Crock Pot Yogurt

I said I'd do it, and I did. I like when that happens. It was easy, I didn't die, and not only do I love the way it turned out, my kids do too! Score 1 for the mom. :)

My mom has made her own yogurt for years and I always looked at her bowl of rotten milk sitting on her counter with disgust. It seemed pretty hokie. I never actually tried it though (sorry mom). In my internet searching for whole foods recipes I came across this recipe and it intrigued me. I use a lot of yogurt at my house. Not only for eating plain but in smoothies and all sorts of other recipes. Yogurt is pricey, especially when you're purchasing the quality stuff. Well, to get away from the artificial colors, flavors, and sweeteners I decided to give this a go.

I found this recipe at Bless This Mess. Her blog is a great resource in some whole foods recipes. :)

Crockpot Yogurt

1/2 gallon (8 cups) whole milk (I haven't tried a lower fat content yet, supposedly the yogurt is thinner.)

1/2 cup commercial plain yogurt that says “Live and Active Cultures” on the tub. I used Stoneyfield farms plain greek yogurt.

In a large crock pot pour in the milk.  Turn it on low for around 2 1/2 hours.  After that time has passed, unplug the crock pot and let it sit for 3 hours. After the 3 hours has passed stir in the 1/2 cup of  yogurt.  Replace the lid of the crock pot and cover with 2 big towels or a blanket. (I just used one big towel. My mom just uses a dish towel.) Let rest for 8 to 12 hours (Mine was longer, I wasn't getting up at 3 a.m. That's why I was worried I was going to get sick. It ended up being 17 hours).  In the morning you’ll have yogurt!  Put it in a quart sized mason jar and refrigerate for a few hours before serving. Mine filled up two jars with a small bowl leftover. It will thicken up in the fridge. Don't forget to save 1/2 cup of your yogurt for your next batch.

 

At this point I was worried about my safety. ;) It was cool to see the transformation though.

 

I filled two of these quart sized jars. So I ended up with a half gallon of yogurt for approximately $1.25. Not bad!

You can also let the yogurt strain in cheese cloth, in the fridge for a few hours and you’ll get a thicker Greek yogurt!

 

Awesome. So glad it worked out. It feels great serving a wholesome product to the kiddos. I sliced a banana in it and drizzled honey. They loved it. Personally, I think it has a milder flavor than some of the plain yogurts I've purchased from the store.

 

 

Have a great Monday!!

Crockpot Chicken Tortilla Soup

I'm glad the is still cool enough to get away with doing a soup every now and then.  Soup is my all time favorite.  It's so easy to throw together and the results are almost always DELISH!  We added this one to our favorite soup list.  It had great flavor and was the perfect meal to end the day with. 

Chicken Tortilla Soup
1 medium onion
1 Tbsp Taco seasoning
1-12 oz. beer or 12 oz. chicken broth (I used the broth.  Curious as to what the beer does to it.  If you use it, let me know.)
1 can black beans
1 can chili beans
1 can diced tomatoes with chili peppers
1-8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 can chicken broth
1 can mexican corn
1 lb chicken

(The cans are all standard sized cans.)

Garnish-
Tortilla chips
Shredded cheddar cheese
Sour cream

Put all your ingredients in the crockpot, and stir to combine.  Cook on low for 8 hours.  Pour into bowls and top with crumbled tortilla chips, cheese, and sour cream.  Enjoy!

Source-Melissa W.

It's a rainy day here today.  I hope it stays like this all day.  I love dark rainy days!  Have a fabulous Tuesday!

Love, Erica*

Crockpot Beef Stroganoff

I'm not usually a big fan of stroganoff, but this recipe called for cream cheese so it had to be good...and it was!  As my 3 year old would say, it was Delcious, Delectable, DELIGHTFUL!  :o)  A big hit with everyone in the family.

Crockpot Beef Stroganoff
2 lbs. stew meat
2 cans golden mushroom soup
1 large yellow onion, diced
1/2 c. water
1 container of whole mushrooms, sliced
3-4 Tbsp worchesteshire sauce (I like a lot of this stuff)
couple dashes of garlic salt
couple dashes of paprika
8 oz. cream cheese

In your crockpot add the soup, onion, mushrooms, water, worchestershire sauce, garlic salt, and paprika.  Stir until well combined and then add your stew meat.  Stir to coat it.  Turn on low and let it cook for 6-8 hours.  A half hour before serving cut your cream cheese into cubes and add it to the crockpot.  Stir until all melted.  Serve over your favorite noodles, or rice.  Yum!

