Slow Cooker Burrito Bowls

I found this on http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-slow-cooker-chicken-burrito-bowls-recipes-from-the-kitchn-207333

Slow Cooker Chicken Burrito Bowls

Serves 6 to 8

1 to 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, chicken thighs, or a mix
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 to 1 1/4 cups chicken stock, divided
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cumin
1 cup brown rice
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen corn
Optional toppings: shredded cheese, chopped cilantro, sour cream, diced avocado, salsa, hot sauce, diced green onions, shredded lettuce

Combine the chicken breasts, diced tomatoes, 1/2 cup of chicken stock, chili powder, salt, and cumin in the bowl of a 2 1/2- to 3 1/2-quart slow cooker. Make sure the chicken is covered. Cover with the lid and cook on low for 3 to 4 hours.

Remove the lid and add the rice, black beans, frozen corn, and another 1/2 cup of chicken broth. Replace the lid and continue cooking on low for another 3 to 4 hours. Check the rice periodically in the last hour of cooking, stirring once or twice to make sure the rice cooks evenly and adding more chicken broth if the mixture seems dry. Cooking is done when the rice is tender — if the rice is done while there is still liquid left in the slow cooker, remove the lid and cook on high to let the liquid evaporate. Total cooking time from start to finish is 6 to 8 hours. 

Use two forks to shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces. You can do this either in the slow cooker itself and then mix it into the rice, or you can transfer the chicken to a cutting board if you prefer to keep it separate. Taste the burrito mix and stir in more salt or other seasonings to taste.

Serve burrito bowls with a selection of toppings. The burrito mixture will keep for 1 week refrigerated or for 3 months in the freezer. This recipe makes about 7 total cups of burrito mix.

Recipe Notes

• Cooking the Rice Separately: If you won't be home to add the rice to the slow cooker, you can skip this step and cook it separately on the stovetop just before serving (use these directions). To modify the recipe, combine the chicken, diced tomatoes, 1/2 cup of stock, and spices in the slow cooker and cook for 6 to 8 hours on low. Add the black beans and corn, and cook for another 1/2 hour, or until warmed through, while you're cooking the rice (omit the remaining chicken stock).
• Vegetarian Burrito Bowls: Combine the diced tomatoes, 1 cup of vegetable stock, spices, rice, black beans, and corn in a slow cooker. Cook on low for 3 to 4 hours, until the rice is tender and has absorbed all the liquid. Stir once or twice toward the end of cooking to make sure the rice is cooking evenly.
• Beyond Burrito Bowls: Besides burrito bowls, you can use this filling to make regular tortilla-wrapped burritos or freezer burritos

Peanutbutter Balls

PEANUT BUTTER BALLS

INGREDIENTS

• ½ cup peanut butter
• ½ cup oats
• ½ cup nonfat dry milk
• ¼ cup honey
• 1/2t salt
• Optional: 
• flax seeds
• chia seeds

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine all ingredients. (if the consistency isn't quite roll-able, add more peanut butter or more oats or dry milk powder to get the right texture.)
2. Roll into small balls, about golf ball size.
3. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Szechuan Noodles with Ground Beef

Adapted from http://www.food.com/recipe/szechuan-noodles-with-spicy-beef-sauce-48760 and the recipe incorporates homemade hoisin sauce found http://www.food.com/recipe/homemade-hoisin-sauce-312992


Ingredients
8oz cooked spaghetti
1lb ground beef
1 chopped onion
1T minced garlic
1.5t minced ginger
crushed red pepper to taste
broccoli, cabbage or some other vegetable
2T cornstarch
3/4c beef broth
1/3c soy sauce
2T peanut butter
1T honey or molasses
2t rice vinegar

• Brown hamburger with onions, garlic, ginger, and red pepper.
• Cook spaghetti.
• While hamburger is browning, combine cornstarch, beef broth, soy sauce, peanut butter, honey, and rice vinegar.  Stir till smooth.
• Pour beef broth mixture onto ground beef, bring to a boil for a minute, stirring constantly
• Toss with cooked pasta and sprinkle with green onions and sesame seeds.

Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread by HealthyGreenFamily

I found this at http://myhealthygreenfamily.com/blog/wordpress/100-whole-wheat-sandwich-bread-recipe-that-rises-like-white/

I rewrote it for 2 loaves and changed it a little with how I would be cooking it.

Makes 2 loaves (recipe halved to make two loaves)

Ingredients:

§  5 cups whole wheat flour

§  1 c oats

§  3/4 cups seeds (optional) (ie. hemp, chia, flax, sunflower, sesame etc)

§  2 tsp. yeast

§  1/4 c. liquid honey plus 1 tbsp.

§  3 tbsp. butter, melted, at room temperature (oil)

§  egg

§  1.5 tsp. salt

§  water (see below for amounts)

Directions:

1.   Soak for 30 minutes or up to 2 hours:

§  3 cups flour in 2 cups warm water (If you are using freshly ground flour cut back to 2.25 cups.)

§  Up to 3/4 cups seeds (optional)

§  Cover with damp tea towel

Flour/water mixture shouldn't be watery.  Water should just mix into flour without any excess.  Make sure there is no dry flour.  Add by the tbsp. if needed.

2.   Start sponge (half hour before starting):

§  in 3/4 c. warm water, gently mix 2 tsp. yeast and 1 tbsp. honey until just mixed. Set aside.  Do not over-mix.

Sponge should be visibly active: bubbles forming etc. before adding to recipe.

3.   Melt 6 tbsp. butter.  Cool to room temperature.

4.   After flour is soaked and sponge is bubbly add to soaked flour/seed mixture:

§  melted butter at room temperature (oil)

§  egg

§  sponge (should be bubbly with yeast obviously active)

§  1/2 cup liquid honey (not hot!)

§  2 tsp. salt (sprinkled in)

5.   Mix/ knead in 1cup oats and 1-2 cups flour to right consistency.  (Stir in until it is too hard to stir, then dump on lightly floured counter top and knead in.)  Dough should feel pliable and not dry. Sprinkle counter top with small amount of flour as needed to prevent from sticking to the counter.  Knead for 15 minutes.

6.   Place dough in large, greased bowl.  Cover with a damp tea towel.  Place in warm (not hot!) corner on counter top.  Allow to rise until double: up to 2 hours.  

7.   Remove from bowl, punch down and kneed for 2 minutes.  Divide into 2 even sizes.

8.   Kneed each individual loaf.  Roll with a rolling pin and then roll up dough.  Pinch to make a loaf shape.  Place in greased loaf pan.  Cover loaves with damp tea towel.

9.   Allow to rise until double: up to 2 hours.

10. Bake at 350F for 40 minutes or until loaves are lightly browned and smell amazing :).

11.  Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes on wire rack.  Remove from loaf pans and cool completely on wire rack.  Brush tops with butter if desired.  It makes the loaf tops nice and soft.

Notes:

§  Bread rising time depends on room temperature, air pressure, altitude etc.  I am located at sea level.

§  Yeast amounts in a bread recipe can vary based on altitude. Click here for an altitude adjustment chart.

§  You can add 3 whole eggs to the ingredients to make the loaf more moist/chewy.

§  Make sure your yeast expiry date hasn’t passed.  Yeast can be too old to work properly.

§  I now have TRIPLED this recipe with great success!  I can make 15 loaves at one go 

§  Click here for a video tutorial on how to knead bread.

Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread by Oregon Cottage

I found this on http://anoregoncottage.com/whole-wheat-sandwich-bread-101/and this is now my favorite bread recipe.  I like that it doesn't need gluten and it doesn't need a second rising.  It goes straight into pans to rise.

This recipe has gone through a re-write to fit how I now make this bread.

