Slow Cooker Enchiladas

2 lb meat

20 or so corn tortillas, quartered (I use a pizza cutter)

1 pkg taco seasoning (1/4 c)

3/4 c water

1 can beans of choice (black, kidney, etc)

1 12oz jar salsa (Herdez, baby!)

1 can cream of whatever soup, reserve 1/2 cup

2 c shredded cheese

Toppings: olives, green onions, cheese, tomatoes, lettuce

Cook meat taco seasoning, water and all but 1/2 cup of soup all day in the crockpot - your basic 6 hours on low. Remove meat mixture to large bowl. Shred meat if necessary - mix together and add beans, salsa and cheese.

In the crock pot (don't bother to rinse it out) place a double layer of tortillas to cover the base. Layer meat mix and tortillas in alternating layers.

On the top layer (meat or tortilla - it doesn't matter what you end with, just use up your ingredients) add rest of soup, green onions, cheese, black olives, whatever you'd like.

Cook on high 2 hours.

Serve over lettuce and tomatoes.

Zucchini Bread

from allrecipes.com

3 c flour

1 t salt

1 t baking soda

3 t cinnamon

dash nutmeg

1/4 t baking powder

3 eggs

2 c white sugar

3 t vanilla extract

1 c vegetable oil

3 c grated zucchini

1 c chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350F. Sift together flour salt soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and baking powder.

Beat eggs in separate bowl. Add sugar, vanilla and oil. Add zucchini. Add dry ingredients and mix. Stir in nuts. Pour into 2 ungreased loaf pans. (Unless you're Shelly and then you sprinkle the pans with sugar).

Bake for 1 hour.

Kaiserschmarren - German Apple Puff Pancake

1/2 c flour

5 T sugar

1/2 t salt

1 c milk

5 eggs - separated

1 cup chopped apples

2 T butter

Powdered sugar to top

Sift together dry ingredients (who are we kidding - mix it up in a bowl!). Add milk gradually (I use dry milk to the dry ingredients and add the appropriate amount of water). Add egg yolks one at a time, beating after each addition. Add fruit to batter. Beat egg whites till stiff then add and fold in 1/2 at a time to batter. Melt butter in a skillet and dump in batter. Cook batter until firm. Flip and cook other side. Tear up into pieces and serve with powdered sugar.

I always double for our family (2 adults, 3ish kids) and cook in our huge electric skillet. Flipping is impossible so I cut the pancake into 6 pieces after I've cooked the first side and flip each section individually.

Yaki Soba

1 package of spaghetti noodles, cooked and drained

1 onion, chopped

1 head of cabbage, chopped

1 pkg bacon, cooked (I also add chicken as a variation)

2 T ginger

soy sauce to taste

1 can mushrooms, drained

Warm through and serve.

Fowl Soup

Cut up carrots, potatoes, celery and chicken/turkey pieces until the ratio looks good to you! Then add liquid - chicken broth and water in equal parts. Bring to low boil and cook till veggies are tender. Add noodles or dumplings.

Dumplings:

1 cube margarine

1 tsp salt

1 c flour

1 c milk

2 eggs

Melt margarine in saucepan. Add salt and flour, blend and add milk. Stir and cook mixture until it forms a ball around spoon and leaves sides of pan clean. Remove from heat. Let cook one minute and add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Drop by teaspoons into FULLY BOILING soup. Cover and cook 20 minutes without removing cover.

Chicken Taco Filling

1 pkg (4T) taco seasoning

1 c chicken broth

1 lb chicken breast

Place all in crock pot and cook on low 6-8 hours. Use two forks and shred.

To freeze, place meat and juice in freezer bag, press out air and seal.

Crockpot Macaroni and Cheese

8 oz macaroni, cooked and drained (2 cups dry)

13 oz can evaporated milk

3 c shredded cheese

1/4 c melted butter

Mix all ingredients together and put in freezer bag. Freeze flat. When time to serve, thaw and put in crock pot 2-4 hours on low.

This is a cinch to double (so you use the whole box of pasta) and have an extra.

Penne with Spinach Sauce

from Leia

1 lb whole wheat penne

3 garlic cloves

2 oz goat cheese (I buy it at Costco and freeze in 2 oz portions)

1 oz reduced-fat cream cheese

3/4 t salt

1/2 t pepper

6 oz spinach leaves (I'm very generous with this)

2 T grated Parmesan

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook till tender but still firm.

Mince garlic in food processor. Add goat cheese, cream cheese, salt and pepper, and 1/2 of spinach. (I usually do ALL the spinach). Blend till creamy. Set aside.

Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup of cooking liquid. Spoon pasta atop spinach in a bowl. Scrape sauce over pasta, toss to coat. Add enough liquid to moisten. Season with salt and pepper and top with Parmesan.

Angel Chicken Pasta

Adapted from allrecipes.com

6 chicken breasts

1/4 c butter

1 packet Italian dressing mix

1/2 c milk

1 10.75oz can of cream of mushroom soup

4 oz cream cheese with chives

1 lb angel hair pasta

Chop up chicken and place in crockpot. Mix up sauce till blended and stir into crock. Cook 2 hours on high and 2 hours on low - longer if using frozen chicken. During last 20 minutes cook and drain pasta. Mix up pasta and sauce and serve.

Classic Mac & Cheese

from America's Test Kitchen

Bread Crumb Topping

6 slices sandwich bread (I use the cheap store bread - .99 or so on sale - that I've frozen and don't bother to thaw)

3 T butter

Pasta and Cheese

1 lb elbow macaroni

1 T salt

5 T butter

6 T flour

1 1/2 t mustard powder

5 c milk

8 oz Jack, shredded (2 c)

8 oz Sharp Cheddar, shredded (2 c)

1 t salt

For crumbs: pulse bread and butter 10-15 1 second pulses in food processor.

Pasta:

Boil 4 qt water, add pasta and 1T salt. Cook till tender (1-2 minutes less than package directions). Drain and set aside.

In pot you used for pasta, heat butter over med-hi heat till foaming. Add flour and mustard whisking well to combine. Continue till fragrant and deepened in color ~1 minute. Whisk in milk; bring to boil; whisk constantly. FULL BOIL. Reduce to medium heat and continue stirring till thick ~5 minutes.

Add pasta and warm through ~6 minutes.

Pour into 9x13 pan, sprinkling crumbs on top. Broil 3-5 minutes on lower middle rack - watch carefully! - until nicely golden.