Blueberry Fool

Yesterday was a hectic day, on top of being a zombie day.  This makes for a great combination that my sister loves.  Some of our featured activities were throwing an (already falling apart) dresser out of the second story of the barn, and deflating a yoga ball in socially awkward ways (me sitting on it and encouraging my sister to lay over me so we make a plus sign...she wouldn't do it though).  It was also the day we did the family party for Nathan and my mom, who share a birthday.  We always have 2 desserts at our family party.  Nathan had army cake, which was just cake with army men and army jeeps on top, engaged in an epic battle scene, designed by my cake boss husband.  He used brown sugar for the dirt, just like on Cake Boss.  This is what my mom's dessert was, at my suggestion.  We have a bumper crop of blueberries right now (at least for our family) so had plenty on hand to make this, and she loves blueberry stuff.  I made a blueberry fool several years ago, but it didn't turn out as good as this one.  It was back when I was new to cooking.  I didn't save the recipe, or the cookbook it came from.  So I googled it and found this recipe from Food Network.  It's supposed to have lemon juice and lemon peel, but I know that's just if you want to cut the sweetness of the blueberries, which I did not.  So I left those out, but I will still list them in the recipe in case anybody else wants to follow it to the letter.

Blueberry Fool
2 cups blueberries
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/3 cups heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Shortbread or wafer cookies, for serving

Make the blueberry sauce: Heat 1 1/2 cups blueberries, 1/4 cup sugar and the salt in a saucepan over medium heat until bubbling. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the blueberries are soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the lemon zest and juice; remove from the heat. Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup blueberries and let the mixture cool to room temperature.

Beat the heavy cream in a bowl with a mixer or whisk until soft peaks just begin to form. Beat in the vanilla and the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Gently fold all but 1/3 cup of the blueberry sauce into the whipped cream. Divide among glasses and top with the remaining blueberry sauce. Serve with cookies.

So I like my cream more whipped than soft peaks, so I beat it just like I do when I want whipped cream for pie or whatever, then mixed the cooled blueberries in.  My sister did the blueberry part, because she didn't trust me around hot appliances at that point in the day.  The dessert came out so great, like blueberry mousse (at least the texture of mousse).  We did have (store-bought) shortbread cookies with this, but I don't think it added anything...it was just so yummy by itself.  We stored the leftovers in the freezer because I remember my mother in law saying that you can't just refrigerate leftover whipped cream because it will separate.  I am going to eat it soon.

Grilled Breakfast Sandwiches

This is my second recipe from Back of the Box Cooking.  This is a recipe I feel like I should have been able to make up on my own, without a recipe.  The featured ingredient here is cinnamon raisin bread.  I did not have to buy this to make the recipe, because I had some in the freezer already (because I go to the Friehofer Bakery Outlet every 2 or 3 months to stock up on bagels, english muffins, emergency bread (store bought bread I only use when I have fallen behind in my bread machine bread making, or when the bread machine breaks and I have to wait a long time to get another one), and maybe some donuts...

Grilled Breakfast Sandwiches
2 tbsp butter, softened
8 slices cinnamon raisin swirl bread
4 slices cheese (we used Swiss I had left over from another recipe)
16 thin slices Granny Smith apple (I was able to get enough from just one apple)
4 slices bacon, crisply cooked, cut in half (and one piece of breakfast sausage if your husband doesn't like bacon)

Make these like you're making grilled cheese sandwiches.  I could give you the long explanation that the recipe gives you, but I think we all know how to make grilled cheese.

Very good.  Very very good.  Easy.  Like I said, I feel like I should have been able to think of that without someone having to tell me.  But I can't think of everything, I guess.  We had these with scrambled eggs.  Definitely a delicious easy meal.  Which we had for supper even though it's breakfast food.

