Rustic Chicken

For Joelen’s October Tasty Tool event, she’s highlighting crockpots/slow cookers. I try to use my crockpot once or twice a month so I already have a few recipes in this blog with the Crockpot tag. However, for Joelen’s event I wanted to try something new.

I knew I wanted to make something with chicken and I wanted to use artichokes. I found this recipe on RazzleDazzleRecipes.com. It takes all of 2 minutes to throw everything in the crockpot and then you just sit back and wait, enjoying the smell of a home cooked meal that you don’t have to work hard for. Enjoy!!

Rustic Chicken


1 to 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast tenders, or boneless chicken breasts cut in 1 inch strips

1 tablespoon real bacon bits (I omitted these)

1 15 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained

1 15 ounce can artichoke hearts, quartered

8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 packet dry chicken gravy mix

1/4 cup red wine

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
** I added about 6 large stuffed Green Olives as well.



Combine all ingredients in a crockpot; stir to combine. Cover and cook on low 6 to 8 hours. Serve over pasta or rice.

Paula Deen’s Taco Soup

I love Paula Deen. So last week when I was trying to come up with an easy Sunday meal, I found this crock-pot recipe from Paula Deen. This is also a nice way to help clean out some of the cans in your pantry.  We made this using only 1 lb of ground turkey but other than that, we stuck to the recipe. It was an easy way to have a nice warming dinner and it made tons of leftovers which keep pretty well.

**I'm submitting this recipe to Joelen's Foodie Film's blog event. She has  fabulous website that I would recommend any of you to check out. Joelen's Culinary Adventures is one of my favorite blogs to get inspiration from. And she's always running some cool blog event. This is the first one I've ever participated in though. :)



Paula Deen's Taco Soup

2 pounds ground beef

2 cups diced onions

2 (15 1/2-ounce) cans pinto beans

1 (15 1/2-ounce) can pink kidney beans

1 (15 1/4-ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained

1 (14 1/2-ounce) can Mexican-style stewed tomatoes

1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 (14 1/2-ounce) can tomatoes with chiles

2 (4 1/2-ounce) cans diced green chiles

1 (4.6-ounce) can black olives, drained and sliced, optional

1/2 cup green olives, sliced, optional

1 (1 1/4-ounce) package taco seasoning mix

1 (1-ounce) package ranch salad dressing mix

Corn chips, for serving

Sour cream, for garnish

Grated cheese, for garnish

Chopped green onions, for garnish

Pickled jalapenos, for garnish

Brown the ground beef and onions in a large skillet; drain the excess fat, then transfer the browned beef and onions to a large slow cooker or a stockpot. Add the beans, corn, tomatoes, green chiles, black olives, green olives, taco seasoning, and ranch dressing mix, and cook in a slow cooker on low for 6 to 8 hours or simmer over low heat for about 1 hour in a pot on the stove. To serve, place a few corn chips in each bowl and ladle soup over them. Top with sour cream, cheese, green onions and jalapenos.

Fall Harvest Bread

I’ve joined a Fall recipe swap and received this recipe in my email this morning. I only made one ingredient change in the recipe since we don’t really like raisins, I added toasted walnuts instead.

 

This was delicious. It made the house smell like fall and tastes like the perfect combination of everything you think about when you think of Fall. Enjoy!!

Fall Harvest Bread

 

1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. freshly-grated nutmeg
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. dark brown sugar
7.5 oz. canned pumpkin (one small can)
2 large eggs
1/4 c. oil
1/4 c. applesauce
1/4 c. apple juice
1/2 small apple, peeled, cored, and diced
1/3 c. dried cranberries
1/3 c. golden raisins ( I subbed toasted Walnuts for the raisins)

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 

Spray 9x5 loaf pan (or can sub muffin pan or double recipe for cake/bundt pan) with baking spray.

 

Combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt in bowl.

 

Combine sugars, pumpkin, eggs, oil, applesauce, and juice in large bowl. Mix until just blended.

 

Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture and stir until just moistened.

 

Fold in apples, cranberries, and raisins.

 

Spoon batter into prepared pan (it will be lumpy).

 

Bake for 60-70 minutes or until wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean.