Homemade Ganola Bars

So i know that it has been a few months since my last post. I know I have been a super slacker, but this summer has been CRAZY! We bought a new home and moved, there has been T-ball games and practices, baby showers, birthday parties, and cook outs. Now that we are settled in and school will be starting soon (yay!) I hope to send out some new recipes to all those who care.
One thing that I love to prepare on Sundays are breakfasts for the week. My husband leaves the house around really early o'clock (im not sure when he leaves all I know is that it is still dark outside). And I am the type of person that has the absolute minute planned out as to when I get out of bed and still get to work on time. I have a grumpy kid who hates to get up in the morning so he usually wears his next days clothes to bed to save time in the morning. (Dont judge me) Yes, hitting snooze 2-3 times is worth it to me. I dont care about your data that says you do not get any more sleep by hitting the snooze button. Even so, we have getting up and out of the door in 20 minutes down to a science in my house. To avoid grabbing fast food or pop tart I have found and slightly tweaked a delicious home made granola bar recipe.

Disclaimer: If you have a peanut allergy I want to sincerely apologize that I have likely got you so excited about a yummy granola bar; however, this isn't for you unless you want to risk Anaphalaxis.


What you need:
1 jar of peanut butter (we are PB snobs and always have Jiff Natural)
1 12oz Honey
1 bag of Granola (I by Nature Valley oats and Honey but the Bear Naked brand is good too!)
1 3/4 cup of Protein powder (My husband always has protein powder so this time it is Chocolate Peanut butter, but you can pick different flavors too)











Directions:
Mix the honey and peanut butter together and microwave for 45-60 sec. Mix granola and protein powder together. Fold in the honey/peanut butter into the granola mixture. Press into a lightly greased pan and chill for 1 hour. You can cut the bars in the pan and it will make around 20-22 depending on how you cut it. We keep the bars in the fridge all week because if they get too warm they are a little crumbly.











Per MyFitnessPal 1 serving is
                      Cal     CHO     Fat    Protein    Na   Sugar

Per Serving:

369

34

21

17

153

20

The upfront cost for this is a little pricey seeing as though the protein powder will run you between $18-20, but it lasts for several recipes. The breakdown is about $0.50-0.75 per bar which is pretty cheap once you compare it to the Cliff Bars and Supreme Bars.

Hopefully I will get another post soon. Im currently planning a Minecraft birthday party for less than $100 and have some other budget friendly meals to share. 

Slow cooker Beef Rotini

One of my favorite go to meals is spaghetti. I love spaghetti as left overs and I love how easy on the budget spaghetti is. The only bad thing is that it can get old very quickly! I have tried it all different ways- baked spaghetti, spaghetti-spaghetti squash and it is all very good. In attempts to cook the tried and true but make it a little different I used rotini noodles.

Ingredients: Serves 4-6
1 can Hunts Spaghetti sauce (use whichever you prefer, but this is a good buy at $1 per can... Im not a sauce snob)
1 lbs of cooked ground beef
1 box of Barilla White Fiber Rotini (This is SOOO good and Kroger often has is on sale for $1, but you can use any brand that you prefer)
1/2 cup Mozzarella Cheese

You obviously do not have to freeze this meal before you make it; however, I still prefer to have everything prepared before the week starts. I freeze the sauce and beef and defrost the night before. Since the meat is already cooked, you are merely warming the sauce. I cooked on high for 2 hours or you can do low for 4 hours and then set to warm. On the stove boil your pasta. I bought the Barilla White Fiber Rotini because #1: it was $1 per box and #2: the nutrition is very comparable to whole wheat pasta. Stir in the pasta and 1/2 cup cheese. Then you are ready to eat!

You can pair this meal with a side salad or garlic bread. Hope you enjoy this easy-budget friendly slow cooker meal! (The leftovers are the best part in my opinion).

Slow cooker Italian Chicken

I have come across several recipes called Italian Chicken, but this one is a little different that what you will typically find. My sister in law shared this recipe with me and is a big hit at our house. When I make my slow cooker menu I typically have both Italian Chicken and the Slow Cooker Roast recipe because they both take similar ingredients but have different tastes.

Ingredients: Serves 4-6
2-3 chicken breasts
2 packets of dry italian seasoning
1 jar of pepperoncinis

Sometimes I buy the bags of frozen chicken and add the frozen chicken breast to the slow cooker and then add the italian seasoning and full jar of pepperoncinis (juice and all). Or you can prepare it in a freezer bag ready to defrost when you need it.

