Crock Pot Aloha Chili

And here you have it folks! My first soup of the fall!!!!!!! I decided to try a brand new recipe that gives a little twist to regular chili! Hope you enjoy!

 

Aloha Chili

 

Ingredients

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• Two 15.5 oz. cans of kidney beans ( I used one white and one light red)
• 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
• 1½ c chopped pineapple
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 T chili powder (or more, if desired)
• ½ c water
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Toppings of your choice: fat free sour cream, shredded cheese, tortilla chips, avocado. (Note that toppings are not counted in WW Plus Point Value for this recipe)

 

Directions

1. Brown your meat in a sauce pan and drain excess grease.
2. Combine all ingredients in slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or high for 4-6 hours.
3. Serve with desired toppings

Breakdown

• This makes approximately 8 servings but it is always hard to know exactly how much a serving is with soup. For each serving there are 5 Weight Watchers Plus Points!

Crock Pot Chicken Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches!

Here is a yummy crock pot take on a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich! This actually uses shredded chicken to give it a different flavor, but when combined with the onions, peppers, and provolone cheese you definitely get the Philly Cheesesteak taste! I adapted it from THIS recipe over on Six Sister's Stuff which has amazing crock pot recipes. I also included the Weight Watchers Plus points if you are interested in that as well!

Crock Pot Chicken Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches

Serves: 6

 

 

Ingredients

• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts (you can use either frozen or thawed)
• 1 green bell pepper cut into slices
• 1 medium white onion cut into slices
• 1 (14oz) can of chicken broth
• 1 (1oz) packet of dry Italian Dressing mix
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 6 buns of your choice (I used whole wheat which is what is calculated in the WWP points)
• 6 slices of provolone cheese

 

 

Directions

• Spray your crock pot with non-stick cooking spray
• Place the chicken breasts on the bottom of your crock pot and sprinkle your garlic salt on top. Top your chicken with the sliced pepper and onion
• Pour your chicken broth on top and then add your Italian Dressing mix
• Cook on low for 6-7 hours
• Right before serving, toast your buns in the oven until a little crispy (I did mine at 375 for about 4 minutes). Add about 1/6 of the chicken to a bun and top with onions and peppers. Place a slice of cheese on top and pop back in the oven for a few minutes to melt the cheese.
• ENJOY!!!!!!!! 

 

 

Breakdown

• For one sandwich including chicken, onions, peppers, cheese and a whole wheat bun the total Weight Watchers Plus Points is 8 points. This may vary depending on what kind of bun you use so make sure that you adjust accordingly! 

Weight Watchers Crockpot Balsamic Chicken and Veggies!

Hey everyone! I have the perfect low prep summer meal for you to try!!!

I saw an idea on Pinterest of course to make crockpot balsamic vinegar veggies so I decided to play around and make up a recipe and of course it is very Weight Watchers friendly! Here is is!!!!

WW Crockpot Balsamic Chicken and Veggies

 

 

Serves: 4-6 (depending on how many chicken thighs you use)

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 6 hours

Point Plus Value per serving: 5

 

Ingredients:

• 4-6 skinless bone in (or boneless if you prefer) chicken thighs
• 1 pint of cherry tomatoes
• 1 pint of sliced mushrooms
• 2 zucchini (chopped into bite size pieces)
• 4 squash (chopped into bite size pieces)
• 1 red onion sliced
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. In a large crockpot place your chicken thighs at the bottom and season with salt and pepper
2. Wash and prep all of your veggies and place all of them in a large mixing bowl. Mix all of the veggies with the balsamic vinegar and Worcestershire sauce until all of the veggies are evenly coated.
3. Pour the veggie and liquid mixture on top of the chicken in the crockpot. (This is where you make a quick judgment call).... I decided to add 1 cup of water on top of he veggies because a dry crockpot just makes me a little nervous. I would recommend adding some water before cooking, this just means when it comes time to scoop out he end result you will need a slotted spoon.
4. Cover crockpot and cook on low for 6 hours.
5. Scoop out your chicken (carefully because it will be SO tender it might fall apart) and your veggies! Serve alone or with brown rice for an added treat! 

