REVIEW: Low Carb Chicken Bacon Crockpot Chowder

I love chicken. I LOOOVE bacon. And it's been just cold enough to merit a good soup for dinner. So when I saw the recipe for Chicken Bacon Chowder cropping up all over all of my low carb/paleo FB pages, I decided it would most definitely be a recipe I needed to try.

I found the recipe on Peace, Love, and Low Carb, one of my new favorite websites for yummy recipes. The author's blog is full of beautiful pictures that makes it so simple to follow. Since I didn't have all the ingredients on hand when I suddenly decided to make this soup, I'll show below what I did, but, of course, please see the original post for details. Then see my review at the bottom where I answer the questions: "Was it easy to make?" "How did it taste?" and "Did it make me feel full?"

So here's my "adjusted" recipe. Please go HERE for the original. I will note at the end of the ingredients and steps what I did differently. There is also a * next to ingredients I changed.

Here's my finished product, served with a low carb, almond flour bacon and cheddar scone

Low Carb Chicken Bacon Crockpot Chowder

Ingredients: 

• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 1 lb bacon
• 8 oz cream cheese
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 cups water, divided *Recipe calls for chicken stock, but seriously shockingly I didn't have any
• 4 Tbsp butter, divided
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 leek
• 6 oz mushrooms
• 2 Tbsp onion powder *Recipe called for 1/2 large onion. The hubs doesn't like onions, but I like the onion taste, so the powder is a compromise for us. 
• 1 Tbsp flat leaf parsley *Recipe calls for a few springs of Italian Flat Leaf Parsely 
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• Ingredients in recipe that I did not have so I did not add: 1 shallot, 2 ribs of celery

Directions: This is pretty much word for word from the original. Any changes will have a bolded note next to it. 

1. Turn crockpot on lowest setting. 
2. Chop all veggies. Add the veggies, 2 Tbsp butter, 1 cup chicken stock {I used water}, a pinch of salt and pepper to the crockpot, cover and allow vegetables to sweat for an hour. 
3. Chop up your bacon and cook it until it is nice and crispy {and resist urge to eat half of it}. Set aside. 
4. At the same time, pan sear your chicken breast in the remaining 2 Tbsp butter until they are a nice caramel brown on both sides. They will NOT be fully cooked at this stage. 
5. Remove chicken from pan and cut into cubes. De-glaze the chicken pan with the remaining chicken stock {again, water}.
6. Add the chicken stock, heavy cream, cream cheese, and seasoning to the crockpot. Stir until well combined. 
7. Add the chicken and the bacon to the crockpot. Cover and let cook for 6-8 hours. 

She says the entire batch is 38 net carbs. Without the shallot and celery, that might lower that number just a bit. But it ended up being about 10 servings for us, which is roughly 4g carbs per serving. NOT BAD AT ALL. 

Here are some pictures of the soup about 30 minutes into cooking: 

Good and chunky

Nice and creamy

My "Official" Review

Was it easy to make? Yes. It was very easy to make. Putting it together took a little over an hour, and only because you are supposed to let the veggies sweat. That time went by fast, though, by cooking the bacon, cooking the chicken, and then de-glazing the pan. I only had two complaints, but I can't blame the original chef; it's just the way the ingredients cook. 1} I had to scrape the sides of the crock every hour or so because the cream was browning on the sides. and 2}Around the 6th or 7th hour, my chowder suddenly dropped about 1, almost 2 inches in the crock. I was afraid that my entire soup was going to be reduced to creamy veggies and meat before it was supper time, so I added 1 more cup of water and 1 more cup of cream to the soup. Unfortunately, this made my chowder more soup than chowder. So in the future I will either just leave it alone or plan to eat it in 6 hours, not 8. 

How did it taste? SO. GOOD. My house smelled wonderful all day, too. I really, really like this soup. It was very creamy and full of all kinds of yum. My kids loved it, and my husband gave his seal of approval. I honestly think this would be a great meal to make for someone who is sick, has family in the hospital, or brand new parents. 

Did it make me feel full? Yes, surprisingly so. I started to get 2nds {because it's really that good}, but about two bites into it, I realized I was just too full to eat anymore. It may have been that I paired it with a scone that helped with the feeling full part, but either way, I was happy with what I had. Nothing I hate more than having a thick soup that makes me want to take a nap afterwards. And this soup didn't do that. I was just full and happy. Two very good things. 

This recipe is a good one. For sure going on my list of soups for next winter, since spring is starting to peak around the corner. 

Crockpot Potato and Ham Soup

It's after Christmas and New Years, and I have a ton of ham leftover. So I started making homemade ham and cheese hot pockets, BBQ sandwiches, and ham, egg, and cheese casseroles. And I still had ham left over. I started rummaging through my freezer and decided, based off of what I found, that I could finish off the rest of the ham by making this cold weather delight. 

It came out more like a chowder than a soup, but it was so good. I put in all the ingredients into my calorie counter, and I was surprised at how few calories went into a single serving {see note below}. It was filling enough that each person really only had one serving, and we were pleasantly full. I loved how easy it was to make this soup, and even better at how easy it was to clean up. 

If it is cold and raining where you are, like it is here where I am, this would be a great soup to help warm up your belly. 

