MPM

Monday - Spaghetti

Tuesday - Slow Cooked Chicken Burritos from my friend Alyssa Voigt...thanks girl!

4 Chicken Breast
1 16 oz. jar of salsa
1/2 C. Minute Rice ( I use brown)
1/2 C. Water
Chili Powder to taste
In the morning spray CP with cooking spray. Place chicken Breasts in CP and pour salsa over them. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hrs.
Half hr. before serving- turn CP to high. Add 1/2 C. Rice, !/2 C. water and chili powder to taste. Stir and cook for 1/2 hr. longer. Stir chicken with a fork to shred and serve with favorite taco/ burrito toppings.

Wednesday - Meatloaf

Thursday - Cheesy Crockpot Chicken

Friday - Pizza

Saturday - Chicken Noodle Soup with Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Sunday - Out for Dinner

Thoughts

This weekend I finally had a chance to finish "The Makers Diet" and I must admit that my sister in law was right. It is kind of far out there and you can't adopt everything that's in the book so you have to pick and choose what works best for you and your family. It does have a lot of good concepts so I'm totally not telling anyone not to read it. Here are a few things that caught my attention before I do a recap with what changes we are taking from it.

-One of the most important fats are the omega 3 fatty acids found in cod liver oil or ocean caught fish.

-The Makers Diet focuses on the balanced intake of natural fats occurring in ocean caught fish, cod liver oil, grass fed, organic and free-range meats. It also includes animal products such as butter, cheeses, and full-fat lacto-fermented dairy products such as yogurt and kefir, as well as raw milk and cream from goats, sheep, cows, and other biblically clean animals.

-Always choose butter over margarine or other low fat spreads.

- For those who don't get enough cold water fish, you need to take a form of high quality fish oil every day. Helps to thin the blood, inhibits blood clots, lowers cholesterol and blood pressure, reduces the risk of heart attacks, strokes, Lupus. Relieves migraines, fight inflammation, helps regular the immune system, and much much more.

-Grapes were the first crop planted by Noah after the flood. Grapes fight tooth decay, stop viruses and are rich in other ingredients that many researchers believed may lower the risk of cancer.

-Rest is crucial to the health of your body and soul. Sleep is an absolute and undeniable necessity of life.

- Learn to breath from your gut.

Healing Herbs (some that caught my attention):

1. Aloes - heat an aloe leafs and put it directly to an abscess, bruise, skin inflammation, gumboils, or sprains.

2. Black Cumin- Use to treat abscess or tumors in the abdomen, eyes and liver.

3. Black mustard -Treats congestion and muscle spasms as well as colds and headaches.

4. Cinnamon - Calms the stomach and may prevent lung cancer. Kills bacteria-causing tooth decay. Helps prevent UTI's

5. Coriander - Treats acid indigestion and toothaches. Helps control body odor and gas.

6. Cumin- Use as an appetite stimulant. Treats abnormal heartbeat, asthma, dermatitis.

7. Dandelion - remedy for cancer, diabetes, hepatitis, osteoporosis & rheumatism.

8. Dill - Remedy for cancer & estrogen deficiency, intestinal gas. Soothes the stomach and intestines.

9. Garlic - Infection fighter, discourages mosquitoes and ticks. Painkiller and helpful for treating asthma, diabetes & high blood pressure.

10. Hyssop - Stops bleeding and masks odors. Remedy for colds, inflammation, and digestion.

11. Juniper - Treats skin parasites, psoriasis, eczema, and other skin conditions.

12. Milk Thistle - Liver remedy and lowers blood sugar and insulin levels to help prevent gallstones.

13. Mint - Used to treat Alzheimer's and also a digestive aid. Stimulates brain activity.

14. Myrrh - Stops infections, deactivates a protein in cancer cells that resists chemo (leukemia, breast cancer and cancers of the prostate, ovaries & lungs)

15. Nettle - Alleviate arthritis symptoms.

16. Saffron - Treats gastric & intestine problems. Helpful for bladder, kidney & liver ailments.

17. Spikenard - Compound used to treat epilepsy, heart palpitations and chorea.

18. Turmeric - Has anti-inflammation and antioxidant properties. Beneficial for wound treatment, digestive aid, liver protector and heart tonic.

More next time on the Healing Oils that caught my attention...

MPM

I've been slacking off here in the past couple weeks so I thought I best get back up on the horse. To take a look at these recipes, click here.

