Crock Pot Stuffed Peppers

            Have you ever tried a recipe that didn’t turn out very well the first time, but you felt like it had potential so you gave it another go?  That is what this recipe has been for me.  I love the idea of doing stuffed peppers in the crock pot, however, I have good and not-so-good things to share about this recipe.  My first experience with this recipe didn’t go as planned.  All of the ingredients were in the crock—I started my timer and about one hour into the 8-hour cooking time, our power went out.  There was no storm or terrible weather—it just randomly went out.  The power stayed off for about an hour before it came back on so I wasn’t sure if my results were accurate and felt like I needed to give this recipe another chance.  I found it here: Recipe

            Although as it turns out, the power outage had nothing to do with some of the problems I had the first time, because they were still an issue this time.  Before I continue, some of you might be thinking, ‘if this wasn’t a complete success why are you sharing it?’ and to that I would say—first because I’m just honest like that, and secondly because I think this could be even better with a little tweaking.  Lastly, because I’ve seen this all over Pinterest and thought some folks might appreciate an honest opinion.  Back to the review:

            First, how to put your peppers together:  Prep your peppers by washing them, then cutting off the tops, and removing the seeds/ribs.  You’ll need a 5-6 quart crock pot for this recipe. 
            You can use whatever color bell peppers you prefer.  I already had three red ones on hand, and bought a three pack that had a red, yellow, and orange, but green or any combination will work.  You'll want at least 6 peppers.

Prepare your filling:

I used my stand mixer for this—makes it a breeze to put together.  Mix until well incorporated, but not too long.  Stuff your prepared peppers with filling and place in crock pot:

Now, we come to one of my problems with the recipe.  It makes WAY too much filling for 6 peppers.  Not all of my peppers were huge this time, but the first time I did it, they were all very large, and I still had too much filling.  Here is how much filling I had left over:

I didn't know if it would stick together well enough to form meatballs, so off the top of my head, I decided to form some masses of filling that would hold up my peppers and keep them from floating around when I put in the liquid.  I put one large chunk in the center, and one on each side:

          The recipe says to cook these for 8 hours on low.  The first time I did these, one of my issues was that the peppers seemed to be mush... they completely fell apart when I tried to get them out and I had filling swimming around in liquid.  I thought it might be due to the one hour delay during my power outage the first time.  Turns out, I think they just cook too long or maybe this is just the texture you get when you do them in the crock pot.  Personally, I like my peppers to have a little bite, so I would like to try not cooking them as long (as long as the filling is done of course).  The recipe calls for vegetable stock, which I used the first time.  It was okay, but I used beef stock this time, and liked it better.  Back to the filling issue--the recipe calls for 1.5 lbs of ground beef--I think 1 lb is probably the better choice because it appears that I had about a half pound left over.  Or, if I had two or three extra peppers, I may have been able to stuff them all in my crock (the one I used was either 6 or 6.5 quarts, FYI).

Over all, I did enjoy the filling.  It was a little bland for me, so I plan to add some more seasoning next time as well.  The recipe needs to be adjusted a little for my taste, but I still think its a great recipe and plan to continue to use it in my rotation.  Hope you enjoy!  Blessings!

Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas

            Here is another wonderfully easy dinner for you to whip up in the Crock Pot!  Now you can have delicious fajitas waiting for you at dinnertime without all the work.  I merged a few recipes I’ve seen, and there are a few things I want to try the next time I make this, but for now, this is a good starting place.  Here is what you’ll need:

            Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas

            Ingredients:

            2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast

            2 packages fajita seasoning

            ¼ cup prepared salsa

2 bell peppers, sliced

1 large onion, sliced

1 tsp minced garlic

½ stick butter

            ¼ cup water (optional)

            Directions:

            Spray crock lightly with nonstick cooking spray.  Place butter in crock.  Arrange sliced vegetables around butter.  Slice chicken breast in half, lengthwise.  Place chicken on top of onions and peppers.  Add remaining ingredients.  Cook on low setting 6-8 hours.  Shred chicken and return to crock.  Dip using a slotted spoon.  Serve with your favorite fajita fixin’s—tortillas, cheese, sour cream, lettuce, etc.

