Bacon Jam

I've been planning on making this for a few weeks and finally had the time to! You start it in a pan then transfer it to the slow cooker. It's kind of time consuming but it's delicious so it's worth it!

Bacon Jam

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs thick cut bacon
2 medium onions, diced small
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
3/4 cup brewed coffee

Directions:

1. Cut bacon cross wise, into 1 inch pieces. Cook in skillet on medium for about 20 minutes until fat is rendered and bacon is slightly brown. Use a slotted spoon to remove bacon from pan and transfer to a paper towel to help drain. Pour off bacon fat, except about 1 tablespoon.

2. Cook onions and garlic in bacon fat until onions are translucent.

3. Add in remaining ingredients and cook until boil. Stir in bacon.

4. Transfer to slow cooker and cook on HIGH, uncovered,  for about 4 hours.  Sauce with thicken like syrup.

5. Transfer mixture to food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped.
6. Allow to cool and transfer to jars or air tight containers.  Store in fridge for 4-6 weeks. (If it makes it that long! :) )

A few notes:
*Try this on an egg sandwich or on a pizza with fresh arugula.
*Delicious on mini baguettes and crackers, great for a party appetizer.
*Recipe makes about 3 1/2 half pint jars.

Hawaiian Kielbasa Bake

I am always looking for new and easy recipes and this is definitely one of them! It gives a great island-like flavor and is not a typical casserole.  The balance between the sweet pineapple and peppers is perfect!

Hawaiian Kielbasa Bake

Ingredients: 
1 lb cooked Kielbasa, sliced into bite sized pieces
1 green pepper, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup pineapple preserve
1 (8oz) can pineapple chunks, undrained
1 (6.2 oz) box of whole grain and wild rice quick rice, with seasoning packet
1 1/4 cup water
2 tbsp butter

Directions:
1. About 1 hour before baking, combine kielbasa, peppers, and onions in bowl. Top with pineapple preserve and pineapple chunks. Let marinate in fridge until ready to cook.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine water and butter in sauce pan until boil.

3. Combine rice, seasoning packet, kielbasa mixture, and boiling water in bowl.

4. Pour into 2.5 quart casserole dish and cooked, covered, for about 40-45 minutes.  Enjoy!

A few notes:
*This would be equally delicious if you used 1 lb of cooked chicken breast instead of kielbasa.
*Make sure you scoop up the awesome sauce mixture made from the pineapple preserves!
 *This is a great hot casserole that has very summery like tastes! :)

Slow Cooker Pad Thai with Chicken

I absolutely love Pad Thai and anytime I order it for take out I'm not usually completely satisfied. I've made in the skillet a few times but I wanted to be able to come home to it after work. So here's my version of slow cooker Pad Thai with Chicken, you can obviously make it with turkey, beef, shrimp, tofu, or just veggie as well.

Slow Cooker Pad Thai with Chicken

Ingredients:

1 lb chopped chicken (I used chicken thighs but you can use breast or ground if you want)

2 cloves garlic, minced/grated

4 tbsp rice vinegar

4 tbsp fish sauce

4 tbsp lime juice

4 tsp sugar

1/2 cup sliced onions

1/2 cup diced carrots

1/2 cup tofu, diced

1 (14 oz) can bean sprouts, drained
1/3 cup chopped peanuts

1 package rice noodles

extra chopped peanuts (for topping)

Directions:

1. Brown chicken in sauce pan.  While cooking, grate in garlic. 

2. Combine everything except noodles and peanuts in slow cooker.

3. Cook on low for about 4 hours, stir in peanuts. 

4. Cook noodles: Put noodles in a large mixing bowling and soak in boiling water for about 5-10 minutes or until limp. If you soak them too long they will become very mushy and stick together.

5. Drain noodles and stir into slow cooker. 

6. Top with extra peanuts and lime juice. Enjoy!

A few notes:

*Next time, while cooking the noodles, I am going to scramble up some eggs to add in at the end. 

*What's great about Pad Thai is that you can easily add whatever you want. If you are trying it with shrimp, they should be cooked and added in when you add in the peanuts. 

*If like it spicy, top with Sriracha Sauce!

 *You could easily do this in a skillet within minutes. After you cook the chicken, add in remaining ingredients and cook on low while the noodles are cooking. Stir in noodles and enjoy!

Slow Cooker Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup

I can't even think of words to say about this soup! It's so delicious! You could have it as a side with a sandwich or have it by itself, either way, it's awesome! So great to come home to on a cold day!

Slow Cooker Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup

Ingredients: 

2 (14 oz) cans diced tomatoes, with juice

1 cup diced carrots

1 cup diced onions

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tbsp dried basil

4 cups chicken broth

1/2 bay leaf

1/2 cup flour

1 cup Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup butter

2 cups milk

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper 

Directions: 

1. Combine tomatoes, carrots, onions, oregano, basil, chicken broth, and bay leaf in slow cooker.

2. Cook on low 7-8 hours.

3. About 30 minutes before serving, prepare a roux. Melt butter in pot until melted and add flour. Whisk constantly for about 5 minutes (it will thicken A LOT). Slowly stir in 1 cup of hot soup. Then add about another 3 cups of soup until roux is thoroughly combined. Add to slow cooker.

