- Small snack-sized ziplock of frozen (hulled) strawberries
- 3 full tablespoons of low-fat vanilla yogurt (yes, they are heapingly high)
- 2/3 c apple cider
- 1 scoop of Ovaltine mix
Puree' or liquify and there you go.
Yum and cheers!
Not *so* lazy granola
1 c oatmeal
1 c flake cereal (crushed)
1 c chopped dates (bagged, dried, not me doing it myself)
1 c chopped walnuts
Mix together and bake at 350* for 10 minutes.
Take off pan - I used wax paper so as not to deal w/a mess - and mix in bowl while pouring honey on it (I didn't measure, just 2-3 heavy helpings splashed on). Lay back out on the pan and bake another 10 mins at 350*. Take it out, mix it up/turn it over a bit and put back in the oven for about 5 mins. I actually shut the oven off at that point.
Serve over low-fat vanilla yogurt and toss a handful of chocolate chips on top. Mixed it all up = YUM!
You can pretty much use any "flake" cereal, change things up with any kind of nuts (my next try I made it with roasted sunflower seeds and the walnuts again). And I used WAY too much honey, I know. But who could resist?
Enjoy!
White Chicken Chili in the Crock Pot
- chicken (I used store-bought rotisserie and shredded it)
- 1 can Northern Beans, 1 can Navy beans
- 1 can hominy, 1 can white corn (only called for 1 but I did both)
- 1 can chicken broth, 1 can cream of chicken soup (probably could have done w/o one to make it less soupy)
- 1 pks taco seasoning
- 1/4 c sour cream before serving (mix in)
I left out the 1 can of chopped green chilies and decided not to add cheese, and no scallions (hubby isn't an onion or scallion fan), but I think sauteed onions would be SO good in this. Mmmn.
Toss it into the CP [mix chicken broth/cream soup/taco seasoning together before pouring on top of other ingredients] and cook all day. I made such a huge batch I probably should have done two pkgs of taco seasoning, to give it more kick and flavor, but it turned out really yum.
Since it was a little soup-y and I didn't want to make rice I decided to serve it with corn muffins. I usually use the Jiffy brand, but went store brand this time. We broke them up and scooped the chili over it and it was perfect.
It's not crazy spicy, like a typical chili might be, but it was really good. The recipe called for chiles, but I passed on those as I'm a wimp, and I thought for sure that my hubby would add hot sauce when he had some for dinner, but he didn't! Perfect!
I got the recipe here: http://www.food.com/recipe/crock-pot-white-chicken-chili-114789
... and I tweaked it a little bit to make it work for me and my family.
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Coconut and Peanut Chicken
3 chicken breasts *mine were pretty thick so I cut them in chunks/strips/whatever works*
1 can of coconut milk
1 package of Thai peanut sauce mix (with two small packets inside)
- Pour coconut milk into corningware/baking dish, add peanut sauce mix and whisk together.
- Place chicken in mixture and coat all sides
- It's immediately READY TO BAKE. You can let it soak a bit - which I did as the oven preheated, but otherwise I just popped that baby in there and mmmn.
I added frozen peas to the main dish, and made a huge pot of brown rice for the rest of the meal.
It bakes at 350* for like 30 minutes or so, until your chicken is cooked, and it is SO GOOD.
Seriously, SO good.
Let it sit a bit after you cook it so the sauce thickens some and it's less soupy when you top your rice with it. You could probably make it with egg noodles, and have it be a pseudo-pad-thai type of a meal, as well.
I could eat the sauce with the rice all day long. And I think I have. I had one serving left after two days, and I'll was totally about ready to eat it for breakfast!
The recipe was on the coconut milk can and the seasoning packet for the sauce, I just tweaked it a little bit. Ah, heaven. Enjoy!
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Pumpkin Oatmeal
I made this the other night and have eaten it for dinner and then a few breakfasts since. It is SO good. And I am so excited, because it's from Aarti Party!
2 c water
2 c almond milk (I used Vanilla Soy)
1 can pumpkin
2 c quick cooking oatmeal
3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice (I doubled this as I didn't use any natural seasoning/spices and added a splash or two of cinnamon)
raisins (she calls for a minimal amount, but I used two snack sized boxes)
splash of salt
- mix water, milk and pumpkin to a boil. Add salt and pumpkin pie spice.
- Once boiling add oatmeal and stir gently. Lower heat.
- There was no brown sugar in her recipe, but I always like to add a small handful to oatmeal, so I did that, too.
- Cook for as long as your oatmeal requires, it was about 15 minutes for me, give or take. I also added in slivered almonds.
OMG, it is SO good. Seriously. I made this in a huge pot and definitely had at least 3 more servings left after we'd probably eaten about 3-4 svgs, so it's something that could last you through the week, if you're up for it. I may have to make this weekly, or every other week, so I don't get tired of it. Yum.
