Cooking Escapades: Slow cooker meatloaf and chicken soup/stew

So, this week I'm taking the easy way out and sharing something of my cooking adventures. I'm learning the joy of using a slow cooker. I've got two recipes I'm going to share with you. One is a modified version of a recipe I found on allrecipes.com. (I'll include the link so you can see the original.) The other one is something I made up myself based on reading a bunch of recipes. And I do mean a bunch of recipes. You wouldn't believe the kinds of things you can find when you're looking for interesting meals to serve a large group of people. I cook for six people, and the slow cooker makes my life so much easier.

The first recipe I'd like to share with you is a slow cooker meatloaf. Yeah, I know. Meatloaf is traditionally done in the oven, but this one rocks for being very moist and juicy. The original recipe has six servings. I double it so it fits our needs.

You can find the original here.

Slow Cooker Meatloaf

5 eggs

1 ½ c milk

1 1/3 c Panko bread crumbs

2 small yellow onions, diced (or one medium)

2 T Italian herb blend

2 tsp salt

1 c chopped fresh mushrooms

2 T garlic powder

3 lbs. Ground beef

Sauce

½ c ketchup

4 T brown sugar

2 tsp ground mustard

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Combine eggs, milk, bread crumbs, onion, salt, herbs, garlic, and mushrooms in a large bowl. Crumble ground beef over mixture and stir well to combine. Shape into a round loaf. Place in a slow cooker. (I think ours is either a 6 quart or an 8 quart. Not sure exactly and I haven't really measured it.) Cover and cook on low until a meat thermometer reads 160 F (71 C), 5 to 6 hours.

Whisk ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce in a small bowl. Spoon over meatloaf. Return to slow cooker and cook on low until heated through, about 15 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

(I will admit that I don't actually let it stand 10 minutes before I cut into it. Usually everyone's too impatient to wait that long.)

My other recipe that was well received was a chicken soup recipe that I came up with on the fly based on a chicken soup recipe and a chicken stew recipe. Neither fit what I was looking for, so I just shoved the two together and hoped for the best. If you want a stew, all you have to do with this recipe is dissolve corn starch in cold water and mix it in near the end to thicken the broth.

Chicken Soup/Stew

3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chopped into 1” pieces

2 small yellow onions, chopped

5 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced

5 medium russet potatoes, chopped (not a dice, but keep the pieces small for easier cooking)

2 small cans sliced mushrooms, drained

2 10.5 oz cans cream of chicken soup

3-4 c chicken broth (I used Better than Bouillon reduced salt chicken bouillon to make the broth)

Garlic powder and ground black pepper to taste

Put chicken, onions, carrots, potatoes, and mushrooms in the slow cooker. Mix the cream of chicken soup with the chicken broth. Stir in the garlic powder and ground black pepper to the taste of your desired audience. (We like a lot of garlic and pepper, which is why I'm not giving you a specific amount.) Pour over the soup ingredients. Stir everything together. Set slow cooker on high for 5-6 hours.

(Again, this is made to serve the six of us. I'm not sure exactly how many the official servings is, but it was enough for all six of us to have a good sized bowl with some leftovers.)

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I have other slow cooker recipes I'm experimenting with. Every now and then I'll post what I'm doing. I think, especially as the weather gets colder, slow cookers come out more often. I may even try my luck at doing desserts in the slow cooker. There are plenty of recipes for that too. I don't know yet what I'll do. But I'm having fun and we'll see what comes out of it.

Random recipes

I've shared recipes on here before. I thought, for a random post, I'd share a few more with you. These are some of my favorites. I may have posted them before, but I didn't see them in the tags. I didn't tag all my posts, so for all of you older blog followers if these are repeats I'm sorry.

Sauerkraut Bake

1 jar sauerkraut

1 kielbasa, cut into 1/4” slices

Two apples, sliced

1 can new potatoes/2 c. cooked Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1/2” chunks

Preheat oven to 350 F (177 C). Drain sauerkraut. Put all ingredients into a medium casserole dish and mix together. Place in oven for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve.

Cheddar Biscuits

2 c all-purpose flour

1 T baking powder

2 tsp white sugar

½ tsp cream of tartar

¼ tsp salt

½ c melted butter

1 c milk

1 ½ c grated medium cheddar (I've also used sharp. You can use mild, but the sharper cheddar stands out more.)

