Day 41: Sour Cream and Bacon Crockpot Chicken

So, as promised, this is what I did with the leftover soup yesterday.

I took it and made awesome out of it!

For years, I've been using canned soup to make this meal. Boy, was I missing out on so much flavor!!

I simply wrapped bacon around each breast half, placed it in the crockpot, covered it in soup, let it cook on low for 5 hours. That's it! Well, I mixed sour cream into the soup, but that is implied in the name of this dish.

I served it over rice, but you could easily use egg noodles or couscous.

I have been using the crockpot lately to cook dishes I normally bake. Anytime I can not heat up the house is good. (Except in winter when we're trying to do that.) Many of my staple recipes have been met with pretty good results, too.

Ingredients:

8 bacon slices
8 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
20 oz cream of mushroom soup (2 10 oz cans is fine, I just prefer homemade)
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Place bacon in a large skillet and cook over medium-low heat until some of the fat is rendered. Be sure that the bacon is still pliable and not crisp. Drain on paper towels. (If you prefer, you can double the flour and not render the bacon.)

2.  Wrap one slice of bacon around each boneless chicken breast and place in a 4.5 quart crockpot.

3. In a medium bowl, combine the soup, sour cream, and flour and mix with a wire whisk to blend. Pour over the chicken.

4. Cover crockpot and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or until the chicken and bacon are thoroughly cooked. (For newer crockpots, you may want to check the chicken at 5 hours. Internal temperature should be 160-170 degrees F.)

5. Remove the chicken to a platter and whisk the sauce so it is very well blended and pour over the chicken.

Day 40: Creamy Wild Mushroom Soup

So, our camera's casing somehow got cracked, meaning Best Buy has our camera for about 2 weeks. (Technically, they sent it to Nikon to be repaired, but still, no camera for 2 weeks.) Blah! So, the pics are gonna have to go back to our point-and-shoot and/or our phones. This picture happens to be taken on the new iPad 3! (Apparently, the iPad 2 has a mic problem, so mine got replaced! Woot for new toys!)

My family has been fighting sickness lately, so I've been trying to make soups. Given my decision to not buy canned/jarred items, I had to go looking for really good recipes for homemade. Less sodium, healthier ingredients, better tasting!

Plus, the rest of this soup was used for an awesome chicken recipe that I'll be posting soon!

This was basically a simple soup base of butter, onion, garlic, and flour mixed with heavy cream and chicken stock. I probably should have used vegetable stock, but this is what I had on hand, so I used it. As the title of this post suggests, I put mushrooms in there. They're not mandatory and if you leave them out, this makes a very nice cream of (whatever you wish) soup! Cream of chicken would work really well! Just replace mushrooms for the appropriate amount (I'm thinking roughly 2 cups) of chicken, or cauliflower, or potatoes, or celery. You get the picture.

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp butter
6 oz sliced Portabella mushrooms, chopped into bite-sized pieces
8 oz sliced button mushrooms
1/2 cup diced onion
2 cups half-n-half
2 Tbsp dry sherry (optional, I didn't use it)
14 3/4 oz (a little less than 2 cups) chicken broth
3 Tbsp flour
3 Tbsp water
Tabasco, salt and pepper to taste (I didn't use the Tabasco)

Directions:

1. In a 4 1/2 quart stock pot, melt butter over medium-low heat. Add the Portabella pieces with the button mushroom slices. Cook about 4 minutes. Add the onions (and the sherry if using) and cook for another minute to soften the onions (and evaporate the alcohol, if using the sherry).

2. Add chicken broth, cover, and raise the heat to high. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat back to low and simmer for 3 minutes.

3. Combine the flour and water in a small bowl and whisk it with a fork until all the lumps disappear.

4. Raise the heat on the soup to medium and stir in the half-n-half. Give the cornstarch another whisk with the fork and add that to the pot as well, stirring constantly. Cook until thick.

5 Season with Tabasco (if using) salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.

Day 39: Cinnamon Roll Cake

Ever have a Cinnabon? Love them? Then do I have the cake for you! Seriously, like heaven on a plate! This lovely cake tastes just like them! And the scary part (or awesome depending on your perspective) is all the ingredients are everyday kitchen staples! I can whip this baby up whenever I want!

Well, as long as I have 40-ish minutes, that is! And, the necessary stuff, but as I mentioned, I almost always do! This is sinful!


I apologize for the calories you will intake, but only kinda sorry 'cause then I won't be the only one. :^D

Sorry I don't have a better pic of the glaze that is on this!

Also, the diabetic coma. It's worth it!


Ingredients:
Batter:
3 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
4 Tbsp butter, melted
Swirl:
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp flour
1 Tbsp cinnamon
2/3 cups nuts (optional)
Glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
5 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla


Directions:


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).


2. Grease (or spray with non-stick spray) a 9x13 baking pan.


3. With an electric mixer or stand mixer, mix flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, milk, eggs, and vanilla. Once combined well, slowly stir in 4 tablespoons melted butter. Pour batter into your prepared baking pan.


4. In a large bowl, mix the 2 sticks of softened butter, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nuts (if using) until well combined. Drop even spoonfuls over the cake batter and use a knife to marble/swirl through the cake.


5. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out nearly clean from center.


6. Place powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla in a large bowl. Whisk until smooth. Drizzle over warm cake.


7. Serve warm or room temperature. (Straight out of the oven is devine!)