid on the side as au jus.

Handmade Tortillas

So I finally tried my hand at tortilla making. It was actually rather fun! They turned out well, much to my surprise. The recipe is easy, but it was a little messy and time-consuming to roll out each one and cook them up. I used a LOT of flour to keep them from sticking, and found the trick was to keep them very thin.

INGREDIENTS:
* 2 cups flour
* 1 tsp. salt
* 1/2 stick butter, softened
* 3/4 cups water

DIRECTIONS:
Mix all ingredients. Form into golf ball size balls. Roll out flat into a circle. Cook on each side in a dry non-stick pan until starting to brown.

I think this made about 13 tortillas?

Rav'n Ravioli

Adapted from Pampered Chef and found on Supper Swappers.

INGREDIENTS:
1 medium green bell pepper
1/2 C onion, chopped
1 tsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 jar (26-28 ounces) spaghetti sauce
1 1/4 C water
12 French bread baguette slices
1/4 C butter, melted
1 C mozzarella cheese
1/4 C fresh grated Parmesan cheese
18 ounces refrigerated ravioli (* I used frozen)

COOKING DAY:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Chop bell pepper and onion. Heat olive oil
over medium-high heat; add pepper, onion, and garlic. Cook 2-3 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in spaghetti sauce, ravioli and water. Bring to a boil.
Spoon half of the ravioli mixture into 9 inch pie plate or similar sized baking dish. Top with mozzarella cheese and remaining ravioli mixture.

SERVING DAY:
Thaw ravioli mixture.
Bake 20 minutes. Meanwhile, melt butter and add bread slices, tossing to coat evenly.
After 20 minutes of baking, arrange bread slices around edge of baking dish, pressed slightly into ravioli mixture. Sprinkle parmesan cheese over bread and ravioli mixture. Bake 15-20 minutes or until ravioli is heated through and bread is crisp and deep golden brown.

Serves: 6

Mexican Style Shredded Pork

I found an AMAZING deal on pork, and bought a 10 lb roast that had to be dealt with. This recipe was a good one. The chipotle flavor was excellent. I've had success with freezing rice before, but this rice came out mushy. Next time I'll just freeze the pork and cook the rice up the day of.


NOTE: I don't care for the lime juice in the rice. Also, if you have a hard time finding the chipotle sauce - look in the BBQ sauce section. :)

INGREDIENTS:
1 (3 pound) boneless pork loin roast, cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 (4 ounce) cans diced green chile peppers
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup chipotle sauce
3 1/4 cups water, divided
1 1/2 cups uncooked long grain white rice
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

DIRECTIONS:
Place the roast in a slow cooker, and season with salt. Place chile peppers and garlic on top of roast. Pour in the chipotle sauce and 1/2 cup water.
Cover, and cook 7 hours on Low.

In a pot, bring remaining 2 3/4 cups water and rice to a boil. Mix in the lime juice and cilantro. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes.

Remove roast from the slow cooker, and use two forks to shred. Return pork to the slow cooker, and allow to sit 15 minutes to absorb some of the liquid. Serve over the cooked rice.

Serves: 6

April OAMC Plan

I started running out of meal selection, so whipped together a few more recipes for the freezer. As we try the new recipes, I'll post links to the good ones for ya.

Here's what we made:

* 2 Rav'n Ravioli *new*
* 2 Crockpot Jambalaya
* 2 Quick Chicken Curry
* 1 Impossibly Easy Italian Chicken Pie *new*
* 2 Mexican Style Shredded Pork *new*

Apple-Raisin Oven Pancake

I got a couple free recipe books in the mail, and tried out this oven pancake recipe for breakfast. It was very yummy! Doug thought it would be even better with a cream sauce of some kind. Maybe I'll try this one from Paula Deen? :)

INGREDIENTS:
1 apple, cored, peeled and sliced
1/3 c. raisins
2 tbsp brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 eggs
2/3 c. milk
2/3 c. flour
2 tbsp butter, melted
Powered sugar

DIRECTIONS:
1. Combine apples, raisins, brown sugar and cinnamon. Put into a greased 9 inch pie plate.

2. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside. Increase oven temp to 450 degrees.

