APPLE CRUMBLE POT

 This is the first time this year that I have hosted our canasta group. It seems like it has been forever since I last hosted. Not sure why either. 

It was a perfect day to play cards since the sky was full of clouds, a little rain had fallen just before we gathered, and the wind was cold feeling and strong. For the first time as far as I can remember, I didn't feel rushed getting everything ready. I even had time to cut some strips for another friend from the Blankets of Hope quilting group so she could come by and pick them up. 

One reason, I guess, is the recipe I had chosen to make for dessert was so easy to prepare. Since I wanted to serve it warm and it had to cook for maybe 3 hours in the slow cooker, I had everything in the slow cooker at noon to cook. Since they group wasn't getting there until 1, I even had time to clean up the mess from preparing the dessert so my kitchen looked nice and clean when Friend Janice arrived first at 12:58. 

The recipe called for four Granny Smith apples but added about 2 pounds. Since I had five, I thought I would weigh four of the apples and I'm glad I did. It took all five of them to get to 2 pounds. I just didn't think four apples were enough to feed six of us. Then after filling the slow cooker to the absolute top, I was thinking maybe I should have used my larger slow cooker. When after two and a half hours, the topping didn't look done, I was really having doubts about using my smaller slow cooker.  All I could do was just cook it a little longer (even though the recipe stressed not overcooking it) and at three hours the topping looked done and I could serve it after it sat for a bit.

I added a scoop of ice cream that personally made it perfect. Everyone loved it and declared it a hit. I think you will also.

PRINT RECIPE.

APPLE CRUMBLE POT

FILLING:

2/3     cup packed brown sugar

2        tablespoons biscuit baking mix

1-1/2  teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4     teaspoon ground allspice

2        pounds (4-5) Granny Smith apples, cored and cut into 8 wedges each

1/2    cup dried cranberries

2       tablespoons butter, sliced

TOPPING:

1       cup biscuit baking mix

1/2    cup uncooked old-fashioned oats

1/3    cup packed brown sugar

3       tablespoons cold butter, thinly sliced

1/2    cup chopped pecans

Spray a slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. (I used a 3 quart slow cooker.)

Filling instructions:

Prepare the apples.

Combine the brown sugar, baking mix, cinnamon, and allspice in a large bowl.

Add the apple wedges and dried cranberries.

Toss to coat.

Transfer to the slow cooker. Place the sliced butter over the top. Set aside.

Topping instructions:

In a medium size bowl, combine the baking mix, oats, and brown sugar.

Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or 2 knives or

like I do with your fingers.

Sprinkle evenly over the apple mixture in the slow cooker. Top with the pecans.

Cover the slow cooker and cook on HIGH until the apples are tender...2-1/2 to 3 hours. 

Turn off slow cooker. Remove the cover and let stand 15 to 30 minutes before serving.

Taste great with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Serves 6 generous servings

THE DAY IN THE LIFE + A RECIPE

 8:30 A.M. Today is the Kansas City's Super Bowl Parade for the Chiefs! What an exciting day! It has been a crazy year when we thought the Chiefs were "for sure going to the Super Bowl" to "we will never go playing like this" to " we are going and we are going to win". .

Today is also one of those days when I will be meeting myself coming and going. I honestly would have enjoyed going to the parade. The last time it was cold, but today it will be around 40, but I'm not going. It just won't fit in my busy schedule anyway. I will probably end up stopping and starting several times today but I do want to get this post out today.

I had planned to write this post last night but ended up talking to my sil Sondra who lives in Texas about her family trees on Ancestry. I've been working with my family trees longer than she has and so my understanding is a little greater than hers. By the time we ended, it was past my bedtime. She thanked me for helping her and mentioned the time. I told her I had meant to write a post for my blog, but me said I could just write it today. She doesn't have a blog so doesn't understand my dedication to it and my readers.

In between my happenings today I do plan to share the recipe I was going to write up last night with you...a slow cooker pork tenderloin. Our younger son Patrick would stop reading right now if he were reading this. He is a "grill man" or whatever you would call it. He won't listen when we try to tell him how good pork chops are cooked in the air fryer. He does cook/smoke awesome BBQ and other meats, but just not open to cooking meats any other way. 

It helps to reorganize your chest freezer ever so often if you have one. That's how we found the 2 lb pork tenderloin I cooked in the slow cooker. We knew we had one, but it was in the bottom of the freezer and you know what they say ... "out of sight, out of mind". Wayne took it out and we put it in the refrigerator to thaw. Then I went about looking for a new way to cook it so I would have a new recipe to share.

