Showing posts with label crock pot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crock pot. Show all posts

7.16.2014

Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Hey now!  Just because it's summer doesn't mean you can't use the crock, ok?!?!  I still am slightly terrified that if I use the crock while not home that my house will burn down.  I had a rare Monday off work recently and whipped these babies up while sitting on my couch supervising!  We have featured a chicken similar to these wraps in the form of potato skins (also tasty).  For a new dish I put the chicken in lettuce wraps, and topped with traditional buffalo wing toppings - carrots, celery, and RANCH dressing (some of you may prefer blue cheese). This crunchy fun dinner will make you fall in love with your crock pot all over again, and maybe even let it be home alone.

Servings: 6
Serving Size: 1/2 cup chicken + veggies
Points Plus: 3pp
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 4 hours in the crock
Level of Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients
Chicken
3 chicken breasts, about 24 oz
1 celery stalk, cut in half
2 cloves of garlic, cut in half
16 oz chicken broth or stock
1/2 cup Frank's Red Hot, or other hot pepper sauce

Toppings
Carrot strings
Celery, chopped into small pieces
Freshly washed and dried bib or iceberg lettuce

Optional - Extra pp
Ranch or blue cheese salad dressing

Directions
Place your chicken breasts, celery, onion, garlic, and chicken stock in a crock pot. Turn that crock on high and cook it for 4 hours. After 4 hours remove the chicken from the crock and place it on a cutting board.  Discard all broth but KEEP 1/2 cup.  Using two forks shred the chicken and return it to the crock. Pour the reserved stock and Frank's over the chicken, stir, and cook for 30 more minutes.

Tip
If you are down with getting your Kitchaid dirty, use it to shred your chicken!  toss it in there with the paddle attachment, turn it on, and watch your chicken shred quickly and perfectly!

XOXO - Katie

Adapted from this recipe.

5.20.2014

Flank Steak Fajitas

Fajitas are an easy, healthy, delicious Mexican meal!  They are even EASIER in the crock pot.  I can't say I have cooked a lot of flank steak, but similar to chicken, the meat is so tender and well seasoned after cooking in the crock all day long.  I also love when the main dish for your meal is already done before dinner time.  This recipe comes from my Mom's recipe file - it's one of her favorite Mexican meals to make!

Servings: 8
Serving Size: 2 fajitas
Points Plus: 7pp
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 4-5 hours in the crock pot
Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs. beef flank steak
1 onion, sliced
1 red pepper, cut into strips
1 green pepper, cut into strips
1 jalapeƱo, diced
1 Tbsp. fresh cilantro
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. coriander
1/4 tsp. salt
8 oz. can diced tomatoes
16 flour tortillas
Fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions:
Cut the flank steak into 6 pieces. In the crock pot, combine flank steak, onion, peppers, cilantro, garlic, chili powder, cumin, coriander and salt.  Stir in the diced tomatoes.  Cover the crock pot and cook on high for 4-5 hours.  Once the meat is cooked through, remove the meat and shred the flank steak.  Return the steak to the crock pot and stir until well combined.  Keep on warm until you are ready to serve dinner.  Assemble the fajitas by placing steak and onions/peppers in each tortilla and topping with fresh cilatnro.

Tip:
This hold and slice tool from Pampered Chef works great for holding piping hot meat while you shred it!  The prongs keep you from burning yourself and keep the meat in place so you can easily shred it and return it to the crock pot.  Check it out!
XOXO Megan

5.05.2014

Hungry Girl's Slow Cookin' Mexican Chicken + Baked Chicken Taquitos

Happy 5 de Mayo everyone! Here is a tasty Mexican inspired recipe for you. Do you ever whip up a crock pot recipe, plug it in, leave for the day and constantly worry that it is going to start your house on fire?  In the olden days I used to worry causing me to only use my crock pot on the weekends.  And usually on those weekend crock pot days I would get impatient and eat my crock pot meal before it was really ready because it smelled amazing (of course, after it was cooked through but maybe not cooked to it's full potential).  Anyways, after doing some online research I decided to just cook my crock pot recipe at night, on low, for 8ish hours, and then transfer it to a glass container in the morning and refrigerate all day. Which brings me to this tasty recipe!  It is actually a two part-er.  First you make the crock pot chicken and THEN you use the chicken to make crispy crunchy oven baked Taquitos.  Or you could put the chicken on a salad.  Or use the chicken in regular soft shell tacos.  Or just eat the chicken plain like I did right out of the crock!  You get the idea...

