Crockpot Potato Soup

YUMMMMMMMM!! This is delicious! My son couldn't get enough of it :)

Ingredients:

6 cups diced, peeled potatoes
5 cups chicken broth
2 cups diced onion
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/4 cup butter or margarine
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
12oz can evaporated milk
3 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 Tbsp dill

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients except milk and parsley in slow cooker.
2. Cover. Cook on High 7-8 hours or until vegetables are tender.
3. During the last hour turn it down to low and stir in the milk, parsley and dill.
4. If desired, mash potatoes before serving.

The original recipe was taken from Fix-it And Forget-it Cookbook
I changed it quite a bit from the original recipe, but if you have this book or you buy it, you will find it under "No-Fuss Potato Soup"

Corn Chowder

Ingredients:

1 large onion, chopped
2-3 Tbsp. butter
2 cups chicken broth
1 can cream-style corn
1 can corn (drained)
1 can cream of chicken soup
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes
2 cups milk
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. pepper
Minced fresh parsley, optional

Directions:

In a dutch oven, saute onion in butter until tender. Add the chicken broth, corn and potatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Reduce heat to low. Stir in the milk, cream of chicken soup, salt and pepper. Cook for 5-10 minutes or until heated through, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with fresh parsley, if desired.

Makes 8 servings.

Alton Brown's Lavash (Crackers) + Review

I decided I wanted to make my own crackers. I had seen this recipe on the Food Network, so I was curious. Below is the recipe and my review. They are actually quite tasty made my way ;-)

Ingredients

* 14 1/2 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 2 1/2 cups plus extra for rolling
* 1 teaspoon table salt
* 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
* 2/3 cup water, plus additional if needed
* 1 whole egg
* 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided, melted, and cooled slightly

Directions

Place the flour, salt and sugar into a medium bowl and whisk to combine. In a small bowl whisk together the water, egg, and 2 tablespoons of the butter. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until the dough comes together, adding additional water if the dough is dry. Knead the dough in the bowl 5 to 6 times. Turn the dough out onto the counter, divide into thirds, cover with a tea towel and allow to rest for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Lightly butter the back of a half sheet pan using some of the remaining butter. Place the sheet pan, upside down on a surface that will prevent sliding. Working with one ball at a time, place the dough ball onto the back of the sheet pan and roll the dough out to an even 1/8-inch thickness. Gently stretch the edges of the dough so they fall slightly below the edge of the pan and hold the dough in place. Lightly brush the dough with butter, place on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the lavash to a cooling rack. Repeat with the remaining dough, on a cooled pan. Break each sheet into shapes and sizes as desired. Once completely cooled, store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Source: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/lavash-recipe/index.html

My Review:

These sounded so bland plain, so I added some Garlic Garlic from Tastefully simple, which is basically dehydrated garlic, parsley and a few other herbs. I added this to the dry ingredients and continued to follow the recipe.

I think that Pizza or Italian seasoning would be good or any of your favorite herbs..

I sprayed the pan with cooking spray, instead of using butter.

It rolled out easier than I had thought and thought that I should probably prick the dough, but I baked the first pan for almost 15 minutes. Just as I thought, the dough popped up giving it air bubbles in the crackers - not a good thing. The edges got really brown and I took it out because they were about to get burnt. I let the first pan sit and put in the 2nd pan, but I pricked the dough first, because I did not want air bubbles.

Oh and I grinded some fresh cracked pepper on each - yum!

So, the crackers are done, they cooled and I broke them apart. The middle of the one I did not prick was not very crunchy - but ok. They came out really good and made a LOT!

I think these would be good with some kind of dip, if you wanted. Overall - out of a 1-10, I would give them an 7 :)

This recipe is easy to adapt to your liking, so give it a try and let me know how they turn out for you.