Crockpot Sesame Chicken

2 1bs. skinless, boneless chicken thighs.
1/2 c. low sodium soy sauce
1/3 c. packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1 Tbsp. ketchup
1 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds

Place chicken thighs in the slow cooker. Whisk together remaining ingredients in a bowl and pour over chicken.Cover and cook on low 6 to 8 hours or on high 3 or 4. Serves 4 - 6.

French Dip Sandwiches

It's easy but sooooo good.... we've decided it's way better than any restaurant French Dip we've ever had.

1 roast (cheapest one at the store - don't buy a nice one)

2 loaves of day old bread from Jimmy Johns ($.40 here!)

2 packs of Au Jus gravy powder mix

butter

mozzarella cheese

Stir up 1 Au Jus packet with 1-2 cups of water (depending on the size of your crock pot) and place the roast in the crock pot with the water/ powder mix. Add water until it's about half way up the pot.

Let the crock pot cook it on low all day.

When you get home from work, take a fork and shred up the meat (you can do this while it's still in the crock pot). It should just pull apart really easily.

Heat up the second Au Jus packet according to the directions.

Cut the bread in half length-wise and then again width-wise so you have 4 pieces of bread for 2 sandwiches/ loaf. Butter the inside of the bread and place it on a cookie sheet butter side up. Add cheese if you want on top of one of the buttered sides.

Broil the bread until it's toasted.

Put the shredded meat on the bread and make sandwiches then dip it in the Au Jus you heated up.

Sooooo good!

Creamy Chicken and Rice

Serves 2-3

1 cup frozen veggies
1 teaspoon minced onion
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
1 bay leaf
1 can reduced-fat cream of chicken soup
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
[or 1 (12.5 ounce) can of chicken for stovetop]

White rice (approx. 1/2 cup per serving)
Water (approx. 1 cup per serving)

Crock pot Cooker Directions
1. In a 3 or 4 quart crockery cooker, stir together soup and water. Add minced onion, parsley, thyme, pepper, celery salt, and bay leaf. Stir together. Add frozen veggies and stir together. Add chicken breasts side by side.
2. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 8 to 9 hours or on high-heat setting for 4 to 5 hours.
3. Approx. 30 minutes before soup mixture is done cooking, add rice and water to a pot on the stovetop over medium heat. Cover and let rice cook until it is tender (15 to 25 minutes).
4. Meanwhile, remove bay leaf and chicken from crockery cooker. Discard bay leaf. Cut or shred chicken into bite-sized pieces. Return chicken to crockery cooker and stir.
5. To serve, pour soup mixture over rice.

Stovetop Directions
1. In a medium to large pot, stir together soup and water. Add minced onion, parsley, thyme, pepper, celery salt, and bay leaf. Stir together. Add frozen veggies and stir together. Shred up canned chicken and stir it into the mixture.
2. Cover and cook on medium-heat for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Meanwhile, add rice and water to a separate pot on the stovetop over medium heat. Cover and let rice cook until it is tender (15 to 25 minutes).
4. Remove and discard bay leaf before serving. To serve, pour soup mixture over rice.

BTS Cake

(Better Than ...haha you can figure out the S)

1 chocolate cake mix
1 1/3 cups water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 to 3/4 (16 ounce) jar hot fudge topping (to taste)
1/2 to 3/4 (16 ounce) jar caramel topping (to taste)
Cool Whip
2 or 3 Skor or Heath candy bars, crushed

1. Make and bake chocolate cake according to directions on box. Let cool.
2. Thoroughly poke holes in the cake with a fork. Pour sweetened condensed milk, hot fudge topping, and caramel topping over entire cake. Let sit for several hours to allow ingredients to soak in.
3. Spread Cool Whip over cake, sprinkle with crushed candy bars, and enjoy! Refrigerate leftovers.

Three Cheese Chicken Penne

1 lb pkg Penne pasta
1-2 lbs Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breast
1 pkg (9 oz) Fresh Spinach (chopped)
1 tsp Dried Basil
1 jar Spaghetti Sauce (I used 1 can each of tomato sauce and diced tomatoes and threw in some oregano, etc.)
1/2 Onion- minced
4 cloves Garlic- minced
1 tbsp olive oil
4 oz Cream cheese- cubed
1 1/2 cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1/2 cup Shredded Parmigiano- Reggiano Cheese

Pre-heat oven to 375*. Cook pasta. While that's boiling, work on the remaining ingredients.
Cook chicken in oil. Remove to a large bowl. Add garlic and onion to chicken drippings. Sautee until tender, add to chicken. Pour Spaghetti sauce in with chicken mixture. Add basil. Before you remove the pasta, add the chopped fresh spinach for about a minute. Then drain and add to bowl. Add cream cheese and 1 cup of mozzarella cheese. Mix well. Pour into baking dish and bake at 375* for about 15 minutes. Top with remaining mozzarella and parmigiano reggiano cheese. Bake for another 5- 10 minutes, until cheese starts to bubble. Garnish with chopped fresh basil.

Baby Food Bars

My visiting teacher in Rexburg, ID made these at her baby shower!! They are sooo tastey, I couldn't stop eating them! Give it a try for your next baby shower...they will be gone in a flash and you'll get some surprised looks when you tell them it is made from baby food!

1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
3 eggs, well beaten
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 6 oz. jar strained carrots
1 6 oz. jar strained applesauce
1 6 oz. jar strained apricots
1 tube of either cream cheese or vanilla frosting

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Sift dry ingredients together. Combine eggs and oil in a separate bowl, and beat well. Mix the eggs and oil into dry ingredients. Beat in baby food. (I actually couldn't find apricots, so I used peaches instead.)

Click Here to view Jenn's Together We Learn website!

Poppyseed Bread

I found this recipe on the Shade Clothing blog!!

3 cups flour
2 ½ cup sugar
1 ½ t. salt
1 ½ t. baking powder
3 eggs
1 ½ cup milk
1 1/8 cup oil
1 ½ T. poppy seeds
1 ½ t. vanilla
1 ½ t. almond extract
1 ½ t. butter flavoring

Mix together and beat 2 minutes. Bake in 2 large loaf pans (greased) at 350 for 1 hour. As soon as out of oven, pour glaze over bread after poking a few holes in bread with toothpick. Be careful to brush it on slowly so that it can be absorbed.

¾ cup sugar
¼ cup orange juice
½ t. vanilla
½ t. almond extract
½ t. butter flavoring

Take out of pans when cooled.

Click Here to find more great recipes by Caroline