Turkey and Bean Burritos

At last, near the end of August, I am starting the cookbook my mom gave me for Christmas last year.  It is called Back of the Box Cooking-30 Minute Meals.  I thought, from my first glance at the cover, that it was going to be mostly recipes with prepackaged mixes as the first/main ingredient.  But you know what they say about judging books by their covers.  In this case it has a literal application.  The brands featured range from dairy to bread to vegetables.  And a lot of the time, the thing they want you to buy can be subbed for a cheaper thing.  The ingredient this recipe features is the yogurt.  They took that one thing and built this recipe around it, I think to be an alternative to sour cream.  

Turkey and Bean Burritos
1 tbsp canola oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced (omitted)
1 cup shredded turkey (I used browned ground turkey)
1 (14 oz) can diced fire-roasted tomatoes, drained
Juice of 1 lime
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (omitted)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 cup plain yogurt
6 10-inch flour tortillas
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Heat oil in skillet to medium-high.  Add onion, garlic, and jalapeno and saute until onion is clear, about 5 minutes.  Reduce heat to medium and add turkey, tomatoes, lime juice, cumin, cayenne, and cilantro.  Let simmer for 5 minutes.  In small bowl combine black beans, rice, and yogurt; set aside.  On flat surface, place 1/2 cup turkey mixture in center or tortilla and 1/2 cup of beans and rice mixture.  Add 1/3 cup cheese to each burrito.  Fold left and then right side of tortilla over filling.  Roll up unfolded sides.  Cut in half and serve with salsa.

Okay so I left out the yogurt all together.  I thought I wouldn't like that creamy factor in my burritos.  So what I did is combined the beans and rice with the meat and tomato mixture, and put about 3/4 cup on each burrito, and then sprinkled with cheese.  I got 6 burritos out of it.  I thought they were pretty good.  Emma took hers apart because she was afraid of the tomatoes.  And Nathan had just the ground turkey and rice on his plate, from before they ever became burrito filling.  But Steve, Sam, and I liked them.  I do like enchiladas better though...so overall a good debut recipe from this cookbook.

Panko Chicken and Pasta with Garlic Oil

These are the last two recipes I have marked in this Simple & Delicious.  I hope a new one comes soon.  I realize I could just scan the internet for recipes, but I like having something to hold that I can write on, dog ear pages (even though I HATE that in any other kind of book, it is acceptable in cookbooks and cooking magazines), rip out recipes that are good, etc.  The chicken recipe came with  a recipe for homemade fresh marinara sauce, but I didn't make it because I already have a sauce recipe that I make that I like, and none of the kids would have liked marinara with fresh tomato chunks in it, they just like ketchup or barbecue sauce with their chicken fingers--which is essentially what this is, homemade chicken fingers.  Sam had his with hot wing sauce.  My sister in law left a bottle of it behind when she was here, and that kid has been putting it on everything.  I bet you are thinking "not everything."  But you would be almost wrong.  He hasn't put it on his breakfast cereal yet, but that's about it.

Panko Chicken
1 egg
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 tbsp flour
1 tbsp minced fresh parsley (I used 1 tsp dried)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Dash salt and pepper
1 lb chicken tenderloins (I used boneless chicken breasts I already had, cut into strips)
1/4 cup olive oil (I needed way more)

Beat egg in shallow bowl.  Combine bread crumbs, flour, parsley, garlic powder, salt and pepper in another shallow bowl.  Dip chicken in egg, then roll in crumb mixture.  Cook chicken in batches in oil in a large skillet over medium heat for 2-3 minutes on each side or until juices run clear.  Drain on paper towels. 

Pasta with Garlic Oil
8 oz uncooked spaghetti (we used bow ties)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 cup jarred sliced mushrooms (omitted)
1/4 cup sliced ripe olives (omitted)
2 to 3 tsp minced fresh basil (I used 1 tsp dried)
2 to 3 tsp minced fresh parsley (I used 1 tsp dried)
1/8 tsp garlic salt
1/8 to 1/4 tsp pepper
shredded parmesan cheese

Cook spaghetti according to package directions.  Meanwhile, saute garlic in oil in a large skillet.  Stir in the mushrooms, olives, basil, parsley, garlic salt, and pepper.  Cook for 5 minutes.  Drain spaghetti; place in serving bowl.  Pour sauce over pasta and toss to coat.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

The chicken was nothing exciting, but it was good.  Everybody liked it.  The pasta was great.  It tasted so good.  We are definitely having the pasta again, and will probably have the chicken again too.  Easy yummy supper, which is the best kind.  