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SALSA CHICKEN
2-3 chicken breasts
1 jar salsa of your choice
1 can black beans (drained)
1 can corn
1 jar salsa of your choice
1 can black beans (drained)
1 can corn
Re: the chicken ... you can use fresh or frozen, but if you're like me they're almost ALWAYS frozen because I buy them in bulk and try to keep them in the house at all times -- you can also roast a chicken (or if you're lazy like me you can buy one from the grocery store) and shred it up and use as much as you'd like for this recipe. You can also use frozen corn, or mix in any other veggies you might have on-hand.
Cook on low for about 6 hrs. With 1/2 hr to go in cooking feel free to add a block of cream cheese. Serve on top of rice (or toss the rice in with about an hour or so to go,) or with tortilla chips, and shredded taco flavored cheese on top. Or both! I love to add some sour cream to cut the spice, and my hubby prefers if I use taco sauce instead of salsa, as he doesn't like tomatoes or the chunks some salsas have, but sometimes you have to work with what you've got!
It's obviously a *lighter* version if you leave out the cream cheese, shredded cheese, and skip the sour cream, but sometimes I find I need at least ONE of the three to help cut the kick for myself and my taste buds.
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Oreo Cookie Balls
What you need:
36 Oreo Cookies (filling flavor of your choice - I opted for original)
1 pkg softened cream cheese (I used neufatachel - sp? - for less fat - tastes the same!)
Melting/Dipping chocolate
Get those cookies in the food processor. If your processor sucks, like mine does, you may have to do them in shifts, but otherwise just get them in there and ground 'em down to Oreo crumbs and shavings.
Put in bowl with softened cream cheese and mix together. Easier to be thorough with your hands. Messy, but better mix, in my experience. But I don't mind getting my hands dirty. I'm Dirty Jobs that way. Hmmn. I wonder if Mike Rowe would come over to make these with me? Sigh ...
Where was I? Oh yeah. Cookie balls. Right. Lost me for a minute.
Roll into a batch of teeny tiny balls. Cool in fridge for 1 hr.
Take out and melt chocolate dipping squares in microwave, or warm on stove. Careful not to burn. Use toothpick, or spoon to roll ball around and coat with chocolate.
Complete batch and set in fridge for 1-2 hrs.
Viola! Delicious.
Also, if you desire you can use decorative icing, etc. on them, or just leave them be. Perfect for gifts or for a party or just to eat. I currently have a block of neufatchel (?) cheese softening right now for the peanut butter Oreos my kid and I just pulverized, and we also just beat the heck out of some candy canes, as we're thinking of dipping the chocolate covered cookie balls into the crushed candy cane debris.
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Lazy Mom's BBQ-Cranberry Chicken Recipe
1 package of chicken thighs (boneless)
1 can of whole cranberry sauce
1/2 bottle BBQ sauce (you can use a whole bottle, but I used half today!)
That's it. Toss all of that into your slow cooker and keep it on low for 6-8 hours. If you're crunched for time you can turn it to high for a little bit.
You can throw some veggies in there, but I prefer them on the side. Frozen, canned or fresh, it's a perfect accompaniment. On top of that I've got some crescent roll dough I can get into the oven about ten minutes before serving time and we've got ourselves a meal.
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Lazy Mom's CrockPot Mac-n-Cheese
Ingredients:
8 ounces elbow macaroni, cooked and drained
1 (12 ounces) can evaporated milk
1-1/2 cups milk
2 eggs
4 cups shredded Cheddar cheese, divided (3 and 1)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Place the cooked macaroni in your coated CrockPot with butter or spray. Add the remaining ingredients except 1 cup of the cheese; mix well. You can - of course - do this in a mixing bowl before tossing into the CP. That's what I do!
Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup cheese, then cover and cook on the Low setting for 5 to 6 hours, or until the mixture is firm and golden around the edges. Do not remove the cover or stir until the macaroni has finished cooking.
Can be used as a side or turned into your main meal, it's just that good. I've moved mine into a bowl to store in the fridge, and I will mention that when it settles a bit it definitely tastes better - less "soupy-like" and more casserole or frittata-ish.
I have mixed up the cheeses a bit and used shredded mozzarella with cheddar, found it sort of changes the flavor. A friend mentioned using mustard powder in there for seasoning. It's definitely YUMMY!
ENJOY!
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Sweet Potatoes and Applesauce
2 lbs (6 medium sized, but fewer large ones work) of sweet potatoes
1-1/2 c applesauce [or cube up a couple of fresh apples]
2/3 c brown sugar
3 tbsp butter - melted
1 tsp cinnamon
top w. chopped nuts (optional!)
