Monday, October 12, 2015

September Recipe Club

Anna Kate's Slow Cooker Buffalo Shredded Chicken


6 chicken breasts
1 packet Simply Organic Ranch Seasoning/Dressing Mix
1 bottle Frank's Hot Sauce
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon butter

1. Place chicken breasts in slow cooker. Sprinkle ranch seasoning over chicken then pour in hot sauce and chicken stock. Turn chicken a few times until it is coated and liquids and seasonings are mixed together.
2. Cook on low for 5-6 hours. Take chicken out and shred. While chicken is out, add in 1 tablespoon butter and let it melt. Add shredded chicken back to slow cooker and coat with liquid. Serve.



Caron's Slow Cooker Ribs



1-2 slabs of ribs (depending on how much will fit in your crockpot and either pork or beef will do)
1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce
1-2 cokes (any cola will work)
Salt and pepper

Place runs in crockpot and pour coke over ribs. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook on low for 6 hours. Then open and pour out liquid and another with BBQ sauce. Be careful because ribs will be tender and could start falling off the bone. Recover and either cook or just warm one more hour (depending on how tender they were when you were applying sauce).


Dede's Slow Cooker Monkey Bread


1 tube Biscuits, I used Pillsbury Biscuits
1 Tsp Cinnamon
1/4 cup Margarine/butter, Melted
1 cup brown sugar

1. Cut biscuits into quarters with kitchen shears
2. Dip biscuit pieces into melted butter
3. Put buttered biscuit pieces into the bowl of cinnamon and brown sugar and fully coat the pieces
4. Toss pieces into your Crock-Pot until you have all of the pieces layered in the crock pot. I poured the extra brown sugar and cinnamon mixture over the top of my pieces. Because really you can’t have enough brown sugar and cinnamon.
5. Cook on low for 2 hours, check to see if pieces are done. I rotated a few of the top pieces to the bottom to make sure everything was cooked all the way through. The pieces on the edges cooked faster than the pieces on the top.
6. Dish up and enjoy


Amy's Slow Cooker Beef and Broccoli


Ashley's Slow Cooker Potatoes


Cut red potatoes into large cubes. Cook 4-6 hours in crock pot. Add sour cream, milk, salt and pepper to taste and mash.


Sarah's Slow Cooker Green Bean Casserole


2  (16-oz.) packages frozen French-cut green beans, thawed 
1  (10-oz.) container refrigerated Alfredo sauce 
1  (8-oz.) can diced water chestnuts, drained 
1  (6-oz.) jar sliced mushrooms, drained 
1 cup (4 oz.) shredded Parmesan cheese 
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper 
1  (6-oz.) can French fried onions, divided 
1/2 cup chopped pecans


1. Stir together first 6 ingredients and half of French fried onions; spoon mixture into a lightly greased 4-qt. slow cooker.

2. Cover and cook on LOW 4 1/2 hours or until bubbly.

3. Heat pecans and remaining half of French fried onions in a small nonstick skillet over medium-low heat, stirring often, 1 to 2 minutes or until toasted and fragrant; sprinkle over casserole just before serving.


Melanie's Slow Cooker Beef with Red Wine Sauce


3 pounds boneless beef chuck roast, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium onion, sliced
1 pound fresh mushrooms, halved
1 (1.61 ounce) package brown gravy mix
1 (19 1/2 ounce) can beef broth
1 cup red wine
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 bay leaf
Hot cooked egg noodles or rice

Place first 3 ingredients in a 6 quart slow cooker. Whisk together gravy mix and next 3 ingredients; pour evenly over beef and vegetables. Add bay leaf.
Cover and cook on HIGH for 6 hours. Remove and discard bay leaf. Serve over noodles. 



Virginia's Slow Cooker Chocolate Cobbler



1 cup flour
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
3 Tbs. cocoa
¾ cup white sugar
½ cup milk
⅓ cup butter, melted
1½ tsp. vanilla
½ cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
4 Tbs. cocoa
1½ cups hot water

Spray the inside of the slow cooker crock with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt, 3 Tbs. cocoa and ¾ cup white sugar.
Stir milk, melted butter and vanilla into the flour mixture until smooth. Pour into the greased crock.
In a small bowl, combine ½ cup white sugar, brown sugar and cocoa. Sprinkle over the top of the batter in the crock.
Pour hot water over the top of ingredients in the slow cooker. Do not stir!
Put the lid on the slow cooker and cook on low for 3-4 hours. Remove the lid and let stand for several minutes before serving. At first, it will be a bit too liquidy, but should thicken up after several minutes.

