Recipe Review: Corn Chowder

Slow Cooker Corn Chowder

Original Recipe can be found at All Recipes

Dump in slow cooker and give a stir!  I did high for 1.5 hours and low for 1.5 hours because I was running out of time...as usual!

1 can of creamed corn

1 can of cream of chicken soup

1 C. of frozen corn

2 C. of diced ham

2 C. cubed frozen potatoes*

1.5-2 C. of milk

1/3 C. frozen diced onion

sprinkle a good amount of dried parsley

1 tsp of chili powder

small can of diced green chiles

grind in a good amount of black pepper and a bit of salt

This was plenty for 2 adults and 4 kids, with leftovers.

Well-liked, with the exception of the kiddo that doesn't eat corn.

There is a bite to this chowder that isn't in many other corn chowder recipes.  I kind of like it!  

It was so yummy with some sprinkled bacon on top!

* So, I chose this recipe because it would have been a quick dump in the slow cooker and let it heat.  Come to find out, I was fresh out of frozen O'Brien potatoes.  Well, I just diced up some raw potatoes, cooked until they were just starting to get soft, then stuck them in the freezer to cool off a bit.  They came out perfect in the chowder.  :-)  However, that being said...I'll use frozen diced next time...due to convenience.

I'm not big on canned things but we don't have a garden anymore and I actually try to stay clear of corn.  We don't eat a whole lot of it much...though I do like it!  So, didn't have any frozen creamed corn like I use to have in the freezer...so canned it was.  The other thing I like to do is make my own cream soup.  I truly think it's better for us.  It's not hard...but it takes time and preparation.  I still keep a can or two of cream of chicken in my cupboard for the recipes that I really want to stay quick and not much fuss.  It doesn't can well, I'm told.  It doesn't freeze well, I'm told, and really...just when I leave it to store in the fridge...I'll forget about it and it will mold. :-D  So, came across a recipe for a dry mix that you keep together and then add water to make the cream soup.  I'll let you know how it goes!  :-D

Would love to see comments about how you get around the canned goods in recipes!

Recipe Review

This was on the menu....

Original recipe found here.

And someone else loved it too!  :-D  

Note to self, not too many beans for baby in the future.  LOL

I will have to say that my two eldest both turned their noses up with those beans...when they saw what was for supper.  Guess what, they went back for seconds. :-D

I had never put green pepper in a chili before either, that was interesting.  For whatever reason I use to turn MY nose up at cooking with green pepper.  It didn't seem right. However, I have learned that green pepper really brings flavor to a dish!  Peppers are so so expensive now that they are out of season so this past week I picked up a package of frozen diced peppers on a 10 for 10 deal.  I'm going to try them out and see if they do just as good as a fresh pepper.  Also, I've started purchasing frozen diced onion also.  Reason, I strongly dislike cutting up onion.  My sensitive nose thanks for me for the frozen.  Don't get me wrong, I do still purchase the raw but I keep frozen for some days where I really don't want to or don't have time to chop up an onion.  It's been working for me. :-)

Here's how I did it:

Ingredients:  

1/2 lb pork sausage

1/2 lb of ground beef

3/4 C diced frozen onion

3/4 C. diced celery

2 cloves garlic, minced

28 oz can diced tomatoes w/ liquid

15 oz can kidney beans w/ liquid

15 oz can black beans, drained

1/2 T chili powder

1/2 tsp dried parsley

1 tsp salt

3/4 tsp of basil

3/4 tsp oregano

1/3 tsp ground black pepper

Pork sausage and ground beef ground together.   In crockpot, combine all ingredients together.  Cook, low about 8 hours.  Talk about easy!

Review:  lots of beans but very tasty!  Too juicy for real "chili" but it made warming it up nice!  Warmed up well!  One of my kids called it chili soup.  Consider eating with corn bread or on top of a baked potato!

