Crock Pot Yumminess!

Barron and I cleaned up the rest of the Creamy Crock Pot Chicken today and it reminded me that I need to share this recipe with you! If you're looking for something you can toss in the crock pot and come home to dinner, this is for you. (*disclaimer: it is best with noodles or rice. I suppose you could put rice in the pot too, but it will be mushy. Instant rice doesn't take too long.)

Creamy Crock Pot Chicken
from my Aunt Sherri

4 chicken breasts
1/4 c water
1 pkg Italian salad dressing mix
8 oz cream cheese, low fat, softened (I've used less than 8oz before)
1 can cream of chicken soup (fat free is what I use)

Spray crock with non-stick spray. Spread the chicken along the bottom of the crock. Mix cream cheese, dressing mix, and cream of chicken soup. Cover chicken with mixture (it's pretty thick). Cover that with water (use a little more if you want). Cook on low all day (or high for a shorter time).

Yum. Sorry I don't have a picture, but let's be honest; crock pot meals don't win awards for presentation ;)

As mentioned above, serve over rice or noodles.

Another crock pot favorite of ours is pork loin. I make it with a dry rub, giving it great flavor but keeping it versatile enough to use for bbq sandwiches, pork nachos, soup, etc.

Pork Dry Rub

Pork loin (you could it on butt, roast, whatever, but I try to keep it lower in fat)
Meat tenderizer (like Adolf)
black pepper
seasoning salt
season blend, no salt (like Mrs. Dash)
basil
some flavor of Dirkey grill creations (really most anything will work)
water

Spray the crock with non-stick spray. Sprinkle tenderizer on both sides of meat. Cover it well, but don't over-do it. Place in crock, fat side up.

In a little bowl, mix the rest of the seasonings. I realize I didn't put any measurements - I wasn't given any so I just wing it. Half a teaspoon of everything is a good place to start. Add more of something you especially like. Add more of it all. The only way to screw this up is use too much seasoning salt. The tenderizer is very salty, so you don't want to over-do the salt. Once mixed, sprinkle it over the meat. (And yes, sometimes I do just sprinkle each spice directly on the meat, one at a time. Whatever.)

Add some water to the pot, around the meat. A cup should do it, maybe two.

Cook on low all day. Come home from work and sigh in contentment at how wonderful the house smells. Eat it like it is day one. Get creative the rest of the week. Monday is a great day to make a huge pork loin!

Happy slow-cooking!

Fall Photo Op for Your Kiddos!

One of our wedding photographers, Sarah Carter, is doing a Fall Photo Op for kids over near Second Baptist. Evening sessions are available Oct 28-31. For all the details, click here. Be sure to check out her other photos - she's a talented gal.

Recipes for Fall

I LOVE fall. One of my friends said fall is a "perfect" time to have a birthday, and while I hadn't ever thought about it, I would have to agree. Fall is also a perfect time for cooking. I've been playing with some new fall recipes lately and they have been a hit, so I wanted to share them with you.

Made these as a dessert this weekend. Considered icing them, but they were sweet enough without it.

Butterscotch Pumpkin Muffins
1 3/4 cups flour, sifted
1/2 c light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 c sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 c canned pumpkin
1/2 c butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 c butterscotch chips
1/2 c chopped pecans, toasted

In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients. Create well in middle of mixture.
In another bowl, whisk together eggs, pumpkin, and butter. Stir in butterscotch chips and pecans and pour into the well of dry ingredients.
Fold together just until dry ingredients are moistened.
Spoon batter evenly into greased muffin tins. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350. (12-15 min for mini-muffins)
*Note - I added the teaspoon of vanilla (because I love it in everything) and omitted 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger and 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves.

I had almost a cup of canned pumpkin left, and I woke up Saturday morning with aspirations of pumpkin pancakes and AllRecipes.com did not disappoint.

Pumpkin Pancakes




I don't know about you, but one of my favorite chilies in town is McAlister's. And not the veggie. The all meat, no beans one. YUM. So I found a recipe sounded like it could be close. It called for 4 lbs of chuck roast. 4 lbs! But ooo, it was good! Check out Chunky Beef Chili from Southern Living here.

The last thing we tried this weekend was acorn squash. I'd never had one but it was recommended by FoodieRachel and Pioneer Woman, so I figured we should give it a try. Disclaimer: if you add butter, brown sugar, and a little maple syrup to almost anything, how bad could it be? Exactly. So head on over to Pioneer Woman for her recipe and give it a try. You'll be glad you did!

Heavy Cream Substitute - You're Gonna Love This

Got recipes that call for whipping cream, yet you can only bring yourself to make them for very special occasions because of all the fat? Make every day a special occasion with this heavy cream substitute!

8 oz low-fat cottage cheese
3 Tablespoons non-fat dried milk

Blend for five minutes and voila!

Now I need to warn you, it's a little more salty than cream, so if your recipe calls for salt, don't add it until giving the final dish a taste.

I have not tried it yet with a sweet dish, but I have tried it in pasta and soup and had great results. Give it a try and let me know how you use it!

Birthday Week!

So "birthday" is meant to be a day, right? I managed to drag it out at least a week...and you gotta love that! My actual birthday occurred on the same day as Camp Scrap, a huge scrapbooking event at our church, so I spent the evening with about 200 scrapping women (many of whom are some of my favorites - thanks for coming, T)! It was crazy (as always) but fun.

Love these beautiful flowers from the MacPac - what a nice surprise!

Saturday we were up early for a breakfast meeting and then my husband was so sweet to take me to the Ozark Craft Festival! We had a great time walking around with our friends, Jaye and Peter, eating some oh-so-good for your fair food, and admiring the handiwork of the vendors. We didn't buy much, but we did pick up some mums at what I refer to as my "BOO blocks." Aren't they cute?!

Barron's bright idea.

After the craft festival we headed downtown for fondue and Fedora. Yum! And then back home for a movie. It was a perfect day.

Mmmm...cheese... Mmmm...chocolate... And a fun new scarf!

I'm sure some of you are wondering what Barron got me for my birthday. Well, I told him not to get me anything (honestly) because we're preparing to do some remodling at our house, so I figured I'd throw in an extra accessory or two that could be considered my birthday gift. He did, however, make the occassion very special with his thoughtfulness, and that's really all I can ask for.

Other birthday events over the week included lunch with Barron's family, a visit from my dad, lunches with friends and coworkers, and chili and football at the Mac's. It was a wonderful birthday! Thanks to everyone that made it special - I really appreciate it!

Oh, and let me give you a little taste of what I received for my birthday. Can you spot a theme? Mini-muffin pans, pancake mix, pure maple syrup, cupcake stand, Red Velvet cupcake mix, cookie scoop, instant yeast with a measuring scoop (to measure out the equivalent of one packet), Martha Stewart's pumpkin carving kit (random, but fun!), a pink Mizzou hat (yay!) and fleece blanket were among the fun and thoughtful items. I think people must know that when they give me baking tools, they receive baked goods in return. It's the gift that keeps on giving!