Peel sweet potatoes if you want (I did) and slice/cube. I used two HUGE potatoes, instead of so many small ones. Put potatoes in the CP. Combine all other ingredients (except nuts) in a bowl, pour over potatoes. Cook on Low for 6-8 hrs. Mash potatoes together or serve as is, w. "sauce" on top.
I actually mixed the sauce into the potatoes and let them cook that way. So yum! Oh, and I omitted the butter the second time I made them and they were just as good, so I feel a little healthier eating all of this than I did the days before. And yes, I do mean days, because when I make this, I'm almost always the only one eating it, and it becomes my side dish, my lunch the next day, my side dish again, and so on until it's all gone. So you get why I'm trying to reduce the butter aspect, right?
I have had friends make this and tell me with the fresh apples it's divine. Even if you don't peel them. I've had other friends say they added marshmallows on top at the end (oooh) and others still say they added nutmeg and ginger (I'm not a huge fan, so I don't) and turn it into a crumble on top. Whatever your pleasure, it's quite a delight!
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Lazy Mom's Chicken Tortellini Casserole
* 10 oz grilled chicken strips (I made strips out of grilled chicken)
* 9 oz alfredo sauce (but today's recipe is using Vodka sauce, as we had no alfredo in the house)
* 1 bag frozen tortellini (or fresh, whatever works - and I use cheese, but you can switch it up if you want to)
* splash of breadcrumbs
Chicken is usually pre-cooked if you buy the frozen or the packaged strips. Otherwise I'd cook them up a bit. Cook your pasta as directed. Combine with sauce of choice (the alfredo is really yum, and I'm not even a huge alfredo fan, so I hope the vodka sauce is just as delish!), top with breadcrumbs and bake at 350* for about 25 mins or so. Depends on how well cooked your chicken and pasta already are. Mine were good to go so I cooked for like 20-ish minutes.
You can also choose to top it with some mozzarella cheese, or, if you're truly a Lazy Mom, do like I did and shred some Polly-O string cheese to cover the top a bit. It all looks the same when it melts, right?
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Lazy Mom's Peanut Butter Cookies
* Peanut butter (1c)
* sugar (1c)
* 1 egg
* vanilla extract (a splash)
Basically you mix the ingredients together (it's a fun experiment to mix the peanut butter and sugar together - trust me!) and shape them into small cookie balls [heh heh - I said cookie balls] and plop 'em on a cookie sheet. Flatten them down and cook at 350* for somewhere between 10-15 minutes. Obviously you need to keep an eye on them. I would check them at 10, if they're not done, come back at 12, and so on. I'm a cookie making freak that way, though.
Oh, and the book does say if you want to make them pretty peanut butter cookies you can use your fork to make that fancy design on top. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. Either way, they taste the same ... DeeeeeLicious!
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Lazy Mom's Hash Brown Casserole
* 1 lb ground meat (I chose Turkey)
* 1 bag ('ish') of frozen hash browns (you can use tater tots if you prefer)
* 1 can cream of something soup (chicken here)
* 1/2 c milk
* 1-2 c shredded cheese (any kind)
* breadcrumbs to top (optional)
Brown meat in a skillet. Once done, combine meat, soup, milk, cheese and hashbrowns in mixing bowl. If you use tater tots, leave some to top off baking dish.
Place in a deep baking dish and cook at 350* for 30-40 minutes, or until brown and bubbly. I added breadcrumbs to the top of mine, and my timer is currently telling me I need to check them, so that's all. Enjoy!
p.s. Use breadcrumbs sparingly, because I think I just covered the dish with too much of them, and therefore they're going to take forever to actually brown. Boo!
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Lazy Mom's Homemade Croutons{recipe by my not-at-all-lazy-mother-in-law!}
* Leftover bread (not stale - but extra) and cut it up into multiple squares [take several slices and layer them on top of each other, and use a good knife to do so]
* Sprinkle frying pan at medium heat with olive oil and butter
* Toss bread squares into pan, salt and pepper to taste, and sprinkle with garlic and onion powders
* Add more olive oil if necessary
Serve with salad, soup, top with parmesan cheese and you're good to go! YUM!!!!
Beware, though, these are addictive. You will find yourselves eating them as a snack, and likely more for munching than for your actual meal time "accessories!"
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Lazy Mom's Hot Fruit Salad
* 20 oz jar chunky applesauce
* 21 oz can cherry pie filling
* 15 oz can peach slices (drained)
* 11 oz can mandarin oranges (drained)
* 8 oz can of pineapple chunks
* 1/2 cup brown sugar
* 1 teasp. cinnamon
Combine in crockpot. Mix ingredients. Cook on low for 90 minutes. (You can also bake for 90 minutes at 350*!)