So, to help my goal to be more prepared with my meals...I just browned together 1 lb of sausage and 1lb of ground beef and then froze half of it for another meal.  :-)

November Menu

This menu is not clear...not sure how to go about doing it so if someone has a suggestion let me know.  I went ahead and did an extra large image and then it's off centered on the post but....I would  need to research solutions and the little I did...I saw most were kind of "blurry" also.  So, for a clearer image...click the link below for the .pdf.

I've talked and talked and would get a week planned and such but never did a whole month.  So, I took the time to create a basic menu for the month of November.  

Printable November Menu

Reason 1) I find I have little time on my hands.  Just KNOWING what I'm going to make for lunch and supper goes a long way!  Also I can pull the meat out and have it prepared.

Reason 2) My grocery bill is out of this world.  My goal over the next few weeks is to cut it down.  I found a blog, Po'Mans Meals.  She has created meals with a "per dish" cost attached.  I'm going to start being more aware of how much the meals I serve cost also.  I chuckle because most blogs with posts about inexpensive meals only include the main dish or have a recipe for a family of 4, etc.  Po'Mans Meals does not use sale prices, supposedly and her recipes have all been for 6 servings.  I really want to see how much I'm spending as a whole including our side dishes.  All the green dishes are from her site.  The black are either from All Recipes, or recipes I've made enough that I don't need a recipe for.  If you are using this calendar and need a recipe that in black font....just ask! 

Reason 3)  I'm bound and determined to start shopping at a meat market and see if that helps.  So, in doing that, I want to be able to go just once a month or so and get what I need and freeze it.  We'll see how that goes and if it saves me money.  It'll definitely save me time and stress!

Reason 4) a printed menu gives me a place to keep all our family's 'review" in one place so that when I go to choose meals on the next go around...it's not so difficult.  I'm planning on finding some really good meals that we all like and rotating.  It also gives me a place to write down how much the meal cost . I did not include side dishes in the menu as those will just be whatever is handy...not planning ahead produce.  So, with a printed menu, I can write down the side dishes.

So, I'm finding with a lot of "inexpensive" meals...there is a lot of pasta.  To be truthful...I'm not a big pasta fan.  It seems like a "filler" and kind of empty.  Guess that's why it is cheap.  But this month, I went ahead and included it because yes, a box of pasta at $5/5 and we only use have the box so that means only 50 cents for the pasta portion of the meal for a family of 5 (or 6, if you include baby who is starting on table food)...that is pretty good.    

At the top of the calendar I put labels- that was to help me plan.  I moved some things around so we weren't having potato, rice or pasta twice in a row so it may not be exactly what is in the column...but in general.

There is a blank day of the week, Sunday.  I consider that "open".  I'm hoping that ham or turkey goes on sale.  We have roast and I think even steak in the freezer.  I'll go with the flow with that.

There is also a day or two a week that really was hard to find something and I decided...that is just fine because there will almost always be left overs from Sunday so...we will not be wasting!  

Saturdays there is only one meal planned.  This is going to be our "planned" left-over day.  I also didn't put anything for breakfast on Saturdays.  Typically it's a "left-over/what do you want" day or my husband makes breakfast.

I really like having the planned breakfast.  It allows the kids to be a bit more independent.  I plan a grain and they add a side dish of their choice.  They can always have cold cereal if they do not want what is on the menu for that day.  However, Saturdays are the ONLY..."whatever you want" mornings.  We do not have time for trying to make up mind about what to eat for breakfast...so 2 choices....what's on the menu or cold cereal.  :-D




EDIT:  I uploaded a new calendar as I found an error.
Also, the original had blanks for Sunday.  Typically we have popcorn and cold cuts so I added that in for supper but still left the dinner blank.  Why?  Because something ALWAYS comes up on Sunday.  :-D  For example, we had a potluck this past Sunday.  Who knows what will happen next Sunday.  It's one day I really don't know what we are doing.  So, again, I do have turkey and hope to get a ham on sale.  We also have roasts and steak in the freezer due to purchasing a side of beef.  I'll slip it in as I go.  :-D