Cook the chicken on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-7 hours

Once the chicken is done remove and shred. I will also typically cut up a few peppers and add back to the slow cooker. Throw away any remaining peppers that you dont need.

This time we added the chicken to slider buns and topped with Siracha Cream sauce (see my recipe on the Siracha Taco Recipe) Slow Cooker Siracha Pork Tacos

This is defininatly a great recipe and easy to make. Let me know if you have tried this before and how you served it (on rice, or did you eat it straight from the slow cooker because it is so darn good!)

Slow cooker sweet pepper beef roast

This meal is a frequent visitor in my house. It is so delicious and so simple to make. We make this with beef roast; however, we have made it with pork as well. My favorite is beef but if one or the other is on sale then I will go with whichever is easier on the budget.

Ingredients:
2 lbs beef roast (i dont get a particular cut, whichever is on sale)
1 dry ranch dressing mix
1 dry italian dressing mix
2-3 small peppers (i buy a jar of pepperoncini)
1 stick of butter (i buy the vegetable spread- Blue Bonnet)

In your freezer bag place the roast, and the dry ranch, dry italian, and dry gravy mix and freeze (obviously). I defrosted the meat the night before and added the peppers and the stick of butter on top. DO NOT ADD ANY FLUID. Cook on low for 6 hours.

Typically I serve this on buns topped with mustard. The meat will shred in the slow cooker in a delicious gravy. I think it would be good with cole slaw on top too, or even on a baked potato. This usually does not last long in the house. My husband with go back several times and get more meat before he realizes that he is already stuffed.

On the night we made this meal, I had met a group of girls from church for Lifegroup. So my husband was in charge and he made steamed cabbage and broccoli to go with the beef roast. When I walked into the house it was the worst smell ever. (Dont ever cook cabbage and broccoli on the same night- trust me!)

I also usually make the beef roast when I make Italian Chicken because they both call for dry italian mix and pepperoncinis. Make for easier shopping trip! Check out the Italian Chicken post!

Slow cooker Meatloaf

Who does not love a big hot slice of meatloaf with a side of mashed potatoes? Well if you dont like meatloaf then you are CRAZY! To me, meatloaf is one of those comfort foods that is always what the doctor ordered. Now, if you have read any of my blogs, you know that I really am not a fan of cooking ground beef in the slow cooker. It all goes back to a stuffed pepper recipe that was HORRIBLE! The whole meal had to be thrown out. I think the thought of another ruined meal keeps me cooking the ground beef on the stove.

But, I am not above facing my fears. I tried a meatloaf recipe, and I liked it. (Read that sentence again like you are Katy Perry).

Ingredients:
1 small chopped onion (you can saute them if you are feeling froggy)
2 TBS tomato paste
1/3 c broth
2 tsp soy sauce
3 lbs ground beef
2 eggs
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 tsp Worestershire
1 cup Ketchup

Mix tomato paste, soy sauce, worestershire, broth, and onions. Combine onion mix with eggs, bread crumbs, and combine into meat. I added the loaf mixture to the freezer bag and stored it in the freezer.

We defrosted the meatloaf the night before and added it to the slow cooker before heading to church Sunday morning. Keep in mind when crock pottin' whatever is on the bottom will cook faster. I took aluminum foil and made 6 small balls. I then layered 2 sheets of foil and punched holes in the foil to allow the fat to drip down. I then sat the meatloaf in the slow cooker and added the ketchup. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. With most meatloaf recipes in the oven you add the ketchup the last 10-15 minutes that the loaf is cooking. You can really do either, I just like the ketchup to be nice and congealed. (That sounds gross, so I hope you know what I am talking about.)

Do you want to know the best part??? My 5 year old at the meatloaf. WHAT!!!! I know I was so excited it made me wish that I had hid some vegetables in it before cooking.

I of course made some instant taters and opened up a can or two of green beans.

There were plenty of leftovers for the next day, and our dog spicy even got a small taste. I may not have fully committed to cooking raw ground beef in my slow cooker, but meatloaf will clearly be the exception.

Hope you enjoy your meatloaf, and keep some leftovers for meatloaf sandwiches for lunch the next day.

