Slow Cooker Week, Day 5

I'd never had a strata before. Doesn't it sound so fancy?

Well, I'm getting all fancy on y'all and I done made myself a strata!

Make this. And then when anyone asks what it is, make sure you answer so nonchalantly...or you could totally act like it's so difficult and reply with a deep sigh like you are so exhausted.

Little do they have to know that you made it in the slow cooker! Your secret is safe with me.

A strata is a bread, cheese and, in this case, veggie, compilation held together with eggs. A perfect addition to your weekend brunch, a bridal/baby shower or Christmas morning.





Spinach Breakfast Strata

Adapted from Slow Cooker Revolution

Serves 10+ as a side, 8-10 as a main dish

Prep Time: 1 hr, including drying out bread

 

Ingredients:

1 loaf supermarket French bread, cut into 1/2 in. pieces  (12 cups)

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

1 onion, minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed

1 1/2 c. shredded Gruyere cheese (6 oz.)

2 1/2 c. half and half

9 large eggs

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

 

Directions:

First, spread cut bread over rimmed baking sheet and bake until dry, about 40 minutes.

 

Heat oil in a skillet until hot. Add onion, garlic and thyme and cook until onions are soft, about 10 minutes. Stir in spinach.

 

Spread half of dried bread into slow cooker and sprinkle with half onion mixture and 1/2 c. gruyere cheese. Layer remaining dried bread, onion mixture and cheese. Whisk half and half, eggs, salt and pepper together in bowl, then pour mixture evenly over bread. Press gently on bread to submerge. Cover and cook 4 hours on low, until the strata is set.

 

Let strata cool for 20 minutes. If you would like to serve from a platter and not the slow cooker, you can line the slow cooker with either a crock pot liner or foil to make it easy to lift out with spatulas.

 

Enjoy!

Laura

Slow Cooker, Day 4

Sometimes, you just want to throw things in a slow cooker, walk away and come back a few hours later and eat.

Is that too much to ask?

And sometimes, you don't want to go to the store and buy unique ingredients or dirty six bowls and pans before your slow cooker meal even starts to cook.

Here I am, saving the day. Here are five of my favorite ways to get dinner on the table without utilizing one brain cell to prepare. Lovely visual.



(background image via)

1. Throw in however many chicken breasts you need for your crowd at dinner that night, a packet of taco seasoning (or any Mexican inspired spices you have!), 4-8 oz. cream cheese (based on the chicken breasts amount) and a jar of salsa. As a bonus, if you have a can of corn or any beans on hand, feel free to throw those in, as well. Cook on low for 4-6 hours and shred to use in tacos, fajitas, taco salad or quesadillas.

2. Line the bottom of the slow cooker with sliced red apples, top with boneless pork chops, sprinkle with cinnamon and more sliced apples. Pour in 1/4 c. water for moisture. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. Serve with stuffing.

3. Same as #1, throw in however many chicken breasts your need for dinner that night. Pour one can Coke/Dr. Pepper/Pepsi/Root Beer (your choice!) and enough BBQ sauce over chicken until covered. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. Serve with mashed potatoes or shred for sandwiches, salad or chicken salad!

4. Line the bottom of your slow cooker with sliced bell peppers and a sliced onion. Pour about 1/2 cup-1 c. Italian salad dressing over the veggies. Once again, throw in those chicken breasts! (Can you tell we always have a bag or two of frozen chicken breasts in the freezer?) Sprinkle salt, pepper and cumin over the chicken. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. Serve as fajitas or in quesadillas! This is one of my favorites!

5. A twist on Thanksgiving! Dump a bag of frozen veggies in the slow cooker (peas and carrots are good), top with 4 chicken breasts, a can of cream of mushroom soup and a box of stuffing, prepared. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high 3-4. A meal in itself! Maybe get some pie for dessert!

Let me know if you try any of these recipes! I think you'll find yourself rekindling your love affair with the slow cooker.

Enjoy!
Laura

Slow Cooker Week, Day 3

Get ready- another super simple, slow cooker recipe comin' at ya!

In my resolution to try more of the recipes I pin on Pinterest, I found this little gem and loved it!

And it's only FOUR ingredients. Be still, my heart.

Crockpot Cranberry Chicken.

via

 

Slow Cooker Cranberry Chicken

Recipe from The Frugal Girls

Yield: 4 servings

 

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 can whole berry cranberry sauce (buy 2 so you can have it on hand to use the other half of the dressing and soup mix!)

1 pkg. dry onion soup mix

8 oz. Catalina salad dressing

 

Directions:

Cook chicken in slow cooker for 3 hours on high. Drain juices from slow cooker.

Mix together last three ingredients and pour over top of chicken. Cook on high for 30 minutes.

 

Serve with stuffing, over rice, quinoa or on a salad!

 

Enjoy!

Laura



Slow Cooker Week, Day 2

When you have a baby, people bring you dinner. I wouldn't say it's the best part of having a baby (because then I'd sound like a horrible mom) but it's definitely up near the top of the list.

