End of Preschool

Last Monday was Marley's last day of preschool. This past year went by so fast. Marley is very excited to start kindergarten in the fall that I don't think she even really cared that preschool is over. We've made some great friends and had a lot of fun this past year. Here's some pictures from her last day and from her graduation.

Crock Pot Turkey Potato Dinner

1 pound ground turkey

5 cups raw sliced potatoes

1 onion, diced

1/2 tsp salt

14 1/2 ounce can green beans, undrained

10 3/4 ounce can cream of chicken soup

Crumble uncooked turkey into crock pot. Add potatoes, onions, salt and beans in layers in crock pot. Pour soup over top. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours.

 Overall, this was pretty good. It didn't look so good, but we really liked it. I think maybe a can of cheddar cheese soup or some shredded cheese might of been good too.

Crock Pot Zesty Italian Chicken

Here's another crock pot meal from the library book.

2-3 lb chicken breasts

16 ounce bottle of italian dressing

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Place chicken in crock pot. Pour dressing over top. Stir together gently. Sprinkle cheese on top. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low 8 hours.

It was pretty good. It was kind of plain, so definitely serve it over rice or noodles. 

Crock Pot Greek Chicken

This is another recipe from the library cookbook.

6 medium potatoes, quartered

3 lb chicken pieces, skinless

2 large onions, quartered

1 whole bulb garlic, minced

1/2 cup water

3 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tbsp olive oil

Place potatoes in crock pot. Add chicken, onion, and garlic. In small bowl, mix water, oregano, salt & pepper. Pour into crock pot. Top with olive oil. Cover and cook on low 9-10 hours or high 5-6 hours.

This was pretty good, but could of used something more. Maybe some veggies mixed in would of helped it.

No Bake Nutella Cheesecake

I love me some cheesecake and some nutella, so what's better than combining the two of them?! This is quick to put together and so yummy!!

12 Oreo Cookies, crushed into crumbs

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

2/3 cup Nutella

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 (8 ounce) tub frozen whipped topping, thawed

Mix oreos and butter. Press into bottom of pie pan or individual dishes. 

Mix cream cheese and nutella with electric mixer on medium speed until well mixed. Mix in vanilla. Using a spoon or rubber spatula mix in whip cream until it's all mixed in. 

Pour over top of oreo crust. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving. 

Ranch Burgers

I have started going through my recipe box recipes instead of my pinterest board for this month. This recipe sounded delicious and is a great summer recipe because it's for the grill.

2lbs ground beef

1 packet ranch mix

1 egg, lightly beaten

3/4 cup crushed saltine crackers

In a bowl, mix all ingredients. Form into hamburger patties. Place patties on grill and cook to your liking.

Oh my gosh, these were awesome. Mike said they were the best burgers ever so that's saying a lot. We will definitely be making burgers this way every time from now on. 

Tiffany Punch

I normally make food recipes, but have decided to mix it up a little and start trying out some of the drinks I have pinned on Pinterest. This recipe is only 2 ingredients and is a great summer time drink.

All you need is powdered country time lemonade, and blue hawaiian punch. Prepare lemonade as instructed on container, Mix 1 part lemonade and one part hawaiian punch.

I made 3 cups lemonade and 3 cups hawaiian punch. The original recipe says it tastes like a jolly rancher. To me, it just tastes like lemonade, maybe I need a little more punch. It's still really good though! 

Crock Pot Rocky Road Cake - Spring Pinterest Challenge Time

It's Pinterest Challenge Time!! If you remember back almost a year ago when I shared the Cinnamon Roll Waffles I explained the pinterest challenge that Young House Love and Bower Power Blog do several times a year. It's not really affiliated with pinterest, its just a way for them to share one thing they actually have pinned and done and allows their readers to share their creations too.  This time I decided to make Rocky Road Cake in the crock pot. O.M.G! It's amazing!!

1 (18.25-oz.) package devil's food cake mix 

1 (3.9-oz.) package vanilla instant pudding mix

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup sour cream

1/3 cup butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 1/4 cups milk, divided

1 (3.4-oz.) package chocolate instant pudding mix 

1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows

1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels

Beat cake mix, vanilla pudding mix, eggs, sour cream, butter, vanilla extract and 1 1/4 cup milk together with electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. Pour into lightly greased crock pot

Mix chocolate pudding mix and 2 cups milk together. Pour on top of mix in the crock pot. Cover and cook on low for 3 1/2 hours.

 Pour marshmallows and chocolate chips on top. Cover and serve once they're melted.

 

It was delicious! We actually left the house while it was cooking and we ended up being gone for longer than planned so my cake cooked for 5 hours on low and it still came out fine. Just like with any recipe it just depends on your crock pot and how quickly it cooks stuff. 

Crock pot Ranch Chicken Tacos

With our house now up for sale and showings every couple days my menu plan for this month is all out of whack. I am trying to use only the crock pot and keep the meals simple so clean up is also simple and quick. This recipe fit all those things and was amazingly delicious. 

4-6 chicken breasts 

1 packet taco seasoning

1 packet ranch mix

14 oz chicken broth

Just toss everything into the crock pot and cook on low for 5 hours. 

Take out chicken and shred it. Return it to crock pot and cook for an additional 30 minutes. 

That's it! 

Marley said "this is like taco bell, but much better" I will definitely be keeping this recipe in my collection. 

Crock Pot Ground Beef & Biscuits

Last time we went to the library I checked out the Fix it and Forget it Cookbook. I went through and wrote down all the recipes that sounded good. This recipe was a little different. It was good but had a different taste to it. Not sure if it was the recipe itself or the fact that I used ground turkey instead of ground beef.

1 lb ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onions

2 tbsp flour

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp dried oregano

16 oz tomato sauce

2- 7.5 oz refrigerated buttermilk biscuits

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Brown ground beef and onions. Drain. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, oregano, and tomato sauce. Pour into crock pot. 

Sprinkle 1 cup of cheese on top then arrange biscuits on top. Cover with remaining cheese. Bake uncovered on high for 1-1 1/2 hours.

A few things for next time. I wouldn't use 2 tubes of biscuits. The ones in the middle were still doughy after I let it cook for almost 2 hours. I would just make a ring of biscuits around the outside instead. I also think this might taste better in a baking dish and baked in the oven. The biscuits just weren't cooked enough but some of the edge parts were burnt.  

Chicken and Noodle Soup

With the weather warming up I've starting searching for crock pot meals so I don't have to turn on the oven and heat up the house. I've had this recipe on my menu for a while and finally decided to give it a try the other night. It was pretty good, but I would say it's more of a entree than a soup since it was pretty creamy.

5 cups of chicken broth 

One 10.75 oz can cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup onions, chopped fine

One 15 oz can of whole kernel corn, drained

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 1/2 cup Egg noodles

2 cups cooked chicken chopped or 2 cans canned cooked chicken

Combine everything except the noodles in the crock pot. Cook on low for 4-5 hours. Turn crock pot to high, add the noodles and cook for another hour. 

It smelled so good while cooking. But see how there's no soupy-ness to it? It was still really good though. 

Frito Chili Pie

My Walking Taco Casserole recipe is the most popular recipe I've posted. A few of you have commented saying you call it Frito Chili pie so of course I went searching to see what the difference is. Besides the obvious chili there really isn't much difference. Both dishes are very tasty.

Corn Chips

Chili

Cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover bottom of baking dish with chips. Pour chili on top. Cover with cheese and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted. 

I didn't include any measurements because I just used as much as I wanted based on the size of my dish.