With four kids all in school and all in extracurricular activities and sports, not to mention a husband whose job takes him out of town on most fall weekends, I barely have time to breathe let alone cook a nice dinner for my family. And even if I did have the time to cook, we would all be eating at different times and who wants a cold dinner they have to reheat.

The solution…my Crock-Pot. Seriously, my Crock-Pot becomes part of my morning routine. Almost every meal I cook during fall weekdays includes it.

I am constantly looking for new recipes for my Crock-Pot, however, I do have several family favorites that I will share with you.

Today’s recipe–Pizza Pasta–one of the kids’ favorites!!!!

Ingredients:

• 1 pound lean ground meat, browned and drained
• 3 ounces pepperoni, sliced
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 12 ounces shredded parmesan cheese
• 8 ounces rigatoni pasta, cooked for 5 minutes and drained
• 14 ounces spaghetti sauce
• optional items: mushrooms chopped, olives chopped, other items you enjoy on pepperoni pizza (my family adds mushrooms)

Directions:

Mix ground beef, onion and spaghetti sauce together in bowl or skillet that was used to brown the meat. In the slow cooker, layer in order: half of meat mixture, half of cooked pasta, half of the can of soup, half of the cheese, half of the pepperoni slices and half of any other additional items you have prepared. Repeat layers.

Cook on low heat for 4 hours and serve with your favorite salad.

Author Bio: Carrie Dahle has spent her life doing the right thing, rather than pursuing her dreams. That is until now. Four years ago, she threw caution to the wind, divorced her then husband of ten years, and began reaching for the stars. She began writing professionally, and has been published numerous times. She is the founder and creator or Day to Day Woman and hopes that her experiences in life will inspire others

When the topic of desert is brought up, I tend to always choose something fruit-related. For example on my birthday, I always have lemon cake. Therefore my children prior to blending families were constantly subjected to my dessert likings. On the other side, my husbands children grew up thinking–in his kids’ words–that “all dessert has chocolate in it.” So the first time I made apple crisp for dessert, I had two sets of eyes staring at me wondering how that bowl of apples and stuff could possibly be considered dessert.

It has been several years now and we have finally blended together–I make more treats that have chocolate in them and they have accepted the fact that fruits and berries can be included in desserts.

In trying to find some new desserts that would please all of the kids I rediscovered my love for Taffy Apple Pizza. This recipe is fun, easy and appealing to all, even those who think something that is otherwise considered nutritional fiber can’t be a dessert.

Ingredients:

• 1-10 oz. package of refrigerated sugar cookie dough
• 1 pk 8oz cream cheese softened
• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 med granny smith apples
• 1 cup lemon lime soda
• cinnamon
• 1/4 cup caramel ice cream topping
• 1/2 cup chopped peanuts

Preheat oven to 350° F. Place cookie dough on pizza stone and roll dough out to 14″ circle, about a 1/4″ thick. Bake 16-18 minutes. Cool 10 minutes. Carefully loosen cookie from sheet with serrated knife; leaving cookie on stone cool completely.

Combine cream cheese, brown sugar, peanut butter and vanilla; mix well. Spread mixture evenly over top of cookie.

Dip apples in lemon-lime soda and arrange apples evenly over cream cheese mixture; sprinkle with cinnamon. The soda will prevent the apples from turning brown and ruining the appearance of your dessert.

Drizzle caramel topping over apples. Sprinkle nuts on top.

Enjoy!!!

Author Bio: Carrie Dahle has spent her life doing the right thing, rather than pursuing her dreams. That is until now. Four years ago, she threw caution to the wind, divorced her then husband of ten years, and began reaching for the stars. She began writing professionally, and has been published numerous times. She is the founder and creator or Day to Day Woman and hopes that her experiences in life will inspire others

How many times have you been asked to bring a salad to a group gathering and not having any better ideas you run to the store, grab four bags of pre-bagged salad and head on your way? Or maybe you do have a few great salad recipes but to make them for a larger party or group of people, you end up spending a fortune on ingredients.

