Hamburger Soup

When I went home one weekend this month, my mom found a few easy crock pot recipes for me to try.  She was so sweet and sent me back with the majority of the ingredients that I needed to make a few fantastic meals! Hamburger soup was one of them!

I was going to take a picture of the ingredients I used but everyone was still sleeping so I basically put this together in the dark.  We had put the ingredients in individual bags while I was hope so everything was measured out and I just had to pour it in. Minus the water, tomato sauce and the soy sauce.

 I was a little hesitant when I first put this together, not understanding how there would be enough liquid to cook the noodles- but after searching around online, we realized that a different recipe added between 1-3 cups of water.  Since my crock pot is small, I only added one.  You could totally add more water to make a thinner soup.  I added soy sauce instead of Worcestershire because that is what I had.  I also added salt and pepper because I felt like it needed it. I cooked this on high for 4-5 hours.


I would recommend this recipe. I very much enjoyed it. 

Hamburger Soup
D. Wachsmuth

1 pound ground beef

1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. oregano

1/4 tsp. Italian seasoning

1/4 tsp. seasoned salt
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce OR soy sauce
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
1-3 cups water
1 cup macaroni, cooked (see note)
Crumble the beef into a slow cooker. Add the pepper, oregano, Italian seasoning, seasoned salt, soup mix, Worcestershire sauce, tomato sauce and 1-3 cups water. Cover and cook on low setting for 8 to 10 hours. Add the macaroni. Turn heat to high and cook for 15 minutes.

Note: You can also use 1/2 cup uncooked macaroni and add it during the last hour of cooking. Then there is no need for the last 15 minutes.

My crock pot wouldn't hold more than a cup of water, but the noodles cooked perfectly in about 45 minutes.

And:

The finished product.  I added a little cheese to mine. I am sure that it would be delicious with a little sour cream for creaminess but I didn't have any.

Without the cheese. Very,very good!

Another successful college dorm room recipe. Give it a try and let me know if you like it!

Mexican Chicken

Mexican Chicken
Ellen Ondrick

1 cup long-grain rice
1 cup salsa
2 (114+1/2 ounce) cans chicken broth
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed

In a slow cooker, mix all ingredients together.  Cover and cook on low for 6 hours, or on high for 4 hours.

Jenna's modified version:
- I only wanted to make enough for me so I just modified the recipe a little bit. It turned out great!

 The salsa I used is Chili's mock salsa that I made when I was home last.  Check out the link below for the recipe for the salsa.

Mexican Chicken
1 cup water plus 1 teaspoon (or one cube) chicken bouillon
1 chicken breast, cubed
1/4 cup salsa
1/4 cup rice

Mix together and cook on low for 3-4 hours.

-Ok. So, this turned out beautifully! I threw everything in the crockpot around 11.  And it was ready about 3! I turned it on keep warm for about 30 minutes until I was ready to eat it.  Very good and REALLY easy.  It isn't very spicy at all, but very moist and delicious.  Give it a try!
The finished product. I am sure it would taste delicious with cheese or sour cream on top of it!

Pierogies

 Day 3 of the "snow storm" called for some Pierogies!

I whipped out George and made some! I added the Pierogies frozen and brushed a little olive oil over the top.  I let them cook for about 3 minutes and then flipped them and brushed a little more oil over them and cooked for another 3-4 minutes. 

Voila! They were delicious.  I let them go about 7 minutes. I wanted them crunchy.  They turned out excellent!

Guacamole

                                                                         Guacamole

Avocados

Salsa

Cumin

Onion

Garlic Salt

Pepper

Lime Juice

Mash avocados and add the rest of the ingredients. Stir and serve with tortilla chips.

This has been a favorite in the dorm room! Its so easy to make and we can get avocados for 49 cents at Aldi!

Asian Chicken

So, after being "snowed in" for two days, I decided to make food! I bought already cooked chicken breast strips. I did marinate them though and it worked great!  I used all the ingredients except the crushed red pepper flakes.  I added black pepper to the marinade.

I put the chicken in the fridge for 3-4 hours. Mainly becasue I forgot about it!

I also added a cup of water and a tsp. of chicken boullin for the chicken broth.

Turned out very good. A little tangy yet sweet and tasted a little like caramel!

Asian Grilled Chicken

Marinating time: 1 hour
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1 can (14 oz.) Chicken Broth,
(1 3/4 cups)
2 Tbs. soy sauce
1 Tbs. vinegar
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. crushed red Pepper
4 boneless chicken breast
halves

Directions:

MIX broth, soy, vinegar, sugar, garlic and
red pepper in shallow non-metallic dish.
Add chicken and turn to coat. Cover and
refrigerate 1 hour.

Grease and preheat grill.

Remove chicken from marinade.
Grill chicken 5-7 minutes or until done,
turning once and brushing with marinade.
Heat remaining marinade to a boil and
serve with chicken.

- I didn't cook the remaining marinade (bring to a boil) and serve with it, because I really don't have any way to boil it.  I brushed some more on the chicken about half way through the cooking time.  I let the chicken cook for about 5 minutes just to warm it through.