Guest Post - Cooking with Libby

I couldn't be more tickled or honored to have Libby from 
Cooking with Libby doing the first guest post ever on my blog!

I have followed her blog for a long time and so enjoy her lovely recipes and ideas.  We really do enjoy the same kinds of practical dishes. Her gorgeous photos always suck me right in!

Because she's a military wife we connected right away. My sweetie is retired after 20 years of military service, and so....we wives gotta stick together!

Libby and I are on a big adventure together as we are 2 of the 5 gals involved in a new blog - Country Cooks Across America - preparing to launch soon.  It's been such a 'blast' to get to know each other a little more personally via many emails, as we make decisions and talk about options in all that is ahead of us.

Please stay tuned for more info about that within the next week!

Take it away Libby!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

(Libby and her sweet daughter)



Hello everyone :) I'm Libby from Cooking With Libby. I want to thank Marsha for this wonderful opportunity to do a guest post on her site today. Marsha and I met through another fellow blogger and I am so happy that we did. These past few months, we have recently started to write each other via e-mail and it's been just a wonderful experience. She is a former Military Wife so we connect on that level. She also enjoys to bake, bake, bake...just like me ;) I love visiting her blog when I get the chance and have fallen in love with all the yummy recipes she has ;) It's such a great honor to be able to do this for her :)

Before I get to the recipe, let me tell y'all a little about me. I'm a Military Wife of 9 years to the most wonderful man on the planet. We are stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base in the northern part of Louisiana. I am also a Stay at Home Mom to two of the most beautiful and crazy children who are under the age of 4. It can be insanely chaotic over here at times, but I love it! Now, onto the recipe..........................

Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings

When I think of home cooking, the first thing that comes to my mind are Chicken and Dumplings. Seriously. You just can't have one without the other. Home Cooking=a good pot of steaming and hot Chicken and Dumplings. What a great dish to make on a cold, wintry day. There is nothing better then coming inside from the cold and enjoying a wonderful bowl of this heavenly goodness. I can't think of anything better.

 This is definitely a recipe for your slow cooker. Season the chicken, mix the liquids, pour everything on top of the chicken, turn the slow cooker on, and let it cook the whole day. That's it. Very easy to make and not time consuming at all. The only things that take a little time are shredding the chicken afterwards and cutting up the dumplings...but that's easy stuff.

 The original recipe didn't have any spices in it...so I took the liberty of adding some myself. Here in this household, we love our dishes to have lots of kick to them. Maybe it's because we live in Louisiana where the food is always kicked up a notch or maybe it's because our taste buds have matured and we want that extra spicy taste when we eat....who knows? All I know is that the combination of spices I used in this recipe really made it pop. If spicy foods aren't your thing, you are more then welcome to adjust the amount to fit your taste buds...or add your own combination of spices...or better yet, just leave 'em out. You can also choose to leave the onions out. We opted to put onions in and they were a bit on the crunchy side. Either way, the end result is really great dish! Ingredients:

4 or 5 Chicken Breasts
2 tbsp. butter, melted
2 cans of condensed Cream of Chicken Soup
1 onion, chopped (optional)
1 can of chicken broth or stock
1 and 1/2 cups of water (or enough to cover the chicken and then some)
1/2 tbsp. of Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning (or Season All if you can't find Tony's)
1/2 tbsp. of Cavender's All Purpose Greek Seasoning
1/4 tsp. of ground pepper
1/4 tsp. of rosemary
Paprika to taste
Half a pack of Mary B's Dumplings or 1 (10 oz.) package of refrigerated biscuit dough (not the flaky kind)
Directions:
1. Combine the seasonings (except the paprika) in a small bowl.

2. Wash chicken and pat dry. Rub both sides of each chicken breast with the seasoning mixture. Place the seasoned breasts in the slow cooker

3. Sprinkle Paprika on the top.

4. Place the onions on the chicken and drizzle the butter on top...or if you don't want the onions, just drizzle the butter on top.

5. Combine the cans of Cream of Chicken Soup, Chicken Stock/Broth, and water in a bowl and stir until well mixed.

6. Pour over the chicken and onions. Stir until well mixed. If you think the chicken needs more liquid to cook in, add a little more water.