Servings: This recipe is for 8 Taquitos, but you will have plenty of leftover crock pot chicken to use as you wish
Serving Size: 4 Taquitos
Points Plus: Chicken - 3pp per 1/2 cup, Taquitos - 8pp
Prep Time: Chicken - 1 minute, Taquitos - 10 minutes
Cook Time: Chicken - 8 hours, Taquitos - 20-25 minutes
Level of Difficulty: Medium

Ingredients
Hungry Girl's Slow Cookin' Mexican Chicken
1 cup canned crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup jarred roasted red peppers
1/4 cup diced green chilies
1 T dry taco seasoning (OR you could make your own like I did)
1/2 T garlic powder
1/4 t. crushed red pepper flakes
1/8 t black pepper
1 1/2 lb chicken breasts
1/8 t kosher salt or more to taste

Baked Taquitos
1 cup of Hungry Girl's Slow Cookin' Mexican Chicken
8 small corn tortillas, I like Trader Joes brand
1/4 cup fresh cilantro or parsley
1/2 cup salsa
2 T light sour cream
8 t reduced fat cheese
1 t olive oil
Cooking spray

Directions
Crock Pot Chicken
Put all Crock Pot Chicken ingredients in the crock. Mix around and cook for 3-4 hours on low OR 8 hours on high. If you are a wussy like me cook it while you sleep! After the chicken is finished cooking use the back of a wooden spoon to shred it.  Or, if you are crazy and like to do dishes, transfer it to your kitchen aid, attach your paddle and whip it until it has shredded.

Baked Taquitos
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and spray a baking pan with cooking spray. Wet a paper towel, and place corn tortillas between the wet paper towel and microwave for 1 minute.  Do this in batches, 2 tortillas as a time.  This will prevent the tortillas from cracking as you roll them and you do not want to skip this step.

Lay tortillas out on your counter, and put 2 T of shredded chicken in a line at the bottom of the tortilla (not in the center). Add 1 t of cheese over chicken and starting at the end closest to the chicken, roll the Taquito tightly like a cigar.  Place the rolled taquito on your prepared baking dish seam-side-down.  This will prevent the taquito from unrolling in the oven.  Repeat this step with all 8 tortillas. Put your 1 t of olive oil in a small bowl, and using a silicon brush, brush the top side of all of the taquitos, will help them crisp up in the oven.

Place your baking dish in the oven for about 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes flip the taquitos and bake another 10-15 minutes until crunchy!

Serve with salsa, sour cream and cilantro (or parsley). Enjoy!

Tip
You could use any type of meat inside of these crunchy tortillas, or even do a roasted veggie version!

XOXO - Katie

Chicken recipe for Hungry Girl's 1-2-3 Cookbook.

3.20.2014

Chicken Taco Chili

Last weekend it was chilly outside and I was craving a chili.  I found this recipe on Skinnytaste with a twist on the tradtional chili - basically think crockpot chicken tacos + regular chili ingredients!  Again, I can't tell you how much I love cooking chicken in the crockpot.  It is just SO EASY!  This recipe came together so quickly and then cooked all day in the crock.  Also, this made for a lot of leftovers so we were set for dinner for the week almost!

Servings:  10
Size:  1 1/4 cups chili
Points Plus: 6pp
Level of Difficulty:  Easy
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 5-6 hours

Ingrdient List:
2 large chicken breasts, skinless and boneless
1 medium onion, chopped
1 15 oz. can kidney beans
1 15 oz. can black beans
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
2 14.5 oz. cans diced tomatoes with chilies
10 oz. frozen corn
1 taco seasoning packet
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. cumin
Shredded cheddar, reduced-fat (1 oz. per serving)

Directions:
Put all ingredients besides the chicken in the crockpot and stir until everything is well combined, especially the spices.  Add the chicken breasts and make sure the chili mixture is covering them.  Cook on high for 5-6 hours, stirring occasionally.  Once the chicken is fully cooked, remove for the crockpot and shred with forks.  Return the shredded chicken to the crockpot and cook for an additional 30 minutes.  Serve with chopped fresh cilantro and 1 oz. shredded cheddar per serving.  Enjoy!

Tip:
Just a heads up - this recipe calls for a full Tbsp. of chili powder - so it definitely has some kick!  We love spice, so it wasn't too spicy for our tastes, but you might want to scale it back to your liking. 