3. Meanwhile, whisk together eggs, milk, flour and butter. Pour over apple mixture. Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden. Pancake will puff up and fall slightly when removed from oven.

4. Sprinkle with powered sugar and slice into wedges. Serve warm.

Servings: 6

Granola Bars

I've been wanting to try to make my own granola bars for a while now. Doug loves the Nature Valley Trail Mix bars, and takes one to work each day. My goal was to copy them, and I found a great recipe online, and have copied it below. (You should really check out the link, however, as the step-by-step photos are great.) Minus the almonds, these are nearly identical! And he said they even taste more "natural." One more thing - I found that the waxed paper stuck like glue to the bars, even with nonstick spray. I think next time I will just spray the glass pan and use wax paper just to press down on the bars and then remove it while they're still warm.

Here's a little video with the girls' critique:


INGREDIENTS:
2 cups oats
3/4 cup wheat germ
3/4 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup peanuts, crushed
2/3 cup brown sugar (can reduce to 1/3 cup)
1/2 cup honey
4 Tbsp butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
approximately 8 oz. dried fruit
(*I used 1/2 raisins and 1/2 dried cranberries)
(*Nature Valley includes almonds in their Trail Mix bars, but I didn't have any)

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

To crush your peanuts, put them in a plastic bag and smash them with a heavy mallet, measuring cup, or sauce pan.

Then, mix the peanuts, oats, wheat germ, and sunflower seeds in a baking dish with sides. Toast them in the oven for 10-12 minutes, stirring every few minutes so that they don’t get burned.

Meanwhile, prepare a glass baking dish (about 11 x 13 inches) (*I used 9x13) for your granola by spraying with a nonstick spray.

Put the brown sugar, honey, butter, vanilla, and salt into a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Let it bubble and get frothy, stirring constantly for 1 minute. This will caramelize the sugars and become the glue to help the bars stick together.

By now, your grains and nuts should be toasted, so mix everything together in a large bowl. The grains, the liquid “glue,” and the dried fruit. Mix everything w because you want to make sure the “glue” gets all over everything. Now, dump your granola mixture into your prepared baking dish.

Spread out the mixture with a wooden spoon or spatula.

Now fold over the sides of the waxed paper or add a sheet on top, and PRESS HARD all over the granola. You want to compact it together so that your bars won’t fall apart when you cut them. Remove the wax paper.

Wait 2-3 hours or until the granola has totally cooled.

Carefully turn the granola onto a large cutting board, peeling away the rest of the paper.

Now, firmly pressing down with a big knife (not sawing), cut your granola into whatever size bars you’d like. * We like to get 20 bars from a 9x13 pan.

I wrapped ours individually in plastic wrap, so that we could just throw one into our bag or lunch box in the morning. If you’d like to save on packaging though, you can store yours in an airtight container, between sheets of waxed paper (so they don’t stick together).

Honey Lime Chicken

This was pretty good. I especially liked the flavors of the pineapple and honey. Definately one to make again. FYI: I cut up boneless chicken breasts into strips, rather than buy tenders.

INGREDIENTS:
2 lbs chicken tenders
1/2 Tbl garlic salt
1 Tbl peanut oil
1 can pineapple rings (20 oz)
1/4 cup honey
3 Tbl lime juice
2 Tbl soy sauce
1 Tbl cornstarch
2 c (uncooked) white rice

DIRECTIONS:
1. Sprinkle chicken with garlic salt. Brown in oil. Drain pineapple. Add one fourth of the pineapple juice to skillet. Cover and simmer 6 to 8 minutes until chicken is golden. Remove chicken. Add honey, lime juice, soy sauce, cornstarch and remainder of pineapple juice. Bring to boil. Cook and stir until thick and clear, about 1 minute. Remove from heat. Allow to cool. Place chicken, pineapple rings and sauce in freezer bag. Label and freeze.

2. To serve: Thaw. Heat until sauce is hot and bubbly and chicken is heated through. Serve over white rice.

Servings: 6

Easy Pizza Hut Breadsticks

From RecipeZaar: Recipe #170013
Makes: 16 breadsticks

INGREDIENTS:
1 (10 ounce) can pizza dough (Pillsbury)
1 tablespoon parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon oregano
1/4 cup olive oil (approximately)
marinara sauce, for dipping

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 450º.

