Tuesday's Food: Cowboy Soup and Cornbread (all crockpot!!)

(I promise I started this post on Tuesday (while waiting in car line), but time got away from me...so it's being posted on Wednesday. And Tara, over at MommyTime, is still working with a sick baby. So stop by her blog and let her know you are thinking of her). 

Howdy folks! 

This past week I had the pleasure to make quite a few things in the crockpot. I was really excited about the recipes I found on Stephanie O'Dea's website and couldn't wait for the cooler weather to try them. So what's all the excitement about? In my house, with two boys, anything cowboys (except for the Dallas Cowboys) is awesome! So when I saw her recipe for Cowboy Stew, I jumped right on it. And if you saw my post last week about bread in the crockpot, you know that I was on the lookout for ways to use my crock as a breadmaker. So, the cornbread recipe, Roasted Garlic Spoonbread, was PERFECT! So you are going to get a two-for-one deal! Yay! 

See the links above for the original recipes. Below is my modification. 

Cowboy Soup: 
Ingredients

• 1 lb ground turkey (browned) 
• 2 cloves garlic (pressed) 
• 1 can of tomato sauce
• 1 can diced Italian seasoned tomatoes
• 2 bags of single serving microwave steamed corn 
• 2 cans whole baby potatoes, drained
• 1 can tomatoes with green chilies
• 1 can Ranch Style beans (on the baked beans aisle....but next time I'm just going to use kidney beans)
• 1 cup water

Directions

• Brown the meat with the pressed garlic on the stove, drain fat (if any), and let cool while you prepare the rest. 
• Empty all the canned food into the crockpot, making sure you drain only the potatoes. 
• Add the browned meat and the water and stir. 
• Cover and cook on LOW for 8-10 hours or HIGH for 4-5. 
• Season to taste. I added a little seasoning salt closer to the end of the cooking 

This soup tasted like a chunky "beef" and vegetable soup. I think next time I might add some chili seasoning to give it that "rustic" taste. Serve with the cornbread (recipe below after pictures) 

Crockpot Garlic Cornbread: 

Ingredients

• 1 box of Jiffy Cornbread mix
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 cups milk
• 2 Tbsp melted butter
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese *See note at the end of the recipe
• 1 head of garlic, peeled (15 cloves) ** See note at the end of the recipe

Directions

• In a large mixing bowl, combine Jiffy cornbread, sugar, pepper, milk, melted butter, and eggs. No need to use a mixer---just whisk it together until there aren't any big lumps
• Stir in cheese and garlic cloves
• Spray your crockpot and then pour in your batter. 
• Cook on LOW for 4-5 hours or HIGH for 2-3 hours. It's done when a toothpick comes out clean (I use a cake tester) 
• *After tasting this, my husband and I both agreed that cheddar cheese mixed in this would be great! So, I would say 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
• **This comes out VERY, VERY, VERY garlicy. I love, love, LOVE garlic, but this was a bit much for me. I would say add about half the garlic (8 cloves) to still have that taste but not quite so overpowering. 

This went GREAT with the Cowboy Soup. You COULD actually put them on at the same time, go to church, and then come back to a great Sunday lunch. Just make sure you don't mix up the HIGHs and LOWs on your crockpots.