Clam Chowder

I know what you're thinking.. how can clam chowder be healthy? This is obviously not as creamy and thick as your typical 1 cup serving at the restaurant with 1200 calories, but this hits the spot on a cold ugly day and doesn't make you feel like a heffer. I slow cooked this for about 16 hours in the crockpot. Yes extreme I know but sooo worth it.

This makes a ton.

2 tbsp dried thyme
1 Bay leaf
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper
2 Cups clam juice (from canned clams)
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup cream cheese
1/2 flour
1tbsp olive oil(any oil)
1 carton chicken stock

2 cups chopped celery
1 chopped onion
2 cups chopped carrots
2 cloves crushed garlic
2  cubed potatoes (I didn't do this bc I hate potatoes in my soup, not sure why I just do)
30 ounces canned chopped clams


I cooked this on the low setting in the slow cooker for about 5 hours, then turned it down to warm for the remainder. I noticed the chowder when from a bright white to an eggshell by the morning and that is when the soup tasted redic. (in a good way)

First  chop up all  your veggies and dump them in a mixing bowl. Add the crushed garlic to the same bowl.

Take out your cream cheese and either leave it out to soften or melt in the microwave for a few seconds. I did the microwave method because I have no patience.  Add about 1tbsp of oil to this and really mix it up.

 Add this to your crock pot with the clam juice, whisk it.  Turn the crock pot on low at this point. Continue to whisk it and don't be worried if it looks a little clumpy the slow cooker will work its 16 hour magic and fix it. Add in the clams.

Add in chicken stock and veggies and mix it all up. Add in cayenne pepper, thyme, bay leaf and Worcestershire. Pretty much all the ingredients should be in the crock pot except the milk and flour.  I filled it up about 4/5 of the way  with chicken stock I didn't measure. Then mix everything up again and cook on low for about 4-5 hours. (you would add in your cubed potatoes at this point)

After the soup has been cooking awhile, veggies have soften etc..Mix your milk and flour in a seperate bowl. Make sure to mix this well, no clumps. Turn the slow cooker to the lowest setting, for me its WARM. Slowly whisk in this milk/flour mixture. This thickens the soup a bit. Stir and place the lid back on top. Cook for another 10 hours or so.

Keep in mind my cook times are extreme, you could easily do this in a pot on the stove top and just monitor it closely.  Or crank up the slowcooker but again you'll have to watch it more closely.

I am not a huge thick soup kind of person, but in the case that you are and want a more authentic Clam chowder texture...remove about 3 cups of the soup and put in the  blender or food processor till pureed and add back into the crockpot. If you are using a blender only fill up the blender about halfway and keep the little cap off the top if blending when still warm. When you add this back into the crock pot it makes the soup thicker and gives that fake creamy allure so many people love.

Wake up to your house smelling fabulous and lunch and dinner made for the day or week!  Serve with Cornbread Croutons!

Enchilada Soup!

So recently my Sundays have turned into Mexican crockpot Sundays...  This was a soup I threw together last minute before I played my FIRST 9 holes of golf ever. Alex is a great teacher and being the natural that I am, I got a PAR.

This was my victory meal later that night. literally took 13 minutes to prepare. Bring it Rachel Ray 30 min meals.

What I used (look no spices!!)

3 stalks of celery
1 zucchini
1 onion
1 green pepper
3 precooked chicken sausages
1 can black beans
1 can garbanzo beans
1 24 oz can enchilada sauce
2 cups chicken stock

This recipe basically has two steps. Chop it all up. And dump it all in.

I diced my celery (not pictured), zucchini and chicken sausage. 

Before (sort of, I got antsy and started chopping)

About 25 seconds later...

I also chopped up the onions this small. Different sized veggies gave the soup some depth. For me it was mainly a vegetable soup and for Alex it was a chicken sausage/veggie enchilada soup.

Dump all of the ingredients, including your beans (strain out the can goop first) into the slow cooker.Add more broth/water as needed I cooked  it on low for about 8 hours.. 

.

This soup was really good, it was a bit spicy  (I think I got a hot version of enchilada sauce) so we added a little cheese to make it more mild. I served it was some homemade tortilla chips as well..

mmmm. VICTORY!!!

                                       

Mexican Lasagna (Crockpot, duh)

I guess Sunday turned into Mexican Sunday. Oh well :)

1 Box Whole Wheat Lasagna

Greek Yogurt+Spices

2 tbsp Chili Powder
1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 tbsp Cumin
1 tsp Onion Salt
1 tsp Oregano
2 cloves crushed Garlic
3 cups nonfat Greek Yogurt
1/2 cups shredded cheese
24 oz Red Salsa
2 cans black beans
1 cup Salsa verde (the green salsa)
Juice from 1/2 lime
1 large onion
2 Green Peppers

So I know the ingredient list looks overwhelming but its really not. If you don't have all the spices on hand and don't feel like dealing with it, just go ahead and buy one f those taco seasoning packets and you are good to go.

Mix the greek yogurt and the spices in a mixing bowl. Then add in the shredded cheese and the Red Salsa. This should be pretty watery from the Salsa but that's what you want. Taste this mixture and make sure its spicy enough or mild enough to your liking.

In a separate bowl mix the black beans, the Salsa verde and the juice from the lime. I think I ended up using the entire lime bc I like the tang. Set aside.

Chop up your onions and green peppers. You're now ready to assemble


Use your empty Salsa Jar, Fill it with water and sort of mix it around to get all the remains from the salsa, and put a little of this on the bottom of the crock pot, about 1/4 cup. Then begin the assembling.

Break the noodles to fit into the crock pot. This won't be perfect but it doesn't matter. Then layer some yogurt mixture, then some chopped onion/green pepper, black bean mixture, a little more yogurt then noodle.

Repeat. For the top layer, I did noodle, some chopped onion/pepper and the yogurt sauce.

Cook on low for 4 hours. The great thing about this meal is there is 0 meat. I waited for Alex to be about half-way through to tell him, his response: " what... there's no meat?"Basically all the veggies and the beans make it so hearty no one has any idea whats going on. You could also layer in some Spanish rice if you wanted but I like the beans and veggies.