Slow Cooker Siracha Pork Tacos

My husband and I LOVE spicy food. Recently Subway has had a Spicy Siracha Steak sub that has this creamy Siracha sauce on it, and it is SOOO good. (Yes, I do eat foods that are made outside of the crokpot!) Well it got me thinking that I would love to find a slow cooker recipe that centers around Siracha sauce. I decided to combine a korean pork taco recipe I had along with the Siracha sauce. I also found a recipe for Siracha cream sauce which can be made mild (pansy-mouth)- hot (Lips on Fire!).

The night that I made this recipe I was oh so grateful for that little slow cooker pot. It was a busy day at work, I pulled in the driveway at 5:20 pm to find my 5 year old running around outside, not ready for T-Ball practice that started in 10 min. I go inside to find my husband hobbling around due to a pulled muscle in his back (poor guy could not even put his shoes on). We arrived at T ball practice late (I don't like to be late, and if I am ever late... it is due to my husband- he has his own time zone). I got home just as my sister pulled in so that we could go to a children consignment sale. We stood in a line that resembled black Friday shopping and I got home around 9 pm. One thing that I did not do was eat fast food. Everyone had a delicious meal even though it was a crazy night.

Ingredients:
Pork:
2 lbs pork loin
4 TBS Soy Sauce
2 TBS Peanut butter (definitely optional!!)
1 TBS light Corn Syrup
1 TBS Red Wine Vinegar
1 TBS Minced Garlic
2 TBS Siracha Sauce
1 tsp EVOO

Taco filling:
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1 bag shredded cabbage
corn tortillas

Sauce
1 1/2 TBS sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup Mayo
2-3 TBS Siracha Sauce (more or less depending on taste)

In my freezer bag I added all the "Pork Ingredients to" the pork loin. I defrosted the bag the night before and put it on low for 6 hours. Once the meat was done, my husband shredded the pork in the slow cooker. We then sauteed the shredded cabbage in 1/2 cup vegetable broth. This step is not necessary and can be skipped if you want crunchier cabbage.

Prepare the sauce by whisking together the Mayo, Siracha, and sweetened condensed milk. I warmed the corn tortillas on the stove and then made the tacos. Just layer with pork, cabbage, and the Siracha cream sauce. The pork is not spicy at all so you will be getting most spice from the cream sauce.

This meal was SO good!!! My husband said this can be on the menu anytime I wanted it! Since there is always alot of left overs another idea I had was to get the Asian Salad ready mix in the grocery and put the pork on top.

Hope you enjoy the recipe and let me know how hot you made your Siracha cream sauce!

2 week slow cooker menu/ grocery list

I hate going to the grocery store! I try to go only once every 2 weeks. I go on Sundays after church along with the majority of people in this town. Even though Sunday grocery store excursions are horrible, I have found that if I do not go on Sunday I will not go at all! Once home I put all foods together and package them in freezer meals. 

All meals are enough for 2 nights. You can either split the recipes in 1/2 and freeze separately or just prepare left overs. (That is what we do)

On the Menu: (click the link for the recipe)

Slow cooker BBQ Chicken

Slow cooker Chicken Noodle

Slow cooker BBQ Burger Sliders

Slow Cooker Gumbo

Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken Spaghetti

Slow Cooker Goulash

Slow Cooker Gyros

Grocery List:

Meats:

6-12 chicken drumsticks

4 lbs chicken breast

3 lbs ground beef

1 kilbasa

1 lbs Shrimp (only if you want shrimp gumbo instead of chicken)

Canned goods:

2 cans chicken broth

3 cans cream of chicken

2 cans cream of mushroom

2 cans tomato sauce

4 cans diced tomatoes

1 can diced green chilis

1 can mushrooms

Frozen Foods:

1 bag frozen sweet potato tater tots (regular tots are fine too)

1 bag frozen okra

1 bag frozen corn

Condiments/ spices:

white vinegar

red wine vinegar

ketchup

mustard

BBQ sauce

EVOO

minced garlic (jarred)

creole seasoning

cayenne pepper

Brown sugar

Produce:

2 lemons

3 onions

2 cucumbers

1 red/green pepper

shredded lettuce

slicing tomatoes

Dairy:

1 lbs velveeta

32 oz Greek Yogurt

Bread/ Pasta:

Pita pockets or Flat bread

1 bag egg noodles

spaghetti noodles

1 box macaroni noodles

slider buns (or hamburger buns)

White rice

The only meal that you will need a side with is the BBQ chicken (We had steamed cabbage) and the gyros (we had hummus and chips). You can always change the list as your wish. 

