Creamy Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes

November 20, 2013 by myrecipeconfessions

Creamy Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes is going to change the way you think about mashed potatoes. They are silky smooth and full of flavor. This make ahead recipe is as simple and easy as it gets!

There is just something about a bowl of Creamy Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes. They always warm me up on cold days like today. I love all the memories I have as a child of sitting around the dinner table for Sunday dinner and enjoying a helping of my dad’s fluffy and oh so tasty mashed potatoes.

Mashed Potatoes is one of the most popular side dishes in United States. Really if you think about it, they can be enjoyed by people of all ages. Babies can start eating them around four months. You can eat them even when you are older and no longer have any teeth.

If you want a really creamy and fluffy mashed potato, I would recommend using a potato ricer. After all, if you whip or mix the potatoes too much you can turn them into a gummy mess. If you use a potato ricer, you will have a consistent creamy and smooth mashed potato.

I found a recipe for crock pot mashed potato recipe on Pinterest. It had never crossed my mind to cook the potatoes in the crock pot. I knew I had to try them to see if it would really work. After some tweaking, I have to say that I am in love! This recipe would be great for Thanksgiving dinner if you have a lot of things that you will need to be cooking on your stove top. I loved how flavorful the chicken broth made the potatoes. I felt that they really didn’t need a whole lot of spices added because they were so flavorful from the broth alone.

Once the potatoes were fully cooked, I put them through the ricer one large full ladle at a time. I didn’t bother straining the extra liquid. This way, I was able to keep the flavor from the liquid in the mashed potatoes and I didn’t have to use as much milk or sour cream.

If you don’t have the time to cook them in the crock pot, you can use this same recipe and cook them on the stove top. These potatoes are just as good the next day for leftovers. Go ahead, give it a try. I dare you to!

Until next time,

Happy Eating!

Carrie

Creamy Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes

5 lbs. Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 tsp. garlic, minced

3 c. chicken broth

½ c. sour cream

½ c. milk, warmed

1 tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

2 oz. light cream cheese

¼ c. butter

Instructions:

Place the potatoes, chicken broth, butter, and garlic in the crock pot and set it on high. Cook in the crock pot for 4 ½ hours.
With a large ladle, ladle the potatoes and the juice into the potato ricer until it is ¾ full. Over a large bowl, press the potatoes through the potato ricer. Continue this process with the rest of the potatoes.
Add the milk, sour cream, cream cheese, salt and pepper to the potatoes and gently stir until all of the creams are evenly distributed throughout the potatoes. Serve immediately.

Here are a few other recipes you should try.

Classic Stuffing

Grilled Maple Carrot Kabobs

Autumn Havest Salad with Pumpkin with Creamy Pumpkin Dressing

Apple Craisin Pecan Stuffing

November 18, 2013 by myrecipeconfessions

Stuffing is one of my favorite Thanksgiving side dishes. I guess technically it would be called dressing since I do not stuff it in the turkey. I have heard many conflicting things about putting the stuffing in the turkey while it cooks. So I just don’t do it. I don’t want to risk making everybody sick.

I must confess that I have made the box stuffing many times because when ever I made stuffing from scratch, it was either too dry or too soggy. It always had a good flavor but the texture was off. I knew there had to be some secret to keeping it moist but not soggy.

I recently came across an article on Foodnetwork.com that broke down the steps of making stuffing. It had instructions on how to make the classic stuffing and then they listed different variations. The thing I found most interesting was the fact that they added eggs to the stuffing and baked it for about an hour. I had never tried having eggs in it before so I decided to give it a shot. I followed the basic instructions, but like always, I decided to add a few new twists to the recipe and I could not be more thrilled with the out come. I found that adding the egg and then baking it really helped give the stuffing more stability. I also decided to use French bread because it is more hardy than your average sandwich bread. I bought two French bread loaves and cut them up into 1 to 2 inch cubes. Then I spread the bread cubes on a baking sheet and let them dry for one full day. You need to make sure that the bread is evenly spread out so it will dry evenly. I used gala apples, but really you could use any apple that bakes well. I do not recommend using red delicious apples because they tend to get mushy when they are cooked.

