Blue Owl Baked Potato Soup

4 large baking potatoes (I personally recommend Yukon Gold or Red Potatoes)
2/3 cup butter or margarine
2/3 cup flour
6 cups milk (whole or 2% is best)
¾ tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
4 green onions, chopped (Keep the white parts and place in water. They will re-grow! Thanks Reverb)
12 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled (Plus extra’s for topping)
1 ¼ cups (5 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
1 8oz. container sour cream
1 heaping TBS. chicken base

Wash potatoes and prick several times with a fork. Bake in a preheated, 400 degree oven, for 1 hour or until done. Let cool. Cut potatoes into half inch cubes, leaving the skin on if desired.

Melt butter in heavy saucepan over low heat. Add flour, stirring until smooth. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thick and bubbly.

Add in potato cubes, salt, pepper, green onions, crumbled, bacon, cheddar cheese, and chicken base. Cook until thoroughly heated. Stir in sour cream. Add extra milk if necessary for desired thickness. Garnish with additional bacon and cheese if desired.

Recipe Yields 10 Cups

This recipe is the BOMB… Yep, I said it… it’s the BOMB! Ignore the calories and make this. It is SOOO good!

Potage Parmentier (Potato & Leek Soup) – Julia Child

SERVES 4

Ingredients
1 lb potato, peeled and diced (I leave skins on)
3 cups leeks, thinly sliced (white and tender green parts only)
2 quarts water
1 tablespoon salt
4-6 tablespoons whipping cream or 2-3 tablespoons softened butter
2-3 tablespoons minced parsley or chives


Directions
1. Simmer vegetables, water and salt together, partially covered, 40-50 minutes until vegetables are tender. (or just load them all into the crockpot and you are ready to go!)
2. Mash the vegetables in the soup with a fork, or puree in blender. Correct seasoning.
3. Off heat and just before serving, stir in cream or butter by spoonfuls. Pour into a tureen or soup cups and decorate with the herbs.
4. Good hot, cold or room temperature.

Variations:
The following may be simmered with the potatoes and leeks at the start:.
Sliced or diced carrots or turnips.
Peeled, seeded or chopped tomatoes or strained, canned tomatoes.
Half-cooked dried beans, peas, or lentils, including their cooking liquid.

The following may be simmered for 10-15 minutes with the soup after it has been pureed:.
Fresh or frozen diced cauliflower, cucumbers, broccoli, Lima beans, peas, string beans, okra or zucchini.
Shredded lettuce, spinach, sorrel, or cabbage.
Diced, cooked leftovers of any of the preceding vegetables.
Tomatoes, peeled, seeded, juiced and diced.

I added a few cubes of veggie stock cubes. WIll use immersion blender in the crock once the potatoes get mushy. It smells so good already!!

Smoky Slow Cooker Chili

Pork shoulder is usually sold in weights greater than a pound. Ask your butcher to trim off the amount you need, or look for pork shoulder steaks. (or trim what you need and freeze the rest for the next time )Serve with corn bread.

Cooking spray
1 pound ground pork
1 pound boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3 cups chopped onion
1 3/4 cups chopped green bell pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup lager-style beer (such as Budweiser)
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons dried oregano
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 tomatillos, quartered
2 bay leaves
2 (14 1/2-ounce) cans plum tomatoes, undrained and chopped
1 (15-ounce) can no-salt-added pinto beans, drained
1 (7 3/4-ounce) can Mexican hot-style tomato sauce (such as El Paso)
1 smoked ham hock (about 8 ounces)
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro
1/2 cup finely chopped green onions
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled queso fresco
8 lime wedges

1. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add ground pork to pan; cook 5 minutes or until browned, stirring to slightly crumble. Drain well. Transfer pork to an electric slow cooker.

2. Recoat pan with cooking spray. Add pork shoulder; cook 5 minutes or until lightly browned, turning occasionally. Transfer pork to slow cooker.

3. Recoat pan with cooking spray. Add onion and bell pepper; sauté 8 minutes, stirring frequently. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add tomato paste; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in beer; cook 1 minute. Transfer onion mixture to slow cooker. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt, chili powder, and next 9 ingredients (through ham hock) to slow cooker. Cover and cook on HIGH 5 hours or until meat is tender. Remove bay leaves and ham hock; discard. Stir in remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and sugar. Ladle about 1 1/3 cups chili into each of 8 bowls; top each serving with 1 tablespoon cilantro, 1 tablespoon green onions, and 1 tablespoon cheese. Serve each serving with 1 lime wedge.

