Zesty BBQ Chicken in the Crock Pot**

This one is from my SIL. It's so good and EASY!

INGREDIENTS
• 6 boneless chicken breast halves
• 1 (12 ounce) bottle barbeque sauce (I always use Sweet Baby Ray's)
• 1/2 cup Italian salad dressing
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
DIRECTIONS
Put chicken in a crockpot. In a bowl, mix the barbeque sauce, Italian salad dressing, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over the chicken. My crockpot cooks this in 4 hours on low.

**Question: is it crock pot or crockpot or crock-pot. :)

Fake rotisserie chicken in the crock pot

Ingredients:
- 2 lbs chicken breast
- 1 can chicken broth
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried parsley flakes
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground pepper
- 1 Tbsp melted butter
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 2-3 cloves minced garlic

Directions
Put the chicken in the crockpot. Mix everything else in a bowl and pour it on top. My crock pot cooks this for 4 hours on low or 2 hours on high. She makes things fast. Do not over cook!

Rosalee's Peanut Butter Bars

Rosalee's Peanut Butter Bars

Ingredients:

• 1 c. butter
  
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 c. creamy peanut butter
• 2 c. flour
• 2 c. oats
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla

+

• 1 1/2 cups peanut butter
• 2 cups chocolate chips

Directions:
Mix butter, sugars, eggs until fluffy. Add peanut butter mix until creamy. Add flour, oats, baking soda, salt and vanilla. Mix it all up.
Lightly grease a 12x18 jelly roll pan (jelly roll pan? you mean a cookie sheet with 1 inch edges. i'm so unleanred). Spread with a rolling pin until even in the pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
Cool for 20-30 minutes.
Spread 1 cup peanut butter over the top.
Melt chocolate chips and spread over the peanut butter. The peanut butter and chocolate will mix up a bit - so so yummy!

Betty gets all the credit for these fajitas.

(but I did change a few things...of course.)

This was the second real meal I made for my husband after we were married. 2 1/2 years after we were married. I've come a long way.

I doubled the marinade. I used 2.5 lbs of chicken instead of beef. I cut the chicken into strips before marinating for 3 hours. I replaced the onion with an orange pepper. I sauteed the peppers for 3 minutes in my huge skillet, then added the chicken and marinade and cooked it in the skillet it with the peppers for 7 minutes. I just warm my tortillas in the microwave. And I forgot the sour cream, which is sad because these taste so good with sour cream. Oh, wow. Maybe I should've rewritten the recipe... If I get a comment saying this is too tricky to follow, I will.

I will never write a cookbook

Ya know when you've made a meal a few times and you just know what to do and then you try and write it down for someone else and they call you and they're like "hello, this recipe doesn't make sense" and you feel kinda sheepish?

I do.

I rewrote the Mommie's Corn Chowder.

Sorry (Liz).:)

Sausage Ratatouille

Recipe inspired by one I found in Family Fun - took out the onion and replaced the eggplant with yellow squash. And made some other changes. Ya know, like we all do.

• 14 oz sausage
• 4 T olive oil
• 2 small yellow squash, sliced
• 2 small zucchini, sliced
• 1 medium green bell pepper, sliced
  
• 2 to 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 1/2 14 oz cans diced tomatoes
• salt and pepper
• 1t dried parsley
• 2t dried basil

Slice the sausage and cook in a large skillet - about 2 minutes on each side over medium heat. Transfer sausage to plate (leave all the delicious sausage juice in the skillet). In the same skillet saute yellow squash and zucchini in 3T olive oil for about 7 minutes, then transfer to plate. Put 1 T olive oil in skillet, saute bell pepper for 3 minutes, add garlic, parsley, basil and sausage saute for 3 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, zucchini and squash. Partially cover skillet and gentle simmer for 5 minutes. Season with salt n pep. Serve with french bread, pasta or rice.

Chipotle Shredded Beef

I made this recipe up to put in tamales and it was surprisingly delicious. It would work well for tacos or tostadas too!

Ingredients:

4 lb. beef (like a roast... I don't remember what exact cut I used, but it was cheap)

3 c. chopped onion

13 cloves garlic, minced or crushed

1.5 T oregano

1 can chipotle adobo sauce with 2 whole chipotle peppers (I ended up just getting as much sauce out as possible and then spooning in two of the peppers as well, and it was spicy enough for me, but not too spicy for my husband or kids)

1 1/4 t. salt

1 c. chicken or vegetable stock

Directions:

Throw everything into the crock pot and cook on low heat for 8-12 hours. Shred and enjoy!

** Makes enough to make about 95 tamales... could easily be halved (or quartered), and I would even wager that any excess could probably be frozen.

Turkey Brandy Melts

There isn't any brandy in these. I don't even know why they are called that. I found this recipe on a blog. They are so yummy. The flavors of the mayo, pesto, and peppers combined is melt in your mouth goodness. Try them. You won't be dissapointed.

1 package of soft deli rolls
1 package good quality sliced turkey
2 cans whole green chilies or diced work too.
Mayonnaise
1 T. pesto
salt & pepper
1 granny smith apple sliced VERY thin
Sliced Swiss cheese or provolone

Mix a few tablespoons of mayo with the pesto. Add salt & pepper. You then spread a generous amount of this mayo mixture onto both sides of the deli roll. Put in the broiler for 30 seconds or until slightly golden brown (not too brown!). You then layer LOTS of turkey, apples, and green chilies on the roll. Top with a couple slices of cheese. Put the one side of the sandwich with the turkey on it into the broiler until cheese is melted and golden brown. Put the top of the deli roll back onto your sandwich (I actually made mine open faced to save on carbs-and it worked well). Eat this sandwich warm out of the oven.

Mommie's Corn Chowder

• 12 oz turkey bacon
• 5 Idaho potatoes, cubed
• 3-4 stalks celery, chopped
• 1Tbsp vegetable oil
• 4Tbsp flour
  
• 8C milk (I used whole to make the husband happy)
• 2 cans creamed corn
• 1 tsp salt (I seasoned with a bit more)
• Ground black pepper to taste

Cook the bacon (I cook mine on a skillet and I leave all the extra juice on the bacon for flavor) and cut up into bitty pieces. Boil the potatoes in a separate pot until tender. Saute the celery in the oil in a big soup pot until tender. Add 1T flour, reduce heat and cook until bubbly. Add 2 cups of milk to the celery and blend it together. Add 2 more cups off milk, 3T of flour and bacon, let simmer for a minute for good flavor. Add 2 cups of milk, bring to simmer. Add the remaining 2 cups of milk and bring to a simmer for at least 1 minute. Add corn, potatoes, bacon, salt and pepper. Let it all simmer for 1 more minute. It makes a ton. Cut it in half, freeze half or invite your friends over.

Not a recipe post

Since several of us seem to enjoy Pioneer Woman's recipes, I thought I would mention I just picked up her cookbook on Amazon yesterday (it was delivered TODAY!) for $10.50! I haven't tried any recipes from this cookbook specifically, but I have enjoyed the recipes off her site, so I feel like the cookbook is a pretty safe bet.