Slow Cooker Saturdays

Hey, sorry it's a little late but we had a talent show over here.

In any case I wanted to make my Pasta Fagioli but also wanted to try something in the ole slow cooker so I merged two recipes and a little bit of me an Ta Da, Slow Cooker Pasta Fagioli.

My recipes came from Crockpot 365 and Rachel Ray - I have used the recipe from Rachel Ray a lot and it's a favorite around here but I used Stephanie's method.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons (2 turns around the pan) extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/8 pound (about 3 slices) pancetta, chopped
• 2 (4 to 6-inch) sprigs rosemary, left intact
• 1 (4 to 6-inch) sprig thyme with several sprigs on it, left intact
• 1 large fresh bay leaf or 2 dried bay leaves
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 small carrot, finely chopped
• 1 rib celery, finely chopped
• 4 large cloves garlic, chopped
• Coarse salt and pepper
• 1 (15 ounce) can cannellini beans
• 1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans
• 1 cup canned tomato sauce or canned crushed tomatoes
• 2 cups water
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 1 cup ditalini
• Grated Parmigiano or Romano, for the table (I also throw a 1/2 cup into the soup before serving)
• Crusty bread, for mopping

(Sorry I didn't get a picture)

I first cooked my pancetta.  Next time I may try to do it in the slow cooker so the flavors are always just in the cooker.

While I was cooking pancetta I threw all the ingredients into the slow cooker except for the pasta, then added the cooked pancetta.  I let it cook at low for 8 hours.  At the 6 1/2 hour mark I added the pasta and let it go for about a 1/2 hour more.  I then served it with a nice crusty bread.

Next time I may set it to cook for 10 hours so the heat is lower.  All in all it cooked for 7 hours.

It was very tasty and I will definitely do it again the slow cooker and the added bonus it made the house smell delicious all day.

Enjoy!

slow cooker saturdays

well, I did it.  I made brownies in the slow cooker.  they came out really good.  i wanted to make them and thought, why not?

they were nice and chewy and thick. the kids loved them and they went well with their ice cream.

I looked around to get a good idea/recipe.  I found one from Martha Stewart and figured if Martha says it can be done, then it can be done!  Her recipe is from scratch, of course, but I used a box mix. You can find it here. The kids loved the brownies plain, with ice cream and hot out of the pot!  Will try again after I try some other recipes!

Do you have any good slow cooker dessert recipes?

Have a Great Day!
Zizette

slow cooker saturdays

This was my first Saturday off in a while other than the winter break and I just wanted to stay home and do nothing.

I have been without an oven for some time now and I wanted to make use of my slow cooker.  I have great memories of my bubby just throwing everything she could into the Crock Pot (slow cooker) and it coming out great.  We always used to joke about it, so you know when it came time to register back in the day when we got engaged, the first item on there was a slow cooker.  I make stuff from time to time and lately have seen blogs that feature 365 days of slow cooking, slow cooker recipes and such.  I decided yesterday to try a recipe for Slow Cooker Orange Chicken from Sixsisters .  I had found other recipes and they all resembled each other but I liked their site so I went with it.

Now my kids are super picky, well, my son is and he liked it.  I serve it over white rice and it was a hit with both of them.  I am very happy and look forward to using it more.  I will also visit their site some more as the have a lot of cool stuff over there.

Credit

I have to be honest that my battery was dead on the camera and I didn't take a picture but this picture looks just like my chicken.

In any case, as I decided that since I am not home on Saturdays that would be a perfect day to slow cook because then it will be ready when I get home.  So that's it, Slow Cooker Saturdays it is.

Right now I am cooking Brownies is the slow cooker, let's see how that comes out.

Zizette

where has time gone by?

I have no idea where time has gone.

I feel like the months have just pushed into one big, long day.

This week I will re-group, re-charge and get back on track.  I hope.

Lots has been going on in my neck of the woods.

I went back to school to be a School Building Leader i.e. Principal or Director or Supervisor.  I am doing an excelerated program that started on October and will end in July.  I got to school every Saturday.  Basically it's 30 Saturdays out of my life (this week I have off), last week was the last class of our 3rd course and I have 15 left to go.  We are halfway there.  I do it in a Cohort so I am with the same people for the long haul.  I have made some really good friends that I know I will have with me for a long time and some really good professional relationships as well.  This last class in particular was VERY HARD.  The professor was new to teaching and just killed us.  But it is done and we move forward from here.