WHOLE WHEAT SANDWICH BREAD

PREP TIME 1 hour 30 m  
COOK TIME  30 m  
TOTAL TIME  2 hours

• Hand mix the following in mixing bowl and let sit for 15-20 minutes to sponge
• 2.5c warm water
• 1c oatmeal (I use old fashion not quick 1-minute oats)
• 2c whole wheat flour
• 1.5T yeast
• Add following to bowl and mix with dough hook. 
• 2.5c whole wheat flour
• 1/3c oil (or unsweetened applesauce)
• 2t salt
• 1/4c sunflower seeds
• 2T flax seeds
• 1T poppy seeds
• 1T chia seeds (optional)
• If dough is still sticky add a couple tablespoons of white flour at a time till dough starts to clean sides of the bowl and dough is correct consistence.  Could be 1/2c-1c of white flour.
• Preheat oven to 150.
• Turn dough out and divide in half.  Kneed and form into loaves and place into greased pans.
• If summer, let rise till dough is ~1" above pans.  Bake for 30min at 350F.
• If winter, preheat oven to 150F.  Turn oven OFF and let loves rise in warm oven for ~30min. Do not open oven door.  Turn oven to 350F and bake for 30min.

Detect languageAfrikaansAlbanianArabicArmenianAzerbaijaniBasqueBengaliBelarusianBulgarianCatalanChinese (Simp)Chinese (Trad)CroatianCzechDanishDutchEnglishEsperantoEstonianFilipinoFinnishFrenchGalicianGeorgianGermanGreekGujaratiHaitian CreoleHebrewHindiHungarianIcelandicIndonesianIrishItalianJapaneseKannadaKoreanLaoLatinLatvianLithuanianMacedonianMalayMalteseNorwegianPersianPolishPortugueseRomanianRussianSerbianSlovakSlovenianSpanishSwahiliSwedishTamilTeluguThaiTurkishUkrainianUrduVietnameseWelshYiddish

AfrikaansAlbanianArabicArmenianAzerbaijaniBasqueBengaliBelarusianBulgarianCatalanChinese (Simp)Chinese (Trad)CroatianCzechDanishDutchEnglishEsperantoEstonianFilipinoFinnishFrenchGalicianGeorgianGermanGreekGujaratiHaitian CreoleHebrewHindiHungarianIcelandicIndonesianIrishItalianJapaneseKannadaKoreanLaoLatinLatvianLithuanianMacedonianMalayMalteseNorwegianPersianPolishPortugueseRomanianRussianSerbianSlovakSlovenianSpanishSwahiliSwedishTamilTeluguThaiTurkishUkrainianUrduVietnameseWelshYiddish

Text-to-speech function is limited to 100 characters

Options : History : Help : Feedback

Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

found on http://beingfrugalbychoice.com/2013/07/whole-wheat-sandwich-bread.html but has been adapted to me.  This is my rewrite of it and how I currently make it.

2c warm water
2 short T of yeast
1/3c sugar/honey
1/3c olive oil
1/4c wheat gluten
1.5t salt
~2T poppy
~1/4c sunflower kernels
~1/4c flax seeds
1c oats
1c white flour
3c wheat flour + ~1/2c to get to the right consistency

1. If I have a empty honey bottle I put 2c of warm water. Swirl water around to dissolve honey then add 2 short T of yeast. Swirl then let proof.
• If there are no empty honey bottles then I proof my yeast in the mixing bowl and then dump all ingredients in on top when yeast is bubbly and foamy
2. While yeast is proofing. Add remaining ingredients to mixing bowl.
3. When yeast is foamy an bubbly add to mixer and stir.
4. If dough is too wet once mixed, add 1T of the last 1/2c of flour.  Continue to add 1T at a time till dough is pulling away from mixing bowl.
5. Turn out onto counter and hand kneed a few time and put in a oil bowl, cover, let raise for ~1hr.
6. Turn out onto counter, divide, knead each half and form into a loaf and put in a greased loaf pan, cover, let raise for ~1hr
7. Put bread in a preheated 350F oven and bake for ~30min or until loaves make a hollow sound when thumped.

