SAVORY SATURDAY - Slowcooker Chicken & Dumplings

Welcome to my first SAVORY SATURDAY post.  As mentioned in a previous post, I make a five meal plan and order all my groceries through Pea Pod.  It saves me time, since my DH work different shifts and I home alone with Anthony and Balboa.    I cook at night and freeze the meals into smaller one person dinners.

It has been working out great.  So, I decided to post about my my favorite meal each Saturday and where I found the recipe.

Any other suggestions or ideas?

SO HERE IS THE MEAL.......

I got this recipe Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings from http://www.allrecipes.com/

Ingredients:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

2 tablespoons butter

2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup

1 onion, finely diced

2 (10 ounce) packages refrigerated biscuit dough, torn into pieces

Directions:

Place the chicken, butter, soup, and onion in a slow cooker, and fill with enough water to cover.

Cover, and cook for 5 to 6 hours on High.

About 30 minutes before serving, place the torn biscuit dough in the slow cooker. Cook until the dough is no longer raw in the center.

Meal preparation: ………………...... 5 stars It was easy to prepare, very little to do, just plop in the chicken, soup, and onions.  I used frozen chopped onions and added garlic powder. 


Baking/Cooking: …………………... 4 stars I just set the slow cooker and walked away.  I only opened it up to add the biscut dough.

Versatility: ………………………..... 4 stars Can easily be doubled or tripled.  If you like you can add veggies.

Amount of time to make meal:…….... 5 stars No time at all to make meal.  One of the quickest meals I made. Even easy to clean up. 


Total price of meal:……………….... 5 stars A money saving meal.  4 pieces of skinless boneless chicken breast was Chicken was $6.56, campbells condensed cream of chicken soup was $1.00 a can x2, 12oz bag of frozen chopped onions was a $1.00, we already had butter, the 8ct of biscuits was $2.29 x2.  All together the meal was $11.60.  We got 4 dinners out of the meal, so that is $2.80 a meal! And that was without any coupons. 

Total Rating:……..…………….... 4.5 stars

Starting to cook again - UPDATE!!!!

Update is at end of post.


Its so hard being alone at night with Anthony and Balboa.  I mean, I can do it, I am doing it, but it is tough.  I would love to start cooking meals at night again.  But since I can't I decided to use the slow cooker at night, and scoop into containers in the morning.  This way I CAN eat healthy and have time to cook. 

My plan......well I found a site sample menu that allows you to plan 5 meals, it takes time to set up the meal plan. But, having it up on the clipboard in the kitchen allows me to not use the ingredients for other items and stick to the meal plan.

I use all recipes to get great slow cooker recipes and then use peapod to buy and deliver my groceries.  So, this morning (since it is a Sunday) I decided to start with Split pea and Sausage soup.  I changed the recipe a little, but it looks really good cooking in the slowcooker right now.

I bouhgt a bunch of plastic containers to store the food, but have glass bowls to heat the food up in at both work and home.




Slow Cooker Split Pea Sausage Soup
1 pound dried split peas
10 cups water
1 pound smoked sausage of your choice, sliced
5 cubes chicken bouillon
2 bags frozen stew vegetables
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 bay leaves


In a 5 quart slow cooker, combine the peas, water, sausage, bouillon, carrot, celery, potatoes, garlic powder, oregano, bay leaves, and onion.
Cover, and cook on High for 4 to 5 hours. Remove bay leaves before ladling into bowls.

I'll let you know how it turned out next post.

UPDATE!!!!

The split pea and sausage soup came out great!  I let it cook 4 hours on high and then 3 more hours on low.  It was so good.  The potatoes were so soft, the broth so yummy, the sausage perfect.  Man, I am so proud of myself. 

I let it cool and put it into containers and labeled them with the date.  Now I am working on the meatballs with buttered noodles. 

Back to work and RAMBLING

Sorry in advance form my rambling.

Tomorrow I have to go back to work, at least we have curriculum planning. The students don't come back till the 5th.

Yesterday, we attended an annual family bbq. I had a nice time, but was very happy to see my two uncles (father's brothers). I haven't seen them in years. We got a lot of great pictures.

my father, uncle Benny(oldest), Uncle Louis (youngest)















in the back my two uncles, Tony and I on the left, Barbara next to Tony (uncle Benny's companion), and my Parents on the right.

















So I didn't get to exercise yesterday, since I had a lot of cooking to do. Though it was so horribly hot and humid, so I think I may have sweated about 2 pounds of fat off.

I made chicken wings and my gluten free cake (which tates like cornbread ~ it was different but DELICIOUS!) Should have taken pics, next time I will

I used my slowcooker, which I got for free from all my visa card points. So now I'm making a meatloaf and plan to make chicken, potatoes, and mushrooms later on in the slowcooker too. I'll make sure I add the recipe and take pictures. Figure I got to start making dinner and lunch for the week.

So, I plan to get ready for work tomorrow and enjoy the evening with my hibby, since we won't see each other till Friday, when we go camping.

