I'm Souper. Thanks for asking.

It's officially fall here in Maryland, so it's soup season. That's what the cool kids say, yes? I found this recipe on the meal planning app that I've been using for several months and decided to change a couple of things and give it a go. Because it's low carb and well...because why not.

Slow Cooker Spinach Tomato Vegetable Soup (6 quart pot)

~10 oz baby spinach

~2 medium carrots, chopped

~2 celery stalks, chopped

~1/2 white onion, chopped

~1 garlic clove, chopped

~4 c low sodium veggie broth

~1 tomato, chopped

~2 bay leaves, whole

~1 T fresh basil, chopped

~1 t dried oregano

~.5 t crushed red pepper flakes

Place all ingredients in slow cooker.

          Cover and cook on high for 5 hours.

          Remove bay leaves, stir, and serve 

Yum. And so easy, a caveman could do it. I mean...if slow cookers existed back then, I guess. 😂
 

Meal Kit Monday!

During the hot mess that is 2020, my other half and I have test driven quite a few meal kits. The one we're currently enjoying is Green Chef. I'm a big fan because they offer keto options and, well, having type 2 diabetes has me on a low carb diet so it's been kinda perfect...and delicious. This recipe is so good that it has me on the fence about going full on keto. My friend Sandie (Hey, Sandie!) asked for the recipe so I thought I'd share it with the class! 

Green Chef's GROUND PORK EGG ROLL BOWLS with scrambled eggs, cabbage, carrots, cashews & Sriracha aïoli (2 servings)

10 oz ground pork

2 medium eggs

7 oz shredded cabbage

3.5 oz shredded carrots

2 oz yellow onions

1 oz ginger

1 whole scallion

1/2 c sriracha lime aïoli

1/2 oz dry-roasted cashews

1/4 c mushroom aioli sauce

Thinly slice scallion; discard root end. Roughly chop cabbage and carrots. Roughly chop dry-roasted cashews.

Place ground pork in a medium bowl. Add mushroom amino sauce. Season with about ¼ teaspoon salt and a pinch of pepper. Mix thoroughly to evenly distribute sauce and seasoning.* *For best results, use your hands and gently fold the pork mixture into itself until the sauce and seasoning are evenly distributed.

Crack eggs into a second medium bowl. Add about half of the scallion. Season with salt and pepper. Whisk until well combined and frothy.

Heat about 1 ½ tablespoons cooking oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add pork to hot pan. Stir to break up pork. Cook 4-5 minutes, or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally.

Add cabbage and carrots, yellow onions and ginger, and about ¼ cup water to pan with pork. Cook 4-5 minutes, or until liquid has cooked off and ground pork is fully cooked, stirring occasionally. (Ground pork is fully cooked when it’s no longer pink.) 

Heat about 1 tablespoon cooking oil in a small nonstick pan over medium heat. Add eggs to hot pan. Cook until eggs reach desired doneness, stirring frequently.

Divide pork stir-fry between bowls. Top with scrambled eggs. Drizzle with Sriracha-lime aïoli to taste. Garnish with cashews and remaining scallion. Enjoy!

I could eat this everyday. Nom.

Do what you love.

I've been toying with the idea of resurrecting Born To Crock and going back to oversharing the food I/we consume. SO much has changed since I first started sharing my crocks that I don't know where to start. I mean...over the past 5 years I've/we've been dealing withs so many "fun" health issues that have changed our family's eating habits. Both kids are SUPER picky and rarely eat what I crock, but that's not going to stop me from doing what I love! Right? Right.

Speaking of love... Last week, hubs was craving something buffalo chicken-y. Old me would've whipped up some of my infamous Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese. Buuuuut since new me can't really have more than a tablespoon of it at a time, I whipped up this instead.

"Buffalo Chicken and Bean Chili" (6 quart pot)

2T olive oil
16oz ground chicken
1 onion, chopped
1/2 c carrots, chopped
1/2 c celery, chopped
1/2 T chili powder
1/2 T cumin
1/2 T paprika
dash salt
dash pepper
1 3/4 c white beans, drained and rinsed
1 3/4 c refried beans
1/2 c garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 c water
3/4 c chicken broth
6 T Frank's red hot sauce

5 servings

Heat oil in a large deep nonstick skillet over medium-hight heat. Brown chicken in the skillet and cook, breaking up the meat into small pieces as it cooks, about 8-10 minutes or until cooked through. Set aside.

Add onion, carrot, celery, garlic, chili powder, cumin, paprika, salt and pepper. Cook stirring the veggies often, about 5 minutes. Add beans, water, and chicken broth. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, on medium low for about 10 minutes.

Stir in the hot sauce and add chicken. Cover and simmer until thickened, 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally until flavors blend.

Verdict. I've never met anything buffalo thing I haven't liked, so you KNOW I loved this. AND since it's a chili, it's even yummier on the second day!

Outside the crock.

Helllooooo friends! Long time no see!

