Easy Saturday Dinner for Two: Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings

I spent a relaxing Saturday at home today- I enjoyed watching the winter Olympics and the Aggie men's basketball game vs. Vanderbilt. The U.S. men's team won the bronze medal in skeleton, but unfortunately, the Aggies lost a tough game in overtime. It's been a tough few years for the men's basketball team.

To accompany the relaxing day at home, I threw some ingredients in a crock pot to make a no-fuss dinner. I have made this chicken and dumplings recipe before and Jacob loved it, so it's something we said we'd make again. I threw all the ingredients in the crock pot around 1pm and forgot about it until two hours before we were going to eat, when I threw in the quartered biscuits. This recipe is really yummy and good for a cold day or when you're craving comfort food.

Crock Pot Chicken & Dumplings

Ingredients

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 tablespoon butter

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup

1 can chicken stock

1 can mixed veggies, drained

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

dash of cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

dash of salt

1 ten ounce can of refrigerated biscuit dough, quartered

Throw all ingredients, except biscuit dough, into the crock pot and cook on low for 5-6 hours. About two hours before eating, put biscuit dough pieces into crock pot and mix. Cook for duration of time. Turn crock pot onto "keep warm." Use two forks to tear apart chicken, it should be tender enough to do this very easily. Allow to cool slightly before serving.

I got the recipe for this crock pot dinner from the Budget Savvy Diva. 

A Valentine's Treat: Chewy Brownie Cookies

A group of Jacob and my friends participate in a Valentine's day version of "Secret Santa."  I, of course, procrastinated again this year and it is now the day after Valentine's day and I'm finally getting to work. I came across this recipe for brownie cookies late last night while I was finishing the last episodes of season 7 of Doctor Who- since we don't have BBC America, I'm now going thorough withdrawals having to wait for it to come out on Netflix. Off topic, anyways... I pinned this last night and thought it'd be a fun gift to give in addition to a bottle of her favorite whisky. So, here's to you, Leslie! I hope you enjoy the cookies!

Brownie Cookies

Ingredients

12 oz. dark chocolate

3 tablespoons butter

2 large eggs, room temperature

2/3 cups granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Recipe makes ~20 cookies.

Directions

1.  Crack eggs into large mixing bowl. Add 2/3 cup sugar and 1 tsp vanilla (I used vanilla bean paste). Mix on medium for 8-10 minutes. You're final mixture should be pale and creamy in consistency.

2 large eggs.

Add sugar.

Add vanilla (I use vanilla bean paste).

2. While wet mixture is mixing, chop 12 oz. of dark chocolate. Divide into 7 oz. and 5 oz. portions.

5 oz. chopped dark chocolate and 3 tablespoons unsalted butter.

3. Place 7 oz. chocolate into small bowl with 3 tbsp. butter and melt in microwave. Cook for one minute, remove and stir. Then heat again in  20 second intervals until fully melted and combined. (I heated mine for 1 min 40 seconds total.) Set aside and let cool slightly.

4. After the wet mixture has finished, add flour, baking powder, melted chocolate mixture, and the 5 oz. of chopped dark chocolate. Mix thoroughly.

What the wet mixture should look like when done mixing after ~10 minutes.

Add flour & baking powder.

All the chocolate mixture and chunks sank to the bottom, but they're in there!

Mixture will look a lot like brownie batter when it's done mixing.

5. Remove paddle from mixer, cover bowl with plastic wrap, and place the bowl in the fridge. Allow mixture to chill for 1-2 hours or until it firms up (enough to scoop and create dough balls).

6. Preheat oven to 350F.

7. Use a cookie dough scooper or spoon to create 2-inch dough balls. Place dough on cookie sheet lined with a silpat (I love this thing!).

Uncooked cookie dough mounds.

8. Cook for 8-10 minutes until puffed up and top is cracked. Remove from oven and place cookie sheet on cooling rack. Allow the cookies to completely cool on the silpat. Store in an airtight container.

Remove cookies from oven when they look like this. Puffy and cracked on top.

Gratuitous pictures of yummy cookies.

One last one...

Inspiration and recipe for brownie cookies found here.

Throwback Thursday: Bonfire 2009

In 2009, I attended my first [and only] off-campus student bonfire.

It was a great experience I go to share with friends. It was cold as hell and we all had to bundle up and trek out to the middle of nowhere off of Old San Antonio Road. There had been a ton of rain that week, which was great on one hand [no burn ban], but it also makes it really muddy for everyone driving in and out of a huge grass pasture.

When we decided to head out after about an hour of enjoying the bonfire, we realized that my truck was stuck in the mud. I ended up steering while the others bounced/pushed the car out of the mud. When we finally got the truck out of the ruts in the mud, I had to keep driving slowly so we didn't get stuck in the mud again... therefore, everyone that was outside rocking/pushing the car had to run next to the car and hop in while the truck was moving. I bet it was a funny sight for those around. Since I haven't been back since, I guess you could say that the getting stuck in the mud experience has held me off from going back in fear that it would happen again. 

All together, the night was really fun... but an adventure to say the least! 

The Aggies played the Longhorns later that week.
Unfortunately, the Aggies "ran out of time" and lost to the Longhorns 49-39.

Potluck Salty Snack

We had a potluck at work today at work for my supervisor's birthday. After a long debate between making something salty or sweet, I decided for salty. But what to make? What to make? I was scrolling through Pinterest and saw these and immediately flashed back to making them as a child with my mom and sister. They were so simple and also delicious. Hello, perfect thing to make for potluck!

Ranch Oyster Crackers

1 bag oyster crackers

1 package ranch mix packet

1/4 cup oil (i used canola)

1/2 tablespoon onion powder

1/2 tablespoon garlic powder

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

Throw ranch mix, powders, and oil into a large bowl and mix well. Add in oyster crackers and gently toss or stir until all crackers are totally coated.

Spread the crackers on a cookie sheet in an even layer.

Bake for 20 minutes, stirring every 5-10 (stir at least three times).

Remove from oven, let cool and enjoy.

Store leftovers in airtight container.