Slow Cooker Chicken Stoup

My friend Ashley shared a slow cooker recipe with me a couple weeks ago.  I decided to try it since I needed something simple to make after my travels.  Of course I had to tweak it since I didn't have all the ingredients and just made do with what I had.  I think next time I'll follow the recipe and try to get all the ingredients because it sounds delicious.  What I ended up making turned out to be a chicken stoup, a mix of a soup and stew.  I served it over plain white rice and topped with cheddar cheese and sliced green onions.  I added in a side salad to balance the meal.  You could eat it as is.  I would also be happy serving this over egg noodles too.  Scroll to the bottom for Ashley's original recipe, thanks Ash!

 

Slow Cooker Chicken Stoup

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 can chicken gravy

2 ½ cups chicken broth

½ cup corn, frozen

½ cup peas and carrots, frozen

1 potato, diced

½ cup milk

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, chopped

1 teaspoon cumin

 

 

Directions

Place all ingredients into a slow cooker.  Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours. 

 

Before serving, remove chicken from slow cooker and shred with two forks.  Place shredded chicken back into slow cooker.

 

Serve over white rice and top with shredded cheddar cheese and sliced green onions.

 

Enjoy!

Here is Ashley's original recipe that she sent to me:

Two chopped chicken breasts (we put them in whole and shredded them at
the end and dumped it back in)
1 can of condensed cream of chicken soup
2.5 cups of chicken broth
1.5 cup of corn
2 jalapeno peppers sliced
1 green bell pepper sliced
1.5cups of potatoes
1/2 cup milk
2 cloves garlic
1 onion chopped
1 tsp cumin

Top with crispy asian noodles and cheddar cheese.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I love carrot cake and whenever I go to a cupcakery, I always pick a carrot cake cupcake if available.   And yes, I said cupcakery!  There are several of them in DC and so far I have visited Georgetown Cupcake, Baked and Wired, Sprinkles Cupcakes, Red Velvet Cupcakery, and Cakelove.  I still haven't tried the vegan cupcakes at Sticky Fingers, but I plan to in the near future!  I have heard they are really good and because they are vegan, does that mean I can eat 2 cupcakes?  :)  Since I had extra shredded carrots from making Buddy's birthday cake this weekend, I thought I would try making my own carrot cake cupcakes.  I even tried to make them more healthy by using agave instead of sugar and applesauce instead of oil.  They turned out pretty good, but the cream cheese frosting really makes them extra delicious!  I also tried to make the frosting more healthy by using neufchatel cheese instead of cream cheese.  I didn't even taste a difference.  Enjoy these healthier cupcakes!

 

Ingredients

1 ½ cup flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2/3 cup agave (I used Wholesome Sweetener’s Organic Raw Blue Agave.)

½ cup applesauce

2 eggs

1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups shredded carrots

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line muffin pan with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, mix flower, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon with a whisk.

In another larger bowl, mix agave, applesauce, eggs, and vanilla.  Slowly fold in dry ingredients with the whisk until fully mixed. 

 Next, using a spatula, fold in shredded carrots.

Divide batter evenly between 12 muffin cups. 

 

Bake for 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.   Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

 

For the Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

8 ounces neufchatel cheese, at room temperature (You may use cream cheese.)

3 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Directions

With an electric mixer, mix together cheese and butter until smooth.  Using a spatula, scrape the sides of the bowl to ensure even mixing.  Add the vanilla extract.  Slowly add in the powdered sugar.  Mix until smooth.  Frost cooled cupcakes with a butter knife or pipe with a star tip like what I did.

P.S. I stored these in the fridge, when ready to serve, just take them out about 30 minutes beforehand to let them get to room temperature.

Simple Sunday Coleslaw

The weather has been great, it was in the mid 80's today!  When the weather gets warm, I start thinking about cookouts and a great side dish would be coleslaw.   Here is an easy Sunday recipe for coleslaw, enjoy!

Ingredients

prepacked coleslaw mix (You can shred your own cabbage and carrots.)

½ cup mayonnaise (I used Hellman’s light.)

¼ cup vinegar (You can use apple cider or a white vinegar, such as rice vinegar.)

½ cup sugar

salt and pepper to taste

 

Directions

In a large bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, vinegar and sugar.  Add in salt and pepper to your taste.  Mix together the dressing with the prepacked coleslaw mix or you own shredded cabbage and carrots.   Chill in the fridge for a few hours, it is best served cold.

This is a great side dish for warm weather!

Slow Cooker Brisket

Chag Pesach Sameach or Happy Passover!  Passover is a Jewish holiday and began last Friday at sundown and will end at sundown this Saturday.  And yes, I am Jewish :)  For more information on Passover, click here.  I think brisket for Passover is a classic dish.  This is my first time using a slow cooker for a brisket and it turned out really well.  My cousin had asked me not too long ago if I had any recipes using a slow cooker and so here you go Cathy!

Ingredients

1.5 lb brisket, flat cut

1 onion (cut into quarters or bite-sized pieces)

2 baking potatoes (cut into bite-sized pieces)

1 cup baby carrots (or sliced carrots)

1 package Lipton Onion Soup Mix

1 cup water

1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon parsley, dried

1 tablespoon oil

salt

pepper

Directions

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.   Season both sides of the brisket with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika.  Place brisket in the pan and brown each side until the surface is a rich brown color, not burnt.  Remove the brisket from the pan.  In the same pan, add in the onion soup mix, 1 cup water, and 1 teaspoon parsley to create a broth.  (If you are short on time, you could skip this step of browning the brisket and just season the brisket and mix the broth in a bowl before putting it in the slow cooker.)

In a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker, add the onions, potatoes, and carrots.  Place the brisket, fat side up, on top of the vegetables.  Pour in the broth mixture from the pan.  Cover and cook on high until brisket is fork-tender, about 4 to 5 hours.  (You can also cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.)  Remove brisket and thinly slice against the grain. 

I like to serve the sliced brisket, vegetables and broth over egg noodles or white rice.  (If you keep kosher for Passover, you could just serve with the vegetables and broth.)

 

Serves 4 or 2 with leftovers.  I froze the leftovers in a Ziploc freezer bag.  This should keep in the freezer for a few months.  Be sure to label your bag with the dish and date.