XOXO Megan

3.12.2014

Hungry Girl Crock Pot BBQ Chicken

Ok - for real - we ate this recipe so fast that I forgot to take a picture! It was crazy (crazy good haha).  In a quest to love my crock pot I gave this easy recipe a whirl.   What is easier than dumping a few simple ingredients into a crock and turning it on? You might think to yourself, why not just put the chicken into my crock with store bought BBQ sauce, that would be easier? Well people, home made is always better and I could for sure taste the difference in this sauce vs. a store bought! This chicken is delish on a bun, on a salad or just on a plate!

Servings: 6
Servings Size: 1/2 cup
Points Plus: 4pp
Prep Time: 3 minutes
Cook Time: 3-4 hours on high or 7-8 hours on low
Level of Difficulty: Easy

Photo from www.hungrygirl.com
Ingredient List:
3 chicken breasts
1 cup canned marinara sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. cider vinegar
2 tsp. garlic powder

Directions:
Put all ingredients except chicken in the crock and give it a stir. Add the chicken and coat with sauce. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 7-8 hours.  When the chicken is done cooking remove it from the crock and shred it using two forks.  Return it to the crock, stir, and serve!

Tip:
This chicken freezes extremely well. It is a long story, but trust me I know ;)

XOXO - Katie

3.06.2014

Asian Honey Chicken

This recipe makes a delicious, tender, flavor-packed Asian chicken!  I love to make chicken in the crock pot, it is so easy and it always turns out great. The original recipe can be found on
Just a Taste’s blog. You can serve this on lettuce for a healthier option, or on sandwich buns, or over some rice!  It will make leftovers, so try it out as a few different options.

Servings: 8  
Size: 1/8 of the chicken 
Points Plus: 7pp
Level of Difficulty:  Easy
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 4-5 hours (crockpot), 20 minutes (assembly/to serve)

Ingredient List:
2 ½ -3 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
½ cup honey
½ cup soy sauce, low-sodium
¼ cup blackberry jam
¼ cup hoisin sauce
2 Tbsp. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup onion, diced
¼ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
3 Tbsp. water
Chopped scallions (for garnish)
Sesame seeds (for garnish)

Directions:
Get out your crock pot!  Place the chicken breasts in the crockpot. Combine the honey, soy sauce, blackberry jam, hoisin sauce, olive oil, garlic, onion and crushed red pepper flakes in a medium bowl.  Use a whisk to make sure the sauce is fully combined.  Pour the sauce over the chicken breasts and cook on low for 4-5 hours or until the chicken is fully cooked.  Remove the chicken and shred with forks.  Make a slurry in a small bowl by whisking the cornstarch and water together.  Pour the liquids from the crock pot into a saucepan over medium heat.  Whisk in the slurry while stirring to combine.  Bring this sauce to a boil and cook for 3 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken.  Add the sauce to the chicken and toss to evenly coat.  Serve with scallions and sesame seeds as garnish.
Tip:
Instead of a tip today… go check out our Referral Contest!!!  We want to spread the foodlove, or love, to even more fabulous people and we need YOUR help to do that!  Also, as a thanks for helping us spread the word about our blog we are giving away a really cool kitchen tool to the person who gets the most referrals! Get the word out!!
XOXO Megan

2.05.2014

French Dip Sandwiches

In my continued attempt to embrace my slow cooker this year, I decided to make a whole roast.  Because I don't like plain roast (jeeze I really am not as picky as I sound and have a good reason for it), I made the roast with the goal of making Skinnytaste's French Dip Sandwiches (with a few minor edits)! This recipe sure was easy, but really, who wakes up 12 hours before dinner time to get the roast in the crock!  I think mine could have cooked longer, to create a more juicy roast, but it was still really good.  And we have been enjoying the leftovers for a quick easy dinner!

Servings:  Varies
Serving Size: 1 sandwich, see below
Points Plus: 8pp
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 8-12 hours
Level of Difficulty: Easy



Directions
In a small bowl mix garlic, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper. Rub the spice mixture onto all sides of the roast, then place in the slow cooker.
Remove the meat from the slow cooker to a cutting board and shred with a fork or slice with a knife. Strain the broth through a fine sieve then place in a gravy separator to remove any fat. Pour 1/4 cup broth into each small ramekin.
Remove the meat from the slow cooker to a cutting board and shred with a fork or slice with a knife. Strain the broth through a fine sieve then place in a gravy separator to remove any fat. Pour 1/4 cup broth into each small ramekin.



