Slow Cooker Mom's Firehouse Chili!

We are a family of Chili lovers so I'm always trying out different recipes and since I think Chili is one of those foods that tastes best when it's been cooking for long long hours, there's nothing like Crockpot Chili.

This is a new recipe I tried out and it was really good.

MOM'S FIREHOUSE CHILI

Credit: Gooseberry Patch Slow Cooker Recipes

1-1/2 lbs. boneless beef chuck roast, cubed (I used ground beef for mine)
3 onions, sliced
2 c. water
28-oz. can crushed tomatoes
6-oz. can tomato paste
2 stalks, celery
1 green pepper, cut into strips
16-oz. can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
16-oz. can white beans, drained and rinsed
pepper, garlic powder, parsley, chili powder and hot pepper sauce to taste
14-3/4 oz. can corn, drained

Place beef, onions and water in slow cooker. Add tomatoes and tomato paste; stir well. Add celery, green pepper and beans. Stir in seasonings to taste; top with corn. Cover and cook on low setting for 8 to 10 hours, or on high setting for 5 to 6 hours, stirring occasionally.
Makes 6 servings.



Place meat, onions and water into the crockpot. Like I said, I went with what I had on hand and used ground beef.

Add the celery and tomatoes


Next go in the beans, don't forget to drain and rinse them

Next add the spices, I left out the hot sauce though otherwise the kids wouldn't eat it.

Set it on HIGH for 5 to 6 hours. Seriously the smell of chili cooking is enough to make you drool.


We always sprinkle shredded cheese on ours. YUMMY!

Apple Dumplings!

 I found this recipe about a month ago while searching for a dessert to make with the crescent roll cans I had.

Then last night I noticed that Ree from "Pioneer Woman Cooks" had made them and I KNEW that it was now or never. I was a bit weary to try it because of the mountain dew but when Ree says it's good, it's enough for me.

So here we go and really don't try to have just one, you CAN'T, it's not humanly possible.

APPLE DUMPLINGS

Granny Smith apples
2 cans crescent rolls
2 sticks butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoons vanilla
cinnamon
1 small can Mountain Dew
Peel and core apples. Cut apples into 8 slices each. Roll each apple slice in a crescent roll. Place in a 9 x 13 buttered pan. Melt butter, then add sugar and barely stir. Add vanilla, stir, and pour over apples. Pour Mountain Dew around the edges of the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Serve with ice cream, and spoon some of the sweet sauces from the pan over the top.

Now when I first saw the ingredients I though.......there's NO way that just these few things will make something THAT good. Boy was I wrong.


So you start by peeling and coring the apples and then cutting them into 8 slices each. I didn't core mine, I peeled them, then sliced them in half and then half again. Then I cut out the core.

Butter a 13 x 9 inch pan.

Roll each apple slice in a crescent roll

Place in the buttered pan

Melt the two sticks of butter, add the sugar and vanilla and stir

Pour over the apple dumplings.........*drool*

Now grab that small can or bottle of mountain dew and pour it over the sides AND the middle......OH.MY.GOLLY. It's SO GOOD.

Btw if you don't have Mountain Dew, you can use Sprite, Sierra Mist or even Mello Yello or Squirt I think might work too.


Sprinkle with cinnamon

Bake them at 350º for 40 minutes.

Walk around the house sniffing the air because this gives out the yummiest scent ever.

Enjoy!

Crockpot Stuffed Green Peppers!

I love my crockpot and I LOVE stuffed green peppers, so when I realized that I could join the two and still have a delicious dinner, I thought.......WOOWEE!!!!

This was dinner last night and wait until I show you what you can do with the leftover filling, you will wonder why you're sitting around here reading this instead of doing it for yourself. As a matter of fact, now that I'm talking about it, I'm craving it.....too bad there's none left.

CROCKPOT STUFFED GREEN PEPPERS

I start by browning up a pound of ground beef, add some onion flakes, salt and pepper, garlic powder. Then add a can of diced tomatoes and green chilies (drained) and half a small can of tomato sauce.

Simmer for a few minutes, then add about a cup of cooked rice. Mix it well.