Preheat oven to 450 F (230 C). In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, cream of tartar, and salt. Stir in butter and milk until moistened. Add cheddar cheese. Drop batter on a lightly greased cookie sheet by the tablespoon. Bake in preheated oven until golden on the edges, about 8 to 12 minuted. Serve warm.

Texas Brownie Sheet Cake

1 c butter

1 c water

¼ c cocoa

2 c sugar

2 c flour

1/8 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 tsp baking soda

½ c sour cream

Frosting

½ c butter

¼ c cocoa

¼ c plus 2 T milk

1 lb powdered sugar, sifted (also called confectioners' sugar)

½ tsp vanilla

¼ tsp mint extract, optional (I've used mint extract and almond extract for this)

Cake: Preheat oven to 350 F (177 C). Combine 1 c butter, water, and ¼ c cocoa in a saucepan over medium heat. Heat until butter melts. Add sugar, flour, salt, eggs, soda, sourcream, and 1 tsp vanilla. Mix well. Pour into a 15x10.1 inch jelly roll pan. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Frost while still hot.

Frosting: Combine ½ c of butter, ¼ c of cocoa, and milk in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Add powdered sugar and ½ tsp of vanilla, and if desired additional flavoring. Pour over the cake. Spread to cover the hot cake.

Freaky Food Friday - Spinach and Strawberry Salad, Green Grape Salad, Watermelon Sorbet

Hey all!  The FFF is back up and functional.  Yay!

This week three fruit based recipes for those hot summer days.

Spinach and Strawberry Salad

• 2 bunches spinach, rinsed and torn into bite-size pieces
• 4 cups sliced strawberries
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds

1. In a large bowl, toss together the spinach and strawberries.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, sugar, paprika, sesame seeds, and poppy seeds. Pour over the spinach and strawberries, and toss to coat.

Green Grape Salad

• 4 pounds seedless green grapes
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
• 1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 ounces chopped pecans
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 
  
• Wash and dry grapes. In a large bowl, mix together the cream cheese, sour cream, sugar and vanilla. Add grapes and mix until evenly incorporated. Sprinkle with brown sugar and pecans, mix again and refrigerate until serving.

Watermelon Sorbet

• 3 cups water
• 3 cups white sugar
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 4 cups cubed seeded watermelon
• 
  
• Heat water and sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat until sugar has dissolved, stirring occasionally. Allow to cool. Place watermelon in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Whisk watermelon, lime juice and syrup together in a large bowl. Cover and chill in the refrigerator.
• 
  
• Pour the chilled mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's directions until it reaches "soft-serve" consistency. Transfer sorbet to a one- or two-quart lidded plastic container; cover surface with plastic wrap and seal. For best results, sorbet should ripen in the freezer for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Sunday 'fess up...Anni had a long week

This week's 'fess up is brought to you by...REIDAR! Who is, in this picture, playing "hide and pounce" using my bath towel as camouflage.  I've been such a downer lately that I wanted to start the blog off with something cute and a little silly.

Silliness aside, Himself is home.  His mom isn't doing well.  He's just glad he got to see her because shortly after he left she took a downward turn.  She's stable now but they're back to measuring her in days instead of weeks or months.

Health issues are unresolved.  I go to the doctor on Monday so with any luck we'll have a solution after that.  At least, I hope we will.  It'd be nice to figure out what's causing the issues.

I'm doing the A to Z blog challenge.  If you really want to see all my posts from A-H this week, they're here on the blog.  I've been choosing random topics like crazy and sometimes scheduling posts on those nights when my imagination is really working and I can knock out two or three posts at a shot.

On the writing front, I've decided after listening to some rather awkward writing (my own...I recorded the first few chapters of Only A Name) that I'm going to have to rewrite a major portion of the novel to include Colwyn's POV.  Certain scenes in the first few chapters would be improved by including his POV and where the book slows and drags considerably I could add in a chapter or two of conflict centered around him.  So it's back to the drawing board for Only A Name.


I had a dream last night that would make an excellent story.  Only problem is...I don't remember enough of it to work with.  It was some bio-engineered guy and two kids and something about a family kind of like the mafia (the old Italian style mob families).  And that's it.  The nice thing is I'm likely to dream about it tonight so when I wake up and it's still fresh in my mind I'm going to jot down as many notes as I can.

