Super Bowl Saturdays: Party Meatballs

Picture from TasteofHome.com- I forgot to take one in my rush to get to GG

Meatballs are one of my favorite appetizers to have at a party. They're very filling and usually covered in some kind of delicious sauce. And when your guests will most likely be a bunch of young guys, you want appetizers that are heavy and filling. As much as I love chicken salad in phyllo cups, that won't cut it for a bunch of Marines watching the Super Bowl.

This recipe caught my attention because it's just a slight change from the usual meatball sauce that uses grape jelly and Heinz Chili Sauce. The BBQ sauce makes a nice substitute and the grape jelly only gives it a touch of sweetness-there's no overwhelming grape jelly taste.

You can make your own meatballs for this but I would go with the prepackaged ones. They hold together better and it makes it much easier on you.

Party Meatballs

Source: The Country Cook

1 (32 oz) bag frozen meatballs

1 (18 oz) jar grape jelly

1 (18 oz) bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce

Pour the meatballs, grape jelly, and BBQ sauce into the crock pot and stir until combined. Cook the mixture on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 2-2.5 hours, until completely cooked through, stirring occasionally

When they are cooked through, set the crock pot on "warm" and let guests serve themselves. Just place toothpicks next to the meatballs. Enjoy!

Crock Pot Baked Apples

I love Pinterest. It's an addicting kind of love but I like it. One of my favorite things to pin is food. I love looking at all the pictures and getting inspiration. When I saw these, I was reminded of the cinnamon baked apples they used to serve in elementary school lunches.

These were the perfect fall dessert to follow our pumpkin meal. They were easy to prepare and they made the apartment smell delicious while they were baking.

Crock Pot Baked Apple

Source: Skinny Chef

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup walnuts, chopped

2 tbsp trans-fat free magarine

1 tsp cinnamon

6 Gala or Macintosh apples, cored

1/2 cup apple juice or apple cider

2 tbsp prange liquor, optional

Preheat a large crock-pot on high heat and preset it for 3 hours. In a large bowl, mix brown sugar, walnuts, margarine, and cinnamon. Fill the apples with the filling and place them in the crock-pot. Pour in the apple juice or cider and the liquor, if using. Cover and cook 2.5-3 hours on high heat until the apples are soft and begin to collapse. Enjoy!

Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

We have the Crockpot BBQ Chicken quite a bit in our house. It's so easy since it's just a bottle of BBQ sauce and chicken. Neil suggested I use buffalo sauce instead and this was a hit! I followed the suggestions over at Running Mama Cooks and added a few more ingredients. It's a very spicy meal but worth trying out!

4 boneless, skinless chicken breats

1 (17.5 fluid oz) bottle buffalo wing sauce

1 oz package dry ranch salad dressing mix

2 tbsp butter

6 hoagie rolls, split lengthwise (or sandwich bread of your choice)

Place the chicken breast in the crockpot along with 3/4 of the wing sauce and the ranch dressing mix. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours.

Once the chicken has cooked, add the butter and shred with two forks. Add the meat to your bread and splash with remaining buffalo wing sauce. Enjoy!

Buffalo Chicken Chili

You know that feeling when you come home and your husband has just baked chocolate chip cookies (or in my husbands case, lit our birthday cake scented candle and let it burn) and the delicious smell has filled your house? I love that smell. Making this was nothing like that.

Instead, imagine the smell of buffalo wings filling your entire house. As delicious as they taste, I'd rather come home to a house that smells like birthday cake, not buffalo wings. But the hubby loved it and has suggested we invent a buffalo scented candle since Yankee Candle has yet to put one on the market. Yeah, we'll get right on that babe.

Buffalo chicken chili does taste as good as it smells though, as long as that smell is contained to the steam wafting from my bowl. The original recipe for this, from Prevention RD, called for it to be made over the stove but I had no time and no other crock pot meal on the menu for that week so chili it was. Prevention RD had made this recipe twice and the second time she followed the recipe exactly and put the chicken and veggies in the food processor and pureed it all up. It's all a matter of preference but the next time I make this I'll stick to simply chopping everything up. The chili was spicy and delicious and a great alternative to your usual chili but the weird texture distracted a bit from the taste.

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 large carrots

3 stalks of celery

1 large red pepper

5 cloves of garlic (I substituted a little garlic powder)

5 tbsp chili powder

2 tbsp ground cumin

1 tbsp paprika

1/2 cup of Frank's Red Hot Wing Sauce (or your preferred buffalo wing sauce)

2 15 oz cans tomato sauce

1 15 oz can diced tomatoes

1 15 oz can black beans, drained (I, of course, omitted because of hubby's deep dislike of beans)

1 15 oz can chili beans in sauce (once again, these were omitted)

salt and pepper to taste (I left this out and we just added as needed while we were eating)

Put chicken breasts in food processor to grind up. Rinse out food processor and add carrots, celery, garlic, and red pepper and puree. (You can just choose to cut up all the veggies/chicken if you'd prefer for a different texture). Add veggies and chicken to crock pot along with the rest of ingredients. Cook on low for 8 hours. Enjoy!