One of the friendships I made from my cohort is a wonderful friend.  We actually met during our interview and have been friends ever since.  She has bestowed upon me and my family the greatest gift

Yes, that will be the newest member of our family in  about 5-6 weeks.  His name is Ozzy (my kids named him after Ozzy Osbourne) and he is a Shih Tzu/Lhasa Apso mix.  My friend has both the mom and dad and he is one of their puppies.  We are so excited.  We will be going to see him this week.

We are excited for our new adventure with a dog.  I wonder how Lola is going to adjust, she is our mean cat.  We also got a hamster named Touchdown.  Our house is becoming a regular pet store!

So, all of this has been keeping me busy and I hope to get back on track.  Have a great day.

Zizette

family

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving.

We spent ours at the lake with hubby's family.

I just love the way the colors look in this picture

My new favorite picture of her

Happy

A picture with the grandparents

It was a nice time spent with family.  The kids got to spend time with their cousins and the weather was nice enough to be outside.

We had many things to be thankful for.

Zizette

There's No Place Like Home

I am sure you have heard about that crazy storm in the Northeast last week.

Yeah, it got me.

I was home about 20 minutes from my class and I heard a big pop and the power went OUT.

I called my mom (who lives around the corner, 3 blocks over), she had power so me and the kids went there.

Just an hour or so after we lost power

 The storm was absolutely INSANE.

A little later I saw that we would be there overnight, I went back home to collect some essentials and unload my Fridge/Freezer.

My parent's street looked like a war zone obstacle course.

School was closed for 2 whole days.  Halloween was crazy too with all the trees down.  But the kids got out there early so we could see tree branches, electric lines and whatever else may be out there.

I was without power for 7 days.  Yes, 7 days.  We went back everyday to check on things, get things we needed and feed the cat.

This was the freakiest thing ever to happen.  The trees had all their leaves and when the snow built up on them the tree limbs snapped.  Broken trees all over our town.  I live on a beautiful tree lined street as do my parents.  The big old trees on my street lost limbs but on my mom's street the smaller trees were split in half.

Just one of the houses on the block

I have a beautiful Japanese Maple on my front lawn.  I so did not want to lose the tree.  I stood out in the snow knocking the snow off it's limbs so they wouldn't snap.  When I would knock the snow off, I would see the limbs bounce back up.  I am happy to say we didn't lose it.  Only one branch fell on our whole property.  We were very lucky there.

My Japanese Maple

I am happy to finally be back home in my own bed.  We thank my mom and dad but, "there's no place like home."

{New} Cooking Experience

Well, I haven't been doing the normal kind of cooking I like to do this year because, well, my oven died in  late spring.  It kills me to replace it because it is this awful little wall oven and if it was up to me I would cut our counter and cabinet out where our cook top is an put in a freestanding range.  That would probably be very costly so it's not happening.  I guess I will have to spring for the oven soon but right now I don't have one so I made meatloaf on the grill.

Yeah, you heard me right - Meatloaf ON THE GRILL.

I looked it up to see if it was possible and it is so I took up the task and did in fact try it.  I modified a Rachael Ray Recipe a bit and followed her directions on how to cook it on the grill.  Hubby was home that day and he made his famous Mashed Potatoes and Glazed Carrots.

I assembled all the ingredients, wrapped the meatloaf as directed and cooked it up.  It came out GREAT!  My picky eater asked for seconds to which my husband replied that I will be making this meal at least once a week!

Something new to try and everyone liked it, so I guess it was a hit.  I don't have any pictures because when hubby gets involved in meal prep he sort of takes over and then my meals don't get their pictures.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups Italian style panko breadcrumbs
1/2 cup half and half
2 Tablespoons grated onions
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
salt and pepper
1 package of the meatloaf trio (beef, veal, pork) Approximately 3 lbs
Cooking Spray

What you do:

Preheat the grill to medium.  Mix all ingredients in a bowl.

Stack two 2 foot long sheets of heavy duty foil. Coat the stop sheet with cooking spray.  Place meatloaf on top - shape it into a 5x8 inch loaf. Fold sides up to make a sturdy package, turn the loaf halfway and wrap again sealing the loaf in the package.

I placed the loaf in an aluminum pan just to be sure.  Cook for 35 minutes, then turn over and cook for another 25 minutes (until firm to the touch).  Remove from grill and let rest for 5 minutes, unwrap and let rest 5 minutes more.  Slice and serve.

Enjoy!