I had a request from @KDSarge to put up the recipe for my broccoli cheddar soup.  Now I'll admit I'm a semi-homemade cook.  I'll take an ingredient that's from the store and turn it into a much grander homemade meal.  That's what I do for my soup and EVERYONE loves it when I fix it.  So, here's the recipe I use when I make my Semi-Homemade Broccoli Cheddar soup.

2 packages Bear Creek Cheddar Broccoli Soup mix (I use 2 of the 8 serving packages)
1 kielbasa smoked sausage, chopped (the horseshoe shaped one, not the links I've recently seen)
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 1 lb. bags of frozen broccoli florets (you can use chopped if you prefer smaller bites of broccoli)
2 c. grated sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 c. grated mozzarella cheese
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. chili powder

Cook the Bear Creek soup mix as it says on the package.  That's 16 cups of water brought to a boil and the soup mix whisked in.  Yes, you'll need a big pot.  Turn down to medium and let simmer for 10 minutes.  While the soup is simmering, take a large skillet and put in about a tablespoon or so of olive oil.  Toss in your onion and start sauteeing.  As soon as they start to soften, throw in your chopped sausage and brown the sausage together with the onions.  Once they're cooked, set them off to the side.  You'll need them in a few minutes.

After the soup has simmered for 10 minutes, throw in your broccoli.  Let that cook for about five minutes and then throw in your grated cheese and the garlic and chili powder and stir well.  Make sure there's no lumps of grated cheese floating around and then toss in the sausage and onion.  Let the soup simmer again for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.  Serve immediately.  It's an awesome recipe, takes maybe half an hour or so to prepare, and is sixteen servings of soup.  Probably more if you're going for smaller servings.

I've also added potatoes to this, pasta to this, chicken instead of sausage, and even added mushrooms one day with the chicken.  That's why I love the Bear Creek soup mixes.  They're very versatile and you can doctor them up however you like.  I'm inherently a lazy cook so making broccoli cheddar soup the normal method (which I've done and if you're really interested, I'll share my favorite recipe for the long way next week) isn't my favorite way of doing things.  So I tend to take shortcuts and it still turns out really, really good when I use the pre-packaged mix.

Vlog is up as usual.  I ramble on about my crocheting projects and a few various other things.  I'm including the vlog in the line up of videos down below as always.

Freaky Food Friday - RICE

*waves*


Hello my lovely foodies!  If you're a food snob, turn away.  This is going to get ugly.  If you're like me - a food snob forced to live on a tight budget - then stick around.  I've got a few recipes for you today.


Today's food of choice: RICE


Rice is such a versatile ingredient.  You can replace pasta with it in several recipes, giving them a whole different quality.  Now, I don't recommend changing rice for pasta for spaghetti.  But you can still use it for so many dishes.  And a 20+ lbs. bag of rice will last a long time.  Unless you eat rice for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and every snack in the day.


The rice I'm talking about is not Minute Rice or Uncle Ben's or any of those other quick or instant cook rices.  I'm talking about Thai Jasmine rice...sushi rice...long grain rice...short grain rice...any of the rices that actually require EFFORT to cook.


A tip about cooking rice: it's tricky.  I know I've either overcooked or undercooked it enough over the years.  Unless your rice cooking instructions tell you something different, the ratio for cooking rice is generally 1.5 to 1 or 2 to 1 water to rice.  As in 1.5 c water to 1 c rice or 2 c water to 1 c rice.


When you cook your rice, make sure you're putting the water and rice in the pan at the same time.  Wait for it to hit a full rolling boil and then turn it down to low.  Slap a lid on that pan and DO NOT TOUCH for at LEAST 15-20 minutes.  Usually by the end of 20 minutes, your rice should be done to perfection.


Or, if you're luckier than me, you may have a rice cooker.  I don't know anything about those, so for those just follow the directions on your rice cooker.




Onigiri (or Japanese rice balls)
4 c. cooked short grain rice (sushi rice really works best for this)
Fillings:
--scrambled egg
--peanut butter (creamy)
--cooked fish
--tuna fish mixed with soy sauce and lemon (do NOT use mayo with this)
--pieces of fruit
--cooked veggies
--whatever you want that'll fit
Nori (seaweed) and/or sesame seeds are optional but are really good with these too


Take a small shallow bowl and line it with plastic wrap.  Sprinkle a tiny bit of salt onto the plastic wrap.  Take a large scoop of the cooked rice (still warm) and drop it into the bowl.  Push it down a little.  Put a teaspoon of your chosen filling inside.  Using the plastic wrap, push the sides of your rice up a little.  Take another smaller scoop of rice and cover the filling.  Wrap the whole thing in the plastic wrap and use your hands to shape it into a ball.  Twist the plastic wrap closed and set aside.  Repeat as many times as you have rice to make them.