Lauren's Salt River Bars



For the bars:
72-80 club crackers (depending on your pan size)
1 cup butter
2 cups crushed graham crackers
2 cups packed brown sugar
2/3 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla
For the frosting:
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
1/3 cup peanut butter



For the bars: Line a 9×13 inch pan with parchment paper or foil*. Next place one layer of the crackers in the pan so they are touching and cover as much of the pan as possible. You can cut to fit it needed.
In a medium sized pan, bring the butter, graham crackers, brown sugar and milk to a boil. Boil for 7 minutes stirring consistently. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
Pour half of the caramel mixture over the crackers. Add another layer of crackers like before, then pour the other half of the caramel mixture over that. Finally add one more layer of crackers then set aside.
For the frosting: Melt the chocolate chips, butterscotch chips & peanut butter over medium-low heat, stirring consistently. When smooth poor over the top of the bars.
For a quick set up time, put in the freezer until firm. Cut into desired size once firm. Store in the refrigerator. Serve chilled.
*You can use a 10×15 inch jelly roll pan if you have one (I don’t). The 9×13 pan makes them thicker and “ooze” some of the caramel around the edges.

Monday, July 27, 2015

Seattle & Vancouver

The tall dr and I spent a wonderful week on the Pacific West Coast.  One of his best friends from college that he ran track with at Auburn, lives in Vancouver.  I was dying to meet the infamous Laurier, so we decided to head his way!  We spent half of our time in sunny Seattle and the other half in beautiful Vancouver, Canada.  I had never been to either place, so there were lots of places I wanted to go and lots of things I wanted to do!  It was a busy week, but it was also one of the best weeks.  Caution-long post!



We were up bright and early for our flight to Seattle!
#earlymorningselfie


Beautiful Mt. Hood!
#airplanepic


We stayed in downtown Seattle and had amazing views from our hotel room!
#pugetsound 


I never find my name on anything, anywhere...but in Seattle, they love the name Virginia!
#soexcited


While out shopping on our first day, I found Christian Grey's building!!
#50shadesofgrey #escala #luxuryliving


I spy the space needle!
#beautiful


Visiting Pike Place Market was must-see for me!
#bucketlist


Our second day in Seattle, we took a three hour tour of the city...we got to see all that Seattle had to offer!
#kerrypark


We went to where all the ships are docked...Deadliest Catch docks here!
#boatseverywhere


This is the Sleepless in Seattle house...I literally screamed out loud on the bus when we saw it!
#favoritemovieever #seemedbiggerinthemovie


The Space Needle!
#sotall


Right across the street from the Space Needle is the facade they use for Grey's Anatomy!
#iscreamedagain #somuchtosee


He never smiles for pictures!
#tongueout


The Space Needle had a selfie machine!
#socool #beautifulviews


He's finally on board with taking "outfit" pics before dinner each night!  ha!
#hesagoodsport


Thank you Meghan Henig and Matthew Bishop for making this recommendation; hands down, the BEST steak of my life.  If you're ever in Seattle, GO!!  
#filet #stilltalkingaboutit


I was smitten with my 1/2 bottle of wine!
#weneedtheseinbham


We thought there was no way we could eat this whole thing because it was so huge...but we did!
#oops


My GQ man!
#strikeapose


Another must see on my list was the first ever, original Starbucks!!
#bucketlist


I waited in line for an hour, but the entertainment made it worth it!
#wouldnthavemissedit


The tall dr was a good sport and waited with me for my special drink!
#itwasworthit


The best sugar free caramel soy latte I've ever had!
#vente #nomakeup


We sat by the water and had our coffees and pastries!
#piroshky #delish


We burned off our big breakfast by walking through Pike Place Market...if only I could have bought some of the beautiful flowers!
#greatprices 


Another must see for me was the fish counter in the market!  I was dying to catch a fish, but unfortunately, they weren't throwing them while we were there.
#bucketlist #fishfishfish



