Chicken Wraps

This recipe caught my attention as my mom always used to make chicken and something (stuffing...rice....you get the picture) growing up. So I was eager to try and new variation on the chicken and "carbs" casserole....

The Ingredients....

...1 cooked and shredded chicken breast
...1 package refrigerated crescent rolls
...1/2 c. evaporated milk
...1 can cream of chicken soup

Directions....

Preheat oven to 325* and grease a 9x13 baking dish. Seperate rolls and place some chicken on the widest part of the unrolled biscuit. Roll up and place in pan. Mix soup with milk and pour over rolls. Bake for 45 minutes in preheated oven, or until browned.

My Thoughts....

This was good! It could definetely be a comfort food and a great wintery food as it is a 'heavier' dish. But it was really good!

Cooking Beans in Your Crockpot!

I love making my own cooked beans to have on hand for dishes! They're so easy to make, and the crockpot makes it a "fix it and forget it" task! Cooking your own beans is alot cheaper than buying them canned. A can of beans costs upwards of 99c around here, while a single bag of uncooked beans costs 99c, and I can get 3 cans worth out of a bag. So thats only 33c!

Don't be afraid of cooking your own beans, the crockpot makes it a snap!

First, pull out all of the split, wrinkled and misshapen beans....

Then, place in a large bowl and cover with 2-3 inches of water. Cover and let soak overnight. If you live in a warm climate or if your furnace is on, let them sit in the refrigerator overnight while they soak. This will prevent bacteria from forming!

On a side note, I have heard that this step can be omitted, it doesn't do much for the softening of beans, it is just a way to release the gasses that come along with beans. So this step is up to you!

Then, strain and again look through for misshapen, wrinkled and split beans. Place in the crockpot. Cook in the crockpot on low for 8 hours. As with the bowl, fill the crock with enough water so that there is two to three inches covering the beans.

Once done, measure out 1 1/3 cups of the cooked beans (1 1/3 cup cooked = 1 can storebought). Place in a Ziploc bag or plastic container. Freeze until ready for use.

I love cooking beans this way, mostly because using the crockpot only costs pennies per hour to run versus the stove! So not only is it frugal to cook your own beans, but it is also frugal on your energy bill too!

For more great kitchen tips, check out Kitchen Tip Tuesday over at Tammy's Recipes!

Brown Sugar Meatloaf

This is a rare treat folks.....meatloaf. I don't usually like to make it because it requires so dang much ground beef...but I decided to make it in celebration of finding ground beef on sale for 99c per pound (and if we're celebrating sales, then we will celebrate with sugar next week, cause HyVee has it on sale for $1.58 right now!!!).

Ingredients...

...2 lb. ground beef (eek! I know!)
...Ketchup
...1 small onion
...1/2 c. packed brown sugar
...3/4 c. milk
...2 eggs
...1 1/2 t. salt
...1/4 t. ground black pepper
...1/4 t. ground ginger
...3/4 c. bread crumbs

Directions....

Preheat oven to 350*. Grease bread pan and form brown sugar into the bottom of the pan. Spread desired amount of ketchup over brown sugar. In a mixing bowl combine the remaining ingredients and press into pan on top of ketchup and brown sugar. Cover top of meat mixture with desired amount of ketchup. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour or until juices run clear.

My Thoughts....

This is so goooooooddd! By far the best meatloaf I have ever had and the only way I ever make it. If you haven't tried meatloaf this way yet, you MUST!

Fore more great recipes, check out the Recipe Swap going on over at The Grocery Cart Challenge!

Syrup....from Scratch!

I have been wanting to make my own syrup for quite some time now and we finally used up the last of our store boughten syrup so that I wouldn't feel guilty about it going to waste while I made a brand new batch. And let me tell you, I will NEVER buy syrup again!

Ingredients...

...3/4 c. packed brown sugar

...1/4 c. sugar

...3/4 c. water

...1/2 c. light corn syrup

...1 t. vanilla (or, if you would rather, you can do 1/2 t. vanilla and 1/2 t. maple extract)

Directions....

In saucepan combine sugars, water and corn syrup and bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for 7 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla (and maple, if using) flavoring. Let stand 15 minutes to set.

My Thoughts....

This was gooo-oood! Way better than store bought! It was the same consistency and color as store bought, but it just tasted better! I love making my own pantry staples, not only do I know exactly what's in them, but they always taste better, no matter what it is!