Unroll dough onto cutting board. Cut into 16 even strips.

Place each strip on a lightly greased cookie sheet.

Bake 6-8 minutes until golden brown.

While dough is baking, combine all DRY ingredients.

Remove baked breadsticks from oven and brush with olive oil and quickly sprinkle evenly with dry topping.

Serve with warm marinara sauce.

Cashew Chicken

We just tried this tonight. It is FABULOUS! Perhaps my favorite OAMC recipe yet. It was so authentic tasting. This was our first time cooking with fresh ginger. We peeled it with a vegetable peeler and then chopped into small bits. It smelled amazing! Not as hard as I thought it would be. Next time maybe I might even add broccoli or celery? But it was great as-is.

Source: Once-a-month-cookingworld.com

INGREDIENTS:
½ cup catsup
4 teaspoons soy sauce
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons sugar
1 ½ teaspoons sesame oil
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup cooking oil
2 tablespoons fresh gingerroot, minced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 onion, chopped
1 ½ cups cashews
1 can bamboo shoots, drained and sliced
1 can water chestnuts, drained and coarsely chopped
3 chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
2 cups cooked white rice

DIRECTIONS:
Cooking Day Instructions: Combine Catsup, soy sauce, salt, Worcestershire Sauce, sugar, sesame oil, cayenne pepper, and chicken broth and set aside. In a bowl, combine cornstarch, sugar, and salt. Toss the chicken with cornstarch mixture. Heat a wok or frying pan to a high heat and add cooking oil. When oil is hot add chicken. Add ginger root, garlic and onion. Stir fry mixture until chicken is cooked through and opaque. Add bamboo shoots and water chestnuts. Add catsup/soy sauce mixture to chicken and vegetables and cook until it comes to a boil. Cool, bag and freeze. Save cashews for serving.

Directions for Serving Day: Thaw bag in fridge overnight. Reheat over medium heat until just boiling. Add cashews. Serve over rice.

Burrito Pie

Source: allrecipes.com
"Ground beef, refried beans and tomatoes are combined with chilies and taco sauce, then layered in a casserole with tortillas and cheese, and baked."

INGREDIENTS:
1 pound ground beef
8 ounces shredded Colby cheese
1/2 onion, chopped
6 (8 inch) flour tortillas
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 (16 ounce) can refried beans
1/2 (2 ounce) can black olives, sliced
1/2 (4 ounce) can diced green chili peppers
1/2 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chili peppers
1/2 (16 ounce) jar taco sauce

DIRECTIONS:
Cooking Day Instructions: In a large skillet over medium heat, sauté the ground beef for 5 minutes. Add the onion and garlic, and sauté for 5 more minutes. Drain any excess fat, if desired.

Mix in the olives, green chili peppers, tomatoes with green chili peppers, taco sauce and refried beans.

Stir mixture thoroughly, reduce heat to low, and let simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.

Spread a thin layer of the meat mixture in the bottom of a 8x8 pan.

Cover with a layer of tortillas followed by more meat mixture, then a layer of cheese.

Repeat tortilla, meat, cheese pattern until all the tortillas are used, topping off with a layer of meat mixture and cheese. Cover pan and Freeze.

Serving Day: Thaw. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake, covered, for 60 minutes, or until cheese is slightly brown and bubbly.

Philly Cheese Steak Sloppy Joes

Source: Rachel Ray Show

INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 1/2 pound ground beef
1 softball-sized onion, chopped
1/4 cup steak sauce
1 cup beef stock
Salt and ground black pepper
1 cup provolone, shredded

You Provide:
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup milk
8 dinner rolls

DIRECTIONS:
Cooking Day Instructions: Chop Onion set aside. Shred provolone, put in freezer baggie, label, and freeze. In large skillet over medium-high heat with 1 turn of the pan of EVOO, brown the ground beef, about 5-6 minutes. Add the onion and cook another 3-4 minutes, until the onions start to get tender. Stir in the steak sauce and beef stock, season with salt and pepper, bring up to a bubble and cook about 2 minutes. Cool and put in freezer. Label.