 

That is it guys! This recipe is so great because you can add or take away whatever veggies your family likes! It is a perfect recipe to use those fresh local veggies you buy at your local farmers market this time of year! And is even better because veggies are 0 points plus!!! Hope you enjoy!

 

 

 

 



Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings

I really wanted to try to make Chicken and Dumplings, and I decided that I need to start with the easiest recipe ever and then maybe work my way up to actually making my own dumplings. So here is a super easy and really yummy recipe for Chicken and Dumplings! BONUS: It is a slow cooker recipe! I loveeeee my crock pot!

Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings

Ingredients

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (thawed)
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 (10.75 oz) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 (10oz) packages refrigerated biscuit dough, torn into pieces
• A bag of frozen veggies if desired

Directions
1. Place chicken, butter, soup, and onion in crock pot, and fill with enough water to cover.

2. Cover and cook on high for 5-6 hours. About 30-45min before serving, place the torn biscuit dough and veggies in the slow cooker. Cook until the dough is no longer raw in the center (but to keep the dumpling consistency don't let the dough cook enough to brown.)

3. ENJOY!

*This serves about 6 people

Yummy Chicken Tortilla Soup!

Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients 

• 1-2 lbs shredded, cooked chicken.
• 2 (15 oz) whole pelled tomatoes, mashed (I used cans of crushed tomatoes)
• 1 (10 oz) can enchilada sauce
• 1 med. onion chopped
• 1 (40z) can chopped green chile peppers
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 cups water
• 1 (14.5 oz) can chicken broth
• 1 tsp chili powder, salt, and cumin (I used mexican seasoning, salt, and oregano)
• 1/4tsp black pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 (10oz) package frozen corn
• tortillas
• Olive Oil

Directions

1.Place chicken, tomatoes, enchilada sauce, onion, green chilies, garlic and corn into slow cooker. Pour in water and chicken broth and addd seasonings. Stir well, cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours

2. Preheat oven to 400, lightly brush tortillas with oil. Cut into strips, then spread on baking sheet. ( I cut mine with a pizza cutter into strips.)

3. Bake until crisp, about 10-15 min. To serve, sprinkle tortilla strips over soup. You can also add cheese and sour cream!

Tortilla strips pre-baking

Tortillas post-baking

This is a great recipe for chicken tortilla soup! Super easy, and it was really really good! You can adjust how spicy you want it by getting mild, medium or hot enchilada sauce. I also added a can of Rotel in mine to spice it up!

Antiques and Parmesan Chicken

One of my most favorite things to do is to go to Packards Antiques with my mom when we have nothing to do but waste a few hours! It is our favorite place to go and find antiques: dishes, furniture, jewelry, and all other kinds of things. I love going there, but I really haven't ever bought many things. My mom and I went to Packards on Monday and we both found some great things!

Here are my finds....

I found this cake plate, vase, and 2 dishes! And the best part is that I only spent 20 bucks for all of it!

It is really hard to get a good picture of the cake plate. I love it though it is my favorite find for sure! I got it for 1/2 off too! I love making cakes and I love the cake plate that I have now to serve them on!

Crock Pot Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients

• 4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/4tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1-2 beaten eggs
• sliced mozzarella cheese
• jar of favorite marinara sauce

Directions

1. Spread the olive oil into the bottom of your crock pot. Whip the egg with a fork in a separate bowl. Mix the bread crumbs with the seasonings and parmesan cheese in another dish.

Here are my dishes...

2. Dip the chicken into the egg, then into the bread crumb mixture, coating both sides with crumbs, cheese and seasonings.

Place the chicken breasts in the bottom of the crockpot.

Here are the chicken breasts in the bottom of the crock pot...

3. Layer slices of mozzarella cheese on top of the chicken breasts. I think that it took me about 6 slices to cover the chicken. Then, cover with the entire jar of marinara sauce...

It is ready to cook...

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

Here is what it looks like all done...

You can serve with your favorite pasta or rice. Add some veggies, salad, or bread and you have a great meal!

Our Valentines Day plus a couple of recipes thrown in

Just in case anyone forgot, Valentines Day was yesterday! I have been lucky enough to have the most amazing valentine since 2002; which makes it our 10th Valentines Day together! WOW!
We haven't been in Huntsville for Vday in a long time, but yesterday was a lot of fun. Justin told me not to make lunch plans, and I went over to house to find this.....