This stuffing was even good the next day. I was surprised at how well it held up over night in the fridge. It was so good, I even ate some of it while it was cold when I was warming the rest up and it even tasted great when it was cold.

Come on my friends, give this recipe a try and you will understand what I am talking about when I say this is my new go to stuffing recipe!

Until next time,

Happy Eating!

Carrie

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French Silk Pie

November 15, 2013 by myrecipeconfessions

This is the kind of pie that you can use as leverage to get things done around the house. The other day when I made this, my kids were all standing around drooling and waiting for the moment that they could devour their slice. They whined when I told them that they were going to have to wait till after dinner to eat it. It ended up working out great for me because during dinner I only had to tell them once that if they didn’t finish their food they wouldn’t get any pie. I have even considered making it every day just so I can get them to cooperate a little bit better when it comes time for homework, cleaning their room, and getting along with one another.

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How To Make Perfect Flaky Pie Crust

November 13, 2013 by myrecipeconfessions

I have been experimenting for years with different pie crust recipes. It feels like I have tried every technique and tip out there. Pie crust can be very intimidating. If you understand the reason behind the techniques, it is easier to play around with it. There are two keys things that you need to know when you are making pie. Without doing these two things you, will not be able to have a flaky pie crust.

1. Your fat (butter, shortening, lard) needs to be cold. The reasoning behind this is that when you place your pie in the oven. Once the fat starts to melt, it will cause steam that will form little pockets. When it cools, the little pockets are what makes the flaky texture.

2. You do not want to over mix the dough for two reasons. First, the more you work the dough, the more you will develop the gluten and then the fat will start to melt and your dough will be tough. Remember, you want to be able to see the fat marbling in your crust. If you can see it, that means you will have a flaky crust. If you over mix it until the butter is no longer visible your dough will be tough.

That being said, there are two types of pie dough; mealy and flaky. Mealy dough is not as flaky and is used wherever soggy crust is a problem. It is sturdier and is able to resist sogginess better than a flaky dough.

Flaky crust is best for the top crust of a pie or prebaked crusts that will be filled with a cooled filling just before it is served.

When preparing a flaky crust, the fat is idealy the size of a pea. When preparing a mealy crust, you want the mixture to resemble a course cornmeal. Because the fat pockets will be smaller, the crust will not be as flaky.

As I was experimenting with pie recipes, I found that when I used all butter in the recipe the flavor was very rich and overpowered the rest of the pie. When I used all shortening, the pie crust was lacking in flavor and was more crumbly then flaky. Once I tried the combination of both, I was overjoyed with the results. The subtle flavor of the crust compliments the pie filling without being too over powering. It is flaky, but not too dry. The egg helps make the dough more pliable and helps bind it together. The vinegar helps tenderize the crust. Don’t worry, you can’t taste the vinegar in the final product. You can make the crust a few days ahead of time and freeze it until you are ready to use it. Just follow steps one through four and then place the dough in a large ziplock freezer bag and freeze it. When you are ready to use it, pull the frozen crust out of the freezer and bake as directed.Tthere is no need to thaw it out. The crust can be left in the freezer for up to two months.

Now that you are ready to make your Perfect Flaky Pie Crust, remember to KEEP IT COLD! I can’t stress that enough. When you are rolling it out, if it starts to stick, put it back in the fridge to chill. This might seem like a lot of work, but trust me it is so worth it in the end! You can do this. Just turn on some good music and go to work.

[Read more…]

Santa Fe Chicken Salad

November 11, 2013 by myrecipeconfessions

I am exhausted! Today has been a crazy day. When I have days like this, I like to make the Santa Fe Chicken salad for dinner. It is a meal that doesn’t take a lot of time to prepare, but it is filling and everybody eats it. I also like it because you don’t feel super weighted down after eating it. For the chicken, I just follow the cooking instructions on the back of the bag. When the chicken is done, I cut it up into strips and toss the strips in barbeque sauce. You can use your favorite barbeque sauce, my favorite barbeque sauce happens to be Sweet Baby Rays. It is amazing! For the dressing, just use your favorite prepared ranch dressing and mix in 1 Tbsp. of taco seasoning into the ranch. The taco seasoning gives it a nice little kick. The recipe calls for tortilla strips, but I usually just crush up some tortilla chips and call it good. I always serve this salad buffet style. This way, my family can make their own salad the way they want it and the lettuce doesn’t wilt. With this salad for dinner, you can have your family fed and everything cleaned up in no time. Then you can sit back and enjoy the rest of night!

