Crockpot Tortellini Bake

So this Wednesday is turning out to be "not-so-wordless" but that's okay. I haven't shared any recipes in awhile since I have been so busy cooking up my e-mealz! We are on about our 6th month now and still loving how easy it is for me to have a yummy meal ready for dinner each day. If you missed my previous post about it you can find it here.

Anyways, when Elijah was first born I received a fantastic meal from a good friend and I knew I had to have the recipe to make it again myself which I did a couple times. But you can imagine I was over-ecstatic when I printed out my e-mealz recipes for the week back in March when we first started it and saw a recipe for the crockpot that used almost the exact same ingredients! I just combined the recipe from my friend and the crockpot e-mealz version and voila! A fantastic, EASY, delicious meal!

I love using my crockpot, especially on these 90+ hot summer days when I'd rather starve than turn on the oven to cook dinner. Since I decided to make this again tonight I figured I'd share it with you too! Enjoy!

CROCKPOT TORTELLINI BAKE

Ingredients:
* 1 lb mild ground sausage, cooked
* 16 oz pasta sauce
* 1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
* 1 can mushroom pieces, drained
* 8 oz frozen spinach, defrosted and drained
* 9 oz pkg refridgerated/fresh cheese tortellini
* 1 c shredded cheddar

Directions:
In crock pot, combine sausage, pasta sauce, tomatoes, mushrooms, and spinach. Cook on low 4-6 hours. For the last 20 minutes, stir in tortellini and sprinkle cheese over the top. Cover.

Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings

Finally trying a new recipe! Figured since it's Brad's birthday I'd do a real home-style meal for him. (No corned beef and cabbage here tonight.)

INGREDIENTS:

* 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (I am using 8 tenderloins)
* 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:

1. Place the chicken, butter, soup, and onion in a slow cooker, and fill with enough water to cover.
2. 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.

Buon Appetito!

* Edited: After trying this recipe, I have the following comments. When it says fill with enough water to cover, I found that very vague and ended up adding too much. I would suggest starting by adding one can of water for each can of soup added. You want it to be a creamy consistency, not watery. Also, 30 minutes was not even near long enough to cook the biscuits. They needed well over an hour on High.

Slow Cooker Chili

With the cooler weather we have been having, I have been very much in the mood for homemade chili. The chili recipe we normally use has a lot more ingredients and takes a lot more time (but is SOO tasty), and I will share that one at some point I'm sure. But the one I made today is a little more basic which was helpful since I need to get groceries at the end of the week and am running a bit low on things. I was out of ground beef, so it also gave me a chance to use some of the ground deer meat we have in our freezer as a substitute. Pair a warm bowl of chili with a slice of beer bread and you've got a hearty meal for a chilly day!

INGREDIENTS:

* 2 pounds ground beef
* 2 (16 ounce) cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained
* 2 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
* 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
* 2 medium onions, chopped
* 1 green pepper, chopped
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 2 tablespoons chili powder
* 2 teaspoons salt
* 1 teaspoon pepper
* Shredded Cheddar cheese


DIRECTIONS:

In a skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Transfer to a slow cooker. Add the next nine ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4 hours. Top individual servings with cheese if desired.

Crockpot Chicken Cordon Bleu

Last night I tried a recipe from Brad's cousin Mary's blog in the crockpot and it is definitely a keeper! It was so quick to make and both my dad and husband scarfed it down. We had it with mashed potatoes (the sauce was really good over them), stuffing, and veggies, but the whole meal only took me a total of about 10-15 min to make. I had to substitute American cheese for swiss because that was all I had.

INGREDIENTS:
* 4 chicken breasts, pounded thin (I made 8 tenderloins)
* 4-8 slices ham or honey smoked turkey
* 4-8 slices swiss cheese (I used pre-sliced, American)
* 1 can cream soup (any kind) (I used cream of mushroom)
* 2 Tbsp. milk

DIRECTIONS:
1. Spray crockpot. Pound chicken flat.
2. Put slice of turkey and slice of cheese on chicken. Roll. Put in crockpot seam side down (I put a toothpick through each one to make sure it stayed rolled).
3. You may add another piece of turkey/ham and cheese to the top. I topped it with cheese a few minutes before we were ready to eat.
4. Pour soup on chicken. Rinse can with milk and pour over top.
5. Cook on low 6-8 hours or high 4-5 hours.

*I forgot to take a picture at the beginning of the meal and was having battery issues, so the photo shown is only a portion of it

Crockpot Potato Chowder

I think my crock pot is going to be my new best friend on Wednesdays this year. With MOPS in the morning and Small Group/Awana in the evenings, I am not going to have much time to prepare a meal. Yesterday, I decided to try a recipe given to me at a MOPS meeting last year by my friend, Susanna (if you are reading this, thank you Susanna!). I love potato soup, but don't often have the time to prepare all the potatoes for it. This was so easy to make and I as well as both the kids gobbled it up, so I will definitely be using this one again.

INGREDIENTS:
* 1 packagae of boxed cheesy au gratin potatoes
* 1 cup diced ham
* 5 cups chicken broth
* 1-2 stalks of diced celery
* 1 diced onion
* 1/8 tsp pepper
* 2 cups milk
* 1/3 cup flour

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix potatoes, sauce mix, ham, broth, celery, onion, and pepper in crock pot. Cover and cook on low for 7 hours.
2. Mix milk and flour together, gradually stir flour mixture into chowder until blended.
3. Cover and cook on low one more hour, stirring occasionally.

Slow Cooker Chicken Stroganoff

I tried a new recipe tonight from AllRecipes that I will definitely be making again. I had 2nd helpings on this one and it was so easy to put together in the crock pot. I cooked up one cup of white rice with it, but it would also be very good over noodles. It was very creamy and flavorful. You could easily substitute low fat cream cheese, low sodium cream of chicken, and whole grain noodles for a healthier version too. The only thing I was missing was a nice loaf of crusty bread to go with it. My little girl couldn't get enough of it either!


INGREDIENTS:
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cubed
1/8 cup margarine
1 (.7 ounce) package dry Italian-style salad dressing mix
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup

DIRECTIONS:
1. Put chicken, margarine and dressing mix in slow cooker; mix together and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours.
2. Add cream cheese and soup, mix together and cook on high for another 1/2 hour or until heated through and warm.
3. Serve over rice or egg noodles.