Sugared Rhubarb Muffins

I made these muffins to have on hand for breakfasts this week, and when hubs got home from work, the following conversation took place...

"mmmm muffins! They're rhubarb aren't they?" **sense a little disappointment on his part here**
"yes...how did you guess?"
"because thats ALL you make anymore. rhubarb EVERYTHING!"

oh. uhhhhh....guilty as charged? Oh well...

The ingredients...

...2 c. flour
...1 c. sugar
...2 t. baking powder
...1 egg
...1 c. milk
...1/3 c. oil (I used plain yogurt...which did not work out. So I highly recommend just using the oil. Or perhaps applesauce.)
...1 c. rhubarb
...1/2 t. vanilla
...cinnamon sugar mixture

Directions...

Preaheat oven to 350*. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar and baking powder. In another, smaller, bowl, combine egg, vanilla, milk and oil. Stir wet mixture into dry ingredients until just moistened. Fold in rhubarb. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full, and sprinkle tops with cinnamon sugar mixture. Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes.

My Thoughts....

These were good. But as mentioned above, I used plain yogurt and it simply did not work out. I'm eager to try this with the oil and see if it turns out right. But seriously, this was a really good muffin and I will definetely make it again with the proper adjustments!

Crockpot Chili

So, I know that summer hasn't even started...we're still in spring, but I want sooooo badly to skip right over summer and go to fall. I think it's because fall is my favorite season, and also usually when we're busy with moving back up to school and so I don't get to enjoy it. So, I think I just want it here so badly so I can actually enjoy it! Well, at any rate, I have to suffer through three months of sweltering heat (hopefully not though. maybe it will just stay unseasonably cool this summer? I would be content with that!) before I can enjoy fall.

Saturday was one of those (very) unseasonably cool days, with dreary skies and lots of rain. I decided to just pretend it was fall, and I made a big pot of slow cooker chili to enjoy. It sufficed me. For now.

The ingredients....

...1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
...1 (large) can tomato juice
...1 onion
...1/2 to 1 lb. ground beef
...Green Pepper (as much or as little as you'd like)
...2 cans worth of beans (I used 1 part navy beans and 1 part black beans)
...1 T. chili powder
...1/4 t. garlic powder (or 2 garlic cloves. whichever you prefer)

Directions...

Brown ground beef. Put everything in the slow cooker, stir together and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4.

My Thoughts....

Chili is one of my favorite fix it and forget it recipes...plus it just always reminds me of the fall as that's the only time my grandma made it. I could eat chili everyday! This was the first time I tried my chili with green pepper, and it proved to be good! This chili was especially good with a slice of homemade Amish Bread straight from the oven. Talk about warming the heart!

Amish Bread

I got a bread machine last week at a local store, which is similar to Goodwill. It was only $6 and needed a little bit of TLC...there were some stains on the exterior and it was obvious that after baking the last loaf of bread in it, the previous owner just sent it to be donated. At any rate, it cleaned up fabulously and works like new! Yesterday was a pretty dreary day, so I decided that there was no better way to warm up my house than to bake a loaf of bread in my new machine! I decided to make som Amish bread, and it was sooo worth the (very little) effort that it took!

Ingredients...

...1 c. warm water (100*-115* F)
...1/3 c. sugar
...3/4 t. salt
...2 T. oil
...3 c. flour
...1 T dry yeast (I measured out my packet and it came in at just a hair under 1 T. so I just settled for that)

Directions...

Dissolve sugar in warm water and add yeast. Let sit for about 15 minutes, until a foam forms on top. Place in bread machine and add oil. Swish around until oil and water mixed together. Add flour and place salt on top of the flour. Set machine to the dough setting and start. Once the machine has ran through the dough cycle, gently mold dough into bread pan form, making sure to try and get all air bubbles out at the same time. Cover and let dough rise for 30-40 minutes, or until about doubled. Place into preheated oven and let bake for 25-30 minutes.

My Thoughts....

Yuuuuuummmmmmmmmmmm! I forgot how much I love homemade bread until I had a slice of this. Once our freezer stockpile of markdown bread I got runs out, we're surviving solely on homemade bread, no more store bought! There is nothing better than homemade bread....except for maybe the homemade jam I put on it!