Blue Ribbon Chili

I've posted before about hubby's deep dislike of beans and my love for them. I was craving chili- real chili with beans- so I added it to our menu and kept quiet about the beans. My husband exhibited 5-year old tendencies during this meal and ate around every single bean and dumped them in the trash can, all while giving me a slightly nasty look. He can be so cute sometimes.

Even though hubby wasn't a fan, I loved it. This is a perfect chili recipe and we'll definitely be making it again. Recipe from And a Cookie for Dessert.

2 lbs ground beef

1/2 onion, chopped

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 ts garlic salt

2.5 cups tomato sauce

8 oz salsa

4 tbsp (1 packet) chili seasoning mix

15 oz can light red kidney beans

15 oz can dark red kidney beans

In a large saucepan, over medium heat, combine the ground beef and onion and saute for 10 minutes, until beef is browned and onion is tender. Drain.

Add the beef mixture along with the rest of the ingredients to the crock pot. Cook on low for 8 hours. Enjoy!

Chicken Brunswick Stew

I love brunswick stew but this was my first time making it. The only other times I've had it has been with my aunt. She's from South Georgia and makes an amazing brunswick stew. Actually anything she makes is pretty amazing. She even catered our wedding!

This isn't her recipe it's from Crockpot Tuesdays. It was delicious and easy as almost all crock pot meals are. It makes a ton so Neil took some for lunch and we froze the rest for a later date.

2 large onions, chopped (I used two medium onions and it felt like a lot of onion. But I'm not a huge onion fan)

3 chicken breasts

2 cans cream-style corn

28 oz can crushed tomatoes

12 oz bottle chili sauce

1 can chicken broth

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup butter, cut up

2 tbsp vinegar

2 tsp dry mustard

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tbsp sugar

Place onions in the bottom of the crock pot. Lay chicken breasts on top. Add the rest of the ingredients, and carefully stir to combine (without disturbing the chicken and onions). Cook on low for 8 hours. Remove chicken and shred with two forks. Place chicken back in the stew and stir to combine. Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Spaghetti Casserole

Happy Valentines Day everyone! Like I mentioned yesterday, my V-Day will be spent in class and then with some delicious Outback Steakhouse take out and 2 hours of quality time (hopefully) with my husband before he passes out.

This is actually a recipe we had a few weeks ago but since today isn't a crock pot meal I pulled this one out of the archives. It was my first time making spaghetti in the crock pot where I didn't cook the noodles first. I was worried it would be crunchy and not fully cooked, and part of it was. I made the mistake of not spreading the sauce to the edges and covering the noodles and while the center portions of the casserole were delicious and perfectly cooked, the outsides that weren't covered with sauce were still a tad bit crunchy. As long as you don't make the mistake of throwing it together quickly and not using your brain, like me :0, you should be just fine! Recipe from Reservations Not Required.

1.5 lbs lean ground beef

1 medium onion chopped

1 26 oz jar of pasta sauce

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup all purpose flour

12 oz can of evaporated milk

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp pepper

8 ounces uncooked spaghetti, broken into pieces

3 cups shredded Cheddar Cheese (the recipe recommends sharp but I used a mild cheese and it was fine)

grated parmesan cheese

Cook ground beef and onion in a large skillet, until beef crumbles and is no longer pink. Drain meet and return to skillet. Stir pasta sauce into the beef mixture.

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Cook 1 minute, whisking constantly. Gradually whisk in milk. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, for 8 minutes until the mixture has thickened and is bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup parmesan cheese and pepper.

Spoon one-third of the meat mixture into a lightly greased slow cook. Sprinkle 1 cup of cheddar cheese over white sauce. Repeat layers once. Spread remaining meat mixture over cheese (make sure all sides of the spaghetti are covered). Top with remaining 1 cup cheddar cheese.

Cover and cook on low for 4 hours. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Serve with parmesan cheese if desired. Enjoy!

With that I'll leave you with this quote and a non-smiling picture of Lucy who really does love her heart bandana.

"Cooking is like love, it should be entered into with abandon or not at all."

100th post! and Spicy Chipotle Shredded Beef

I love the taste of chipotle peppers. I prefer the smokiness of the peppers over the overt spiciness of other peppers. Plus it's a crock pot meal which makes it even better. I didn't shred the beef but hubby thinks this would make a delicious alternative to barbeque beef sandwiches or as a delicious way to spice up your taco meat. Recipe from Angela's Kitchen.