Crockpot Potato and Ham Soup

Most of the ingredients.
This picture is excluding the Swanson's chicken broth, the chopped up ham, and the thyme. 

Ingredients: 

• 1 bag of Simply Potatoes Hashbrowns
• 1 family bag of Birds Eye Steam Fresh Asparagus, Gold and White Corn, and Baby Carrots 
• 1-2 cups chopped baked ham
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 3 tsp onion powder 
• 2 tsp dried basil
• 1 Tbsp dried marjoram
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tsp ground black pepper
• 4 cups fat free chicken broth
• 1 can {10 oz} Evaporated milk 

Directions: 

1. In a large crockpot, add the hashbrowns, frozen {don't cook in microwave} vegetables, chopped ham, chopped garlic, onion powder, spices, and broth. 
2. Cook on LOW 4-6 hours, on HIGH for 6-8 hours. Stir occasionally. 
3. The last 30 minutes, add the can of evaporated milk. Stir to mix well through the soup. 
4. When serving, feel free to top with shredded cheese, sour cream, or chives. 

This made enough for each member of my family to have two servings, which made 10 cups. Adding all this to my calorie counter, it came out to 155 calories per serving. {23 carbs, 4g fat, and 9g protein}

Quick, easy, and good. That's what I'm talking about. Let me know if you try it, and if you have suggestions of what else you would add to this. 

Happy eating. 

Recipe: Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes

Twice-Baked Potatoes are pretty regular in our house. When I have extra collards leftover, my family always enjoys a Twice-Baked Stuffed Potato, a meal all in itself. But I have not tried sweet potatoes yet.

I looooovvvee sweet potatoes. It was always something I could bond over with my Nana, as the two of us could down a large sweet potato like it's nobody's business. So when Piggly Wiggly has them on sale where I can get 6 LARGE sweet potatoes for 2 bucks, I grabbed those babies right up and get to cooking.

Tonight's recipe is inspired by my Twice-Baked Stuffed Potatoes. I started to look around Pinterest, Allrecipes, and all kinds of other places looking for some inspiration, but decided to just try something on my own. And I am just so happy with my creation. My house smells like Thanksgiving {a week early}, with hints of gingerbread and cinnamon wafting from my oven. And I can't wait to share it with you.

Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients: 

• 6 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed, pricked, and baked {I did mine in the crockpot.}
• 2 containers of Activia Breakfast Blends, Maple and Brown Sugar 
• 1/2 cup {chopped}  Stacy's Pita Chips Simply Gingerbread {These are limited time only, so grab a bag while they are out}
• 15 almonds, finely chopped OR 1/4 cup 
• 1/2 cup mix of craisins and golden raisins. 
• 2 Tbsp ground cinnamon

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350. 
2. Once potatoes have been baked, set aside to cool before handling. 
3. Meanwhile, mix together the Gingerbread chips, almonds, craisins, and cinnamon
4. Once the potatoes have cooled a little, lightly run a knife around the top of the sweet potato, and scoop the insides out, making sure the keep the potato skin in tact as much as possible. All of mine looked like little canoes. Place the scooped insides into a large bowl. 
5. Mix the yogurt with the insides of the potato until the yogurt mixed well. Add the gingerbread mixture, mixing well. 
6. Using a spoon, scoop the potato mixture back into the sweet potato canoes {hehe} until it reaches just the top. Once all the potatoes are full, add whatever is left of the mixture to the top. The potatoes will be overflowing. 
7. If you have anymore of those Gingerbread Pita Chips, chop up about 5 more real fine. Sprinkle on top. 
8. Place into the oven for 20 minutes. 

Here's the directions in pictures: 

6 baked sweet potatoes, set aside to cool

Here are the rest of the ingredients

IN LOVE with these. 

I buy a TON of these and freeze them. Then I pop them into a smoothie. SO GOOD

My sweet potato canoes 

Craisin/Raisin, chopped almonds, and chopped Gingerbread Chips 

Fill just to the top 

Here they are all stuffed right before I sprinkled the tops with crushed Gingerbread chips and baked them. 

This could easily be served as a side dish, a main dish, or even a dessert. After putting the information in my calorie counter, EACH STUFFED SWEET POTATO is just under 300 calories, 51 carbs, 4 g fat, and 8 g protein. 

Please try these and comment here how yours turned out. If you have a recipe you like with sweet potatoes, please share that as well. 

Happy cooking

White Bean and Collards Soup

Collards. I love them. Really, really love them. Anytime I make a batch of collards, whether I buy the leaves from the store {which is almost never} or I get them fresh from my garden or my dad's, I normally end up eating the leftovers in a bowl. By themselves. For real. I love collards. 

So this past Sunday, I made a roast with vegetables for Sunday lunch, and I had to have collards with it. I had an extra ham hock in the freezer as well as a few bags of collards from last year's garden. Saturday afternoon, I covered the collards with water and let them soak on low, with the ham hock, until Sunday afternoon lunch. YUM-O! 

But...

I had a ton of collards leftover. And as much as I love them, it was really almost too much for me to finish off on my own. So I Googled and Pinterested around, looking for some ideas. I could have made my Twice Baked Stuffed Potatoes, but we already had stuffed potatoes earlier in the week. I was looking for something different, something I had never tried before. What I found was quite a few variations of a collards soup. So I picked a little here and there, and came up with my own Meatless Monday {that could easily have meat in it} soup. Check below for my family's reviews. 

