Crock Pot Mexican Style Lasagna

CROCK POT MEXICAN STYLE LASAGNA

Tonight I decided to make a Mexican style lasagna in my crock pot.  No exact recipe as I will be making adjustments to it to make it just right.

What I did was in a pan I browned up some ground turkey meat, red onions, cumin, ancho chili powder, chiptole chili powder, roasted red peppers, chopped spinach, corn, and red kidney beans.

In the crock pot I started with a Gluten Free tortilla, I then layered the bean mixture on top of it, added some shredded cheese.  I repeated the layers a couple more times and ended with a layer of cheese and green onions.  Then set the crock pot on low for 3 hours.

It looked good when it was done.  However, I never considered how to get it out of the crock pot once it was done.  Kinda of a mess.  But it tasted good.  I will adjust the seasonings, use black beans and add more veggies the next time I make it.

quesadillas made from what is the cupboard and fridge

Well,  under the weather today and was also a snowy cold day, so what to make for dinner?  Soup would have been a great idea but didn't have the ingredients since i have not gone grocery shopping for the week yet.  So I went through the fridge and pantry and came up with this for dinner.

In the mini chopper,  I put half a leftover orange pepper, half a leftover red pepper, and half a red onion.  I only meant to roughly chop them but the button got stuck and it puree them.

I emptied this into a bowl.  

Then I added 1 canned of black beans, drained and rinsed, to the mini chopper.  Also added the juice of 1 large lime. I puree this until it was a little chunky.

I added this mixture into the bowl and mixed it together.  It was a little watery so I added 1 can of white kidney beans, drained and rinsed, as well as 2 teaspoons of ground cumin and a pinch of ancho chili powder.  Also, added 1/2 cup of grated cheese, you can use regular cheese or vegan cheese.

In a frying pan I heated a gluten free tortilla, spooned the mixture on it and added a tortilla on top.  I cooked it until it was lightly brown and toasted.

The leftover mixture can be eaten as a dip with tortilla chips, preferably tostitos baked scoops.  Delish :)

CHRISTMAS BAKING

Did some trial runs on holiday baking.  Made black and white cookies, some squares, mallow slice and a yule log.

The black and white cookies ready for the oven

Fresh from the oven

Baked cookies with the white icing.  I forgot to take a photo of the chocolate once it was applied.

The yule log cake was easy to bake i get better at each time I bake it.  It is on the cutest cake plate, didn't get a good shot of it but the cake plate is held up by Santa.

The finish projects on a 3 tier serving plate.

Up close photo of top tier which is the mallow slices, cut into quarters.

Up close photo of the squares.

Up close photo of the finished black and white cookies.  Can definitely tell they are homemade as the lines aren't straight :)

Much more holiday baking to come!! :)

SLOW COOKER NAVY BEAN SOUP

This morning made navy bean soup in the slow cooker.  A simple recipe with a few ingredients. 


In the crock pot I added 2 cans of drained and rinsed canned navy beans, one sweet potato, 2 onions, stock, pepper and cumin

I set the crock pot on low and cooked for 5 hours.

I then pureed the soup i left it a little chunky but feel free to blend it until you get the consistency that you like.  I adjusted the seasonings and then continued to cook on low for another hour.  If it is too thick you can add more broth.

Then its ready to serve. Serve as is or with a drizzle of olive oil. Enjoy!!

INGREDIENTS FOR SLOW COOKER NAVY BEAN SOUP

2 cans of navy beans, drained and rinsed

1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped

2 small onions, chopped

1/2 a carton of stock (chicken or vegetable)

a couple pinches of pepper

1 tsp of ground cumin

CROCK POT HUNAN CHICKEN

For years I have been trying to duplicate my favourite chinese food dish.  It was called Hunan Chicken, a spicy peanut sauce with chicken and vegetables.  Its getting closer and closer each time.


I usually use chicken breasts but this time I used boneless skinless chicken thighs due to their higher iron content.

I trimmed and chopped the chicken thighs and added them to the crock pot.  I seasoned with pepper. If you are a blog reader of mine you might have noticed I really like pepper :)

I then made the peanut sauce (recipe below)  and added it to the crock pot.

I put the lid on the crock pot and set it to high for 2 hours until the chicken was cooked.

After 2 hrs I stirred it and added the shredded lettuce, baby bok choy and broccoli.

I continued cooking until the broccoli was tender.  It can be served over rice or noodles.

Spicy Peanut Sauce

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

1 cup boiling water

a pinch or two of crushed red pepper flakes (depending upon how spicy you like food)

2 TBS low sodium Tamari Sauce

2 - 3 tsp of honey

Combine all the ingredients together until the peanut butter is mixed into the mixture.  Then add to the chicken.

CROCK POT PORK WITH CINNAMON PEARS

Last weekend made a pork dish in my crock pot.  Be a busy week so just posting it now.

I trimmed pork tenderloin and then cut into chunks and added it to the slow cooker. Then seasoned with pepper.

In a separate bowl I chopped 3 pears and added cinnamon and some grated ginger.  Once mix together I added them to the crockpot.

I put the lid on the crockpot and set to low until cooked.  It was delicious. I love cinnamon and pears together with the pork made a lovely fall dinner. 

Crock Pot Boneless Honey Chicken "wings"

Tonight I made boneless chicken wings in the crock pot.  I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts which I sliced the breast on the diagonal in the size of a chicken wing.  Added the chicken to the crock pot.

I prepare a sauce using hot water, honey, pepper, oil, Tabasco sauce, cornstarch, salt and pepper.  Mix it all together and then added it to the chicken in the crock pot.

Put the lid on the crock pot and set it to high for 2.5 hours.

 After 2.5 hours I removed the chicken to a plate and thicken the sauce with a slurry of cornstarch and water. Cooked on high for 15 minutes and then added the chicken back into the sauce and cooked for an additional 15 minutes.

 Then plated the chicken and added some sliced green onions.

Next time I will make the sauce thicker and add a little more Tabasco.