Crock Pot for the win!

Cheesy Crock Pot Chicken, Broccoli, & Rice

Hey everyone!  With winter in full swing, I figured we might need something a little warm to heat our chilly bones, but not that would take hours slaving over a stove or oven.  That's where my Crock Pot comes in.  This little guy is truly a life saver!  So I'm going to share with you my favourite recipe that I discovered this winter season!

Picture and recipe taken from http://theprettybee.com/2014/02/slow-cooker-cheesy-broccoli-chicken-rice.html

Ingredients:

~1 Tablespoon olive oil

~1½ pounds chicken breasts, cut into large chunks

~1 small onion, chopped

~1 clove of garlic, coarsely chopped

~1 cup uncooked long grain rice (white or brown, your choice)

~1 32 ounce box chicken broth

~1¼ teaspoon salt

~⅓ teaspoon pepper

~2 cups of chopped broccoli

~1¼ cup Daiya dairy free cheddar cheese (use regular cheese if you are not dairy free)

Directions:

1) Put the olive oil, chopped onion, and garlic in the bottom of the slow cooker.

2) Add the chicken breast pieces, salt, pepper, and rice.

3) Pour ⅔ of the container of broth on top. Stir.

4) Put lid on the slow cooker and turn it on high. Cook for four hours on high.

5) After two hours, check to make sure there is still enough liquid inside. If not, add some more warmed up broth.

6) A half an hour before it is done, add the chopped broccoli and stir. Add more warm broth if needed.

7) Cook for another half an hour until broccoli is bright green and tender.

8) Add the Daiya cheese and stir until melted. Season with more salt and pepper if desired.

Serve immediately and enjoy!

Budget Meal

Hey all you broke college students!  Have I got a meal for you!  

I've really been trying to save my money lately for a big move I'm planning in the new year, but that doesn't mean I have to give up all kinds of delicious food!  Like this meal I made here.  It's only got 5 ingredients and is SUPER simple to make.  And if I can make it, so can you!

Ingredients:

~1 pkg spicy chicken flavour instant noodles

~ 8-10 chopped baby carrots

~ 8-10 broccoli floret crowns

~ 12-15 pieces chopped, cooked chicken (i bought pre-chopped rotisserie chicken from Sobeys after their hot food section closed)

~ 2 slices of a red onion

~1 tblsp olive oil

Directions:

1) Pour 1 tablespoon of olive oil into a frying pan and heat on medium heat.  While the pan is heating, chop the onion and carrots, and break apart the broccoli florets.  Toss into the pan once finished with the already chopped chicken, and pan fry everything.

2) Bring water to a boil for the noodles.  Add noodles and cook to desired taste.

3) When noodles are finished cooking, drain all the water and add noodles to the frying pan.  Take the flavour sachet and sprinkle flavouring over everything in the pan.  Stir to mix flavouring.

4) Continue to stir for 3-4 minutes and you are done.  Plate and enjoy!

See how easy that was?  You can cook like a pro on a poor man's budget!  Now hurry up and eat before it gets cold!

Beautiful Banana Bread

I admit it.  I have been super lazy lately and our meals have mostly been consisting of fast food, my mother making us some din-din, or something quick, fast, and probably frozen, and I've now got the backside to prove it.  So I've been cruising around on Pintrest, looking for something to catch my attention.  And then BAM!  The perfect thing for summer!  Banana Bread!  And it's a very healthy recipe I found that has no oil or sugar, but uses apple sauce and honey instead.  So it's very bikini friendly as well.  This bread takes very little time to prep, but takes an hour to bake, so give yourself some time!  Also, don't pick the hottest day of the year so far to do your baking with no air conditioning like I did......Mommy dearest was none too impressed!

Ingredients:
~2 cups flour (the recipe calls for whole wheat flour, but I only had white on hand and it was fine)
~1 TSP baking SODA
~1/4 TSP salt
~1/2 cup sugar free applesauce
~3/4 cup honey
~2 eggs, beaten
~3 overripe bananas, mashed

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).  Lightly grease a 9"X5" loaf pan.

2) In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt.  In a separate bowl, mix together applesauce and honey.  Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended.  Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten.  Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.

3) Bake in preheated oven for 60-65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.  Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

That's all there is to this super healthy, super easy recipe!  Enjoy your fruity bread as much as I did!

Long live the homemade loaf!!

Crockpot Italian Chicken

This was a meal that I had found on pinterest AGES ago and thought it would be perfect for a day when I work 5-1 and Yuta works days, because I can put it on right when I get home and it should be perfect timing for when he finished.  AND I WAS RIGHT!!

Here is the SUPER simple recipe, just perfect for those nights when you can't be bothered to cook a big meal, but want something filling at the same time!

