Slow Cooker Thursday

Sweet and Sour Beef Stew

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 16-oz package loose-pack frozen stew vegetables (3 cups)
2 10 3/4-oz cans condensed beefy mushroom soup
1/2 cup bottled sweet and sour sauce
1/8 to 1/4 tsp ground red pepper

Directions:
Place stew meat and vegetables in a slow cooker. Stir in 1/2 cup water, soup, sweet and sour sauce, and ground red pepper.

Cook on low-heat setting for 10-11 hrs or high-heat for 5-5 1/2 hrs.

For more slow cooker recipes, and a chance to win a Crock Pot (you have to go see the new Crock Pot she's giving away!) visit Sandra.

Slow Cooker Thursday

Mexican Minestrone

Ingredients:
2 cans (15 oz each) black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cans (14.5 oz each) Mexican-style stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth
1 can (12 oz) vacuum-packed whole kernel corn, undrained
1 or 2 medium red potatoes, cut into 1/2 in pieces
1 cup salsa
1 cup cut-up green beans

Drections:
Mix all ingredients in slow cooker. Cook on low setting for 6-8 hrs or until vegetables are tender.

For more slow cooker recipes visit: Sandra

Slow Cooker Thursday

Sausage and Bean Stew

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp sunflower oil
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2 onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2/3 C chopped bacon
1 lb 2 oz pork sausage links
14 oz canned navy beans, red kidney beans, or black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
2/3 C hot beef stock

For serving:
4 slices French bread
1/2 C grated Swiss cheese

Directions:
1. Heat oil in heavy skillet. Add onions and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 min until softened. Add garlic, bacon, and sausage inks, and cook, stirring and turning the sausages occasionally, for 5 min more.

2. Using slotted spoon, transfer mixture from skillet to slow cooker. Add beans, parsley, and beef stock, then cover and cook on low for 6 hrs.

3. Just before serving, lightly toast French bread under a preheated broiler. Divide Swiss cheese among the toast slices and place under broiler until just melted.

For more slow cooker recipes visit Sandra .

Slow Cooker Thursday

I'm posting a recipe from the new slow cooker recipe book I received in the Christmas Swap I participated in...this sounds so easy and delicious; I think I'll be trying it next week!

Apple Crumble

Ingredients:
1/2 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C rolled oats
2/3 C brown sugar
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 C butter, softened
4 cooking apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
4-5 tbsp apple juice

Directions:
1. Sift flour into a bowl and stir in oats, sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Add butter and mix in with a pastry blender or prongs of a fork.
2. Place apple slices i base of slow cooker and add apple juice. Sprinkle flour mixture evenly over them.
3. Cover and cook on low for 5.5 hrs. Serve hot, warm, or cold!

For more slow cooker recipes visit Sandra

Slow Cooker Thursday

Spicy Surprise Sipper

Peel of lemon, cut into strips
5 inches stick cinnamon, broken
1 tsp whole allspice
1 tsp whole cloves
4 C water
1 12-oz can frozen pineapple-orange juice concentrate
1/4 C honey
1 750-milliliter bottle dry white wine (3 1/4 C)

1. Place lemon peel, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice on a 6-inch square of cheesecloth. Bring corner together and tie with kitchen string. In slow cooker combine spice bag, water, juice concentrate, and honey. Stir in wine.

2. Cover and cook on low for 5-7 hours, or high for 2.5-3 hrs.

For more slow cooker recipes visit Sandra

Slow Cooker Thursday

White Chocolate Bread Pudding

Ingredients:
6 C French bread cubes
1 package (6 oz) white baking bar, coarsely chopped
1 C egg product
3/4 C warm water
1 tsp vanilla
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

1. Spray inside of slow cooker with cooking spray.
2. Place bread cubes in slow cooker. Sprinkle with baking bar. Mix remaining ingredients; pour over bread cubes and baking bar.
3. Cook on low heat 3.5-4 hrs or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

For more recipes visit Sandra

Slow Cooker, More Contests

Pumpkin Apple Dessert

1 can (21 oz) apple pie filling
2 C flour
1 1/4 C packed brown sugar
1 C canned pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
3/4 C egg product
1/3 C vegetable oil (I use applesauce in place of oil in recipes like this)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp baking soda

1. Grease slow cooker. Spoon in apple pie filling; spread evenly.
2. Beat remaining ingredients with electric mixer on low speed 1 min, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on medium speed 2 min; scraping bowl occasionally. Pour batter over filling.
3. Cover and cook on high heat setting for 1.5-2 hrs or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

For more recipes visit Sandra

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If you're participating in the "31 for 21" challenge this month (for Down syndrome awareness) Tricia is organizing a swap for all who participated. If you want to join in on the swap just click on this link to let her know and to read all about how it'll work.