Monday - Pot Roast
Tuesday - Cheesy Chicken
Wednesday - Meat Loaf
Thursday - Tortilla Soup
Friday - Pizza Night!
Saturday - Beef Tips
Sunday - Dinner Out!

Have a great week!

Catastrophe

This week I had my first (that I can recall at this moment) culinary catastrophe! I've been following my crock pot recipes and I came to the Lemon chicken. When I went to the freezer to grab the frozen lemonade, I saw that I accidentally bough OJ instead. Simple, I thought...I'll just make orange chicken instead of lemon chicken. I've seen this at Chinese places before so I thought it was a no brainer! It cooked all day long and Nate fulfilled his crock pot responsibilities by turning it every other hour to make sure it gets cooked evenly. When I got home I was so excited for another great crock pot dinner. I got my rice all cooked up, the table set, and everything was ready. We sat down at the table, said the prayer, and it was time to dig in. Since I'm totally into carbs, I first went for the rice. With the aroma of the orange and the rice I thought we were off to a good start. It wasn't until I heard Ana say, "Mommy...this is a little bit of yucky!" that I knew we had problems. Everyone started to dig into the chicken only to confirm what Ana had discovered. It was absolutely gross. The frugal part of me wanted to see if there was a way to save it so I started to think of something we could put on it and when Nate said "steak sauce" I thought, "Why not?". It ended up not working like I had hoped and finally, it all ended up in the trash. It wasn't even good enough to let our dog give it a try! My hopes dashed in yucky orange sauce, we all opted for butter and bread and called it a night. Second thought, maybe we should say we called it a nightmare! Here's to finding another recipe with better results!

Recipe's

Last night I said that I would share my recipes from the 12 crockpot dinners that I'm doing this month so here they are...ENJOY! Actually there are 13, after counting!!

(1) CROCK POT SNOWY DAY BEEF STEW
1 medium-size onion, finely chopped
2 medium-size carrots, cut into 1/4" thick slanting slices
1 pound small thin-skinned potatoes, scrubbed and cut lengthwise into
quarters
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
2 to 2-1/4 pounds lean boneless beef round, trimmed of fat and cut into
10 cubes
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons dry thyme
1 can (about 14-1/2 oz.) stewed tomatoes
1/4 cup red wine or beef broth
1 package (about 10 oz.) frozen peas, thawed
salt


Directions:
In a 3-1/2-quart or larger electric slow cooker, combine onion, carrots, potatoes, and mushrooms. Coat beef cubes with flour, then add to cooker and sprinkle with thyme. Add tomatoes and wine. Cover and cook at low setting until beef is very tender when pierced (8 to 10 hours). Skim and discard fat from stew, if necessary. Stir in peas. Increase cooker heat setting to high; cover and cook until peas are heated through (10 to 15 more minutes). Season to taste with salt. Makes 6 to 8 servings.


(2) CHEESY CROCKPOT CHICKEN
6 chicken breasts (boneless & skinless)
salt & pepper to taste
garlic powder, to taste
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can cheddar cheese soup

Directions:
Rinse chicken and sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Mix undiluted soup and pour over chicken in the crock pot. Cook on low 6 to 8 hours. Serve over rice or noodles


(3) EASY MEAT LOAF
2 1/2 pounds ground beef
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup breadcrumbs or crushed crackers
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 small onion (diced)
1/4 cup water

Directions:
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Form into a meatloaf shape that will fit into your crock pot. Cut a strip of foil and place under the meatloaf in crock pot. Cut it long enough to cover the bottom and sides of meatloaf. Place meat loaf in crock pot and top with an additional 2 tablespoons ketchup. Cover and cook on low for approximately 8 hours.


(4) CHICKEN & DUMPLINGS
1 (3 lb.) chicken, cut up
1/2 cup chicken bouillon broth
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning
3 stalks celery, cut in 1 inch pieces
3 small carrots cut into 1 inch pieces
2 cups packaged biscuit mix
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp. parsley flakes

Directions:
Wash chicken pieces; cut away excess fat. Place raw chicken pieces in a crock with largest bony pieces on the bottom. Add bouillon broth; sprinkle chicken with salt, pepper, poultry seasoning. Add celery and carrots on top. Cover. Place crock into outer shell; cook. Cook on Low setting, 8 to 10 hours or High setting 4 to 4-1/2 hours. Combine biscuit mix, milk, parsley flakes; stir until just moistened. Drop dumpling mixture by spoonfuls (about 8) over steaming chicken; cover, cook on High setting 30 minutes in 3-1/2 quart; 15 to 20 minutes in 5-1/2 quart. Serve immediately.