When I shopped all these groceries cost about $175. Some of the ingredients you may already have at home. You may have more patience than I and use coupons. 

I will give you some parting advise. Stick to your list, do not shop with children (you will end up over spending due to the incessant "Can I have this?"), and mark off what you have purchased (Did I mention how I hate when I have forgotten something?)

Hope you enjoy all these great recipes and check back for more grocery lists!

2 week grocery list Feb 2014

Slow cooker BBQ chicken

One thing about planning your menu out is being organized. In most aspects of my life I lack organization. I am organized at work, despite what my desk looks like, and I am organized with my crockpot meals. Everything else is merely organized chaos. Everyother Saturday I sit down with my "diary", as my son calls it, (a notebook full of recipes) and computer. I go through old recipes, find and tweak new ones. I review my menu for the next two weeks with my main squeeze to see it he is requesting anything in particular.

When I was making my most recent grocery list, my husband said something that made me look at him with utter confusion. He said "Can we get something to grill?" Whhaatt? Grill? Like, not use my slow cooker? I told him I had to think about it. I have been using my slowcooker for 90% of all meals for the past 5 months. And prior to that I used it pretty frequently. Now, dont get me wrong, I love a grilled meal just as much as a crocked meal. But, the one thing I love more is coming home to a already cooked meal. I went ahead an prepared for BBQ chicken as that could be grilled or prepared in the crock pot.

Ingredients: Serves 6
6-8 chicken drumsticks
1 bottle BBQ sauce
3TBS brown sugar

I added all the ingredients to a freezer bag and defrosted the night before. Place the chicken and BBQ sauce in the slowcooker and cook high 3 hrs or low 5-6 hours. A good tip is to put the cooked chicken drumsticks under the broiler for about 5-10 minutes.

With this meal we also had steamed cabbage and onions (Mmmmm). My son kept asking me for a bone. I was thinking, Yes!!! He is going to eat something besides peanut butter... nope, he just wanted to pretend he was a dog and chewing on a bone.

If you decide to cook this in the slowcooker (team chintzylady) or on the grill (team grill-guy) it is very easy to prepare, easy on the budget, and delicious to eat.

I forgot to take a picture, but this is what it looks like (You see one BBQ chicken leg, you've seen them all)

Crockpot Chicken Noodle

I love this recipe because it is very versatile. It is also SOOO cheap to make. Often times when you hear Chicken Noodle, you think of being sick. When I am sick, the last thing that I want is a can of overcooked mystery meat chicken in super salty broth with mushy vegetables. But that might just be me. After making this a few times I love it regardless of my germ count. Healthy or sick this is a go to meal in my house.

Like I said before, I have made this a couple different ways

1. Like traditional Chicken noodle soup (more liquidy)
2. Creamy noodle soup (thicker consistency)
3. Chicken noodle casserole

The consistency is in how long you cook it and  how much cream of chicken you use.

The Ingredients: Serves 4-6

1/2 bag egg noodles

2 chicken breasts

2 cans of chicken broth

1-2 cans of cream of chicken soup (more C of C for a creamier consistency)

chopped celery and carrots (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

In your freezer bag place the chicken broth, chicken breast and optional chopped vegetables. When you are ready to cook, defrost the night before. Cook on high 3hrs, or low 6 hr. Remove the chicken and diced. Before adding the chicken back, whisk in 1-2 cans of cream of chicken soup. (I used 2 for a creamier outcome.) Replace chicken to slowcooker and cook on low for 30-45 min. If you want a more soupy-soup, cook the egg noodles in a separate pot and then add them to the slowcooker. This time after adding my chicken back into the slow cooker, I poured the uncooked egg noodles into the slowcooker and cooked on low for 1 hr. It then sat overnight on the warm setting. In the morning it was more of a casserole consistency. Now I could have just been done after the hour on low, but I was super lazy and went to bed. But I think it turned out just as good!

If you are a super nice friend you can always make this for someone that is sick. Im sure they would recover quickly!  Hope you enjoy the recipe. Let me know what version you like the best!!

Slow cooker Gumbo

Every Christmas, my father in law makes the most delicious Gumbo! I remember the Christmas I was pregnant, I sat down with a large bowl of Gumbo and a bottle of Tums. That night while I was propped up on pillows with the worse indigestion ever, I was still thinking about that gumbo. When I found a recipe for slow cooker gumbo I knew I had to try it. After several runs and tweaks it is just right.