Ingredients:

~4 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts

~1 Pkg Italian salad dressing mix (dry)

~1 Pkg cream cheese (250g/ 8oz - softened)

~2 Cans cream of chicken soup (I recommend finding a low sodium option as Yuta said it was a TAD salty)

That's it!  Only 4 Ingredients!

                            

Directions:

1) Place your chicken breasts in the bottom of the crockpot and sprinkle the packet of Italian dressing over the chicken.

2) In a medium saucepan, combine the cans of cream of chicken and cream cheese.  Whisk smooth and heat through.  Pour over chicken.

3) Cook on LOW for 4-6 hours.  When finished, serve over rice or pasta.  

                          

                         

This is the delicious finished product!  Even my DAD said it was VERY GOOD!  And for my dad to say anything about my cooking, he must mean what he says.

Bon Appetit!

Cheeseburger Pasta

I can't believe how long it has been since I've cooked something new!  This winter, I just didn't feel like cooking cause I really didn't want to go outside and get groceries!  But I've been pinning like a madwoman, and this here is one of the recipes I found!  Yummy!

Cheeseburger Pasta

Ingredients:

~1 pound of pasta, cooked (penne or similar...I used rotini)

~1 pound of ground beef

~3/4 cup milk

~1/2 tsp garlic powder

~2 cups of cheddar cheese

~1 tsp of pepper

~1/2 tsp of salt

~1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Directions:

1) Brown beef in a medium size skillet ~ Add salt, pepper, and garlic powder; drain

2) In a medium sauce pan- over medium-low heat- add milk and cheese.  Mix until cheese is melted.  Add parmesan cheese and mix

3) Add cheese sauce to beef and mix

4) Add cooked pasta to to skillet and mix well

5) Dig In!

This recipe serves 4, but I have 5 people with big appetites in my family, so I added a bit more pasta as filler and a couple scoops of Cheez Whiz to thicken the sauce up.  

Cottage Pie

My mom has been sick this past week, and not eating a lot due to stomach queasyness, so when she was feeling a bit better, I decided to make a classic family favourite, that was hearty and delicious!  Cottage Pie!  I know what everyone is thinking.....That's just shepard's pie!  But since I'm using beef, it's actually called cottage pie.  Shepard's pie uses lamb!  Thanks Gordon Ramsey for clearing that up for me!


 I found this recipe on my newest addiction website, Pinterest!  It's a different take on what my mom would normally make, but it looked so good I had to try it!  And now I'm going to share this delicious recipe with you!

Ingredients:
~1-1 1/2 lbs of ground beef
~1 jar beef gravy (I used Diana sauce brand that I found at Sobey's)
~1/4 tsp thyme
~2 cups mashed potatoes
~1/2 to 1 onion, diced (depending on the size of the onion)
~1 can corn
~salt and pepper
~dash of sage
~butter (to dot pie)

Directions:
1) Brown ground beef with onion.  Drain grease

2) Add thyme, sage, salt and pepper, and gravy to the meat.

3) Pour into a lightly buttered casserole dish.  Add the can of corn on top.  Top with mashed potatoes and dot the potatoes with butter

4) Bake at 400º F for 15-20 minutes or until potatoes have browned a bit on top.

Because I have a slight cheese addiction, I added a bit of shredded mozzarella on top!  So yummy!  So everyone, please enjoy this classic Laporte family winter staple!

Happy eating!

Chicken and Dumpling Soup

The other night I was craving some good old fashioned comfort food.  The air was cold, Christmas specials had started, and me and my family were hungry.  So what to make?  What my grandmother used to make of course!  My mom, for years, tried getting the recipe off my grandma before she passed away, but she never would give it up.  So, I have been scouring FoodGawker, looking for something like this for ages!  But, they all seemed really complicated, with lots of spices and things, but then I thought, Grandma's was never complicated.  It was plain and perfect.  And then I remembered my friend Cassie telling me she had just made this not to long ago!  So I asked her how she made it and this is her version of Chicken and Dumplings with a Lauren twist!

Ingredients:

~2 Cans cream of chicken soup

~2 Packages Chicken Bouillon

~1 Can Pillsbury Country Biscuits

~1 Package Chicken Fillets, cut into bite sized pieces

~Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Prepare the soups as directed on the cans, and add the packaged bouillon.  Bring to a rolling boil. Add the chicken and cook through.  When the chicken is cooked through, open the can of biscuits, separate, and cut into quarters, then add to the soup and cover.  (I, at this point, had no idea how to tell when the biscuits would be ready.  And mom kept telling me, "until the don't taste doughy!" But really what does that mean?  So I cooked the soup for about 15 minutes more and had my mom taste it.  She said they were done)
Add your salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!