This is really with what to do with leftover collards. So if you don't already have some made, do it. Then come back. You are going to need those collards soaking in ham hock juice for a while. {I guess that doesn't necessarily make it vegetarian, but whatever} 

White Bean and Collards Soup  {If you see *, please see below for further details or information}

Ingredients: 

• About 4 cups of cooked collards, in juices it was cooked in. 
• *1 pound of white, dried, beans 
• 1 medium onion, chopped 
• 1 Tbsp of dried Thyme or 2-3 sprigs of fresh Thyme
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• {OPTIONAL} 1.5-2 cups cooked country ham, chopped
• Parmesan and Feta Cheese 

Directions: 

1. **Prepare the dried white beans in the "fast soak" style.
2. Pour soaked white beans into a large crockpot. Add leftover collards, onion, thyme, and seasonings. If needed, add some more water. We like our soup chunky, so I didn't add but maybe a half a cup more of water.
3. Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or HIGH for 4-6 hours, or until beans are soft. 
4. If you choose to add the ham, add in the last 30 minutes. Also, at this point, taste. Add more seasoning, if needed. 
5. Serve with Parmesan and Feta cheese on top. 

I served mine with some Homemade Biscuits Like Grandma Made, but I'm willing to bet the soup would go just as well with some Made from "Scratch" Cornbread Muffins. 

NOTES: 

* You could use canned beans, if you like, but make sure you rinse them off first. Adjust cooking time. You want the beans soft, not mushy. 

** "Fast Soak" basically is boil 1 pound of dried beans in 6-8 cups of water for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and cover for 1 hour. 

REVIEWS: 

Okay, so my oldest child is my best food critic. He will honestly tell me if something is good or not. He gave this soup a 6. He said, "I would eat it again, if you made it, but it's not something I would ask you to make." 

My husband, after hearing this response said, "No. It was good. I would say it was better than what he said. More like an 8." 

When made this, I did not add the country ham. I just didn't have any. But we all talked about what was good or not so good about the soup, and the response was overwhelmingly in favor of adding country ham to the soup. It was almost like getting a Sunday Dinner Soup {hmmm....new name? Maybe.} without the meat. So next time I'm for real putting the ham in it. 

Crockpot Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

Look at my attempt at food art...and don't tell me you don't have one of those delicious bottles of syrup. 

The first time I saw that one could make pancakes in a crockpot, I about flipped. What? No way. But Stephanie, from A Year of Slow Cooking, posted a recipe for Crockpot Pancakes. And it's a winner in our house.

Now, let me get this straight, first. It doesn't come out like flat circles. It's more of a scone-like dish. The reason why we call it "pancakes" is because you use pancake mix to make it. Also, this recipe can take anywhere from 2 1/2 hours to make or as long as 6 hours. So it's a good recipe to start right after school for brinner, or you can have it on while you are at work. The longer it is in, though, the more scone-like it is. So now that you've been warned, let's get to today's recipe.

Crockpot Cinnamon Roll Pancakes
 Ingredients: note: the first 9 ingredients is a double amount of My Go-To Pancakes

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour {you can use just all purpose if you want, but I like to add wheat to my breads as much as possible} 
• 7 tsp {or 2 1/3 Tbsp} baking powder
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 2 eggs
• 6 Tbsp butter, melted
• 4 tsp vanilla 
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp cinnamon 

Directions: 

1. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla.
3. Combine the mixed dry and mixed wet ingredients.
4. In another small bowl, mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon. 

Pancake mix on the left, brown sugar and cinnamon mix on the right. 

5. Spray your crockpot with cooking spray. DO THIS. 

6.  Pour about 1/3 of your pancake batter into your crock. 

7. Sprinkle about half of the cinnamon/sugar mixture on top. 

8. Repeat once, but leave about 1 Tbsp of the cinnamon/sugar mixture. 

9. For the last step, add the rest of the pancake batter and then sprinkle the last Tbsp of cinnamon/sugar on top. 

10. Cover and cook on HIGH for 2-3 hours or on LOW for 6 hours. Just make sure that you stick a knife in it to make sure it's done in the middle. 

When it is time to serve, each piece should have a few layers of pancake mix and gooey cinnamon/sugar. It almost tastes like those friendship breads people always have going around at Christmas. Check out the layers in the pic below: 

I'm telling you, my sons were all "mmmm"ing and "Oh man"ing while eating this. And we actually had enough to serve for breakfast the next morning. JUST AS GOOD. 

You MUST try this. Super easy, and super yummy. 

Overnight Crockpot Grits AND What to Do With Leftovers

Grits are pretty much a staple in my house. We LOVE a big, steamy bowl of cheesy, buttery grits at least once a week. And since I love to make my life easier, I found a recipe for Crockpot Grits on my favorite crockpot website, A Year of Slow Cooking. I have made slight adjustments since I make it so much and see what's missing or what's needed. It's super easy and super yummy.

