Gooseberry Patch Recipe: Salmon

Another Gooseberry Patch recipe from "Slow Cookers, Casseroles & Skillets".

Speedy Salmon Sauce

This was an easy recipe.

Just a few ingredients.

NOTE:  The recipe called for cream of asparagus soup.

I looked everywhere and could not find it--not even an empty spot on the shelf.

So, I am convinced it doesn't exist anymore. So, I subbed cream of mushroom.

I also subbed in Miracle Whip for the mayo in the recipe. (We're a MW family.)

I bought a box of these pastry shells. 

These have to be pre-baked.

Then you basically combine all the sauce ingredients and stir, heating through. 

This meal wasn't my all-time favorite. But it was pretty good.

It was different, so that was a good thing... mix it up a little.

Hunk O' Meat Monday: GP's Pulled Beef Sandwiches

Just in time for Hunk O' Meat Monday over at Beyer Beware, I tried out another recipe from Gooseberry Patch's Slow Cookers, Casseroles and Skillets:  Pulled Beef Sandwiches.

Now, I'm a sucker for comfort food. And, while I enjoy trying new recipes, I have to admit I enjoy getting stuck in a rut on some of my favorite foods. Well, this one got me out of my rut for what to do with a chuck roast. I think I have a new favorite--and not just for me. The whole family loved it. (I think the leftovers were breakfast for one of the girls.)

You don't need very many ingredients...

Sprinkle the meat tenderizer on the beef.

Add the water, beef stock and garlic. And cook all day in the slow cooker.

After cooking, the beef shreds easily with a couple of forks.

Then put it back in the slow cooker liquid and add the onion soup mix.

Serve up the pulled beef on soft buns. Yum!

Like I said, this is a winner at our house!

Gooseberry Patch Recipe 1--And It "was actually good"

So this is my first recipe from the Gooseberry Patch's Slow Cookers, Casseroles & Skillets.
This is part of the Real Farmwives of America "In the Kitchen with Gooseberry Patch" project.
Over the next couple of months, I'll be blogging 10 recipes from this book, then giving away a copy.




Now, I know that's a rather pathetic-sounding title for this blog. But, I felt like I had to quote The Husband's review of the "Hannah's Lemon Chicken & Bows" I made last night.
Actually, his full review went something like this:
The Husband:  "This was actually good."
Me:  "What's that supposed to mean?"
The Husband:  "Well, some of the stuff you come up with isn't... (thinking carefully now)  so great. Kinda weird, sometimes."
Thanks...

Yeah, I'm not afraid to try new recipes all the time now and then to liven up the boring meals around here... And (sniff) they aren't always appreciated by my chicken nugget-eating family...
Let me tell you, I don't see anybody losing weight at my house, so my culinary creations can't be that bad.
But, I digress... Let's get back to the recipe:

Hannah's Lemon Chicken & Bows

Most of the ingredients are pretty basic items, except, maybe the lemon.

I started with some basic ingredient preparations, which means...

Get your daughter to start zesting a lemon, chopping onions and cutting the chicken.

Saute the onion and garlic in a skillet with the olive oil.

When they've cooked a few minutes, add the cubed chicken breasts.

Now is the time to start the water boiling for the bow tie pasta.

Next add the basil and half the lemon juice

Meanwhile, get the lemon sauce started by melting a stick of butter.

Then add the flour to thicken.

Keep stirring that chicken and the sauce.

(This is where the kids come in really handy!)

When the sauce is thick and bubbly, add the chicken stock and the rest of the lemon juice.

Keep stirring.

Finally, when the chicken is cooked, the pasta is done and the sauce is ready,

combine them all and serve. 

With a couple of family members who are sauce-averse, I don't usually combine

these types of dishes until I they are a proven favorite.

(Yes, we're that family that eats mashed potatoes without even thinking about gravy.)

Ultimately, the lemony sauce was very good (even The Husband said so!).

But, there was an awful lot for us. Next time, I would cut the sauce recipe in half.

(Actually, I'm going to try to freeze the remaining half, so this dish will be even easier to whip up next time!)

I served it up with a side of steamed broccoli, on-sale cherries and sliced plums.

This meal is definitely a do-over.

Thanks for the fine folks at Gooseberry Patch, who provided two copies of this cookbook to me. Stay tuned, because after a cook a few, I'll be giving one away!

