Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

Submitted by Karla Kelsch

1 pound (aprox) Whole Frozen Chicken Breasts
2 Cans of Diced Tomatoes (or 4 fresh tomatoes)
1 (10 ounce) Can of Enchilada Sauce
1 Can Black Beans
1 Medium Onion, chopped
1 (4 ounce) Can of Chopped Green Chile Peppers
2 Cloves Garlic, Minced
2 Cups Water
1 (14.5 ounce) Can Chicken Broth
1 Teaspoon Cumin
1 Teaspoon Chili Powder
1 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Black Pepper
1 Bay Leaf
1 (10 ounce) Package Frozen Corn
1 Tablespoon Chopped Cilantro

7 Corn Tortillas
Vegetable Oil

1. Place all the ingredients into a slow cooker (except for the tortillas and vegetable oil). Stir Well. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 6 to 8 hours or on High setting for 3 to 4 hours. Shred chicken with two forks a little bit before you serve it.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

3. Lightly brush both sides of tortillas with oil. Cut tortillas into strips, then spread on a baking sheet.

4. Bake in preheated oven until crisp, about 10 to 15 minutes. To serve, sprinkle tortilla strips over soup. (This are optional...if you feel like being lazy -like I do sometimes- just serve it with corn chips!)

5. I like to serve the soup with sour cream and cheese sprinkled on top!

Easy Italian Chicken

Submitted by Karla Kelsch

Chicken Breasts (as many as you need to feed your family)
1 8 oz. pkg of cream cheese
1 to 1 1/2 cups prepared Italian dressing
optional....1 package frozen veggies (whatever sounds good to add in)

Place chicken in crockpot. Mix cream cheese (soften for about a minute in the microwave) and dressing together, pour over chicken. Add veggies, if desired. Cook on low 7-8 hours or high 3-4 hours. Shred chicken and serve the whole thing (sauce and all) over rice or noodles.

Almond Glazed Blueberry Scones

Submitted by Trish Schroeder,

(Here's my scones, adapted from Tyler Florence at Food network. The ingredients are the same, but my method of doing the blueberries is different-he stirs them in, but that just made a purple mess. He also does a lemon glaze, and we prefer almond.)

Blueberry Scones
2 c. flour
1 tbs. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tbs. sugar
5 tbs. butter (must use butter, needs to be very cold)
1 c. heavy cream
1 c. blueberries (I never measure mine, I just use as many as I think look right)

Rinse fresh or frozen blueberries in cold water and allow to drain while mixing dough. This keeps them from turning everything purple. Sift together dry ingredients. Cut in cold butter (use a pastry blender, or two forks). Make a well and pour in cream. Fold together. (I start with a rubber spatula, but end up using my hands to get it combined well.) Press or roll dough into a big rectangle on floured surface (honestly, I usually don't flour it, and I use a ceramic board) until about 1/2-3/4" thick. (Brush with cream if desired, sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. When I do, I also sometimes sprinkle just a little granulated sugar on top.) Use your knuckle or desired instrument to make little divets in the surface and poke a blueberry in each hole. Use a pizza cutter to cut into triangles. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes. They should just barely start to brown, but not as much as biscuits.

Almond Glaze
To make 1/2 cup of glaze, which is plenty for a full batch, I use: 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tbs. butter, 2-3 tbs. water, and 1 1/2 tsp. almond extract. I put it all in a glass bowl, microwave for 30 seconds, and stir. Then I use a spoon to drizzle over the scones.
(The lemon glaze is on the website linked above. We've also tried orange glaze and it was good, but you just can't beat the almond.)

I've also made cinnamon raisin scones by adding about a teaspoon of ground cinnamon to the dry ingredients and stirring in raisins at the end. Obviously I then omit the blueberries. They're yummy, and we've tried both the lemon & almond glaze (almond wins again), but blueberry is still the way to go.

Chocolate Cherry Trifle

(Best for a medium-sized trifle bowl)
Submitted by Abigail Rich

Ingredients:

1 box chocolate cake mix
2 cans cherry pie filling
1 box instant chocolate pudding mix
1 container cool whip

Directions:
1.Make cake as directed. (You will only need approx. half of the cake - the other half of the batter is great for cupcakes, etc.)

2. Make pudding as directed.

3. Layer pudding, cake, cool whip, and cherries in trifle bowl Repeat layers as many times as bowl size will fit. Top with cherries.

4. To allow all of the flavors to mix well, refrigerate overnight or for several hours if possible. The trifle can also be eaten right away if necessary. Enjoy!

(Variations are endless: yellow cake, vanilla pudding, peaches/raspberries are a delicious combo!)

Cranberry Bread (From Ocean Spray)

Submitted by Trish Schroeder

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
2 tablespoons shortening
1 egg, well beaten
1 1/2 cups Ocean Spray® Fresh or Frozen Cranberries, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup chopped nuts

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.

Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a medium mixing bowl. Stir in orange juice, orange peel, shortening and egg. Mix until well blended. Stir in cranberries and nuts. Spread evenly in loaf pan.

Bake for 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely. Wrap and store overnight. Makes 1 loaf (16 slices).

PER SERVING (1 slice): Cal. 211, Fat Cal. 54, Protein 3grams, Carb. 37grams, Fat 6grams, Chol. 18mg., Sodium 313mg.