Until next time,

Happy Eating!

Carrie

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What I love Wednesday

November 6, 2013 by myrecipeconfessions

I love my French rolling pin. For a long time I used the traditional rolling pin then one day my life was forever changed once I was introduced to the French rolling pin. I feel like I have a lot more control with the shape of the dough when I use the French rolling pin. They are generally less expensive because it is all one piece. Another bonus is that it’s easier to clean since it is just one piece. I prefer the rolling pin that is tapered at each end but you can also purchase them without a tapered end.

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Chili

November 5, 2013 by myrecipeconfessions

Who doesn’t love chili this time of year, especially with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of shredded cheese? This chili recipe is a great fix it and forget it crock pot meal. This recipe has a little prep work in the beginning but once you get everything in the crock pot, you can leave it alone and let the crock pot do its thing. The recipe calls for dry beans. A crock pot is a great way to cook dry beans. My friend Kirsten is the one who told me about this method a few years ago. I have been cooking my beans this way ever since. The chili is so much more flavorful when the beans are made from scratch and you have a lot more control over what goes into your dish. My family won’t eat the chili (or anything for that matter) if it is too spicy, so my recipe is for a mild Chili. If you like yours with a little more kick, feel free to replace the green chilies with jalapenos. I like to add turkey bacon along with ground beef. I use turkey bacon because you get the smoky flavor of the bacon without all the grease. I also feel like it holds up better after being cooked in the crock pot all day. This recipe makes quite a bit of chili so you can cut the recipe in half, but the beans will have more flavor if you cook four cups of beans versus just two cups. This is a great recipe for large crowds or to freeze in freezer bags to eat later. Serve the Chili with sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese.

Until next time,

Happy Eating!

Carrie

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Creamy Lemon dip

October 31, 2013 by myrecipeconfessions

I always try to have some kind of fruit and vegetables for dinner on Halloween. Tonight, I will be making this dip. My kids will eat more apples if they have this dip. My hope is that they will fill up on dinner and then will be too full to eat tons of candy while they are trick or treating. Of course I know that is not what is really going to happen. But hey, a girl can dream right?

You can serve this dip with apples or any fruit for that matter. Graham crackers are very good with this dip as well. This dip would also make a great side to any meal or as a appetizer for a party. The sky is the limit! Any way you choose to eat it, I hope you enjoy it!

Until next time,

Happy Eating!

Carrie

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What I love Wednesday

October 30, 2013 by myrecipeconfessions

It is time again for me to share with all of you something that I simply cannot live without. I love Fruit Fresh! You might have seen it before in the canning section or maybe in the produce section of your local grocery store. This little gem is a must have if you like fresh fruit and hate how after a few minutes the beautiful fruit turns to a yucky shade of brown. I use this product all of the time when I send sliced apples with my kids in their school lunch.

All you have to do is sprinkle some of this magical powder on any fresh fruit. I usually put my fruit in a bowl first, then sprinkle the Fruit Fresh over the fruit. I then lightly toss the fruit to make sure that it gets coated well. I let it sit for a minute so that the powder has a chance to dissolve all the way. Then eat and enjoy! It has a slight lemon flavor to it, but if anything, this just enhances the flavor of the fruit. Remember to store any unused fruit in the fridge. It will stay fresh and flavorful for a few days.

Until next time,

Happy Eating!

Carrie

And the winner is….

October 28, 2013 by myrecipeconfessions

Today is the big day for the Cupcake Chic giveaway. Thank you to all who participated. If you didn’t win this time, don’t worry, I have a lot more giveaways in store for you.