Chicken and Rice Crock Pot Recipe

Ingredients:

12 chicken tenders
2 packages Onion Soup Mix
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 cups long grain brown rice
1 Tablespoon whole thyme, crushed
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:

1. Empty canned soup into a measuring cup, and add water to equal 2 ½ cups for each can of soup (total 5 cups liquid)

2. Heat the olive oil in pan, add rice until it begins to crackle, but not brown.

3. Mix together the soup packages, thyme and spices.

4. Combine with cream soup and water mixture, add to the crock pot with the chicken tenders.

5. Cook on high 4 hours or 8 hours on low

Great app for those just starting out

So I am on my 2nd week of exercising. Check out the cool app called Couch to 5K by active.com
Well worth it!

http://www.active.com/mobile

And yes they have it for iphone & android users!

 

{Paint War Mini Sessions} Sat. Aug. 4th

Paint War Mini Session

{Crispy Cheddar Chicken} Tonight’s Yummy Dinner!

Crispy Cheddar Chicken

Time: 15 minute prep + 35 minutes baking

Yield: 7 servings

Chicken:

4 large chicken breasts

2 sleeves Ritz crackers – I used Townhouse Crackers instead (2 sleeves)

1/4 t salt

1/8 t pepper

1/2 C milk

3 C cheddar cheese, grated

1 t dried parsley

Sauce:

1   10 ounce can cream of chicken soup

2 T sour cream – I substituted 2T of Cream Cheese

2 T butter

I added some salt/pepper & some minced onion

 

1. Cut each chicken breast into 3 large chunks.

2. In a small food processor grind up the ritz crackers.

3. Pour the milk, cheese and cracker crumbs into 3 separate small pans. Toss the 1/4 t salt and 1/8 t pepper into the cracker crumbs and stir the mixture around to combine.

4. Dip each piece of chicken into the milk…

then the cheese. Press the cheese into the chicken with your fingers. Some of it will fall off when you add it to the cracker crumbs, don’t worry about it.

Press the cheesy chicken into the cracker crumbs and press it in. By the time you are coating the last piece of chicken, the dish you are using for the crumbs will be full of cheese. Don’t let it get you down. Once the cheese melts in the oven it will adhere nicely to the crumbs and the crackers.

5. Spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray and lay the chicken inside the pan.

6. Sprinkle the dried parsley over the chicken.

7. Cover the pan with tin foil and bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove the tin foil, bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until the edges of the chicken are golden brown and crispy.

8. Into a medium sized sauce pan combine the cream of chicken soup, sour cream and butter with a whisk. Stir it over medium high heat until the sauce is nice and hot. Serve over the chicken.

Enjoy!

Grilled Balsamic-Garlic Crusted Pork Tenderloin

So hubby & I decided to try out this new recipe I found on Pinterest – It was good! I think maybe next time I would recommend doing double and slicing open the tenderloin & stuff it with some of the rub then wrap it up. Let is marinade & grill. Enjoy!

Here is the recipe:

YIELD: Serves 6.

Ingredients:

4-5 garlic cloves, finely minced or crushed
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 pork tenderloins (about 1¼ pounds each)
2 tablespoons canola oil (if preparing in oven)

Directions:

Stir together garlic, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and olive oil in a small bowl. Rub the paste all over pork. If you like or have the time, marinate overnight. If not, no worries, it will still be great!

Grill preparation:

Sear the tenderloins on all sides, then grill for about 20-30 minutes, rotating every 10 minutes, until the internal temperature is 160 degrees. Try to let it rest before slicing.

Oven preparation:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Heat canola oil in a large, heavy saute pan over medium-high heat. Working in batches if necessary, add pork, and brown all over, about 4 minutes.

Transfer pan to oven. Roast pork, turning occasionally, until the internal temperature is 160 degrees, about 20 minutes. Transfer pork to a cutting board, and try to let it rest 10 minutes before slicing.

I LOVE Photography!

In case you did not know – I am a photographer & LOVE it! What started as a hobby of mine when my son was born has turned into something I never thought was possible. I have a wonderful husband & family who support me & not to mention the awesome clients too!

Here’s the link to the Facebook fanpage that allow you to see my recent work. I am thinking of actually posting all sneaks on the blog for the future. Who knows – I am not a big fan of facebook these days.

http://www.facebook.com/MCrookPhotography

Pinterest is my new drug! LOL!

Hey all! Ok, so pinterest have now been my new drug. I have looked at it before several times but now I am starting to actually use the pins. And I plan to blog about if the pins worked or not. Because of the budget cuts in our family – I am looking for anything possible to cut costs and love how Pinterest actually gives me the ideas to do that. 

But, do the actually work????

Well, that’s where I am going to post the ones we have tried & tell you. 

ENJOY –

Michelle