Spicy Sausage and Squash Soup

Ingredients

• 2 cups water
• 1/2 cup long grain white rice
• 1 unpeeled butternut squash, halved and seeded
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup chopped yellow onion
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 1 lb sausage
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• dash red pepper flakes
• 1 can creamed corn
• chicken broth
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Pour 1 cup of water into 9x13 baking dish.
Place the butternut squash into the prepared baking dish, cut side down.
Bake in preheated oven until squash is easily pierced with a fork, about 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, place the rice and remaining 1 cup of water into a saucepan. Bring to a boil, uncovered, over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until water is absorbed and rice is fluffy, about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and fluff with a fork.
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Stir in the onion, and cook until tender and transparent, about 5 minutes. Mix in the sausage and garlic; cook until crumbly and evenly browned. Drain any excess fat. Stir in the cooked rice , chili powder, cumin, red pepper flakes, and corn.
Scoop out cooked squash and place in a blender or bowl of a food processor. Discard squash peels. Blend until smooth, about 1 minute.
Stir squash mixture into the sausage mixture until well blended. Season with pepper, and salt to taste. Stir in the heavy cream. Add chicken broth to desired consistency. Simmer soup over medium heat until heated through, about 15 minutes, but do not boil.  Serve.

Chicken and Gnocchi

Ingredients

1 cup chicken breasts, cooked and diced
4 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp flour
1 qt half and half
1-14 oz can chicken broth
1/2 c celery, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 c carrots, finely shredded
1 c onion, finely diced
1 c fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp parsley
1 pound potato gnocchi – can buy this in the gourmet section of many supermarkets (or make your own)

Saute the onion and garlic in the butter for 5 minutes.  Add the flour, and mix well.  Let the butter and flour mixture cook for about a minute before adding 1 quart of half and half.
Cook gnocchi according to package directions.
Into the butter and flour mixture, add in the carrots, celery, and chicken.  Bring soup to a boil to thicken. Once it boils add the chicken broth and bring to a boil again.  Add the cooked gnocchi, spinach, and seasonings and serve!

Meatball Subs

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef
• egg
• bread crumbs
• salt and pepper
• jar spaghetti sauce
• sliced cheese (mozzarella or swiss)
• sub rolls

Mix ground beef, egg, bread crumbs, and salt and pepper together in a mixing bowl.  Form into meatballs and place in the crock pot.  Pour a jar of spaghetti sauce over the meatballs and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
At dinner time, place meatballs onto a sub roll, spread a spoonful of sauce over meat and place a slice of cheese on top.  Microwave for about 10 seconds to soften the cheese. 

Thanksgiving Casserole

Ingredients

•  1 box stuffing, cooked
• 1-2 cups chicken
• 1 can cream of celery
• 1 can cream of chicken

Cook stuffing and pour into the bottom of an 8x8 pan. 
Boil chicken until there in no pink left.  Shred chicken and spread over stuffing. 
Pour cream of celery and cream of chicken over the top.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Roast Kielbasa Dinner

Ingredients

• Olive Oil
• Salt and pepper
• 2 lbs red-skinned potatoes, but into bite size pieces
• 4 large onions,diced
• 2 lbs Kielbasa, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 4 red or green apples, cut into wedges
• Honey

Preheat oven to 425.  In a large, shallow roasting pan, drizzle potatoes and onions with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast 20 minutes.

Drizzle the apples with honey, olive oil, salt and pepper.  Add kielbasa and apples to potatoes and cook for 20 more minutes.

To serve, arrange kielbasa, apples, onions and potatoes on dinner plates and garnish with the pan juices.

Maple Baked Chicken

Ingredients

• 4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 lb.)
• 1/2 cup sliced onions
• 2 red or green cooking apples, sliced
• 1/2 cup maple-flavored or pancake syrup
• 1/3 cup Zesty Italian Dressing

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray skillet with cooking spray. Heat on medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 3 min. on each side or until lightly browned on both sides. Remove from heat.

Place onions on top of chicken; surround with apple slices. Mix syrup and dressing; pour over chicken.

 Bake 20 to 25 min. or until chicken is cooked through. Spoon syrup mixture in skillet over chicken just before serving.

Cranberry Chicken

Ingredients

3 to 4 chicken breasts
can of cranberry sauce
1/2 bottle russian salad dressing (I used Dorothy Lynch and it was amazing!)
1 packet dry onion soup mix
about 1/2 cup flour
pepper

In a bowl mix cranberry sauce, russian salad dressing and onion soup mix.

Put flour in a shallow dish or plate and sprinkle with pepper.  Dip chicken in flour and coat both sides.

Place chicken in a greased dish and pour sauce over it.  Bake at 350 for 45 to 50 minutes.

Unstuffed Bell Peppers

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef
1 cup chopped bell pepper, red or green
1/2c chopped onion
1/2 Tbsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 14oz can of tomato sauce
1 cup water
1 cup white rice
2 Tbsp Worchestershire sauce
shredded cheese (optional)

In a skillet, add beef, peppers, onion, garlic and salt and pepper.  Cook over medium-high heat until beef is cooked through. Add water, tomato sauce and worchestershire sauce. Bring to a boil.  Add rice, cover and simmer for approximately 20 minutes. Uncover stir and add cheese on top if desired.

Crockpot Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients

• 1 lb cubed beef stew meat
• 2 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 chopped onion
• 2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/4 c. water (more if you want it to be saucier).
• dash of garlic salt
• 8 oz cream cheese (cut up)
• Egg noodles or Amish noodles

In your crockpot, combine uncooked meat, cream of mushroom soup, onion, worcestershire sauce, water and garlic salt. 