Overnight Crockpot Grits
Ingredients: 

• 1 cup stone ground grits. {Do NOT get the quick grits...invest in the real stuff. You won't regret it}
• 1 cup milk
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1/4 cup butter, cut into pieces
• 1 Tbsp kosher or sea salt [you could do a little more if you want, but it's always best to taste and then add at the end]
• 1/2 cup parmesean cheese [or some other hard cheese]
• OPTIONAL: cheddar cheese, bacon

Directions: 

1. Spray your crockpot with cooking spray. DO THIS, unless you really want to be scrubbing for hours the next day. 
2. Add the grits, milk, water, butter, salt, and parmesean cheese. Stir. 
3. Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours. {I normally put this on around 10 or 11 the night before so it's ready when we are getting up at 6 the next morning} 
4. When you get up, the grits will be done, and the edges will be slightly crispy. Stir the pot, taste to see if it needs more salt, and then add the cheddar and bacon if you desire. 

So this makes a LOT of grits. It tends to feed my family of five and then I have some left over. I have found a few GREAT ways to use the leftover grits [besides letting your kids use it to mold]. 

Option 1: 

Fried Grits: 

Directions: 

1. Spread leftover grits onto a cookie sheet. Place in the freezer for 3-5 hours. 
2. Cut into squares and store into a freezer safe ziplock bag. 
3. When you are ready for a great side dish for dinner, pull out the amount of "grit squares" that you want. 
4. Pour about 2 Tbsp of Olive Oil into a skillet and place the grit square on it. Cook on each side until slightly brown. 

Fried Grits served with grilled shrimp and turnip greens 

Option 2: 

Muffin Pan Grits: 

Directions: 

1. Take the leftover grits and fill up a muffin tin. I had enough grits leftover to fill 6 cups in a muffin tin. 
2. Freeze for 3-5 hours. 
3. After frozen, gently warm the bottom of the muffin tin to loosen the grits muffins, and then place them in a freezer safe ziplock bag.
4. When you are ready to use, pull out what you want, pop it in the microwave for 1-2 minutes. 

They were eaten faster than I had a chance to take a picture of them. I snagged this cheese-filled "grits muffin" in time to take a pic. This went well with some mixed fruit a piece of bacon. 

So, don't waste those grits. Not only are they GREAT the first time, but you can always freeze and have smaller servings for another time, either as a great side dish or as a quick breakfast on those busy mornings. 

Food: Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup

You are in for a 2.5-er today! I am going to post one MAIN recipe, but in doing that, I'm going to have to give you a few more. So bonus for you!

My oldest son had been begging for chicken noodle soup for weeks. Not only did the weather not necessarily call for soup, but I hadn't roasted a chicken yet to make the soup. So when it started getting cooler, I decided it was time for some soup. 

First thing's first, I needed to roast a chicken. Nothing is better than getting a whole chicken from the store and making a few meals out of it. And that's exactly what I did. Here's my recipe for....

Crockpot Chicken Roast

Ingredients: 

• Small whole chicken, washed, insides removed, and patted dry
• Chicken Roast Rub {scroll to the bottom of my Chicken Pot Pie recipe for the rub ingredients}
• 2 Tbsp of butter 
• Water
• Optional: 2-3 carrots, diced; 2 celery stalks, chopped; 1 medium onion, chopped

Directions: 

1. Spray your crockpot with cooking spray. 
2. Soften the butter, but do not melt. Mix in about a Tbsp or so of the Chicken Roast Rub. 
3. With your hands, rub down the chicken with the herbed butter mixture, making sure you get between the skin and the meat and the inside of the chicken. 
4. At this point, you can stuff the inside of the chicken with the carrots, celery, and onion, if you would like, and if you want to add more of the Chicken Roast Rub, it's up to you. I normally do, but we really like an "herby" chicken in my house. 
5. NOW, there are two methods you can use in the crockpot: 
1. Ball up foil into 2 or 3 inch balls and place on the bottom of the crockpot. Place the chicken on top, cover, and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or on HIGH for 4-6, or until the chicken is done. {This method makes the chicken more of a "rotisserie" chicken}...OR...
2. Place chicken on the bottom of the crockpot, cover, and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or on HIGH for 4-6, or until the chicken is done. 
3. WITH BOTH, you can {again, this is optional} take the lid off at the end of your cooking time, and place the chicken, still in the crock, under a broiler until the skin begins to get crispy. 
4. DO NOT THROW OUT THE CHICKEN JUICES COLLECTED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE CROCKPOT. This makes incredible chicken broth, and you will need it for soups. 

So... you eat a delicious meal, but you have quite a bit of chicken leftover? Pull it all from the bones and set aside for later. BUT put those bones back in the crockpot, cover with water, and let cook ON LOW for 8-12 hours {generally overnight}. You are going to have a TON of broth. Freeze for later, or you can use it to make Chicken Noodle Soup. 

Here it is, the recipe of the hour....

Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients: 

• At least 2 cups of chicken meat
• 4-5 medium carrots, sliced
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 Tbsp Chicken Roast Rub
• 1 Tbsp Salt
• 2 tsp black pepper
• Chicken broth, enough to fill the crock {use the broth you made, either with the roast or with the leftover bones...or BOTH}
• 1/2 pound of noodles {I wouldn't recommend wheat noodles. Everytime I tried it, they turned out mushy}

Directions: 

1. Put all ingredients, except the noodles, in the crockpot. Make sure the broth goes pretty much to the top of the crockpot. 
2. Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or on HIGH for 4-6 hours.
3. About an hour before you are ready, taste the soup. Add more salt or pepper, if needed. 
4. About 30 before serving, add the noodles. This may take the broth to the TOP of the crockpot, but the noodles will absorb some of the liquid. 
5. ....meanwhile, make some Made from "Scratch" Corn Bread Muffins and brew some fresh sweet tea. 
6. The soup is done when the noodles are ready. 