            As for the success of this—it really was delicious!  However, I would make some changes.  I didn’t think the seasoning was strong enough, so I plan to leave out the water next time, and/or add some more seasonings.  Also, since I cut my chicken breast in half (I read in a crock pot book that putting whole chicken breast in a crock can put you at risk of the chicken setting at an unhealthy temp for too long) I probably didn’t need to cook it 8 hours.  It was probably done more around 4 or 6, but with the day I had I didn’t get to it until it had been in there 8.  Two things I plan to add next time—little chicken bouillon and a little lime juice.  I think that will give it a little more of the flavor I want.

            It doesn’t look very appetizing, but I assure you it will be one of your new favorite meals:

            Today is Titus 2sday Link-up Party over at Time Warp Wife.  

           Give the page a look and find help and encouragement from other ladies.  If you're a blogger, link up with us!  Towards the bottom you’ll see my link to my Mushroom Meatballs.  You can also connect with me on Pinterest at: Infinitely More Than I Think on Pinterest

            Blessings!

Mushroom Meatballs

           After my post about Crock Pot Candy a few days ago, I was in the mood to share another one of my favorite crock pot recipes:  Mushroom Meatballs.  When I hosted my immediate family for our Christmas gathering a few weeks ago, I brought out this recipe and doubled it so I could be sure we would have enough, and is what I'm sharing below.  I usually serve it as an appetizer, but often I make this for my little family, and serve it over egg noodles because the gravy it makes is incredible!

            Mushroom Meatballs (for a crowd):  

            Ingredients:

            2 (2 lbs each) bags frozen meatballs

            2 envelops dry onion soup mix

            2 cans Cream of Mushroom soup

            1 lb fresh sliced mushrooms

            Directions:

            Lightly spray your crock pot liner with non-stick cooking spray.  Pour meatballs into crock (you can thaw them beforehand if you like).  In bowl, combine dry onion soup mix and both cans of cream of mushroom soup.  Pour over meatballs. 

Arrange sliced mushrooms on top. 

Cover and cook on high setting 2 hours.  Stir meatballs and cook on low setting for 2 more hours.  Serve as an appetizer or over egg noodles or rice.

            As I’ve shared before, it is recommended that your crock be at least ½ full, but no more than 2/3 full for optimum results.  Obviously, my 6—6 ½ quart crock (can’t remember which it is) is filled to the brim here, but it turned out great!  The mushrooms will really shrink down.

            Everyone goes on about how wonderful the gravy is on these meatballs, and I have to agree. It is so good, you’ll want some wonderful bread, noodles or rice to soak up every—last—drop!  I would have taken a photo of what they looked like when they were finished, but didn't have the chance.  They were gone in a blink!  Enjoy!

           

            

           

            

Crock Pot Candy

Those of you who know me well, know that I have much love for the wonderful invention we know as a Crock Pot/Slow Cooker…whatever you may prefer to call it.  If you hang around long enough, you’ll see that I use it a lot.  If you are not utilizing one you are missing out on such convenience!  I love putting ingredients in the crock pot and knowing that in most cases I do not have to touch it again until hours later when it has dinner ready for me.  It is especially useful if you are a person who is gone several hours in the day or a busy homeschool momma like me, who is chasing kiddos all day.  With a little organization, you can put everything in your crock before leaving for the day (or before you begin your homeschool day) and then return to a hot, home-cooked meal.  Also love it when I’m cooking for a crowd.  Okay, I’ll stop singing its praises and get on with it.  I’m just always surprised when I run across people who do not have at least one in their kitchen arsenal.  I have a use for at least 3-4.  :)

                During the holidays I do a lot of baking…candy making, etc.  I feel like there are SO many recipes I want to try, and not enough time to try them all.  I also have those tried and true recipes that I return to each year that have become a must for me.  Crock pot candy is one of those.  I make it most often around Christmas and really look forward to it, because believe me when I say it is DELICIOUS!  It is essentially chocolate-covered peanuts, but they will be the best chocolate-covered peanuts you've ever put in your mouth!  :)

                You can gleam from my earlier comments that I use my crock pots a lot so once-in-a-while I wear one out.  Such was the case on Christmas Eve.  I usually put the crock pot candy in my 5 quart slow cooker.  It bit the dust that day.  In its defense, my husband and I received it as a wedding gift, so it was 9 years old.  It saw A LOT of action…. Oh, the meals it saw.  This recipe makes a ton of candy, and I had intended to give most of it away as gifts—but there was a hiccup.