Patriot from Made in the USA is having another contest. There are 2 items to be won from Tough Traveler.

Karen from The Rocking Pony is having a Halloween Giveaway.

Noelle from Your Healthiest Life is having all kinds of giveaways for all natural products - and these are full size products that you can win! If you enter my name as the referral in the "message" section on the entry form I'll get my choice of a free product after 5 referrals...and you can too when you spread the word!

Finally there is the Fall Y'all Bloggy Giveaway hosted by Rocks In My Dryer with many bloggers participating and holding their own contests. I'll be joining in too, I just don't know what I'm giving away yet!

Slow Cooker, Contests, Awards

Spiced Cran-Apple Cider
1/2 C packed brown sugar
2 tsp whole allspice
4 sticks cinnamon, 3 inches long
1 bottle (48 oz) apple cider
1 bottle (48 oz) cranberry juice

Mix all ingredients in slow cooker. Cook on low-heat for 4-6 hrs. Remove allspice and cinnamon sticks before serving.

For more slow cooker recipes visit Sandra

Because I'm so far behind I'm just cramming everything into this post!

Contests:
Patriot from American Mad is having a giveaway from Hummingbird Farms; you could win a Lavender Body Lotion or Wash.

The Rocking Pony is having a contest to win something from her Etsy shop - go check out the absolutely cute things she makes!

Awards - I've been given the following awards and have been so behind in acknowledging them!
The Nice Matters Award from The Rocking Pony

Mathetes (Excellence in Discipleship) Award and The Sweet Treat Award from Glo

Totally Fabulous Award from Renee and Karen

Thank you ladies so much for thinking of me!

Slow Cooker Thursday

Slow Cooker Adobo Chicken

I haven't made this yet, but it sure sounds tasty and easy enough to make! I'll have to give it a try soon!

INGREDIENTS
1 small sweet onion, sliced
8 cloves garlic, crushed
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup vinegar
1 (3 pound) whole chicken, cut into pieces

DIRECTIONS
Place chicken in a slow cooker. In a small bowl mix the onion, garlic, soy sauce, and vinegar, and pour over the chicken. Cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours.

For more slow cooker recipes visit: Sandra

Slow Cooker, Happenings, Prayers

I just found this recipe on All Recipes and it sounds really good; I'm going to have to try it next time I buy some kielbasa. I did read a couple of the reviews (which were all great, but they did suggest cutting the brown sugar in half...just FYI if you're going to try this.)

Island Kielbasa

Ingredients:
2 pounds kielbasa sausage, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
2 cups ketchup
2 cups brown sugar
1 (15 ounce) can pineapple chunks, undrained

Directions:
Place the sausage, ketchup, sugar and pineapple in the slow cooker and mix together.
Cook on low setting for 5 to 6 hours, until sausage is cooked through.

For more tasty slow cooker recipes visit Sandra
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A couple happenings:
Carole from Pea's Corner is hosting her annual Halloween Swap - if you want to participate sign up by Sep 30th!

Overwhelmed With Joy is hosting her 2nd Holiday Cooking Blogger Style recipe exchange on Oct 5th...so get ready to share some great holiday recipes!
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And now for some more serious news. A mom I know from a T21 message board just found out yesterday that her beautiful daughter has leukemia. She is having bone marrow drawn today to find out exactly what type it is. This is devastating news for any parent to hear. Please keep Chelsea, her parents and brother, in your prayers as she goes through this treatment. Thank you.

Disability Blog Carnival and Slow Cooker Thursday

The 21st Disability Blog Carnival is being hosted by Growing Up With A Disability - the theme is Top 10 Lists and my contribution is this post on Facts About Down Syndrome. There are a lot of great Top 10 lists from many other bloggers too.

Now on to today's Slow Cooker Recipe!



Creamy Corn and Broccoli

Ingredients:
1 16-oz bag frozen cut broccoli
1 16-oz bag frozen corn
1 10 3/4-oz can cream of chicken soup
1 C shredded American cheese
1/2 C shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 C milk

Directions:
Lightly coat the inside of the slow cooker with cooking spray. In a very large mixing bowl combine all ingredients. Place in slow cooker.

Cook on low-heat for 5-6 hours, or high-heat for 2.5-3 hours.