And that's it! It's amazing what you can do with one small, whole chicken, but making soup is definitely top of my list when the weather is cooler. I hope you try this and enjoy! :o} 

Tuesday's Food: Crockpot Spicy Tomato Soup

I looked at the text my husband just sent me, and then looked at the pantry again. This past week had been an expensive one for us, and if we were ever going to save any money for our 10 year anniversary trip to New Orleans, we were going to need to cut corners...again. With just his income (and the little bit I get from Bounty...see here, here, and here for details), I have to be creative and frugal as the Home Manager. So as he texted me with the latest update on our budget (he does it on his lunch break...crazy guy), I knew that a quick trip to the store to pick up stuff was just going to have to wait until the next payday.

Lucky for me, though, two weeks ago I went on my monthly BOGOF grocery trip. I go about once a month and pick up pretty much just Buy 1 Get 1 Free items...with the exception of milk and eggs...which generally aren't ever BOGOF. :( I'm not particularly good at couponing, but I'm pretty good at taking all the sales papers of my local grocery stores and making lists of all the BOGOF stuff we would actually use. Check out my loot!

So you see on the bottom right all those cans? Those are all tomato-something. And that was where I got my inspiration for last night's super-frugal, completely husband approved, and kid tested (and liked!) dinner.

I searched my favorite crockpot website A Year of Slow Cooking, and found her Tomato Soup Recipe. The problem was I didn't have all the ingredients she had, and I was really going to try to make something at home without having to go by the store. So, I grabbed what I had and made a pretty decent soup! Check it out:

Crockpot Spicy Tomato Soup 

Ingredients:

• 2  (14.5 oz) Cans of Diced Tomatoes (One of mine was Oregano and Rosemary diced) 
• 1 (10 oz) Can of Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilies (if you don't like spicy, then just add another can of regular diced or maybe one of those herby ones like I had above) 
• 1 (14.5 oz) Can of Stewed Tomatoes 
• 1/4 cup of oregano (yes! I love this stuff!) 
• 2 Tbsp of rosemary (fresh is preferred, but dried will work just as well) 
• 1 Tbsp of Garlic Powder
• 2 tsp of Onion Powder 
• 1/2 cup of Fat Free Sour Cream

Steps: 

1. Gently dump all your tomatoes in a blender. (If you have one of those nifty tools that you can stick in your soup to puree, do it! I would have done this with mine, but I killed my hand blender on making a smoothie...for real, I did.) Blend until the tomatoes run smooth. 
2. Gently pour into your crockpot. Blend in all the spices. Leave the sour cream until the very end. DONT put it in at this point. Trust me. 
3. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. 
4. About 10  minutes before serving, gently stir in the sour cream. 

Serve with grilled cheese (that you make in your waffle iron...if you haven't done this yet, it will change your life!), a few croutons, and a dollop of sour cream. I had some leftover garlic bread from spaghetti last week, and I just chopped that stuff up and put on top of the soup. See below: 

It was YUMMY! And I had enough to freeze for another meal another time. 

And just a side note, my oldest child likes to think he can handle hot stuff, especially since his mama can barely handle black pepper. So when I served him this soup last night, we had a competition to see who can eat the most without having to drink anything....and I won. Just saying. :) 

And one last side note: don't make this while wearing white. You will want to test the soup at some point, and inevitably the spoon will slip out of your hands, fly through the air in slow motion and land on the floor with a large SPLAT! Then you will have to quickly remove all the whites you have on and run to your laundry room to quickly apply a stain-fighter agent (white vinegar or peroxide)...just because you wanted an early taste. Just leave the soup alone. 

Food: Making Meals for a New Mom (and Freezer Meals for Me!)

Babies!! They are everywhere! I kid you not, in the past month, I have had 7 (yes, seven) friends have a baby.  And for those who know me personally, no, I was not part of this baby boom. But it sure gave me the opportunity to get my baby fix...and to serve the mamas who are either brand new moms or moms to a brand new baby. I love (love, love, love, love) to be able to help out new moms as they make that transition from hospital to home. I remember what it was like to get visitors in the hospital, but when I got home, there was a bit of loneliness. Once Joe went back to work, I was home, by myself (and now, looking back, suffering postpartum depression) with my little one(s). So getting visitors was actually kind of nice. So I want to be able to do that for new moms. What better way than to bring some yummy goodness for the family to enjoy for at least the first week home?!

I didn't want to bring the traditional lasagna over. I had just read a blog about a new mom who was grateful for the food-gifts, but had a freezer stocked full of lasagna. So, lasagna was off my list...sort of. I researched recipes that would be easy to freeze. Also, I wanted something that, in the most part, could be removed from the freezer by single servings. When it's just mom at home, there's no point in heating up an entire casserole. I found a lot of helpful recipes. So I collected all my ingredients, strapped on my apron, and spent an exhausting, but rewarding, 6 hours cooking in my kitchen. It was totally worth it! And since I doubled the ingredients, I was able to also finally able to do some of that freezer cooking that's on my New Year's Resolution list. Below I am going to show the picture of what I made, give a brief explanation when necessary, and give you the website where I found the recipe.


1. BBQ: I didn't really need a website for this one. I just got about 2 pound of pork, a bottle of bbq sauce, and my trusty crockpot. Making bbq in my crockpot is the norm in my house. Anytime I make a roast (whether beef, pork, or chicken), I normally make bbq out of what's left. And because I made so much, I was able to split what I made in half to give to my friend and the other half went in my freezer.

2. French Bread Rolls: What better thing to go with bbq than rolls? You can eat them separate or make a sandwich. And since I love to make bread, making bread once a week is part of my NYR, and my french bread rolls are a house favorite, these were a perfect choice. YUM!

3. Muffin Pan Chicken Pot Pies: I have not been a fan of chicken pot pie. I just don't like bread mixed in with my food. BUT, the idea of using  my large muffin pan to make meal-sized servings was appealing to me. And most people like CPP, right? So I figured I would give it a shot. And they turned out great! I had enough to make for my friend and still had enough left over for my hubby to take to work....and then I braved the recipe again last night to make for my family. They LOVED it! A side note if you plan on making these: The recipe calls for you to make your own crust. The first time I made this (for my friend), the crust turned out great. The second time, it was too flaky. The next time I'm going to try to make it, I'm going to use the Pillsbury ready-made pie crust that you roll out (the same stuff I use when I make pop tarts). If you are nervous about making your own pie crust, first, give it a try. If it doesn't work, then try the pre-made stuff.

4. Lasagna Cups: Here was another opportunity to use my muffin pans. For this recipe, I used the regular-sized muffin pans (because it makes good serving sizes AND my large muffin pan was being used for the chicken pot pies). This made a TON of little individual servings. This recipe I started the night before with the bbq. I used a smaller crockpot, dumped in my lean, ground beef, set it on low, and let it brown my meat overnight. In the morning, I drained the fat, and prepped the rest of the ingredients. What I really like about this recipe is that it used wonton wrappers instead of pasta noodles. So cool! Anyway, this turned out great. I wrapped each one individually to be pulled out for evenings when my husband has to work late, and I don't want to make an entire meal for me and 3 kids who don't normally eat a lot anyway. I pulled them out of the freezer, opened up (but did not remove) the foil, and put them in my toaster oven at 350 until the cheese started bubbling again (maybe 15 minutes). These are great and would also work great at parties as well.

So for some reason I didn't take pictures of what was left. Sorry! If I make it again (which I am SURE I will do), I will upload a photo. :) 

5. Summer Porridge (or cold oatmeal) Yum. Seriously yum. The website has about 6 different recipes for summer porridge (really, all have the same base, but what you ADD to it varies). I made the Maple Blueberry and the Vanilla Raspberry. I doubled the recipe so my family could have some as well. I really wanted to try this. AND I really think you could freeze this as well. I was taken back by the first taste of mine. My head was saying, "Oatmeal should be hot" but my tongue was saying, "This porridge is cold!...but lovely." It tastes a lot like those yogurt parfaits. I wanted to provide some breakfast or "lighter" snacks for my new mom friend, so this worked great!

6. Corn and Potato Chowder. The recipe calls for the frozen corn to be "roasted". Uh...Wal-Mart didn't have "roasted", so I just added some Mrs. Dash to the corn. This was decently easy to make (and if I wasn't making 6 other things at the same time, I don't think it would have taken so long). Once this soup cools, it's great to freeze and then reheat later. We are quickly approaching warmer weather (yesterday was a record 93 degrees!! In April!) so I didn't want to do too many soups, but I figured one would be okay.

7. Homemade Biscuits Like Grandma Made: These I prepped but did not cook. If you read my post on them, they make great individual biscuits. I thought these biscuits would go well with the chowder. So they were a natural choice for me to provide for my friend. Here's a picture of what I've done in the past:

8. Pre-Made Pancakes. Wal-Mart has these bags in the frozen food section. When I was still teaching and my boys were itty bitty, I found these little treasures. They come 3-in-a-pack and take about 45 seconds to heat up. Before I started making my own pre-made pancakes, these were a life saver. They work great on Sunday mornings. We are rushing to get out the door for church, and the kids normally eat something that is filling but can be eaten in the car. These fit that bill. If you are looking for a recipe to make your own pre-made pancakes, I use this recipe at least once a week. My addition is about 2 tsp of vanilla to the batter. I normally make about 20 small pancakes (about 4 inches). Whatever is leftover, I freeze for those mornings we need a quick breakfast or I just don't feel like cooking.


So it took me about 6 straight hours of cooking. I studied the recipes the night before and planned which course of action I should take. It was worth every second. I was able to serve my friend and her family, and I was able to finally get my freezer cooking done. It would also be a good idea to make one or two of these and freeze so when a friend, family member, or someone in your church or community gets sick, has a baby, or is just in need of being served, you can pull one of these out, get a nice little cooler bag and spend some time loving on your neighbor.

And just so you can see why I love doing this, here is the joy I get in helping new moms:

Mmm...See how I'm getting my baby fix? Love holding those little ones! 