                With my 5 quart crock pot out, I only have my 6 quart left (one of my sisters is borrowing my 3 ½ quart which would not have been big enough anyway).  I put everything in and went about my day.  Realized right before it finished the recipe actually calls for a 4 quart crock… and to my disappointment a lot of the peanuts had burned.  It is recommended that your crock be at least ½ to 2/3 full for optimum results, and it looked okay to me, but maybe the 6 quart was just too big.  The other issue could be…that there have been complaints from other people about my particular crock pot cooking too fast.  Thought that was crazy at first, but now I’m thinking maybe they were right.  I’ve NEVER had something burn in the crock pot until that day!  Don't let that discourage you from a crock pot...like I said, out of hundreds of meals, this is the first time something like this happened to me...and it was probably user-error on my part.  Should have known better.

                So, what do you do when you’re looking at $15-$20 of “ruined” candy?  I knew either way it had to come out of the crock pot so I decided to try to salvage what I could.  I dug out all the blackened peanuts I could get to and stirred it all up, and portioned it out on wax paper as I normally would.  It probably would have been fine to give away, even though you run across the occasional burnt peanut, but I couldn’t bring myself to gift it out.  Instead, I served it to my immediate family lol.  I gave the burnt peanut disclaimer and no one seemed to mind.  See...even with burned peanuts this is still the BEST crock pot candy.  haha

                Here is the recipe I use:

Trisha Yearwood Crock Pot Candy

                As I mentioned before this makes a TON of candy, so be prepared for that.  You could put the candy into cute cupcake liners, but I just put spoonfuls out onto wax paper and let them set up.  Here is what it looked like:

                The recipe says it makes 30-40 pieces but I got much more.  Some of my pieces are smaller, but most are mounded into huge chunks, and I still got 70 pieces of candy out of this! 

                So other than my rare crock pot malfunction this was a success.  Word to the wise—you should always give it a look if you’re able.  The recipe only cooks 3 hours so I should have glanced at it before it was finished.  Upside is, I got my crock pot candy fix, many times over.  What are your go-to convenience recipes?

Christmas Gatherings 2013 and a Happy 2014

              Christmas for my little family, like many of you, consists of several gatherings, with different groups and sides of the family in addition to our own Christmas morning traditions that we’re trying to establish.  We have had three gatherings so far, and have one more to go.  Do you find that it is hard to fit everything in?  Do you feel a pull in your heart to be all things to all people during the Christmas season?  To unknowingly spread yourself so thin trying to get to everything that it almost takes the joy out of Christmas?  Just me?  This has been us in the past.  We are trying to correct it.

              For the majority of our marriage, my husband and I lived in between our families—about 2 ½ hours from his, and 1 ½ hours from mine.  Merging our holiday traditions did not go so well.  His extended family does Christmas Eve, in the evening.  My extended family does Christmas lunch—in a different time zone that was an hour ahead of us.  Let me paint the picture:  We would leave our house in the early morning on Christmas Eve, and many times we left his area of the state (after completing 3 gatherings/visits) around 1 or 2 AM on Christmas morning, to drive the 2 ½ hours home.  We would get 3 maybe 4 hours of sleep before we had to be up and ready to walk out the door to make it the 100 + miles to my granny’s.  When did we have our Christmas you ask?  Usually had to happen Christmas Evening, or before we left for his family’s house on Christmas Eve morning...it was almost an afterthought.

The Christmas season became stressful to us, and a very sore topic, when a few months before December we had to begin discussions about our plans, and how we were going to coordinate all of it…how we were going to survive the somewhat epic two-day event that would total around 500 miles, all within a little over 24 hours.  We met the Christmas season with dread instead of joy.  

