Slow Cooker Meatball Soup

Nothing like a bowl of warm soup on a cold and snowy evening!

With close to 15 inches of snow in the last week, I was looking for a nice, warm soup to warm us up while we sat in front of the fire and watched one of the new Disney Movies Santa delivered.  My favorite soup is Italian Wedding . . . but I wasn't *feeling* it, so we ended up with this mixture instead.

I will warn you - I don't know the exact ingredients for the meatballs - that's the Hubster's department.  I do know Ground Turkey was used.

Slow Cooker Meatball Soup

Meatballs

~ 1 pound ground turkey

~ breadcrumbs

~ 1 egg

~ Italian Seasoning

~ Parmesan Cheese

The ingredients above are just suggestions.  Make meatballs according to your favorite recipe.  Make them tiny - no more than 3/4".  Bake in the oven at 350 for 10 - 20 minutes.  Time will depend on the size - the Hubster made the meatballs on the larger size.  

Soup

7 cups chicken broth

1 cup water

2 - 3 cups potatoes, cut into small cubes

3/4 cup spinach, thawed and drained

1 cup carrots, diced

1 cup celery, diced

1 cup onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp basil

2 tsp Italian Seasoning

sprinkle salt

1/2 - 1 tsp red pepper (we like it a little spicy, so we add the 1 tsp)

1/2 - 1 cup Alphabet Pasta (the girls love their "noodles")

Dump all of the soup ingredients *except pasta* into slow cooker.  Add the meatballs.  Cover and cook between 3 and 5 hours on high or 8-10 hours on low.  Again, cooking times will vary depending on slow cooker.  We used the 6 qt bowl, but could get away with the 4 or 5 qt ones as well.  Add the uncooked pasta 30 minutes prior to serving.  Serve with Parmesan Cheese to sprinkle over individual bowls of soup.

Freezer to Slow Cooker Honey Rosemary Chicken

Freezer to Slow Cooker Honey Rosemary Chicken

Since I had such a rough summer with my MS sapping my energy levels, I wanted to start focusing on easy recipes that the Hubster could do.  After doing a lot of searching, I discovered that freezer meals would be the perfect way to go.  It would be almost like having pre-made foods for him.  AND - bonus to me - I could toss them together on days when I actually had some time and energy.

I got out some of my gallon sized Ziploc bags and a Sharpie and went to work . . . I focused on slow cooker meals because, really, how much easier could it be . . . just dump a bad in the slow cooker, maybe toss in an ingredient or two and . . . DONE!

I'm not certain where this recipe originated, it might have been in one of the Fix It Cookbooks, but couldn't tell ya for certain . . .

We like this recipe and decided that it's really good over rice.  Yes, GASP! he had to cook rice.

Freezer to Slow Cooker Honey Rosemary Chicken
4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/3 c balsamic vinegar
1/3 c honey
1/3 c olive oil
3 T fresh rosemary
1 t salt (optional)
1/2 c water

Toss all ingredients in gallon sized Ziploc bag.  Freeze flat in freezer.

When ready to cook, pull from freezer the night before and let thaw in fridge.  (We usually sit it in a Tupperware bowl to avoid any thawing-related messes).  The next morning, place in slow cooker - we used a 2 qt slow cooker bowl from the set and it was the perfect size.  Cook for 6-8 hours on low.  Our slow cooker had it done in 6 hours.  Remove chicken from sauce and shred.  Some people use the paddle in their Kitchen Aide Mixer - the Hubster simply uses two forks.  Place chicken back in slow cooker.  Spoon chicken and sauce mix over rice, pasta, couscous or quinoa.

   

Cookie Making Day!

Mom came up to help make cookies for Christmas.  We had some Christmas parties at work and school that required cookie trays as well as needing gifts for some friends and family . . . .

Above are the results of our day.

