Caramel and apple...how can you go wrong?

So I finally made the Caramel Apple bars that I found on Betty Crocker. These were sooo good! They taste a little like apple crisp and a little like a caramel apple. I made them at my parents' house and my whole family loved them. They are also really good heated up the next day.

Caramel Apple Bars
* Taken from bettycrocker.com


Ingredients:
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/4 cup shortening
1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
4 1/2 cups coarsley chopped peeled tart apples (3 medium)
1 bag (14 ounces) caramels

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix brown sugar, butter and shortening in large bowl. Stir in flour, oats, salt and baking soda. Reserve 2 cups oat mixture; press remaining oat mixture in 13x9 pan.

2. Toss apples and 3 tablespoons flour; spread over mixture in pan. Heat caramels over low heat, stirring occasionally, until melted; pour evenly over apples. Sprinkle with reserved oat mixture; press lightly.

3. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until topping is golden brown and apples are tender.

*Store covered in refrigerator.Pin It

Perfect day for soup

I once again used my trusty crock pot and recipe book for dinner tonight. This is another recipe that I've never made before, but thought it sounded pretty good. It did turn out great - hearty and a perfect mix of flavors. I also made some Harry & David cornbread muffins to go with it. A perfect meal for a rainy day!

Fall Harvest Chowder
Adapted from 101 More Things to do with a Slow Cooker by Stephanie Ashcraft


Ingredients:
1/2 pound ground beef, browned and drained (I used ground turkey)
1/2 cup chopped onion (I used a little under 1/4 cup minced)
4 cups water
1 cup diced carrots (I eyeballed it)
1 cup diced celery (I eyeballed it)
1 cup potatoes, peeled and cubed (I eyeballed it)
1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes (I used 1 smaller can because that's all I had - and it had plenty of tomatoes)
1 can (8 ounces) tomato puree
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed bay leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

Combine all ingredients in greased 4 1/2- 6 quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on low heat 6-8 hours or on high heat 3-4 hours.





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A different recipe...

I really didn't know what to expect from this dish. I found it in my favorite crock pot book and I had some boneless pork chops so I thought I'd give it a try. I actually thought it didn't sound that great, but what the heck! The last time I made boneless pork chops I basically ruined them and they were as hard as a rock. So - I didn't want this to happen again for obvious reasons! Consensus - this actually turned out pretty good and it's super easy.

Pork Chop Stroganoff
*Adapted from 101 More Things to do with a Slow Cooker by Stephanie Ashcraft

Ingredients:
4 boneless pork chops
1 can (4 ounces) mushrooms, drained
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup sour cream (I used light)
1 bag (8 ounces) pasta (I used wide egg noodles)

Place pork chops in greased slow cooker. Layer mushrooms over meat. Spread soup over top, then cover and cook on low heat 6-8 hours. Using a knife and fork, cut pork chops into bite-sized pieces. (When I had to cut the meat up, I didn't even need a knife because it was SO tender and I just used my fork to break the pieces up.) Stir sour cream into meat sauce. Cover and leave on low heat while preparing pasta according to package directions. Stir hot cooked noodles into the sauce and serve.

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Lemon Chicken and Blondies

I had chicken defrosting for dinner and asked the girls on The Nest message boards for some ideas on what I should do with it. Mrs. Sac's sent me to her blog for a lemon chicken recipe that she got from Good Things Catered. This recipe turned out great! I seriously had not made chicken this good in a long time. Thanks!!

Roasted Chicken Breast with Lemon, Garlic, Rosemary, and Potatoes

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of excess fat (I only used 2)
1 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened but not melted (I used 2 Tbsp light margarine)
Zest of 1/2 large lemon, lemon reserved (I used an entire lemon for garnishing)
2 large cloves of garlic, minced or pressed (I used jarred garlic)
2 tsp fresh rosemary leaves (I used dried)
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
3 russet potatoes, washed thoroughly and cut into 3/4 inch cubes
Kosher salt
ground pepper

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line large baking pan with foil for easy cleanup.
2. Pat chicken breasts dry, season liberally with salt and ground pepper, and place breast-side up at least one to two inches apart in pan.
3. In small bowl combine butter, lemon zest, garlic, and rosemary and stir with spoon to thoroughly combine.
4. With back of spoon, spread butter mixture on top of chicken breasts evenly.
5. Slice reserved lemon and place slices in pan around the chicken. (I placed on the chicken)
6. Scatter potatoes around chicken breasts.

Prepped to go into the oven...

