Crockpot Chicken

Tonight I made the recipe Becky gave me for the crockpot:
chicken breasts
can of cranberry sauce
1/2 packet of dry onion soup mix
8 oz. catalina or french dressing.

My chicken was still partially frozen so I wasn't sure it would crock in time but it was nice and tender.
We served it over mashed potatoes.
I also served a salad of greens with shredded cheddar, craisins, toasted chopped pecans with poppy seed dressing.
The girls didn't care for the meat very much which is not unusal at all. However, Mom and Dad who were here absolutely loved it.  They tried to guess the three ingredients in the sauce but weren't able to name any of them.

I also made these gluten free monster cookies this afternoon--yum!

Gluten Free Monster Cookies

 3 eggs

1 1/14 cups packed brown sugar

1 cup sugar

½ tsp salt

½ tsp vanilla

1 12 oz jar creamy peanut butter

1 cube softened butter

½ cup multi colored chocolate candies ( I used chopped nuts instead)

½ cup chocolate chips

½ cup raisins (optional) (I used craisins instead)

2 tsp baking soda

4 ½ cups quick-cooking oatmeal (or regular, but not instant)

Preheat oven to 350. In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs and sugars. Mix well. Add salt, vanilla, peanut butter and butter. Mix well. Stir in the chocolate candies, chocolate chips, raisins (opt), baking soda and oatmeal. Drop by tablespoons 2 inches apart onto greased cookie sheet.

Bake for 8-10 minutes. Do not overbake. Let stand for about 3 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool. When cool, store in large re-sealable plastic bags.

African-style Peanut Butter Soup

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, sliced
1 sweet red pepper, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes
2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup cooked brown or white rice
1 cup finely chopped cooked chicken

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and red pepper. Saute, stirring often, until the vegetables are very tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic and chili powder. Saute 1 minute longer.

Add the tomatoes with their liquid, chicken broth, and peanut butter to the saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring often. Stir in the rice and chicken. Cook 5 minutes longer. Serve warm.

Spinach Stroganoff

As I was mixing up some stroganoff I was thinking how good spinach would be with the mushrooms so I threw some in. I loved it but Daniel said he was expecting the usual stroganoff taste so it wasn't quite as good as he'd hoped. If I had told him I made "Spinach a la rice" he probably would have told me it tasted great. (Anyone wanting the recipe just leave a comment.)

Apple Pork

This is from the crockpot recipe book you gave me, Amy. It was soooooo good with such simple ingredients.

1 1/2 pounds boneless pork loin cut into 6 pieces, or 6 boneless pork loin chops
4 medium Golden Delicious or Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Place pork in slow cooker. Cover with apples. Combine brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl; sprinkle over apples. Cover; cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours.