Banana Bread

 

You Will Need:

• 1 stick butter (softened)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs beaten
• 1 cup chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts)
• 2-3 ripe bananas (mashed)
• 2 cups  all purpose flour (sift after measuring)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease loaf pan. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add beaten eggs. Add mashed bananas to the sugar mixture, alternately with dry ingredients. Add nuts and vanilla extract. Pour mixture into a greased loaf pan bake 1 hour or until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle of loaf. 

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookies With Coconut

 

You Will Need: 

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 stick butter (softened)
• 1 stick margarine (softened)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips semi-sweet
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 375 degrees,  line cookie sheet with parchment paper,  combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl, set aside, in a large bowl combine butter, margarine, sugars, until smooth, add vanilla extract, and eggs, stir well until blended, add flour mixture, when blended well add mini chocolate chips and coconut. Drop by Tablespoons onto lined cookie sheets, cook 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on cookie racks. 

Makes about 36 cookies

Enjoy!

Italian Chicken and Bean Soup Slow Cooker

 

You Will Need:

• 1/2 stick of butter
• medium yellow onion
• 3 tsp. minced garlic (or 3 garlic cloves chopped)
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 15 oz. can petite diced tomatoes (undrained)
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. dried basil
• 1/2 tsp. dried parsley
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4 (15 oz) cans white kidney beans (cannellini beans) drained and rinsed
• 1 1/2 lbs. chicken breast tenderloin strips
• 3 cups fresh spinach
• grated parmesan cheese to garnish

In a skillet saute the onion and garlic in butter, place chicken in slow cooker add onion and garlic and other ingredients, (besides the spinach and parmesan cheese). Cover, cook on high 15 minutes then reduce heat to low and cook 5 hours, take out chicken strips and shred with two forks, add it back to slow cooker, then add the spinach, cook another hour or so, until the spinach is cooked and tender. Salt and pepper to taste, place in bowls and top with grated parmesan cheese. 

Serve with buttered Italian or French bread or toasted garlic bread

Enjoy!

Sweet Hawaiian Chicken With Coconut Rice

The chicken in this recipe is cooked in the slow cooker, the coconut rice is made on the stove top

You Will Need: 

• 2 lbs. chicken chicken tenderloin strips
• 1 cup pineapple juice
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 3 to 4 green onion (chop and separate white bottom from the green tops)

 Add chicken to slow cooker, stir together pineapple juice, brown sugar, and soy sauce, and whites of the onion in a small bowl, pour over chicken and stir. Turn slow cooker on high for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to low, cook for 5-6 hours. Shred chicken with two forks at the end of cooking. Before serving, add in the green tops of the onion. Serve with Coconut Rice (Recipe Is Below)

For Coconut Rice You Will Need:

• 1 cup jasmine rice (or other white rice) 
• 1 (15 oz.) can of coconut milk (unsweetened) 
• water (as needed) 

Combine can of coconut milk with rice in a medium pot, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 15 minutes, stir; if rice is not tender, add a little more water and continue cooking until rice is tender and water is absorbed, continue stirring frequently until rice is done).

 

Serve with savory bacon green beans and crescent roll.

Enjoy!

Ground Beef and Macaroni Skillet Dinner

You Will Need:

• 1 lb. ground beef or ground chuck
• 1/2  medium yellow onion (chopped)
• 2 small cans tomato sauce
• 1 small can kernel corn (not drained)
• 1 cup elbow macaroni
• 1 Tablespoon chili powder
• 2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup of beef broth (or water)
• sprinkle of salt and pepper

In a large skillet over medium heat, brown ground beef and onion, drain, return meat to skillet, then add corn, macaroni, tomato sauce, and broth (or water), cook covered for 30 minutes stirring occasionally. During the last 10 minutes or so stir in chili powder, garlic powder and sprinkle of salt and pepper. After the macaroni is tender, top with cheese and heat covered for about 5 minutes. 

Makes about 6 servings

This recipe came from one of the old cookbooks that my grandma gave me (mama's mother). It's easy and quick to make, and full of great flavor. 

Serve with salad or green beans and a slice of buttered white bread

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Italian Chicken and Vegetables

You Will Need:

• 4 boneless chicken breasts or 6-8 boneless chicken strips
• 1/2 medium red onion chopped
• 5 medium red potatoes (diced, leave skins on potatoes)
• 1/2 bag frozen yellow squash
• package Italian dressing mix (dried mix)
• heaping Tablespoon minced garlic
• drizzle olive oil
• 3 Tablespoons white vinegar
• 1/2 cup chicken broth or water

To a slow cooker crock pot, add chicken garlic, Italian dressing pack, vinegar, chicken broth or water, olive oil, the veggies and stir. 

