Amazing Potato Soup

This stuff is GOOD! Like, "dang good" good! My sweet friend Kim made this for me for a birthday luncheon and I most certainly ate my fair share of birthday lunch haha! This recipe is ridiculously simple but full of flavor with the added in bacon bits and shredded cheese! So yummy!! (She got this recipe from Paula Dean).

Combine 1 bag frozen hash browns (I used the southern style: cubed) 

2 (14 oz) cans chicken broth 

1 can cream of chicken soup 

1/2 c chopped onion 

1/3 tsp black pepper

Cook in crock pot on low for 5 hours. Stir in 8 oz block of cream cheese, cook 30 minutes, stir occasionally. Serve with bacon bits and shredded cheese in a bread bowl :)

Cheesy Wild Rice Soup

The first time I tried this amazing soup of Jen's, I watched it disappear before I could even think about a second helping. It was so delicious that I was very tempted to go and lick the saucepan (but I didn't :)!! I made it a few weeks ago for my family, and I got the same reaction... everyone wanted more! Another dang good Jen recipe makes the list!

1 cup uncooked wild rice

2 cans cream of potato soup

1 lb of bacon

1 med onion

2 pints of ½ & ½

1 lb cheddar or Fiesta blend cheese

Cook rice as directed, set aside. Fry bacon in a large saucepan. Remove and crumble. Saute onion in grease. Combine and add soup and ½ and ½ and mix well. Add in the rice and bacon. Add cheese and cook until melted.

Cheesy Chicken Tater Tot Casserole

Photo from thecountrycook.net

Her pic is way better than mine and she deserves all the credit for this meal!

So I found this recipe from Brandie at thecountrycook.net, and my mouth immediately began to water. Just the name of it made me want it instantly,  but the picture got my mouth watering! I couldn't wait to try it out on my family the next day, and I have to say, THANK YOU BRANDIE! My family snarfed this down. I kid you not. They ate their fill before soccer practices and when we got back 2 hours later, they finished it off. Mr. Amazing will eat anything I cook and is usually accompanied by a "thank you" and hopefully "that was good." Well this one got me one heck of a kiss and a raving review that included the desire for it to be made again, and soon! This is an incredible make-over on normal tater-tot casserole recipes and it has made the dang good recipe list!

Ingredients:

1 (32 oz.) bag frozen tater tots

1 (3 oz.)bag bacon pieces

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

3/4 cup milk

salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

Spray slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Layer half of the frozen tater tots on the

bottom of the slow cooker. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the bacon pieces. Now top with 1/3 of the shredded cheese. Add diced chicken on top.  Season with salt & pepper. Now add 1/3 of the bacon pieces and another 1/3 of shredded cheese. Put the rest of the frozen tater tots on top.

Finish with the remaining 1/3 cheddar cheese and remaining 1/3 of bacon pieces. Pour 3/4 cup milk all over the top. Cover and cook on low about 4-5 hours.

Our Fav Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Heaven in a bowl. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com, tweaked it a bit according to other's opinions and voila! Perfection! Out here in Wyoming, this is a staple in our family in the winter! Double batch it for left-overs or freeze for another day. Pair it with some cornbread and you will have one happy family!

2 lbs beef stew meat, cut into pieces

2/3 cup flour

1 tsp seasoning salt

1 tsp pepper

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 bay leaves

1 ½ tsp paprika

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 onion, chopped

3 ½ cups beef broth

5-6 potatoes

4 carrots sliced

2 stalks celery

1 pkg McCormicks beef stew seasoning. Mix flour, salt, and pepper in bag. Coat the meat with it. Sear meat. Transfer meat to slow cooker. Pour 2 cups beef broth into pan to deglaze then pour over beef. Add rest of broth and all other ingredients. Stir and cook for 10 hours on low.

(Note: I'm rather horrible at adding the exact amount of veggies. I just dice, throw in, and when it fills up the pot just right, I stop :) Therefore, I almost always end up using 3 cans of beef broth or whatever it takes to get it right to the top of the veggies and meat).

Slow Cooker Baked Potato's

I'm an Idaho girl (and now Wyoming girl and wannabe cowboy) and therefore, meat and potatoes for every meal was not just a figure of speech. It was rare NOT to have some form of potato every evening at dinner. And so even though I've broadened my horizons a little bit, I'm still a potato girl at heart (preferably french fries haha ;). And these baked potatoes are so good! (I got this from recipe from crockpot365.blogspot.com).

Potatoes (Russet or Red)
Tinfoil

Scrub and dry potatoes. Poke holes in potatoes with a fork and then wrap in tinfoil. Put in slow cooker on low for 8-10 hours (depending on size of potato) or on high for 5-6 hours. Warning: the potatoes do turn yellow for whatever reason! But oh they are moist!

Serve as a side or do what I usually do and make it into a potato bar: open up potato and add butter, sour cream or ranch, seasoned cooked hamburger (We prefer Cavender's Greek Seasoning. You can buy it at Walmart, and it is soooo yummy on meat!! ), bacon crumbles, sunflower seeds, green onions, and cheese with a salad on the side!

World's Best Baked Potato Soup

I tried this at my friend Angie's house and about died... every other cream potato soup was from thenceforth erased from my recipe book. This is a keeper. The ONLY keeper! I can't even bring myself to try another potato soup, because I believe this is flat out, the best soup in the world!

1 lb bacon

1 onion

4 celery stocks, sliced

5-7 potatoes

Cook bacon, add everything else and sauté. Cover with enough water to cover potatoes and boil until soft. 

Add:

1 pint whipping cream

1 lb velveeta

8 oz Mexican Cheese

Season with Morton Nature’s Seasons Seasoning Blend (this is a must! Season to taste)

Serve with challah bread.