Cook on low setting for 8 hrs or high for 5 hrs. 15-20 min before serving, add the cream cheese; stirring occasionally until melted. 10 minutes before serving add uncooked noodles, push down in sauce to get lightly coated; replace lid, but stir occasionally until noodles are soft & ready to eat.



*A small can of mushrooms or fresh mushrooms is a good addition.

Crockpot Chicken N Dumplings

Soup Ingredients

• 6 cups chicken broth
• 1 tbsp. marjoram
• 1 tbsp.. garlic powder
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts – cut into small chunks
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 large onion – peeled and diced
• 4 large carrots, peeled and sliced
• 4 stalks celery, cleaned and sliced 

Dumpling Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tbsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 cup milk
  
  STEW DIRECTIONS:
• Pour the broth into your crock pot (or into a large soup pot if cooking on a stove top)
• Add the marjoram and garlic powder to the broth and turn the crock pot to high (stove top, bring to a slow boil)
• In a pan, combine the olive oil, onion, carrots and celery. Saute until the onions are translucent.
• Add the veggies and cut up chicken to the crock pot.
  
  DUMPLING DIRECTIONS:
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Whisk to blend well.
• Pour in the oil and milk and mix with a wooden spoon.
• (Be sure the broth is hot before adding the dumplings to the pot) Using two teaspoons, scoop up and round off your dumplings and scrap into your pot. (Just like making drop cookies)
• Cook on high for about 3-1/2 - 4 hours.
• NOTE: The dumplings will look a little odd after they have been cooking at the top of the stew all day. They create a sort of “crust-like” cover. Just break them up with a wooden spoon and gently stir them into the stew to finish cooking. Break one open to be sure it’s cooked all the way through.

Chicken Lasagna

Ingredients

• 9 lasagna noodles
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 cups ricotta cheese
• 2 cups cubed, cooked chicken meat
• 2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8-10 minutes. Drain, and rinse with cold water.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook the onion and garlic in the butter for several minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in the flour and salt, and simmer until bubbly. Mix in the broth and milk, and boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Stir in 2 cups mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Season with the basil, oregano, and ground black pepper. Remove from heat, and set aside.
Spread 1/3 of the sauce mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer with 1/3 of the noodles, the ricotta, and the chicken. Arrange 1/3 of the noodles over the chicken, and layer with 1/3 of the sauce mixture, spinach, and the remaining 2 cups mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. Arrange remaining noodles over cheese, and spread remaining sauce evenly over noodles. Sprinkle with parsley and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.

Bake 35-40 minutes.  Makes 12 servings. 

Gumbo

• 1/2 lb Italian Sausage (I use kielbasa)
• 1/2 lb skinless/boneless chicken breasts, cubed
• 1.5 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 medium red pepper, chopped
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1.5 celery ribs, chopped
• 1/2 tsp marjoram
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp cayenne powder
• 21 oz chicken broth
• 1/3 cup uncooked rice
• 1 can diced tomatoes, do not drain
• 1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined (optional)
• 1 cup sliced frozen okra

In a skillet, brown sausage and chicken in oil.  Remove and keep warm.  Saute red pepper, onion and celery until tender.  Stir in the seasonings and cook 5 minutes.  Transfer to a big pot.  Add the broth, rice, and meat and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer 20-25 minutes, or until rice is tender (if using brown rice, it will take longer).
Stir in tomatoes, shrimp (optional), and okra and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

• 4 oz cream cheese
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup hot sauce
• 1/2 cup crumbled bleu cheese
• 1 tsp white wine vinegar
• 2 cups cooked shredded chicken

Mix the cream cheese, sour cream, hot sauce, bleu cheese and hot sauce together until smooth.  Add the chicken and put in the crock pot on low heat for 3-4 hours.  

Creamy Chicken Flautas

• 4-6 chicken tenderloins
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/2 onion
• 1/4 tsp garlic salt
• 1 tbsp fresh cilantro
• 1/4 tsp oregano
• 3 tbsp cream cheese
• 1/2 cup monterey jack cheese, grated
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 6 tortillas
• cooking spray

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line a 9 x 13 baking pan with aluminum foil and coat with cooking spray. 
Cut chicken into small pieces and cook in skillet with butter until no pink is left.  Cut onion into small pieces and add to chicken, saute for 5 minutes.  Add garlic salt, cilantro, oregano and cream cheese.  Stir and turn off the heat. 
Microwave tortillas for 30-60 seconds, so they are soft.  Add some of the chicken mixture and cheese to each tortilla and roll tortilla up.  Place seam side down in baking pan, and spray the tops with cooking spray. 
Place into oven and cook for 8-10 minutes, turn flautas over, and cook an additional 5 minutes, or until crispy and golden brown.
Serve with salsa, sour cream or guacamole!

Crockpot Spicy Chicken

• 8-10 Frozen (boneless/skinless) chicken tenderloins
• Jar of salsa
• 1/2 bag of frozen spinach

Cook on low for 7-8 hours.
Shred chicken and serve on tortillas.

Crockpot Chicken Cordon Bleu

• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 can milk
• 2 large chicken breasts cut 1/2 length wise
• 4 thin slices of ham
• 4 slices swiss cheese

Slice chicken. Lay in crock pot flat.  Top with one slice cheese and one slice ham, fold each chicken breast in half and top with the cream of mushroom soup and milk.
Cook 4-5 hours on low. Serve on top of mashed potatoes, pasta or rice.

Cheesy Crockpot Chicken

• 6 chicken breasts/legs/etc...
• 1 can cheddar soup
• 1 can cream of celery
• 1 small can evaporated milk

Put all ingredients in the crockpot.  Cook on low heat for 4 hours.  Serve over mashed potatoes or rice.