Cook on high about 6 hours. 

This is full of flavor!

Serve with green beans or salad

Enjoy!

Mushroom Beef Patties

You Will Need:

• 1 pound ground beef
• can  cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup chopped yellow onion
• 1 egg beaten
• 1 Tablespoon oil
• salt and pepper
• small can mushrooms drained
• 1 Tablespoon worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup water 

In a large bowl, mix about a Tablespoon of soup with ground beef, bread crumbs, onion, egg and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Shape into patties, cook in a large skillet on medium-high heat until well browned on both sides. Remove from skillet. Reduce heat to medium, add oil and mushrooms and cook a couple of minutes, stir in remaining soup, worcestershire sauce and water and bring to a boil, return patties to the skillet. Reduce heat to low and cover, cook about 30 minutes or until patties are no longer pink. Add more water as needed to thin the sauce or for desired consistency.

Serve with mashed potatoes and a side of vegetables (green beans)

Enjoy!

Taco Salad

You Will Need:

• 1 lb. ground beef cooked and drained 
• 3/4 cup picante sauce 
• bag shredded lettuce 
• 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 can black beans (partially drain, and add water to cover beans in a small pot, heat until boiling, reduce heat and keep warm) 
• 1 can whole corn (bring to a boil, reduce heat and keep warm) 
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion
• 1 small tomato
• guacamole (optional)

Season cooked meat with 3/4 cup picante sauce, bring to a boil and keep on low until ready to put the salad together. Layer lettuce, cheese, warm beans, warm corn, onion, tomato and optional guacamole, on individual plates, top with beef, drizzle with dressing and optional guacamole. 

For the Dressing You Will Need: 

• 1/2 cup picante sauce
• 4 Tablespoons Sour Cream
• 2 Tablespoons Lime Juice

Makes 4 Servings

Enjoy! 

Tuscan Bean Soup w/ Bacon

You Will Need:

• 8 slices of bacon chopped and cooked
• 3 celery stalks chopped
• 4 carrots chopped
• 2 shallots chopped
• 4 tsp. minced garlic
• 4 cups chicken broth (32 oz. carton)
• 4 cans cannellini  beans (white kidney beans) (drain 2, leave 2 undrained) 
• 1/2 cup half/half or heavy cream
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (not the powdered kind) 
• sprinkle salt and pepper
• 2 rosemary sprigs
• 1 bay leaf
• sprinkle dried parsley

Chop vegetables and set aside, chop bacon and cook in a dutch oven large pot until browned, remove bacon with slotted spoon, cook shallots and minced garlic a few minutes, in a couple of Tbsp.of bacon grease. Add 1/2 of bacon (reserving some to top soup when serving), add veggies, beans, broth, rosemary, bay leaf salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, and cook until vegetables are tender about an hour or two, (the longer it cooks the better the flavor). Remove bay leaf, and rosemary sprig from pot. Add half/ half, parsesan cheese and dried parsley sprinkled stir and cook until cheese is melted. Place in bowls and top with reserved bacon and top with more parmesan cheese.  

Serve with jiffy sweet cornbread

NOTE: This can also be cooked in the crock pot slow cooker, cook bacon as instructed above, then follow recipe by placing ingredients in crock pot, cook 4-6 hours on low. Add half/ half and parmesan cheese and sprinkling of parsley during last 15 minutes of cooking. Top with bacon and parmesan cheese. 

Enjoy!

Beef and Mushroom Potato Bowl

You Will Need:

• 1 lb. ground beef 
• 1 small can mushrooms (drained)
• 1/2 yellow onion chopped
• 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
• sprinkle garlic powder, salt and black pepper
• 1 pkg. brown gravy mix
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 tsp. worcestershire sauce
• 1 Tabs. dried parsley 
• cooked mashed potatoes 
• cooked broccoli florets (or other vegetables you like)

In a skillet, brown ground beef with onion, minced garlic, garlic powder, salt and pepper, mix gravy pack with 1 1/2 cups cold water, pour over meat, add drained mushrooms, parsley, and worcestershire. sauce, stir. Bring to a boil then reduce to simmer, for about 20 minutes or so, or until ready to serve. You can add a little more warm water if needed, if it thickens too much, before ready to serve. Top meat mixture over mashed potatoes and broccoli or vegetables of choice. Serve with crescent rolls.

Enjoy! 

