pressure cooker

Just thought I'd pass along a GREAT deal!!

Do any of you out there can or bottle food? I recently bottled chicken. I had to borrow a pressure cooker from my mother-in-law and also my husbands aunt(had A LOT to can). Anyway, it was SO easy and now we are enjoying the chicken. It is so nice to pull a jar from the pantry and add it to soups, salads, sandwiches....etc.

Anyway, I just thought I'd tell you all about the great deal that I got recently on an All-American 30-quart pressure cooker/canner. I bought it from amazon.com for $239.00 including tax and shipping. From what I have read and been told, this is one of the best brands of pressure cookers. I WISH I had the means ($$) to purchase one of these for a give-away(wouldn't that be fun?!), but I don't. If you do a lot of canning and are interested in buying a great pressure cooker, check it out. You can can 19 pints or 14 quarts at a time.

I can't wait to try out this recipe for canned stew. I'll be trying it in the next week or two and let you know how it goes.

I will be sharing a recipe for alfredo sauce and some YUMMY garlic butter shrimp soon(possibly tomorrow...so stay tuned.

Salsa / Pico

I made this salsa/pico to go with the shredded beef taquitos that I made the other night. I wanted to make some pico, but didn't want to hand chop the veggies.....so I made a salsa pico combo.

Salsa/Pico

Ingredients:

• 1/2 bunch cilantro
• 3 green onions, including green part
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 jalapeno pepper
• 3-4 tomatoes (I can't remember how many I used, start with 3 and add 4 depending on how you like it)
• 1 avocado
• 1/2 t garlic salt
• 1/2 t Lawry's seasoning salt
• 1/4 t ground cumin
• 1/4 t cayenne pepper

Directions: Add cilantro to a food processor and pulse until it is chopped fine. Add green onions, lime juice, and jalapeno, pulse until chopped. Add tomatoes, avocado and spices and pulse until tomatoes and avocado are desired consistency.

Cream Cheese Chicken

I LOVE to cook in my crock pot, even though it only works on low now:( I love to make this on Sunday. I can get it started, go to church and when I get home it can finish cooking while I prepare the side dishes. Give this recipe a try, it is SO yummy!!

Cream Cheese Chicken

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cube butter or margarine
• 1 packet, Italian dressing mix (I use Good Seasons Brand)
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 8 oz. package cream cheese

Directions: Cut the chicken into cubes. Put chicken, butter, and dressing mix in the crock pot on low. Once the butter is melted, stir it together so the chicken is well coated in butter and seasoning. cook on low for 3 hours. Turn to high and heat for 30 more minutes. *Add soup and cream cheese. Heat on high for 30 more minutes.* Stir until it is smooth and creamy. The sauce is really thick, so you can also add a little water if you want to thin it out. Serve over cooked rice, potatoes, or pasta.

edited to add: *when to add cream cheese and soup.*

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Mallow Bars

I got this recipe from Kraft foods magazine. It is also on Kraftfoods.com. My family really enjoyed these. The boys picked the peanuts off of their pieces, so next time I'd make half with and half with-out the peanuts. Also...my grocery store was out of BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, so I substituted and approx. equivalent of semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Mallow Bars

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg. (2-layer size) devil's food cake mix
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
• 2/3 cup milk, divided
• 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 jar (7 oz.) JET-PUFFED Marshmallow Creme
• 1/2 cup PLANTERS Salted Peanuts
• 6 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, coarsely chopped

Directions:
HEAT oven to 350°F. Mix dry cake mix, butter and 1/3 cup milk until blended; press 2/3 onto bottom of 13x9-inch pan. Bake 12 to 14 min. or until center is almost set; cool 3 min. Meanwhile, mix peanut butter and remaining milk.
SPREAD peanut butter mixture onto crust; top with small spoonfuls of the marshmallow creme and remaining cake mixture. Sprinkle with nuts and chocolate; press gently into cake mixture.
BAKE 18 min. or just until center is set. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Bayou Chicken or Shrimp Pasta.

I got this recipe from Emeril at Food Network. I substituted shrimp for chicken when I made it this time, but I have also made it with chicken and it is fabulous either way!!