Taco Shepherd's Pie

Sometimes my Simple & Delicious magazine (and I DO feel like it's mine...) will have a feature where you cook a bunch, and eat some right then and freeze the rest.  I love doing that because I love having my freezer stocked for zombie nights.  So that's what caught my eye on this recipe.  Plus it seems like something we would really like.

Taco Shepherd's Pie
1 pkg refrigerated pie crust (or top & bottom crust from your own recipe)(I actually skipped the pie crust steps because I never use crust for shepherd's pie...only for pot pie, and I didn't want to confuse my mouth)
6 large potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
2 lbs lean ground beef
14 green onions, chopped (white portion only)
1 1/4 cups water
2 envelopes taco seasoning
1 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
2 tsp garlic powder (that seemed like too much; I only used 1)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese (I used 4 cups shredded Mexican cheese)

Roll out pastry to fit two 9-inch deep dish pie plates.  Transfer to pie plates; flute edges.  Line unpricked pastry with double thickness of heavy duty foil.  Fill with dried beans, uncooked rice, or pie weights (this is so you don't get bubbles in the crust when it bakes).  Bake at 450 for 8 minutes.  Remove foil and weights; bake 5 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack.  (Do you see how much time and work I saved by skipping the pie crusts?)

Place potatoes in a Dutch oven and cover with water.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; cover and cook for 15-20 minutes or until tender.  Meanwhile, cook beef and onions in a large skillet over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.  Stir in water and taco seasoning.  Bring to a boil; cook until liquid is evaporated.  Spoon into pastry shells.

Drain potatoes.  Add the milk, butter, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Mash until smooth (I had to add a few instant potato flakes because 1 cup of milk was too much milk).  Spread over meat mixture.  (I added a layer of corn before the mashed potatoes because I always put corn in my shepherd's pie, and corn is good with mexican stuff, too).

Sprinkle one pie with half of the cheeses.  Cool.  Cover and freeze for up to 3 months.  Bake remaining pie, uncovered, at 350 for 35 minutes.  Sprinkle with remaining cheeses.  Bake 5-10 minutes longer or until heated through and cheese is melted.

To use frozen pie:  Thaw in fridge overnight.  Remove from fridge 30 minutes before baking.  Cover and bake at 350 for 1 1/2 hrs.  Uncover and bake 10-15 minutes longer or until heated through.

My original plan was to make one of these to eat and one to freeze.  Then our plans changed and we wanted to take the kids out to Family Date Night (which was fun--Ground Round).  Then my neighbor's back went out and she was practically immobilized.  So I made these, froze one, and gave her the other one.  So I can't even tell you (yet) if this was a good recipe!  If anyone tries it and wants to give feedback, please do.  I will update when we eat the frozen pie.  Well, we won't eat it frozen.  You know what I mean.

Grilled Pork Chops with Peach Sauce

We had this with the salad recipe that I just posted.  What I liked about this recipe is that you don't do anything to the chops but grill them, and then add the peach stuff later.  This is good when you have picky children. 

Grilled Pork Chops with Peach Sauce
2 cups frozen unsweetened sliced peaches, thawed and chopped (they say you can also use canned peaches or fresh peaches, peeled and chopped)
2 tbsp apple jelly
1 1/2 tsp minced fresh tarragon or 1/2 tsp dried tarragon
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
4 bone-in pork chops
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Combine first five ingredients in a small saucepan.  Cook and stir over medium heat for 3-4 minutes or until jelly is melted.  Remove from heat and set aside.  Sprinkle chops with salt and pepper.  Grill over medium heat for 4-5 minutes on each side or until a thermometer reads 145.  Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.  Serve with compote (which is apparently what you made in step 1).