Okay, more rambling later on,

dinner and Beautiful dining room

DINNER.....
Steak: So I started by marinating the steaks in olive oil, water, balsamic and white vinegar, barbecue sauce, and adding lots and lots of spices (orgeano, parsley, basil, garlic powder, chives) I let the steak marinate for about 3 1/2 hours (In my opinion the key to a great steak is marinating it) sorry to busy eating the steak to take a picture of it cooked.















Brown Rice: I use minute rice, it is easy and fast to use.















Peppers: Organic frozen mixed peppers, again, I LOVE MARINATING! I defrosted the pepper strips by running under luke warm water in a collander, then marinated them in olive oil and baslamic vinegar and my spices of choice (see above). When it was time to cook the peppers, I sauteed them in a pan for about 20 minutes (also add the juice they marinated in).
















DINING ROOM.....


Okay, so I love my dining room. Sure I wish I had a bigger place and eventually we will take up the carpet and sand and finish the parque floors that the previous owners covered for some strange reason!?!?!?!?















I used to have a blue and then cream colored table cloth on the table, but I love the color of the wood and think it looks beautiful. When we eat we put an cheap table cloth on the table and just shake it out and fold it back up when were done. Tony complains about alll the work of taking the table cloth out and then putting it back. Why are men so lazy?????

















So why do I love my dining room. First of all the color!
I also love this print, my sister bought it for me, she got it from The Christmas Tree Shops.


















My mother got me this decorative bow at Home Goods.


















My mother also got me this two tiered serving basket also at Home Goods (sorry, the photos sideways, and I forgot to turn it)

















Our beautiful chandelier from Lowes, the shades are white glass. We love it!
















A star I just love from Cape Cod Crafters
















The hutch we bought from Gothic Cabinet Crafters many many many years ago. I also LOVE LOVE LOVE baskets and will buy tons of baskets, you can always find a use for a basket, in closets, in drawers, or just for decoration~form and function!!!!!

EASY Balsamic Chicken, Corn on the cob, and potato wedge dinner

Not only did my hubby like the dinner it was so easy to make. I had almost no preperation time, I cooked the potoates first since they would take the longest and then lowered the heat and cooked the chicken. (Pictures were taken after half the food was eaten)


1.
The corn: I bought fresh organic corn, still in the husks. I boiled the corn in a large pot for about half and hour until it was bright yellow and tender. I let my husband add his own butter, since it was fresh and juicy he hadded very little butter.


















2.
I bought frozen (PLAIN/unseasoned) potatoe wedges, and added my own seasoning. I added oregano, parsley, garlic powder, and dill. I coated the pan and cooked the potatoe wedges at 450 for about 30-35 minutes (we like them crispy)

















3.
Chicken: I bought Perdue thin sliced chicken breasts, marinated them in balsamic vinegar for five hours, then coated the pan with Pam, added more balsamic vinegar and olive oil to the pan. Placed the chicken on the pan and covered in garlic powder, oregano, parsley, and dill. Coook for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees. The chicken stayed tender since it was laying in the olive oil and vinegar while baking.

Meatloaf Recipe

With Meatloaf you can add anything you like or want. Each time I make it I always experiment and add different ingredients. This is a quick and easy meal ~ in my opinion that is! PLUS IT'S GLUTEN FREE!

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup uncooked brown rice (will cook in oven)
basil, chives, oregano, garlic powder any spices/herbs of your choice
1 cup corn
1 cup asparagus ~ cut into small pieces you can use any veggies you choose, I sometimes use carrots, potatoes, broccoli, green beans, etc....
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 tablespoon barbecue sauce
1 tablespoon water


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Mix ground beef, rice, spices and herbs, egg, 1/2 cup of corn, 1/2 cup of asapagus in a large bowl
3. Place in coated pan in the shape of a loaf and spread the rest of the corn and asparagus around the loaf


4. Mix the ketchup, barbecue sauce, and water, and spread evenly over meatloaf and vegetables.

Cook in the oven for about 40 minutes, or until completely cooked!





WHEN IT'S DONE..... YOU HAVE A TASTY MEAL! (I forgot to take a pic of the whole loaf after it was cooked,this is just one slice. You can make homemade fries or mashed potatoes as a side to compliment this meatloaf. )

Karen's Tuna Salad Dressing

Since I foud out that I am gluten free, I have to back and rework all my recipes. So little by little I will be altering all my food. Now my husband is okay with the gluten free pasta and even organic pasta sauce, he's even eaten gluten free cookies or the ones I've made. He's even eaten gluten free pancakes. As long as it tastes good, he'll eat it.

So I must buy Healthy Gluten-free Cooking: 150 Recipes for Food Lovers.

When I get it I'll let you know if it was worth it.













Ingredients:
Tuna (packed in water)
mayo (light)
tomatoes
celery
cucumbers
balsamic vinegar (amount depending on your taste)
garlic powder, dill, oregano,
sliced red onions
bacon (optional and pre cooked)


Directions: (next time I make it I'll take a picture)
Put all ingredients in blender, I use the magic bullet. You may wonder if a liquidy tuna would be gross, but it comes out like a chunky salad dressing and is so delicious!


Pour mixed items onto salad or pasta (in my case gluten free pasta)