(5) CHICKEN CACCIATORE
2 medium onions, cut thin
2-1/2 to 3 pounds chicken pieces
2 cloves garlic, minced, or garlic powder
1 can tomatoes
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons crushed oregano
1/2 teaspoon crushed basil
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup dry white wine

Directions:
Put onion in bottom of crockpot and add chicken pieces. Add remaining ingredients. Cook 6 to 8 hours on LOW heat. Serve over hot buttered spaghetti.


(6) BEEF TIPS
1/4 c. margarine
2 lbs. sirloin of beef cut into cubes
3/4 c. white wine
1/2 c. water
1 clove garlic, minced
2 (10 oz) cans golden mushroom soup
2 tbsp finely chopped onion
Cooked noodles


Directions:
Heat margarine in skillet. Add beef and brown on all sides. Place into slow cooker, add wine, water, garlic, soup and onion. Cook for 6 hours on low. Serve over noodles. Serves 8


(7) TACO SOUP - NOT MY FAV BUT IT WILL DO
1 lb lean ground beef
1 can (15 ounces) tomato sauce
1 can (15 ounces) whole kernel corn, undrained
1 can (15 ounces) kidney beans, drained
1 envelope taco seasoning


Directions:
Brown beef in skillet. Put all other ingredients into crockpot and add drained beef; cook on low for 6 hours.
Serve in bowls garnish with crushed tortilla chips, shredded cheese, sour cream and black olives.


(8) CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP
2 1/2 to 3 1/2 pounds chicken pieces
4 cups water
4 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste, depending on saltiness of broth
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 leek or small onion chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram or basil
1 bay leaf
6 ounces noodles

Directions:
Place all ingredients except noodles in the Crock Pot. Cover and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours. Remove chicken and bay leaf from pot; take meat from bones, dice, and return to broth, and add the noodles. Cook another hour or until noodles are done (about 1/2 hour on high). Or, cook the noodles separately and add them just before serving.


(9) POTATO SOUP
3 potatoes, peeled & cut into bite size pieces
1 lg. onion 1 carrot, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
parsley
5 c. water
4 chicken bouillon cubes
1 tbsp. salt Pepper to taste

Directions:
Cook on low 10 to 12 hours or on high 3 to 4 hours. During the last hour of cooking, add 1 1/2 cups milk. TIP: If you own a blender, it works well to chop all vegetables in it.


(10) CROCK POT ROAST
3-4 lb. boneless round roast
Dried chopped onion
Morton seasoning blend Garlic salt
Salt
Paprika


Directions:
Sprinkle dry chopped onion in bottom of crock pot. Sprinkle rest of ingredients on roast. Place roast in crock pot. Add no liquid. Cover and cook on low for 10 to 12 hours. (Will be brown and very tender.)

(11) B.B.Q. CHICKEN
1 lb. chicken parts
1 bottle B.B.Q. sauce (your favorite sauce)


Directions:
Rinse chicken. Place chicken in crock pot. Pour B.Q. sauce over chicken. Set crockpot on low for 8 hours. Serve with your favorite side dish.


(12) CROCK POT LEMON CHICKEN
4-6 pieces of chicken (breasts and legs)
1 (6 oz.) can frozen lemonade, thawed
2 tbsp. brown sugar
3 tbsp. ketchup
1 tbsp. vinegar
2 tbsp. cornstarch
2 tbsp. cold water


Directions:
Arrange chicken pieces in crock pot. Combine lemonade, brown sugar and ketchup and mix well. Pour over chicken. Cover. Cook on high 3-4 hours or low 6-8 hours.
Remove chicken from pot, cover to keep hot. Transfer liquid to saucepan. Skim fat; combine cornstarch and cold water and add slowly to liquid, while stirring over low heat. When thickened, serve with chicken over hot rice. Serves 4-6.


(13) CROCK POT SPAGHETTI
2 (15 oz.) cans tomato sauce
3 tbsp. dry minced onion
3 tbsp. Italian seasoning
Pinch of garlic powder
1/2 c. pre-cooked ground beef
2 to 3 oz. dry spaghetti


Directions:
In crock pot, mix first 5 ingredients. Cook on low for all day, high for half a day. (NOTE: Raw beef can be used, but sauce will be "fattier".) No more than an hour before serving, boil spaghetti according to package directions, drain and rinse. Mix into spaghetti sauce.
NOTE: The spaghetti will absorb the sauce and swell over time. It will still taste good!. Serves 3 people.