Note: You can also cook the chili in a slow cooker on LOW for 8 hours. For cooking chili on the stove top, use a total of 12 ounces beer and simmer, covered, for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until the pork shoulder is tender.

Yield: 8 servings

CALORIES 354 (0.0% from fat); FAT 14.2g (sat 5.1g,mono 5.9g,poly 1.4g); IRON 3.8mg; CHOLESTEROL 82mg; CALCIUM 108mg; CARBOHYDRATE 26.4g; SODIUM 645mg; PROTEIN 28.5g; FIBER 6.8g

Cooking Light, JANUARY 2009

Stuffed Peppers in the Crock Pot

1 lb extra-lean ground beef
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
2 cups cooked instant rice
14 oz can diced tomatoes, not drained (I used italian style, but any will work)
4 large green bell peppers, cored and seeded

Combine ground beef (uncooked), garlic powder, onion powder, rice (cooked) and 1 can of tomatoes in medium bowl and mix well. Stuff mixture into cored bell peppers. Arrange bell peppers in crock pot. Cover and cook on low heat for 8-9 hours or high heat for 4-5 hours.

We had some leftover stuffing and peppers (Ryan, Allie and I ate 2 peppers), so we just cut up the peppers and heated everything up again in the microwave and had it with garlic bread. Yum!

Anna

pork tenderloin (lemon garlic flavored)

Yesterday I put the following in a crockpot:
pork tenderloin (lemon garlic flavored)
the following veggies, chopped:
1 onion
3 celery stalks
9 mushrooms
3 medium carrots
2 potatoes
then
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 cup chicken broth mixed with 1-2 tsp tomato paste

I cooked it on high for about 6 hours.
I removed and carved the pork
I fished out all of the potatoes and mushrooms to serve on the side
The rest of the veggies and liquid I pureed in the blender to serve as a tasty sauce over the pork and potatoes/mushrooms
The pork was fall apart tender. Same with the potatoes. The sauce was extremely good. Very flavorful.
No oil. No butter. Nothing remotely fattening. Just tasty food.

Bacon Cheese Chicken

--2 T olive oil
--4-6 chicken breast halves, or equivalent bird pieces (I used 8 breast tenders)
--1/4 cup teriyaki sauce (I used Tamari's wheat-free that I found at Whole Foods)
--1/2 cup Ranch salad dressing
--1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
--12 pieces cooked and crumbled bacon
The Directions.
Put the 2 tablespoons of olive oil into the bottom of your crock and spread it around. If you are using thighs or fattier cuts of meat, this step is probably optional.
Put the chicken in the crock on top of the oil.
In a small bowl, combine the teriyaki sauce and the ranch dressing. I kept tasting this---the flavor is so bizarre and tasty; I've never had anything like it.
Pour sauce over the top of the chicken. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-4. The cooking time will depend on how thick your chicken pieces are, and if they are fresh or frozen.
Since I used the tiny breast tenders (frozen) our dinner cooked in only 3 hours on high.
Take chicken out of crock pot and lay on a serving plate. Sprinkle with cheese and bacon. Microwave or pop in oven to melt. I used "real" bacon bits--both Hormel and Oscar Meyer make them. Found by salad dressing.
(The recipe calls for adding the cheese and bacon on top of the chicken and cooking it in the crock pot. I didn't like this.)

Crock Pot Chicken Enchiladas

4 Chicken breasts
1 Can Cheddar Cheese Soup (condensed)
1 large and 1 small can enchilada sauce (I used red mild sauce)
1 can diced tomatoes, drained (Rotel can be used if more heat is desired)
8 whole wheat tortilla's
Taco/Mexican style cheese
Cook chicken breast, cheese soup, enchilada sauce (both cans), and diced tomatoes in crock pot. I placed them in frozen and cooked on high for 6 hours. The chicken shredded, but needed a little help. I will cook on low for longer next time. When chicken is done enough to shred, it's ready. I used two spoons one with holes to get chicken, one without to get some sauce. Place desired amount of meat mixture inside your tortillas, roll and place fold side down on plate. Drench enchilada in sauce from crock pot. Add on a sprinkle of cheese (we nuked in microwave for a few secs so cheese melted), and eat. I served with some Mexican rice and it was YUMMY! Jason liked the mixture on tortilla chips. It was pretty good.
The two cans made the mixture pretty soupy. You could do just one large can of enchilada sauce and it would be fine. It all depends on what you like.