Slow Cooker Ham

I tried a new way to cook my Easter ham this year. I stuck in in the slow cooker! I loved this idea because it freed up the oven for my potato casserole. There are many recipes online for slow cooker ham. In every single one I looked at, they had you discard the glaze packet and mix your own brown sugar and seasonings. That didn't make sense to me. SO, here's what I did. I put my 8lb. ham in my slow cooker and rubbed the seasoning packet all over it, top and bottom. Then I poured 1 cup of pineapple juice over the top. I cooked it on low for 6 hours. Next time I might try 4-5 hours because it seemed a tiny bit drier than I would have liked. Other than that it worked like a charm.

This is my before pic. I forgot to take an after one because we were ready to eat!

Easter Bird Nests

I've been wanting to make these and I finally remembered to buy the ingredients. My kids helped out, but the pretzel part was a little too difficult for them, so they just helped stick the eggs and peeps on. I didn't put peeps on all of them because some of us don't like them. We took a few over to our neighbors. It's a fun easy spring treat.

Easter Bird Nests
1 pkg (24oz) white almond bark
1 16oz bag of pretzel sticks
Candy eggs
Peeps (optional)

1. Melt the almond bark in a microwave safe bowl. Remove 1/4 cup of melted bark and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, dump about 1/2 of pretzel sticks in and pour melted bark on top. Stir well to coat pretzels. Add more pretzels if needed. I used about 3/4 of my bag. Don't use too many or they wont stick together well.
3. Scoop a small amount of pretzels onto waxed paper or foil. Using forks, arrange sticks into a nest shape. I made about 22 nests.
4. Dip bottom of peeps, and candy eggs into reserved melted bark and place on nests.
5. Let harden and store in an airtight container.

These are the eggs we used. They are my favorite!!

Since they were so cute, I displayed them on my cupcake stand.

New Kitchen

It's been awhile since I've posted a recipe because our family moved over 2000 miles to the Seattle area last week. We are renting a house in a really nice neighborhood and this means I have a new kitchen to cook in! I'm still getting used to it. So far I've made rice, tater tots, brownies, and those Peeps nests you can see on the counter (that I will post). I have been dying for an open kitchen with an island and white cabinets and it is exactly that. I just need to add some barstools and curtains. There are 3 things I don't love. 1. The lack of cabinet space. I had a lot more room in my previous kitchen. We bought some shelves for the garage so I can put my bread machine, blender, food processor, and other small kitchen appliances on them because there just isn't room in the kitchen. 2. I haven't figured out a way to keep my two year old out of the pantry. It's an accordion style door, so he can just pull it right open and he's constantly getting stuff out. 3. Whoever invented the sink has never cooked or done dishes. It has one big deeper side, and one tiny raised side, and the tiny side has the disposal!  I have yet to find a grocery store I like. I was very satisified with my ALDI and Walmart Neighborhood market in Fort Worth. So far I've been to Fred Meyer and QFC (which are essentially Krogers) and Walmart (not a Super Walmart so no bakery, meat, deli, and sparse produce). I'm thinking of trying Costco. Hopefully I can figure it out soon and post new recipes!

I'm standing in a living area that is empty. I still have to figure out how I'm furnishing it. I don't want to spend a lot to furnish a rental.

Stupid sink.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Coconut Chewies

I love these cookies! These are the first cookies I've ever made with coconut and they are so good! I've been making this dough and freezing it in balls. You can read more about that here. The original recipe did not have chocolate chips, but I like to add them. :) 

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Coconut Chewies
adapted from melskitchencafe.com
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup butter, softened
2 tsps vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup shredded, sweetened coconut
1 cup quick oats
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl cream together the sugar, eggs, butter and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a greased or lined (silpat or parchment) baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 9-11 minutes, until the cookies are set but not overly browned.

Treat Idea - Freezing Cookie Dough Balls

 This is the best idea ever! I don't know why I've never thought of this before. You make cookie dough, roll it into balls, and freeze them. You bake them frozen, straight from the freezer. The idea I saw, uses this method for gift giving, and I have tested this on a few friends in the last couple of weeks. I gave them frozen dough balls and they baked them. It has worked perfectly! I love this because you can bake them right away or save them for later and still have fresh cookies. I tried 2 new cookie recipes (which I will post soon), and loved them both. If you want to try this out, there are 8 tested recipes and ideas for gift giving, suggested on this website here. Here are the easy steps.

Treat Idea - Freezing Cookie Dough Balls
melskitchencafe.com
1. Make your dough.
2. Shape it into balls, and place on a parchment, wax paper, or foil lined cookie sheet.
3. Lightly cover the tray with plastic wrap, and freeze until the cookie dough is very firm.
4. After they are frozen, you can either transfer to a freezer ziploc bag and place back in the freezer until ready to use or you can put the cookie dough balls into the trays/tins for your gifts.
Since the cookies are being baked frozen, make sure to add 2-4 minutes to the baking time.

Thick and Chewy Double Chocolate Cookies ready for the freezer.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Coconut Chewies

I found this cute box at Walmart for $.97. Just add some ribbon and a little note with baking instructions and it's done.

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

Finally another new recipe! I haven't been trying new things much lately. It's a lot easier for my to plan my meals by looking at my own blog than searching for new recipes. :) My friend Melissa brought me some of this soup awhile ago, and when I wanted to make chicken noodle soup recently, I asked for the recipe. I found a few other versions online, and adapted it to my liking. 

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
adapted from Lion House
4 cups uncooked extra broad egg noodles
5 cups chicken broth
2 tsp chicken bouillon
2 cups chopped carrots
2 cups chopped celery
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup flour
2 TBSPs butter, melted
2 cups cooked diced chicken
Salt and pepper

1. Cook noodles according to package directions and set aside.
2. In a large soup pot, heat chicken broth and bouillon. Add chopped veggies and simmer until tender (about 8 minutes). Add cream of chicken soup and milk.
3. In a small bowl mix together flour and melted butter. Add a little bit of hot soup liquid and stir until well combined. Add flour and butter mixture to soup and whisk until slightly thickened.
4. Add chicken, noodles, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir well and serve.

*I used No Yolks brand noodles because I like their texture. If you like more broth in your soup add an extra cup.

Autumn Chopped Salad

I made this salad for Christmas dinner. Don't let the name fool you, you can make it any time of year. This is the original recipe I followed, but I kinda just eyeballed the toppings because I didn't use as much lettuce as it called for. I probably halved it. I hate when I have leftover salad with the dressing mixed in because you can't save it! Also, I mixed my 2 dressings together and then drizzled it on. Love this salad!

Autumn Chopped Salad
espressoandcream.com
6 to 8 cups chopped romaine lettuce
2 medium pears, chopped
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup chopped pecans
8 slices thick-cut bacon, crisp-cooked and crumbled
4 to 6 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
Poppy seed Salad Dressing
Balsamic Vinaigrette

On a large platter, combine the lettuce, pears, cranberries, pecans, bacon and feta cheese. Drizzle generously with poppy seed dressing, followed by some of the balsamic vinaigrette. (I would estimate that I used about a cup of dressing: 70 percent poppy seed dressing and 30 percent balsamic vinaigrette).