Go-To Crock Pot Chicken

Who doesn't need another go-to chicken recipe? Can't get enough of those! This one is quick-promise....and super yummy. Kids eat it-need I say more?


2-3 chicken breasts
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can chicken broth
1 packet onion soup mix

Cut chicken in bite size pieces (before you put in the cp, or after it has cooked for a bit) and place all ingredients in the crockpot. Let cook for about 3-5 hours (depending on high or low cook setting) and Serve over pasta or rice (whichever your kids will eat better).

Caramel Popcorn

This recipe is probably familiar to a lot of you, but I think, from talking to others, that our version has a few small changes to the family one.  We love it!  We had a bowl of it and a bowl of buttered popcorn every Sunday night growing up and would watch of movie together. 

I usually pop about two batches of popcorn per recipe of caramel because we like it sticky and gooey!

 

Boil for one minute:

1/2 C butter or margarine (I prefer butter….)

1/4 C Corn Syrup

1 C Brown Sugar

2 Tbs liquid (I usually us milk, but sometimes water or even evaporated milk.  I’ve even tried sweetened condensed milk!  Creamier = Yummier! The liquid also helps keep it a little softer.)

You can also add vanilla if you want.

I usually boil it  just under a minute, again, to keep it a softer.  I don’t really like hard caramel popcorn.

Just before pouring onto popcorn, add a pinch of baking soda and stir it in.  This makes it foam up a little and easier to coat the popcorn. 

We like to add marshmallows.  You can add them before the caramel and they will melt and make it really gooey, but we usually add them after and just have marshmallows in it.  You can also add nuts, chocolate chips, etc. 

I always like to eat the caramel out of the bottom of the bowl after the popcorn is gone!  Hope you like it!

Banana Cream Pie Trifle

Banana Cream Pie Trifle

This was SO yummy! Pretty much consists of layers of crumbly pie crust, instant banana pudding, bananas, and cool whip. Easy! (Don't let the length of the recipe scare you, it really is easy!)

Crumble pie crust - 2 Crusts

 (If you want you can just double either Crust 1 or Crust 2 if you don't want to do both types of crust.)

Crust 1:

1            cup all-purpose flour

1/4         cup packed brown sugar

1/2         cup firm butter or margarine

Heat oven to 400°F. In medium bowl, mix flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter, using pastry blender, until mixture is crumbly (or use hands to mix, I just used a gallon-sized baggie to protect my hands from getting messy). Press evenly on the bottom of half an ungreased 9x13 pan.

Crust 2:

1 box of vanilla wafers (crush to small to medium chunks and crumbs)

½ firm butter or margarine

In medium bowl, mix crushed vanilla wafers and butter. Press evenly on the bottom of the other half of the ungreased 9x13 pan.  Bake about 15-20 minutes or until light brown. Stir to break up into chunks and crumbs. Mix both types of crumb crusts together. Cool completely, about 1 hour (or put in freezer to cool quickly).

2*        boxes (4-serving size) banana instant pudding and pie filling mix

*(I had extra, so start with 1 box, it may be all you need)

2          cups cold milk (per box of instant pudding)

3-4       ripe medium bananas, sliced***

2**      containers (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed

**(I had extra, so you may only need 1)

In large bowl, make pudding mix as directed on box, using 2 cups milk. In Trifle dish (or 2-quart serving bowl), layer 1/3 of the crumb mixture, pudding, bananas and whipped topping; repeat layers. My top set of layers I only had the crumb mixture and bananas. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours. Top with peanuts if desired. Store in refrigerator. 

You really can’t go wrong with this, just layer until your bowl  is full!

***(After I sliced the bananas I dipped them in a bowl of watered down lemon juice to keep them from browning. 1-2 cups water 2-3 tsp lemon juice.)