Butter Chicken with Spinach

This is the dish that made me love Indian food! The recipe is really good for the crock pot, although I must admit I FORGOT to buy an onion at the grocery store so I substituted w/ Onion Powder. Next time, I'll use the real deal. Also, 1 of my cans of diced tomatoes was basil and oregano flavored. I will use plain the next time. Because my 2 year old would be eating this meal, I used mild curry powder instead of hot. I did put in raw, boneless, skinless chicken breasts - and when it was finished cooking, I shredded it right in the crock pot. That made it really delicious. I only used 2 large breasts but for the amount of other ingredients, I would use 3 next time. One last alteration was that I substituted heavy cream for the full fat yogurt. My husband HATES yogurt, so I thought this would be more appealing.

Butter Chicken with Spinach

1 onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 28 oz (796 mL) can diced tomatoes
2-3 Tbsp. tomato paste
4-5 garlic cloves, crushed
1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
2-3 tsp. curry paste or powder
1 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
2-3 cups roughly chopped or shredded leftover roast chicken or turkey
4 cups fresh spinach
1 cup plain full-fat yogurt, half & half, whipping cream or any combination of these (or more or less to taste)
chopped peanuts or cashews, for sprinkling on top (optional)

Put everything but the spinach and yogurt in the Crock Pot and cook on low for 4-6 hours (if you want to start with raw chicken – use skinless thighs – cook for 6-8 hours on low). When you’re ready to eat, tear in the spinach, stir until it wilts, and stir in the yogurt or cream. Serve immediately over rice. Serves 4-6

Crock Pot Spicy Beans and Turkey Sausage

I was looking for something healthy and came across this recipe.

Ingredients:
* 1lb turkey sausage (whole links or sliced)
* 1 can (16oz) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
* 1 can (15.5oz) great northern beans, rinsed and drained
* 1 can (15oz) black beans, rinses and drained
* 1.5 cups frozen corn
* 1.5 cups salsa
* 1 large green pepper, chopped
* 1 large onion, chopped
* .5 - 1 cup water
* 3 garlic cloves, minced
* 1 tsp ground cumin

Directions:
In a 5 qt. slow cooker, combine all ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or until meat is tender. Stir before serving.

When I make this again, I will add less water. I added the full cup and the spiciness was a little watered down. Also, I wouldn't be a wimp and use 'mild' salsa - I'd go for the spicy. We ended up sprinkling our full plates with Frank's hot sauce, which gave this dish a good kick. Overall, very healthy and full of protein! We also steamed up some brown rice and served this crock pot concoction over the rice. Delish!

Chocolate Chocolate Cake from Scratch!

Thou shalt never make a cake from a box again! It was my birthday this week, and I LOVE baking cakes, so I made myself a birthday cake. We were snowed in under 15" so I couldn't go to the grocery store to buy my usual Duncan Hines mix. I scoured the internet for a recipe encompassing all of the ingredients I already had in the house and found an AWESOME recipe for the cake and icing from Hershey's! I had Hershey cocoa in the house.

The cake turned out to be extremely moist and the icing was so chocolaty! It was worth the effort to bake this cake from scratch and I will be making this again ... and again ...

Cake Ingredients
# 2 cups sugar
# 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
# 3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
# 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
# 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
# 1 teaspoon salt
# 2 eggs
# 1 cup milk
# 1/2 cup vegetable oil
# 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
# 1 cup boiling water

Cake Directions
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost with "PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING. 10 to 12 servings.

Frosting Ingredients
# 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
# 2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
# 3 cups powdered sugar
# 1/3 cup milk
# 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting Directions
Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

Slow Cookin' Meatloaf

We are about to get a huge snow storm, yielding 8-16" of snow, so I figured baking a meatloaf would be a good way to ensure we had plenty of food for the weekend. We used to make cold meat loaf sandwiches with my mom's meatloaf leftovers. Delicious!

I don't have my mom's recipe (although I don't think there is much mystery to meatloaf), but I found this one for the slow cooker and it turned out to be very delicious - mostly because of the tasty topping.

