crock pot chicken parmesan

Here is the direct link for: Crock Pot Chicken Parmesan.

I needed a meal to take to my sister-in-law's house for dinner. This dish had so much promise: A delicious-looking meal, easy to transport and it cooks while I run errands beforehand!

This recipe comes from the blog, Chef in Training. The actual recipe originally comes from A Year of Slow Cooking. Like making traditional chicken parmesan, you first dip the chicken in egg, coat it in Italian breadcrumbs, then place it in the crock pot. Then layer slices of mozzarella cheese and finish it off by pouring a jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce over it all. Pretty simple.

What I love most about chicken or eggplant or even veal parmesan is the lightly breaded coating and the melty cheese on top. When cooking the chicken parmesan in the crock pot you lose that breaded-texture as it all begins to blend into the spaghetti sauce.

The end result? We ate it, even Hannah, but we weren't wildly raving. I will stick to my chicken parmesan baked in the oven. Oh well, better luck next time!

Happy pinning!

crock pot chicken tacos

Here is the direct link for: Crock Pot Chicken Tacos.

I went on vacation with my family and brought along the crock pot. It worked wonderfully. After a day of hiking ourselves to death, we returned to our cabin and dinner was just about ready. Great planning, eh?

This taco recipe comes from the blog, Chocolate Therapy. The blog's author, Sarah, says this about the recipe, "If there is one crock pot recipe you need in your repertoire, this is it." Well, of course, I had to try it then, didn't I?

It sure is an easy enough recipe with only three ingredients: chicken breasts, taco seasoning, and a jar of your favorite salsa. I used my 'home-made taco seasoning' again! The chicken was very tender and flavorful. Is it the best taco recipe ever? I don't know about that. It does however make LOTS, great for a crowd.

As a bonus, Sarah gives you another recipe, Tortilla Soup, to make with your leftover shredded chicken. I haven't tried that yet, but just might with my leftover chicken.

The red pin award for a new twist on an all-time favorite: tacos.

I love putting Queso Fresco on my tacos with a little avocado and cilantro.




Happy pinning!

crock pot banana bread

 
Here is the direct link for: Crock Pot Banana Bread.

Why would someone even do this? Because the round shape is cute. The wonderful moistness that comes with all things 'crock pot'. No need to heat up the house by turning on the oven! And the house still smells like someone's baking banana bread.

This pin comes from the blog, Smashed Peas and Carrots. It was Maggie's, the blog's author, first attempt at making a bread in the crock pot. She is very enthusiastic and deliciously surprised how moist it turned out. She supplies a recipe and lots of photos, but making banana bread isn't a pretty sight. Sorry to say no matter what angle.

I was curious to see if any recipe would work in a crock pot. Since I already have a favorite banana bread recipe. The two recipes are fairly similar. Why not try it?

In the end, my bread isn't much to look at. It didn't rise very high. My crock pot is a large-sized one, so the bread turned out more like a cake than a loaf. Nonetheless, it was absolutely wonderful! So moist and buttery tasting. I loved it and so did my kids! As you can see from the photo half of it is gone already. We were all pleasantly surprised with the taste.

Today I am including the recipe for my favorite banana bread. It comes from the cookbook Quick Breads. I love this recipe because it uses white sugar rather than brown sugar, so the loaf is lighter, both in texture and in color. It actually looks like banana!

Golden Banana Nut Bread

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup mashed very ripe bananas (2-3 medium-sized bananas)

1/3 cup buttermilk (I used vanilla yogurt)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together into a bowl. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer until creamy. While continuing to beat, add eggs one at a time.

Stir in banana, buttermilk and walnuts. Add one-half of the flour mixture and blend thoroughly with a wooden spoon. Repeat with remaining half of flour mixture.

Pour mixture into a greased and floured (bottom and sides dusted with flour) 9-1/4 inch loaf pan. Bake 40 to 50 minutes, until loaf begins to separate from the edges of the pan and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

Makes one loaf.

The red pin award for trying something new and unusual!

I had read that you can bake breads in smaller loaf pans within your crock pot too. I want to try this and see if I can achieve a smaller, round little loaf.



Happy pinning!

7/28/2012: Update. Finished the last slice of this banana bread. It has to be the yummiest flavor EVER!! Now I just need to work on presentation, the overall shape of the loaf.