Slow Cooker Chive and Onion Creamed Corn

I found this in an impulsively bought Betty Crocker magazine I saw at the grocery store check stand around Thanksgiving.  I tried it over Christmas with my sister and it was fantastic.  I tried it again replacing the bacon with 1/2 cup purple onion finely diced (to be more vegetarian friendly) and it was STILL amazing.  This is a great side dish for gatherings with more than 4 people.

Here's my modified vegetarian version:

1/2 c. purple onion, finely diced
4 1/2 c. frozen corn, thawed (essentially two bags)
1/2 c. red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. butter, melted
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 container (8 ox) of chive & onion cream cheese

Grease slow cooker (or use a liner), and add the mix of onion, corn, bell pepper, milk, melted butter, sugar, salt and pepper.  Cover and cook on High for 2- 2 1/2 hours.
Stir in cream cheese, and cook on High an additional 10 minutes.  Stir again, and serve.  Can be kept on warm or Low heat for up to an hour.

Here's the link for the direct recipe: 

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/slow-cooker-chive-and-onion-creamed-corn/484ead4d-2c93-4709-9b7b-9533586bc472?src=SH

Six-Bean Barbecued Beans- Slow Cooker

Fix-it and Forget-it Cookbook (Gladys Longacre, p.213)

1 can kidney beans, drained
1 can pinto beans, drained
1 can Great Northern beans, drained
1 can butter beans, drained
1 can navy/white beans, drained
1 can pork & beans (I used a vegetarian can)
1/4 cup barbecue sauce
1/4 cup mustard
1/3 cup ketchup
1 small onion, chopped
1 small bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup molasses (or sorghum molasses)
1 cup brown sugar

Mix together all ingredients in slow cooker.
Cook on Low 4-6 hours.

Makes 15-18 servings

(That's the only downside with this recipe- if you only intend on feeding up to 6, you'll have a mountain of beans left over, and as you're emptying out entire cans, I can't see how you could easily cut this recipe in half.  I'm just hoping they freeze well as that's what we ended up doing with our leftovers...)

Teriyaki and Pineapple Chicken

- allrecipes.com

Fantastic teriyaki dish. Could be done without chicken as well.

- 2 tbs. cooking oil
- 1 lb. chicken breasts, cut into cubes (2 breasts should be plenty)
- 1 green bell pepper, sliced thin
- 1 yellow bell pepper, sliced thin (didn't have any- still good)
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced thin
- 1 1/4 cups sliced mushrooms (didn't use these- still good)
- 1 onion, chopped (used a red onion, for aesthetic purposes)
- 1 cup teriyaki sauce
- 1 (8 oz) can pineapple chunks, undrained
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper (didn't have any- still good)
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 cup flour (I substituted cornstarch instead)

Cook chicken chunks in oil in a wok (or large pot- whatever you use to make stir fry) until chicken is cooked through.
Add to wok all other ingredients (EXCEPT for flour) at medium heat. When it starts to simmer, add flour (or cornstarch) and continue to stir and simmer until it thickens up to your desired consistency.
Serve over rice. Eat it all up and wish you had made more. It's so dang good.

I actually halfed this recipe, and it still fed us four portions... next time I'll make more. :)

(Too busy eating this to take a photo of my own creation- this one is from the recipe I pulled at allrecipes.com. It looks better in real life... man, it's good.)

HUBBY SCORE: * * * * 1/2
(wow. Only pie gets a full 5 stars around here... I gave it 5 stars myself...)

Funeral Potatoes

This recipe is from my Mom and not healthy but sure yummy!


Funeral Potatoes

Ingredients
24 oz grated frozen potatoes
1 cube butter softened (My Mom uses ½ cube)
16 oz. sour cream (My mom sometimes use non-fat, but she dosen't like the consistency as well)
1-3 cups grated cheese
2 cans mushroom soup

Method
►Mix softened butter, sour cream, mushroom soup and cheese together.
►Mix potatoes into mixture.
►Press into a large casserole dish.
Bake at 350⁰ for 45 minutes or until bubbly throughout.


My sibling score * * * * *

Hubby score * * * *

Manicotti

This is one that Mr. Picky Two likes but my brothers LOVE.


Ingredients

15 oz ricotta cheese
8 oz mozzarella cheese
1/2 c parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 jar of spaghetti sauce*
manicotti noodles

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cook the manicotti noodles according to directions. While those are boiling, mix together ricotta, mozzarella, permasean, parsely, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Pour 1/2 cup of sauce on bottom of a greased 9x13 baking dish. Scoop cheese mixture into manicotti noodles and place in baking dish. Pour remaining sauce on top. Cover and cook 40 minutes. Remove cover and cook an additional 10 minutes.



Hubby Score * * * *


* I'm looking for a good spaghetti sauce recipe, if you have one please post!

Beef Stroganoff

Mama Kris had a bad experience with beef stroganoff so the boys have never really had it. Mr. Picky Two was up for trying it and now it is one of his favorites. Its easy and delicious.

Ingredients:

Round Steak* (or if you want a super fast easy meal, buy the already cut stew meat - its a little more expensive per pound but cuts out the most tedious part of the preparation)

1 can french onion soup

1 can cream of mushroom

Milk

Wide Egg Noodles


Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cut steak into strips about 1/4" thick and brown. Once browned, combine french onion soup, cream of mushroom soup, the browned meat*, and one can of milk in a sauce pan. Bring to a low boil (if you want the sauce thicker, add flour or corn starch until the desired consistency). Spray Pam on a casserole dish and pour sauce into dish. Place in oven for 30 minutes. While sauce cooks in the oven, boil a package of wide egg noodles according to the directions on the package. Once sauce and noodles are cooked, spoon sauce over noodles and enjoy!

Serve with: Green beans, and rolls (our pickies love their rolls - at least mine does.)

Hubby Score: * * * * *








*for you vegetarian types, you can leave the meat aside and let your husband add it to his sauce later, or leave it out completely, it will still be yummy.