ode to my crockpot . . .

I made a wonderful recipe yesterday. It was my daughter's 10-year-old birthday party for family and she had chosen French cuisine. Not being experienced and still being a regular non-fancy person, I decided to try a chicken cordon bleu recipe. Sadly, I had been storing items in my oven and off of my counter, forgot and lit the oven last week, burning the plastic Pampered Chef nesting bowls inside. Huge bummer on many fronts! Well, still needed to make dinner. My mother gave me a Chicken Cordon Bleu crockpot recipe which was simple and came out very well. I thought I would share.

Need:

Large package of fresh chicken breast, washed, trimmed and pounded flat (relatively)
1 lb. package of baked ham slices
1 lb. package of swiss cheese
Dill weed
Basil
Parsley
Salt
Pepper
1 c. white wine
1 can of fat-free cream of mushroom soup

Lay-out in large baking dish chicken breasts, top each breast with a slice of ham and a slice of cheese, sprinkle liberally with dill, basil, parsley, pepper and a bit of salt. Roll each breast and carefully place in bottom of large oval crock. Repeat. Mix white wine and soup -- pour over chicken. Cover entire dish with extra swiss. Cook for four hours on high, keep until ready to serve on low or warm. I transferred them all to a white serving dish and spooned out 'sauce' from the bottom of the crock over the breasts. They were very good and super-simple. I served a wild rice mix and young asparagus on the side with crusty French bread. Served five adults, three children and left enough for tonight. Ah, so nice to have dinner already ready . . .

i love hopping . . . mmmm, all these yummy recipes! my offering has five ingredients . . . i need to find more five ingredient recipes ;) . . .

Mmmmmm. I made a completely simple and delicious dish this weekend with only five ingredients. Using the freshest, yummiest, ingredients I could find, I made a delightful Bacon Salad. You'll need:
-One package of Romaine lettuce hearts
-One small handful of fresh spinach
-6-8 eggs
-1 lb of bacon
-Balsamic Vinaigrette
Wash and tear Romaine and spinach into bite-size pieces. Boil eggs. Cool eggs. Peel eggs. Quarter eggs. Cook bacon in microwave to 'gently crisp'. Tear bacon into small pieces. Toss all ingredients together, with the exception of the dressing. Cover tightly. Chill. Moments before serving, toss with balsamic dressing to lightly coat. Yummy. Looks fresh and inviting with only five ingredients. This was a big hit with everyone at my father-in-law's birthday party and was still crisp and fresh the next day for lunch. Enjoy!

the party.

Ah. It is nice to be back on the computer. We have had family in from all over this week. Texas, New Jersey, Kentucky, Miami. It was my father-in-law's 70th birthday party. We hosted it here, poolside, and it was a wonderful night. I made him an album from Shutterfly. I began with photos from my husband's childhood and continued right up until today. It came out beautifully. I highly recommend this kind of gift for a birthday of significance. I spent Saturday morning making many side salads to accompany the barbeque beef I had in the crockpot. For those who may be a bit "beef"-challenged like myself, I used two large chuck under blade roasts. It was "buy one, get one" at Winn Dixie (yea!). I placed them in the crockpot after rinsing them. Seasoned them with basil, sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper. I poured an amber beer over them and a half bottle of prepared barbeque sauce. They cooked all day. They pulled apart beautifully at the end of the day. I removed all of the fatty pieces and had a giant platterful of shredded beef. I served this with a bacon, egg and romaine salad, a tortellini and broccoli salad, a crunchy coleslaw salad and an ambrosia salad. My mother brought over a warm bean salad dish and her famous potato salad. I served everything with rolls, following a cheese, cracker and veggie tray. It was wonderful because I made all of the salads in the morning. I used really fresh ingredients from Publix. The recipes were simple but very flavorful. The dinner was extremely well-received. I normally tend to spend a good deal of my guest-time cooking complicated dishes and was delighted to have every single thing prepared in advance. The yield was so great that we were able to enjoy each one of the sides for a second dinner last night of grilled tilapia prepared with paprika, lemon slices and basil. It is so nice to have had the event come off so smoothly! :)