I have to warn you about this recipe. A roux is involved....For all you novice cookers, a roux is essentially burnt flour. Im not joking! You also have to exemplify great persistence when making this dumb thing. A roux is equal parts oil and flour cooked over medium to low heat while constantly being stirred. In my experience you also have to have some magical power to make a perfect roux. If you cant tell yet, I am not very good at making a roux; however, I have a very talented husband that can. He also makes delicious gravy too (the same technique for making gravy is involved in a roux.) Maybe it's a hereditary thing, because my mother can not make gravy unless it is a powdered mix.

If you are roux-challenged like me, and dont have an awesome husband that handles all things roux dont let that keep you from making this great recipe. You can always buy Tony Chachers's Instant Creole Roux mix.

This is really an easy and cheap recipe. This time I used chicken and turkey kilbasa. When shrimp is on sale I will use shrimp and kilbasa.

 First step is to make your roux and set aside to cool. Stir 3T of oil and 3T of flour on low heat until you get a dark color and the mixture is thickened.

In a freezer bag put rotel, diced kilbasa, diced chicken, minced garlic, cayenne pepper, and creole seasoning. I also added diced jalapenos (optional) Once your roux is cooled pour it in the bag.

I defrosted my gumbo the night before in the fridge and then through it in the slow cooker. Cook on low for 6 hours. About 30-60 minutes before eating, put the frozen okra into the gumbo. I have found that putting it in last keep the okra a little crisp.

We always cook white rice and  mix it in, but some like their gumbo without a starch. If you have sissy taste buds and can not tolerate hot foods, substitute hot rotel with diced tomatoes, or skip the cayenne pepper. We like spicy foods at our house!

Creamy Chicken Spaghetti

This is one savory recipe- and of course super easy to make. Another freezer crockpot recipe for another busy day of the week!

Wednesday, I was meeting a couple of girls from church for dinner. We have our Lifegroup on Wednesday nights. In attempts to have adult conversation, we alternate meeting every other week. One week the dads stay home with the kids and the women meet and vise-verse. Wednesday lady's night is full of fun stories and laughter. The night usually ends when one of our spouses calls and sends an SOS.

Tuesday night I reminded the hubs that I would not be home until late. His first question, "So what am I going to do for dinner?". Now I am a lucky lady who has a spouse that can cook, as long as he knows what is planned. The slow cooker meals are always a team effort in this house. He gets home about 2 hours before me and sends a text "Do I need to do anything with what is in the crokpot?". This day was no different. On the menu was Creamy Chicken Spaghetti.

Ingredients: Serves 8-10

1 small box dry spaghetti

1 lbs velveeta

2 cups cooked  diced chicken (1 put 2 chicken breasts on broil for about 15-20 min while I was preparing the freezer meals)

1 can cream of mushroom

1 can cream of chicken

1 can diced tomatoes (undrained)

1 can green chilies

1 can mushrooms

1 small onion diced

Combine everything except the velveeta and put it in a freezer bag.

I defrosted the meal the night before in the fridge and just dumped it in the slow cooker before leaving for work. I set it to low for 3 hours. When the hubs came home from work, the slow cooker was on warm and he added the velveeta. He also boiled the spaghetti and poured it in the slow cooker once it was done.

Now, this is just a theory, but I imagine my husband then got a plate full of spaghetti and sat in front of his Xbox One for the night. Considering the day before his had picked up his reserved copy of Titan Fall. (Im married to a 30 year old gamer). My son went to church with my parents that night so my husband had a few quiet hours by himself.

This makes a ton of food. The last time I made it I took half of it over to my sister and brother in law. (best sister in the world- me, not her of course... Just joking, she is alright).

I have heard this strange thing before. I have heard that some people do not like mushrooms. Whaaattt? Do not let your hatred for the fungus deter you from making this recipe! Just skip the mushrooms.

Hope you enjoy this yummy twist on traditional spaghetti. It is pretty delicious!

