Corn and Potato Chowder!!

My Grandmother made the best potato soup and sadly it was a recipe she took with her when she died. I have tried quite a few versions that came close to her recipe, but none have really come close to her type of soup. Then I found this recipe from LaaLoosh and it has been the closest to the way I remember her soup tasting, so much so I may be done searching. The recipe is from Weight Watchers and is worth 3 points in the old point system, for those counting calories such as my self it's around 370 calories for a cup and a half. Which makes it a wonderfully healthy recipe that really filled me up and kept me satisfied with out being loaded with calories. Of course to top it off it when the wonder full Tot Approved!

I made a couple of variations from the recipe at LaaLoosh, but I'm still going to post the original recipe with notes of the changes I made.

Ingredients
2 cups potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 large carrot, diced
1 cup leeks, chopped, white part only (I omitted this)
1 medium garlic clove, minced (Could use another clove on the next batch)
4 cups fat-free chicken broth
1/2 cup uncooked barley(I omitted this and substituted with 1/2 cup of frozen corn kernels)
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp dried thyme, crushed
1/4 tsp black peper
4 oz Canadian-style bacon, cutinto 1/4 inch pieces
1/2 cup fat-free evaporated milk
2 oz fat-free half-and-half

Directions
In a slow cooker, combine potatoes, carrots, leek, garlic, broth, barley, bay leaf, thyme, pepper and bacon; cover and cook on low for 6 hours.
Stir in evaporated milk and half-and-half; heat through, uncovered, about 10 minutes.

Slow Cooker chicken and Dumplings

It's now October and Fall is officially upon us. With the cooler days and nights all ready  here, I figured it was time for a slow cooker classic and a meal that will really fill you up. Now I can't think of a more traditional meal then chicken and dumplings, and in my book it easily qualifies as comfort food.

Ingredients
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 table spoons butter
2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
1 onion
2 (10 ounce) packages refrigerated biscuit dough, torn into pieces

Directions
1. Place the chicken, butter, soup, and onion in a slow cooker, and fill with enough water to cover.
2. Cover, and cook for 5 to 6 hours on High. About 30 minutes before serving, place the torn biscuit dough in the slow cooker. Cook until the dough is no longer raw in the center.


The wonderful thing about slow cookers is their ease of use, sadly I just do not use mine as much as I would like. So my goal for this fall and winter is to use it as much as possible.