Tuesday's Food: Beignets and Green Eggs and Ham

So February was full of holidays, and at our house, we love to celebrate, well, anything. If it's worth celebrating, chances are we are going to have a little party for it. Two major events happened right at the end of February, that I was doing a lot of research on recipes and cooking up things I haven't quite made before. The two (that's right, I said two) recipes I am going to share today are things I have tried to make before, but not quite like this. I wanted to make sure I had these in my list for next year. So enjoy.

First up is Beignets. Almost 10 years ago, my husband and I were introduced to these yummy, doughnut-like desserts, when we honeymooned in New Orleans. We came back with boxes of the mix and made them quite often for the first two years of our marriage. But they were never quite like what we had at Cafe Du Monde. I could never get them to puff up. So this year I searched for a "made-from-scratch" recipe that I wanted to use for our "Mardi Gras"-themed dinner party. They turned out just like the delicious awesomeness of Cafe Du Monde's. So I'm going to share the recipe I found on Teresa Taylor's article "Mardi Gras Month Perfect Time for Beignets."  NOTE: I am going to pretty much copy her recipe on here, but I will add my review at the end and let you know of any changes I made to the recipe. AND prepare this the day before or begin this in the morning of the evening you are going to cook these. They will need at least 5 hours before you can begin cooking. 

Beignets: 

What You'll Need: 

• 1 Tbsp active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 cup lukewarm water
• 1/2 cup sugar, divided
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup evaporated milk
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 7 cups all purpose flour, sifted 
• At least 2 quarts of vegetable oil
• Powdered sugar

Instructions: 

1. In a stand mixer, combine yeast, water, 1 tsp of sugar, and a pinch of salt. Let sit until foamy (about 5-10 minutes) 
2. While it was foaming, I went ahead and combined this next group and added when ready. I don't like to just sit around and wait. Add remaining sugar and salt, eggs, milk, and evaporated milk. Mix well. Add shortening and mix well. 
3. Add 3 cups of the flour and mix well. Slowly add the remaining flour until dough forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Cover with a damp cloth and l eave to rise double in a warm place (generally an hour) 
4. After rising, punch dough down, remove from bowl, and place in a greased container, allowing room for dough to expand 2-3 times. Please make sure you find a big enough bowl. This will get BIG. Cover loosely and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight 
5. When ready to use, heat fryer or deep skillet full of oil to 350 degrees. 
6. Turn out dough onto well-floured counter or cutting board. Roll out to about 1/4 inch thick. Make sure it's as close to this as possible. 
7. Using a pizza cutter, cut into 3-inch squares. Drop a few at a time into hot oil. Turn once when bottom browns and brown the other side (this really only takes a few minutes on each side) 
8. Remove and drain on paper towels. 
9. This is the KEY to a great beignet: Dump a bunch of powdered sugar on top of the beignet before you eat it. Seriously, at Cafe Du Monde, there's at least 2 inches of powdered sugar on top. 

Review: 

This recipe was GREAT! As I said before, I have made quite a few batches in the past, but this batch, for some reason, just worked perfect! I made a whole bunch and had plenty to freeze for future parties. They tasted just like New Orleans. You MUST try this, whether it is Mardi Gras or not. :) 

My little Mardi Gras helper. She was helping me make the beignets

Here's one that didn't quite pop up, but was just as yummy. 

Sassy enjoying her own beignet 

Second recipe is Green Eggs and Ham....in the crockpot. I love that my children's school celebrates Reading Across America week and Dr. Seuss's birthday each year. They had a great time dressing up, rhyming, crafting their way to a world of wonder and joy. Go to my post on Thing 1 and Thing 2 Puppets for ideas and links to Reading Across America. So in the light of Dr. Seuss's birthday, I made my kids some green eggs and ham in the crockpot. It was ready the next morning and OH SO GOOD! 

Crockpot Green Eggs and Ham

What You'll Need: 

• Cooking spray
• 10 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• Three medium potatoes, diced 
• 1 package of bacon (I know it's not ham, but bacon is still pig, and it was cheaper.) 
• Green and BLUE food coloring
• Salt and Pepper
• WHITE cheddar cheese, shredded 

Instructions: 

1. Bake bacon according to directions. Once cooked, chop into pieces. 
2. Spray crockpot with cooking spray
3. In a large bowl mix together eggs, milk, cut up potatoes, and bacon. Make sure it is mixed WELL and all eggs are beaten. 
4. Add green food coloring. And then add a few drops of blue. In my experience of making green eggs (for St. Patrick's day last year), if you don't add the blue, the green is going to be more of a yellow-green. My 7th grade art teacher who told me I was no good at art would be proud of how I knew to add some blue food coloring to make it mixes with the yellow of the egg yolk to make sure my eggs are good and green. 
5. Add a little salt and pepper. It will already be salty because of the bacon. So don't overdo it. 
6. Bake on HIGH for 2 1/2 - 3 hours or LOW 5-6 hours. I put started mine at 11 pm to be ready at 6 am. My crockpot goes into "warm mode" once it has reached its time limit. So, if your's doesn't, you might want to get up and check on it. 
7. When serving, add a little white cheddar cheese. You could add it before cooking, but then I wouldn't add any salt. I've done it both ways, and it's turned out fine. 

