Before going running errands with my hubby the other day I thought I’d throw some dinner in the slow cooker.

Homemade Chicken and Vegetable Soup

I had 2 chicken breast thawed, and then I just used all the left over veggies I had in the refrigerator.

• 3 carrots going limp (peeled and cut into chunks)
• about 5 stalks of celery (chopped into medium size slices)
• about a cup of green peas  (frozen)
• about a cup of corn (frozen)
• about a cup of chopped onion (frozen)
• Italian Seasoning – a Tablespoon full, give or take
• Dried Mustard – not sure why I put this in, you didn’t really taste it in the end.
• Chicken Stock – enough to cover the chicken and veggies. (I prefer Kitchen Basics Unsalted)

Oil the crock.  I sprayed it with olive oil.  I cut the chicken into bite size pieces, put spices on them.  Then I just tossed everything in the slow cooker.  Cooked on low for about 6 hours.  I’m not exactly sure how long this cooked because I was so sick when we got home my husband is the one who cut it off, and he doesn’t remember what time it was.

I love the fact that you can put whatever veggies you want in this soup.  Just use what you have left over in the refrigerator or freezer.

This turned out pretty good.  The first night the chicken seemed a bit dry, but the bowl I had today was just right.  I have very fresh Italian Seasoning that I just bought (It’s made by Frontier), and I keep forgetting I don’t need as much of this as I did my old brand.  This seasoning gives a lot of flavor, with just a little bit.  So if you have really good Italian Seasoning, you can probably use less than I did.  Today, I added just a little Tamari Sauce to my bowl of soup and it made it even tastier.  (I also watered down the soup a little because the Italian Seasoning was so over whelming).

This is Creamy Crock Pot Risotto, the original recipe is from Shirley’s blog, A Year of Slow Cooking.

I changed one thing when I made this, I didn’t have an open bottle of wine and didn’t want to open one for just the little bit this called for, so I used Mirin instead.

I loved this!  Hubby liked it but not as much as I did.  He likes his risotto with more kick.  Next time I make this I’ll probably change the ingredients a bit to accommodate him more.  I just love that I can make Risotto in the slow cooker.  It is so much harder to make on the stove.  This is a very creamy rice dish, with a big cheese taste.  I’m wondering if I could use Daiya Cheese and Veggie broth to make this dish vegan.  It would be a different kind of cheese taste (mozzarella or cheddar), but I bet it would still be very good.

Today I’m making Roasted Root Vegetables in the Slow Cooker

The only other  time I’ve made this recipe was last Christmas.  However, that time I went by the original recipe on Food Network. Com, and cooked them in the oven.   Everyone who came to Christmas Dinner (11 of us in all) enjoyed the original recipe, I hope it turns out just as good in the slow cooker.

The only alterations I made to the original recipe are, I replaced the 2 tablespoons of Brown Sugar with 1 1/2 tablespoons of Molasses; and of course, I cooked them in the slow cooker instead of the oven.  Oh, and I picked up a rutabaga instead of a turnip.  The sign said turnips, but I’m pretty positive it’s a rutabaga.  Oh, and I used a Butter Cup Squash peeled, instead of Butter Nut Squash.

I looked up Roasted Root Vegetables on Shirley’s, A Year of Slow Cooking site to get an idea of how long to cook them.  She said about 8 hours on low, or 4-6 on high.  I started mine on low for the first 2 hours, then decided I wanted them done sooner and turned it to high.

This is the end result.  They had much more of a Thyme taste than I remember the original recipe having, and they didn’t have quite the same texture.   The Butter Cup Squash cooked much faster than the rest of the root vegetables, so they are almost mushy and the rest of the veggies still have a crunch.

However, they were still good.  Next time I think I’ll change the flavors up a bit, and I will use Butter Nut Squash instead of Butter Cup, I never thought it would be that big of a difference in how fast they cooked.

So that’s what I’ve been cooking lately.