Chicken and Dumplings Soup

When I first decided I was going to try to know how to cook, the first recipe I attempted was Stephanie O'Dea's Chicken and Dumplings Soup recipe. It was a true testament to the fact that the crock pot is my saving grace, considering I took the leftover biscuits dough to cook a couple biscuits in the oven. And burned them. Thank God for the crock!

Incidentally, this is also the recipe I get most asked for from my family and friends. Here it is!

And the text, in case somehow that link ever goes away:
3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken
1 yellow onion, chopped 
1 cup mushrooms, chopped
16 ounces frozen vegetables 
2 cans cream-of-something soup
1 can refrigerated biscuits, or one batch drop biscuits
 
Any crock pot 4 quarts and up will work. Put the chicken and vegetables into the bottom of the crockpot. Add the cream-of soups, or your homemade substitute. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 4-5. I cooked ours on high for 4 hours, and on low for another two. An hour before serving, shred chicken with two large forks, and drop in the biscuit dough.

Cover and cook on high for another hour. The bisquits are done when you can insert a knife and it comes out clean. They will be spongey and will brown a bit on the sides and top.

Serve in bowls, with a biscuit or two per person.


But if it wasn't obvious already, I suggest buying or reserving from your library Stephanie's cookbook. It is awesome and one of the few books I've bought. And I'm ridiculously happy I bought it.

What it cost me: $12.98 (I had to buy another huge bag of chicken, as I do every few weeks. Oh, chicken!)

Red Beans and Rice

Guys, I made a vegetarian meal last night.

And it was amazing. I think this might be my favorite slow cooker recipe I've talked about so far! And the best part is it was so easy. Like, my eyes were still kind of bleary while I was slapping this together this morning. And then, I come home 8 hours later and it looks and smells like a real dinner! It's like I'm a grown up or something.

So, I reiterate: amazing.

It was from Better Homes and Gardens So-Easy Slow Cooker and it goes like this:

Prep: 25 min (I totally chopped everything the night before and put it in some tupperware so it was no big at all)

6-8 servings (but yummy leftovers if you're serving less than that!)

2 cups dry red beans or dry red kidney beans

2 1/2 cups chopped onion

1 tablespoon bottled minced garlic (the recipe says 6 cloves of garlic, but it was more like 3 with the head of garlic I got from the store)

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 pack of Spanish rice mix (I used yellow rice and it was AWESOME and easily the best decision I made all week)

Lime wedges (optional, but it was a great addition!)

1. Rinse beans. You can combine the beans with 5 cups of water and bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered for 10 min. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand for an hour. OR do what I did: place the 5 cups of water and beans in a saucepan. Cover and let soak in a cool place for 6-8 hours/overnight). Drain and rinse beans.

2. Lightly coat the inside of a slow cooker with nonstick coking spray (my crock is 5 1/2 and it worked out fine). In the prepared slow cooker, place beans, 4 cups water, onion, garlic, and cumin.

3. Cover and cook on low for 10-11 hours or high for 5-5 1/2. Make your rice according to the package's directions. Remove beans with slotted spoon and serve over cooked rice. We squeezed lime juice over the beans and rice and it was delish!

Yum! Marisa gave it an A, AND went back for seconds! Winner!

What it cost me: $8.08 Yess!

Chex Mix!

My girl Maris got a hankering for some Chex Mix. And then I realized I could make that in my Crock Pot! And that my girl Stephanie O'Dea already did (and that it's gluten-free to boot)! That woman and her recipes have changed my cooking abilities.

Maris was a happy Maris. And this was crazy easy, probably even easier than making it in the oven, since there's a whole lot less stirring required. Totally easy for a party you need to bring a snack for or a hungry friend.

Hot Cocoa Cake

Do you know what I love?

Cake. Love it. Can't get enough of it.

So I guess it works out pretty well that Crock Pot cake is made of awesome.

I used a recipe from Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Slow Cooker Recipes and it worked out pretty well! I brought it to my book club and people were still talking about it today.

It's available here, but I'll post the text just in case that link ever dies.

Serving: 10Prep Time: Prep 20 mi minutesCook Time: Cook LOW 4 hours, Stand 5 minutes

Butter-flavor cooking spray, Mazola Pure

2 cups milk

1 box (18.25-ounce) chocolate cake mix, Betty Crocker

11⁄4 cups water

3 large eggs

1⁄3 cup canola oil, Wesson

1 box (5-ounce) chocolate cook-and-serve pudding mix, Jell-O

Miniature marshmallows, Kraft

Chocolate-flavored syrup, Hershey's

Coat a 5-quart slow cooker with cooking spray; set aside. In a small saucepan, over high heat, heat milk until almost boiling. Remove from heat; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine cake mix, water, eggs and canola oil. Using a handheld electric mixer, beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, occasionally scraping down side of bowl. Transfer batter to prepared slow cooker. Sprinkle pudding mix over cake batter. Slowly pour in hot milk. Cover and cook on LOW heat setting for 4 hours. (Do not lift lid for first 3 hours of cooking.) Turn off slow cooker. Sprinkle cake with 1 cup of the marshmallows. Cover; let stand for 5 minutes to allow marshmallows to melt slightly. Serve warm by scooping out cake.* Top with additional marshmallows and chocolate-flavored syrup (optional). *Note: Cake also can be left to cool completely and sliced. From Sandra Lee Semi--Homemade Slow Cooker Recipes ©2006 Meredith Books

Buffalo Wing Soup

A lot of people out there are making and creating Crock Pot recipes, yeah? As a librarian and novice crock pot user, I'm more about trying the recipes and talking about which ones are really ones to try. See? I try them so you don't have to! Well, at least you don't have to try the ones that suck. The ones that are awesome though, you should probably try. Moving on!

One of my favorite recipes is Buffalo Wing soup, which is one of the first recipes I tried from Stephanie O'Dea's cookbook Make It Fast, Cook It Slow (and is also available on her web site). I used half the amount of celery and garlic salt and it was delish.

Try it! Your friends and family will be glad you did.