And then your best friend comes to visit and she not only cooks you dinner when she is there but puts something in the crock pot for you to have that night after she leaves. I'm lucky, I tell ya.

I've been remaking the Cashew Chicken on a regular basis over the past few months to rave reviews. It's simple, flavorful, unique and delicious!! All really great adjectives there.

I love that I only have to pick up a few ingredients at the store and already have the rest on hand, ready to go.

via

 



Slow Cooker Cashew Chicken

Recipe slightly adapted from Six Sisters' Stuff (super cute sisters!)

Yield: 4-6 servings

 

Ingredients: 

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast tenders

1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp canola oil
1/2 cup soy sauce
4 Tbsp rice wine vinegar (I've used apple cider vinegar when I don't have rice wine on hand!)

4 Tbsp ketchup
3 Tbsp brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 cup cashews

 

Directions:

Combine flour and pepper in large zippered bag, add chicken and shake to coat with flour mixture. Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Brown chicken about 2 minutes on each side. Place chicken in slow cooker. Combine soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup, sugar, garlic, ginger, and pepper flakes in small bowl; pour over chicken. Cook on LOW for 3 to 4 hours. Add cashews and stir. Serve over rice.

 

Enjoy!

Laura

Slow Cooker Week, Day 1

I don't know if you know this, but recently this little cutie entered our lives.

 



(Just kidding, I knew you knew that, I just wanted to share a super cute picture of her.)

I used to love cooking dinner. It was my time to be creative, decompress, let loose and just relax in the kitchen.

And then I had a baby.

And that basically infinite amount of time I had to cook became a lot shorter depending on when she needed to eat, when she was asleep, when she was awake...you get the idea.

Enter our dinner saver- the slow cooker. (Picture the heavens opening, angels singing and a crock pot falling from the sky.)

I've always been a fan of the slow cooker but have really learned to rely on it over the past few months. This week will all be dedicated to a few of my favorite slow cooker recipes.

Today, I want to share about the Cadillac of slow cookers that I use and a cookbook that I've been loving!

First, my father in law surprised me with this INCREDIBLE slow cooker from Williams-Sonoma a few years ago, The All-Clad Deluxe Slow Cooker.



It cooks evenly and is easy to clean! You can braise or sauté right in the pot over the stove and then set it in the slow cooker to continue cooking. One less pot to clean is fine by me!

It has a great countdown timer and will automatically keep your food warm after the cooking time is over.

Oh and did I mention it's huge?! Seriously. Seven quarts huge. I've even quadrupled the recipe when making apple butter (that's 10 lbs. of apples!) and it handles it like a champ.

 

You can add this to your wish list from Williams-Sonoma here!

 

I've also been slowly trying out recipes from my new cookbook, Slow Cooker Revolution from America's Test Kitchen (aka my new, favorite addiction).

 



All the recipes have been tested and then tested again...and again...and again until they are foolproof for you to recreate at your house! You can order this from Amazon here!

 

Check back this week for lots of yummy slow cooker recipes!

Laura



Longest Brownie Name Ever

(take a deep breath...)

PB Cup Brownies with Shortbread Crust and PB Glaze.

Imagine how much longer that'd be if I didn't abbreviate peanut butter. Whew.



 Let's work our way from the bottom to the top.

Bottom floor: A Girl Scout cookie Trefoil shortbread crust.
Cookies + Sugar + Butter + Flour =  A crispy match made in heaven.



Middle layer: Fudgy, dark chocolate brownies with miniature peanut butter cups mixed throughout.

Read that again.

Ok, moving on.

Penthouse: A peanut butter, powdered sugar, thick and creamy glaze. Also great on ice cream, cupcakes, spoons, etc.

Move over horse racing, this brownie is the winning trifecta this year.

PB Cup Brownies with Shortbread Crust and PB Glaze

Prep Time: 45 min. (including baking crust)

Total Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes

Yield: 9x13 pan

 

Ingredients:

 

Crust:

12 tbsp. unsalted butter

1/2 c. white sugar

1/2 c. flour

1 c. (1 sleeve) finely ground Trefoil (shortbread) cookies

 

Brownies:

1 box 9x13 size brownie mix (yep!!) and ingredients listed on box recipe

1 c. mini peanut butter cups (or chopped regular size PB cups)

 

Glaze:

2/3 c. powdered sugar

1 tbsp. creamy peanut butter

6 tsp. water

 

First, make the crust. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter and sugar together with a mixer for 3-4 min. Add flour and ground cookies to the mixture and mix until incorporated. Press the mixture into a foil lined and greased 9x13 pan. It will spread out as it bakes so don't worry if it doesn't completely cover the bottom of the pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until lightly brown. Let cool completely.

 

Next, mix together brownie mix as directed. Stir in PB cups. Pour on top of cooled crust and bake as directed on package. Let cool.

