Crock Pot Corn Potato Chowder

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Yeah, I wasn't sure about that combination at first.  What happened was that I was using my divided crock pot to make baked sweet potatoes and I needed another side dish for the other half that would cook all day instead of just a few hours. Well, I found several different recipes for corn chowder and ended up mashing them together to make my own. It was surprisingly good! I figured that I better write it down so that I don't forget what I did and I might as well do that on the blog and share it with the rest of you.

Crock Pot Corn Potato Chowder

1 quarts frozen corn (canned would work, too)
2 cups peeled, diced potatoes
2 cups chicken broth
1 small onion, finely chopped
6 slices bacon, browned and crumbled
2 cups milk
salt and pepper to taste

Place corn, potatoes, broth, onion, and bacon in a 4 quart crock pot. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Warm milk in the mircowave and add to crock pot. (Cold milk could risk a sudden temperature change and cause the crock to crack.) Cook for 15-20 minutes and serve. A little extra bacon on top would make it even better!

Now, to learn from my mistake... I didn't have enough room in the crock pot to add the milk, so I had to scoop it out and put it all in a pot on the stove. That works, too.

I also made some barbecue chicken and a loaf of bread in the bread maker. It was a good, hearty meal for a cold night! I love crock pot meals!

 Link Parties where I sometimes hang out...

Baked Zucchini Gratin

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I can't believe I haven't shared one of my FAVORITE zucchini recipes on the blog before! Baked zucchini gratin is one of the first zucchini dishes I ever tried. Yum...

 

Slice zucchini about 1/4" thick or less and layer in a baking pan. You can also throw some sliced onion in there, but I usually don't cause some people (i.e. myself) are picky. This time I was using yellow zucchini (peeled- see last sentence) and I sliced it with my food processor.

Melt a half stick of butter and drizzle that goodness all over the zucchini.

Spread shredded mozzarella over the zucchini.

Melt the other half stick of butter and stir in bread crumbs and grated Parmesan.

Sprinkle it on top of the zucchini and bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until you can stab the zucchini with a fork and it is tender.

This stuff is so good!

 
Baked Zucchini Gratin
 
4 c. sliced zucchini
1 medium onion, sliced thin (optional)
1 stick butter, divided
2 cups shredded mozzarella
1/2 cups plain, dry bread crumbs
1/4 cups grated Parmesan cheese
 
In a 9 x 13 baking pan, layer onion and zucchini slices. Melt 1/2 stick of butter and drizzle over zucchini. Top with mozzarella. Melt remaining butter and mix in bread crumbs and Parmesan. Sprinkle evenly over the top of mozzarella layer. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

Our zucchini plants are going crazy, so I am always trying new zucchini recipes. Here are some other ones I have posted in the past:

Zucchini Alfredo
Zucchini Crab Cakes
Zucchini Pie
Zucchini Bread
Zucchini Chocolate Cake

Pinterest Recipes ~ Tested and Approved

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I LOVE PINTEREST!

When I am menu planning, I like to look for new recipes on Pinterest. I never know if they are going to be good or not, so I like to hear from other people that they have tried it and liked it. So, I thought I would share some of the recent recipes I have tried and liked!

Last night I made grilled honey mustard chicken (I didn't have dijon and had to use regular mustard) and it was great! (Well, to be honest, the grill ran out of gas and it took a lot longer to make than it should have, but that was not the fault of the recipe. #keepingitreal)

I also made creamy potatoes and peas. We have a few peas in our garden so I thought this would be a nice recipe to try. I added bacon as one commenter suggested, but you couldn't really taste it, so I felt like it was wasted bacon.

Other things I have tried and loved...

Pioneer Woman's Cheesy Cauliflower Soup. This was awesome! I usually make soup on Thursday nights during the fall and winter. I think this is a nice, lighter alternative to potato soup.