The pork chops themselves were fine, of course.  Just pork chops.  The sauce was okay.  A couple of the bites were quite spicy, which wasn't my favorite.  I didn't think the peaches were overly flavorful, either (I used frozen).  Definitely the best part of this meal was the grilled romaine.  Not keeping this one; I have lots of other recipes for the grill that I like way better.

Grilled Romaine with Swiss

We had this with the Grilled Pork Chops with Peach Sauce, which I will post separately.  Both recipes are from Simple & Delicious.  We had this Tuesday night, which was a very zombie night for me, but Steve did most of the hard work; all I did was get everything ready.  I knew the little kids wouldn't like this, I didn't even give them any.  So I halved this recipe and Steve, Sam, and I split it.

Grilled Romaine with Swiss
2 romaine hearts, halved lengthwise
1 tbsp olive oil
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/3 cup prepared raspberry vinaigrette dressing
1/2 cup shredded swiss cheese
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Brush romaine with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Grill for 30 seconds on each side.  Transfer to platter; drizzle with dressing.  Sprinkle with cheese, cherries, and walnuts.

This was so good!  I knew it would be when I saw the picture.  Of course this recipe only makes sense to make if you are already using the grill, because it would be silly to heat the grill up to cook for only 60 seconds.  We will definitely have this again, but next time I am going to use pecans and shredded parmesan.  Yummy yummy.

Peanut Butter Honeycomb Pie

I made this for home fellowship tonight.  I got this from a magazine that was in the break room at work.  Have you ever read a magazine at work or in a doctor's waiting room, and find that a reader before you has ripped out a recipe or coupon, rendering the remaining page(s) or parts of page(s) unreadable?  I would never do that (I think...unless it was an emergency...I can't forsee what kind of emergency would warrant the ripping of pages of a community magazine, but I need to leave myself that opening).  I photocopied this recipe.  Also I would never buy this magazine.  It is Bon Apetit, and it is the type of publication you would expect to have recipes for escargot and goose liver pate.  As I was skeptically looking through it, I found this recipe, with a full page picture, and knew that my husband would love it.  I knew it would be a complicated recipe, but I knew he was worth it.  Also I knew I could not make this just for our family, because we would eat it all.  Perfect for home fellowship.  Share the calories.  I mean love.

Peanut Butter Honeycomb Pie
Crust:
9 graham crackers, coarsely crushed
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp grated nutmeg
6 tbsp butter, melted

Crust directions:  Preheat oven to 325.  Finely grind graham crackers, sugar, salt, and nutmeg in a food processor.  Transfer crumb mixture to medium bowl.  Add butter and stir to blend.  Use bottom and sides of measuring cup to pack crumbs onto bottom and up sides of 9" glass or metal pie pan (I used my Pampered Chef deep dish pie pan--looking back, anything smaller would have overflowed).  Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes (mine took 10).  Let cool.

Filling:
8 large egg yolks
12 tbsp sugar, divided
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise ($1.99 at NLC)
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature (I used salted)
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tbsp powdered sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt (I left this out since I used salted butter)

Filling directions:  Mix yolks and 6 tbsp sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer with whisk attachment.  Beat at high speed until ribbons form (ummm okay), stopping once to scrape down sides of bowl, about 2 minutes.  Combine milk and remaining sugar in a large saucepan.  Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean and add bean.  Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar.  Remove bean.  With mixer running, gradually add hot milk mixture to yolk mixture.  Scrape mixture back into pan.  Clean mixing bowl.  Bring mixture in saucepan to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly.  Remove pan from heat; whisk vigorously for 1 minute.  Return mixture to mixing bowl; beat on high speed until cool, about 4 minutes (I kept using the whisk attachment because it didn't say to switch).  Mix in butter, 1 tbsp at a time.  Add peanut butter, powdered sugar, and salt; beat to blend.  Scrape filling into cooled crust; smooth top.  Refrigerate until set, 2-3 hours.