Then in 2009 we became parents.  The pressure we felt before then to try to get to everything to see everybody for Christmas pales in comparison to what it felt like once we wore the title of Mommy and Daddy.  Everyone wanted to see our little man, which we were so thankful for—but we were beginning to see at that point in our lives that something had to change.  We saw that saying ‘yes’ to being everywhere wasn't working for us…and to each their own.  Some people enjoy the hustle and bustle of it all.  They would rather go through the crazy rush to say that they were present at each of these gatherings than to skip it.  For us, it’s not that our families are any less important to us, it’s just that our priorities have changed now that we’re parents. 

To us, the most important thing is Jesus…celebrating His birth.  For me, it was hard to focus on Him being the reason for the season when I was stressed about getting all the gifts wrapped, food made and in our vehicle and to make sure we left one place in time to get to the next, and so on.  We couldn't even focus on truly enjoying our time with our family, much less thinking on Jesus.  

Our next priority is our children…and their Christmas experience.  We want to have Christmas Eve traditions in our home, and want our children to wake up in their house on Christmas morning to open gifts.  We want to read the Christmas story from the Bible as a family, have a wonderful breakfast, and if we make it to my granny’s for Christmas lunch (we live about 30 minutes from her now), great.  If we don’t, that’s okay too.  Each year since 2010, I've been employed by a church that has a late evening Christmas Eve service, so we've not been able to attend my husband’s family gathering since then.  Part of me is disappointed by that and it hurts my heart that my husband has missed it.  Part of me is thankful that we aren't rushing around as we used to.  For the past few years, we do Christmas with them the week or so after, and it has worked well. 

Maybe things will change in the future, and we’ll be able to attend Christmas Eve with my in-laws or we’ll stay in completely and not go anywhere.  I don’t know.  I do know that whatever we decide there will be zero stress involved.  I don’t want my children feeling that holiday pressure or to get the impression that Christmas equals anything but Jesus—not gifts, not food, not traveling and running around batty.  It’s not a bad thing to see family, and next to God, my husband, and children, my immediate and extended families are the most important things in the world to me.  Don’t get me wrong—I LOVE to see each of them during Christmas and making the decision to dial back what we do during the holidays has not been an easy one, and goes against my nature, especially since it is usually the only time we’re all together during the year.  However, I believe what I’m teaching my children is more important, and will shape the way they look at the Christmas season in the future.  We may have close to the same number of gatherings during Christmas—but they are more spread out, and definitely a lot easier to get through.  I know that we definitely enjoy this time of year a lot more now than earlier in our marriage. 

We were able to have my immediate family in our home for Christmas on the 28^th, and I LOVED the feeling of them being here.  I did a double batch of Hot Chocolate in the crock pot, which was a huge hit with the kiddos!  Want to try it?

Casey’s Crock Pot Hot Chocolate

Ingredients:

15 cups water

2 large cans Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3 tsp vanilla extract

1 cinnamon stick

Marshmallows, whipped cream, or whatever you like to put in your hot chocolate.

Directions:

In a 5-6 quart crock pot combine water, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla.  Add cocoa powder and cinnamon stick if desired.  Stir.  Cook on low setting 4 hours, stirring every hour.  Serve hot.  Can hold on warm setting for an hour.  Top with marshmallows, whipped cream, or any add-in that you desire.  NOTE:  the cinnamon stick is optional, but I highly recommend it.  It gave a great depth to the hot chocolate. You could easily cut this recipe in half and prepare it in a 3-4 quart crock pot.  There were 11 of us and most of us had 2 or 3 mugs, and I had some left over, which I have enjoyed. :) 

We rang in the New Year pretty mildly—home together on the couch.  2013 wasn’t the best year for us…it was down right ROUGH at times.  It contained a lot of good—but a lot of things I’m ready to forget about and move on from.  It is my hope and prayer that 2014 is much better.  If 2013 wasn’t a great year for you, trust in the Lord for, “…we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose,” Romans 8:28 (NIV). Whatever the new year brings for you, remember that putting Him first is always the way to start.  Matthew 6:33 (NIV) says, “But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”  Love and blessings to each of you!