For more slow cooker recipes visit Sandra.

Slow Cooker Thursday

German-Style Potato Soup

Ingredients:
4 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
8 oz cooked smoked sausage, sliced
4 C beef broth
2 Tbsp vinegar
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp celery seed
1/4 tsp pepper
2 C packaged shredded cabbage with carrot (coleslaw mix)
Snipped fresh parsley

Directions:
1. In a slow cooker combine potatoes, celery, onion, and sausage.
2. In a bowl combine broth, vinegar, sugar, celery seed, dry mustard, and pepper. Pour over potato mixture.
3. Cook on low-heat for 8-9.5 hrs, or on high-heat for 4-4.5 hrs. Stir in cabbage mixture. Cover and cook 15-30 min more. Top each serving with parsley.

For more slow cooker recipes visit Sandra

Slow Cooker Thursday

Baked Slow Cooker Chicken

INGREDIENTS
1 (2 to 3 pound) whole chicken
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon paprika

DIRECTIONS
Wad three pieces of aluminum foil into 3 to 4 inch balls, and place them in the bottom of the slow cooker.
Rinse the chicken, inside and out, under cold running water. Pat dry with paper towels. Season the chicken with the salt, pepper and paprika, and place in the slow cooker on top of the crumbled aluminum foil.
Set the slow cooker to High for 1 hour, then turn down to Low for about 8 to 10 hours, or until the chicken is no longer pink and the juices run clear.

This recipe comes from All Recipes

For more slow cooker recipes visit Sandra

Slow Cooker Thursday

Creamy Ham and Broccoli

1 lb cubed cooked ham
1 lb of broccoli, chopped into bite size pieces
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
8oz of processed cheese (like Velveeta)
1 c instant rice
1 c milk
1/2 c chopped celery
1/2 c chopped onion
1/4 tsp pepper

Place all ingredients in the slow cooker. Stir. Smooth top, making sure rice is well into mixture. Cover. Cook on high 2-1/2 hours or on low 4 to 5 hours. Stir occasionally if possible.

For more slow cooker recipes visit Sandra

Slow Cooker Thursday

Braised Pork Chops
6-8 pork chops
1/3 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 tablespoon oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large clove garlic minced (optional)
1 can cream of chicken soup

PREPARATION: Coat chops with mixture of flour, salt, mustard, and garlic salt. Brown on both sides in hot oil in skillet with chopped onion. Add garlic for the last minute. Deglaze the pan with a little water, wine, or broth. Put chops in slow cooker and add soup and pan drippings. Cook on low 6 to 8 hours, or on high 3 to 4 hours.

For more slow cooker recipes visit: Sandra and while you're there check out the book contest she is having!

Recipes, purses, facts, OH MY!

This will be a hodgepodge of a post because I'm so far behind! I've been tagged a couple of times for the purse meme and a few times for 7 random facts meme. I haven't had a chance to do either of them, so I figured I'd lump it all together with my slow cooker recipe!

First, the recipe: Pulled Pork Fajitas
2.5 lb pork boneless loin roast

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

2 C barbecue sauce

3/4 C salsa

3 Tbsp chili powder

1 Tbsp Mexican seasoning

9 flour tortillas (8 to 10 inches)

1. Remove excess fat from pork. Place in slow cooker; arrange onion on top. Mix remaining ingredients (except tortillas); pour over pork.

2. Cook on low heat for 8-10 hrs or until pork is very tender.

3. Remove pork; place on large plate. Use 2 forks to pull pork into shreds. Pour sauce into bowl; stir in pork. Spoon filling onto tortillas and roll up.

Now on to the purse: I've never liked large purses, I preferred to have something small and compact to carry just the necessities. Then I became a mom and switched to the backpack-type purse.

I finally got tired of that and wanted to go back to something smaller. I found 2 purses in one. This purse is still larger than I like, and it's not cutesy, or fancy at all, just practical! It has a large space inside with 2 zippered compartments - one side I carry a change of clothes for Kayla, and the other zipper part carries snacks, a cup, and things to keep her occupied (small box of crayons, pad of paper, bubbles). But there is a smaller purse nestled inside this one and I grab that one when I'm going out without Kayla...so it suits my needs!

Finally the 7 random facts about me (I decided to make these all sports-related facts):

1. I'm a pretty fanatical sports fan; especially for those teams from Boston. When I lived in MD I went to Boston to see the Celtics play - specifically because they were retiring Reggie Lewis number. I went back a second time when they "retired" the actual Boston Garden.