Source-The Crock Star

Sorry we were both slackers this week.  The weather has been absolutley GORGEOUS here, and we've been outside cleaning up the yard, and just enjoying some good ole' vitamin d!  I know it really raises my spirit to feel that warm sun on my face.

And!!!...we are finally up to 300 followers!  How exciting is that?!  Thank you to all of our followers. 

Happy Friday! 

Crockpot Balsamic Chicken

I love the crockpot!  Nothing more easy than throwing everything in there and forgetting about it until dinner time.  I love the way it makes your entire house smell yummy too.  I tried this new recipe and it was good.  We gobbled it right up.

Balsamic Chicken

4-6 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts

2-14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 onion thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp each: dried oregano,basil, and rosemary (Give or take.  I don't like a lot of spices, so I didn't add as much.)
1/2 tsp thyme
ground black pepper and salt to taste

Pour the olive oil on bottom of crock pot.  Place in chicken breasts, salt and pepper each breast.  Top with sliced onions then dried herbs, and garlic.  Pour in vinegar and top with tomatoes.  Cook on high for 4 hours, and serve over your favorite noodles. 

Crockpot Cheesy Chicken

Yum!  This recipe is killer!  My family and I LOVE it.  I try not to make it so much, so they don't get sick of it, but I could seriously eat it all the time. I love that it has everything in it and so easy to throw together.  Nothing like throwing everything into your crockpot and forgetting about it until it's about time to eat.

Crockpot Cheesy Chicken
6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste
1 can cream of chicken
1 can cream of mushroom
2 cans cheddar cheese soup
8 oz sour cream
1 small can of mushrooms
1 small bag of broccoli
6-8 oz of cooked noodles (I like egg noodles)

Place your chicken in the crockpot and season them. In a seperate bowl mix together soups and mushrooms until well combined.  Pour over chicken.  Cook on low 6 hours or so.  When it's about done add the sour cream and broccoli.  Cook until broccoli is heated through.  Throw in your cooked noodles and stir to combine and then enjoy!

Seriously SO YUMMY!

Adapted from Allrecipes

Have a fun and safe weekend! 

Crockpot BBQ Chicken

Another great recipe in my collection of family favorite crockpot dinners.  We love this chicken.  It's so moist and perfect.  This is my kind of meal, especially this week.  My 3 year old is finally interested in potty training, my baby cut his first tooth, and my 11 year old is crazy busy with school and soccer.  It's been pretty eventful around here.  So the easier the dinner, the better. 

Crockpot BBQ Chicken

4-6 chicken breasts (I had the little tenders, so I threw in 12.  I also used frozen, but fresh works great too!)

1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce

1/4 c. white vinegar

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

1/4 c. brown sugar

1 tsp. garlic powder

In a meduim bowl mix together, bbq sauce, vinegar, red pepper flakes, brown sugar, and garlic powder.  Stir until combined.  Place your chicken in the crockpot and pour the sauce over the top of it.  Cook on low for 4-6 hours.  Stir maybe once in the middle of cooking time.

Source-Stick a Fork in it 

Hope you all had a fantastic week.  Have a fun and safe weekend.  See you Monday!!

Tender Creamy Cube Steaks

This is another one of my favorite crockpot recipes.  With my lil' man being sick this week I haven't had much time to do anything else but hold and rock him (which is fine by me), I had to think of easy things to cook for dinner and this is one of them.  It has only a few ingredients but it doesn't lack on taste at all.  Pour it over mashed potatoes, rice, or even noodles like a stroganoff.  These are so tender you can cut them with a fork.

Tender Creamy Cube Steaks

4-6 good sized cube steaks (I used 8, because my butcher cuts ours up little)
2 cans of cream of mushroom soup
1 packet of dry lipton onion soup
1 c. water
1 sm. can of mushrooms  (Use fresh, if you have them.)

Heat a little oil in a large frying pan.  Brown your steaks on both sides. Throw into crockpot.  Mix remaining ingredients and pour over top of steaks.  Cook on low for 4-6 hours. 

Hope your having a great week!!  I think Spring is finally here!  Yipee!!!

