Alfredo Sauce

A friend of mine from high school Johnna posted this recipe on Facebook. I was interested in it. A mutual friend of ours commented that she'd tried out the recipe and loved it. I decided I had to give it a try. Not only is it extremely easy, but it is fantastic. This recipe makes a great base to dress up if you want to - it would be delicious and easy to add onions, garlic, artichoke hearts, or sun dried tomatoes. The possibilities are endless. I just made it with garlic and chicken for Chicken Alfredo. But there is a lot you could do.

Alfredo Sauce
1 stick butter
1 package cream cheese
1 cup milk

Melt butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add cream cheese. Stir to melt. Mix in milk. Let cook for 2-5 minutes - sauce will thicken.

Lemon Drunk Chicken

This was a random creation with help from my husband Josh. You can have different variations of spices - for example to make spicy chicken, or mexican chicken. I love this because it's another easy crock-pot fix it and forget type of meal. The chicken is extremely tender when it's done. It is perfect to shred to add to other things. I added this lemon chicken to alfredo pasta.

Lemon Drunk Chicken
Chicken breasts
1 whole lemon
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 beer
1 cup chicken stock

Pour beer and chicken stock into crock pot. Cut lemon in half. Squeeze juice of both halves of lemon and then add halves to liquid. Add vinegar and spices to liquids. Stir. Add chicken to liquid. If chicken isn't completely covered in liquid, add more chicken stock. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.

Sweet and Sour Beef

I love my crock pot. During the days of warmer weather it is a life saver because it will do the cooking for me without making our house hot. I also love that you can throw anything into a crock pot and all you have to do is put it all together and walk away. I saw a recipe for sweet and sour pork made in a crock pot in an issue of Taste of Home. I wanted to try it out. I found a chunk of beef I'd forgotten was in the freezer, and decided to make the recipe with beef instead of pork. It smelled amazing while it was cooking (another thing I love about crock pots). However, the flavor wasn't quite what I was wanting. It seemed a bit bland. The smell didn't match the taste. The next time I make it (I will make it again) I'm going to double the "sweet and sour" aspects of the seasoning. I've written out the recipe with the seasonings as double the original.

Sweet and Sour Beef
2 pounds beef shoulder cut into 2 X 1 pieces
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 large onion peeled and diced
1 large green pepper cored, seeds removed, and chopped
about 12 fresh mushrooms chopped (you could use a 4oz can of mushrooms, I just like the real thing)
1 can (14.5 oz) tomato sauce
6 Tblsp brown sugar
4 Tblsp rice vinegar
4 Tblsp soy sauce
either rice or egg noodles

Cut beef into 2 X 1 pieces and place in crock pot. Add chopped onion, green pepper, and mushrooms. Stir to mix. In a bowl mix tomato sauce, brown sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, salt, and pepper. Pour over beef mixture. Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 6 hours (my crock pot is a little crazy and I cooked it on low for 6 hours and it was more than done). Serve over the top of either rice of egg noodles.

Potato Pancakes

I made my one of my childhood favorites for breakfast. My grandma used to make these when we would come to visit. It was always a special treat.

Potato Pancakes
1 good sized potato
1 egg
salt
1/2 c milk
1 tsp baking powder
2 Tblsp sugar
2 Tblsp cooking oil
flour

Peel and grate potato. Add rest of ingredients except flour and mix. Stir in flour in small increments until batter is the consistency of regular pancake batter. Cook on medium heat like regular pancakes.

If you've had potato pancakes before and didn't like them, you should at least give these a try. They have a different texture and flavor than most potato pancakes.