Skinny Turkey and Wild Rice Soup. We raised our own turkeys last year- one of them was 30 pounds! The others were 17-27 pounds and I had to get creative with the leftovers. This soup was the ticket! I have even frozen it- we ate some yesterday for lunch. I don't usually add the half-and-half. Sometimes I add a little milk, but it doesn't need it because it is already creamy and delicious!

Monte Cristo Sandwiches. If we have ham lunchmeat, this is one of my go-to-last-minute suppers. I had never even heard of these sandwiches before, but we love them!

Taste of Home's 40-minute Hamburger Buns. I made these a few weeks ago when we wanted burgers but didn't have buns. I usually do pretzel buns, but I was in the mood to try something new. I did let mine rise a little longer- maybe a half hour or so. They turned out great! Not too dense, which I was worried about with less rising time.

Have you tried any new recipes lately? I would love to hear about it! I can also add you to my Pinterest Check-Offs board if you send me your e-mail address. :)

New and Improved Zucchini Alfredo

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We are continuing "Zucchini Week" here and so far it is going well! I am still freezing more than we can eat, but it will be good in casseroles and zucchini bread this winter. Tonight we had sausage, potato, and zucchini packets on the grill, but last night my husband wanted my new and improved version of zucchini alfredo. The original recipe is HERE, but we like this one better. It is creamier and the texture is better with the addition of some pasta. If you are going for low carb, use the other one.

New and Improved Zucchini Alfredo
1 lb. penne pasta, cooked and drained
8 cups thinly sliced zucchini
2 cloves garlic
1 stick butter
2 cups milk
8 oz. cream cheese
6 oz. bag shredded parmesan cheese
1/2 cup mozzarella
1 tsp. salt
Saute the zucchini in butter with minced or pressed garlic cloves until soft, but not mushy. Meanwhile, melt cream cheese with milk in a medium saucepan. Stir in parmesan and mozzarella. Add salt. When the sauce is creamy, combine with the cooked pasta and zucchini. Heat thoroughly and serve.

Zucchini Pie

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It is zucchini season!!! Yay!!!
We have an abundant harvest this year, so as a little challenge, I am going to try to make zucchini a different way each night this week. Tonight was zucchini pie! I have posted this recipe before, but I made a few tweaks so I thought I would repost it.

Zucchini Pie

  • 4 cup sliced zucchini
  • 1 stick butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 tsp. pepper
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 tsp. oregano
  • 1 Tbsp. parsley
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella
  • 1/2 cup grated parmesan
  • 1 tube crescent rolls

Saute zucchini in butter. Meanwhile, press crescent rolls in bottom of pie pan. Mix remaining ingredients in a bowl. When zucchini is cooked and softened, stir in the egg-cheese-spice mixture. Pour over crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Prepare to be bombarded by zucchini recipes again!

Easy Cheesy Eggplant

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My family LOVES eggplant. As a kid, I turned my nose up at it just because it sounded gross. It really isn't. You just have to know how to cook it- which I didn't, until recently. This cheesy eggplant tastes like a mouthful of butter and cheese. Yummm... And I can justify it because eggplant sounds healthy. Wanna' know how? Good. I took pics...

Start with some pretty eggplant. Any color is just fine.

Peel and slice 3/8" thick. Not 1/2". Not 1/4". 3/8". Got it? Good.

Place the slices on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with sea salt. If you are smarter than me, always use parchment paper underneath for easy cleanup. Then, put a little dab of butter on each one.

Broil until they turn golden brown and are tender. If you don't cook it long enough it will be bitter. I do mine on low.

Put a little cheese on each one. You can use any cheese you want. Here I used American...

...and here I used a Monterrey Jack & Cheddar blend and Mozzarella (and I was smart enough to use the parchment paper.)  Cheddar is pretty good, too. Make a variety and taste-test if you want to.

Put it back in the oven to broil again until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

That is it! Easy, right?

For my Eggplant Parmesan post, click HERE.