7. Place baking dish in oven and cook about 30-40 minutes or until thickest portion of chicken breast has reached 175 degrees.

8. Remove from oven, take chicken breasts out of pan onto a warm serving platter and tent with foil.
9. Take one pinch more of Kosher salt to sprinkle over potatoes, toss and place back in oven for 5-10 minutes.
10. Remove potatoes and serve with chicken. I also served broccoli with my meal and of course squeezed the lemons over everything!

I couldn't wait to eat it!

I also made blondies since everyone has been raving about them. I adapted this recipe from Baking Blonde's blog. These came out great, but didn't look very pretty since I used so much chocolate - but they were still good!

Peanut Butter Blondies

Ingredients:
4-5 TBS butter, almost melted
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract (I added a little bit more)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used about 3/4 cup)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line an 8×8 pan with foil and lightly spray with PAM.
3. In a medium microwave safe mixing bowl melt the butter for 20-30 seconds until almost/all melted. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.
4. Stir the peanut butter into the butter until creamy and smooth. Add the brown sugar to the butter/peanut butter and stir until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla and stir to combine. Add the flour, baking powder and salt to the peanut butter mixture and stir just to combine. Gently fold in chocolate chips.
5. Pour into prepared pan and use a greased spatula to evenly spread mixture in pan and level the top. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until set in the middle.
6. Cool on rack before cutting.

Once they were out of the oven...I don't have a good pic to show just one bar at a time though!

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Football Party

I had friends over to watch the Browns today and I made my classic tortilla chip dip and newly attempted meatballs. The food was good even though the game was not!

Southwest Bean Party Dip
*Adapted from 101 More Things to do with a Slow Cooker by Stephanie Ashcraft

Ingredients:

1/2 to 1 pound ground beef, browned and drained (I used ground turkey instead)
2 cans refried beans
2 cans diced tomatoes and chiles, with liquid
1 package taco seasoning
1 pound Velveeta cheese, cubed

Combine all ingredients in greased 4 1/2 to 6 quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on low heat 3-4 hours or on high heat 1 1/2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes until cheese is melted.

Ready to go in the crock pot!

My friend wanted to hold it outside by the lake - even though you can't really see the lake at all! Anyways, here is the dip ready to be served!

Meatballs
*I got this recipe on the boards somewhere (I think) so if it yours please let me know so I can give you credit!

Ingredients:
32 oz. bottle of bbq sauce
32 oz. jar of grape jelly
1 bag of frozen meatballs

Put bbq sauce and grape jelly in large pot over medium to medium-high heat and heat until mixed well. Then put meatballs in and wait for them to get hot.

The ingredients - mostly off-brands to make it a cheap appetizer!

And the result - this was my first time making these and they turned out great!

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Vegetable Beef Stew

Since today will be busy with watching Notre Dame football (my husband is obsessed!), I decided to throw some beef stew into the crock pot so we don't have to worry about cooking. I've made this recipe multiple times and have never been disappointed!

Vegetable Beef Stew

*Adapted from 101 More Things to do with a Slow Cooker by Stephanie Ashcraft

Ingredients:
1 to 1 1/2 pounds stew meat, cubed (I only used 1 pound)
1 bag (8 ounces) baby carrots, cut into thirds
2 cups diced potatoes (I used 2 large and 1 small)
1 can (15.25 ounces) whole kernel corn, drained (I had some frozen corn that I used instead)
1 can (14.5 ounces) green beans, drained (Again...I used frozen)
2 jars (12 ounces each) beef gravy
1 can (11.5 ounces) v8 juice

Combine all ingredients in greased 4 1/2 to 6 quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on low heat 6-8 hours or on high heat 4 hours.

Stew is ready to be cooked.

And now ready to be eaten!

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Jumping on the bandwagon...

and lovin' it! So everyone over on the Nest message board motivated me to start my own food blog. If anything, it will help me to cook a little bit more so I keep this thing updated! Anyways, I started with a really simple recipe that I threw in my crock pot tonight during dinner for a snack later.

Cherry Dump Cake

Ingredients:
2 cans cherry pie filling (or any flavor of your choice)
2 boxes Jiffy cake mix (I chose yellow)
1 stick of butter, cut into pieces

1. Dump the pie filling into the bottom of the crock pot.
2. Dump the cake mix over the pie filling.
3. Put the butter on top of the cake mix.

All ready to go!

Cook on high heat for 2 hours. Then ENJOY!

The finished product in the crock pot.

I know it looks a little like mush - but it's delicious!

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