For some reason a few years ago every time I was invited to a party I was asked to bring the salad. I would immediately start thinking about what I could bring that was interesting, tasty and would not cost me a fortune to make. However no matter how much time I spent on the internet searching for a good recipe, I could not find one that fit all of those needs.

Then on an off night I was asked to bring desert instead of the salad and a friend of mine brought this salad on which I was sure she had spent a ton of money and time. I was wrong. Before I had left that night, I had her give me her recipe and I was shocked at how easy it was. I was even more shocked when I made it for the next event I attended.

This salad recipe makes the equivalent of four salad bags, which is a perfect amount for a large group. However, this recipe can be adjusted up or down to suit your needs. As you will see, other than the specific measurements for the dressing, I do not spell out exact amounts of salad ingredients. It is truly a matter of personal taste. Some people like more ingredients in a salad and some less. So use your own judgment and I promise you won’t mess this one up. The dressing portion is made to cover the equivalent of four bags of salad. However there is no reason you can’t pour less on a smaller salad.

Salad Ingredients:

• The equivalent of 4 bags of salad greens. I prefer to use baby spinach–some people prefer the spring mix. You may prefer to chop up your own romaine lettuce and in that case you will want approximately four heads.
• Toasted walnuts
• Raisins
• Apples, chopped
• Feta cheese

Dressing Ingredients:

• 1 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 jar hot-n-spicy mustard

Blend together all of the salad dressing ingredients and refrigerate until ready to serve. Mix together all of the salad ingredients. Toss salad with dressing prior to serving.

So easy and oh so good!

Author Bio: Carrie Dahle has spent her whole life doing the right thing, rather than pursuing her dreams. That is until now. Four years ago, she threw caution to the wind, divorced her then husband of ten years, and began reaching for the stars. She began writing professionally, and has been published numerous times. She is the founder and creator or Day to Day Woman and hopes that her experiences in life will inspire others.

Chocolate delays reality. When I am eating chocolate, everything is on hold: anxiety, panic, frustrations, and insecurity. Chocolate offers a profound richness, a sweetness of life, a euphoric sensation of luxury. I love chocolate in many forms, from M&M’s, to imported Lindt balls, to dark fudge frosting in a pop-top can, to Hershey’s dark chocolate bite-sized morsels.

It is difficult to eat only a little chocolate. I cheat myself when I chew it up quickly and swallow it like other food. To eat chocolate correctly, one must let it melt in the mouth with eyes closed, feeling the tasty, thick smooth velvet coat the tongue. It is also difficult to eat really good chocolate silently. I usually purr a long ummmmmmm of feminine satisfaction when enjoying such a pleasure.

I have strategies to keep from eating chocolate. I meditate after lunch, enjoying the sweetness of life without calories, I brush my teeth after drinking my afternoon coffee, and I give chocolate away to my mother so that it’s not in the house. But it comes back as gifts from other sources, knowing that it is loved and cherished in my presence.

My daughter loves chocolate, too. A hereditary trait, I guess. Sometimes my mother and my daughter and I enjoy chocolate together, a female bonding of sensuous gratification.
We give each other gifts of Easter Bunnies, Christmas balls, and Valentine confections, then share our blessed bounty with each other. We hide it from other family members, and never apologize for succumbing to such greedy decadence. We have trained the men in our lives to buy it for us as well by expressing our enjoyment and satisfaction as lip-smacking, vocalized bliss. It’s as if we permit our chocolate gift givers to be voyeurs of our pleasure.

I have a girl friend that refers to chocolate as the fourth basic food group. She eats it publicly, in front of people, instead of holding private chocolate sessions where no one can count bites or pieces. Self-righteous jailers they are, those indignant souls who reprimand us. Sometimes it is us, ourselves, our split personalities loving and hating our obsession. My sister-in-law denies her children from chocolates’ evil influence, but yields personally to its entrapment. Chocolate calls her name, beckoning her in a trance- like state to follow its’ seductive aroma to the kitchen. I know that aroma well; it cannot be contained in a cardboard box, a foil wrapper, or an insulated refrigerator.

