Super Easy Slow-Cooker Beef and Mushrooms

I love for my kids to be involved in things.  It's good for them to learn new things, make friends, and have fun while doing it.  However, sometimes their schedules can be more than a little difficult to work around.  I know everyone is busy and I am only preaching to the choir but some days I could SERIOUSLY use a couple more hours.  My girls have dance class from 4:30-5:30 on Tuesdays and my son has Cub Scouts from 4:15-5:15 on Thursdays so it's kind of difficult to have time to prepare dinner on those days.  So unless I want to feed my family PB&J all the time (hey, don't get me wrong, an occasional peanut butter sandwich for dinner is perfectly fine) I just throw some food in the crock pot.  Then dinner is magically done when we get home and I don't have to slave over a hot stove after battling kids to get them everywhere they need to go.  This is one of those easy crock-pot recipes for those days when you don't have time to make dinner.

Super Easy Slow-Cooker Beef and Mushrooms

Ingredients:

1 pound lean beef stew meat
1 can low-fat cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup water
1 packet dry onion soup mix
8 oz. fresh sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup sour cream (optional)

Directions:

Toss the meat in the bottom of your slow cooker.  Sprinkle the onion soup mix over the meat.  Toss in the mushrooms next.  Combine the canned soup and water and pour that over the top.  Cook on low for 7-8 hours.  If you want it a little creamier, stir in 1/2 cup of sour cream just before serving.  Serve over rice or noodles.

Cinnamon Roll Cookies

Can't decide whether to make cinnamon rolls or cookies?  Try these cinnamon roll cookies!  They are simple and very tasty.  You can frost them with cream cheese icing or drizzle them with a powdered sugar glaze or have them plain.   I left these plain so you can see the cinnamon swirls.

Cinnamon Roll Cookies:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening (butter flavored works well)
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

FILLING:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the 1 teaspoon cinnamon, flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.  
2. In a separate bowl, cream together the butter, shortening, and sugars until smooth. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.  Add the flour mixture and mix well.  Cover and refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour so it is easier to handle.
3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and lightly spray your cookie sheets with cooking spray.  
4. For the filling, mix the brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon in a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave for 30 seconds and stir.  Microwave an additional 30 seconds or until butter is melted.  Mix well. 
5. Break the dough into 2 halves.  On a lightly floured surface, roll out each half of the dough to a 12x6 inch rectangle. Spread 1/2 of the cinnamon mixture over each rectangle. Roll each one lengthwise into a log. Cut into 1 inch segments.  Place on cookie sheets cut side down.
6. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until just starting to turn golden brown around the edges. Flip cookie sheet over onto a tray to remove cookies while they are still very hot.  If desired, frost them when cooled.

Onion Potato Chicken Casserole

Here is a quick and easy casserole to throw together this time of year.  A nice way to feed those extra holiday house guests!

Onion Potato Chicken Casserole

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 medium potatoes, sliced into 1/8 inch slices (and peeled if you want)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 can French's fried onions


Directions:

Layer the potato slices in a 9x13 inch dish.  Drizzle with butter.  Mix soup, sour cream, broth and cheese and spread over potatoes.  Place chicken breasts on top, spacing them evenly across the dish.  Salt and pepper as desired.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Sprinkle French's fried onions over the top of the casserole and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Sweet Cherry Pie

It seems like most cherry pies are made with sour cherries or canned cherry pie filling, which make a fine cherry pie, but here is a recipe for a little sweeter cherry pie using frozen cherries.

Sweet Cherry Pie:

Ingredients:
Pie crust for a 2 layer 9 inch pie
5-6 cups frozen dark red cherries
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour

Directions:

1.  Place frozen cherries in a large bowl. If time permits, let them thaw for about an hour.  This will help them absorb the flour and sugar better.

2.  Preheat oven to 350°F.

3.  Mix sugar and flour in a small bowl. Pour over cherries and mix to blend. Let the mixture sit for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  (If the flour/sugar mixture isn't all absorbed just pour the extra over the cherries in the pie crust.)

4.  Pour into pie crust and spread evenly.

5.  Roll out top pie crust and place on top of berries.  A lattice crust is always very pretty for fruit pies or you can use small cookie cutters like I did on this one to make cute cut-outs.  If you don't feel like doing anything fancy you can just do a plain top and cut some slits in the top so steam can get out.  Fold the top crust under the edge of the bottom crust and pinch tight to make a pretty border.

6.  Bake at 350 for about an hour or until the crust is golden brown and the juices are bubbling.  If the edges start to get too brown cover them with foil for the remaining cook time.

*Pies can leak over the edge so put a cookie sheet or liner on an oven rack below the pie to catch the mess.*

Sugar Cookie Bars

You know when you get that craving for a nice thick, soft sugar cookie but you don't want to go through the hassle of rolling and cutting and making a huge mess?  Well, these are your answer.  You make the dough, press it into the pan, and you're done!  You can frost these with buttercream or cream cheese frosting.  If you don't like frosting just sprinkle them with colored sugar sprinkles before baking.

Sugar Cookie Bars:

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
5 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Combine flour, salt, and baking soda in a bowl and set aside.  In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until nice and fluffy.  Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.  Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture a little at a time, until completely combined.  Spray a 13x18 baking sheet with cooking spray.  Press dough into pan making sure it's even all the way across.  Bake for 10-12 minutes or until light golden brown across the top.  Cool completely before frosting. 

*For softer cookies, do not overbake*