Ingredients
For The Beef
3 to 4 lb lean beef round roast, trimmed
1 T minced garlic, minced
1 t fresh rosemary (or 1 tsp dry), 1 T fresh thyme (or 1 tsp dry),
1 t kosher salt
5 cups of water
3 beef bouillon cubes
1 t Worcestershire sauce (I forgot to add this)
Fresh ground pepper
1 bay leaf
1/2 large onion, cut into chunks

For the Caramelized Onions (makes about 1 cup)
1/2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
3 large onions, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp Kosher salt

For the Peppers (makes about 2 cups):
1 large red bell pepper, cored, seeded and sliced into strips

For the Sandwich
Sargento Reduced Fat Provolone or Mozzarella Slices 

1 large green bell pepper, cored, seeded and sliced into strips

Whole wheat baguette or rolls, cut into 2 oz pieces




Pour the water into the side of the roast until it just cover the meat. Add beef cubes. If the water doesn't cover the roast you can add more and top with onions. Add the about 20 grinds on the old pepper mill and bay leaf to the water/broth. Cover and cook on low until the meat flakes apart easily with a fork, about 9 to 12 hours, depending on the size of your roast.  Mine cooked for about 8, but was flaky, so who knows how long it should have cooked for!


An hour before the meat is done, prepare the onions and peppers. In a large nonstick skillet heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and salt and cook until golden, stirring often, reducing heat as needed if the onions are burning or browning too quickly, about 30 to 35 minutes. The onions should turn golden and the flavor should be sweet. Transfer to a serving bowl, then add the peppers to the skillet and cook stirring often until soft, 8 to 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to broil. Split the bread open and top with 2 ounces of beef. Top with onions, peppers and cheese and broil until the cheese melts. Place on a plate with broth for dipping.

Nutrition based on: 2 oz whole wheat baguette, 2 oz cooked beef round, 1/4 cup beef broth, 1 slice cheese, onions & peppers.

Tip

Caramelizing onions is hard to do (in my opinion) when not suing a ton of fat.  The key is to cook them on a very low temp, so they don’t burn.  It can be done people, it just takes some patience! 

1.30.2014

Chicken Enchilada Soup

Chicken enchiladas meet the crockpot!  I love Mexican, especially enchiladas - here is a fun recipe that turns them into a soup which helps cut down on pp. The original recipe comes from Skinnytaste with just a few modifications.  This is a great recipe to throw in the crockpot and before you know it you have dinner on the table!

Servings:  6
Size:  1 ½ cups soup
Points Plus: 7pp
Level of Difficulty:  Easy
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 4-6 hours in the crockpot

Ingredient List:
2 tsp. olive oil
½ cup onion, chopped
3 cups chicken broth, low sodium, fat-free
8 oz. can tomato sauce
1-2 tsp. chipotle chili in adobo sauce
1 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
14.5 oz. can petite diced tomatoes
2 cups frozen corn
1 tsp. cumin
½ tsp. dried oregano
2 8 oz. chicken breasts, skinless, boneless
¼ cup scallions, chopped
¾ cup shredded cheddar cheese, reduced-fat
¼ cup cilantro, chopped

Directions:
In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the onion and saute for 3-4 minutes or until tender.  Pour in the chicken broth, tomato sauce and chipotle adobo sauce and mix throughly.  Bring the mixture to a boil and then remove from heat.  Carefully pour or ladle this mixture into your crockpot. Add the drained can of beans, diced tomatoes, corn, cumin and oregano and stir until the enchilada sauce mixture is combined.  Finally add the chicken breasts and cover.  Set your crockpot to cook on high for 2 hours and then reduce the temperature to low for the remaining 2 1/2 - 3 hours.  Once the chicken is fully cooked, remove and shred with forks.  Put the shredded chicken back into the crockpot and cook on low an addtional 30 minutes.  Serve with a chopped scallions and cilantro on top and 2 Tbsp. of cheese per serving!