Sometimes I eat chocolate to wake me up, or to keep on working when I want to stop and take a nap. Much preferred to a carrot on a stick. A self-imposed bribe to keep pushing. Of course, this bribe has negative consequences when my jeans don’t fasten.

I suppose the alligator here is the addiction. But addiction to what? Chocolate? Or pushing to achieve? What a shame that my time is spent in activities that don’t burn calories. Striving, planning, dreaming, persisting, setting boundaries, checking off chores, reviewing goals, paying bills.

I refuse to give up chocolate. I know women who have. Women committed to thin. I’m committed to enjoying my life. I have accepted other limitations, and I refuse other desserts, bread, and wine during the week. But chocolate has its place.

Author Bio: Ana Tampanna, “The Alligator Queen,” is author or the “The Womanly Art of Alligator Wrestling.” To learn more about her books in addition to her speaking and coaching services, visit her site at http://www.alligatorqueen.com.

Another frugal feast for four!

My 16-year old skinny-as-a-stick-kiddo who eats non-stop would wipe me out if not for cheap, easy eats! But he’s got a discriminating palate. Not just anything will do. We need tasty, filling, healthy and affordable. And I need quick to prepare, with little cleanup.

CCC (Cheatin’ Chicken Cacciatore): Dinner’s served! A picture is worth a thousand words, right?

Remember the two for 20 in 20?

Big Little Wolf’s Cheatin’ Chicken Cacciatore is another big meal you can make in about 20 minutes, for well under $20. It uses one pan, one pot (for pasta), and generally costs me about $15 where I live (an urban area – which means nothing is inexpensive).

If you love pasta, and you love a hardy Italian meal, this is a good one for you and your family.

And if you just want to skip to the good stuff, move directly to the Cheatin’ Chicken Cacciatore pictures!

We love Italian (I grew up in an area with phenomenal Italian food) – and while Chicken Cacciatore done “traditionally” calls for braised chicken and more time (sauce from scratch), this works for us, is delicious, and inexpensive!

Cheatin’ Chicken Cacciatore (total cost: approximately $15 – feeds 4)

• 4 medium to large chicken breasts
• Margarine & seasonings (garlic, pepper, basil, oregano, rosemary)
• Mushrooms, any kind (optional)
• Shredded mozzarella cheese (optional)
• Fresh tomatoes, any kind (optional)
• Red, green, yellow bell peppers (optional)
• Green onion or scallions (optional)
• Your favorite pasta (1 box, angel hair or other)

Use 10″ or 12″ sauté or fry pan, depending on how much chicken you’re using and how many people you’re feeding. (I know, I know – only 3 breasts shown, but use 4 for 4 people. And leftovers keep well in the fridge, if covered.)

As you’re about to get started, fill a pot with water to boil, to make your pasta. You know how to cook pasta, right? Right. (And we don’t actually add salt, though “real cooks” say you should.)

Here goes:

• Slice or cut chicken breasts into smaller pieces. (It makes everything go faster.)

• Throw 1 or 2 tbsp of margarine or butter in the pan, high heat. Toss in (boned, trimmed, sliced) chicken, browning if you like a bit of searing. Season with pepper, garlic pepper, basil, rosemary, oregano or any other spices you like.

• What makes this dish “cacciatore” – which is really a hunter’s stew? It’s the combination of tomatoes, onions, mushrooms and bell peppers. We just chop them up, using bell peppers of whatever (colorful and sweet) variety we can get, likewise the mushrooms, and red onion.

• Turn the heat to medium or medium-to-low. Add in your chopped veggies. Stir a bit to make sure everything is cooking and not burning. We use Classico Tomato and Basil Sauce often, in many of our italian dishes.

• Add 1 full jar (24 ounce) of Classico pasta sauce or sauce of your choice. We love tomato basil, spicy tomato basil, and I even enjoy using their Italian sausage sauce mixed in with the chicken.