He had his dining room table all set with a sushi lunch for us! It was awesome! We love love love sushi, and he got my 2 favorite kinds :)




He also got me this beautiful red rose! We finished up the day by going to our Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University class to learn about our credit! It was a good day! :)

My mom got me this amazing cup cake stand! Isn't it the cutest?! It is going to look so great in my future bakery!


We also had GiGis cupcakes!!!! They are addicting, but so incredibly rich. I can usually only eat a couple of bites at a time! I love them though!



And now on to the recipes....


Weight Watcher's Crock Pot Lasagna

6 servings; 6 points for each serving. Prep time: 20 min Cook time: 360 mins

• 1lb uncooked lean ground beef (you could use chicken or turkey also)
• 1 small onion chopped
• 1 med. garlic clove minced
• 28 oz canned crushed tomatoes
• 15 oz tomato sauce
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/4tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1 1/2 cup part skim mozzarella cheese shredded and divided
• lasanga noodles uncooked
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1. Heat large nonstick skillet over med-high heat. Add beef, onion and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently and breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon. Let cook about 5-7 min or until no longer pink; stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, salt, oregano, basil and red pepper flakes. Simmer 5 min to allow flavors to blend.

2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, stir together ricotta cheese and 1 cup mozzarella cheese

Here is what my mixture looked like while it was simmering

3. Spoon 1/3 of the beef mixture into a 5 qt crock pot. Arrange a layer of lasanga noodles over the mixture, top with half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Repeat another layer and finish with remaining 1/3 of beef mixture.

4. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. Remove cover; turn off heat and season to taste.

5. Combine remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese and sprinkle over beef mixutre. Cover and set aside until cheese melts and lasagna firms up, about 10 mintues.

These are the spices that we had on hand that I used.

I didn't get a picture of the finished product, but it was very tasty! I suggest you try it for sure!!!

Chicken, Mushroom, Broccoli and Rice Casserole

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 onion
• 1 lb mushrooms quartered ( I didn't have any on hand)
• 1 box of Long Grain & Wild Rice prepared by box directions
• 2 cooked chicken breasts cubed
• 1 cup broccoli florets (I used frozen broccoli)
• can of Cream of Chicken Soup
• can of Cream of Celery Soup
• 1/4 cup light mayo
• Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350. prepare rice per instructions. in a heated pan add 1/2 tbsp olive oil and cook mushrooms and onion until golden brown and remove from pan.

2. Steam/cook broccoli per directions. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.

3. Cook in baking dish uncovered for 30 minutes and let sit a couple minutes before serving because it will be very hot! Enjoy!

this is what my casserole looked like before baking...







And this is what it looked like after baking!!!

Cute Free Cards and Shrimp Chowder

Shrimp and Corn Chowder

• 1lb of shrimp
• 2 potatoes cut into chunks
• 2 bags of frozen corn ( I used cans of creamed corn)
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup milk or cream
• Any extras you want to add in (I put carrots, chopped onion and mushroom)

1. Add broth, corn, potatoes and extras into slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 6-7hours.

2. Add milk/cream and shrimp and cook for another 15-20minutes or until shrimp is pink and firm.

This is super easy, and perfect for a quick dinner during the winter! The best thing is you can add whatever you have in the pantry! I love soup!!!!!!!!

Friday night we made our own personalized homemade pizza and it was good. We got to stay in out of the nasty weather and everyone was happy with their own section of pizza.

Okay so I want to share a super cute website that I am obsessed with!
https://olliegraphic.com/index.php

This website has the CUTEST stationary and prints. I just love all of it!!! And one of the best parts is they have free downloads! You can dowlowad cards and prints in a PDF file and print them!

Yesterday I printed off several different cards on cardstock paper...

I love these two!


This is hard to see because my camera isn't very high quality but it is a "Don't Forget" printable! I printed off a couple copies, cut them with a papercutter and used a cute clip to attach them together at the top! I am super excited about it! And the puppy looks like my dog Abby!


This is a preview of the ribbon I am going to be using in some projects this week! More to come later! I am so excited!