Slow Cooker Chicken Nachos

You Will Need:

• 6 boneless skinless chicken breast strips
• 2 cans black bean (rinsed and drained)
• 16 oz. bottle salsa verde
• 1 16 oz. can corn (undrained)
• 1 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• sprinkle salt and pepper
• bag of tortilla chips
• toppings you will need to make nachos: 1 can queso white cheese warmed in a saucepan on the stove top with 1 tsp. of jarred sliced jalapeno, some chopped tomatoes, chopped red onion, sour cream, guacamole 

Place chicken strips in slow cooker, stir in other ingredients (besides the tortilla chips, queso white cheese and the other nacho toppings).  Cook on high 4-5 hours. Remove chicken, place on a  plate and shred with two forks. Place back into slow cooker and stir, cook on low for about 20 min. more. Heat queso cheese and jalapenos on the stove top in a saucepan until warm (you will need to thin out the cheese a little bit with some milk or water. Once, the cheese is warm, you're ready to make the chicken nachos. Place tortilla chips on large place, top with chicken mixture from slow cooker, then top with tomatoes, red onion, and queso cheese, place a spoonful of sour cream and guacamole on the side. 

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker French Onion Chicken Subs

You Will Need:

• 6 boneless skinless chicken breast strips
• pk. onion soup mix
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• sub rolls 
• lettuce
• mayo

Place chicken strips in slow cooker. In a small bowl, mix onion soup mix and chicken broth. Pour over chicken strips, stir. Cook on low 4-5 hours. Shred meat with two forks inside crock pot. 

Make into sub sandwiches with meat, mayo and lettuce. Serve with chips and french onion dip. 

Note: This chicken can also be used to top a salad. 

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Pot Roast with Carrots and Potatoes

You Will Need:

• chuck roast (I used 3 lbs.) 
• 5-6 medium yellow potatoes (Leave skins on, wash well, and cut into cubes)
• 1/2 yellow onion chopped chunky
• 1 lb. bag of baby carrots (I used half the bag)
• 1 can beef broth
• 1 pk. onion soup mix 
• garlic powder
• sprinkle of black pepper and salt

Throw everything together in slow cooker sprinkle with garlic powder salt and pepper, cook on low for 6-8 hours until roast is falling apart and tender. 

Note: There's plenty of broth once this cooks down, so you can eat this like a stew if desired or fix some sides and eat pot roast and vegetables.

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Teriyaki Pork Chops

You Will Need:

• 12 thin sliced boneless pork chops (about 2 lbs.)
• 2 tsp. minced garlic
• 2 green onions (chopped, separate the white bottom part from the green tops and set aside)
• 1 can golden mushroom soup
• 10 oz. pineapple chunks (un-drained)
• 2 Tablespoons teriyaki sauce
• sprinkle black pepper
• cooked white rice (I used Jasmine)

Place pork chops in crock pot. In a small bowl mix all ingredients (except the green onion tops and cooked rice). Pour mixed ingredients over pork chops and stir around. 

Cook on High for 4-5 hours

After cook time, stir mixture, and break up the pieces of pork chops with a spoon. They should be very tender and fall apart easily. Add the set aside green onion tops and stir. Put heat setting on serve, cover and cook an additional 15-20 minutes. 

Serve over cooked rice with a side of green beans.

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Potato Soup

You Will Need:

• 2 lb. bag frozen hash browns
• 8 oz. cream cheese cut into slices
• 32 oz. carton chicken broth
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 pkg. precooked bag of real bacon bits
• grated medium cheddar cheese (for topping)
• chopped green onions (for topping) 

Dump everything into the crock pot except for the toppings, be sure to save a little bit of the bacon bits for topping. 

Cook on low 7-8 hours

When ready to serve ladle into bowls and top with cheddar cheese, green onions and a few bacon bits

Enjoy! 

Slow Cooker Turkey Chili with Sweet Potatoes

You Will Need:

• 1 lb. ground turkey
• 2 cans kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
• 1 medium sweet potato (peeled and chopped)
• 3 large carrots (peeled and diced)
• 1 can diced tomatoes (with juices)
• 1 can tomato sauce (15 oz. size)
• 1 yellow onion (about a cup chopped)
• 1/2 cup green bell pepper (chopped)
• 2 Tablespoon olive oil for cooking and browning turkey
• 2 tsp. jarred minced garlic (or you can use 2 chopped fresh garlic cloves)
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
• 1 Tablespoon chili powder
• 1/4 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• optional toppings: cheddar cheese, green onions, cilantro, sour cream or plain yogurt.

Cook turkey meat in skillet with onion and bell pepper salt and pepper until turkey is browned, add to slow cooker, then add other ingredients besides the optional toppings 

You can serve this with sweet cornbread such as jiffy cornbread.  I like to eat my chili topped with cheese and green onion and eat with saltine crackers. 

Enjoy!