7. Cook on high for 6 hours. Afterward, take each breast and shred the chicken.

8. Take the Dumplings and tear each strip into 3 or 4 pieces. If you are using canned biscuits, flatten each biscuit and cut into three strips.

9. Dump the shredded chicken and dumplings/biscuits back in the slow cooker. Cook on high for 1 more hour.

10. Serve on top of rice.Conclusion:


Thank you again Marsha for this wonderful opportunity to guest post on your blog. I hope that some of you will come join me and the family over at :) Cooking with Libby We'd love to have y'all ;)

My Favorite Asparagus Dish

ASPARAGUS AND MORE ASPARAGUS...

It's that time of year for this spring veggie!

My hubby doesn't do a lot in the kitchen, but every year he buys a 5 gallon bucket of fresh picked asparagus from a local farmer, and then helps me put it up in the freezer.

I really appreciate his help too, and would hate to do it all myself.

We began by bending the stalks - they break naturally where the tough part begins - then filled the sink with water and washed them.  Then I sorted them by size - blanched a bunch at a time, plunged them into cold water (I didn't do this last year, and they turned out much softer) then let them cool on a cookie sheet like this.

Depending on the size of the stalk, I blanched them in boiling water from

1-1/2 - 3 minutes.

After they cooled, hubby put them in vaccum pack bags.  He loves doing things like that, and I'm so thankful!  He also loves to carve meat.  He'll bring home a big pork loin, cut it into pieces, and freeze them.

HE'S A KEEPER FOR SURE!! 

(For many reasons far beyond this!)

Then I made one of my favorite vegetable dishes for dinner that night.

A friend made this for me many years ago and it was definitely LOVE AT FIRST BITE!

I could eat a plateful of this for my meal!

This recipe can be found on page 32 in my cookbook. *-*

ASPARAGUS CASSEROLE

1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed

4 Tb. butter or margarine, melted

2 (15 ozs) cans asparagus spears, drained

(or about 2 cups fresh cooked - el dente)

{I always cut the spears into pieces for easier serving}

1 (8 ozs) can sliced water chestnuts, optional

2 - 3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped

(I prefer more)

1/2 c. evaporated (or 2%) milk

1 (10 ozs) can cream of mushroom soup

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 9" square baking dish.  In small bowl, mix cracker crumbs with butter; place half in bottom of dish. Layer asparagus, water chestnuts and chopped eggs on top of crumbs. In small bowl, mix milk and soup; pour over top.  Sprinkle remaining cracker crumbs on top.  Bake 30 minutes or until bubbly.

YUMMY! YUMMY! YUMMY!

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Gooseberry Patch Roundup

Makeover Strawberry Rhubarb Crunch

   

This is another great recipe I just had to have in my cookbook.

Rhubarb and strawberries make the perfect combo of tart and sweet. MMMM!

It's called a 'makeover' because it has been made healthier by using lower-fat/sugar-free products.

We enjoyed much rhubarb when I was a kid.  I sometimes think it's something you have to grow up with to like, because it can be disliked by those who haven't ventured to try it in their childhood.

I keep rhubarb in my freezer during the year so I can make dishes like this anytime.

One of my daughter-in-loves loves to eat it raw, and the more sour it is, the better she likes it.  Hmm....to each his (or her) own, right? 

Do hope you'll try this and enjoy it as much as we do.

'Tis the season....

MAKEOVER STRAWBERRY RHUBARB CRUNCH

1/2 c. sugar

2 Tb. cornstarch

2-1/2 c. sliced fresh strawberries

(I often use frozen since they're going to be cooked anyway)

2 c. diced fresh or frozen rhubarb

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 Tb. sugar free strawberry jello, dry

2/3 c. all purpose flour

1/2 c. quick-cooking oats

1/4 c. brown sugar blend (Splenda)

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 c. cold butter

reduced-fat whipped topping or reduced-fat strawberry  or vanilla ice cream, optional