Tip:
Want to know a super fun tip on how to pour hot liquid without risking it splashing all over and making a huge mess???  When pouring, flip your soup ladle so back of the ladle is facing up and pour the liquid directly onto the back of the ladle.  The liquid will follow the curves of the ladle and will easily pour this way. This also works with a big spoon too!
XOXO Megan

1.22.2014

Crock Pot Bolognese Sauce

You might recognize this photo!  Remember on Monday when I posted about my amazing egg noodles? Well, here is the sauce I served with them. We made both for a dinner party and I am trying to get better at not over committing myself with too many menu items that leave no time to talk with guests. This crock pot sauce was perfect, and really tasty! The recipe is originally from Skinnytaste but I made a few modifications. Get this baby in the crock early, and it is one less thing you need to worry about for dinner. We are also having it tonight as leftovers!

Servings: 20
Serving Size: 1/2 cup
Points Plus: 4pp
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 5-6 hours
Level of Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients
4 oz bacon, chopped
1 tbsp butter (or olive oil)
1 large white onion, minced
2 celery stalks (about 3/4 cup), minced
2 carrots (about 3/4 cup), minced
2 lb 95% lean ground beef
1/4 cup white wine
2 - 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes 
3 bay leaves
salt and fresh pepper (I used kosher)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup half & half cream

Instructions
Saute the bacon in a large dutch oven for about 4 minutes. Add the butter, onion, celery and carrots and cook about 4 more minutes. Add the beef until cooked through. Add the white wine (or chicken stock) and allow to reduce until most of the moisture is gone. Transfer meat mixture into your crock and add the crushed tomatoes, bay leaves and about 1 t. each of salt and pepper. Put on high and cook for about 5 hours. After five hours add the cream and then taste.  I feel like I had to add a lot more salt to this to make the flavors really pop, but I don't know exactly how much. So salt it until it tastes great to you! (remember, I LOVE salt). Finally, add the fresh parsley and serve over your favorite noodles! 

Tip
This sauce is great frozen!  You could also use it as a pizza sauce or lasagna sauce if you are adventurous! 

XOXO Katie

1.07.2014

Crockpot Chicken Tacos

Do you need a quick, go-to recipe for making chicken tacos??  Look no further!  This is a really easy version that using the crockpot to produce perfectly tender shredded chicken that is full of flavor.  My good friend Jessica gave me this recipe; I added in some additional onion and jalapeno.  I'm not sure I will ever go back to making chicken tacos any other way because these are so good!!!  You can customize with whatever your favorite taco toppings happen to be, but look below for my suggestions for this recipe.

Servings:  10
Size:  2 tacos
Points Plus: 6pp
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time:  4-5 hours
Rating: 5 stars – Excellent!
Ingredient List:
1 16 oz. jar salsa
1 packet of taco seasoning
¾ cup onion, chopped
¼ cup jalapeno, chopped
4 large chicken breasts
20 small flour tortillas
Optional Toppings (these are included in the pp value above):
1 cup Mexican blend shredded cheese, reduced-fat
1 can (4 oz.) sliced black olives
½ cup white onion, chopped
Fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions:
Add the full jar of salsa and taco seasoning to the crockpot; stir until well mixed.  Add in the chopped onion and jalapeno.  Finally, add in the chicken breasts and stir to make sure the salsa mixture is covering the chicken.  Set the crockpot on high for the first 2 hours and then finish on low for the next 2 hours.  Depending on how your crockpot cooks, wait until the chicken is fully cooked before removing to shred with a fork.  Add the shredded chicken back into the crockpot and cook on low or warm for an additional hour.  Serve with your favorite taco fixings and tortillas!  For the tacos above, I used 1 Tbsp. cheese, about 1/4 cup of chicken and just a sprinkle of olives per taco.  You can add as much onion and cilantro as you like! 
Tip:
Frozen chicken breasts work great in the crockpot!  If you haven’t had time to fully thaw out your chicken, not a big deal.  Just toss everything in the crockpot and set to low if you will be gone all day at work.  You will come home to a delicious smelling kitchen!
XOXO Megan

1.01.2014

Happy New Year + MAKEOVER + Creamy Crock Pot Tomato Soup

HAPPP-py New Year!  It's a new year ya'all!  Time for a fresh start, a fresh attitude, a fresh YOU! Joining forces to start EAT ME with my cousin was one of the most exciting and motivating things I did in 2013, and I can't wait to continue to inspire each of you to eat your way to a healthier lifestyle in 2014.  Will this be the year that you reach your health goals?  Will it be the year you fit into those jeans?  Will it simply be the year that you just BEGIN to learn about eating healthy and take one step to doing so by following this blog? Will it be the year that you get into the kitchen for the first time and learn that cooking your own wholesome meal tastes so much better than anything you could pick up at a drive through?  All of these are good intentions (a word I prefer over resolutions), so get EXCITED! This is YOUR year! (ok I am tearing up I have to stop)

With 2014 we bring you.....our UPDATED layout - hurray!  We are pretty proud of how this turned out, especially considering our skillz in the kitchen heavily outweigh our HTML blog design skillz.  We are learning and always open to feedback, so let us know what you think!

