May 30: Jambalaya

Here are the ingredients for the Jambalaya I made for dinner. I started it at about 8:00 this morning:

In the Crock Pot I put 28 oz stewed tomatoes, a pound of andouille sausage, 2 cups chopped boiled ham, 2 cups water, a cup of rice, 2 chopped onions, 2 chopped stalks of celery, 1/4 c. tomato paste, 2 tablespoons olive oil, a tbsp. of minced garlic, a tsp. of dried parsley, some hot sauce, 1/2 tsp. dried thyme, and 2 cloves:

I stirred it up:

And cooked it on low for about 8 hours. Then I added a pound of shrimp:

And cooked it on high for about 30 more minutes:

This was a very good Jambalaya. The rice was a bit mushy, but it didn't detract from the taste. I was surprised that the canned ham tasted pretty good. I've never had it before, and I expected it to taste bad. The recipe also called for 1/2 green bell pepper, but I ran out. I don't think it mattered that much. DH liked this one. It made a lot, so we will be having it for lunch for several days I think!

May 29: Asian Golden Barley with Cashews

I made this for dinner tonight, but with the stuck on sauce from yesterday, and being busy all day, I had to make it on the stove instead of in the Crock Pot. I gathered up these ingredients at about 4:30.

In a nonstick skillet, my daughter stirred 2 tbsp. butter with a cup of barley for about 10 minutes (she did a very good job):

Then I added 3 cups of veg. stock, a chopped onion, a chopped green bell pepper, 2 chopped celery stalks, a minced clove of garlic, and 1/4 tsp. pepper.

I simmered it for about an hour:

I served it topped with chopped cashews:

I didn't plan tonight's dinner very well. We are trying to go low carb, and barley isn't that bad of a carb, but there was practically no protein in our dinner. This would have been great as a side dish, but I didn't get any meat to go with the barley! It was a little bland and somewhat slimy, but not horrible. We spruced it up with a little soy sauce. I ate some Greek yogurt for my protein, so it's all good.

May 28: Scallops in Fresh Tomato and Herb Sauce

I made this for dinner tonight. I started it at around 11:00 this morning. I gathered up these ingredients:

I chopped some onions and garlic and sauteed them in a little oil:

I transferred the onions to the Crock Pot and added a can of tomato puree, a can of tomato paste, 3 peeled tomatoes, 1/4 c. red wine, some parsley and oregano:

I cooked it on low for about 6 hours, then added a pound of scallops:

I cooked some spaghetti and served the scallops in sauce over the noodles:

This sauce had the potential to be good. It was really acidic, so it should have called for some sugar to balance it out. I think that would have made it much better. I got the big expensive scallops, so they were really good. Hubby said he would rather not have scallops in his spaghetti sauce. I'm not sure I'll make this one again.

May 27: Pear Crunch

Yesterday I made this pear crunch and we ate it for an after school snack:

I gathered up these ingredients:

I put some crushed pineapple, 1/4 c. apple juice, some dried cranberries, 1 1/2 tsp. quick-cooking tapioca, and 1/4 tsp. vanilla in the Crock Pot:

I sliced 2 pears in half and put them cut side down in the pineapple mixture:

I cooked in on low for about 3 1/2 hours:

I arranged the pears on serving plates and topped them with the pineapple mixture and granola:

I really liked this one. It didn't have all the added sugar, but it was sweet enough. The kids liked it too. It was a nice afternoon snack.

May 26: Easy Cheesy Aruban-Inspired Chicken

I made this for Memorial Day lunch before our church picnic. I started it at about 9am. I gathered up all the ingredients:

In the Crock Pot I put a can of diced tomatoes, 1/2 cup chicken broth, 1/4 cup ketchup, 2 tsp. mustard, a tsp. Worcestershire, a little hot sauce, 3 cloves of garlic, and some salt and pepper. I mixed all that up well:

Then I added a large sliced onion, a sliced green bell pepper, 1/4 c. sliced black olives, 1/4 c. raisins, and a tbsp. capers. I stirred that up well:

Then I added 6 chicken thighs and covered them with the sauce:

I cooked it on high for about 3 hours. Then I added some Gouda and put the lid back on for a minute to melt it:

I served the chicken with more cheese and sauce:

This was really good! The only thing I would have changed would be to take the skin off the chicken first. It really turned out slimy. Other than that, this was an excellent meal. Everyone loved it and I will definitely make it again!