The infamous gum wall!
#gross 


Another must-do for me was to ride a ferry boat.  I'm a huge Grey's Anatomy fan and a trip to Seattle wouldn't be complete without seeing a ferry boat!  The cars were lined up and ready to drive onto the boat to Bainbridge Island!
#ferryboat


We had a "Mer-Der" moment on the ferry boat!
#greysanatomy #socool


After a long day of walking, we had a magical dinner at the Pink Door.  It was delish and the views were AMAZING!
#smileforthecameraplease #took10tries


So yeah, we kind of looked like twins that night!
#bluelinen


We rented a car in Seattle and headed north to Vancouver.  The line for the border crossing wasn't too long!
#passportsneeded #ocanada


Right after we crossed into Canada, we stopped for snacks.  Y'all, these chips are life changing.  I'm not even a chip person, but I fell in love with these all dressed Ruffles!
#cometotheUSAplease #wishihadboughtmore


Laurier took us downtown to his friend Doug's new coffee shop, Moja.  It was super chic and we felt pretty fancy getting to sit at the counter in the special bar stools!
#coffeewasamazing #mojacoffee


Doug hooked us up with free everything!  The pastries were as good as they looked!
#icouldgetusedtothislife


Thanks, Doug, for giving the royal treatment to us Alabamians!
#allaboutwhoyouknow #mojacoffee


Next stop in Vancouver was the beautiful Granville Island!
#absolutelybreathtaking


We took a water bus around the island to check out all the views!
#aquabus


I try to buy a Christmas ornament every time I travel to a new place; I found a great one on Granville Island and the sweet lady personalized it for me!
#readyforthetree #firstcoupleornament


While Laurier did some work, we kept ourselves entertained with very cold beverages!
#itwashot #italianspritzer


Vancouver is the home of my fave brand, Lululemon.  Thank you to Laurier who drove us WAY out of his way to take me to a massive one!
#iwassquealingwithexcitement #itookoffrunning #imadeafewpurchases


The next day, we drove out to see the Capilano suspension bridge.  They had recently added this cliff walk...it was kind of scary!
#dontlookdown


300 feet in the air!
#thetalldrisscaredofheights


Before we walked across the suspension bridge, we enjoyed a tasty burger and hot dog from the Grill!
#coolatmosphere 


I picked up these cute little guys for my girls in the gift shop!
#mountedpolice 


Can't believe I did this...it was WAY shakier than I thought it would be!
#holdontight


We made it across!
#hallelujah 


I already knew this, but he has the wing span of an owl!
#longarms


And not surprisingly, I have short arms!
#canadagoose


I spy the Lululemon headquarters!!
#lulucrazed


The Primeau's took us to "West Van" for a beautiful dinner on the water!
#icouldlivehere


West Van was absolutely gorgeous!
#nohumidity


We had a delicious dinner at the Beach House!
#dinnerwithaview


These two are something else...best friends doesn't even begin to cover it!
#oysters


We had the best table!
#lucky 


I think we clean up pretty well!  ;)
#hefinallyposedforapic


Thank you to the weird man eating behind us who put this napkin on the tall dr's head...it made for great dinner entertainment!
#neveradullmoment


Our hosts, Gladys and Laurier!
#lovethem #wishwelivedcloser #hopeipassedthetest


After a delectable dinner, they took us downtown to enjoy some authentic French macaroons!
#ihaveasweettooth


Our next stop was Theater Sports on Granville Island!
#ilovedit #improv 


Ready to see some late night improv!
#weneedthisinbham #laughedmybuttoff


On our last night, the Primeau's hosted a lobster boil.  These beauties were flown in fresh from Newfoundland!
#boxfull #lobsterseverywhere


Josh "manned" the pot!
#fillherup


Yep, I was squealing!
#firsttimetoholdalobster


Not gonna lie...I was a little anxious about "cracking" and eating my first whole Lobster...thank you to all who helped me!
#omg #delicious


This was the aftermath!
#worththework #soneat


Unfortunately, our time away came to a close and we had to head back South.  Thank you to Erica for recommending Tim Horton's...it helped the long plane ride back be a little less painful!
#timbits


I think we were delirious in Houston!
#passingthetime #airportselfie






 
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