Crock Pot Monday

Thanksgiving has come and gone. I did manage to make turkey soup from the final leftovers. ( I have frozen it for the first snowfall.) The weekend went by too fast. I was trying to savor every moment with the family. "Family comes first". We drove photodaughter back to college after the "season's over" Redskin game. I am close to tears when we drop her off, knowing that as the days are counting down, to graduation in May, we will not be making this trip at Thanksgiving again. It's been fun for us as Parents', enjoying the special Parent's Weekends, site seeing around the college and especially the visit to Aix-en-Provence. As you first time college senior parents, are you feeling it?
What is for dinner tonight?
Mu Shu Turkey

1 can 16 oz. plums drained and pitted
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pound boneless turkey breast, cut into strip or left over turkey
6 (7 inch) flour whole wheat tortillas
3 cups coleslaw mix

1. Place plums in blender or food processor. cover;blend until almost smooth. combine plums, orange juice, onion, ginger and cinnamon in Crockpot mix well.
2. Place turkey over plum mixture. Cook on low 3 to 4 hours.
3. remove turkey from Crocpot. divide evenly among tortillas. spoon about 2 tablespoons plum sauce over turkey in each tortilla; top with about 1/2 coleslaw mix. Fold up bottom edge of tortilla over filling, fold in sides and roll up to enclose filling. repeat with remaining tortillas. Use plum sauce for dipping.

Thanksgiving Break and Bye Week

Within the next 24 hours Photodaughter will be arriving home, with a full bag of dirty clothes,
a list of too do's and an appetite. The house is ready, cleaned, fresh sheets and a stocked refrigerator. I can't believe in three days I will be watching the Macy's Day parade on TV, while preparing the turkey. That has been one of my traditions. After dinner we go see a movie.
Turkey
dressing
green beans
mashed potatoes
rolls
cran-orange relish
gravy
pumpkin cheesecake
carmel apple pie

Monday Night Crock-Pot and Redskins Game

Steak San Morocco

round steak cut up in 1 in. strips
1 bag of Lipton's onion soup mix
1/4 teaspoon of oregano
pinch of garlic salt
1 can- tomatoes (not large)
1 tablespoon cooking sherry

Heat frying pan with 1 tablespoon Crisco
Brown the round steak

Add steak to crock-pot followed by soup mix, seasoning tomatoes and sherry. cover cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Serve over buttered noodles.

Last week's recipe :( . Next time use the dumpling recipe from the Bisquick box.

Monday Night Crock-Pot

Parent's Weekend was bittersweet. It was filled with activities , connecting with other parents,campus tours, eating out, sightseeing and knowing that this is the last one. Everytime we have visited photodaughter at college, we have taken advantage of the historical tours. This time we toured President Eisenhower's farm. Where did the four years go? What happens after college? Marriage is a long way off for most of these kids. The next step is planning for graduation. Hopefully you all have your hotel reservations. We are going to stay at our favorite B&B in town.

Chicken and Dumplings

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 frying or stewing chicken, cut into serving pieces and skinned
3 tablespoons, vegetable oil
1 yellow onion, halved and sliced
1 celery stalk, sliced
2 sprigs marjoram
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup frozen peas

Combine the flour and salt in a resalbes plastice bag. Add the chicken to the bag, several pieces at a time.
Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons of the oil. Add the chicken and cook, turning once, for 5 to 7 minutes, until browned on both sides. using tongs, transfer to paper towels to drain, then place in the slow cooker.

Add the onion and celery to the remaining flour in the bag and shake to coat. Set the saute pan over medium-high heat and add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. add the onion and celery and saute, stirring frequently, for 10 to 15 minutes, until browned. Gradually add the stock, stirring to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook, stirring frequently, for 10 to 15 minutes, until the sauce is somewhat thickened, Stir in the carrots, marjoram, and salt and pepper to taste. Pour over the chicken in the slow cooker.

Cover and cook on low for 3 1/2 hours, then on high for 30 minutes before dropping in the dumplings.

Dumplings by Paula Deen

2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
ice water

To prepare the dumplings: Mix the flour with the salt and mound together in a mixing bowl. Beginning at the center of the mound, drizzle a small amount of ice water over the flour. using your fingers, and moving from the center to the sides of the bowl, gradually incorporate about 3/4 cup of ice water. Knead the dough and form in into a ball,
Dust a good amount of flour onto a clean work surface. Roll out the dough working from the center to 1/8 inch thick. Let the dough relax for several minutes.
Cut the dough into 1-inch pieces. Pull a piece in half and drop the halves into the simmering soup. Do not stir the chicken once the dumplings have been added.
Cook 3 to 4 minutes.

Crock Pot Monday

Recovering from Parent’s Weekend and Crock Pot Monday


Deluxe Potato Casserole

Makes 8-10 servings

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 container ( 8 ounces) can be light sour cream
¼ cup chopped onion
¼ cup plus 3 tablespoons melted butter, divided
1 teaspoon salt
2 pounds red potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
1 ½ to 2 cups stuffing mix


1. Combine soup, sour cream, onion, ¼ cup butter and salt in a small bowl.
2. Combine potatoes and cheese in Crock-pot. Pour soup mixture over potato mixture; mix well. Sprinkle stuffing mix over potato mixture: drizzle with remaining 3 tablespoons butter. Cover; cook on Low 8 to 10 hours or High 5 to 6 hours, or until potatoes are tender.
Adapted from Rival Best-Loved Slow Cooker Recipes