The recipe calls for 1 T finely chopped habanero pepper. I only used one habanero(~1 t chopped) since I was making it for the kiddos. If you like it hot, add the full tablespoon. Ours was not hot at all. The first time I made this I used 2 habaneros with seeds and ribs and it was HOT. Anyway you make it...hot of mild, chicken or shrimp...this pasta dish is YUMMY!!

Bayou Chicken or Shrimp Pasta

Ingredients:

• 1 pound linguine (I used Farfalle(bow tie) pasta)
• 1/4 cup kosher salt
• 2 T unsalted butter
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces or equal amount shrimp
• 2 T Essence, recipe below
• 1 1/2 t salt
• 1 cup finely chopped yellow onion
• 1 T finely chopped habanero pepper
• 1 T minced garlic
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup reserved pasta cooking water
• 1/2 cup chopped green onion tops (I didn't use)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 2 T chopped fresh parsley leaves (I didn't use)
  

Directions: Set a large 1-gallon stock pot of water to a boil and add the kosher salt. Place the pasta in the pot and stir until the water returns to a boil. Cook the pasta until al dente.

While the pasta cooks, prepare the sauce. set a 12-inch saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the butter and olive oil to the pan. Once the butter has melted, season the chicken or shrimp with 1 T of the Essence and 1/2 t of the salt and add to the saute pan. Sear the chicken/shrimp until well browned/pink(shrimp) on both sides, about 2 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside. Add the onions and habaneros to the pan and saute until the onions are softened and lightly caramelized, about 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic to the pan and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the cream, remaining 1 T of the Essence, remaining 1 t of salt, and the chicken/shrimp to the pan and bring to a boil. Cook the sauce until the cream is reduced by half, about 2 minutes. add the tomatoes, pasta and the reserved cooking water to the pan and cook tossing to incorporate for 3-5 minutes. Remove pan from heat and add the green onions, Parmesan and parsley and toss to blend(I added extra tomatoes here). Serve immediately.

ESSENCE:

2 1/2 T paprika

2 T salt

2 T garlic powder

1 T black pepper

1 T cayenne

1 T dried oregano

1 T dried Thyme

Broccoli Salad

My sister made this for us while she was visiting a couple of weeks ago. It is SO yummy!!

Broccoli Salad

Ingredients:

• 3 crowns of broccoli
• 12-14 slices of cooked, chopped bacon
• ~1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 T Red Wine Vinegar

Directions: Wash and chop broccoli into bite size pieces and put in a bowl. In a separate bowl mix together 'dressing' ingredients: mayo, sugar and vinegar. Pour 'dressing' over broccoli and toss to coat. Stir in bacon and Parmesan cheese. Adjust the amount of bacon and Parmesan cheese to your taste.

Quick and Simple Brownies

Sorry about the lack of posts!! Things have been busy here! I have about a million projects around here that I am working on or are at least floating around in my brain!! My sister and her family were here visiting from Utah last week and we enjoyed every minute of it!! I have a recipe that she made for us that I will be posting soon!!

Anyways...I LOVE brownies!! I found this recipe here while I was blog hopping one day. The other day, I was out of eggs, and CRAVING something chocolate!! I remembered this recipe and decided to try it! Me and the kids LOVED it! My hubby has been out-of-town and these definitely did not last until he got home, but I'm sure he would have loved them too!! These are quick, simple and delicious!

Brownies

Ingredients:

• 1 3.4 oz package instant chocolate pudding mix
• milk, amount indicated in pudding directions
• 1 18 oz box of chocolate cake mix (I used Devils Food Cake)
• 1-2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips or other mix-in (optional)

Directions: Prepare pudding according to package directions. Stir in cake mix, careful not to overbeat or incorporate too much air. Stir in chocolate chips or other mix-in. Pour into a greased 9x13 baking pan. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until the top springs back when lightly touched.

Now I'm off to take care of my case of Utah peaches that I have been ignoring for a week. I think I will freeze some for morning fruit shakes and make some into freezer jam....YUM!!