Topping:
2 oz bittersweet chocolate (I used semisweet), chopped
2 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
Honeycomb (directions follow)
1/4 cup roasted, salted peanuts (omitted by me since Steve doesn't really like nuts)

Topping directions:  Stir chocolate and butter in a medium bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until melted and smooth (I just used the microwave...probably nobody at Bon Apetit has one).  Drizzle some of the chocolate glaze over the peanut butter filling, making a circle in the middle of the pie and leaving a 1" to 2" plain border.  Pile pieces of honeycomb and salted peanuts on top, then drizzle remaining chocolate glaze over.

Honeycomb:
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tbsp corn syrup
1 tbsp honey
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp baking soda, sifted (I don't have a sifter...I just made sure it had no chunks and was free-flowing)

Honeycomb directions: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil (I used 10x15 jelly roll pan and parchment paper).  Combine sugar, corn syrup, honey, and water in a heavy deep saucepan.  Stir over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves.  Increase heat to high; bring to a boil.  Cook without stirring, occasionally swirling pan and brushing down sides with a wet pastry brush (which I don't have...wet or dry), until sugar turns pale amber.  Working quickly (ahhhh!) add baking soda (mixture will foam up dramatically [think middle school volcano]); whisk quickly just to combine.  Immediately pour candy over prepared sheet.  Do not spread out.  Let stand undisturbed until cool (about 20 minutes [unless you are doing this on an 85 degree day, in which case it will take like an hour]).  Hit candy in several places with the handle of a knife to crack into pieces and add pieces to pie as directed above.

Phew.  And now the verdict.  Steve (of course) said it was awesome.  And I felt very chef-ish when I was making it.  But if I'm being honest (which you have all come to expect of me) I don't think these flavors all combined well together.  This is a painful admission after something like 3 hours of work into the pie (which I had fun doing, don't get me wrong...I love doing stuff like this...).  The filling was very good, light and sweet.  I didn't think it was TOO sweet until like bite 5 or 6.  But it just didn't pair well with the crust.  You know how like cheesecake on a graham cracker crust is perfect?  This wasn't like that.   And the honeycomb candy was good.  The stick-to-the-teeth factor was about five times higher than your average Butterfinger candy bar, but it tasted good.  But it didn't really go with the peanut butter filling.  Not to mention the fact that it was as hard as a rock and I couldn't cut through it on top of the pie, so I had to take off all the candy before I could cut the pie to serve it.  So while I am glad I made this, and I had fun making it, I will not be making this again.  Also I will not be subscribing to this magazine.  Which, to be fair, I wouldn't have no matter how the pie turned out.

Sos Ti-Malis

This is the sauce that goes with the Bef Sale recipe that I just posted, and it will go with the Griyo recipe I will be making in the near future.  This sauce has a story behind it.  In Haitian folklore there are many stories about Bouki (sometimes called Uncle Bouki) and Ti Malice.  Ti Malice is a sneaky guy, and Bouki is his simple and gullible "friend" that usually falls for his tricks.  Bouki kept coming over to Ti Malice's house at mealtime, because he knew Ti Malice would have to share his meat with him, as Haitian custom dictates.  Ti Malice was getting tired of it, so he made a very spicy sauce to put on the meat, hoping it would deter Bouki from coming over to eat his food.  But Bouki loved the sauce and told everyone about the sauce that Ti Malice had made for him.  And that's where the name comes from.  The cookbook author included this story with the recipe, but I have paraphrased it for you here.  The kids and I got a book from the Bangor library once called Uncle Bouki of Haiti, and it had a lot of stories about poor hapless Uncle Bouki and how he kept getting tricked by Ti Malice.  I would like to own that book, but it's old (1940s) and amazon.com has one copy of it available for $40.  And I do not $40 want it.  But if anyone sees it at a yard sale or anything...

Sos Ti-Malis
1 to 2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 shallots, finely chopped
1/4 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/4 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 to 3 tbsp pikliz vinegar (see separate post)
juice of 1/2 lime (about 1 tbsp)

In saucepan, heat oil on medium heat.  Add onion, garlic, and shallots.  Cook and stir for 2 minutes.  Add peppers, tomato paste, salt, black pepper, pikliz, and lime juice.  Cook and stir for 3 minutes.  Add 2 cups of water and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes.

