Slow Cooker Chicken with Baby Portobello Mushrooms

I made this recipe back at the beginning of April and it is pretty tasty and SUPER easy.  A bit bland without extra seasonings, so I added probably more pepper than the average person would add.  Garlic would be good in there, too.  And whatever else you like!

Could you use other veggies? Probably  Could you do it with another kind of meat? Probably.  Go for it!  And then tell me what how it turns out!

Serve it over rice or...pasta?  or, like, polenta rounds?  Or maybe just in a bowl? 

I found the original recipe online and definitely doubled the amount of mushrooms.  Because mushrooms are tasty and I had extra in the house. 

Also, I added a slow cooker tag/label to this recipe and will probably not go back and add it to past recipes.  Because that would screw up the dates, resetting them all to today.  Booo! (But I clearly needed a slow cooker tag before.)  And I added a "Life During Covid-19" tag, which I should have had before, too!

Ingredients:

• 8 to 16 oz. of baby portobello mushrooms (that's one to two small packages)
• 1 1/2 to 2 lbs. of skinless, boneless chicken breast or tenderloins 
• 1 can of cream-of-whatever soup (I used mushroom, because I had that and I'm a Midwesterner.  But celery, chicken, golden mushroom...all probably perfectly good choices.  Also, I used the low-sodium, healthy kind.)
• Salt, Pepper, and other spices, to taste

Directions:

1. Place chicken at the bottom of a slow cooker
2. Clean and slice mushroom and put those on top of chicken
3. Pour soup over the top
4. Stir soup and mushrooms just a bit (Don't stir down to the chicken, though.  Leave that at the bottom)
   
5. Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 6 hours, checking chicken to be sure it is done. 
   

Slow Cooker Beef with Broccoli

I'm pretty enthralled with my slow cooker. Even if I never figure out how to cook with it during regular work-days, it's great for weekends.  And it is perfect for right now, when I'm working from home.  If I remember, I can put ingredients in at lunch time and have dinner ready later, all while my house/workplace smells delicious. 

Speaking of which, this recipe is one that made the whole house smell amazing!  I love takeout--or buffet--beef and broccoli, and this version was super easy, tasty, and healthy, too.  I found the original online and loved that it mostly uses ingredients that I always have on hand.  I just had to buy the meat and the sesame oil...and now I have the bottle of sesame oil for later!  Also, no cleaning and chopping broccoli.  I like broccoli, but dealing with fresh is annoying sometimes.   

Also, leftovers froze and reheated well.  Since I only used about 1 pound of meat, this made 3 good sized servings.  I might add more broccoli next time, but I liked the more-sauce-version that happened by making it with less meat (also, it was a lot cheaper!). 

Ingredients:

• 1 to 2 lbs. sirloin steak or boneless beef chuck roast, sliced thin (I used 1 lbs. of sirloin steak this time)
  
• 1 cups beef broth (I made some beef bouillon from a cube for this and it worked totally fine)
• ½ cup low sodium soy sauce
• ¼ cup brown sugar (I used dark brown sugar because that is what was open in my pantry)
• 1 Tablespoon sesame oil
• 1+ Tbsp. minced garlic (or like 3 cloves?)
• 4 Tablespoons cornstarch
• 4 Tablespoons water
• 1 (12 oz.) bag frozen broccoli florets

Directions: 

1. Whisk together beef broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, and garlic, in the insert to the slow cooker.
2. Place slices of beef in the liquid and stir.  
3. Cover with lid and cook on low heat for 5 hours.
4. After 5 hours, whisk together cornstarch and water in small bowl. (I suspect I could have added less, maybe 3 Tablespoons cornstarch to 3 Tablespoons water?)
5. Pour into crock pot and add the frozen broccoli over the beef and sauce some (I won't be super-thick, which is a good thing) 
6. Stir to combine. 
7. Cover with lid and cook 30 to 45 minutes to cook broccoli and thicken sauce.

Oatmeal Scotchies

Because I'm trying very hard to eat healthily--especially while working from home--I haven't been baking much.  After all, I normally taste the things I make, but bring the rest to work for others to enjoy.  And if the workforce in my house totals just me...there's no reason to make lots of treats.  However, I've been missing baking, and since baking is a nice stress reliever, I've also been missing the good vibes I get from making things.  (Baking as a creative outlet, y'all.  It's a real thing, I promise you!)

So I decided to make some cookies.  And then see if I could freeze the dough to bake up later.  I wanted to go with something that wouldn't use a ton of flour or sugar and that was a tried and true sort of thing.  So, I went with Oatmeal Scotchies--the classic oatmeal cookie with butterscotch chips baked in.  And I used the the recipe from the back of the bag of Nestle butterscotch morsels.  I added more cinnamon and dark brown sugar, but other than that it is straight-up the classic. 

Side note: I trust the Nestle morsels folks.  When I was a kid, my mom's chocolate chip cookies were always from the recipe on the bag, and so are mine.  That is a DANG GOOD recipe!