Lemon Butter Chicken

I wanted to try something different for dinner with chicken, and I found this recipe and it looked easy enough to throw together.  My family loved it, as did I.  It's not the healthiest, but it was oh so good with some garlic parmesan noodles and green beans.  You can also do this in the crock pot too.  I would have tried it that way, but I'm not very ambitious in the morning.  Am I the only one that stays in my jammies until...ok...all day?!  Hurry and vacuum and do the dishes before the husband gets home, so he thinks I actually did something during the day.  Ha!...Hey!  I don't do it every day!!  Being a stay at home mom is hard work!  Try this recipe.  It's easy and tasty.  And you won't be sorry.

Can you see the butter?!  Mmmm...Gotta love it!

Lemon Butter Chicken

1 cube butter

1 package of Good Season Italian Seasoning

2 lbs chicken tenders, or breasts

The juice of 2 lemons

Melt the butter in a big frying pan.  Add your chicken and then sprinkle the seasoning over the top and the juice of the lemons.  Cover and let cook on medium heat until tender.  I took the lid off, and let the juice simmer down so I could get a yummy crispy crust on my chicken.

For the crockpot, put melted butter in the bottom of the crockpot and add chicken.  Sprinkle with seasoning and juice.  Put on lid and cook on high 4-5 hours or on low 6-8 hours.

Enjoy!!

And we had to pick a new winner, because our first one never contacted us.  So...the winner of the Shutterfly photo book is Stephanie Smiley!!  Congrats!!  Make sure to e-mail Monica at cholita41 at yahoo dot com to claim your prize. 

See you tomorrow!

Source-The Queen Bees Hive 

Monday Match Up-Crockpot

A crockpot recipe?  On the week of Thanksgiving?  Yes.  Why?  Because we know how busy we are, and I'm sure you are gonna be baking and cooking for the big day, so we wanted the first of the week to have an easy recipe.  And what's more easy than throwing stuff in the crockpot and forgetting about it for the rest of the day.  I LOVE IT!  I chose to do one of my family's favorite.  French Dips.  Simple ingredients and awesome results. 

Here's the recipe~

Crockpot French Dips

4 lb. rump roast
12 oz. can of beer  :o)
10.5 oz can beef broth
10.5 oz can french onion soup
6 of your favorite hoagie rolls
butter
provolone cheese

Trim excess fat from the rump roast, and place in a slow cooker. Add the beef broth, onion soup and beer. Cook on Low setting for 7 hours. When you are about ready to eat, preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cut hoagies in half and butter and bake until starts to get a little crisp.  Top with cheese and leave it in til it's good and melty.  Slice or shred your meat and place on hoagies, and serve with the Au Jus in the crockpot for dipping.  DELISH!  Perfect with some potato chips, or homemade fries.

And I can't close my post without wishing my beautiful daughter a HAPPY HAPPY 11th Birthday.  Ugh!  I can't believe I have an 11 year old.  So happy she is mine.  :o)  Love you, my Justy!

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Yes! I need easy right now. I have a huge to do list this week and all the other everyday stuff needs to have easy written all over it. I love crockpot recipes. Every time I make one I wonder why I don't do these more often. EASY! I made a new recipe for ribs and they turned out very tasty. A recipe to keep for sure.

Santa Fe Country Style Ribs

2 lb. boneless country-style pork ribs
1/2 t. salt
3/4 cup Salsa (I used a thick and chunky medium, we like spice)
3/4 cup Chili Sauce
1 t. ground cumin
1/4 t. ground red cayenne pepper (I used a sprinkle or two, not too much for the kids' sake)
2 Tbls. tomato paste

Spray your crockpot with cooking spray. In the cooker place ribs and sprinkle with salt. In small bowl, mix salsa, chili sauce, cumin, and red pepper. Pour over ribs.

Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours.

Remove ribs from cooker. (I used a slotted spoon because they were so tender.) Into a 2 cup measuring cup, pour 1 cup cooking juices from the cooker. Stir in 2 Tbls. of your tomato paste. Spoon over ribs and reserve some for extra sauce at the table.

We had these with mashed potatoes, green beans, and a bread. Yum!

Yay for Turkey Week! Also, don't forget to enter our Giveaway for the book CakePops by Bakerella. Enter Here.

Happy Birthday Justy! We sure love you. I remember the day you were born. Eeek. It was a crazy experience. So glad you made it. Have a great day!

Source: Pillsbury Slow Cooker