We have a lot planned for 2014 including some fun recipe makeovers, contests, and guest posts. But for now, I bring you our FIRST recipe for the New Year!

Get out your SLOW COOKER!  The crock pot is something that I am super intimidated by.  I don’t know why, I think it is because there are too many possibilities (and I don’t love meat).  I challenged myself to find a delish New Year’s Day recipe to show you that eating healthy can be FUN AND super-duper easy.  The addition of these itty bitty teeny tiny grilled cheeses makes this comforting meal a must. This recipe is adapted from Skinnytaste.

Servings: 6
Servings Size: 1 1/2 cups soup + ½ grilled cheese
Points Plus: 5 pp
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 6 hours
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Rating: 5 stars - Excellent!

Photo from Here
Ingredients
Soup
1 t. olive oil
1 cup finely diced celery
1 cup finely diced carrots
1 cup finely diced onions
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
28 oz can whole plum tomatoes, with juice
1 tsp thyme
1/4 cup fresh basil
3 1/2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth (or vegetable for vegetarians)
Parmesan or Romano cheese rind (optional but HIGHLY recommended)(Easy to find at your local health food store such as Whole Foods)
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 3/4 cups fat free milk, warmed
Salt + Pepper

Itty bitty teeny tiny grilled cheeses
6 reduced calorie bread
3 Kraft singles
Spray Butter
Cooking spray

Directions
Soup
Heat a large skillet over medium heat, warm oil and add celery, carrots, onions and red pepper flakes. Cook for about 5 minutes then add to slow cooker.

Pour the juice of the tomatoes into the slow cooker, then roughly crush the tomatoes with your hands; add to slow cooker. Then add your chicken stock, cheese rind (if using) thyme, basil, and bay leaf.

Cover and cook on LOW for 6 hours. After 6 hours remove the cheese rid and, using an immersion blender, blend the soup until smooth. If you don’t have in immersion blender 1) get one 2) be very careful, I have made a huge mess while trying to do this because blending hot soup is hard people!.

Melt the butter over low heat in a large skillet and add the flour. Stir constantly with a whisk for 4 to 5 minutes. Slowly whisk in about 1 cup of the hot soup, then add the 1 3/4 cups of warmed milk and stir until smooth. Pour back into the slow cooker and stir. Add salt + pepper to taste.  Cover and cook on low 30 more minutes.

Grilled Cheese
Spray a non-stick pan with cooking spray. Lightly spritz one side of each piece of bread.  Working in batches if necessary, place 1 piece of bread butter side down on pan, top with one piece of cheese and one piece of bread butter side up.  Cook grilled cheeses until brown and toasty.  When sandwiches are finished cut each in half, and then each half into 8 small sandwiches. 

To Serve
Place ½ cups of soup into a bowl and top with 8 tiny grilled cheese sandwiches. 

Tip
Have you ever added a parmesan cheese rind to your soup for a low calorie boost of creamy flavor? The parmesan rind is the hard part of fresh parm that you would normally throw away.  Next time you have one layin’ around, stick it in your freezer to pull out during an upcoming soup making sesh.  OR – you can buy these at your local health store such as Whole Foods or co-op.  I found one for 66 cents!

Enjoy & Happy New Year!

XOXO - Katie

12.25.2013

Crock Pot Apple Cider

Merry Christmas! The holidays are a super busy time of year, as we all know!  So I thought today I would post perhaps the simplest recipe of all time, which is also perfect for the holidays AND entertaining.  This cider only calls for three ingredients, and takes under a minutes to make!  Totally perf!  I hope ya'alls had a wonderful holiday! PS: Sorry for the sideways photo :)

Servings: A lot
Serving Size: 1 cup
Points Plus: 4pp
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 1 minute
Cook Time: As long as you want!
Rating: 5 - Excellent!

Ingredients
1 large jug of apple cider
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. nutmeg

Instructions
Put all ingredients into your crock pot and turn on.  That's all!

Tip
You could totally serve this with cinnamon sticks and sliced apples to add some additional festive flair!

XOXO - Katie