This smelled great and I think it's close to the real thing.

Bef Sale

The english translation of this recipe is Marinated Beef, Dried and Fried.  Doesn't the Haitian name sound better?  We had this for supper tonight, and Sam pointed out that we have had more Haitian food since we came home from Haiti than we had while we were there.  That was a true statement.  This is one of the last recipes I have marked from the Taste of Haiti cookbook I got a few months ago.  For this recipe you are supposed to marinate the meat for 6 hours, then bake it for 2 hours, then fry it.  I totally forgot I was going to make this today until 11 am.  So mine marinated for 3.5 hours, then baked for 1.5, then got fried.  But it was still very flavorful.  This is supposed to be served with sos ti-malis, which I will post separately, because it's going to be part of the last recipe I make, too and then I won't have to type it twice.  I blog and I economize.  We had it with rice, too.

Bef Sale
2 lbs flank steak, cut into strips
1 lime, cut in half
2 shallots, sliced
4 garlic cloves, crushed and minced
1 thyme sprig
1 onion, sliced
4 whole cloves (small quantity purchased at NLC for $0.83 compared to small jar costing $9 at Walmart)
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup vinegar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sos ti-malis (separate post)

Rinse meat with cold water.  Clean meat with lime.  Rinse with water again.  In a large bowl, marinate steak strips with shallots, garlic, thyme, onion, cloves, salt, pepper, and vinegar.  Marinate overnight or for at least 6 hours.  Preheat oven to 200 and cook, uncovered, for 2 hours.  Check periodically (for what, it does not indicate).

Heat oil in a pan and fry the meat on medium heat until golden brown on both sides.  Serve with rice and sos ti-malis.

I expected the younger children not to like this.  Nathan had one bite, said it was good, but then a minute later said it was not.  Emma ate almost all of hers.  Sam eats anything so it's hard to judge.  Steve and I both thought this tasted authentic.  I haven't had beef there before, but I have had a similar sauce over rice.  And I had goat one time.  I tried frying a few of the onions from the marinade in the oil once all the beef was done, because I love fried onions, but they were way too salty to eat.  The meat was very salty, too, but it tasted good mixed with the rice and the sauce.

I wondered what the "clean meat with lime" was all about.  Almost every recipe in this cookbook says to do it.  So I did some extremely authoritative google research, and found out that in countries without refrigeration or whatever, rinsing meat in lemon juice, lime juice, or vinegar is thought to kill germs on the surface of the meat.  I have done it with the poultry recipes from this book, but I didn't do it today to the beef.  I was running short on time, and figured it was an extra step I could skip.

Lemon Chicken Breasts with Veggies

This is one from last week that I haven't had a chance to post yet.  It's a crock pot recipe, so it's very easy, and it has lemon, which I really like.  From Simple & Delicious.

Lemon Chicken Breasts with Veggies
1 lb fresh baby carrots
3 cups cubed red potatoes
1 pkg (14 oz) frozen pearl onions, thawed (I couldn't find these so I just diced an onion)
2 celery ribs, thinly sliced
6 bone-in chicken breast halves, skin removed
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup, undliuted
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt

Combine carrots, potatoes, and celery in a 5 or 6 quart slow cooker.  Top with chicken.  Combine the soup, water, lemon juice, parsley, thyme, pepper, and salt; pour over top.  Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours or until a thermometer reads 170.

I didn't buy bone-in chicken breasts because I almost always have frozen boneless ones in my freezer.  So I started this at lunch time, and cooked it on high for 4.5 hours, and it was perfect (I didn't defrost the chicken first).  The chicken came out moist, and the veggies were great.  I love carrots cooked in the crock pot with chicken or beef.  The lemon flavor was subtle, and not overpowering.  This was a good easy recipe.  I wonder how it would be with lime...