The experiment with freezing the dough worked pretty great, actually.  Just need to either let it come to room temp, or bake straight from the freezer and just give them a few extra minutes in the oven. And, actually, the frozen-to-oven cookies have come out...fluffier, I guess.  I'm not gonna lie, I actually like the freezer ones better than the ones that were baked on the first day, and I can bake just 1 or 2...or 3 if the day has been particularly bad.  (The photos on this post are all from the first batch, btw.  I baked them a bit on the longer side, so they were flatter and a bit crispier than they might have otherwise have been.)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon (the original recipe called for 1/2 tsp.)
• 2 sticks butter or margarine, softened (I used Blue Bonnet Margarine)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar (I used dark brown sugar, because I had some that was already open)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3 cups oats (I used old fashioned Quaker oats, but you could use quick oats instead)
• 1 package butterscotch chips (1 2/3 cups or 11 oz.)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees 
2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl
3. Cream together butter and sugars
4. Beat in eggs and vanilla
5. Beat in flour mixture, gradually
6. Add oats and chips and stir together
7. Drop by rounded tablespoon-fulls onto ungreased cookie sheet
8. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes (less for chewy cookies, more for crispier cookies. 
9. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes, then remove to cool completely

To freeze for baking later:

1. Scoop dough out into balls onto a cookie sheet and freeze until fairly solid
2. Pack in a large freezer bag
3. To bake, bring desired number of dough-balls to room temp and bake for regular time/temp or bake straight from the freezer for a few extra minutes.  

Makes about 4 dozen cookies

Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese

I tried this recipe because it appeared on a blog I like to follow that is mostly about baking.  But, you know, like real baking, not real food.  Desserts.  Cookies.  Cakes.  Things that you would have AFTER a meal.  So, when I saw this, I thought: why not?  

The original recipe is from Sally's Baking Addiction and she adapted it from Cooking Light.  Also--warning!--it contains "optional" kale.  And what do I do with optional kale?  Obviously I swap it for spinach, because kale ruins everything. :)  

My version--made in early February--didn't really turn out looking like the original, but I thought it tasted great and was pretty healthy.  I was eating it as a main dish, but it would also make a mighty fine side-dish.  Also, it is vegetarian, if that matters to you, but you could toss in some crumbled bacon if you are bothered by vegetarian foods.  

Leftovers were tasty, including a portion that I froze to have a week or so later.  And the original provided freezing directions for the whole dish, which I haven't tried yet.  But I will!  Basically those are:  Prepare the recipe except for the baking.  Cover tightly and freeze up to 3 months.  Thaw overnight in the fridge, bring to room temperature, and then bake.   

Ingredients:

• 4 cups peeled, cubed butternut squash (or, about 1 large butternut squash peeled and cubed)
• 1 1/4 cups low sodium vegetable broth (you could also use chicken broth)
• 1 1/4 cups milk (I used skim milk and it worked fine)
• 2 heaping teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 lb. uncooked pasta (I used a rotini, but you could do whatever!)
• 1 package of spinach (optional)
• 1/4 cup plain, nonfat greek yogurt 
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2+ tsp. ground black pepper
• 1 1/2+ heaping cups of shredded cheese (the original recommended gruyere or white cheddar, I used gruyere because I happened to find some pre-shredded at Aldi for a good price)
• optional: 1/3 cup breadcrumbs

Directions:

1. Combine squash, broth, milk, and garlic in a medium pan over medium-high heat
2. Simmer for 20 minutes, until the squash is very tender (test by stabbing it with a fork) and then set aside
   
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees 
4. Cook your pasta until it is a bit firm still, just al dente
5. Add spinach and cook for a minute or two, until spinach is wilted in.
   
6. Drain and set aside
   
7. Put warm squash mixture in blender 
8. Add yogurt, salt, and pepper, and blend until smooth
   
9. Pour sauce into very large bowl and add in cheese(s)
10. Stir until cheese is combined (don't worry if it isn't all melted at this point)
    
11. Add pasta/spinach to bowl and stir.
    
12. Pour into a casserole dish, top with breadcrumbs
    
13. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until bubbly on the sides. 
    
    
    

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Taco Pasta!

I was walking through the small, local grocery store just-pre-pandemic when I saw that they had mafalda-shaped pasta.  I was actually looking for gemelli, which my Target does not carry, but my Target doesn't have mafalda either!  Anyway, I grabbed a box (it was Creamette brand) and threw it in my cart to put in the cabinet.  (Because who wants boring old pasta shapes, right?)

As the box was sitting in the top section of the cart, I realized that the back of the box had a recipe on it...and it being approximately dinner time, the recipe sounded really good.  It was for Mafalda Mexicana, which I am choosing to rename as a more Midwestern (and thus *way* more appropriate) "Taco Pasta."  

I really liked my final result and it is the kind of thing that you can add to, depending on what you like and what you have around.  The key is the creamy sauce, the secret ingredient of which is....wait for it......waaaiitt for iiit...cottage cheese.  Weird, huh?  Also, you could probably use any type of noodle/pasta that you like/have on hand, but the wavy ribbony noodles did pick up and hold the sauce really well.  And I froze some of the leftovers and they were good heated up for a lunch.     

Anyway.  Super tasty and going in my repertoire!  

Ingredients:

• 1/2 package (6 oz.) mafalda pasta, uncooked 
• 1 lb. lean ground beef or turkey (I used turkey this time)
• 1 package taco seasoning mix
• 1 1/2 cups hot water
• 1 cup small curd cottage cheese (I used a low fat 1% kind)
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (I used shredded, but you could use grated)
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• optional: chopped tomato, sliced black olives, salsa, etc. (you know, taco things)

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to directions
2. Cook meat in a large skillet over a medium heat (drain fat if needed)
3. Add taco mix, stir, then add water and bring to a boil
4. Reduce heat to a simmer; cover and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally
5. Stir in cottage cheese, parmesan cheese, and pasta
6. Heat through (the cheeses will melt, even the cottage cheese curds)
7. Top with mozzarella cheese, and then add any optional taco toppings