Easy Slow Cookier Lil' Smokies

Summertime, summertime, sum-sum-summertime!  All the summer things happening!  Outdoor concerts, BBQ's, gatherings, swimming, and the list goes on.  I momentarily thought I was 10 again and ALMOST hit up a slip and slide.  One of my childhood favorite activities.  We didn't have the money to buy the REAL deal, but we had even better....  Let me set the scene.  My dad would buy a roll of plastic at the local lumberyard each fall to cover the very OLD windows on our 7-bedroom house with an amazing 6 ft. clawfoot bathtub, a kitchen for 12 that was about 6X7 and the best wrap around porch this side of the Mississippi!  He would take what was left, and sometimes add more, and lay it out in our long backyard.  He would run the sprinkler, the kind that fans out, and we would slip, and slide half a city block I swear.  We had the MEGA TONKA version of the Slip N' Slide, and it was awesome!  We always found ways to have fun.  We swam from sunup until sundown, had to be home when the streetlights went off and our bikes in the yard.  Those were the good old days, weren't they?  Neighbors on a walk, stopping by for iced tea on the porch, poured straight out of a Tupperware pitcher, you know the ones. God has certainly blessed me in my life, so I shall be grateful for NOW as well.  

Anyway, this morning as I am typing this up, it will be over 100 today and what better time to get some good use out of that slow cooker it took me years to make friends with?!  Perfect to cook things low and slow, AND to avoid heating up the house with the oven on, right?  This recipe is so easy and probably 98% of you know it, make it, or have at least eaten it once.  But you know what?  There are very beginner or kid home chefs out there (and other countries) who might need something easy to start with or even someone who has perhaps forgotten how good these are!  I have a little mid-size slow cooker because I am not about to dirty my regular size one for such a small amount of food.  I mean big batch, sure, this size no way!

Here we go, Lil' smokies, every football party across America serves them!  WITH a toothpick! THREE ingredients!

• 1 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce (I only like Cookies which is probably, maybe a Nebraska thing only)
• 1 cup grape jelly
• 2-14oz pkgs Lil' Smokies of your choice

I like to mix the sauce separate.  Put the little smokies in your slow cooker (or simmer for an hour on low in a regular pot or in the oven at 300).  Mix up your jelly and BBQ sauce well and pour it over the top.  Mix to combine or let it slowly warm and drip down after heating and don't stir at all!  After 1 hour in the slow cooker, stir well.  Let go another hour or 2 before serving.  Make sure to put out toothpicks next to the paper plates for serving!

NOTE: I don't like my Lil' Smokies to saucy, but feel free to add more jelly and BBQ sauce to yours!  They WILL give off some juice of their own so if it feels like not enough sauce, it is!

Pecan Pie Muffins

Hello my friends!  So good to have you back again!  Everyone in the US getting ready for Thanksgiving celebrations?  Do you do the cooking or just the eating?!

I decided to share some recipes for the holidays this year that are from my mom.  Not recipes my mom made or had made, just recipes she has sent to me over the years from newspapers!  I am going to share the things that have been shared with me.  For Thanksgiving I am going to share some unconventional twists on Thanksgiving foods or dinner options!  

This recipe is perfect for Thanksgiving breakfast, brunch, the day after, etc.  They have the chewy pecan pie top of a perfectly soft muffin! Make these in foil liners if you can.  I think it will work fantastic and the recipe actually calls for that, but who reads ALL the directions?  If you use foil liners, peel them off and heat up for a few seconds, and oh my gosh!  This recipe clearly has been around the block by the looks of it but let me get to the most important part...the BAKING!

You will need:

1 cup chopped pecans (I bought halves and cut the up so I could put a half on top as decoration)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 large eggs
1/2 cup butter melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 
In a bowl mix together pecans, brown sugar and flour.   Whisk eggs until foamy and combine with melted butter.  Add to dry mixture and mix until combined.  Line muffin pan with foil liners and fill each about 2/3 full.  (I got 10 out of mine and WILL be doubling it next time)  If you choose, add a pecan half on top!  Bake for 20-25 minutes until the tops are just beyond golden brown, kind of that pecan pie top color!