So...this is NOT a crock meal (Although, I'm sure I could figure out how to make it one if I want to!), buuuuut it's delicious and worth sharing nonetheless! This was a recipe I made in middle school home ec class eons ago. SOMEHOW, the recipe has followed me all these years, but never made it into the digital world. After whipping these up over the weekend, some friends wanted the recipe, sooooo I'm sharing it here! You're welcome!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars (12 bars)

1 c flour

1 c oats

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t cinnamon

1/2 t salt

1/2 c butter

1/2 c packed brown sugar

1/2 c sugar

1 egg

1/2 t vanilla

1/2 c canned pumpkin

1/2 c semisweet chocolate chips

In a large bowl, mix flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

In a separate bowl, mix butter until creamed

Add sugars to butter. Mix well.

In a small bowl, beat egg and vanilla.

Add egg mix to sugar mix and mix well.

Add pumpkin to flour mix and mix well.

Add egg/sugar mix to flour/pumpkin mix and mix well.

Add chocolate chips to mixture and mix well.

Pour mixture into greased 8x8 pan.

Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until it sets in the middle.

Cool completely.

Cut into squares and enjoy!

I'm baaaaack!

It's been more than 3 years since by last post. 3. years. I'm still crocking...I just haven't been blogging about it. My crock pot does NOT hide in the summer. In fact, it's been on the kitchen counter since you all helped me win it during (now defunct) DinnerTool's recipe contest!

So...what have I been up to since August 14th, 2014? So many things. The "new" mini-me will be 3 in December. I did have gestational diabetes and weird food aversions and it's absolutely crazy to realize that this is my first blog post during her time on the outside! The original little helper is now 7 and doesn't like crocked chicken. Or pork. Or beef. Or anything, really. *sigh* This pickiness is just a phase, right? RIGHT?

ALSO, in newer news...after living in this house for just shy of 5 years, we are FINALLY remodeling our kitchen. From top to bottom. Every. Single. Thing. is being replaced.

Construction starts on Monday. THIS Monday. And I may or may not be stressing out about it.

SO...I thought you all might like to see what it's like for us to live without a kitchen. I will be relying HEAVILY on my trusty crock pot to get us though the next 4-6 weeks and I have absolutely no idea what I'll be crocking. I'm taking suggestions!

ANNND  I thought you all might like the recipe for what I crocked today. I was going though or fridge and freezer trying to cook things that I won't be able to do come Monday and I came up with this. It might sound/look a *little* familiar. But not exactly.

"Buffalo Chicken and Bacon Mac & Cheese" (6 quart pot)

~1 lb shredded chicken
~1 cup Frank's Hot Sauce
~Yancey's Fancy Bacon Bacon Cheese Sampler  = 1/4 lb bacon cheddar, 1/4 lb bacon ranch cheddar, 1/4 lb jalapeño with bacon, and 1/4 lb smoked gouda with bacon
~1 1/2 c uncooked elbow pasta
~2 c milk
~2 T butter, melted
~1 C Italian breadcrumbs

Spray crock pot with Pam
Add pasta, milk, and cheese and mix well
Brown chicken
Add hot sauce and mix well
Add chicken to crock pot and mix everything well
Mix butter and breadcumbs and mix well
Spoon mixture on top of crock pot mixture
Cover and cook on low for 3 hours

Delicious.

Are you surprised? I made Kraft mac and cheese for the kids because we had some and we're about to lose our ability to boil water, so...yeah.

Still got it.

It is looking more and more likely that I'm going to be diagnosed with gestational diabetes within the week, so I decided I'd crock something that I'm *probably* not going to be able to eat soon.

"Clean Out The Kitchen Mexican Beefy Cornbread Casserole" (6 quart pot)

~1 lb ground beef, browned and drained
~3/4 c ketchup (This is a guess. I actually don't know how much I used. I emptied our open bottle and squirted a bit from a new one.)
~2 T dijon mustard
~2 T steak sauce (Again, a guess. We are now out of steak sauce.)
~2 t Worcestershire sauce (Ditto. Adios Worcestershire sauce.)
~1 green pepper, chopped (From the CSA.)
~1/2 c frozen corn

Topping:
~1 box Jiffy corn bread mix
~1/3 c milk
~2 t butter, melted
~1 egg

Mix the first 7 ingredients in crock pot.
Mix the last 4 ingredients in a bowl.
Pour mixture over beefy mixture.
Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.

6 servings.

Mmm. This was delicious. I kinda wish I'd been paying more attention to the quantities. Still, I think I'll pat myself on the back for this one. Yum.

An unexpected perk of living down the street from Baltimore.

Sauerbraten is good. REALLY good. I've made it twice. HERE and HERE. Every. Single. Time. I'd go to the grocery store that "doesn't have anything, but is the closest one to our house", I'd see bottles of sauerbraten mix and wonder if it was any good. Welp, wonder no more.

"Easy Sauerbraten...as long as you're currently living near Baltimore, MD." (6 quart pot)

~2 lbs beef cubes
~1 bottle of Mrs. Minnicks Sauerbraten Mix (It's a local thing. AND it has stove top instructions on the bottle, but I converted it all by myself.)
~7 ginger snap cookies, crushed
~egg noodle dumplings, cooked

Dump beef in crock pot.
Pour in sauerbraten mix.
Cover and cook on low for 7 hours.
Add crushed cookies and mix well.
Cook for a few minutes. (I cooked it for as long as it took the noodles to cook.)

I served this with baked squash. (From the CSA.)

6 servings.

So tender. So good. So easy. My other half said that it's "frickin' delicious". I'm definitely going to add this to my rotation. (You know, if I had one.)