May 25: Asian Beef with Broccoli

This was the meal I made on Saturday after our garage sale. I didn't have time to put it in the Crock Pot in the morning, so I made it on the stove. I gathered up these ingredients first:

I put 1 1/2 pounds sliced beef chuck into a pot and poured a can of beef consomme and 1/2 cup oyster sauce over top of it. I simmered it for about a half hour. I combined 2 tbsp. each water and corn starch:

I stirred the corn starch in with the beef, added some broccoli florets, and cooked it for 5 or 6 more minutes:

I served it with sesame seeds.

I didn't make the rice to go with this, but who needs rice? It had a pretty good flavor, and everyone liked it, especially the broccoli. The kids love it.

May 24: Mushroom-Beef Stew

I made this stew for Friday night:

I put a pound of stew meat, 2 cans of mushrooms, a can of cream of mushroom soup, and a packet of onion soup mix in the Crock Pot:

I stirred it up and cooked it on low for 8 hours:

It was supposed to be served with noodles, but we're going low carb, so we served it with a salad. Also, we were preparing for our garage sale, so I forgot to take a picture of my plate. Oh well. The family liked this one. I thought it was a little salty. I'm sure I would have liked it better with the noodles. But I probably won't make it again. I just don't like how my Crock Pot gets the edges too hot and burns them. It ruins a good portion of the food and makes it really hard to clean the crock.

May 23: Slow Cooker Turkey Breast

I meant to make this on Friday, but the turkey had to thaw (since I went shopping Thursday evening and bought a frozen turkey breast). So I made it yesterday (Sunday). I gathered up these ingredients after lunch.

 In the Crock Pot I put the turkey with some garlic powder, paprika, and parsley:

 It cooked on low for about 6 or 7 hours:

I served it with some home grown asparagus from someone in our church (yum):

This turkey didn't have a bad flavor, but it was very dry. I ended up taking the leftovers to the Memorial Day picnic today as a salad. It was excellent!

May 22: Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

I made this on Thursday for lunch. I started with these ingredients:

In the Crock Pot, I put 4 cups sliced strawberries, 4 cups diced rhubarb, 1 1/2 cups sugar, and 2 tablespoons lemon juice.

I let that cook for 1 1/2 hours on high. Then I gathered up the topping ingredients:

In a bowl, I cut a stick of butter into 1 cup flour, 1 cup oats, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 tsp. ginger, and 1/2 tsp. nutmeg. Then I added 1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds.

When the fruit was done cooking, I thickened the liquid with 1 1/2 tbsp. corn starch mixed with 2 tbsp. water. I let that cook for 15 minutes.

I sprinkled the topping onto the fruit and cooked it in the oven for 15 minutes.

I served it for our after school snack:

I didn't think the topping would soak down into the fruit, but I guess there was just too much liquid. Maybe I should have drained a little bit? This was not my favorite crisp recipe. For one thing, I think there was too much topping. It was very sugary - way too much for me. Plus I didn't like the flavor of the ginger or the toasted almonds in the topping. It really didn't mix well with the rhubarb. I probably won't make this recipe again. The kids really loved it though. DH didn't try it because he doesn't like rhubarb at all. At least the rhubarb was in season, and on sale. So I didn't waste too much money on this!

May 21: Plantation Peanut Soup

Tonight I made Peanut Soup... kind of odd, but it didn't look too bad so I gave it a whirl. It was about 2:30 when I gathered up these ingredients and got started:

In the Crock Pot, I put 6 cups of chicken broth, 2 cups of cream, a cup of peanut butter, 1/4 cup of butter, 1/2 chopped onion, a tsp of celery salt (I ran out of celery, so I did this instead of putting in 1/2 c. chopped celery and a tsp. of salt), and 1/2 c. chopped peanuts.

I let that cook for a while on low (3-4 hours). Then I whisked together 1/2 c. each of flour and water and stirred that into the soup:

I cooked it on high for about a half hour more until it was nice and thick. During that time I stirred it 2 or 3 times:

I served it garnished with chopped peanuts:

This soup has an excellent flavor. But I should have had a nice salad to go with it to balance it out. It was very heavy. It was also very chunky. I bet I would have liked it better if I had used creamy peanut butter, and not put all the chopped peanuts in it. "The unsalted nuts make me choke!" Bonus points if you can name that movie. :)