Comfort Food Revisted

Meatloaf and scalloped potatoes are one of those meals from my childhood. Still good, just reworked.

Calories-196kcal Carbs-25g Fat-2g Protein-19g Sodium-210mg Sugar-7g

Now it's Turkey Meatloaf and Scalloped Zucchini & Potatoes. I could have peeled the zucchini which would have made it look more like the traditional scalloped potatoes, but why waste the zucchini peel? I don't really have a meatloaf recipe but I did measure my ingredients to be able to get a nutrition count. Pretty much the standard list; ground turkey, onion, bell pepper, celery leaves, whole wheat bread crumbs, low sodium ketchup, mustard, low sodium Worcestershire sauce, Mrs Dash original, Sriracha Cha, flax (instead of egg), and no salt added diced tomato (canned). I cooked it in the crock pot lined with parchment paper. An hour before it was to be served I brushed the top with ketchup mixed with Worcestershire sauce. When it was time to serve it I picked it up out of the pot with the edges of the parchment paper and set it on the cutting board. The turkey meat was lean and there was very little moisture in the bottom of the pot. I need to experiment a little more with seasoning to give it more flavor, but it was good. 

What a Crock! Taco Salad & Soup

Cooking for two can sometimes be challenging. Most recipes are usually 4 servings. Leftovers can be a problem and eating it ALL is certainly a problem. That is why lately my favorite appliance has been my 1.5 qt. crockpot. (All pictures are from the web, I didn't think about blogging this till after the fact.)

Its only real setback is that it only has two settings, on and off. It's not what I would call a slow cooker because it does bring the food to a boil. I bought it years ago for little smokies in BBQ sauce and only recently have been using it for regular cooking. I thought I'd share the easy two meals I made the other day.

Easy Crockpot Chicken Fajitas

Ingredients

• 1 lb of Chicken Breasts
• 3 Peppers (Green, Red & Yellow), sliced
• 1 Onion, sliced
• 1 Package of Taco Seasoning
• Flour or corn tortillas
• Toppings - sour cream, cheese, guacamole, etc.

Instructions

1. Slice peppers and onions then place them on the bottom of the crock pot
2. Put Chicken on top of peppers and onions
3. Sprinkle taco seasoning on the top
4. Cook on low for 6-8 hrs (or high for 3-4)
5. Shred everything up and mix together
6. Serve with tortillas and all the toppings - sour cream, guacamole, cheese, lettuce, etc.

http://eatathomecooks.com/easy-crockpot-chicken-fajitas/

That is the actual recipe^^^ that I more or less followed. I cut up onion and bell pepper to layer the bottom of the pot and placed three small chicken breasts (frozen) on top. I have a bottle of taco seasoning...

...that I sprinkled freely over the chicken. Put the lid on, turned it on and let it cook for 4 hours. Instead of making fajitas though, we had fajita salads. They're like taco salads except with chicken fajita meat and vegetables.

I added black beans but not corn or avocado. I think I like the salad better than a wrap. One of the granddaughters was here and she didn't care for the onions or bell pepper which left me with quite a bit of taco flavored broth, bell pepper and onion. Back to the web to search for a recipe for Chicken Taco Soup. I scoured through all the recipes for common ingredients and find I only need to add the half cans of diced tomato and black beans that I already had opened for the salad, then a can of whole kernel corn and a can of kidney beans. This made for a full pot. Later I added a little more taco seasoning and taco sauce.

Quick to prepare and easy to make. Full of flavor, I really like it. The only picture that I did take was of the nearly empty pot.

These two dishes will absolutely get repeat performances. Let me know if you give them a try and what you think.

Cheesy Broccoli and Cauliflower Soup

Here's the ingredients for the cheesy broccoli and cauliflower soup. Remember the canned cheddar cheese and leftover gravy I froze. This is one way I use them.

Two cheese cubes and one gravy.

Dash of preferred seasonings to taste and a spoon of chicken soup base or bouillon.

Sliced and diced carrots and onions.

Chopped cauliflower

Chopped broccoli, add water about half full, cover and let cook.

So Delicious!