Potato Ham Chowder & Easy Crescent Rolls

Ingredients:

4 C. peeled and diced potatoes             

1/2 C. Diced celery

1/2 C. chopped onion

1/2 C. chopped carrots

3/4 C. diced cooked ham

4 C. water

2 T. chicken bouillon granules

1 t. black pepper

salt, to taste

5 T. butter

5 T. all purpose flour

2 C. milk

Directions:

1. Combine the potatoes, celery, onion, carrots, ham and water in a stockpot. Bring to a boil and reduce over medium heat until the potatoes are fork tender5 – about 10 minutes or so. Stir in the chicken bullion and pepper.

2. Melt butter over medium heat in a separate sauce pan. Whisk in flour, and cook, stirring constantly until thickened – about 1 minute. Slowly add milk as you whisk the mixture until all the milk has been added. Continue stirring over medium heat until thickened – about 5 minutes.

3. Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot and cook soup until heated through.

4. Add salt to taste. (Do this last because the ham will add a nice salty flavor – and you can decided how much is needed.)

easy crescent rolls

Ingredients:

1/2 C. warm water (110 degrees)

1/2 C. warm milk

1 egg

1/3 C. butter, softened

1/3 C. white sugar

1 t. salt

3 3/4 C. all purpose flour

1 (.25 ounce) pkg active dry yeast

1/4 C. butter, softened

Directions:

1. Place water, egg, 1/3 C. butter, sugar, salt, flour, and yeast in the pan on the bread machine in the order recommended by manufacturer. Select dough/Knead cycle and press START.

2. When finished, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half and roll each half into a 12 inch circle. Spread 1/4 C. softened butter over the entire round. Cut each circle into 8 wedges. Roll wedges starting at wide end; Place point side down on an ungreased cookie sheet. Cover with a kitchen towel and put in a warm place. Let rise 1 hour.

3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

4. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden

Easy Chicken Fajitas

Meet my best friend.

World Harbors Fajita Sauce and Marinade

This stuff is SO stinkin’ good.

It has a sweet smokiness to it.

Almost a Caribbean flair.

Not too strong…Not too tame.

I recently discovered that Wal-Mart is now selling it on their gourmet racks. In days of old, I bought it at the butcher and had to pay an arm and a leg for it.

Thank you to Wal-Mart for “working on a rollback….prices goin’ down down.”

Ingredients:

3-4 Large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or chicken tenders)

1 large sweet yellow onion

2 peppers (I prefer red and yellow)

Directions:

1. Slice chicken into thin strips.

2. slice onions into thin strips.

3. Slice peppers into thin strips.

(are you catching on here?)

4. Combine in a bowl and pour a bottle of your new BFF over top and marinate for about an hour.

5. Heat a small amount of olive oil in a large skillet and sauté away over medium high heat until cooked through.

6. Drain and Heat these in a separate sauce pan. Add nothing…they are perfection.

7. Serve fajita mixture and black beans in warm flour tortillas. My kids like them with shredded cheese, salsa, and light sour cream.

8. Oohlala.

Scrumptious Slow Cooker Beef Stew

*I combined three of my favorite beef stew recipes to create this one...Delish!*

Ingredients:

2-3 pounds Lean Beef Stew Meat
1/4 C. all purpose flour
1/2 t. salt

3 T. olive oil

1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes with juice
4 carrots, quartered
4 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 onions, diced
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 T. dried parsley
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1/4 t. paprika
1 t. black pepper

2 C. boiling water
1 package Lipton onion soup mix
1 C. frozen green peas
1 C. beef broth
1 T. Worcestershire sauce


Directions:

1. Place meat in large Ziploc bag. Combine the flour and salt; shake to coat.

2. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add coated stew meat and cook until evenly browned on the outside.

3. Transfer meat to slow cooker and add canned tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, onions, celery, parsley, garlic, pepper, paprika and bay leaf.

4. In a bowl, combine 2 C. boiling water and dry soup mix. Pour into slow cooker.

5. Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to low and cook for 6 hours or until meat is fork tender.

6. Remove Bay leaf. Rinse frozen peas in warm water to help defrost. Add to slow cooker.

7. In a small bowl, combine 2 Tablespoons of flour with 1/4 C. warm water. Mix well and stir into stew. Cook uncovered for 15 minutes or until thickened. For thicker consistency - keep adding flour/water mixture.