Crockpot Choc. Lava Cake

                                  image credit  (p.s. she has some other really great recipes on here!)

Seriously doesn't need much explaining. I just need to hand you a fork, some ice cream and then point you to the treadmill later. This recipe is totally worth running the extra couple miles. Holy cow, YUM!! And can I say I don't know if I'll ever make a regular cake in the oven again? The crock pot is so easy and it makes my house smell amazing with choc. cake all afternoon. And it's SO moist! Enough talking, let's get to cooking! Seriously would have taken a picture of mine, but I was too busy shamelessly scarfing down my obscenely large serving of this scrumptious cake! hee hee.

You'll need:

for the cake:
-2 c. brown sugar
-2 c. all purpose flour
-6 tbs. cocoa powder
-4 tsp. baking powder
-1 tsp. salt
-1 c. milk
-4 tbs. butter, melted
-1 tsp. vanilla

for the fudge topping:
-1 1/2 c. brown sugar
-1/2 c. cocoa powder
-3 c. boiling water


Directions:
For the cake:
-Mix sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder & salt.
-Then stir in the milk, butter and vanilla.
-Spray the crock pot with cooking spray. Then spread the mix down in the bottom of the crock pot.

For the Fudge topping:
-Mix brown sugar & cocoa.
-Sprinkle it over the top of the cake batter. Don't mess with it after this. Meaning: resist the temptation to stir.
-Pour the boiling water on top. DO NOT STIR! Just let it be. You're done!
-Cook on high for 2-2 1/2 hrs. (mine was done in 2 hrs. but your crock pot might be different)
-Turn off the heat and let it sit for 20-30 min. (I know by this point, you just want to dive in there, believe me you'll want to wait, so you don't burn your mouth. I learned the hard way.)
-Okay now you can dig in! And you might as well top it with ice cream because seriously, your calorie consumption at the point is already through the roof. So you might as well make it good eh? :) Enjoy!!

Southwest Chicken Wraps

                                                                          image credit
I found these off of Pinterest and they are awesome! I had tons of leftovers from last night, it made a lot! And I honestly can't wait to eat it for lunch today. So yummy. My kids were saying yum! while they ate it last night. Scarfed it down. And these are so filling. This is going down in my favorite recipes book.

You'll Need:
-1 c. cooked, shredded chicken
-1 c. cooked rice
-1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
-1 green onion, sliced (green and white parts)
-1/2 red or green pepper (I used both, more veggies the better right?)
-1/4 c. fresh cilantro, chopped (I used dried and about 1 tbs)
-juice of 1 lime (I used bottled lime juice, about 1-2 tbs)
-1/2 tbs. chili powder
-1 tsp. ground cumin
-2 c. shredded cheese (I used a combo of mozzarella & medium cheddar)
-sour cream (optional-I used fat free so I felt ok about using a little)
-6 burrito sized flour tortillas (I swear the amount of filling I made, made enough for 8 & I stuffed these things full!)

Directions:
-Mix rice, chili powder, cumin and garlic salt together.
-Add remaining ingredients except for cheese and sour cream.
-Sprinkle cheese over tortillas. I dotted sour cream in little places around the tortilla. Then put the chicken/rice mix down in the middle.
-Roll stuffed tortillas into a burrito style. The recipe said to leave the edges open, but I rolled it in anyway. Just so my kids (or me) wouldn't spill the filling everywhere when eating it.
-Spray a pan with cooking spray.
-Heat a pan over medium heat. Placing the wraps seam side down first. They will be golden brown and crisp.
about 2-3 min. on each side. I cut them on a diagonal so they look fancy. :)
-We gobbled these up and have tons left over.
-I'm sure you could freeze 1/2 of this and use it for a day you don't want to really cook. How easy would it be to pop it in your fridge that morning and pull it out with cheese, sour cream and tortillas? Basically an effortless meal!

Chicken Tortellini Soup

I got this recipe from a family cookbook. Loved it! In fact, I was so preoccupied with eating the soup that I forgot to take a pictures of it! This makes a huge amount, so you are more than welcome to cut it in half. I would say the full recipe would feed 10 people. I did a little tweaking, but here is the recipe and I hope you like it as much as I did!

You'll Need:
-5 c. water
-3 cans chicken broth
-2 cans cream of chicken soup
-2 c. cooked chicken, cubed
-1 c. onion, chopped
-1 c. carrots, sliced
-2 cloves garlic, minced (I grate mine with a hand held grater, works great!)
-1/2 tsp. oregano
-1/2 tsp. basil
-1 pkg. tortellini (dry works best)
-1 pkg. frozen broccoli

Directions:
-In a large pot, combine, water, broth, soup, onions, carrots, garlic, chicken and spices.
-Bring to a boil.
-Simmer for 30 min.
-Add tortellini and broccoli.
-Simmer for 15 min. or until cooked!
-Devour!

Cheesy Potato Soup

Found a great recipe on Our Best Bites today for a Baked Potato Soup recipe and I adapted it a little. Holy crap I can't wait til dinner! Of course I sample the dishes I make and lets just say my lunch comprised of this new soup and so will my dinner and I don't mind at ALL! Yum! You have to try this out. It's got an unexpected kick to it and is so smooth, creamy and comforting. I'm also making bread bowls to go along with this. Can't wait to sop up this delectable soup with some fresh bread. mmmm....my mouth is watering just thinking about it. I made a ginormous batch because I knew I would want to freeze this goodness and have it again at a later frosty date. So this recipe is for a huge batch. If you don't feel like doing a big batch, just cut everything in half.