Ingredients:

* 2 beaten eggs
* 3/4 c. milk
* 2/3 c. seasoned bread crumbs
* 1 tsp salt
* 2 T. grated onions
* 1/2 tsp. ground sage
* 1 1/2 lb. ground meat (I used ground beef)

Sauce
* 1/4 C. Ketchup
* 2 T. brown sugar
* 1 tsp. dry mustard
* 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients for the loaf. It may seem a little 'soupy' at first, but the bread crumbs will soak and absorb the liquid. Put loaf in Crock-Pot on low 5-6 hours (Longer is OK.) Pour sauce over meat in the last 15 minutes on high. You can also double the recipe for more people or more leftovers!

Easy Whole Chicken in Slow Cooker

Sometimes, for quick dinner ideas, I will pick up a ready-to-eat rotisserie chicken at the grocery store. Yesterday I decided to bake my own whole chicken using, what else... the crock pot!

I purchased a 5 pound organic chicken for this extremely easy dish and paired it with some steamed asparagus and Parmesan risotto.

Ingredients:
* 5 lb whole chicken
* 1/4 cup Newman's Own Light Sun Dried Tomato dressing
* Salt to taste
* Black pepper to taste

Directions:
I removed the bag on giblets (ew) from the cavity and rubbed the raw chicken down with the dressing, inside and out. I then sprinkled with the salt and pepper. I FORGOT to remove the skin and when I make this again, I will remove it before cooking. I put the chicken in the slow cooker and cooked on low for 8 hrs.

When it was finished, it was cooked so well that it literally fell off the bones!

Chicken Paprikash in the Slow Cooker

I have made this dish the traditional way - slaving over a hot stove. But why take so much time when you can create just as tasty a dish in the crock pot! I would pair this with some boiled, whole-grain noodles or maybe brown rice if you are not a noodle fan. Either way, it's very healthy - low fat, low cal.


Ingredients

* 1 spray(s) cooking spray, or enough to coat skillet
* 2 cup(s) mushroom(s), coarsely chopped
* 1 small onion(s), chopped
* 1 small garlic clove(s), minced
* 1 small sweet red pepper(s), diced
* 1 tsp paprika
* 3/4 tsp table salt
* 1/2 tsp black pepper
* 1/2 cup(s) canned chicken broth
* 1 pound(s) uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast
* 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup(s) fat-free sour cream


Instructions

Coat a nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat. Add mushrooms, onion, garlic and pepper; sauté 5 minutes. Stir in paprika, salt and pepper; cook 30 seconds more. Spoon mixture into a 4- to 5-quart slow cooker; add broth. Cut each chicken breast into 4 long strips; add to slow cooker. Cover and cook on low setting for 5 to 6 hours.

Stir together flour and sour cream in a cup; stir into chicken mixture. (Note: Stir flour into the sour cream to prevent the cream from curdling in slow-cooked dishes.) Cover and cook on low until the mixture is thick and hot, about 10 minutes more.

Yields about 1 1/2 cups per serving.

Slow-cooked Acorn Squash

What's better than squash? :) Squash with brown sugar and butter - it is truly like eating a dessert! After sitting in the crock for 4 hours, the squash was so soft that it almost fell apart. The butter and brown sugar mixture melts into a 'pool', so I suggest placing the squash into a bowl carefully, unwrapping the foil from there, and mashing the squash and pool with a fork. It will blend into a perfectly spiced concoction.


Ingredients

* 3/4 cup packed brown sugar (I used the Splenda blend brown sugar)
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 2 acorn squash, halved and seeded
* 3/4 cup raisins
* 4 tablespoons butter or margarine
* 1/2 cup water

Directions

1. Combine brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg; spoon into the squash halves. Sprinkle with raisins. Top each with 1 tablespoon of butter. Wrap each squash half individually in heavy-duty foil; seal tightly. Pour water into a slow cooker. Place the squash, cut side up, in slow cooker (packets may be stacked). Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or until the squash is tender. Open foil packets carefully to allow steam to escape.