Enjoy warm, maybe with a little butter?!?  Some coffee?!?  

Happy Thanksgiving friends!

Slow Cooker Bread Pudding

Hey guys!

I feels like fall today!  I HAD to get this recipe up for you all, because well, as I mentioned, it FEELS like fall!

It is comfort food night at our house tonight.  Spaghetti and meatballs, (I made over 100 so I could freeze some), bread pudding and Eagles football!  E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES!

This recipe is made for my small slow cooker, but can easily put into your regular size, just watch the cooking time, I don't think it will take near as long!

This is supper easy, and my traditional bread pudding recipe is here.  This is perfect for someone who wants to "set it and forget it" so to speak.  My prized bread pudding is easy but this is even easier and I know how attached some of you are to your slow cooker!~  #slowcookerlife

VIDEO HERE:

Here is what you will need:
6 cups cubed bread (use old hamburger, hot dog buns, stale bread, it is a perfect use up)
1 1/2 cups ilk
2 eggs
2 T melted butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon

Spray your slow cooker with cooking spray or butter it well.  Add in bread.  In a large bowl combine the rest of the ingredients.  Pour it over the bread, and push the bread down to make the bread is all soaked!

Set it on HIGH for 3 hours!  My husband loves it with some heavy cream or half and half poured over the top!  How do you like it?!

ENJOY!

Buttery Parmesan Potatoes

We meet again!  Finally, right?

You guys, I missed my website birthday!  WHAAT?  She turned 8 years old on August 20th!  Oh the vision I started out with has changed so much!  Those first ideas were laughable, my former 2 to 3 new recipes a week is now an unthinkable goal for me and I love it all.  All the dreams, all the changes, all of the everything.  Most I love all of you who have followed me, endured my losses, shared in my successes, and remained supportive friends through it all.  May God bless you abundantly, and forever, hold you in the palm of his hand. 

I have been missing my mom... what is new right?  Not in a bad way anymore though.  More happy missing.  Makes total sense right?  Anyway, she always boiled potatoes.  I am fairly sure we always had boiled potatoes, or she would mash them.  My dad was the fried potato master but I think my mom was the boiled potato lady.  I am not sure I remember ever eating a baked potato at home as a kid.  I do remember she would make me green beans daily just about.  (insert spoiled rotten brat grin)  I still love green beans like a fool to this day.  Anyway, these potatoes are just how she used to make them, minus all the good stuff.  Sorry ma, I mean, we both know seasonings and flavor weren't always your forte.  I appreciate every morsel you ever fed me.  Except show leather roast beast....EVERY. STINKIN. SUNDAY.

Let's do this!  If you are a visual kinda human, I have a video below you can watch!

1-2 lbs of potatoes (I used 1.5 lbs of a tricolor baby potato, feel free to use regular russets that you have cubed)
1T salt for water to cook potatoes in
6 T butter
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
Salt
Pepper
1 tsp Parsley
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

In a pot big enough to hold your potatoes, add in water and 1 T salt.  Bring to a boil, add in rinsed potatoes and boil until the can easy get a fork to slide into the potato.  I used baby potatoes and it took about 20 minutes, yours may take less or more depending on size, so just keep checking.

When they are fork tender, drain and add right back to the hot pot so the rest of the water will evaporate.  Add in 2 T of butter and toss the potatoes.  Let them sit for a few minutes and begin to get a little color on them.  You will stir and almost "fry" them slightly.  That boiled buttery potato with a wee bit of surprise crust is amazing!  Do this until potatoes are just the way you want them.  You can let them go much longer to be full on fried on the outside.  Sprinkle in Italian seasoning, parsley, salt and pepper to taste and that glorious cheese!  Toss for a few seconds and immediately remove from heat.  This will go perfectly alongside steak, or anything else you choose.  I served mine with thick cut chops that were as good and tender and flavorful as you can imagine!

  Thank you for stopping by, I appreciate your friendship and support!  Make sure if you aren't "following" my website you do so on the right hand column!  Also check out the video above and subscribe to my YouTube channel for more videos!