Crock Pot BBQ Burger Sliders

Alright alright, I tricked you! I really made sloppy joes and put it on slider buns. (Insert Adam Sandler singing the lunch lady song) In attempts to class things up a little we decided to call these delicious little sandwiches BBQ burgers. Growing up I can not remember a time that my mom made sloppy joes for dinner. I think my only exposure to sloppy joes were in my elementary cafeteria. Fast forward to my adult life- I was eating lunch at my sons school and it was sloppy joe day. When his teacher asked if I was eating, I suddenly lost all appetite and deferred eating. What I did notice was that my uber picky 5 year old was eating the sloppy joes! WHAT!!! I told my husband that our son was actually eating outside of his presumed 3 main food groups (chicken nuggets, peanut butter, and ketchup). My husband said something that made sense, "I loved sloppy joes when I was a kid. Think about it, it is mainly ketchup and ground beef." Seeing as though I did not grow up eating this I made my first mistake while at the store the following week... I bought a can of Manwich. I mean I paid full price for the actual Manwhich, not even the kroger brand. It was horrible and my son did not eat it. Now, if you dont have a picky eater like me then you don't know what it is like to make 2 different meals at night. Before you go all Pediatrician on me, let me explain. Force feeding does not work on this kid. If you try to make him eat something he does not like he will start projectile vomiting EVERYTIME! (Have I mentioned I dont do vomit well?) So the thought of losing to a can of Manwich was not an option.

Sloppy Joes aka BBQ Burgers round 2 was a hit! I read through a bunch of recipes and tweaked/ combined a few and what I found was pure gold. This meal is on our menu at least once a month. I like to call it old school cafeteria night. We usually have Sweet Potato tater tots and BBQ burgers. I started using the slider buns because they are typically only $1 for a pack of 12 at Kroger and like I said- it just looks cute.

The ingredients: serves 6-8
1-1.5 lbs ground beef (ground turkey works well too)
2 cups Ketchup
2 T white vinegar
3T yellow mustard
3T brown sugar
Hamburger buns or slider buns
Frozen Tater tots (we get the Sweet Potato ones so we don't feel too guilty)

If you choose to us the prepared freezer method all you need to do is brown your meat, once cooled add it to the freezer bag with the remaining ingredients.

Obviously you can prepare this without your slowcooker, but when I took the already prepared bag out of the freezer to defrost and threw it in my slowcooker I really think it made it taste better. I cooked it on high for 2-3 hours. Since it is already cooked, you are just warming through.

Here is a little trick for the tater tots. It says cook for 24 min on 425. Well I put my oven on high broil and cook them for 15 min. That's right I saved about 15 min waiting for the oven to preheat and saved on the cooking time. Yup- super LAZY, but that's me!

Bonus idea*** One night I had some leftover meat mix and we made BBQ burger melts. We essentially made a grilled cheese sandwich and put sloppy joe mix on it. It was soooo gooey and soooo yummy!

I hope that you at least give this a try! Yes, you may be regressing to your youth, but who cares! I only made I meal tonight!

Slow cooker Gyros

When I was in high school I spent a six weeks in Germany with a student exchange program. The town I visited had a large Greek and Turkish population. We would visit some of the restaurants and WOW was the food good.  After that awesome food exposure,  anytime that I visit fairs or festivals I typically find myself visiting the Greek food tent. Every time I taste cucumber (which on just about everything I ate while visiting) I find myself right back in Germany. In attempts to use my slow cooker for something different I decided to make Gyros!

This was the first time making the Gyros in my slow cooker and I think it turned out great! I actually made this for a group of 8 adults in our church lifegroup. It was so easy to prepare and transported well! We even had a ton of leftovers.

I will tell you ahead of time this does take some extra prep work, but I prepared everything on Sunday as usual and froze the meat just like all my other meals.

Ingredients:

Misc: (Garnish your Gyros--- all optional)
Pita pockets or Flatbread (i used both)
Tomatoes
Diced cucumber
Lettuce
Onions

Gyros:
3-4 lbs of chicken breast ( use more or less depending on how may you are cooking for)
1T minced garlic
1/2 c lemon juice
1/2 onion chopped
2T EVOO
4T Red Wine Vinegar
Wisk all ingredients together and pour over chicken.

If you chose to prepare early and freeze for later as I did, make sure to pull it out the night before to defrost.
After I added everything to the slow cooker I added about 1/2 c of chicken stock to keep the chicken from getting too dry. If you prefer you can always use water. Cook on high for 3-4 hrs or low for 6-8 hrs. I cut my chicken into strips before I froze everything to save time later. If you cook the chicken breast whole, you will want to remove the chicken and dice or shred.

Tzatziki Sauce:
24oz Greek Yogurt
2 cucumbers (peeled and seeded- I used my apple corer for this part)
1T minced garlic
2t Dill
1T red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2  lemon

Finely dice peeled and seeded cucumbers and pat dry. Add salt and pepper to the cucumbers and set aside. Mix remaining ingredients in a bowl and add cucumber. Make sure to prepare at least 1-2 hour before serving. I prepared mine on Sunday and used it on Wednesday.

