Salsa and Black Bean Slow-Cooker Chicken

This is super-easy and one of our favorites. 

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups salsa
4 chicken breasts

Mix 1 cup salsa and black beans.  Pour mixture into the bottom of a slow-cooker.  Place chicken breasts on top of bean mixture.  Top with remaining salsa.

Cook on low setting for 4 hours.  It is ready when the chicken is fall-apart tender.  This is delicious topped with cheddar cheese or sour cream.  Alternatively, you can mix some cream cheese into the sauce just before serving.  Doing this makes it less spicy- I like to mix cream cheese into some of the sauce for my daughter.  My slow-cooker seems to cook things faster than the time indicated in most recipes.  You may need to cook this for additional time. 

Vegetable Bean Soup

The Relish magazine comes in our local paper occasionally.  This recipe was included in the recent issue. This is a hearty, flavorful soup that is perfect for Ryan's new diet.  He can't eat most grains in addition to dairy and processed meat.  So, I omitted the bacon and sauteed the vegetables in extra virgin olive oil.  I also omitted the spinach- just because I forgot to thaw some frozen spinach- and the parmesan cheese. 

Aunt Ilene's Specialties

At a ladies' luncheon yesterday, my aunt made her famous chicken squares and a savory soup. Her friends asked repeatedly for the recipes. They make for a perfect winter lunch! We all enjoyed assorted hot teas, fruit salad, and scrumptious desserts as well.

Savory Crescent Chicken Squares

3 oz softened cream cheese
3 T melted butter
2 c. cubed cooked chicken
salt
pepper
2 T milk
1 T chopped onions
1 T chopped celery
2 T slivered almonds
8 oz refrigerated crescent rolls
3/4 c seasoned stuffing (can be crushed into finer crumbs if desired)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In medium bowl, blend cream cheese, 2 T butter (reserve 1 T) until smooth. Add chicken, salt, pepper, milk, onions, celery and almonds. Mix well.

Separate crescent rolls into four rectangles. Press perforations to seal. Spoon 1/2 c. chicken mixture onto center of rectangle. Pull 4 corners of dough to top center and seal edges. Brush with 1 T melted butter. Dip in crumbs.

Bake on ungreased cookie sheet 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Vegetable Cheese Soup

1 1/2 c. cauliflower
1 c. carrots
1/4 c. celery
1 /4 c. onion
2 c. chicken broth
1 c. milk (2% or whole)
2 T. butter
1/4 c. flour
4 slices American cheese

Cut vegetables into small pieces. Boil in broth approximately 10 minutes. Blend (with broth) in a food processor until coarse pieces are achieved.

Melt butter in saucepan. Add flour. Stir in milk. When thickened, add cheese and vegetables. Stir until cheese is melted.

Homemade Cranberry Applesauce

I created this recipe to use up half a bag of fresh cranberries in the fridge as well as some old apples. Delish!

1/2 bag fresh cranberries
4 large apples peeled, cored and sliced (I used granny smith)
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup water

Combine all ingredients in a medium or large saucepan. Cover and heat to boiling over medium-high heat. Stir often. Boil for 10-15 minutes until apples and cranberries are soft. Stir well to break up the apples and distribute the bright red cranberry color throughout the sauce. Cool and enjoy!

Grandma's Sour Cream Walnuts

This is Grandma's recipe as I copied it onto a recipe card when I was a girl:

1 lb walnuts
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 T vanilla
Mix sugar and sour cream. Bring to a boil and boil 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Add nuts and stir. Remove from pan. Put on waxed paper to dry. Separate; dry overnight.

I found that I had to keep stirring the mixture on the stove so it wouldn't burn on the bottom. You have to watch the clock carefully to make sure it is cooked long enough. A similar recipe here contains brown sugar in place of some of the sugar and instructs the cook to boil to 236 degrees using a candy thermometer. Other variations I saw listed the 2 cups of sugar along with the sour cream and 4 cups of walnuts. Enjoy!

Tasty Soups with Greens

I loved this flavorful soup published originally in Parenting magazine, here. It makes a huge amount, so I cut it down quite a bit. I don't like my carrots and celery too soft, so I added them later, after the lentils had cooked for a little bit. Delicious! Molly, my two year old, loved it, too.

Lemony Lentil Soup with Greens
Even kids love this hearty, healthy soup with a tasty hint of citrus
By Ellie Krieger

PREP TIME: 15 minutes
TOTAL TIME: 55 minutes
SERVES: 6

2 tsp canola oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
16 oz green or brown lentils
12 cups low-sodium chicken broth, plus more as needed
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp salt
8 cups chopped kale leaves (about 6 oz)
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest

PER SERVING: 410 calories, 7 g fat (1 g saturated), 600 mg sodium, 0 mg cholesterol

1. Heat the oil in a 6-quart pot over medium-high heat. Cook the onion until softened and translucent, about 3 to 5 minutes.
2. Add the carrot, celery, and garlic. Cover and stir occasionally, until the carrots are tender, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the lentils, broth, basil, thyme, and salt, and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce the heat to low, then add the kale (leave out for picky eaters!); cook until the lentils are tender, 30 to 35 minutes. Add additional broth if necessary.
5. Stir in the lemon juice and zest, and serve.

I have yet to try this one, but it sounds like a similar type of soup. This recipe for Spinach and Leek White Bean Soup is found on allrecipes.com and can be found by clicking here. Make sure you read the reviews because several people suggested leaving out the couscous and others substituted other herbs for the cumin.

Cooking with Jack Daniels

I recently started reviewing books on my blogs for Thomas Nelson publishers. The first title I chose was The Search for God and Guinness. Fittingly, I selected a Jack Daniel’s cookbook for my next review. My husband is worrying a little about my focus on alcohol… And to think that Thomas Nelson is a Christian publisher!
Having lived mostly in suburban Midwest and Texas, I felt like I was reading about the culture and food of a foreign people when I browsed the pages of the Jack Daniel’s Spirit of Tennessee Cookbook. Scattered among the recipes are stories of people, places and customs. Not to be missed is the history “Miss Mary Bobo’s Boarding House”, while I wish I had skipped “Possum and Sweet ‘Taters”!
The recipes themselves are a thorough collection of Southern favorites with modern adaptations and creations. While every chapter contains recipes calling for Jack Daniel’s Whisky, like Intoxicated Chicken, there are many dishes that are just representative of the food served in Lynchburg, Tennessee, the home of the Jack Daniel’s Distillery. I am eager to try Lynchburg Lemonade (p.20), a spiked citrus drink. I also have dog-eared the page with instructions for Chocolate Souffle Cake (p.160), a flourless cake perfect for my gluten intolerant husband. I think I’ll skip the possum and just make the Tipsy Sweet Potatoes (p.74)!