Serving Day Instructions: Thaw frozen ingredients. Preheat broiler on low. Reheat meat mixture in Microwave for 2 or 3 minutes. Split open rolls and toast under broiler, keep your eye on them so they don’t burn! Melt the butter in a medium-size skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in the flour and cook about 1 minute. Whisk in milk, bring up to a bubble and let thicken, about 2 minutes. Turn off heat and stir the cheese in a figure-eight motion until it is all incorporated. To serve, place a scoopful of the meat mixture onto the bottom of the rolls, then top with the cheese sauce and replace the top of the roll.

Yield: 8 sandwiches

Beef Barley Soup

Taken from OAMC Freezer Supper Swappers.

INGREDIENTS:
2 pounds bottom round roast, cubed
2 T olive oil
1/2 C butter
1 onion, diced
6 stalks celery, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
6 carrots, sliced
28 oz can of diced tomatoes
4 C water
4 beef bouillon cubes
1 C uncooked barley
1 tsp salt
1 tsp oregano

DIRECTIONS:
Cooking Day: Brown cubed beef in olive oil and set aside. Sauté onion, celery, garlic and carrots in butter until onions are clear. Add diced tomatoes, water, bouillon cubes, barley, salt, oregano and beef. Simmer at least 4 hours.

Serving Day: Thaw bags of meat and soup. Heat and serve.

OAMC Plan for March

It's been awhile since we've done a full OAMC day. One which would actually last us for an entire month. So today we went for it! Nine recipes, which will make 16 meals and should last us for at least 4 weeks (well, the chimichangas aren't done yet, but that will happen tomorrow for sure). Most of these are new recipes! I'm excited to try them out. Stay tuned for reviews...

Here's what we made:
* 1 Philly Cheese Steak Sloppy Joes *new*
* 1 Beef Barley Soup *new*
* 3 Jamie's Minestrone
* 2 Make-Ahead Chimichangas
* 2 Penne with Rosemary Chicken
* 2 Burrito Pies *new*
* 2 Cashew Chicken *new*
* 2 Crockpot Italian Meatloaves *new* (Note: these were no good)
* 1 Honey Lime Chicken *new*

Bagel Pizzas

We flash froze these and then vacuum sealed 4-5 in a bag. We baked for a full 30 minutes. Found on Recipezaar.

INGREDIENTS:
24 bagels, split and buttered (plain)
2 lbs ground beef
1 large onion, diced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic salt
3 cups mozzarella cheese
1 jar pizza sauce (14 ounce)
1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a large skillet, brown the beef and onion; drain the fat.

2. Add salt, pepper, and garlic salt.

3. Spread 2 teaspoons of pizza sauce on each bagel. Spoon meat onto sauce. Sprinkle with parsley, mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

4. Place on a cookie sheet and flash freeze. Then, place bagels in freezer bag. Store in freezer until ready to serve.

5. To serve: bake frozen at 350 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes, or until bubbly.

24 servings (48 bagel halves)

Make-Ahead Chimichangas

We stored the wrapped chimichangas in a couple gallon plastic bags with the instructions written on them as a reminder. We've only had them from frozen in the oven, but they are very good. Doug bakes for 55 min wrapped and only 5 min unwrapped so they're not quite so crunchy.

INGREDIENTS:
3 cups cooked chicken
16 ounces salsa
16 ounces refried beans
4 ounces green chili peppers, diced in can
1 envelope burrito seasoning mix or taco seasoning mix
16 flour tortillas (7- or 8-inch)
16 ounces cheddar cheese, cut into sixteen 5 x 1/2 inch sticks

DIRECTIONS:
1. Using two forks, shred cooked meat or chicken (should have about 3 cups).

2. In a large pot combine meat or chicken, salsa, beans, undrained chili peppers, and seasoning mix.

3. For each chimichanga, place 1/3 cup meat mixture atop a tortilla, near one edge.

4. Top with a cheese stick.

5. Fold in sides; roll up, starting with cheese side.

6. To prepare, wrap frozen chimichangas individually in foil.

7. Bake in a 350 degree F. oven about 50 minutes or until heated through. Or, thaw chimichangas in refrigerator overnight. Bake about 30 minutes. Unwrap. Bake 10 minutes more or until tortilla is crisp and brown.