You can make all sorts of fun shapes with this.  I tend to do weird things with mine.  You can make it without the shallow bowl, but if you're just getting started, I recommend sticking with the bowl.  It makes the onigiri easier to shape.  I usually end up with baseball sized onigiri.  I've seen them made smaller.  I've also seen bigger.  Fit the size to what you need.  These are great to take to work for lunch.  They make people's eyes bug out when they realize what you're eating.


I've experimented with a lot of different fillings.  The ones mentioned up there are the ones that worked best texturally.  The fruit needs to be of a soft consistency, so things like apples and pears don't work.  Bananas, berries, and citrus are good.




Rice Stroganoff
4 c. cooked rice
1 lb. ground beef (or 2-4 c diced leftover beef roast)
1 chopped onion or 2 tsp onion powder
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup (the big family sized cans...2 cans if you're buying the smaller cans)
Garlic powder, chili powder, black pepper to taste


Brown the meat and onions together.  If you're using the onion powder, wait until you drain the oil off the beef.  Once the oil is drained off, toss in your cream of mushroom soup and the spices.  DO NOT ADD WATER.  Stir together until the mixture is well mixed.  Dump on top of the rice and stir.


(Okay, okay, it's not EXACTLY stroganoff.  But I thought that sounded better than rice, beef, and mushroom glop...which is the name it has in our house.)




Spanish Rice
2 T oil
2 T chopped onion
2 c cooked rice
1 small can chicken broth
1 c chunky salsa


Cook the onion in the oil until soft.  Throw in the rice and cook until the rice starts to brown.  Add the chicken broth and cook down until the liquid is almost gone.  Then toss in the chunky salsa.


This is a cheap, fast way to make Spanish Rice.  I modified the recipe from something I found on allrecipes.com.  The original recipe called for the rice to be uncooked but I found I kept massacring the stuff if I did it their way.  So I adjusted it to fit my cooking style.




Rice and beans
1 package dried beans, any type (we stick with navy beans or black beans)
4-6 strips of bacon, 2 c ham chunks, or 1-2 small ham hocks
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, smashed but not chopped
1-2 bay leaves (FISH THESE OUT BEFORE SERVING...BAY LEAVES CAN'T BE EATEN)
4 c. cooked rice


Soak your beans overnight.  In the morning, rinse the beans and cook them based on the directions on their package.  Make sure you toss in the meat, onions, garlic, and bay leaves so the beans soak up the flavors.  When the beans are done fish out the bay leaves and serve the beans over rice.


This gives you a perfect protein.  Beans and rice are an awesome dinner.  They're very filling, and if you're like us and love hot sauce this meal gives you a chance to dig out your favorite hot sauce and use it to help flavor your beans as well.




Other favorites include making rice pudding out of leftover rice; having rice, milk, and cinnamon & sugar for breakfast; rice, melted butter, cinnamon & sugar for a snack or for breakfast...the list is endless. Rice is a very versatile ingredient I highly recommend for folks on a budget.

Freaky Food Friday - RAMEN

*waves*

Hello my lovely foodies!  If you're a food snob, turn away.  This is going to get ugly.  If you're like me - a food snob forced to live on a tight budget - then stick around.  I've got a few recipes for you today.

Today's ingredient of choice: RAMEN

Ramen is cheap, filling, and highly flexible.  You can cook it as is and have a (very salty) soup.  You can substitute the flavor packet for any kind of canned soup and have a different style of soup.  You can boil it and then fry it up with veggies for a fried noodle dish.  Ramen, in spite of its lack of nutritional value, can actually be part of a fairly nutritious meal.

General rule of thumb for us is one package per person.  Sometimes, when mixed with other stuff, a single package of Ramen can feed 2 people.  We tend to overcook and have it for leftovers later.  These recipes are just a handful of examples of the versatility of ramen.

Ramen Veggie Soup
2 packages Ramen (Beef or Chicken works best)
1/2 package frozen vegetables OR 1 c. chopped celery, carrots, onions
1/2 - 1 c. chopped meat (leftover pot roast, leftover cooked chicken, sliced sausages, ham....whatever you have on hand)

Cook the Ramen as per the package directions.  While water is boiling, toss in the frozen vegetables.  Cook together until veggies are done.  Add the meat.  Serve.