Groot

I found this on http://blog.twinkiechan.com/2014/08/13/free-crochet-pattern-potted-baby-groot-from-guardians-of-the-galaxy/#more-5970

Potted Baby Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy

August 13, 2014 

(You have to watch this .gif while listening to Awesome Mix Vol.1) I saw Guardians of the Galaxy last weekend because Manda and our friend Ehren both wanted to see it.  A lot of my friends have been over the moon about it, but I’m really not a comic book person, and the trailer wasn’t really catching my attention. I said I would see it if someone bought my ticket :P.

My takeaway from the movie was that WE ALL NEED A BABY Groot, so here is your free crochet GROOTORIAL! If you haven’t seen the movie, Groot is this tree-like alien who is really big and strong and can grow stuff off his body and is basically like the Giving Tree on steroids.

I don’t want to spoil why there is a baby Groot and why people are going crazy about him if you haven’t seen the movie yet, so go see it and then it will all make sense!

I put pipe cleaners in his arms so that he could “dance.” I tried wiring his body, too, but was running into complications with figuring out how to put stuffing in him AND a wire….plus the pipe cleaner wasn’t really strong enough to support his head and body and pipe cleaner was all I had in the house… so I need to play with that more at some point! Anyway, now you all can have your own baby Groot! And I am sure you guys will each put your own little spin on him!! I used online images of the Funko bobble head as my inspiration, cuz I think it’s super adorable!

P.S. Thank you for all your kind and excited inquiries about whether I will be selling finished baby Groots. I’m really so happy that you guys like him so much! I will not be doing so, since I currently do not have permission or a license from Marvel. I do plan to have a giveaway soon, though, so stay tuned! (And no, I will not be doing a giveaway directly to you only, which is something someone asked!)

What You’ll Need

- H8/5.00mm and F5/3.5mm crochet hooks
– Worsted weight yarn in Brown (I used Rowan Summer Tweed in Chocolate Fudge, but it’s discontinued now. I believe Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice has a brown tweed, and Plymouth Encore Worsted definitely has a brown tweed, but any brown or tan/wood color will work!)
– Sport weight yarn in Green (I used Red Heart Designer Sport in Pistachio)
– Black embroidery thread or Black worsted weight yarn (I used Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice in Black) – If you’d rather not crochet tiny leaves, you can also use green felt to cut out leaves, and sew them on with green or brown thread.
– 2 9mm safey eyes (12mm looks cute, too!)
– small amount of Polyfil
– 1 12-inch pipe cleaner or some kind of wire for the arms
– scissors
– tapestry needle
– small plant pot
– a handful of small, smooth pebbles
– optional: fake moss, hot glue
Abbreviations

ch(s): chain(s)
sc: single crochet
sk: skip
sl st: slip stitch
dec: decrease – you can use invisible decrease (invdec) or sc2tog
( ): work everything inside the parenthesis into the next stitch
[ ]: work everything inside the bracket the number of times indicated

Notes

I just busted out this pattern last night, and it has not been tested yet. If there are any booboos or weird spots, let me know! 

Head Part A

With Brown and H hook, make magic ring, or ch 3 and sl st to 1st ch to form ring.

Rnd 1: Ch 1, 6 sc into ring. (6) Don’t join rnds. Continue to work in a spiral.

Rnd 2: (2 sc) 6 times. (12)

Rnd 3: [(2 sc), 1 sc] 6 times. (18)

Rnd 4: [(2 sc), 2 sc] 6 times. (24)

Rnd 5: [(2 sc), 7 sc] 3 times. (27)

Rnds 6 -11: Sc evenly. (27)

Sl st to next st to join.

You’ll now work on his broken-wood head accents.