And YUM! For real, this stuff was good. Once the kids realize it's just green regular food, they will dive right in. My oldest even took some to school for lunch. :) 

Crockpot Green Eggs and Ham. Look at that color! SO GREEN! 

The boys wanted to act out Green Eggs and Ham. J said, "I will not eat..." and Jed said "Yes, I will eat!" 

Tuesday's Food: Twice Baked Stuffed Potatoes

Mmm....potatoes. I really, really love potatoes. My waistline doesn't, but boy, when it turns cold outside, potatoes are just so nice. Last week I decided I wanted to serve potatoes for dinner, especially since we were running low on everything in the pantry and freezer. I wanted to make sure that I didn't tip the scale in points for weight watchers, so I checked out what they had. I found a great recipe that I adapted that I want to share with you. And honestly, my family LOVED it!

Ingredients:

• 5-6 baking potatoes
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 cups of greens (I used collards) 
• 5 oz of lean ham or 1 package of country ham pieces
• 1/4 cup evaporated milk OR 1/2 cup of 1 % milk
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp cayenne 
• 1/4 cup cheese 

Steps: 

1. Wash baking potatoes and then wrap in foil. Bake on high for 6-8 hours. This is the longest part. The rest of pretty quick. So do this first thing in the morning before you go to work or school. 

2. Using a pot holder, unwrap the potatoes and then cut off the top of the potato. Scoop out the insides, but be careful to not do too much. It will cause your potato to fall apart. Dump the insides of the potato into a big mixing bowl. Place the potato shells back in the crockpot or into an oven safe bowl. Preheat the oven to 350. 

3. In a large skillet, saute the greens for 2-3 minutes. Add the ham and cook until the ham begins to look a little crispy. 6-7 minutes. Add to the mixing bowl with the potato insides. (ALSO if you do not have evaporated milk (like I didn't), boil the milk for 2 minutes, then set aside. Add to the potato mixture when you add the collards and ham. )

4. Add cheese to the potato, greens, milk, ham mixture, add the spices, and gently stir until well blended. Stuff the potatoes. Place the stuffed potatoes back into the oven safe bowl and bake for about 10 minutes, or until the cheese has begun to melt. 

5. Then you are done! I know it looks messy, but aren't most great tasting meals? You can serve this with another side, such as broccoli or some bread, but it's really not necessary. I added a biscuit to our meal, but really the potato worked great! 

This meal was perfect for a cold evening, the kids told me I was the best mom ever, and I even heard my husband bragging about it to another dude (my dad) about a week later. That kind of praise sure makes me want to put this on the regular rotation! 

Weight Watchers Points Plus: 7 pts!!!

Tuesday's Food: Crockpot Pumpkin stuff

So this past weekend, my husband had a mid-election office party oyster roast (long title, I know) at our house this past weekend. I don't eat oysters. Nope, not at all. I am the only one (and I really mean only one. The dog was digging through the shells just an hour ago) that doesn't eat them. So when we have oyster roasts at our house, I try to make something for the non-oyster eaters. Since I have my new 3-in-1 crockpot (which I really can't say enough about, btw), I decided to try to have something in each one. I tried to make it all relate, so I went with pumpkin. Hey! It's still fall and I have the right to make pumpkin stuff until New Years! So I went to my trusty resource, Stephanie O'Dea's Year of Slow Cooking website and searched for pumpkin recipes that wouldn't be hard to do and wouldn't cost me a ton of pounds later on. I went with Jamaican Pumpkin Soup, Pumpkin Pudding, and Pumpkin Spiced Latte.

See my 3-in-1 back there?! It's awesome! If you are a slow cooker, ask for one for Christmas! 

So I normally don't follow her recipes exactly because they tend to be fattening, and then I show you my adaptation here, but this time I followed the recipes pretty closely. So today I'm going to just give you a review of each one and let you know what I did and did not include.

Jamaican Pumpkin Soup

I don't really like spicy stuff, so I was prepared to make adjustments to this recipe, but there was not really anything that made this spicy. The name was deceiving, really. The only thing I didn't include in the soup was a red onion. I don't really like red onions. Maybe if I had added that, the taste would have been totally different. When I tried the soup, I didn't initially include the cream that you could add at the end. And I must say the soup was kind of bland. It hovered perfectly between needing either something sweeter or something savory. I wasn't impressed, and was frankly embarrassed to have served it to guests, but they didn't complain (how nice of them!). Later, though, I did end up adding the cream. And oh my! It changed the taste completely! It was creamy and yummy, and seriously filled me up. So, if you want my advice, add the cream.

Weight Watchers Point Plus: 3 pts

Pumpkin Pudding:
SO GOOD! I made this exactly like the recipe had it. And oh my! It was good! I had made some gingerbread men and had it with the pudding. So good! For reals, make this!

Weight Watchers Point Plus: 4 pts

Pumpkin Spiced Latte:
So I don't like latte. I thought I would give this a try. I had recommended this recipe to someone who likes lattes. She told me it turned out great and it would be perfect for a party atmosphere. So I tried it. And I still don't like it. No amount of cream, sugar, or extra coffee made me like it. So if lattes are your thing, try this. If not. Don't bother. :(

Weight Watchers Points Plus: 4 pts.