Coffee and Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Miss Mia requested we make Crinkle Cookies for her Christmas Party at school.  I was happy to oblige.  The cookies are yummy and easy to make.  I love that she is able to help by rolling the cookies into balls and then rolling them in the powdered sugar.  We still have a ways to go on "spacing" issues, but when Gramma and I explained how she doesn't always appreciate her sister being near her, she started calling the cookie balls "Aisey and Mia" .  .  . kind of odd to name your food, but . . . .

We made a few different versions of this recipe to determine which one we liked best.  Our recipe boxes are stuffed full of cookie recipes and we need to get rid of some.  Thing is, we couldn't come to a consensuses.  People here liked the different recipes for various reasons . . . sigh . . . guess we'll have to rid ourselves of other recipes!

I will say that the Coffee and Chocolate Crinkle Cookies were NOT a favorite of the kiddos.  But - their Daddy liked them a whole bunch.

The three types of Crinkle Cookies.  The Coffee and Chocolate are in the right hand upper corner.

Coffee and Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
~ adapted from Better Homes and Gardens

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 T instant coffee crystals
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 egg
1 1/2 c all purpose flour

~ topping ~
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 T unsweetened cocoa powder

Beat butter.  Add brown sugar, cocoa powder, coffee crystals, soda and cinnamon.  Beat in egg.  Slowly add in flour.

Chill dough at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 350F.  Shape dough into  1/2 inch balls (the recipe calls for 1" balls, but we liked them a little smaller as they were for a party).  Place on cookie tray (for our cookie trays, we were able to do 5 rows of three cookies).

Bake for 8 - 10 minutes, or until edges are firm.  Let cool a few minutes.  Mix the granulated sugar and cocoa powder.  Dip cookies into the topping mix of sugar and cocoa powder.  Transfer to wire racks and let cool.

These can be stored at room temp for 3 days or frozen for up to three months.

Clay Dough Ornaments

Clay Dough Ornaments

I'd promised the girls a holiday craft . . . and realized we still have quite a few cinnamon ornaments from previous holidays.  Due to this, I went on a quest for a new ornament recipe.  I found one with gorgeous looking ornaments at the woodside kitchen.  I knew my ornaments would look nothing like this with my two Helpers, but thought they would still make great gifts.  I was right.

This is a really easy recipe and holds up well to re-rolling of the dough over and over when some little munchkins stick a cookie cutter right in the middle of the dough.  I do recommend only rolling half of the ball of dough out at a time, leaving the other in the fridge, when working with kiddos.

I also suggest Cookie Cutters that do not have lots of small shapes as the dough can be quite ornery.  We were only able to make one angel as her head kept ripping off.  The simple hearts, trees and crosses were the easiest with which to work.

Clay Dough Ornaments

1/2 cup cornstarch

1 cup baking soda

3/4 cup water

1/2 tsp orange extract

In a small saucepan, mix the cornstarch, baking soda and water.  Let heat over medium-low heat, stirring often with wooden spoon.  The ingredients will start to thicken.  When most of the water is gone and the ingredients have started to turn into a dough that sticks together, remove from heat.  Stir in the 1/2 tsp orange extract.  Stir a few more times until the dough holds together and the water is gone.  Turn dough into bowl, cover with dampened towel and place in fridge (or freezer if your helpers are impatient) to cool.

While dough is cooling, prepare your ornament making area.  We used my awesome Tupperware rolling mat (sorry Mom, we're still not done borrowing it yet!) covered in cornstarch.  Note - you may want to wear old clothes, the same as your Helpers, especially if they love giving hugs during projects!  We pulled the dough from the freezer, covered our hands in cornstarch and kneaded the dough a few times.  We rolled the dough to 1/4" thickness the first round.  Then, I decided to make them a smidge thicker since I had little Helpers. 

Cut the dough with cookie cutters.  Place them on parchment lined cookie sheets.  After all dough is done, these can either air dry, turning every few hours, or in an oven at 175F for 2-3 hours, turning every 1/2 hour.  We air dry ours.