4. Combine and heat milk,parmesan, salt, and pepper,  until milk is warm. You don't want to boil the milk!

5. Add milk mixture to soup and let cook additional 10-20 minutes. 

6. Enjoy! I topped mine with a little mozzarella cheese and extra basil! 

Slow Cooker Turkey Tetrazinni

For those of you who have a lot of extra turkey leftover in the house, here's a great and super easy Turkey Tetrazinni recipe!

Slow Cooker Turkey Tetrazinni

Ingredients: 
1 cup water
1 can (10 3/4 oz) cream of chicken soup
1 can (10 3/4 oz) cream of mushroom soup
1 can (4 oz) sliced mushrooms with liquid
2 cups diced cooked turkey
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon dried parsley
dash nutmeg
1 cup sour cream
Egg Noodles (or your choice of noodle: spaghetti, elbow, whatever you have)

Directions:
1. Combine everything except noodles and sour cream in slow cooker.

2. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

3. Cook noodles as desired. Add noodles and sour cream to slow cooker. Turn slow cooker on high for about 5-10 minutes to let sauce thicken. Enjoy!

Banana Cranberry Bread

Every year we have a bunch of cranberry sauce leftover after Thanksgiving. This year, instead of letting it go bad in my fridge, I decided to add it to one of my favorite banana bread recipes. It's delicious and helps me get some of the leftovers out of my fridge! The recipe is just enough for two loaves of bread or I made 1 loaf of bread and a dozen muffins.

Banana Cranberry Bread

Ingredients:
3 or 4 ripe bananas
2 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup of shortening
1/2 cup of butter (or you can do a whole cup of shortening but I use butter for flavor)
3 eggs
1 cup cranberry sauce (I used one with whole berries)
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Directions:
1. Combine bananas, butter, shortening, eggs, sugar, cranberry sauce, milk, and vanilla until creamed.
2. Add in flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Blend until batter forms.
3. Bake at 375 degrees. Loaves of bread take about 60 minutes (or until tooth pick comes out clean) and muffins take about 25 minutes.  Enjoy!

Thanksgiving Leftover Frittata

Sometimes I get tired of eating turkey for lunch and dinner for days after Thanksgiving. This year I decided to switch it up and use some of the leftover turkey and other leftovers to make a breakfast frittata. My dad taught me a long time ago that what's awesome about frittatas is that you basically can throw in any leftovers that you have in the fridge. So don't limit your's to whatever I am using!

Thanksgiving Leftover Frittata

Ingredients:

1 cup of turkey
8 eggs
1 cup of milk
1 cup mashed potatoes
1 cup of stuffing (I'll post my sausage stuffing recipe later!)
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup cheddar cheese (or whatever cheese you want to use up in your fridge!)
2 tbsp chives

Directions:

1. Chop turkey into bite size pieces. Saute onions until tender in butter or olive oil.

2. Scoop mashed potatoes into about 2 inch balls and then sprinkle with chives. Flatten into small pancakes.

3. Remove onions from pan and set aside. Place potatoes in pan and brown on each side.

4. Sprinkle in stuffing, trying to cover areas that the potatoes aren't.  They both act as a nice base for the dish.

5. Top with turkey and sautéed onions.

6. Beat eggs with milk and then pour over pan mixture.

7. Top with cheese and bake in oven at 375 degrees for about 45-60 minutes. You'll see the eggs browning on the top and pulling away from the side of the pan.  Enjoy!

Fake It Bakery Cake

I discovered this recipe a little over a year ago and I'll never look at a box cake the same way! This recipe shows you how to take a box cake and make it taste like a bakery style cake for much much less! 

Fake It Bakery Cake

Here's what you do! 

1. Look at the directions on the cake mix.

2. Add one more egg than called for (or 2 if you like it VERY rich).

3. Use melted butter instead of oil and double the amount.  (This is obviously a not diet friendly!)

4. Instead of water, use milk.

5. Mix well and bake for recommended time on the box!

Here's the cake I made this weekend with the recipe! :)

Bakery Style Frosting

I've always enjoyed baking and one of my favorite things is cake decorating. I've been searching for the perfect bakery style frosting and this one is easy and perfect! This is so delicious and the bonus is that there is no need to refrigerate!

Bakery Style Frosting

Ingredients:

2 cups shortening

1/2 cup non-dairy powdered coffee creamer

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 (32 oz) package of confectioner's sugar

1/2-3/4 cup water

food coloring (if desired)

Directions: 

1. In a mixing bowl, beat shortening, creamer, and extracts until smooth.

2. Gradually add the confectioner's sugar (it will get SUPER thick!). 

3. Add enough water (starting with 1/2 cup) until frosting reaching your desired consistency. 

4. Add food coloring if desired and enjoy!

For CHOCOLATE frosting: Simply add in 1/2 cup of cocoa powder into the mixture with the confectioner's sugar!