Start stuffing the green peppers, this recipe works for about 5 green peppers, but I only used 4.

Yes I know the picture is blurry, but hey I was too busy cooking and didn't even realize it came out this way and now it's a little too late, because you see.......they're gone, eaten, ALL GONE.


Spray the crockpot with non stick spray and place the stuffed peppers inside. Pour the remaining tomato sauce over the top.

Cook on High for 4 hours!


Now if you only make 4 stuffed peppers you will realize that you have some leftover filling, but don't throw it out. Do what I do, I made a burrito for my lunch. *drool*

I love the honeywheat tortillas, so that is what I'm using, but feel free to use whatever you have on hand.

Place the filling down the middle and then throw on a ton of shredded cheese, seriously the more you put on there, the cheesier it will be and OH YUMMY!

Pop into the microwave for 1 minute and enjoy!

Chicken Tetrazzini!

Comfort food for me is creamy, casseroles, spaghetti, chicken and just yumminess all in one heaping warm pile of gooey cheesy......wait.........I got all carried away.

I meant to say that comfort food for me is Chicken Tetrazzini, it's always a winner in my house, so for tonight this is what we had.

If you've never tried it, you don't know what you're missing, seriously, make it and then sit back in awe and watch your kids smile at you and tell you that you're the best "cooker" in the whole world....while your husband looks at you and tells you that it's "oh so darn good". Isn't that what life is about???

So let's get cooking......go grab a couple ingredients:

CHICKEN TETRAZZINI

14-1/2 oz. can chicken broth
8-oz. pkg spaghetti, uncooked
1/2 c. onion, diced
1 green pepper, chopped
4-1/2 oz. can sliced mushrooms
2-1/2 c. chicken, cooked and diced
2 c. milk
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
2/3 c. margarine melted
2 c. shredded Cheddar cheese
1/3 c. round buttery crackers, crushed

Bring chicken broth to a boil in a stockpot; add spaghetti and cook until tender. Drain and set aside. Combine onion, green pepper and mushrooms in a skillet; cook in mushroom juice until soft. Add vegetables and chicken to cooked spaghetti in a large bowl; mix well and pour in a lightly greased 13"x9" baking pan.

In a separate bowl, combine milk, flour, margarine and cheese; pour over spaghetti mixture. Sprinkle crushed crackers over the top. Bake at 350º degrees for 50 minutes. Serves 6 to 8.


I'm a rebel so I tend to veer off the recipes sometimes and create shortcuts for myself, hey I don't have all day to stand in the kitchen right?

Let's chop up that onion and green pepper

In a big skillet, add the can of mushrooms *undrained* and the onions and green peppers.

The recipe calls for cooked chicken but I like making everything from scratch, so I used 1 lb of chicken tenders, cut into small pieces.

Now add it to the skillet

Now I rebel again and grab the garlic powder, though the recipe doesn't ask for it, but who cares? I'm sure there's no Garlic Police watching around the corner!

In the meantime you pour the chicken broth into a stockpot or a plain ol' pot. (I don't know why they have to get so technical LOL) and cook your spaghetti in it.

I personally found that there wasn't enough liquid for me, so I added a little bit of water.

In a separate bowl, combine the milk

1/2 cup of flour

Mmmmmmm cheese

And the melted margarine

Drain the spaghetti and then add the chicken and veggies to it

Pour into a baking dish........I don't know about you but I could eat it like that.

Pour the milk mixture over it....

Bake in a 350º oven for 50 minutes.


YUM! I can almost smell it right now, it's SO good. Speaking of which, I'm off to eat my dinner, why don't you come with me, I have plenty to share :)

Quick and Easy Garlic Cheese Biscuits!

When we're having spaghetti, garlic cheese bread is a MUST. But there's days that I don't have any around so usually I count on the biscuits I have on hand to create my own.

These are really quick and easy to make and the kids LOVE them.


Place the biscuits on a greased baking pan. Sprinkle with a little bit of salt, garlic powder and Italian seasoning.

Bake in a 450º for about 10 minutes or until golden brown

Remove from the oven and sprinkle a good layer of shredded cheese on top, pop it back in the oven for another 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and gooey.