Looking at the clock, I realize I need to stop, eat some cereal, and then get ready to go get my nails done. I think I will chose a red dipping powder in honor of the Chiefs. I will be back after Gina gets finished. I will have about an hour before I eat some lunch and get ready to go play canasta with my friends. I should be able to watch some of the pre-parade activities while Gina does her thing on my nails. Until later... 9:15 A.M.

11:57 A. M. I'm back from getting my nails done. Love the color! (My hands remind me of my mother's slender hands when I look at this picture.)

Had an apple and got dressed to go to canasta, folded clothes and put a load of clothes in the dryer that I had washed before going to get my nails done all in about 45 minutes. The parade is starting so I'm trying to watch some of that even though I am recording it. Coverage doesn't end until 3:00 so I will have to watch the last of it tonight after I get home from church. I have to grab a little something else to eat for a light lunch before I leave to pick up Friend Fran. I realize I can't watch the tv constantly and type at the same time. I do fairly well but I do need to look down occasionally to think a bit about what I want to say. So I'm going to sign off until I get home from canasta later this afternoon. I will see then how much I can get written. 12:04 P.M.

8:50 P.M. Well, I got home from canasta about 4:15 P.M. but didn't have time to get back to this before having to leave for handbell practice because I needed to get to eat something for dinner. I went to a class at church straight from handbells and have finally gotten home. I'm tired but I'm determined to get this post finished and schedule it to be posted in the morning at 6 A.M. CST.

I did get to see the first of the parade before I left for canasta and then when Fran and I got to Friend Vicky's, she and Friend Ellen were watching the parade. We continued to watch it for probably 30 minutes but decided to go play cards since everyone was recording the event. I think I saw the most important part so will probably not watch it from the recording. Wayne has already changed his profile picture on Facebook to a baseball theme.

So I guess I will get back to the recipe for the slow cooker pork tenderloin. I made this two or three weeks ago and we enjoyed it for most of the week. The meat was so tender and warmed up nicely in the microwave. I enjoyed pork sliders for at least three days. You would never have known the tenderloin had been in the freezer for almost two years. 

I allowed it to thaw in the refrigerator and it fit in my larger slow cooker perfectly. It weighed two pounds which is what all of the recipes I found online gave instructions for. There were many different recipes to choose from. I noticed they all generally agreed to cook the 2 lb roast for 2 to 3 hours or 145 degrees F. I just tried to find a recipe that I might have looked at but wasn't able to find anything as simple as mine and since I don't remember if I found anything exactly the way I ended up cooking mine, I will not worry about it since I do remember how I cooked mine and go from there. 

I cooked mine longer than I could have because it registered higher than 145 degrees when I checked it at almost three hours. I would suggest checking the temperature at two hours and not feel like you need to cook it for the full three hours.

SLOW COOKER TENDER PORK TENDERLOIN

1     pork tenderloin - 2 lbs.

12   oz of root beer (I used one with zero sugar)

BBQ sauce

Spray the inside of a slow cooker large enough to hold the tenderloin.

Place the tenderloin in the cooker fat side down.

Pour 12 oz of a root beer over the top of the roast.

Cover the cooker and cook on HIGH for 2 to 3 hours or until the temperature of the center registers 145 degrees F.

Since it cooked faster than I thought it would, I turned the temperature down to KEEP WARM for 30 to 40 minutes.

Then I removed the tenderloin and placed it in a sprayed casserole dish that was big enough to hold the roast. (I discarded the liquid in the cooker.)

I covered it with my favorite BBQ sauce, covered the dish, and

placed it in a preheated 350 degree F oven long enough to heat the sauce (15 to 20 minutes).

I removed it from the oven and cut it in thick slices to serve.

It was so delicious.

I added additional BBQ sauce when I heated up some slices in the microwave to eat as sliders.

It is now 9:45 P.M. and I'm tired enough to go to bed but I want to play a quick sudoku game on my phone first. That will help relax me. It has been a busy day.

SLOW COOKER CHICKEN EXTRAORDINAIRE

 Believe me or not, but I actually made time to cook this week. It didn't take me too long because I used my slow cooker. Because of the 30-Block Exchange Group I joined the last of February, most of my time since then has been spent in my sewing room. But for the most part I am finished with that. I have one more block that I the pieces for but haven't made yet. I also have a couple of blocks I still need to write tutorials for. And then of course when I receive my 28 blocks I will want to start on my Friendship Quilt with them.

I have also started another home improvement project that was planned for last summer but didn't happen. I am painting the walls downstairs in the family room, a.k.a. Wayne's man cave. Then nailing up some ship lap with a chair railing for the lower part. The room is so dark because it is partials below ground level and with what I have gotten done so far, it already looks brighter. Anxious to get it finished, but I am not rushing. I plan to write a post on the work as I go along so you can be looking for it.