Rnd 12: You’ll be crocheting triangular-ish and rectangular-ish shapes, and then slip stitching down one side of each shape to get your hook back to Rnd 11. We do this so we don’t have to break off and re join over and over again to continue our work. I broke each shape into different paragraphs so that they are easier to see and organize.

Ch 1, 3 sc evenly. Ch 1, turn. 3 sc evenly. Ch 1, turn. Sk 1 st, 2 sc evenly. Sl st down the side of the rows you just worked until you are about to work into Rnd 11 again.

4 sc evenly. Ch 1, turn. 4 sc evenly. Ch 1, turn. Sk 1 st,  1 sc, sk 1 st, 1 sc. Ch 1, turn. Sk 1 st, 1 sc. Ch 1, turn. Sl st down the side of the rows you just worked until you are about to work into Rnd 11 again.

4 sc evenly. Ch 1, turn. 4 sc evenly. Ch 1, turn. 3 sc, sk last st. Ch 1, turn. 3 sc. Ch 1, turn. Sk 1, 1 sc. Sl st down the side of the rows you just worked until you are about to work into Rnd 11 again.

3 sc evenly. Ch 1, turn. 3 sc evenly. Ch1, turn. 1 sc, sk 1, sl st, 1 sc. Sl st down the side of the rows you just worked until you are about to work into Rnd 11 again.

4 sc evenly. Ch 1, turn. 4 sc evenly. Ch 1, turn. Sk 1 st,  1sc, sk 1 st, 1 sc. Ch 1, turn. Sk 1 st, 1 sc. Ch 1, turn. Sl st down the side of the rows you just worked until you are about to work into Rnd 11 again.

3 sc evenly. Ch 1, turn. 3 sc evenly. Ch1, turn. sk 1, 2 sc. Ch 1, turn. 1 sc, sl st. Sl st down the side of the rows you just worked until you are about to work into Rnd 11 again.

3 sc evenly. Ch 1, turn. 1 sc , sk 1, 1 sc. Ch1, turn. Sk 1, 1 sc. Sl st down the side of the rows you just worked until you are about to work into Rnd 11 again.

3 sc evenly. Ch 1, turn. 3 sc evenly. Ch1, turn. 1 sc, sk 1, sl st, 1 sc. Sl st down the side of the rows you just worked until you are about to work into Rnd 11 again.

Sl st into Rnd 11 and break off. Weave in end.

Insert eyes. You get to decide which part of the head should be the face.

Now you’ll finish the top of the head. You’re just making a circle to cover the hole.

Head Part B

With Brown, repeat Rnds 1-4 of Head Part A.

Sl st to next st to join. Break off leaving 24 inches of yarn.

If you want a branch or two sticking out of his head, crochet these now and sew them to the top of Head Part B before you sew it to the top of Head Part A.

Branch

With Brown and H hook, ch 8, sk 1 ch, work 2 sl st evenly. Ch 4, sk 1 ch, work 3 sl st evenly, then continue to sl st evenly down original ch. Break off.

Short Branch

With Brown and H hook, ch 6, sk 1 ch, work 2 sl st evenly. Ch 3, sk 1 ch, work 2 sl st evenly, then continue to sl st evenly down original ch. Break off.

Lightly stuff Head Part A.

Since Head Part B is 24 sts around and open hole of Head Part A is technically 27 sts around, you can’t sew stitch for stitch, so just sew it on as best you can and make it look good. I found that using a 27 st circle was too big for the opening. You can use Rnd 11 of Head Part A as a guide for sewing. While sewing, you also don’t want the head to look like it has Frankenstein stitches going all around it, so try to sew as invisibly as you can. Put in more stuffing if needed.

Body

Repeat Rnds 1-4 of Head Part A.

Rnds 5 -6: Sc evenly. (24)

Rnd 7: [dec, 2 sc] 6 times. (18)

Rnd 8: [dec, 4 sc] 3 times. (15)

Rnds 9 -10: Sc evenly. (15)

Put in some stuffing.

