Crock Pot Zuppa Toscano Soup

We had my step-daughters birthday party this weekend and one of her favorite meals I make is my Zuppa Toscano Soup. I made that along with an Olive Garden type salad. The soup and salad went over really well with everyone who came! My mother and I had went to the Farmer's Market that morning to pick up some of the salad items and kale. Delicious and fresh!

Crock Pot Zuppa Toscano Soup

Ingredients:

2 lbs ground Italian Sausage
1 onion, minced
8 potatoes, diced
2- 32 oz cartons of chicken broth
2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 bunches kale, torn into pieces
4 tbsp corn starch (mixed with a little cold water first)
salt and pepper

Directions:
-In a large skillet, brown sausage.
-Add in onion and cook until sausage is cooked through.
-Meanwhile, wash and cut up potatoes in bite-size pieces and throw into your crock pot.
-Add the cooked sausage and broth into the crock pot. (salt and pepper to taste)
-Cook on low about 6 hours.
-About 30 minutes before serving, stir in corn starch, kale, and heavy whipping cream.

Enjoy!

Bacon Jalapeño Creamed Corn Chicken

Here is a quick and easy meal you can make with very few ingredients! I have a
bunch of bags of creamed corn that we made this summer so having that on
hand for meals is quite nice! 

Bacon Jalapeño Creamed Corn Chicken

Ingredients:

1-2 pounds cooked chicken, shredded

16 oz frozen creamed sweet corn

8 slices thick cut bacon

1 jalapeño pepper, diced

salt and pepper

Directions:

-Cook bacon according to directions.
-In a saucepan, add  chicken, creamed corn and diced jalapeño pepper. 
-Heat to slight boil.
-When heated thoroughly, top with crumbled bacon.

-Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

Beef and Potatoes O'Brien

This is something quick and easy to throw together with ingredients I pretty much always have in the house. Everything seemed to enjoy it as everyone had seconds of this and there really isn't much to it. I wasn't even going to be posting it as a recipe until I saw how much everyone ate!
 

Beef and Potatoes O'Brien

Ingredients:

3 lbs ground beef

1 onion, diced

1 can cream of celery soup

1/2 can full of water

1/2 cup ketchup

2 tbsp Worcestershire

2 tsp garlic salt

3 tsp onion powder

3 cups frozen Ore-Ida Potatoes O'Brien

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

 

Directions:

-Cook ground beef with onion in large skillet.

-Add in soup, water, ketchup, Worcestershire, and seasonings and bring to boil.

-Add in Potatoes O'Brien and cook about 15 minutes on medium-low or until potatoes are done.

-Add in cheese and let melt.

Enjoy!

 

Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Sloppy Joe's

Here is an easy and paleo friendly recipe for sloppy joes without the bun! This was something you can throw together quickly in the slow cooker until later or you could let the mix simmer about 20 minutes until done. This recipe is adapted from http://www.paleonewbie.com/paleo-sweet-potato-sloppy-joes-recipe/.

Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Sloppy Joes

Ingredients:

5 baked sweet potatoes
3 lbs of cooked ground beef
2 cans stewed tomatoes, chopped
1 14 oz can of tomato paste
1 onion, diced
1 cup diced peppers (green, red, or any color)
2 cups of celery, chopped small
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tbsp of chili powder
3 tsp of cumin
salt and pepper
2 tbsp of honey or agave nectar

Directions:

-Saute onions, celery, and minced garlic until onions are translucent.

-Add in ground beef and spices.

-Throw in peppers at the end of cooking the beef.

-Put mixture into slow cooker.

-Add in tomatoes, tomato paste, and honey.

-Cook on low about 6 hours.

-Cook sweet potatoes for 40 minutes at 400 degrees, make sure to poke holes in potatoes!

-Scoop a small portion of sweet potatoes out and fill with sloppy joe mix.

Enjoy!

Mushroom and Onion Patty Melts

Nicely browned gluten-free bread, juicy burgers, covered in caramelized mushrooms and onions, topped off with a delicious cheese....doesn't get much better than that! These are incredibly easy to throw together for a quick dinner. Delicious flavors all in one bite!!

 

Mushroom and Onion Patty Melts

 

Ingredients:

Burger patties

Mushrooms/Onions

Butter

Bread slices (I used homemade gluten free bread)

Cheese slices (Swiss, provolone, cheddar, whatever you like!)

 

Directions:

Cook burgers over stove top or grill (season with your favorite burger seasonings).

Meanwhile in a small skillet, saute mushrooms and onions in butter.

Butter outsides of bread slices and set aside.

Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil in large skillet over medium-low heat and assemble patty melt with bread, burger, cheese, and mushroom/onion mixture.

Cook both sides of bread until nicely browned.

Enjoy!

Best Green Beans Ever with Bacon and Diced Peppers

These were the best green beans that I have ever had. They carmelized nicely towards the end of cooking and turned out perfect. This recipe is adapted from The Pioneer Woman's Best Green Beans Ever (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/the-best-green-beans-ever-recipe.html#). I can see why she calls them that. She used chicken broth but I had some beef broth in the fridge that needed using and it still turned out wonderful.

 

Best Green Beans Ever with Bacon and Diced Peppers

Ingredients:

3-4 cups Green Beans

2 tbsp. Olive oil or Butter

1 onion, diced

1 cup Diced Peppers

1-2 cloves Garlic

1 cup Beef Broth

salt and pepper

 

Directions:

Snap ends of fresh green beans off.

Chop up onion and 1-2 cloves of garlic, saute in olive oil in a large skillet.

When onions are translucent, add green beans to skillet until they turn a nice, bright green color.

Add in diced peppers, salt/pepper, and broth and simmer 20-30 minutes.

When finished top with cooked bacon crumbles.

 
Enjoy!

Sausage Lettuce Wraps and Peanut Dipping Sauce

This was a nice, refreshing dinner for a change of pace from our regular dishes. You can adjust all of the ingredients according to what you have or flavors you enjoy. I would have made it more spicy, if the kids weren't going to be eating it.

 

Sausage Lettuce Wraps and Peanut Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:

2 lbs sausage

1 onion, diced

Spices: Cumin, garlic salt, chili powder

2 stalks Celery, chopped

2 cloves of Garlic

3/4 cup Green Onions

2 tbsp Lime juice

1 cup Soy Sauce

2 tsp Pepper Sauce

Lettuce Leaves

 

Directions:

Cook sausage with diced onion until browned, adding in spices according to taste.

Add in celery and garlic and cook until softened.

Stir in lime juice, pepper sauce, and soy sauce and simmer about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, rinse and prepare lettuce leaves and prepare peanut sauce, if using.

When finished cooking, top with green onions and serve over lettuce leaves. You can also mix in rice like I did. 

 

Peanut Sauce

Ingredients

1/2 cup Peanut Butter

3 tbsp Soy Sauce

1 tbsp Lime Juice

1 tbsp Sugar

1 clove of Garlic

1 tsp Cayenne Sauce

 

Directions

Mix all ingredients together, adjusting according to taste, until smooth (add water as needed).