You'll need:
-6 medium baked potatoes (I cooked mine in the microwave real quick and easy like)
-3 cloves of garlic, grated(use a small handheld grater, it makes it into a paste so you don't bite down on garlic bits.)
-6 tbs. butter
-5-6 medium carrots, shredded
-4 c. sharp cheddar cheese (I used a combo of what I had, med. cheddar and monterey jack)
-3 tsp. salt
-3 tsp. pepper
-9 c. milk (I used 6 c. of low fat milk and 3 c. of heavy whipping cream, cuz that's what I had and ran out of milk-tastes great!)
-1 large onion,chopped up small/minced
-1 c. flour
-2 cans of chicken stock/veggie stock (whichever one you have)
-1 1/2 c. sour cream
-8 strips of bacon, cooked and chopped up.
-chives


Directions:
-First put butter in a large stock pot. Melt and add your shredded carrots, minced onion and grated garlic. Let it saute till their all soft.
-Add half of your milk. Then slowly add your flour a little bit at a time, while constantly whisking so you have a smooth mixture and get all the lumps out. (If you can't get all the lumps out, put the soup in your blender and blend it up then put back into stock pot) Then add your cream and the rest of your milk & chicken stock.
-Let it simmer until it thickens.
-Cut your potatoes length wise and scrape out the flesh. Put the chunks of potato in a large bowl and mash up with a wooden spoon breaking up any large chunks. Then add it to the soup.
-Add your cheese and salt and pepper. Then stir till your cheese is melted.
-Take off heat and add sour cream and most of the bacon.
-Serve in bowls and garnish with bacon, sour cream and chives.
-Optional: this is great with bread of some sort.
It will knock your socks off!

Healthy & Delicious Fries

Now no fry is exactly healthy for you, but these are "healthier" for you. You honestly can't go wrong with parmesan herb crusted homemade fries. Makes your mouth water huh? Just wait till you taste them. They are something I have to fight my kids over. And possibly may have stolen a few off their plates? oops! They're that good. Seriously give them a try, you won't leave the pan til their gone.

You'll need:
-6 medium potatoes, sliced into 8 wedges.
-1/4 c. low fat parmesan cheese
-1 tbs. season salt
-1 tsp. pepper
-1 tbs. oregano
-3 tbs. olive oil
-1 gallon ziplock bag

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350.
-Cut potatoes into wedges. I usually get 8 wedges out of each potato.
-In a gallon zip lock baggie, put your parmesan and spices. Zip it and shake them around to mix them.
-Put the potato wedges in the baggie. Then drizzle the olive oil over it.
-Close the baggie and hand it to your kids. They can shake it around to coat the wedges with the seasonings.
-Dump the coated potato wedges onto a cookie sheet lined with foil.
-Bake them for 15-20 min. Until golden brown and you can stick a fork in them and can tell they're soft on the inside, with a nice crust on the outside.
-Gobble them up as fast as you can!

Parmesan Sausage Stuffed Zucchini Boats

These were by FAR one of my all time favorite recipes! My kids licked-yes licked- their plates clean and my hubby ate 4 of them! I on the other won't tell you how many I ate. :) Remember I'm on a diet and I need to watch my portions? Well that flew out the window once I tasted these. Holy moly these were delish! And super simple to make which made it even more one of my favs. Okay seriously you have to try them. Plus it serves 8. Or if you're like my family, we ate them all and we were only 4. Ooops. :)

Here's what you need:
-4 med. zucchini
-1 lb. sausage (mine was sage flavored)
-1 small onion, chopped
-1 clove garlic, minced
-1 c. bread crumbs, seasoned (mine were italian)
-1/2 c. + 2 tbs. parmesan cheese
-1 egg, beaten
-1/4 tsp. salt
-1/2 c. water

Directions:
-Cut zucchini lengthwise, and scoop the pulp out. Like so.


- Chop the pulp up.
-Brown the sausage, add the onion, garlic & the pulp. Saute it for 5 min. Then remove from the heat.
-Add the bread crumbs & 1/2 c. parmesan & the egg. Mix it well.
It should look like this at this point.


-Fill the zucchini boat shells. Then sprinkle the 2 tbs. of parmesan cheese over the filled zucchini boats. Put the shells in a baking sheet. And pour the 1/2 c. water into the bottom of the baking sheet. Like so.


-Bake it at 350 for 15 min. Uncover them and bake them another 15 min.
-Scarf them up as fast as possible before anyone else can get their hands on them! :)

Easy Chicken & Cheese Enchiladas

This was a snappy meal to fix and the kids loved how creamy it was and it had just enough kick for me and the hubs. I love it when the recipes don't call for that many ingredients! I also took the pic, before I topped it with the ingredients. My kids were starving so I had to hurry and snap the picture quick. Hopefully next time the picture will be much better!

You'll need:
-1 can cream of chicken soup $.88 (on sale at case lot)
-1/2 c. sour cream $.56
-1 c. pace picante salsa (I used my own bottled salsa) $free
-2 tsp. chili powder $.10
-2 c. cooked chicken, chopped (about 2 chicken breasts) $1.50
-1/2 c. monterey jack cheese $.50 (bought on sale for $1)
-6 flour tortillas, warmed $.60 (again bought on sale when pkgs were $1)
-1 tomato, chopped $free from garden
-1 green onion, chopped $free from garden
Total: $4.14

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350.
-Stir the soup, sour cream, picante & chili pwd. in a bowl with the cooked chicken. Spoon it into the tortillas, then top the mix with some cheese.
-Roll tortilla up and put in a 9x9 pan.
-Spoon remaining mixture on top of the rolled up tortillas. Then top that with cheese.
-Cover pan with tin foil.
-Bake for 40 min. Top with the chopped tomato and onion.
*I served this with fresh corn on the cob from the garden and some steamed squash and zucchini from the garden. We were stuffed!
*This should serve about 6 very hungry people.