You can eat this on a flatbread or pita pocket or on a bed of lettuce. We had lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber for garnish. Just load your gyro however you would like. The Tzatziki sauce really pulled everything together. To go with our gyros, we had buffalo chicken dip (someone brought it in their slow cooker-- she must be a smart cooker!!) hummus and pita chips. For dessert we had brownies and cookies. I guess no one was brave enough to make some baklava

Unfortunately we had such a good time laughing and eating, I didn't have time to take a picture of the end result so you will just have to do with the stock photo I found; however, it did look similar.

Next time you are craving something Greek I hope you give this a try! It was really great!

Crock Pot Goulash

You are thinking one of two things: 

1. What the heck is Goulash 
2. Awe! My grandmother use to cook Goulash!

Ok, I am sure that the majority of you are asking what Goulash is, and if you are anything like the girls I work with, you may also think it looks disgusting. I believe one comment was- "Did you just throw everything that you have in your fridge into your crock pot?".  Uhm, no! This was a purely thought out recipe that I was really excited to try in my slow cooker!

When I was little, my Nana always made Goulash. Now my Nana was not the best cook in the world, but what she was lacking in cooking skills, she made up for it in attention and love. If I think back to being a kid and visiting their house there were always a few constants:

1. A garage refrigerator full or RC cola and Budweiser Beer
2. Chips Ahoy Chocolate Chip cookies 
3. Grilled steaks and Potatoes every Saturday night
4. Goulash- Nana's Best Dish

Shortly after marrying my husband, I made a pot of Goulash. He was a little skeptical, but he was hooked. If you have never heard of or tried Goulash, please give it a chance! You really can not mess this recipe up.(Unless you add cinnamon by mistake-which my Nana once did!) You can add or omit different vegetable and spices. If you want it spicy add cayenne pepper and chili powder. If you want a fresh taste, stick with fresh herbs or italian seasoning. I saw a vegan version that added green beans. 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs of ground beef (or Turkey or no meat at all)

2 cans of Italian diced tomatoes

1 can of tomato sauce 

1-2 peppers

1/2 bag frozen corn

1 box of elbow macaroni 

Seasoning as you prefer - I used italian seasoning. 

I went ahead and cooked my ground beef before preparing the freezer bag. Im sure that it would have been fine, but I needed to brown the meat for another recipe so I just went ahead and browned the 3 lb package that I bought at the store. Add the canned goods, 1/2 bag of frozen corn and chopped peppers to a freezer bag. Once your ground meat has cooled add it to the freezer bag and you are done, I defrosted the bag the night before and cooked it on low for 4 hours. Since the meat was already cooked I just wanted to warm everything. I cooked my macaroni separately and added it to the Goulash because I prefer my pasta al dente and not mushy. (I also have a picky kid that eats pasta plain and thinks it is the most delicious thing in the world.)

Not only did this recipe cost about $8 total it also made a TON of food. You can always eat as left overs or refreeze for another time. 

Hope you give this meal a chance! Some of the weirdest looking things taste the best! Make sure to wash it down with a can of RC cola (or Budweiser) and finish it off with a Chips Ahoy cookie in memory of the sweetest Nana a girl could ask for!

Recipe name

Number of servings

Serves  people

Ingredients	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Beef - Ground, 95% lean meat / 5% fat, patty, cooked, broiled (hamburger), 1.5 serving ( 3 oz )	227	0	9	34	83	0
Kroger - Peeled Tomatoes Diced Italian Style, 2 container (1 4/5 cup (121g) ea.)	210	35	0	7	2,310	28
Hunt's - Tomato Sauce - Basil, Garlic and Oregano (Net Carbs), 1 container (9/10 cup (62g) ea.)	70	14	0	4	1,260	7
Peppers - Sweet, green, raw, 2 cup, chopped	60	14	1	3	9	7
Corn - Frozen Veggie Values Corn, 0.5 container (1 4/5 cups ea.)	123	30	2	5	18	9
Kroger Value Brand - Boiled Elbow Macaroni, 0.75 of package	1,200	246	6	42	0	12
Add Ingredient

Total:	1,890	339	18	95	3,680	63
Per Serving:	236	42	2	12	460	8