Rnd 11: [dec, 3 sc] 3 times. (12)

Rnds 12-13: Sc evenly. (12)

Rnd 14: [dec, 2 sc] 3 times. (9)

Rnds 15 – 21: Sc evenly, stuffing lightly as you go. (9) (Note, I worked 21 rnds because at first I was measuring the Body against a piece of pipe cleaner that I had. You can make him as tall as you like.)

Sl st to next st to join. Break off leaving 12 inches of yarn for sewing.

Sew top of Body to bottom of Head Part A.

To prepare Arms, fold each end of the pipe cleaner to its center and then twist.

Use a pointy stick to stab through top of Body where Arms will go. I go 1 rnd below the the very top of the neck. This will help guide the pipe cleaner arms through the body. Slide twisted pipe cleaner into place.

You can now determine how long you want the arms and lengthen/shorten the pipe cleaner accordingly.

Arms (make 2)

Pull out about 10 inches of Brown yarn for sewing later.

With H hook, ch 3 and sl st to 1st ch to form ring. (Don’t make a magic circle, or if you do, keep the opening loose bcecause you need to fit the pipe cleaner through this hole.

Rnd 1: Ch 1, work 4 sc into ring. (4)

Rnds 2 – 8: Sc evenly around. (4)

Slip Arm through pipe cleaner to see if it fits. Keep working evenly if you need more coverage.

When you reach the length that you need, create the finger branches.

Sl st to next st to join.

Ch 3, sk 1st ch, sl st 2 times. Sl st to next st.

Ch 5, sk 1 st ch, sl st 4 times. Sl st to next st.

Ch 4, sk 1st ch, sl st 3 times. Sl st to next st.

Sl st to next st. Break off.

While weaving in your end, also sew through the base of the fingers to pull the fingers so they are not splayed too open.

Slide Arm back onto pipe cleaner and then sew to body. Repeat on other side.

Leaves

The number of leaves and their placement are up to you!

With Green and F hook, ch 5 or ch 4 and sl st to 1st ch to form your leaf. Break off.

Tie leaf onto tree with yarn tails and then carefully weave in ends and/or hide them inside the tree.

Twisty Body Bits

If you want to add some twisty/viney bits to the body, simply work about 12 – 18 inches of chs with Brown and H hook, then wrap chain lengths around Body, sewing down at each end, and also tacking down with a few stitches around the middle wherever you want to make sure the vine stays put. I only made 2 lengths of chain, but you can add more, or put some on the arms, if you like!

Final Assembly

– Embroider a smile with black yarn or embroidery thread.

– Place baby Groot inside a small pot.

– Fill in with smooth pebbles to keep him upright. You might also need some pebbles underneath, so that he is not sitting too low in the pot.

– Decorate with fake moss.

– If you are giving this as a gift, and you don’t want anything to move around, you can also hot glue your baby Groot to the bottom of your pot, or glue something to the bottom of the pot for him to stand on, and then glue him to that, then cover with pebbles, moss, or both!

– EDIT: A couple people have commented that their Groot is too top heavy to stand on its own. I did not design him to stand up by himself. I always keep mine in his little white pot. The next one I make for my friend, I am going to try putting a little sack of Poly Pellets at the bottom and see if that helps. Don’t use loose pellets, as they might leak out of the stitch spaces. I’ve seen on google that some people make a little sack with a dryer sheet, but I’ll probably use a small square of fabric and sew it up, place it at the bottom/feet of the body, and then fill the rest of the body with regular stuffing. I’ll let you know if it works! Also don’t use beans to weigh down your toys. I’ve heard that sometimes if there is too much moisture, the beans will sprout! Which, in this particular case, might be kinda funny, but would also probably ruin your toy :P.

 * This free pattern is intended for personal use only. Please do not copy, redistribute, or sell this pattern. Groot and Guardians of the Galaxy are the intellectual property of someone else who is not me or you, I am guessing Marvel Comics? So I would advise you not to sell items from this pattern without permission.