Serves: 8

Old-Fashioned Chicken and Noodles

I found this recipe in Country Home and decided to make it for some friends who are under the weather. I used chicken thighs and the slow cooker method, and it couldn't have been easier! After 8 hours, I simply grabbed the thigh bones with tongs and the meat literally fell off when I gently shook it.

3 medium onions, chopped (1 1/2 cups)
3 stalks celery, sliced (1 1/2 cups)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. olive oil or butter
3 lb. meaty chicken pieces (drumsticks, thighs, and breast halves), skinned
4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 cup water
4 carrots, sliced (2 cups)
1 Tbsp. snipped fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 16-oz. pkg. frozen egg noodles
4 tsp. cornstarch
1 1/2 cups frozen peas
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
Fresh Thyme sprigs (optional)

1. In a Dutch oven cook onions, celery, and garlic in olive oil just until tender. Add chicken pieces, broth, water, carrots, 1 tablespoon thyme, bay leaf, poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper. Bring to boiling. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, for 25 to 30 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Remove from heat. Remove chicken; set aside to cool slightly. Return pan to heat; bring broth mixture to boiling. Add frozen noodles and bring to boiling again. Reduce heat and cook, covered, for 20 to 25 minutes or until noodles are desired doneness. Meanwhile, remove meat from bones; discard bones. Chop the chicken. Remove bay leaf from noodle mixture and discard. Add cooked chicken to noodle mixture.

2. In a small bowl dissolve cornstarch in 2 tablespoons water. Add cornstarch mixture to pan along with peas and lemon juice. Cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly; cook and stir 2 minutes more. Garnish with thyme sprigs.

Makes 8 servings.

SLOW-COOKER DIRECTIONS: In 5- to 6-quart slow cooker place onion, celery, garlic, carrots, thyme, bay leaf, poultry seasoning, salt, and black pepper (omit olive oil and cooking of vegetables in oil). Place chicken pieces on top of vegetables. Pour chicken broth over chicken, omitting the 1 cup water. Cover; cook on low-heat setting 8 to 9 hours or on high-heat setting 4 to 4 1/2 hours. Remove chicken from cooker; cool slightly. Remove bay leaf; discard. Meanwhile, in a separate pan cook noodles according to package directions; drain. Remove chicken from bones; discard bones. Chop chicken; return to cooker with cooked noodles, peas, and lemon juice. (Omit cornstarch and water thickening step.) Stir to combine. Garnish as directed, if desired.

Penne with Rosemary Chicken

After making this recipe the first time, I think that the pasta should be cooked al dente before freezing. Will try next time and let you know how it turned out.

Ingredients:
Nonstick cooking spray
1 pound diced cooked chicken
1 pound penne pasta
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheese blend
½ cup yellow onion, diced
1 tablespoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
2 tbsp pimentos, drained (optional)
2 cups milk
1 ½ 15-ounce can(s) cream of mushroom soup

Directions:
Place all the ingredients into a large bowl and stir to combine. Transfer the mixture to a resealable freezer bag.

For dinner tonight:
Preheat the oven to 350F. Place the contents of a bag into 9x13 sprayed baking dish and cover with foil. Bake for 1 to 1 ¼ hours. Or, place in a crock pot, set on low heat, and cook for 5 to 6 hours.

To freeze:
Label, date, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator before cooking as directed above.

Serves: 6

Six Can Chicken Tortilla Soup

I LOVE this quick, easy, delicious soup! I try to always buy the ingredients when they are on sale so I can whip this together whenever I like. It also freezes well. INGREDIENTS: 1 can whole kernel corn, drained 1 can chicken broth 1 can chunk chicken 1 can black beans 1 can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers, drained 1 can cream of chicken soup shredded cheddar cheese tortilla chips DIRECTIONS: Drain and rinse black beans. Pour everything into a large saucepan or stock pot. Simmer over medium heat until chicken is heated through. For OAMC: Pour everything into a gallon ziplock bag and freeze. Thaw and heat in microwave or over stove. Serve topped with shredded cheddar cheese and crumbed tortilla chips. Serves: 6