what's for dinner: baked potato soup (crockpot!)

I'm in love with this baked potato soup.  It was really, really good.

I will warn you that this makes quite a bit of soup.  So if you're a two-person family like us, you might want to either cut down on the recipe or prepare yourself to have a lot of leftovers. 

I hope you enjoy as much as we did!

Baked Potato Soup - Slow Cooker

from Mama Loves Food!

5 lbs. russet potatoes, washed but not peeled & cut into 1/2" cubes

1 lg. yellow onion, diced

10 cloves of garlic (whole, crushed, or minced - I used minced)

8 C. chicken stock (yes, all of it)

16 oz. cream cheese

1 Tbsp. seasoned salt or all-purpose seasoning

Bacon, cheddar cheese, or whatever else you use for a garnish

Add potatoes, onion, garlic, seasoning, and chicken stock to your slower cooker.  Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 10 hours.  Remove and puree the garlic cloves (if you used them whole) along with 1/2 to 1/3 of the soup and then reintroduce to the crockpot.  (Since I used minced, I skipped this step.)  Stir in cream cheese and melt.  Stir every 10-15 minutes until well blended.  Top with your garnishes.

saucy pork chops -- crockpot!

Do you like that I post a crockpot recipe I add an exclamation point at the end?  I'm not sure why I do it.  I must just get super excited about crockpots or something.

Anyway, this one was easy peasy and good.  Try it.

Saucy Pork Chops
Taste of Home

4 pork chops
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 Tbsp. canola oil
2 C. ketchup
1/2 C. packed brown sugar
1 tsp. hickory-seasoned Liquid Smoke

Sprinkle pork chops with garlic powder, salt, and pepper.  Brown pork chops in a large skillet in oil on both sides and drain.

In a bowl, combine all the other ingredients.  Pour half the sauce into your crockpot, put in your pork chops, and then pour in the remaining sauce.

Cook on low for 4.25 to 5.25 hours.

Enjoy!

green chile chicken alfredo -- crockpot!

Stick with me for a minute.  Combining green chiles and alfredo sauce really does work.  And, I got to use my awesome programmable crockpot (thanks, mom & dad!) for this one too, so that makes it even tastier.  (Oh, and the cookbook came from them too, so thanks again.)


Green Chile Chicken Alfredo
Busy Woman's Slow Cooker Cookbook
6 servings

1.25 lbs. chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
16 oz. jar Alfredo sauce
2 4.5 oz. cans chopped green chiles
10 oz. pkg rigatoni noodles, cooked & warm
2 C. shredded mozzarella cheese

Place chicken in slow cooker.  Pour Alfredo sauce over the chicken.  Top with green chiles.  Cover and cook on low 4-6 hours.  Add rigatoni noodles to the slow cooker and mix well.  Sprinkle cheese over top.  Cover and cook on high 25 minutes.


My (helpful) notes:

Instead of using a total of 9 oz of chopped chiles, I bought one 7.5 oz can instead.  We still had good flavor, but it wasn't overwhelming or too spicy.

I accidentally cooked this on high for five hours.  It still turned out fine.

I would go with less cheese the second time around.  I added the two cups like the recipe called for, but it made it a bit stringy.  I mean, I love cheese as much as the next guy, but I also had to double up on the fiber for the day to make up for it.

apple, cheddar, & turkey meatballs

New must try recipe:  Apple, Cheddar, & Turkey Meatballs.

Let me start by saying that I really don't care for meatballs and I really can't explain why this is.  And, I should also admit that I'm drawn to recipes that use new and different ingredient combinations.

I was pretty excited about making this recipe because it was so different.  I was really skeptical with this one, because honestly, it didn't smell too appealing once everything was mixed.

I cooked it the next day anyway, and holy cow.  I sat there eating directly out of the crockpot exclaiming, "MMM.  These are A-MAZ-ING!"  (Nothing like the cook really complimenting herself.)  I think part of the reason why I was so surprised was because I don't really care for meatballs, but I think the bulk of it was because I was expecting these to taste like they smelled.  (That smell, by the way?  It went away.)

Anyway, here it is.  This one is on official rotation in our household (which doesn't happen often).  I hope you like them as well as we did.

Apple, Cheddar, & Turkey Meatballs
Stephanie O'Dea, Make It Fast, Cook It Slow
Serves 4 (more like 2, if we're being honest - I'll definitely double up next time)

1.5 lbs. extra lean ground turkey
1 large egg
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. onion powder
1 green apple, peeled & shredded
1/2 C. shredded sharp cheddar (mild cheddar works too)
1/2 C. dried unsweetened cranberries

Use a 4-quart slow cooker.  In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients, using hands.  Make golf-ball size meatballs and place in the crockpot, stagger-stacking.  Cover and cook on low 5-8 hours or on high 4-6 hours.