Preheat oven to 350. Spray an 8" square baking dish with cooking spray. In a large saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch. Stir in strawberries and rhubarb until blended. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1 - 2 minutes or until thickened.  Remove from heat; add vanilla and stir in jello until dissolved.  In small bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar blend and cinnamon; cut in butter until crumbly.  Sprinkle over fruit mixture. Bake 25 - 30 minutes or until filling is bubbly and topping is golden brown. Serve with whipped topping or ice cream if desired.  Yield: 6 servings

One serving without topping = 210 calories, 6 gr. fat (4 saturated), 45 mg sodium, 37 carb, 2 fiber, 2 protein

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Meal Plan Monday

Old-Fashioned Beef Stew from Once-A-Month Cooking

This is an interesting recipe from this terrific book that I won a few months ago at a giveaway at Jane Doiron's....Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms.

This cookbook is authored by Mimi Wilson and Mary Beth Lagerborg.  I'm honored that Mary Beth signed the book for me.

When I spent time at my daughter's a while back, this dish was something I was able to whip up in just a few minutes, to put in her freezer for them to eat later.

It's truly an amazing concept!

Place the ingredients in a ziploc freezer bag, then toss into the freezer until you're ready to thaw, then cook it in a crockpot.

(Deb said they really enjoyed this meal.  She added a little more worchestershire and thickened the gravy.  She also said it was ready after 6 hrs. in the crockpot.)

Here's what you do....

MAKE AHEAD OLD-FASHIONED BEEF STEW

1 lb. beef stew meat

3 cups (24 ozs) V8 juice

1 cup (8 ozs) beef broth

1/2 sliced onion

1 tsp. worchestershire sauce

1/2 tsp. dried marjoram

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1 bay leaf

1 cup (8 ozs) frozen green beans

1 cup (8 ozs) frozen whole kernel corn

1 cup chopped carrots

(To save time and work, we opted to use a bag of frozen stew vegetables instead=)

Pour all the ingredients, with vegetables still frozen, but broken apart as much as possible, into a 10-cup freezer container (gallon ziploc freezer bag works fine).

To serve, thaw.  Pour into a slow cooker.  Cook on low for 6 - 8 hours.

(My thinking is that if you are not using fresh veggies, you may not have to cook it as long)?

SUMMARY OF PROCESSES: Slice 1/2 onion; chop 1 cup carrots

Serves 8

(The authors suggest you always use fresh meat before freezing...refreezing meat that has once been frozen, is not a good idea)

If you want to thicken sauce, mix some cornstarch with water then stir into stew before serving.

Some of the other recipes in this cookbook that sound wonderful...

~Sweet and Sour Chicken

~Apricot-Glazed Pork Roast

~Egg Bake

~Melt-in-Your-Mouth Chicken Pie

~Smothered Burritos

Cherry Chocolate Cake

I saw this picture recently and had to share the grins....

It's so appropriate for today's recipe....*-*

I like this cake...a lot!

It's easy to mix up and the flavor combination is great!

The last time I made it, I crumbled it up and made a trifle - layering instant white chocolate pudding, whipped topping, and cake.  It was fabulous!

(Sorry - I didn't think about taking a picture of that!)

You can sugar it 'down' by using a reduced-sugar cake mix and no-sugar added cherry pie filling.

It's delicious and moist - I hope you'll give it a try!

Just so you are aware, I decreased the frosting ingredients because it made too much for us.

If you want to cut even more sugar, just pour instant chocolate pudding over the top...using less milk than the box calls for.

CHERRY CHOCOLATE CAKE

1 18 ozs. pkg. chocolate cake mix

3 eggs

1 20 - ozs. can cherry pie filling

FROSTING:

1 c. white sugar (I used 3/4 c.)

5 Tb. butter (used 4 Tb.)

1/3 c. milk (used 1/4 c.)

1 c. chocolate chips  (used 3/4 c.)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour 9" X 13" baking dish. In large bowl, combine cake mix, eggs and pie filling.  Mix until well blended and pour into prepared pan.  Bake 30-35 minutes. Frost when cool.

To make frosting: In small saucepan, combine sugar, butter and milk; bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Cool 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips and stir until melted and smooth.  Pour over cake.

​

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