DONE.
This is a yummy breakfast treat, or a great snack, dessert, it can be served pretty much any time of day. It's only yum if you enjoy warm "fruit," which I do, so it works for me!
You can serve it with biscuits (Pillsbury is my friend), or tarts. Yum. With cheesecake, even, if you do fruit with yours (I don't, but I'm suggesting it anyway!). Or just serve it solo, because warmed up it's absolutely delicious ... all by itself.
Enjoy!
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Lazy Mom's Corn Casserole
* 16 oz can of creamed corn
* 16 oz can of corn (drained)
* 1 box of corn muffin mix (I use Jiffy)
* 1 c milk
* 1 egg
Mix ingredients together. Grease casserole dish. Pour mixture in.
Cook at 375* for 35-45 minutes.
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Taco Chicken
1 package Old Paso taco shells
1 jar Taco sauce
1 can black beans (drained - any kind of beans work, including refried)
corn (frozen/canned)
shredded cheese (normally I go for the Mexican style)
sour cream (optional)
Toss chicken strips, black beans, taco sauce [you don't have to use the entire jar, I usually just cover the chicken fully] and corn into Crockpot. Let cook for 4-6 hours on Low setting. Stir occasionally.
Once heated through, top off with shredded cheese and cover for about 30 minutes. You can also mix cheese throughout, if that's your preference. If so, I'd add a few handfuls, stir the mixture and then top off with more cheese before covering Crockpot until cheese fully melts.
Serve with taco shells and sour cream. We usually opt for the soft tortillas, and you can warm them up in the microwave and wrap up the rest really tightly. But this time I was in the mood for the crunch of the taco!
Another optional ingredient is to add some cream cheese about 30-40 minutes before you're ready to eat, which thickens the taco sauce and takes the place of the shredded cheese.
And personally, I'd LOVE to add tomatoes to this meal, but hubby doesn't eat them, so I avoid that, but you can add Rotel, or canned diced tomatoes, or pretty much whatever floats your boat. So not only is this a lazy and easy recipe, it's super flexible. You can, of course, bake this in the oven, but then you'd have to watch it and truly time it, and who really wants to do that - especially in this heat? Not me.
Enjoy!
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Lazy Mom's Chicken and Pintos
Ingredients:
* 1 roast chicken (doesn't have to be the entire chicken)
* 1 can pinto beans (drained)
* frozen corn
* 1/2 can chicken and stars soup
* 1/2 can (see above) water
* 1 package of ready-made rice
Shred chicken [I used garlic seasoned].
Drain can of pinto beans and empty into crockpot over shredded chicken.
Add frozen corn (or other veggie(s) - this is a flexible recipe).
I didn't have chicken broth, or I would have put in about a cup of that, but I grabbed a can of generic chicken and stars soup, used about 1/2 the can, then added about 1/2 the same can of water to the mix.
Cook on low for 4 hours (possibly less) and serve over/with ready-made rice. I used the Rice Pilaf from Uncle Ben's with Orzo in it. I think the orzo gives it a little more texture.
Throw a pack of crescent rolls into the oven and about 8 minutes later you have yourself a complete meal! And this time I made the Great Value brand of crescent rolls, and they're delicious! The biscuits, not so much, but these were great. Maybe (gasp!) even better (gasp!) than Pillsbury! (GASP!)
Enjoy!
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Lazy Mom's Chicken Parm
* 1 package of frozen chicken nuggets (don't judge me)
* 1 jar of marinara sauce of your choosing
* 1 c parmesan cheese
* Polly-O mozzarella (gotta be the hunk-o-cheese, nothing better)
Layer bottom of your Crock Pot with the frozen nuggets.
[Be smart, and make one layer, as this lazy mom did not do so, and therefore the 2 hours of cooking was not quite enough to get them all done. Once I removed some for dinner, the rest cooked super fast!]
Pour marinara sauce on top of nuggets.
[You do not have to use the entire jar here. I probably fell just under that amount.]
Sprinkle in parmesan cheese
[Or you could mix it with the sauce before pouring, your preference.]
Layer the thinly sliced mozzarella cheese on top. Cook on High for 2-3 hours, depending on how many nuggets you've thrown in there.
I'm a mix it up kind of eater, so I actually layered some cheese in there directly ON the nuggets. When it got hot enough it was a melty, gooey, saucy, cheesy and yummy delight.
So yes, it was a bit lazy of me to use all prepared [gasp, processed!?!] ingredients. And to choose to make this in my slow cooker, instead of my oven, but you know what? It was so brainless I barely had to look at it while I was preparing it. And sometimes we parents need those kinds of meals. Saves us some insanity, ya know? And it was YUM. Enjoy!
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