2. For 2 years Joe and I drove to Arlington, TX (about 9 hrs) so I could see the Red Sox play the Rangers.

3. I met Tommy Lasorda; I was his co-escort when he was at the Air Force Academy as a keynote speaker for a character symposium. I had such a blast meeting him!

4. When I was in 7th grade, at Hanscom AFB, I met Brian Holloway when he came to our school. He was the team captain for the New England Patriots. His father was in the Air Force and had been stationed at Hanscom - Brian had gone to our middle school and came back for a "pep rally/speaking engagement" for the students.

5. I insisted on seeing the Green Bay Packers play the Baltimore Ravens in a preseason game at the start of the Raven's inaugural season. I know, the Packers aren't from Boston, but I like them too!

6. As much as I enjoy sports, I am probably the least-athletic person you'll know! When I was in 7th grade our school started a softball team. Nisa and I played right and right-center. You knew you were bad if you were stuck in right field! At least that was our thought-process as all the balls seemed to be hit to left field! In 8th grade we were moved to left field.

7. I wanted so badly to be good at softball because of my dad. He played, and man could he play! He played on his squadron's team and I have fond memories of being at the field watching their team; I looked forward to "game nights." My dad was serious about the game too - he played left field and would climb the fence trying to prevent a home run. Speaking of home runs; the base had home run derbys and my dad won a couple of those events too...good times!

Slow Cooker Thursday, Book Contests, Prayer

Easy French Dip Sandwiches

3-lb fresh beef brisket (not corned beef)
1 package (1.3 oz) dry onion soup mix
1 can (10.5 oz) condensed beef broth
8 mini baguettes or sandwich buns

1. Place beef in slow cooker. Mix dry soup mix and beef broth; pour over beef.

2. Cook on low heat setting 8-10 hrs or until beef is tender.

3. Skim fat from liquid. Remove beef; cut across grain into thin slices. Cut each baguette horizontally in half. Fill baguettes with beef; cut in half. Serve with broth for dipping.

For more slow cooker recipes visit: Sandra

Sandra is also having a book contest; click here for details.

Speaking of book contests, Overwhelmed is having another one too. You can click here for those details.

And last, but certainly not least, today Heather is undergoing brain surgery to remove the tumor...I know she is being surrounded by prayers today; please keep her in yours too.

Slow Cooker Thursday

Cranberry Baked Apples

4 large cooking apples
1/3 C packed brown sugar
1/4 C dried cranberries
1/2 C cran-apple juice cocktail
2 Tbsp butter, melted
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
chopped nuts, if desired

1. Core apples. Fill centers of apples with brown sugar and cranberries. Place apples in slow cooker.

2. Mix cran-apple juice and butter; pour over apples. Sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg.

3. Cook on low heat setting 4-6 hrs or until apples are tender.

4. To serve, spoon apples into dessert dishes. Spoon sauce over apples. Sprinkle with nuts.

To see more slow-cooker recipes visit Sandra

Slow Cooker Thursday

Mexican Pork

1 lb pork boneless loin roast, cut into 1-in pieces
1 jar (20 oz) salsa
1 can (4 oz) chipped green chilies, drained
1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (4 oz), if desired

1. Mix pork, salsa and chilies in slow cooker.
2. Cook on low heat for 6-8 hrs or until pork is tender. Stir in beans. Cover and cook about 5 min. Sprinkle with cheese.
3. Serve over hot cooked rice or tortilla chips. Top with a dollop of guacamole or sour cream.

Substitutions: Vary the taste by using pinto beans instead of black beans and Cheddar cheese instead of Monterey Jack.

For more slow-cooker recipes visit Sandra

Slow Cooker Thursday

I haven't made this recipe yet, I just found it online this morning! But it sure sounds good and I'm going to try it this weekend.


Cream Cheese Chicken

Ingredients:
4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup melted butter or margarine
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 packets dry Ranch or Italian Dressing mix
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 ounces cream cheese, cut into cubes
1/2 c chicken broth
1/2 chopped onion

Directions:
Brush chicken with butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in a slow cooker and sprinkle 1 packet dry mix over all. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 7 hours.

About 45 minutes before done, brown onion in 1/4 cup of juices from slow cooker. Add soup, second packet of dry dressing mix, cream cheese and chicken broth. Cook until smooth. Pour over the chicken and cover and cook another 45 minutes.

Serve with sauce. Goes great with rice, stuffing, pasta or mashed potatoes! Add in broccoli or other veggies for variety.

For more slow cooker recipes visit Sandra.