Chicken Gnocchi Soup (Crock-Pot)

Ingredients:

1-2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup half and half
4 cups of water, (more to cover if needed)
8 oz fresh baby spinach
1/2 lb baby carrots, sliced into small rounds
2 stalks of celery
1/2 medium onion
1 TBS garlic
3-4 TBS chicken base (bouillon)
**gnocchi, from the deli or pasta section at the local store**
salt & pepper to taste

-Combine all the ingredients, except the gnocchi and cook on low, 6-8 hours.
-During the last hour - add the gnocchi.
-Stir occasionally.

Copper Pennies

Monday morning means it's time for a Recipe Hop with Dishing It Up...this week we are posting Thanksgiving Dinner Side Dishes.

This recipe is particularly near and dear to my heart, as it was one of my mother's favorite recipes. My mom was a magnificent cook and holidays were her time to shine. I hope you enjoy this dish as much as we do!!

Ingredients:

2 lbs frozen sliced carrots, thawed
1 can tomato soup
1 onion, sliced thin
1 green pepper, sliced into strips
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup vinegar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp salt
1/2 pepper
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

-Combine all ingredients
-Refrigerate overnight
-Stir occasionally

Taco Pizza

Ingredients:

1 refrigerated pizza dough roll
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1/2 cup prepared salsa
1-1 1/2 lb. ground beef, browned & drained
3 TBS taco seasoning
8 oz shredded taco blend cheese
2 roma tomatoes, sliced
2 green tomatoes, chopped
**sliced black olives, as desired**
**sour cream, as desired**
**lettuce shreds, as desired**
**taco seasoning to sprinkle on top - just before baking...a little goes a long way!**

- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F
- Spread dough on to prepared baking pan, allow to rest while other ingredients are prepared
- Brown ground beef, drain and add 3 TBS taco seasoning and 1/8 cup of water to combine well
- Allow meat and seasoning to simmer briefly before removing from heat
- Cover pizza dough with tomato sauce and add salsa
- Cover sauce/salsa mix with seasoned ground beef
- Spread shredded cheese evenly over meat
- Top with sliced tomatoes, black olives, and green olives
- Sprinkle taco seasoning lightly over pizza before putting it into preheated oven
- Bake at 425 degrees F for 20-25 minutes

Serve with additional salsa, sour cream, and shredded lettuce. Another great add-on would be guacamole or diced avocado.

Enjoy!!

Greek Chicken Pitas (Crock Pot)

**into crock**

1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken tenders
1 medium onion sliced
1 TBS minced garlic
1 tsp lemon-pepper
1/2 tsp italian seasoning
1/4 tsp allspice

Cook on low 4-6 hours, stir occasionally. Meat should shred easily when fully cooked.




**dressing**

1/2 cup plain yogurt (greek)
1/2 cup sour cream
1 small cucumber, peeled and diced
1 tsp minced garlic
salt & pepper to taste



**toppings**

shredded lettuce
sliced tomatoes
feta cheese
black olives

Serve in split pit bread halves, lightly warmed.

Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls = Full Tummies

37 degrees when we got up this morning, so I made some coffee and turned on the oven...what else could I do??

Craving Chocolate

My husband refers to salad as rabbit food. Not me, I think salads and vegetables and green stuff are absolutely heavenly.

I will always endeavor to get more salads into our diet. It's just good health!



However...

Even I have moments of weakness when I just need some chocolate.

Preferably with sprinkles. Yes, the sprinkles are in my opinion perhaps the most important part.

While the following cupcakes are NOT chocolate...the icing is...and it was good!

Really, really good!



In efforts to step out of the chocolate spotlight I have been looking at some recipes for pumpkin treats that incorporate chocolate. Anybody want to join me?

Beef Lo-Mein

Ingredients:

3 packages ramen noodles
1 1/2 lbs. stew beef
1 medium onion, chopped in large pieces
2 celery stalks
1 1/2 cups baby carrots cut in quarters
1 chow mein mix/marinade packet
2 Tbs. oil (to cook meat & veggies)
2 Tbs. soy sauce (for marinade)
2 tsp sugar (for marinade)
3/4 cup water (for marinade)

*4-5 cups water for ramen noodles*

- prepare ramen noodles as directed, using 1 seasoning packet to season the stew beef
- brown stew beef in oil in skillet with 1 packet of seasoning from ramen noodles
combine ingredients for marinade and set aside until meat and veggies are fully cooked
- add chopped veggies to meat and cook until tender crisp
- add marinade to meat/veggie mix, turn off heat and stir often
- when noodles are fully cooked, drain excess liquid
- serve meat & veggies over cooked ramen noodles