Slow Cooker Mushrooms and Rice

I follow several different food bloggers. One of my favorites is Kalyn's Kitchen . I love her ideas, recipes, photos and simplicity! Here is one of our family favorites that I have adapted from her blog. To see her original version click on the link below the picture.

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Slow Cooker Mushrooms and Rice

Ingredients:
2 cups fresh mushrooms
1/4 cup finely chopped onion (or Tastefully Simple Onion Onion)

1 cup uncooked rice

2 tsp. dried parsley

4 cups chicken stock

salt to taste

grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

Place all ingredients except parm cheese in slow cooker. Cook on low for about 3 hours.

Stir in Parmesan cheese and serve hot. We love this with a side of garlic bread.

Chili and Cornbread!

I LOVE Fall!

It is my favorite time of year and as soon as the weather gets cooler I start making homemade breads and soups for our dinner staple. It is so affordable and easy to do! I love walking in after a long day at work and smelling fresh bread in the bread maker and soup simmering in the slowcooker.

This week I decided on some Chili and Cornbread. This is a really easy recipe to go Vegan with but because I was making an extra huge batch to share with some friends and also throw in our freezer for later I decided to add some ground beef.

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Black and White Chili

Ingredients:

1 lb beans (1/2 lb black beans and 1/2 lb white northern beans) but really you can use anything!

1 medium onion, chopped

1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes

1/2 lb ground beef (you could omit this or sub w/ life light crumbles)

garlic, salt, chili powder to season

V8 or tomato juice to vary the thickness of chili

Directions:

Cook ground beef and combine all ingredients in the slow cooker. Put on low for 10 hours or on high for 6. Season as you like and use the V8 or tomato juice to get the decided consistency you like.

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Vegan Cornbread

Ingredients:

2 cups cornmeal

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 cups soymilk
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350, line a 9×13 baking pan, spray the bottom lightly with non-stick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, wisk together the soymilk and the vinegar and set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients (cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt). Add the oil and maple syrup to the soymilk mixture. Wisk with a wire wisk or a fork until it is foamy and bubbly, about 2 minutes.

Pour the wet ingredient into the dry and mix together using a large wooden spoon or a firm spatula. Pour batter into the prepared baking pan and bake 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Slice into squares and serve warm or store in an airtight container.

Bountiful Beer Bread: Pizza Style

At our house we love the Bountiful Beer Bread from Tastefully Simple. It is so versatile I can't seem to keep it in the house. Recipes from cinnamon bread to peanut butter bread - to jalapeno bacon bread - to pizza dough it is for sure a staple in our kitchen.

Today I decided to experiment with a Sausage Pizza Bread!

Ingredients:

1 package Bountiful Beer Bread (could use Savory Wheat)

1 can beer

1 lb ground sausage

1/2 cup parm cheese (use soy parm for dairy free)

butter

Directions:

* brown sausage in pan - I added a little Garlic Garlic and Onion Onion to this for some extra flavor but that is optional

* Mix bread mix, beer, cooked sausage, cheese together and pour into a greased 8x8 glass pan

* Top w/ Butter (I just sliced and threw on top)

* Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.

* Serve w/ pizza sauce!

Sorry about the low quality of pictures... bad morning lighting, bad camera on phone, etc.

vacation.

I haven't posted in a while. Call me lazy. Doesn't mean I haven't been in the kitchen. Maybe it means I am making so many good things that I have decided to keep them a secret. hmmm....

I have really just been making a lot of old favorites. I haven't been super creative with new foods or recipes lately. Pouring my creativity into my new business is so exciting that I neglect time to be creative in other areas of my life... such as the kitchen.

This week happens to be vacation. Both us of OFF work for a whole week... paid! Loving this.

First part of the week is a Stay-cation. We used the weekend to deep clean the house for Fall, enjoy the 70 degree weather, hang out at the Farmer's Market, take recycling, oil changes, etc. The rest of our time will be used to sleep, watch movies (we have a stack of 10 from the library and borrowed from friends!), and of course EAT!.

So back to that old recipes that are favorites.... Collard Greens, Green Chili Brats, Kale and White Beans, Fresh Salsa, Millet Muffins, etc. All of which you can find on here. Just go to the top left of the blog to "search" and type in the name of the recipe or ingredient and you should be good to go.

Second half of the week involves taking our puppy to grandma's (kevin's mom), spending some time with Kevin's family, and then leaving for a 4 day camping trip in Estes Park with old beloved college friends.

Both parts of this vacation are completely what we needed. Feeling thankful!

Hope you enjoy your Labor Day, eat lots of great food!

Hoppin' Jalapeno & Bacon Hummus

Back to getting back to making hummus on a weekly basis for lunches and snacks. Here is the creation for this week:

Hoppin' Jalapeno & Bacon Hummus

1 1/2 cups garbanzo beans (I use dried and cook in my crockpot but you can use 1 can - 15 oz)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon Hoppin' Jalapeno & Bacon Dip Mix

Mix together in food processor, let blend in fridge and ENJOY!

So easy and SO good!

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Enjoy your weekend!

Stuffed Peppers - Grill Style

Green Peppers were on sale this week and Kevin mentioned wanting stuffed peppers. I usually make stuffed peppers w/ hamburger, rice, and veggies and cook them in my crockpot while at work. However, I also found corn on the cob for a great price and wanted to grill that for dinner. I decided since we were going to be firing up the grill I would try the peppers on there as well.

I added a new twist to the recipe and they turned out great! Will for sure be making these again - grill or crockpot :)

Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:

6 peppers - washed and cut in half

1/2 lb to 1 lb ground meat (I actually went vegan and used LifeLight Meat)

Onion Onion (ts)

Garlic Garlic (ts)

Season Salt (ts)

Bayou Bourbon Glaze (ts)

Green Onions

Goat Cheese

Directions:

* Cook meat w/ seasonings and Bayou sauce. Add chopped green onion and goat cheese to meat mixture, heat for 2 minutes.

* Stuff mixture into peppers and lay on grill (do not flip, you will lose the meat mixture) until peppers look done

ENJOY!

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Zucchini Pancakes - The Tastefully Simple Way!

I posted a Zucchini Pancake Recipe a couple months ago that we love however I decided to redo the recipe using Tastefully Simple. I don't go a day without cooking using my Tastefully Simple ingredients so I wanted to make sure I posted this one for all of you as well.
Promise these are amazing, Kevin asks for them all the time! I can't keep zucchini in the house with all the great stuff you can do with it! Hears to hoping my garden produces a lot this year.

Zucchini Pancakes

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 egg
• 2-3 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese (or another kind of cheese, grated)
• garlic garlic
• onion onion
• roasted garlic infused oil for cooking

Directions

• Mix all ingredients together (minus the oil) - heat skillet w/ oil - place about 1/4 cup of the mixture in skillet and make a flat patty - cook and flip browning on both sides.
• You could also consider using Season Salt - Fiesta Party Dip - Bacon Bacon - etc! Get creative!

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