 

Lift by foil to remove the brownies from the pan. Mix together glaze ingredients and microwave for 20 seconds or until smooth and pourable. Pour into a Ziploc bag or piping bag and snip the corner off. Drizzle over brownies.

 

Cut and serve!

 

Or cut and keep them all to yourself. I won't tell.

 

Enjoy!

Laura

 



 



Smashed Hot Sweet Potatoes

There are two types of people in this world.

People that actually try out recipes that they pin on Pinterest...and those who don't.

I was totally in the latter category for a while and then I decided I couldn't be that person anymore. I needed to make some changes in my life, starting with cooking things I pin. (Being a little over dramatic here, I know.)

These Smashed Hot Sweet Potatoes were one of the first things I tried and they were a hit! Super easy, flavorful and a nice change from sweet potato fries. Not that I really needed a change from sweet potato fries, those are my fav.

Crispy, sweet and spicy outside, soft, fluffy inside. A match made in heaven...or in your own kitchen!

 

Crash Hot Sweet Potatoes

Prep Time: 30 min. Total Time: 1 hour

Recipe from The Creekside Cook (lots of great recipes!)

 

Ingredients:

1 & ½ tablespoons light brown sugar

½ teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon New Mexico chili powder

½ teaspoon smoked sweet paprika

¼ teaspoon onion powder

¼ teaspoon chipotle chili powder

⅛ teaspoon granulated garlic

10 coarse grinds of black pepper

2 medium to large sweet potatoes

2 tablespoons melted butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

 

Directions:

1. Set a large pan of water with a teaspoon of kosher salt over medium heat until simmers.
2. Cover a large baking sheet with foil.
3. In a small bowl, mix together all of the dry spices, and set aside
4. Peel the sweet potatoes, and cut into 1 & ½ inch thick slices.
5. When the water is simmering, add the potato slices and cook for around 10 minutes, until the slices are getting a little soft. (Make sure they are soft enough to mash!)
6. Remove the slices to a cooling rack. You can leave them on the rack until they cool off and the outsides are dry, or if you are in a hurry, blot all of the moisture from the surface of the slices. This is important – they have to be dry on the outside or they won’t get crispy.
7. Start the oven preheating to 400º
8. Lay the slices of sweet potato on the prepared pan, and use a water glass to gently compress each slice – you want them to flatten out and the edges should get kind of ruffly.
9. Mix the butter and oil together.
10. Using a pastry brush or the back of a spoon, spread a thin layer of the oil and butter mixture on each slice.
11. Sprinkle some of the spice mixture over each slice, and press onto the surface lightly so that it sticks to the potato slices.
12. Gently turn oven each slice, and repeat the oil/butter and dry spice application as you did on the first side.
13. Roast in the oven for about 15 minutes, until the bottom of the slices is getting caramelized and crispy.
14. Carefully flip over each slice and roast another 10 minutes or so, until both sides are crispy and the spice mixture has melted together and turned all nicely brown.
15. Serve!

Enjoy!

 

Now to start trying out my work-out pins...

Laura

 





Friday Funny

Charlotte was about two weeks old when I called my mom and said, "Taking care of a baby is oddly similar to taking care of a drunk person. They constantly are drinking, they spit up all over themselves and poop and pee whenever."

Well, lo and behold, the internet world agrees with me.

Click here to see the 26 reasons kids are pretty much just tiny drunk adults.

#6, #7 and #18 are my favorites, what's yours?
Laura

Super Smoothie

You don't realize how loud the blender is until you have a baby and they look at that strange machine like, "What the heck is that thing and why is it so horribly loud?!"

Little does she know that she has the potential to be even LOUDER than a blender full of ice. And she has proved that fact, too.

Y'all know I've always been a fan of smoothies for breakfast, lunch, snack, really anytime of the day. After having a baby that didn't weigh the 23 pounds that I had somehow gained when I was pregnant, I'm an even bigger fan of smoothies. They're filling, nutritious and simple to throw together quickly and drink while I'm loving on my sweet girl....or changing a diaper, cleaning up spit-up or collapsing on the couch after she goes down for a nap. You get the idea.



This smoothie will not disappoint. Made creamy with a frozen banana, made sweet with mango and almond extract and packed with flax (great for nursing moms!) and fresh spinach!



I adapted this recipe from skinnytaste.com and she mentioned she saw it in a Superfood Smoothie book (see here) that has peaked my interest! I'm always looking for yummy, new smoothie recipes!

Mango Banana Spinach Smoothie

Adapted from SkinnyTaste.com

Makes 1 Smoothie

 

Ingredients:

1/2 frozen banana

1/4 c. frozen (or fresh) mango

1/2 c. fresh spinach

1 tbsp. ground flax seeds

1 small splash (approx. 1 tsp.) almond extract

1 c. milk

1/2 c. ice

 

Blend all ingredients together until smooth and creamy.

 

Enjoy!

Laura