Fried Ramen with Veggies
1-2 packages Ramen, cooked and drained
1/2 package frozen stir fry veggies OR 1 c. chopped celery, carrots, onions
1 c. chopped ham (or whatever leftover meat you have available)
1 T butter

Cook the ramen as usual and drain all liquid.  Put butter in a medium skillet and start the veggies cooking.  Once the veggies have cooked for a bit, toss in the meat.  If needed, add a little bit more butter and then throw in the noodles.  Cook on medium high heat until noodles start browning.  Remove from heat and serve immediately.


Tomato-Mushroom Noodle Soup w/Ramen
2 packages Ramen, cooked and drained
1 can condensed Tomato soup
1 can mushrooms
Basil, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, and white pepper to taste

Cook the Ramen and drain it.  Prepare the soup as per the directions on the can.  Toss in the can of mushrooms and all spices.  Remove from heat.  Add Ramen.  Stir well and serve.


Any of these recipes can be adjusted at a moment's notice to whatever you have on hand.  Don't have tomato soup?  Try it with a can of cream of mushroom soup.  Want chicken noodle?  Toss the ramen into a can of condensed chicken noodle soup, maybe some leftover cooked chicken, and some veggies.  Turns the can of soup and the ramen into something more nutritious and filling.  Don't want to use frozen veggies?  Use fresh veggies.  Don't like meat but want protein?  Use tofu.

Ramen is one of the most flexible staples of a diet that is on limited funding.  I highly recommend giving it a try.  Just remember to be flexible with what you mix in with it.  Be creative if you can and buy what's on sale to give your Ramen a twist.

Food in Fiction - or why I love to feast my characters

Way back when I was a little girl, we'd go visit my grandparents up in WA.  One of my Granma's favorite things to fix was a good, old fashioned Southern dinner.  My grandmother was whiter than Wonder Bread but she was a real Southern granma (even though she only lived in GA for 10 years) and she learned how to fry, barbecue, and boil/steam everything.  Deep fried catfish, collared greens, corn bread, gator (don't know where she got it back in the '80's in WA state), fried chicken, green beans and bacon, etc. I LOVED dinner at granma's.  When granpa had a stroke, granma stopped cooking the southern way.  It broke my heart because that's my fondest memories.  When granpa died, granma stopped cooking much of anything other than basic stuff like grits or blacked eyed peas and ham hocks.

Why am I talking about my memories of my strange relocated Southern Yankee grandparents?  Because I wanted to discuss food in fiction.  Specifically, the use of food as an evocative tool to give you an idea of what the lifestyle and culture of the characters is like.

NY Times article
Amazon has a list of books!
Meals are a great way to describe relationships
An actual website that offers alternatives for fantasy writers
SFWA even includes diet in its world building questions

These are a handful of links that I found.  Granted, a lot of the links I found weren't as indicative of the subject as I'd like but let's be honest - my Google-fu isn't all that great. :)

I use food with Anneke and Raghnall to indicate the troubles the two of them have adapting to life because their mother is an elf.  Elves, in my world, don't eat meat or any other animal products (butter, cheese, eggs, etc.).  Now where Seda could have died by eating it, her children (who are only half elf) have to adapt to society where things like eggs are a staple.  Turning away food is tantamount to starvation in the wild and brutal land that Anneke is living in.  It's a major insult to not accept dinner invitations when you move in the social circles that Raghnall moves in.  I had to come up with a way for them to eat and not die, so I subject them to the food from an early age to the point where they become adjusted to eat it.

Food is completely different in the area where Anneke lives from where Raghnall lives.  Reidar's diet is completely different as well.  There are foods available to Reidar that aren't available to the other two.  The same thing can be said for what Anneke eats compared to what Raghnall eats.  But I also include how the food is cooked, how it's eaten, where it's prepared, who prepares it, etc.  All of these things can paint a picture of a culture that you wouldn't normally see but is still vital in showing who the characters are.

I'm having fun creating recipes and using things I find on programs such as "Bizarre Foods", reading medieval cookbooks (well, cookbooks that showcase medieval style cooking), and a lot of online research about what people of different cultures might be eating.  I'm hoping to one day have a recipe book full of recipes I'll be using/mentioning in my books.  I might not ever share it with anyone but my family but it'll still be fun to have.