Makes 8 Servings
4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 can cream of chicken soup
4 bouillon cubes
*If using thawed chicken, add 2 cups water. If the chicken is frozen, this is not necessary as it creates its own juices.*
2 cups peas (thawed or frozen)
2 cups baking mix
2/3 cup + 1 tablespoon milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons parsley
4-6 teaspoons cornstarch
4-6 teaspoons cold water
Salt
Pepper
Garlic powder
Directions:
Place chicken in the crockpot and season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Pour the cream of chicken soup over the chicken, spreading evenly on top. Place the bouillon cubes equally throughout the crock. *If using thawed chicken, pour the 2 cups of water evenly around the sides of the crock. If frozen, no additional water is needed.* Cook on low for 4 hours, then switch to high and cook for another 30 minutes. Mix together the cornstarch and water in a small bowl with a whisk until completely dissolved. Use 4 teaspoons for a thinner gravy, 6 for thicker. Stir the mixture into the liquid in the crock, stirring until combined. Stir in the peas and cook for another 30 minutes. (If your peas are already thawed, you can skip the additional 30 minutes and just let it cook for an hour after switching it to high, then stir them in just before putting the dumplings in. But if they are frozen, they will lower the temperature of the mixture, which is why you need to let it get bubbly again before adding the dumplings.) *Make sure your chicken is cooked all the way through at this point* Once it comes to a boil (or bubbling slightly) again, mix together the baking mix, parsley, cheese and 2/3 cup of milk. Add an additional tablespoon or two of milk and stir again--you want the consistency to be wetter and stickier than your usual biscuit dough so that you get nice and moist dumplings. Drop by heaping spoonfuls on top of the boiling mixture in the crockpot and cook on high for another hour, or until dough is cooked through and no longer "doughy".
This was super easy and delicious. My kids LOVED it! They love for me to add cheese to the dumplings, but you can certainly leave it out if you prefer. If your crock tends to take longer for cook times, it may run at a lower temperature and you may prefer to bake the dumplings in the oven--450 for 10 minutes--before putting them into the crock, or serving the chicken mixture on top of them, however you like it. This is the perfect weeknight meal. I started this at noon today and it was ready by 6 before hubby went to work. We were doing renovations on our guest bathroom ALL day long, so this was perfect for us to have a home-cooked meal without spending hours over the stove, giving me more time to work on the bathroom. Gotta love that!
Makes 6-8 Servings
10 small apples
4 tablespoons butter, cubed
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons vanilla
1 cup quick-cooking oats
2 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoons butter, cut up
-can substitute 1 box cake mix + 1 stick melted butter for oats & sugar if desired-
Directions:
Preheat your crock on high. Spray inside of the crock. Cut up the apples--peel or not, it's personal preference. Toss the apples with the orange juice, cinnamon, vanilla, cubed butter and brown sugar in the crockpot. Mix together in a separate bowl the oats, brown sugar and remaining cut up butter. Sprinkle over the top of the apples. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours, or low for 5. If you prefer the cake-mix-type topping, you can mix that with the cubed butter instead and sprinkle that on top of the apples instead of the oats and sugar. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. Yum!
So easy and delicious. It's the perfect way to use up apples if you've got a ton like I do! My kids love this and I've made it with both kids of topping. I like to sprinkle a little cinnamon on top of my ice cream when I eat this.
Makes 1 Pizza
1 can regular Pillsbury pizza crust dough
6 strips pre-cooked bacon, chopped
1/2 cup parmesan
2 cups mozzarella
6 eggs
salt and pepper
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425.
Spray pizza pan if necessary--can use round or rectangle. Stretch dough to fit and sprinkle with parmesan, mozzarella and bacon. Crack eggs over the top and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until eggs are set to desired amount.
EASIEST. BREAKFAST. EVER!!! You don't have to do any prep work--I bought pre-cooked bacon and used meat-cutting scissors to chop it right over the top of the pizza. Pop it in the oven and you're good to go. This was a HUGE hit with my kids...what kid doesn't like pizza?? We all loved it and it's become a pretty regular breakfast in this household. :)
Makes 3 Dozen
1/4 pound ground pork
1/2 pound uncooked shrimp, shelled, deveined, and finely chopped
1 egg white
1/4 cup minced water chestnuts
1/2 stalk celery, minced
2-4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
1/8 teaspoon chili oil, optional
Dash ground pepper
36 wonton or potsticker wrappers
3 tablespoons cooking oil
2/3 cup chicken broth
Sauce:
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped green onion
1/2 teaspoon chili oil
Directions:
In a large bowl toss in the pork, shrimp, egg white, water chestnuts, celery, ginger, sugar, salt, chili oil, and sesame oil. Season with a little pepper and mix and stir until well combined--I usually put on some non-latex plastic gloves and mix it with my hands. Put a heaping teaspoon of filling in the center of a wrapper. Brush around the edges with water. Fold the wrappers in half over the filling, pinching the edges together, forming a triangle. Fold the corners over towards the center, moistening with a little water to seal. Make sure to seal well so the filling doesn't ooze out. Repeat until all the filling has been finished. Set your oven to the “warm” setting, or 170 degrees. Heat a large skillet over medium-high. Add about 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil, enough to lightly coat the bottom of your skillet. When the oil is hot, add as many dumplings as can fit well without being overly crammed together. Cook until the bottoms are golden and crisp, about 4 minutes. Add some of the chicken broth; enough for about half an inch of broth in the pan. Reduce the heat to medium, cover, and cook until the liquid is absorbed, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer the cooked dumplings to a casserole dish or cookie sheet and put them in the oven to keep warm. Repeat, steps, until all potstickers are cooked. Serve the dumplings with soy sauce or make the sauce above by mixing all ingredients for the sauce in a pan and simmer over medium heat for a minute or two until the sugar dissolves.
This is easy and delicious, although a bit time-consuming. The worst part is the wrapping, which takes awhile, but it is TOTALLY worth it. We like to make some with just shrimp too and have a big smorgasborg of potstickers. :)