My Turn: In The Kitchen Gooseberry Patch Project

It's my turn!
If you haven't checked out the cooking series over at The Real Farmwives of America, take a minute and surf over and check out what's "in the kitchen with Gooseberry Patch".

A bunch of my blogging buddies have been cooking up recipes from a GP cookbook selected by a vote on the blog.
Well, it's my turn, and I need folks to vote on which GP cookbook I should use. Then I'll be posting 10 recipes over the next several weeks for everyone to try out. So, take a second and vote.

The good part? GP is going to bless me with a copy of the winning cookbook and one to give away!
Then, tune in, because I'm surely going to have that slow-cooker plugged in and ready to go!

Check Out My Guest Post

My goode friend Cris, over at Goodeness Gracious, is doing a series on Super Mommy Secrets.
She asked me to share some ideas for packing school lunches.
So, stop by and check it out, if you have kids heading back to school in a few weeks!

Hunk Of Meat Monday: Pork Chops with Apples and Yams

I don't do a lot of recipe posts. I'm usually too busy cooking to take pictures and the hungry masses who are crying out for nourishment have no patience for such nonsense.

But I thought I'd join Bloggy Pal Leah over at Beyer Beware for Hunk of Meat Monday.

This is one of my fall favorites--mostly because it includes pork (which is my favorite cooking meat, because it's so versatile and hard to mess up).

BONUS: This recipe is an ideal way to use up those sorry-looking apples that are a little bruised and no one will eat out right. Plus, it's a one-dish meal, so minimal clean up!

Ingredients

One 29 oz can of yams, drained. (I prefer the light syrup-style.)

Four pork chops

1/2 cup of apple cider or juice (I've used water in a pinch).

3 to 4 medium-sized apples

Nutmeg (Can also include cinnamon, if you like; I don't.)

2 T. of flour

2 T. cooking oil

Directions

1. Slice and core the apples, then set aside.

2. Preheat the cooking oil in a large, heavy-bottom skillet.

3. Dredge the pork chops in the flour.

4. Brown chops, about 3-4 minutes each side.

5. Add the apple slices and cider/juice. Stir so the apples make contact with the pan so they start cooking right away. Reduce the heat to medium.

6. As apples start to soften, add the can of yams, mixing ingredients. Sprinkle with a small amount of nutmeg (to taste). Cover with a lid and cook until heated through.

7. Make sure the chops reach at least 160 degrees F. After all, food is not sterile and no one wants to serve up a case of foodborne illness. (Call me anal, but I do always temp-check my meat.) Then serve.

I tend to stir it quite a bit so the yams get mushy. They basically make a sauce that my kids don't recognize as a vegetable.

I usually serve this with green beans (the crummy canned ones that my kids love) and biscuits.

Slow-Cooker Chicken Pot Pie...mmm...Tastey!

This is one of my favorites--and my family's, too, until they get tired of it when I get stuck in a cooking rut and make it 3 times in a month!

It's Chicken Pot Pie made mostly in The Working Mom's Favorit Contraption (aka, the Crock Pot/slow cooker).

This is so easy I didn't bother to take a million pictures. (That and my hands were fooded-up.)

IN THE MORNING:
1. Use a about 1 lb. of pre-cooked chicken meat*** and about 4 cups of chicken broth.
***My preference is to cook my own in the crock pot ahead of time (ie, when it's on sale for cheap) from leg quarters. I remove the skin and bones after cooking, then strain and save the broth.
2. Add a one-pound bag of mixed frozen veggies.
3. Peal and cube 1 or 2 medium-sized potatoes, 2 stalks of chopped celery and an appropriate amount of diced onion.
4. I add at least a clove of garlic.
5. Cook on low for 8-10 hours.

AFTER SLAVING AT WORK ALL DAY:
6. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. **be sure to move the racks to accommodate the crock
7. Slip off your shoes and pour a cold drink (This is optional; it's just how I do it.)
8. Dip out a little of the broth from the crock (about 1/2 a cup) and whisk with about 3 T. of flour. Then stir that back into the crock pot mixture to thicken it. (You can use corn starch.)
9. Here's my favorite part: Mix up 2 packages of good ol' Jiffy Corn Bread mix per the directions. Spoon over the top of the crock pot mixture.

10. Bake for 25 minutes (or until corn bread is cooked through). Which looks like this:

Our family loves the corn bread crust better than the old-fashioned kind.