But today I am sharing an awesome recipe for cooking chicken in the slow cooker that I made Monday afternoon. I had good intentions to start it Monday morning, but something got in the way. That's the good thing about cooking in your slow cooker. If I don't have enough time to cook, I just cook it on High instead of Low and that's what I did.

The recipe said to cook on Low for 8 hours. Instead I cooked it for 4 hours on High. I started out with the chicken breasts frozen and they were pull-apart tender 4 hours later. I used regular spaghetti that I cooked on the stove, but I think it would taste good also if you used rice, brown rice in particular. The recipe cooked enough for us to have full-serving leftovers so if you are cooking for four, it will be perfect and you wanted used two chicken breasts. How cool is that?

For a printable copy of just the recipe, click HERE.

SLOW COOKER CHICKEN EXTRAODINAIRE

2       chicken breasts

3       cloves of garlic, chopped or left whole

10.5  ounce can of cream of chicken soup

3/4    cup of chicken broth

1/4    cup (2 ounces) cream cheese

1/4    cup butter

1       0.6 ounce package of Italian dressing mix

 *     *     *     *

Spaghetti or rice

Spray the inside of the slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray.

Place the chicken breasts in the bottom of the cooker. They can be frozen or thawed. (I used frozen ones.)

Top with the garlic. I peeled and kept mine whole

Soften the butter and cream cheese in the microwave. Whisk until smooth. (Best to start with room temperature butter and cream cheese.)

Whisk in the soup, undiluted, and then add the dressing mix. (I used zesty Italian mix.) Then add the chicken broth. (I made my own using 3/4 cup of water and 1 bouillon cube in the glass measuring cup and heat to boiling in the microwave. Then stir to dissolve the bouillon cube. Whisk mixture well. 

Pour over the chicken breasts. 

Cover and cook on Low for 8 hours or High for 4 hours. Reduce temperature to Keep Warm if you are not ready to eat.

Prepare spaghetti or rice according to package directions.

I cubed the cooked chicken and since it was just the two of us eating,

I used as much of the chicken as I wanted to and added it along with some of the "gravy" to the spaghetti to serve it.

I also sprinkled a little parsley on top.

The leftover chicken, I added back to the slow cooker with a little bit of extra spaghetti I had and covering it, placed in the refrigerator to eat another day.

It was quite tasty and was so easy, I think it will probably become a regular way to cook chicken since we eat so much.

Here is a teaser for the upcoming post of our remodeling project downstairs. (I love those overalls. I have had them for many years. They fit so nicely. Whatever possessed me to use them as my painting attire? 

HEARTY BEEF STEW

 Full of veggies and stew meat to make a very satisfying meal. Wayne couldn't quit raving about how good it tasted. He did tell me it was only missing one thing..."onions"... we both said at the same time. I told him he could add some minced onions. He said he would the next time we ate it. (Onions and I do not get along at all so I almost always omit them in recipes. He's used to it.)

It did make a really big pot so that we have generous servings for two more meals. If you have a big family, it would be a good meal to make. Wayne suggested next time that I could I made it, I could use more carrots which I agreed with him. The recipe just said 3 carrots and my carrots weren't super big so I definitely could have used 4 carrots. So remember that when you make it. My potatoes were fairly large so we had plenty of them. I had cut my stew meat into smaller pieces when I prepared it to freeze to use when I was ready. I also browned it on the stove in a skillet a bit before adding it to the slow cooker. The recipe said to cook it 6 hours on LOW and it was ready after 5 hours. I preheated the slow cooker on HIGH while I was preparing the veggies.

HEARTY BEEF STEW

3       carrots, peeled and sliced

3       potatoes, peeled and diced

1       onion, chopped

2       stalks celery, sliced

2       lbs. stew beef, cubed

1/4    cup flour

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2    teaspoon pepper

1       clove garlic, minced (I substituted 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder.)

1       bay leaf

1       cup beef broth (I made my own using 1 cup hot water and 1 beef bouillon cube.)

1       teaspoon paprika

1       teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Spray a 5 - 6-quart slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray (for easy cleanup). Preheat cooker on HIGH while you

prepare the veggies.

Arrange veggies in cooker and

top with beef that

you were also browning in a skillet while preparing the veggies.

Combine the flour, salt, and pepper in a small bowl;

sprinkle over meat.

Add garlic and remaining ingredients.

I made the cup of beef broth using a beef bouillon and added the spices to it and

poured it evenly over ingredients in the cooker.

Cover and cook on HIGH for one hour.

Then reduce temperature to LOW and cook 5 - 6 hours more.

Remove bay leaf and gently stir the stew to distribute the ingredients.

Spoon into bowls to enjoy!