1.5 lb pot roast

1 onion peeled and quarterd

1 small can of green chiles

7 oz can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (I used less but choose the amount based on your preferences)

1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

5-6 garlic cloves, minced

3 tsp ground cumin

3 tsp oregano

1 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tsp chili pepper

1 cup water

2 tsp salt

3 tsp ground pepper

Liberally salt and pepper the roast and place in the crock pot. Sprinkle the roast with chili pepper, cayenne pepper, oregano and cumin. Chop all the veggies and crush the chipotle peppers. Place into crock pot. Add the water and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Enjoy!

Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup

I've decided to start a new series called Crock Pot Mondays. On Mondays, I have an evening class so I'm usually gone from 3-8. I love crock pot meals because Neil can eat when he gets home and then leave it on warm for me. It's so much easier than trying to prepare a meal before I leave and leaving instructions for how to cook it and then heating it up in the microwave when I get home. So, Mondays are now Crock Pot Mondays!

The only downside to this meal is that is smelled so delicious the entire day while it was cooking that it was hard for me to leave without getting any. It reminded me of a creamier salsa chicken just with more substance. Hubby complained only a little about the beans but in the end he admitted they made a pretty good addition. Recipe from the Cooking Nurse.

1 cup chunky medium salsa

8 oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts (frozen or thawed)

15 0z can yellow corn, undrained

32 oz can pinto beans, undrained

15 oz can diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained

30 oz cream of chicken soup

2 tbsp taco seasoning

2 (6-inch) corn tortillas cut into strips

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Add everything to the crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours. Before serving, remove chicken and shred with two forks, then add the chicken back to the crock pot. Serve with shredded cheese and tortilla chips. Enjoy!

White Chicken Chili

Oh San Diego. It's the middle of December and I think I'm safe to put chili on the menu and the day I plan on making it dawns and lo and behold, it's 85º and sunny out. There's just something wrong about laying out on the beach and then going home to eat chili from the crock pot. Yep, something wrong about that picture.

Luckily, this wasn't your normal kind of chili. It's not heavy or super creamy so it worked fine for our not so wintery night! Recipe is from Lemons and Love.

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

4 cups chicken broth

2 cups salsa verde (the green salsa)

2 cans northern beans, drained and rinsed

2 stalks of celery, chopped

1 small can green chiles

1 tsp cumin

1.5 tsps white pepper

pinch of cayenne

salt and pepper to taste

In your slow cooker combine broth, salsa verde beans, celery, green chiles and spices. Mix well and nestle chicken into the liquid. Cook on high for 4 hours and take chicken out and shred it. Return to crockpot and cook on low for 2 hours. Enjoy!

Rotel Dip

This dish is one of my staples during the holiday season. There are so many parties and events to attend and I'm usually assigned to bring an appetizer. It requires hardly any preparation and can transport easily. We had this for Thanksgiving and I prepped the sausage the night before and the day of I just placed it in my crock-pot and left it alone until the guests arrived!

This is another simple recipe!

1 small box of Velveeta, cut up

1 can Rotel

3 spicy Italian sausages

Fry the sausages until cooked through and no pink remains. Grind the sausage up in your food processor. Mix the Velveeta, sausage, and rotel into a small crock pot. Set on high for 2 hours and then switch to warm. Serve with chips and enjoy!

Salsa Chicken

I've been very busy lately with school and regular life. When I find a recipe that utilizes my crock pot, I immediately like it. When it turns out to be a delicious recipe, I love it. Salsa Chicken apparently made the blog rounds awhile back but I am just now trying it out! I don't know where I got this recipe from; it's kind of a combination of a few of the ones I've seen. I had originally planned on serving this with flour tortillas but instead we ended up eating it straight out of the bowl with tortilla chips!

5 boneless skinless chicken breasts (frozen or thawed)

24 oz jar of salsa (mild, medium, or hot-whichever suits your taste buds!)

1 package of taco seasoning

1 can Campbell's Fiesta Nacho Cheese soup

1 cup frozen corn

Combine the chicken breasts, salsa, taco seasoning, and nacho cheese soup in your crock pot. Cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-6. Shred with a fork or just eat as is!

Easy BBQ Chicken

This recipe is so easy, I wasn't even going to blog it. I'm not sure if it even is a recipe. I had a busy night planned with a business law final and taking a break from studying with a few friends. I needed a quick dinner for hubby that would still taste good for me whenever I got home. I threw together boneless, skinless chicken thighs and a bottle of barbeque sauce in the crockpot and let it cook on low for about 6-7 hours. The meat was perfect when I got home. Very tender and moist. While it lacked the crispy outside that you get when you do chicken on the grill, it lacked none of the flavor. This will definitely be a repeat on those days when we're too busy to cook!