• You may also mix sauces to your taste. Sometimes I’ll use half a jar of one, and half a jar of another (we also like Ragu’s sauces).

• Turn down heat. Add a small amount of inexpensive red wine (a little goes a long way – a quarter of a glass is plenty, for us). If you don’t care for wine – just don’t add it! Cover, and let simmer, stirring a bit now and then.

• We also love scallions or green onions (and the bright flecks of color are gorgeous against the red sauce). I cut a little bit of fresh green onion and toss it on the top a minute or two before serving.

• Meanwhile – you’re cooking pasta – whatever kind you love! We go for angel hair, or rotini. Drain the pasta, serve it on the plate, with heaping spoonfuls of the cheatin’ chicken cacciatore on top. Sprinkle with more fresh ground pepper, garnish with a bit of fresh basil if you have some (smells heavenly and works wonders if you want to impress a date). Optionally, sprinkle shredded mozzarella (or your favorite shredded cheese) on top.

You’re done!

Costs:

These are estimated costs. Yours may vary a bit.

• Chicken: $8 (for 4 large breasts)

• Classico or Ragu: $2.50 to $3, depending on the week (24 oz. jar)

• Spices: (I have these – they last a long time before you have to replace them)

• Margarine or oil: negligible

• Peppers, mushrooms, red onion, tomatoes: Again – I buy these weekly, and use maybe half of one bell pepper in this recipe, 1/4 of a small box of sliced mushrooms, a small amount of red onion, and 2 plum tomatoes. I make sure to use the fresh veggie portions in another recipe so they don’t go bad. Cost? $2 maybe, for this meal.

• Shredded mozarella (about half a (small) resealable bag: $1

• Pasta: $1.09 for my favorite angel hair; $1.39 for my favorite rotini

• NOT included – the little bit of wine. Get yourself something decent at Trader Joe’s for very little money! Use a 1/4 glass for the recipe, and sip the rest.

Total: Approximately $15

These days, Big Little Wolf (”Ms. Big”) reflects on life and her Daily Plate of Crazy, where she writes essays on everything – sometimes serious, sometimes fun – whatever strikes her on a given day as interesting, unusual, entertaining, or of concern.

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It is recipe time here at A Divorced Woman. This recipe is a Fourth of July tradition in my family. Not only is it a light, cool, refreshing summer dessert it is a cake that conjures up some very happy memories of my childhood.

I was raided a “country girl.” My mother, grandmother and aunts would get us together to go pea picking every year. Those women could do some serious “pea pickin.”

After a day in the field picking we would spend a few days shelling and canning peas. I learned a lot about life sitting at the kitchen table watching them work and taking in every thing they said. And, us Southern women have a lot to say!

I hope you get as much enjoyment from this cake as I have over the years.

Pea Pickin Cake

1 box yellow cake mix ( I prefer Duncan Hines Butter Recipe)

1/2 C vegetable oil

1-11oz can Mandarin Oranges, do not drain

4 eggs

Frosting:

1 small box instant vanilla pudding

1-16oz can Crushed Pineapple, do not drain

1-12oz carton Cool Whip

Directions:

Mix cake mix, oil, mandarin oranges and eggs in a large bowl. Bake cake in 2 layers until done (about 25-30 minutes). Cool cake in the refrigerator. It is important that the cake is well cooled before frosting.

In second bowl, combine pudding mix, pineapple and Cool Whip. Us the dry pudding mix, do not make pudding and then combine with other ingredients. Once the cake has cooled, frost it with the yummy pineapple, vanilla, cool whip frosting. Once frosted pop the cake back in the refrigerator. Keeping the cake cold is what makes it so delicious and perfect for a hot summer picnic.

Nutritional Info:

Per serving: 386 calories (percent of calories from fat, 46), 4 grams protein, 47 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 20 grams fat (6 grams saturated), 72 milligrams cholesterol, 336 milligrams sodium.

Enjoy and have a Happy Fourth of July!

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